"Awoo..." *calling* Raff gave a howl to his subordinates as he smelled the scent of humans in the air. He gave the signal in low frequency that can only be detected by werewolves or other animals with sharp hearing senses... so the humans won't get alert at his howling.
He is traveling in the south direction as that is the most obvious direction the Prince could have escaped through, it is ridiculous to think he could have teleported anywhere else. The East and North is their territory and the West is the forbidden Land, no one can think of getting out of there. So, the only way is running in the South or South-west direction.
He can smell the scent of humans from the south which is still far away, the air is flowing in his direction thus he caught their smell from a distance of almost one kilometer away between the hills. First, it was just a smell of a human, then gradually the number of smells increased and he realized it's not just one, but a whole squad.
"Hehehe... *laughing inwardly* Looks like there were some leftovers afterwar. I should quickly get rid of them and catch that human prince..." Raff thought as he patiently waited for his squad members to arrive at the destination.
The actual distance between him and the humans is two and a half kilometers because he is near the foot of the mountain and the humans he smelled are across the other mountains top, there is no straight route in a mountain and you have to take a detour even going a hundred meters down. The wind is flowing downhill, so it was very easy for him to sense the enemies from far away.
He isn't approaching them himself as he sensed that those humans are not returning but coming straight into their territory. Now he is making a plan to ambush them when they will reach downhill, but before that, he has to wait for his subordinates to come, and then only he can make a full-fledged attack plan.
// Fortress //
// Hugo P.O.V //
"ahrgh~" *screeching*
"Again! *Shouting* You're being too soft, beat him with your full might until he gets unconscious." Hugo glared fumingly towards Amzi and asked the Wolf to beat him more furiously.
"Aahh..." Amzi screamed in pain as he was continuously getting tormented with enchanted wipes and the solution of sulphuric acid. They weren't able to penetrate his skin even with an enchanted weapon, as his skin is also enhanced with magic. So they had to use an acidic solution to bring down the durability of his skin.
"What will you get by beating me? aahh~*scream* You just want to vent your anger by tormenting my body. ahh, but what about you? Do you think you can redeem your treachery with God? *slam* Aarghh..."
Amzi began to continuously mock Hugo, without caring about his weak position. But he forgot about Hugo's inpatient nature and he Ultimately had to bear his rage. As he was continually blabbering Hugo stood up furiously and Slammed Amzi's head with his magic reinforced hand.
Hugo uses a very thick layer of earth to reinforce his hand and no matter how much enhanced one's body is, the force of sudden weight can always injure them or stun them for a while, especially when the body is enhanced only with a low-level technique as in case of Amzi.
As Amzi got slammed in his head, he screamed in pain and a mouthful of blood came out of his nose and mouth. His head didn't get visibly wounded but the force sure did great damage to his brain inside the skull. Amzi couldn't bear the impact and immediately lost his consciousness... The werewolf nearby got amazed by the force Hugo used to just shut up Amzi's mouth.
"That's brutal" The werewolf thought. How more impatient he can be? He almost killed the Captain of the Battalion. For such a trivial thing, he could have just blocked Amzi from speaking by shoving his mouth with mud or any Cloth.
"That's what he gets for testing my patience. humph!" Hugo humphed while staring at the crowd of prisoners. His eyes were filled with happiness and laughter after beating Amzi to the verge of death, where the eyes of the prisoners were filled with extreme fear.
// Near the edge of the Swamp Land //
// ???? P.O.V //
"Mashal, are you sure the signal is coming from here?" A person who seems to be the leader of the Unidentifiable Cavalry asked doubtfully to the person riding in front of everyone.
The Cavalry is made of about twenty men, they all have covered themselves and the horses with a camouflaged type of cloth that is resembling with the environment. It isn't preventing them from getting spotted as they are just walking on the top of the hill and the sun is casting the shadows downhill. Anyone can notice their presence, but it's only because they are allowing themselves to be visible... and it's obvious that they are the soldiers of 'Daemon Land'.
"Of course! You doubt my ability too often sir, even though I have proven you wrong... and every time!"
The man replied and turned back to give a smile. His name is Mashal, though he is very young, just about twenty-five years old... He has proven his abilities that can be even matched among the first battalion of Kings' warrior Scout. Thus, he has managed to rise to the position of a Senior Scout of the Kings' warrior battalion seven in less than four years.
Amazingly talented, right! but still, he is an average guy in the Sea of Prodigies.
The leader smiled back. He didn't reply, as it wasn't necessary. The leader is a prominent example of how a person like Marshal is nothing, but an average Human in the eyes of the Upper echelon. The leader is a thirty-five years old bearded guy but still looks younger than Mashal.
Inside his camouflaging cloth, he is wearing a thin Red armor which can be easily be mistaken as a fancy outfit. Mashal and others on the back are not wearing so striking cloth, they are wearing dark blue cloth and armors' just which is just enough to show their stature in front of the commoners and enemies too.
However, the Red cloth is the Indication or say, an insignia of the Title Magus. The more formal is a Red Cloak, but it's not suitable for the cavalry battles, so he is wearing a modified version for soldiers. The man has the title of 'Apprentice Magus' and is on the brink of promoting to the class of Magus... This is how a talented person like Mashal is still considered as an average human.
His name is 'Mani' and as the name suggests, he is extremely efficient 'Fire Magus', on top of being an Elite Leader of a Kings' warrior battalion seven.
"We are close! There's no sign of enemies nearby." Mashal spoke and jumped off from the horse. The others also followed him after tieing the horses.
"Oh my God, how did the Prince ended up here!" He spoke and looked down towards the edge of the cliff.
*Mani*
"Are you kidding me? This can't be right... *Panic* Where exactly?" I asked.
I thought he is mistaken, the tracking device had already lost its signal, and most probably Prince is in the Prison room of Enemies. How can this be possible? Did those bastards force our Prince into the swamp? Now how can I save the Prince? It would have been easier to save the Prince from the enemies' lair but not from here.
"agh... This fog is unusually too thick around this hour. Don't panic sir, I think we can rescue him. He isn't inside the swamp exactly, he is stuck on the tree." Mashal replied.
"What? *confused* What does that mean? are you seriously kidding me? Don't mess with my head!" *furious* Is he messing with me in this serious situation? How can someone be in the tree but not exactly in the swamp where the tree is located?
"No, no. You are mistaken, sir. I meant he is stuck right below our feet on a Green cliff tree. I'm not sure how, but it's true. believe me!" Mashal replied spontaneously as he sensed Mani's anger. He doesn't want to lose his post and life for a misunderstanding.
"A Green cliff tree in this rocky cliff! Quite unusual and lucky for all of us," I replied. That's a miracle actually, cause no ordinary tree can grow with that white mist around even if it somehow manged to penetrate its roots inside the rocks. But thanks to it, it saved our Prince from getting into the 'Swamp Land' and that's a huge relief.
"How much down is that tree? Is the Prince okay?" I asked him, ready to descend the cliff. I had ordered a soldier to bring the rope in the mean time. I'm going myself to rescue the Prince, as it is too dangerous for others.
"Yes, he is okay... for now! though he is unconscious, he isn't going to fall anytime soon." He glanced up and said, "Ahh... Sir, I don't think you should go down right away." He warned me.
"Do not worry, I will not fall. I can maintain the grip." I replied before descending.