The sight was shocking, and one thing was for sure. They did not have to worry about Sebastian's group killing the exotic magic beast. Corpses and carcasses were spread around all over a forest glade. It seemed like this is where the arrogant merchant and his mercenaries made their stand, and judging by the massacre, with little success. Plenty of maclawcos were lying dead on the ground, cut or stabbed to death, but none of their claws were bloodied.
So if the monkeys failed to kill anyone, why was not a single mercenary body was intact? Their torn limbs told a story of brutal strength. Even just tearing out a third-step commoner's extremities required a strength maclawcos were not supposed to have. They made use of their sharp claws to cut and stab into weak points of armor, not rip someone apart.
Sturm looked around, but neither Daga's nor Sebastian's remains could be seen anywhere. They had to have escaped. An assassin like Daga would have no difficulties escaping on his own, but this time the luggage may prove to be too heavy. Even if the killer was cold, detached, and would stab them in the back for the right amount of money, he was still one of Sturm's few mentors.
After searching for tracks amongst the mess, Sturm finally found a trail.
<
Tracking the survivors was not hard, as there was plenty of blood on the way. The duo suddenly came to a stop when a few massive, broken branches blocked their path. Whatever it was that was chasing them was big and heavy enough that the branches could not support its weight.
Sturm started feeling apprehensive. "Um… do you see that? I think we should turn around. If whatever that thing is kills Daga, we would just be next."
A comrade was in need of assistance, so they would try to do their best to save him. Edgar would have understood, but this was already the limit. 'The best' did not include throwing their life away in vain.
"You are right. I hope Daga can survive this. Let's go." Reinhardt did not discuss; the branches were thrice as thick as his already thick arms. Even he would need to place a well-aimed punch to break it.
As they carefully retraced their steps to make their way back, Sturm heard other movements apart from the occasional leaf rattling. Due to his motions, his [Black Room] shrunk back to the original ten-meter range. While he could not reach far enough to reproduce the source of movement perfectly, it did not impede him from using his auditory senses the traditional way.
"Reinhardt, movement six o'clock. Not magic beasts. At least three. Likely human."
Edgar taught him that information had to be quick and concise in an emergency so that everyone else could quickly comprehend the situation without having to filter out useless remarks.
Should they stop? Should they run? Reinhardt had to come to a decision without delay, or else destiny would make that decision for them. They were already on their way back. There was no reason to hesitate.
"RUN!"
They immediately bolted. Reinhardt did not need to carry Sturm, as once again, his tall stature made trekking through the thickets difficult. As a consequence, roots almost tripped him, and thorns scratched his armor, but the giant kept bulldozering through the obstacles, opening a path for Sturm.
"Reinhardt, faster. They are catching up, and they are not alone!" Sturm hurried Reinhardt on.
"I am already running as fast as I can! We are almost at the glade. If we get through it, we can shake them off."
Soon after, a giant man and a young slave burst into a forest clearing. Now they just had to run in the direction they had entered the maclawco territory from, and they would be safe. They were close, but fate determined otherwise. Just a few seconds after them, three people ran into the open as well.
One of them was Daga, who tightly held his throwing daggers in his hands. The mask made it impossible to see his expression, but his body language made it apparent he was flustered as well. Behind the assassin was an intimidating mercenary, not inferior to Reinhardt at all. Thrown over his shoulder was Sturm's most loathed merchant. Sebastian had a big bump on the back of his head and was unconscious.
The intimidating mercenary spotted Reinhardt and Sturm before they were able to leave the clearing, and his expression brightened up.
"Comrades! We need to stick together. It is almost here."
Sebastian's mercenary escort had been a collection of lone wolves. Their fees were much cheaper than established mercenary groups, so the man thought they were other survivors of the massacre.
Reinhardt did not stop and just kept ramming through the forest, but just like Sturm, the other group could easily follow him, catching up after just a few hundred meters.
"Comrade, thank you for clearing the path for us. We thought everyone died or ran away. We did not expect anyone to come back for us. Wait, you are the Rampage Bear! What are you… nevermind, we have to keep running. It will catch up soon!"
As if answering a call, something heavy smashed into the ground somewhere far behind them. There were no monkey cries, only a dampened crash slowly getting closer.
Reinhardt exchanged nods with Daga, and tried to increase the pace, but it was just not impossible. Pissed, he turned towards the mercenary in a fury.
"God damn it! What is that thing? Did you guys attack a silver-white maclawco?" Reinhardt cursed.
"Maclawco? That thing is silver-white, yes, but it is no monkey—it is a giant fu***ng gorilla! We encountered it slumbering in that clearing and tried to retreat. But guess what? Our stupid little client ordered us to attack it! Of course, we were not stupid enough to do so, but here comes our stupid little masked friend, who immediately threw his stupid little fruit knives. That… thing woke up in a rage and started thrashing everything, killing most of our group and attracting maclawcos all around us. Daga eventually managed to distract the monster while the rest of us made quick work of those pesky monkeys." The mercenary threw a glance at the assassin. If it were not for him, they would not be in this mess. "That's not all! He claimed that his daggers are poisoned…."
Daga interjected. "They are poisoned."
"... and that the white gorilla would soon be paralyzed. Indeed, when the last maclawco died, the beast actually retreated! Sebastian ordered us to follow it, promising ample rewards and talking about a Jessica that would finally come back to him or something. Blinded by greed, we gave chase."
Before the mercenary could finish the story, the monster already got terribly close. It was still outside Sturm's [Black Room], but the young slave had been keeping his senses up for too long already. If his concentration could not keep up anymore, and their pursuer caught up, he would be a helpless lamb ready for slaughter.
<
Invigorated by the shining light at the end of the tunnel, the guard captain squeezed out even the last bit of his strength.
Thirty meters.
Twenty meters.
Ten meters.
Finally! The group exited the dense forest and entered the westernmost outskirts of the woods. What a close call! A sigh of relief escaped the group in unison. Even if the giant gorilla kept chasing them, they would easily outrun the poisoned magic beast in the open. Although they were safer now, there was no time to stop. Sturm kept running after Reinhardt and looked behind him.
The mercenary had stopped to hand over the unconscious Sebastian to Daga. He had been running for far too long with that extra weight. The merchant was not light like Sturm, and even before their escape, the fight had consumed a lot of his energy. With far more space and fewer obstacles, the assassin would be able to shoulder the deadweight the rest of the way. It was not like the poisoned daggers would be necessary from here on.
Before Sturm could urge them to keep running, his eyes suddenly widened.
*STOMP*
A giant, hairy foot squashed the mercenary into meat paste. Even the armor he had worn was stomped into a flat disk inside a meter deep crater. Daga's exceptional instincts made him jump away with Sebastian at the last moment. The foot belonged to a six-meter tall gorilla with silver-white fur. Blood was all over its massive muscles, and remnants of mercenaries hung around two one-meter long ivory tusks. Its eyes were completely white; the lack of a pupil or iris gave it an eerie feeling. It was impossible to determine exactly what it was looking at, causing everyone to feel stared at simultaneously.
The behemoth raised its fists and started rhythmically pounding its chest, but unlike normal gorillas who looked upwards, it never stopped staring in their direction. No one spoke maclawco or whatever language the monstrosity spoke in, but Sturm, Daga, and Reinhardt all understood its simple but overbearing message.
'You. Are. Next.'