Eredeti and the others started running as fast as possible to the mountain while the beast and bugs were distracting each other once they reached the foot of the mountain they started to slow down a bit although they wanted to stop and take a rest they knew they couldn't
But what they didn't expect to see were more bugs ranging from centipedes and ants to hornets they were all around the mountain like they were guarding it and when they looked further up they could see multiple caves all around the mountain
"Uhh I think we found its hideout" Eredeti said
"That was easier than I thought" Steve said
While they were observing it and trying to find a way to scout it out a bit before they left they could see some of the bugs go in and out carrying food while others were dragging bodies inside
"No wonder I couldn't find any food in the village or bodies for that matter" Eredeti said
Steve in the mean while was trying to hold back the urge to run inside and killed who ever it was that did such a thing to his home and family Kaneid saw this and wanted to do whatever he could to stop that from happening
"We can't be foolish we must escape while we can!" Kaneid said
"But this is the perfect time to scout this place out if we plan to attack it in the future" Steve said
"Are you stupid or does your revenge blind you that much that you can't even see the amount of bugs going in and out of that cave if we go in now were dead!"
"I'm not saying we go in I'm just saying we scout it out!" Steve argued back
While Steve and Kaneid were busy arguing with each other Eredeti was busy looking around and could see multiple bugs going in and out although he wasn't stupid enough to go in he was't afraid of death now since he knew he could revive so he was getting cocky and started to traverse the mountain slowly walking up
Eredeti eventually got close enough to see what exactly was going on in the caves it looked like a large ants nest that had different types of bugs constantly going in and out while he kept looking about he was completely oblivious as to what was happening behind him
A hornet who was flying about and collecting food happened to see him and went straight to attack him but at the last second Eredeti noticed and took out his sword however the hornet was far to fast so he could only dodge
"Why is that thing so fast!" said Eredeti
He didn't even have time to think as it kept trying to attack him over and over and finally Eredeti noticed a pattern to its attacks he figured every time it starts to attack it can't change its direction and just keeps moving forward so the next time it attacked he dodged its attack
Eredeti then quickly turned around and slashed at its back and surprisingly it went straight through making a large slice in its back and cutting its wings, it wasn't like the ants who had extremely hard exoskeletons the hornets however didn't have tough exoskeletons and were quite easy to pierce through
'It probably has a lighter exoskeleton to increase its speed capabilities' Eredeti thought to himself
The hornet having a large wound on its back and 2 of its wings cut off couldn't do anything except call for help but before it could Eredeti quickly went to stab into its head learning from his past mistakes of not quickly killing the ant and absorbed its souls
Once Eredeti dispatched the hornet he was even more confident in scouting just a bit more to see what they were up against and once again he was right beside the cave entrance waiting and once again he saw a new bug he didn't see in the village it was a rhinoceros beetle that seemed to be transporting a very large amount of food and corpses while their were multiple ant and other bugs protecting it
'So transportation?' Eredeti thought to himself
While he was curious on how strong it was he didn't want to pick a fight with that many bugs so he kept patiently waiting, while he was waiting he got bored and started to wonder more about his souls powers he wanted to do more experiments but didn't want to die to do so as he kept trying to figure out he could and tried to come up with many different ways he couldn't no matter how hard he tried he just couldn't feel it so he just sat there waiting for another beetle to come but it never did so he just decided to leave and head back
When he returned he could finally see Steve crouching by a tree with a face of defeat while Kaneid was standing their with a face of triumph
"So you guys finally stopped arguing, so what's the final decision?" Eredeti said
"Well look whos finally back, Where were you?" Kaneid asked
"I was doing some scouting" Eredeti said
"You what!? Didn't I just say how dangerous that would be!" Kaneid said
"Calm down its not like I was caught or anything" Eredeti said
"You don't understand, if you killed one of them and if the body was found they would be searching everywhere for the culprit"
The instant Kaneid had said this a large tremor was felt and when they all looked up they could see a swarm of hornets flying out of the caves
"What did I tell you, We must run for our lives now again!" Kaneid said
Kaneid didn't say another word and quickly pulled Eredeti and grabbed Steve's hand
"Wings of Abilon take us away from these tainted lands"
One they were teleported away Kaneid looked a little tired which surprised Eredeti greatly since this was the first time he saw Kanied tired
"I thought you never got tired?" Eredeti said
"Enough of your humor we must leave immedeatly" Kaneid said
"To where we agreed not to travel to far away?" Steve said
"We need to at least get away from the mountain" Kaneid said
Once agian they were forced on the run although they didn't run into much trouble Kaneid was still on edge wanting to run as far away as possible they didn't even stop once at all for a break and were traveling till nightfall
"Alright we should be good for now" Kaneid said
"Why did we have to travel so far?" Eredeti said trying to catch his breath
"The bugs will continue to travel all through the surrounding area to find what killed their kin so we had to" Kanied said
Steve then put his belongings down and quickly started to set up camp and start a fire so the beast wouldn't attack
"So Steve what's this deal you two made?" Eredeti asked
"Well just ask Kaneid he'll tell you" Steve said
Eredeti then looked over at Kaneid expecting a answer
"Its quite simple really we won't attack them or scout them out until we have enough people to do so until then I don't want us going even remotely close to that mountain and we shall instead head to our original destination Hobiton we can also ask for some help while we are there" Kaneid said
"Seems fair enough, I've also been wanting to meet one of these hobbits"
"Please they aren't anything special just a bunch of people who don't like outsiders" Steve said
"What have you met them before?" Eredeti asked
"I've meet one of them when I was at the city of Alton" Steve said
"So how are they?" Eredeti asked
"Their just simple people with simple lives they are too suspicious of others and hate interaction with the outside world" Steve said
"Not necessarily they just refuse to be caught up in another's problems" Kaneid said
While they were discussing their plans for tomorrow the plague bringer was contemplating on what his next move should be although he was told not to do anything his children were slowly starving and although he could make more he just didn't want to waste resources or the opportunity before him
'Should I invade another region?'
Although he wanted to expand and rise in the ranks he couldn't while the dark lord was sealed but now he was out this was the perfect opportunity to increase his power and rank but the others didn't like the fact he was so ambitious they couldn't question his usefulness and couldn't simply get rid of him like all the other demons and people that served the dark lord would do
What he most afraid of however was his superior the general he was previously talking to, to come down and put him in his place like he once previously had done in the last war when he was getting a little too cocky and attacking before the order was given which had forced the final battle to commence earlier than planned and eventually lead to the sealing of the dark lord although he wasn't blamed for this matter he wasn't let off the loose either and he could never imagine being able to go up against him
"Ill stay put for now but I need to ask Eric for permission on this matter"
Aerico then walked down his throne to the black orb once again
"Commander Aerico why have you contacted me, As you must know I am rather busy?"
"General I request permission to invade other regions"
"What is the point of that, you have already completed your current mission and have made a foot hold already their is no point in spreading our forces thin" The General said
"My children are starving and if this goes on they will resort to cabalism and I will slowly start losing my forces" Aerico said
"Hmph I have commanded you stay put for now, however we will require you to move out in 2 months of time can you hold out till then and if not just hunt the beast and if that doesn't work we will send some provisions of human flesh" The General said
"I believe I can hold out for that long General" Aerico said
"Good, until then wait and if I catch wind of you moving prematurely I will beat you myself, Is that understood!" The General said
"Perfectly General" Aerico said
"Good"