Chapter 443

Chapter 443: Battle

Once the battle commenced, the leader of the Hyena Adventurer Team—the bespectacled man—and the tall, slender man realized just how remarkable it was that Lloyd had fought those tentacles for so long.

Even with support from archer and mage teammates behind them, they still felt overwhelmed.

Just then, the slender young man glanced sideways and spotted the contingent of black knights behind them.

“It’s the Black Ants!”

“What?”

The bespectacled man paused briefly before delight washed over him.

“Excellent! Let’s lure this monster toward them. There’s no reason we should bear the brunt alone.”

As the words left his mouth, the two men wordlessly coordinated their efforts to parry the tentacle before them. They then swiftly rejoined the archers and mage behind them, retreating toward the Black Knights’ position.

The Adventurer Squad named ‘Black Ant’ was the third Class A Adventurer Squad involved in this operation, alongside their own ‘Hyena’ and Lloyd’s ‘White Lion’.

Though termed a “squad,” its numbers reached an astonishing one hundred members.

Owing to their large size and uniform equipment, the reputation of the ‘Black Ant’ Adventurer Squad was not only comparable to the other two teams but arguably surpassed them.

However, this very size meant the Adventurer Squad often divided into smaller groups to undertake missions independently.

Unless faced with an exceptionally difficult task requiring the entire team, assembling the full Adventurer Squad was rare.

The current mission—”Subdue the Devouring Demon Mountain”—was precisely such a task.

In single combat, these ‘Black Ant’ adventurers might not match members of their two teams. Yet in squad combat, the bespectacled man knew well that even allied with ‘White Lion,’ they stood no chance against the Black Ants.

After all, within the ‘Black Ant’ Adventurer Squad, apart from their enigmatic captain, all other members were at least Class B adventurers.

The bespectacled man was confident he could defeat multiple ‘Black Ant’ members single-handedly. However, if their numbers reached double digits, the outcome would change drastically.

…

The thunderous sound of the flesh mountain moving echoed from behind. Judging by its volume, its speed matched their own desperate, full-sprint retreat.

Nerves frayed, the four members of the Hyena Adventurer Team fled with gritted teeth.

The black-armored knights drew steadily nearer. They showed no intention of greeting the Hyena Adventurer Team; instead, they purposefully fanned their formation slightly and charged directly towards the flesh mountain.

Only after passing the contingent of black-armored knights did the four Hyena Adventurer Team members finally stop, breathing sighs of relief.

Looking back, they saw the hundred adventurers of ‘Black Ant’ were indeed locked in combat with the terrifying tentacles.

True to their status as the most renowned among the three Class A Adventurer Squads, drawing upon extensive combat experience, these black-armored knights could individually parry the tentacles. Working in pairs, they could even sever them!

One knight used a long spear to block the gaping maw’s bite, while the other seized the moment to thrust his own iron spear deep into the maw. As the tentacle writhed in pain and fury, the first knight drew a long knife from his waist, leaped from his saddle, landed upon the tentacle’s back, and brought the blade down with all his might—

Through this seamless display of coordination, a tentacle was cleanly severed.

Moreover, thanks to the remarkable defensive properties of their black armor, even when bitten, the maw’s crushing force couldn’t immediately pierce their protection.

It was crucial to remember these tentacles could shred the walls of houses like paper.

Powerful equipment, flawless teamwork, and unwavering courage…

Even the typically arrogant four members of the Hyena Adventurer Team found themselves silently admiring these fearless knights.

If such knights couldn’t defeat this monster, they themselves would surely be helpless.

…

One by one, the tentacles fell to the knights’ combined assaults. After more than twenty were utterly destroyed, their spirits soaring, the knights erupted in a triumphant roar.

With the tentacles severed, the flesh mountain’s main body was next.

Just as this thought crossed their minds, the colossal flesh mountain’s surface began to convulse violently. The severed halves of the tentacles were being retracted back into its mass.

“What’s happening? What’s it doing now?”

At that moment, Lloyd, who had earlier been rescued by the Hyena Adventurer Team, gasped for breath, his gaze sternly fixed on the flesh mountain towering over ten meters tall in the distance.

Though he had consumed a Life Recovery Potion and medicine for internal injuries, and his external wounds had been hastily treated by his two apprentices, he remained immobilized. Regaining enough strength to fight would take considerable time.

“No matter what it intends, all we can do now is watch,” Rocco said with a bitter smile beside him. Though less severely injured than Lloyd, his arms were utterly spent, rendering him incapable of fighting for the moment.

“Between our earlier struggle and the ‘Black Ant’ adventurers’ recent battle, we’ve clearly severed nearly thirty of its tentacles. Yet it shows no sign of weakening… Is this a monster we can truly overcome?”

Sherry, the mage who had sustained almost no injuries, frowned as she spoke.

While she could still fight, abandoning Lloyd and Rocco here was unthinkable.

Her pessimistic words had scarcely faded when the flesh mountain’s surface began to transform!

The violent convulsions ceased, and the mangled flesh and limbs within its bulk began to reorganize… coalescing into a single, far thicker tentacle that erupted through its surface, revealing itself to the onlookers.

If the previous tentacles had been the width of wash basins, this newly formed monstrosity was as thick as the trunk of a tree requiring four or five men to encircle it with their arms!

And this was not the only one.

Several more rupturing sounds echoed, and everyone witnessed one immense tentacle after another emerge before the flesh mountain.

They unfurled their ends, revealing gaping maws, also enlarged more than tenfold. The sight of the razor-sharp teeth within these colossal orifices sent chills down every spine.

The black armor worn by the ‘Black Ant’ Adventurer Squad members had withstood the earlier tentacle attacks, but facing these “evolved” horrors, the outcome remained uncertain.