March 23, 5th year of the federal calendar

As we delved deeper into the jungle, the appearance of the Bad Devil became more frequent. In the past, I would have happily rushed forward to kill every monster I came across, plundering their materials, after all, we are all greedy adventurers who also hold the title of "Fourth Calamity". But since the nightmare weave attack the day before, I've had to be cautious. Sometimes, it's not the power that determines the victory, but some bizarre abilities that can kill people. It's not wise to start a battle in this forest and expose yourself to danger

In order to avoid the bad demon as much as possible, Hanekawa showed his life-saving means, a domesticated bad demon - Haka. Haka, Hanekawa's name for the demon, is a creature known as Feather Wind, resembling a golden eagle but with pale teal feathers, and almost as tall as an adult woman, and a behemoth with its wings extended. Unlike the ugly spotted helmet, the appearance of the feather wind is extremely beautiful, neat and chic, and with a pair of sharp eagle eyes, just standing there, it is indistriguing.

As an eagle-like demon, Feather Wind is also very good at flying, and has amazing eyesight, and is a relatively rare moderate among the inferior demons, so it is often domesticated as a pet by humans, used to transmit news and scout the enemy.

With the help of early warning from the air, our operations naturally became exceptionally smooth. However, due to the detours from time to time, we have already deviated from the direction of the mission instructions.

It wasn't until later that an abandoned makeshift camp appeared on the trail.

……

What Douzzi found was a rudimentary makeshift camp, all that could be found was a campfire, a few stray footprints, and a few small skeletons. The appearance of these footprints is a bit of a bad mood, they are somewhat strangely shaped, the size of an adult Rao's palm, but the tip is only three toes, and the toes have long claws at the ends. In addition, a closer look at these footprints reveals that the base of the creature's feet is covered in fine scales.

"Judging by the distribution of footprint marks, these creatures may have moved in a similar way to humans, walking upright. No signs of fighting were found in the camp, and no creatures other than them were found, so the campfire must have been lit by them. Looking at the shape of these skeletons, they should be rabbits, and I guess they are barbecuing food here. Du Qi frowned, analyzing all the information on the scene as best he could, "This is a highly intelligent creature, and it operates in groups. Hanekawa, can you think of anything? ”

"If it's just a fire, I can think of some spewing flames, and they do use the flames to cook their food. But you know, the Bad Demon is a degenerate creature, most of them have very low intelligence, and it's unlikely that they would consciously make a rudimentary camp like this. Unless it's some kind of high-level monster, I really can't think of any high-intelligence beings in this world other than humans. Hanekawa quickly shook his head again and denied his speculation, "But...... Monsters can't be here...... If we were now in a frontier like the Abyss Forest or the Bloodsand Wilderness, this explanation would be somewhat convincing. But this is the Black Pine Forest, the core of our human power, and no monsters can appear near here. ”

"At best, our discovery could shock the world!" Du Qi laughed bitterly to himself, he hated this kind of situation where things were out of his control. As he spoke, he put his finger on the campfire and probed it again. "Well, it's still a bit warm, and it shouldn't have been long since they left." He said.

"Then let's catch up and have a look."

I don't know if the newborn calf is not afraid of tigers, or if there are other means hidden behind the scenes, Hanekawa is obviously a more adventurous person than Dozi. This unknown and peculiar event only made him more excited.

Due to the short time gap, the footprints left by the mysterious creatures are still very clear, and even half-hangers like Doki and Hanekawa can easily track them. This time, Duzi's radar didn't do much of a good job, because the tracks were clearly going in a different direction than the mission was directing. However, since he had already deviated from his original route, he didn't care about walking a little longer. Anyway, even if it was just to gather more information, he decided to go over and check it out first.

Duzi also vividly remembered that the murderers who attacked the caravan did not leave any suspicious traces at the scene after the plunder, but this group of mysterious creatures appeared to be unscrupulous. Perhaps they think the forest is already under control, so they are less vigilant. Comparing the two before and after, there is no harm in grabbing a soft persimmon and pinching it first.

followed the line all the way, and the two didn't spend much effort on it. After only about one or two kilometers of travel, a chaotic noise caught their attention.

Something seemed to be going on in the depths of the forest, presumably a behemoth on a rampage, and from time to time you could hear the sound of a wooden branch being smashed by a huge force. Suddenly, there was a terrible and angry roar in the distance, mixed with some regular shouts. Douzzi couldn't understand the meaning of the shouts, but it was certainly a language he didn't yet understand.

"Do you hear those shouts?" Sensing that the battlefield was spreading in their direction, Duqi pulled Hanegawa to hide in the grass and asked softly, "Gasam, Sata...... There is a sentence that seems to be pronounced like this, have you ever heard of a similar language? ”

"I hear you, but I ...... I'm not good at languages! I am sure, however, that there is no similar lingua franca in use on this continent, perhaps some kind of archaic language. The roar of the giant monster sounded familiar. ”

"What kind of monster? How strong is it? Can we deal with it? After getting along for a while, Du Qi found that this guy Hanekawa is simply a jack of all trades, not only knows a lot about the history and secrets of the world, but also knows a lot about the knowledge of evil demons. Along the way, he'd been able to gush on and on for most days, with the exception of the mysterious creatures they're currently tracking.

