Chapter 445

Chapter 445: Escape

The four members of the Hyena Adventurer Team decided to retreat under their captain’s orders. They left behind ‘White Lion’ Lloyd and his two companions, along with a group of ‘Black Ant’ adventurers, and fled toward the city outskirts…

The only S-class Adventurer Squad named ‘Bright Day’, assigned to subjugate the ‘Devouring Demon Mountain’, had still not arrived.

“Captain! Captain, save me… Ughhh!!”

“Damn it, damn it! Back off! Get away!”

“No, please help me… Someone, anyone…”

The team members’ screams echoed incessantly.

Hearing his teammates’ cries for help and their death screams, while watching blood-red tentacles rampage through the air, the captain of the ‘Black Ant’ Adventurer Squad was so furious he nearly shattered his own teeth.

Fueled by this rage, the man roared and cleaved the two giant tentacles attacking him in two!

But after dispatching them, as his field of vision cleared, he discovered in despair—

Perhaps strengthened by earlier ‘feeding’ on townsfolk and Black Armored Knights, the creature had not only grown larger by a full circle, but its surface now writhed again. Then, over twenty more massive tentacles burst through its skin, shooting toward him and his teammates…

Already at a severe disadvantage, with tentacles doubling in number… At this thought, even the few remaining Black Armored Knights showed despair on their faces.

“Is it… over?”

One knight even weakly released his spear, watching helplessly as a gaping maw on a tentacle swallowed him whole… His vision instantly darkened, then came searing pain as his consciousness faded, nostrils filled with the horribly foul stench from the tentacle’s mouth.

“It’s hopeless, hopeless! We’ll all die, bitten to shreds, devoured clean! Hahaha!! Die, everyone die!!”

“Hey, why discard your weapon?! Have you lost your mind? Stay rational!! We still have—”

“Rational? What reason can you give me?! It’s futile, futile!! Even the captain can’t save himself—what hope do we have!”

One team member also laughed wildly, having lost all reason.

But before he could laugh more than twice, tentacles seemed drawn by the sound, killing the defenseless man on the spot. His companion—still rational—followed immediately, barely resisting before being slain and devoured.

One by one, the members perished. This Adventurer Squad, once famed for its hundred-strong roster, now numbered fewer than thirty.

At their speed, they couldn’t outrun the tentacles; fleeing only hastened death.

Just as the towering knight captain stared numbly at the approaching tentacles, several basin-sized fireballs suddenly streaked across the sky, slamming into the three tentacles targeting him.

“Roar!!!”

The tentacles’ unearthly shrieks snapped the knight captain back to awareness.

He turned toward the fireballs’ origin.

“Don’t just stand there—we’ll assist!”

Lloyd appeared, wounds haphazardly bandaged, face smeared with dried blood, hefting a heavy longsword.

Behind him came the youth Rocco, gripping a massive hammer and similarly bloodstained, and the girl Sherry, pale from overuse of magic, clutching her wand.

The fireball spell had clearly erupted from her hand.

After a brief respite, though still disheveled, the three members of the ‘White Lion’ Adventurer Squad seemed combat-ready again.

Upon arrival, Lloyd instantly lunged sword-first toward the fireball-scorched tentacles.

“You must be Sir Aldrich, captain of the ‘Black Ant’ adventurers? I’ve long heard of your reputation.”

The young man Rocco, who arrived next, grinned at Aldrich before immediately chasing after Lloyd with his large hammer.

“You all…”

Aren’t these guys afraid of death? They could’ve fled far away like those ‘Hyena’ members…

Aldrich froze in disbelief.

“If we adventurers flee, the monsters’ next targets won’t just be you—they’ll include the civilians still trapped in this town. Those two fools would never consider escape in such circumstances.”

Just then, the girl Sherry finally caught up, seeming to read Aldrich’s thoughts.

“Pure suicide, I’d say… though tagging along makes me a fool too.”

After speaking, Sherry firmly gripped her magic wand and charged forward without hesitation.

…

Meanwhile, at the frontlines.

After clashing with the tentacles, Lloyd’s expression changed drastically.

His long blade barely penetrated the tentacle’s flesh, failing to cleave through cleanly as before. Worse, the weapon lodged itself within the appendage, resisting his attempts to wrench it free.

The Magnification had rendered the tentacles far tougher than Lloyd anticipated!

“ROAR!!”

Lloyd’s failed strike only enraged the creatures.

The wounded tentacle suddenly twisted, hurling Lloyd—still gripping his embedded blade—skyward.

Simultaneously, two other tentacles flanked the airborne warrior, gaping maws widening to devour the defenseless Lloyd.

At this critical juncture, a young man flashed through the air, his massive hammer crashing down upon the left tentacle!

BOOM!!

The hammer’s substantial weight, amplified by gravity, delivered even greater force than Lloyd’s strike.

The colossal appendage bent violently at the impact point before shrieking as it smashed groundward, unleashing shockwaves that sent debris and gravel flying.

As for the right tentacle…

Sherry reacted nearly as swiftly as Rocco, raising her magic wand the instant he leaped.

But as she began chanting, her vision suddenly darkened—the spell unexpectedly disrupted.

Disaster! The side effects of overcasting…

Dread washed over Sherry as her face paled further.

Just as she feared her master would be shredded before her eyes, a figure streaked past her periphery.

Aldrich.

The towering man had shed his heavy black armor unnoticed, now darting like a shadow toward Lloyd’s right flank.

His spear shot forth like a thunderbolt, piercing clean through the massive tentacle in an instant.