The next morning, a small expedition was organized. Nuga and three others joined me, while Krul stayed behind. We didn't know if more enemies were heading our way, they might be en route.
In any case, if they were at the same level as the previous bandits, Krul and a hundred chrysalids would be sufficient.
"Are we ready?"
"Yes!" they all replied.
Riding on several chrysalids, I asked the young man named Ley to show us the way. He pulled a map out of his pocket.
"Is this a map of the area?" The map showed several regions divided by borders. Some were hatched, while others were still blank.
Our area was visible on the far right, not far from a border marked as a wall. It seemed to be the boundary between two worlds.
Hmm. Why draw the wall? They could simply cross it and enter the other world.
"Why didn't you return to your home?"
Ley answered calmly, "The races' world is also harsh for humans… We'd just be caught and sent back here. It's better to live freely with the monsters." He gave a sheepish smile.
Indeed.
"These are our camps," Ley pointed to several circles on the map.
"Are these all human camps?" I was surprised. There were easily a hundred circles scattered across the map.
If the camps were interconnected, it would be challenging to reclaim them by force if they communicated with each other.
However, the old woman named Nisan said, "The camps operate independently because the leaders are selfish. Even if one camp disappears suddenly, they wouldn't care. They might even celebrate the loss of a rival."
I nodded thoughtfully.
Bandits will always be bandits.
"But to reach your camps, we need to cross the red zone?" Nuga looked at the map. A red-hatched area separated our camp from the bandits'.
"Yes, that's the territory dominated by bloodthirsty leopards. They're powerful and the supreme predators in the area, at least as long as the deep monsters don't emerge," Ley replied.
So, we needed to cross a territory controlled by a monster.
"If this monster is so powerful, how did you cross its territory with such weak abilities?" It had only taken me a fraction of the time to kill them. If the monster was truly strong, it would have slaughtered them.
Ley, Nisan, and Lila's expressions darkened.
"They sacrifice our people as resources for passage rights."
Nuga frowned. "That's inhuman! How could they do such a thing?!" She burst out in rage, clenching her teeth and grabbing her spear.
"We should visit this bloodthirsty leopard and kill it, Treon!"
"That leopard, it's impossible to defeat it, even with the Lord's help," Ley trembled at the memory of the monster.
Was it really as powerful as he claimed?
While Nuga's idea was appealing, it was different if its strength exceeded hers. We'd need to gauge its power.
"Let's go and verify it directly in the field."
The best way to understand an enemy's strength is on the battlefield.
We quickly traversed several forests and encountered various monsters. Some were familiar, while others were new, like horned rats or red boars.
They were stronger than other monsters but still no match for my chrysalids.
"This is bloodthirsty leopard territory!" Ley shouted, stopping in front of a red forest.
The atmosphere was heavy and intimidating. The surroundings reeked of iron, the smell of blood. The leaves of the trees were stained red.
It was practically blooded everywhere.
Nuga frowned, following her instincts. "We should be cautious now."
Ley chuckled nervously and nodded.
"I'll stay behind the group." Nuga nodded and moved forward, avoiding branches. We needed to stay quiet, as Ley explained that bloodthirsty leopards were sensory monsters.
True ambush predators.
Nuga spoke to Nisan along the way. "Old lady, why is everything around here so red?"
Nisan pointed to the forest. "It's the blood of all their prey. Every creature they kill and eat becomes part of the bloodthirsty leopard forest. The blood always returns to the ground."
Was this an exclusive ability of the bloodthirsty leopards?
As I was about to ask Nisan for more information, a sudden thud came from behind her, and she was impaled straight through the heart against a tree.
"Nisan!" Nuga shouted and hurled her spear at the shadowy figure.
I also ensnared it with underground roots. It seemed disoriented and surprised by the roots, becoming trapped.
"Go help Grandma Nisan now!" I yelled at Ley.
Nuga and I held the bloodthirsty leopard, but it quickly shredded my roots with its sharp claws.
"Fall back!" I shouted to Nuga, launching massive root clubs at it. The ground flattened, and a shockwave pushed everyone back.
Several shapes appeared, leaping between the trees.
"Watch out!" The chrysalids, alert to the situation, quickly shielded the others. Some died in the ambush.
A bad situation! I screamed internally.
As the dust cleared, a monster with black spots like a leopard and four sharp red eyes emerged, revealing the appearance of our enemies.
But how could we fight such fast enemies? Even my senses struggled to detect their presence, as they kept reappearing elsewhere whenever I turned my head.
And I could no longer feel Nisan's presence. Her heart had stopped, even though Ley was administering emergency care and my roots were staunching the bleeding. The gaping hole in her stomach had already sealed her fate.
"G-Grandma…!" Lila weakly held Nisan's hand.
A bloodthirsty leopard leaped from a branch toward Lila, but a chrysalid took the blow and died instantly. The number of chrysalids was dwindling in real time.
"Shrr…"
The bloodthirsty leopards jumped between the trees, looking for opportunities. At least a dozen circled around us.
Ley and Lila froze by Nisan's body, unable to accept reality. But it had been a corpse for a while now. We had to abandon it.
The chrysalids carried Lila, who was crying, and Ley, who was motionless. We formed a circle with the humans in the center and the chrysalids as a wall.
"Damn it!" If my chrysalids were specialized in defense or attack, the situation might have been in my favor. But since my monsters were ordinary, they were quickly killed.
We had only survived so far thanks to my intervention. But there was always a limit to my power at such a distance from my main body.
"Treon, what do we do?!" Nuga stubbornly tried to stab the bloodthirsty leopards with spears she had brought, but it was futile.
These monsters were too fast.
I had to make a decision as annihilation loomed. "Prepare to run!" I urged the remaining chrysalids to form a formation with the humans in the middle and charge forward.
We had to cross the territory before the bloodthirsty leopards killed us.
A race against time!
The bloodthirsty leopards followed in our tracks, quickly catching up and killing those who lagged behind. The gaps were filled by the remaining chrysalids.
I used my roots to set traps along the way to hinder the monsters' movements. It worked well, but the bloodthirsty leopards became more numerous as we went further.
Was this a bloodthirsty leopard nest?!
I thought I saw hundreds of baby, bloodthirsty leopards at one point, but I turned away as more leopards emerged from the trees.
Charge!!
Minutes passed, but the number of chrysalids had drastically dwindled. Only about a dozen remained, nearly exhausted from the chase.
"Ah… This is my fault. I never should have asked us to cross this territory. Grandma Nisan is dead. Please take care of Lila. She's a good girl; she'll be useful to you, Lord. Save my family, it's my only plea!"
"Uncle!!" Lila cried, trying to reach Ley, but Nuga held her back.
Ley had a resolute expression as he rode a chrysalid out of formation.
"Ley! Come back now… Damn it!" Nuga spat blood as she held the reins of the chrysalid and Lila. She watched Ley's figure as half the bloodthirsty leopards chased him.
This relieved some of the pressure on our group.
"Keep moving!" I shouted, focusing on the light ahead. Two deaths weighed on my responsibility. My chest trembled with rage, but survival was the absolute priority. I couldn't afford to lose Lila or Nuga!
"Treon! There's a crevasse ahead!" Nuga shouted fearfully, seeing the exit.
However, the bloodthirsty leopards were now close enough to graze the chrysalids' tails. They drooled, grinning menacingly. We didn't have time to react, and I followed my instincts.
Damn it… "Jump now!" I urged the chrysalids, who immediately leaped off the cliff.
"Ahhh!" Nuga and Lila screamed in unison.
I quickly encased the two girls with my roots.