[Sole Mission—Head to Pato City and destroy 'Hero' Dave. Rewards: ???]
"Even though I have no idea who this 'Hero' Dave might be~" Motan's silhouette flickered in and out of the darkness of the night. His eyes shimmered with a inexplicable mix of confusion and fanaticism, and the corner of his mouth pulled up into a sinister curve, "I must admit, this kind of mission is quite to my taste~~"
At this moment, as he strolled leisurely along a rural road, he suddenly heard a sharp scream. Even though it ceased abruptly in less than half a second, it was certainly no hallucination. The fear and helplessness conveyed in that scream left a deep impression on Motan.
On his left hand side was a grove of trees. It wasn't particularly dense, but in the darkness of the night, it created an eerie feeling, as if it was a giant maw preparing to devour anyone who entered. The scream had come from that direction...
…
The Warm Sun Team was in a terrible, awful, absolutely dreadful state~
On their way to complete the final exams, they had been ambushed unexpectedly. Two Redback beasts that should not exist here had suddenly emerged by the roadside as they returned and launched a frenzied attack. Even though these second-year students from the Pudding Knight Academy all had certain combat abilities, they had no chance of victory against these two monsters that resembled giant lizards with sharp claws and teeth, immense strength, and the ability to shoot toxic spikes from their backs.
What's more, these two were fully grown Redback beasts closer to four meters long.
Just now, the team's apprentice mage was caught off guard and a bone spike shot through his left leg. He staggered and fell to the ground. Although another student in plate armor desperately blocked the charging beast with his lance, another Redback beast still managed to pierce its thorny tongue through the delicate skull of the Elf Mage, putting an end to her suffering.
"No... Rona!" The young thief circling around the team let out a painful roar. He quickly moved to pull back the knight, confronting the equally exhausted and pale face of his comrade. "Dave, you take everyone and run. Try to keep quiet as much as possible. I'll hold off these beasts!"
After speaking, he pushed the team's strongest knight to the back and roared in defiance at the recently sated Redback beast, effectively forcing it to back down. He immediately appeared behind the second beast, drew out a dagger from his waist, and fastened its beefy tail firmly to the ground. With a defiant glare, he yelled to his teammates, "Now's our chance, run!"
Redback beasts have terrible vision, so most of the time, they are not as challenging to deal with. Despite their highly sensitive auditory and olfactory nerves, they can't compensate for their nearly permanent blindness. Cole, the thief from the Warm Sun Team was utilizing this fact, making himself the beast's primary target to buy time for his teammates to escape.
In any case, he didn't want to live anymore...
Rona, the girl who always wore a bright smile on her face was gone. As an elf, she could have lived for hundreds of years. Her natural affinity with the wind element gave her unlimited potential and possibilities, yet she was killed so easily in this unnamed forest by the disgusting monster using a near-humiliating method.
"Unforgivable!" Cole leapt onto the head of a Redback beast, his eyes bloodshot as he screamed with trembling rage, "Unforgivable!!"
The knight who fell at the feet of the other two warriors clenched his fists tightly. Not until Cole bellowed out the word 'run' did he angrily slam the ground and gritted his teeth, "Let's go!"
"But Cole... Ahh!" The young girl dressed in a red and gold robe seemed uncertain, but was immediately hoisted over the shoulder of the burly two-handed swordsman.
"Ai! What do you think an apprentice priest without magic power can do by staying here?" He snarled, "We should move quickly. There might still be a chance for Cole. Don't forget, he's a thief!"
The swordsman then carried Priest Ai and followed Knight Dave deep into the woods. Despite his swift actions, his eyes under the mask were bloodshot…
No one understands Cole better than Rada, his childhood friend. He was well aware that despite his encouraging words, deep inside he knew Cole, fighting desperately with the Redback beasts, would never leave. It was because Rona was dead... Rona was... dead...
"Rada!"
Feeling the young girl continuously pounding on his back, tears silently streamed down Rada's face. He couldn't stop, couldn't turn back, couldn't waver. He must find the one who had schemed against the Warm Sun Team. Otherwise, neither Rona nor Cole would rest in peace!
"Rada! Stop!" Ai shrieked.
"Shut up!"
"Watch out!!"
"?"
A brilliant light suddenly shone from... the silver tip of a lance!
...
Indeed, as Rada had guessed, despite his injuries, Cole had no intention of retreating. Instead, he countered more fiercely. His iron dagger was already dented, but it still drew sharp arcs in the moonlight across one of the Redback beasts. His movements started to falter, and his face grew increasingly paler.