With my current proximity to the wolf, I could even go and appraise its level. However, as soon as I did, I quickly regretted it. "Level 55!"
This giant fox, which was reaching over five meters tall, was actually stronger than even those insects that invaded earth! It was so scary that I forgot to breathe while the fox was nearby, afraid that it would hear my breathing and find my location.
Fortunately, it seemed as if the giant fox was heading somewhere and didn't even bother checking its surroundings. As soon as its figure went out of view, moving in an eastward direction, I quickly restarted my breathing.
"T-That was scary as hell...!" I exclaimed as all the tension left my body, letting me slump down against the giant pile of bones. "That one looked even stronger than the turtle boss, despite being a lot smaller!"
To my east, there should be Mina first and Lily a bit further. I just hope that the big fox won't reach the girls' area. Still, for now, I should fear for my own safety first.
"It headed east, so I definitely can't go there. Then, I'd try heading southwest from here." After all, backing away and returning to base after just a few minutes would be a waste.
After the shaking of my legs stopped, I stood up and began jogging in my designated direction. As soon as I did, however, I quickly felt something amiss.
"...?"
From behind me, I could suddenly feel the same pressuring aura. It should have been impossible since I went in the opposite direction, but better safe than sorry. I quickly dove into a pile of bones, peeking through the gaps and observing my surroundings. Soon, another giant fox monster approached! It was coming from the northeast direction, which was directly behind me earlier.
'Sh*t...!'
Furthermore, it stopped right where my tracks were, sniffing the air as if looking for something. Did it find me? Or is it searching for me? I'm not sure, but if it did locate my position, then I'm surely doomed.
Although it was weaker than the other, only at level 44, there was a chance that the stronger fox would come running if I tried to fight this one. Fighting two boss-level monsters at the same time would be nothing short of suicide, and I don't have plans to die just yet.
The fox sniffed around for quite a while, making my heart beat wildly against my chest as its head came close to my location. Its tail was waving slowly, but I had no idea what mood it was in to do that motion.
Suddenly, the ears of the fox twitched, making it raise its head up and look far to the north before running fast. 'Am I saved...?' I thought as I maintained my silence for a few more seconds until I was convinced that the fox was really gone.
I crawled out of the bone pile, but I was worried about my next course of action. I already found two of them, so finding a third and fourth one wouldn't be weird, given my rotten luck. At this point, all I wanted to do was retreat back to safety. However...
"... The other fox went north. That's the direction back to our rendezvous point. In short, I can't return for now."
If I did turn around and return and somehow meet the fox on the way, then that's a game over for me. Having no choice, I decided to head even deeper, but this time much more carefully than before.
Forget running; I wasn't even jogging. I crept from one cover to another, moving in the southwest direction. Looking at the time, ten minutes had already passed. With five more minutes, I'd have no choice but to trace back my steps and return.
After three more minutes of careful exploration, I ended up finding something I wasn't expecting. "A... nest?"
Ahead, there's a large clearing, where in the middle looked like a well-prepared nest. There were three foxes there, playing with each other, whose sizes were about as large as I was tall. They were huge, but a lot smaller than the previous two.
"... Don't tell me, the two earlier are a pair, and these are their offsprings?"
It was reasonable to think that. After all, they're all in the same area and of the same race. It being a coincidence only would be a little too farfetched instead.
I carefully crept even closer, making sure that I was located downwind. When the distance was enough, I tried appraising them and found that each of the three was merely level 18.
At that moment, two voices were fighting in my head. One was urging me on to kill the three and finally get more data for the World Breaker class to increase my level cap. While the other voice was telling me to forget about it, killing the three kits would enrage the two parents and probably make it much more difficult for the military to invade later on.
In the end, I chose the peaceful option. I just can't risk creating two raging enemies for later, after all. "I'd probably see other specimens later. Hunting those would be a lot better."
As I was watching the kits play with each other, something unnatural entered my view. I narrowed my eyes as I stared far into the south, where something like a black cloud was undulating and seemingly coming closer.
"Wait... that's no cloud! It's a swarm!"
I can't judge the distance well since I have no idea about the enemy's size or the curvature of this planet, but if this one's the same as Earth too, then they should be roughly 10 kilometers off the distance and approaching rapidly. Most likely, in under five minutes, they would arrive at this location!
"F*ck this sh*t! I'm out!"
If I get spotted by such a large swarm, then I'd have a zero percent chance to survive. Rather, was this planet just that dangerous? It hadn't been an hour yet, and I'd already met a lot of things that could threaten our lives!
The three kits probably felt the approaching threat, turning to the south. As soon as they saw the approaching swarm, they all huddled together, hiding under the shadow of their small nest, while they raised a high-pitched cry.
*KUUUUUUU!* *KUUUUUUU!*
"...!"
I don't need to understand a fox's language to know what they're saying. They're calling for their parents, no doubt!
At that point, I miscalculated two things. One is the speed of the swarm. As soon as the kits started to raise a loud cry, the cloud of insects accelerated faster. They'd probably reach our position in less than a minute.
The next thing that I miscalculated was the parent's sense of danger. Out of reflex, I quickly buried myself in the pile of bones by the side. As soon as I did, two giant foxes came to the center of the nest, leaping over all the obstacles around them.
The pair started to intimidate the incoming swarm, raising a powerful dog-like bark, but to no avail. Soon, the swarm came close enough that I could identify what sort of insect they were. It was something like a black bee or a wasp mixed together. I wasn't sure which it was, but the sharp needle on the tip of their abdomen looked extremely dangerous.
As abrupt as their approach, a battle ensued.
The two parent foxes were fighting defensively since they had three kits behind them that couldn't defend themselves. With each swipe of their paws, a large chunk of the swarm would fall. However, they seemed limitless, as the positions of the ones they killed would fill up almost instantly.
The foxes seemed to only be capable of physical attacks, but their speed and strength were beyond normal. Each swipe wounded fifty to a hundred of the large bees, each about a foot in size.
As soon as the swarm realized that they couldn't approach using their stings, they started to change their approach. Instead of stinging the foxes directly, they fired the needles on their abdomen!
The foxes seemed to have read their plan and were about to dodge, but stopped. I was confused as to why they didn't move away, but quickly realized the reason. If they move, the kits would end up getting hit by the needles!
*WHINE!* *WHINE!* *WHINE!*
The two parents tried to endure. Even though each needle could do little damage to them, the numbers were astounding. In just a few seconds, probably thousands of needles were fired in their direction, hitting their bodies randomly.
The level 55 one, which seemed to be the father, waved its tail to deflect most of the needles, but still, it wasn't enough to prevent everything. Soon, the two became so weakened that they were unable to move as quickly as before.
Some of the bees managed to circle around them and target the kits. Two of the three were frozen in fear, but one of them stood up and tried to fight back. Still, the difference in level was apparent. In a single hit, the poor but brave kit fell, a large needle poking at its abdomen.
"...!"
Seeing up until that point, I determined that enough was enough. I quickly pulled my hammer from the World Storage and smashed the bone pile above me. Fragments flew all over the place; some even ended up piercing the flying bees. However, I didn't care about that.
With a large leap, I reached the five bees attacking the little ones. I swung the hammer horizontally, creating a powerful impact that ended up crushing them upon contact.
*SPLAT!*
I glared at the rest of the bees, ignoring the wary stares of the two parent foxes. "You lot... how dare you try and hurt something this cute? I'll never forgive you!"