"Brother Duqi, don't worry, if I guess correctly, it's not a difficult bad demon to deal with." Hanekawa couldn't help but laugh, "Judging from the roar and movement, it should be a bad demon called Hunger." It is true that this movement sounds a little scary, but that kind of monster actually feeds on plants, has a fairly gentle personality, and is not very strong in combat. If you want to have characteristics, one is that it can be eaten, and the other is that it is huge, well...... Well, the power of the Hunger is indeed terrifying, but the movement is too cumbersome. Hunting this monster can also be a bit troublesome about the defense of its fur, but if we cooperate, it will take a little time to solve it. See...... It's coming. ”

As if to verify Hanekawa's words, a behemoth rushed out of the dark dense forest and cut off the two huge trees like a bamboo.

Duzi finally witnessed the starving face, a monster far larger than the African elephant, roughly estimated to be 5 meters tall, with a body structure similar to that of a common feline, but with an unusually developed pair of forelegs, so that it stood somewhat similar to an orangutan. The hungry forehead had a long, straight forward, somewhat flattened black spiral horn, a bulging black lump on each side, and a gray hair like horse's hair scattered behind it, and a pair of turquoise eyes with a large mouth under them, which looked extremely strange. Its body surface is not ordinary fur, but more like a thick layer of brownish and yellow earth armor, like a dry earth. In terms of visual perception alone, it does give people a feeling of incomparably hard.

However, the demon looked very embarrassed at this time, its hard skin was covered with large wounds, and the pale pink blood almost stained its entire skin red.

"See the structure of its head? The horns and bulges on either side were very hard, and it was the thing that rampage through the forest relied on, and it was its primary means of attack. And because the hungry skull is very hard, it is best to avoid the head when fighting it. ”

"Sata ......"

As Hanekawa spoke, three more figures rushed out of the thick grass after the hungry man.

It was a creature that resembled a human, but was noticeably stronger. Their heads resemble ugly chameleons, their eyes bulging outward, and their scaly bodies are covered with two rows of conspicuous spines on their backs, covered in translucent membranes, which look hideous and eerie.

"Will they still use weapons?" Du Qi clearly saw the simple black leather armor on the monsters, and the various crude weapons in their hands. He seemed to remember something, and took out the cyan scales and broken equipment he had found earlier from his personal space, "Look at these...... Now we can be sure that while they may not be the same group, it was this creature that led the attack. Maybe...... Judging by their appearance, we can call them lizardmen. ”

"Brother Duqi, why don't we do it!" Hanekawa said eagerly, "Looking at the ink of their fight with the hungry, the combat effectiveness is not very good. ”

"Wait a while, it's better to be cautious, maybe there are other accomplices around. Wait for Haka's side to react first, if there is no problem, I will strike first after they kill the starvation, you can deal with the lizardman with the bow, and we will solve it quickly. ”

"No problem."

The scarred hunger was already at the end of their crossbows, and the lizardmen didn't keep them waiting long, and in just a few minutes, the battle was already in its final phase. Hungry and self-defeating, he stopped, and stood on his hind legs, a pair of muscular forearms that could only dance weakly, making a final dying struggle in place.

On the other hand, the lizard Rao doesn't seem to have any rules in the fight, it all depends on instinct and physical fitness. Their consumption was obviously not either, one of the warriors was greedy for a few knives during the attack, and was seriously injured in the left arm after being swept by the hungry front paws, so he could only withdraw from the circle and watch the other two companions wrestle with the hungry, muttering a few words from time to time, presumably to remind his friends to pay attention to the hungry attack.

Taking advantage of the chaos for a while, Du Qi quietly touched the back of the lizardmen, and quietly hibernated in a patch of grass waiting for the opportunity. After a few more minutes, the exhausted hunger finally fell to the ground with a wail, and the ground around him trembled with his massive body.

The lizardmen raised their hands in cheer and muttered in their own language, and the two warriors stepped forward to dispose of the corpse, while the lizardmen pulled out some green paste from their waist bags and smeared them to the wound as they scanned their companions.

Haka's distinctive chirp was heard in the air, and Duzi knew it was a reminder that there was no danger around them. And now, it's the perfect sneak attack.

The hunter rushed out of the grass and quickly swept six or seven meters away, and the iron sword slashed through it from top to bottom. The sentry lizardman didn't even have time to react, and his left arm was severed in two. Du Qi did not hesitate in the slightest move, he took a step back with his right foot, and at the same time slapped his shield on the lizard Rao's face with his body slightly, and then the iron sword swept and beheaded the dazed lizard man with the power of twisting his waist.

On the other side, Hanekawa stood up from the grass at the same time, and the longbow that had already been set up quickly shot three arrows, and the lizardman archer, who was crouching on the ground to deal with his prey, did not even have time to let out a scream, and his heart, neck, and right eye were pierced by the arrows, and he fell limply on the rain.

"Gosam, oh ga!" The last remaining lizardman had despair in his eyes, but it didn't mean to be scared. In an instant, he knew that he would die here today, so he fearlessly raised the long knife in his hand, roared words of unknown meaning in his mouth, and charged towards Du Qi.

"Kind of a warrior!" Du Qi roared and met the enemy.

After just a few rounds, the last lizardfolk were also decapitated by Duqi.