A rumour has been floating around the empire of Reytsent.
An influx of monsters has been found roaming the East.
It is definitely a rare occurrence.
A sudden increase in monster population in a specific area has only been recorded a few times in history.
Those rare cases only have a few reasons for occurring. Either 1: A individual has reached a rank above Immortal from that direction or 2: a less likely situation where a very highly ranked treasure has naturally appeared.
These occurrences often lead to the advance of a monster stampede.
This empire is greedy to the core, not surprisingly they sent our empire's hero to go check it out.
I never really trusted them, they came out of nowhere with immense strength and growth then suddenly joined the empire as its hero after saving the crown prince from a bandit attack.
The prince could easily deal with mere bandits.
No matter. If it is a rare treasure that the hero brings back, it would be useful. If I could get my hands on it we could increase the productivity and efficiency of my experiments no matter what type of treasure it is.
...
Meanwhile, the East of Reytsent, major trading town of Roulend.
A transmigrator named as the empire's hero walked on the outer walls of the city with his party.
His party consisted of an exceedingly large man with dark skin and cat ears who was handling daggers that looked more like shaven down greatswords, a woman with a very big hourglass figure and blond hair who had a nearly 2-meter blade on her belt, a petite woman with dark red hair and wizard clothing and the hero himself who had black eyes and hair, wearing white and gold heavy armour and wielding a greatsword of the same colour.
The party discussed their mission as they searched around the area.
"Hero-sama, I think that the monsters inhabited the area east of here more densely."
The blond woman said as she cut a demonic bear in half.
"I agree, Louisa. But that doesn't mean we should leave all these beasts around the town."
The hero responded while sheathing his sword on his back.
"The city has a Grandmaster Rank Knight captain. They'll be fine."
The dark red-haired woman spoke as gentle flames flew around her.
"Mmm."
The large, large, very large man hummed in agreement.
"If even Mike is agreeing with Scarlet, I'll have to listen."
"You don't 'have to' do anything Hero-sama. Your power in the country falls second only to the Royal family."
"But still. What type of party leader doesn't listen to their party?"
"Ahh~ Hero-sama."
The blond woman leaned on the hero's shoulder.
"Just stop it blondy. We're here on a job."
"Oh, I know you, little redneck. Find out if there is a rare material in the forest and return it to the capital if it is there, correct?"
Sparks seemed to generate between the gaze of the two women.
"Mmm."
The large man hummed.
"Mike's right. Let's go."
The party started heading towards the East, a large and dense forest stood in their way.
Just before they were about to enter said forest, they sensed something and backed off.
"Scarlet! Teleport to the city! Now!"
"On it!"
The party soon disappeared and reappeared on the walls of the city.
Scarlet, the dark red-haired girl fell to the ground as all her mana had been used up by the Skill.
"Here. Drink."
The hero handed her medicine that Scarlet then injected into her arm.
Her exhaustion faded as the hero ran and alerted all the knights around the city.
"Stampede! Alert everyone and evacuate as far West as possible! Stampede to the East!"
The knights reacted fast as they were notified of this possibility beforehand.
The knight captain ran to the city wall.
Seeing as how the hero's party were launching attacks outside, he looked at the forest only to pale.
Hundreds. No. More than that.
Monsters emerged like a wave. A literal wave as they crushed anyone caught underneath. As the wave closed in, blood littered the floor beneath them.
The hero soon made it back to the wall and started giving orders to his party.
"Scarlet, focus on long-range fire magic on the ground. Burn the ground they walk on. Mike, Louisa come with me, well go in close range and hold them off until the knight captain gathers reinforcements."
"Got it."
"They won't be long, Hero-sama. My men are surprisingly agile."
Nodding to the knight captain, he jumped off the wall and unsheathed his sword.
Swinging it wildly, waves of energy ran through the air as tens of monsters fell down dead.
Mike jumped straight into the middle of the horde.
As he landed on the ground, a shockwave spread out, stunning every monster in its area of effect.
Mike then started cutting the tendons of every beast near him while running through the horde, his every step causing the ground to shake and monsters to be stunned.
Louisa emerged from the other side of the horde as every monster near her was neatly cut into ribbons and bits of flesh.
She calmly strut along the bloody path as a wicked smile painted her face.
Each kill took a large amount of stamina since the Skill she was using was rather draining.
"Scarlet! Hurry a little, Mike and Louisa can't last much longer!"
"Don't tell me what to do, idiot! I'll know when I'm ready!"
Scarlet sped up her spell creation.
After a minute, Mike was surrounded.
He cut the tendons and other vitals of hundreds of beasts while keeping them stunned but could not deal a fatal blow.
Louisa was in a similar state. Her Skill took too much and too long to activate and she could not end many creatures.
The hero, seeing the state of his comrades, used a Skill.
He thrust his sword into the air and roared.
"Hero's Decent!"
Every ally around received a buff and full regen to their stamina and mana.
Just as he activated the Skill, Scarlet finished her magic and the ground all around the stampede turned to fire.
Nothing burned but it dealt continuos damage to the monsters.
And perfectly timed, the guards had spread wide on the wall, each wielding powerful bows and crossbows.
As the buff was also activated for them, powerful arrows rained down on the monsters.
The entire stampede was suddenly bombarded from the ground the sky and even from the sides as the hero's party regained their energy to fight.
They fought in the middle of the battlefield yet the fire did not hurt them and every arrow missed.
The fire not affecting them was a bonus from the magic that Scarlet used while the arrows missing is a benefit from the hero's buff.
Soon, the stampede fell as no more monsters remained alive.
The hero wiped his sweat away as he cleaned his sword of the blood sticking to it with water.
After giving the buff to his allies, he himself also rushed into the battlefield.
Cheers rang out, thanking the hero and his party for their help in defending the city.
...
Meanwhile, in the forest, hundreds upon hundreds of souls flew into the flower sitting in the pond.
The transparent figure just hanged upside down from a nearby branch with her legs, observing.