Chapter 134: Kazu is sharp-eyed, so he’s fast at finding monsters

Sensing a monster attack, the adventurers raised their voices one after another.

"A monster!"

"Not small fry! Tighten up!"

"Wake the ones sleeping! A monster that breaks three Common Shields in one blow! More fighting strength is better!"

"Wasn’t this route supposed to only have small fry?"

"That’s true, but it appeared, so it can’t be helped!"

"Magic jobs! Hurry and put the defensive barriers back up!" ℴ

The adventurers accompanying this caravan were only lower-rank and trainees.

But even among lower-rank adventurers, several with a fair career, around level thirty, were mixed in.

Those adventurers, from three defensive barriers being broken in one blow, instantly noticed it was an attack by a monster that was not small fry, and issued warnings to everyone.

The adventurers all at once started preparing to intercept.

The mages hurriedly chanted spells and deployed new defensive barriers one after another.

Defensive barriers even more powerful than the broken ones were deployed in several times the number, covering and protecting the people of the campsite.

The martial arts job adventurers generated Aura light, while activating various skills, looked around the surroundings and searched for the monster’s form.

"Where’s the monster?"

"Where did the attack come from?"

"If you find it, let us know!"

While searching for the monster that attacked, the adventurers raised their voices.

Kazui too, after activating Aura Mail, looked around the surroundings, but could not visually confirm anything that seemed like a monster.

(Not around... no way!)

Vice’s existence revived in Kazui’s head.

Just recently he had the experience of being crushed by Vice who fell from the sky, then being snatched by Vice flying in the sky.

That was why, earlier than the other adventurers, Kazui could arrive at the possibility of a monster flying in the sky.

Immediately Kazui looked up at the night sky and searched for the monster.

Then just as Kazui read, in the sky there was a huge bird-like existence that could only be thought a monster.

Not only the size, parts of the body looked more beast than bird, so it was clear at a glance it was not an ordinary bird.

"The sky!"

Kazui immediately conveyed to the other adventurers where the monster was.

"In the western sky there’s a huge bird-like monster!"

Hearing Kazui’s voice, the adventurers all at once looked up at the western sky.

"Kazu... you noticed that well."

Tint was impressed by Kazui who noticed first a monster one might miss at a glance.

"Kazu is sharp-eyed, so he’s fast at finding monsters."

Yuri who had finished deploying a new defensive barrier returned words to Tint.

Yuri was a little proud.

Among the adventurers looking up at the sky, there was one who knew that monster’s name.

"A griffin!"

Hearing the name griffin, many of the adventurers showed clear panic.

"No joke! A griffin is Sergeant-class, practically Officer-class! Something like that... if we don’t line up intermediate or above we can’t defeat it!"

A monster with the head and wings of a great eagle and the body of a lion was a griffin.

Not only possessing flight ability from wings, with a lion body ground combat was also possible. A monster that could fight both in the air and on the ground.

The body was considerably larger than a real great eagle or lion.

Hard to tell because the distance was far, but most griffins were huge bodies exceeding an elephant.

Just as one of the adventurers said, a griffin was strong to the degree it was said "if we don’t line up intermediate or above we can’t defeat it."

Mostly defined as Sergeant-class, possessing three sun marks, a three-ring mark.

Sergeant-class itself, in the rank symbols of strength by sun marks, was a lower group.

Even lower-rank adventurers, if relying on numbers, it was not a class of monster they could not defeat, and an intermediate adventurer could defeat one even alone.

But monsters possessing flight ability were not troublesome exactly according to rank symbols.

Unless the number of adventurers with high long-range attack ability was lined up, or there were adventurers with flight ability, they were hard to defeat.

That was why monsters possessing flight ability, their practical strength was regarded as exceeding rank symbols by one or more. That could be called common sense for adventurers.

In other words a griffin was a three-ring mark, but practically it was regarded by adventurers as Officer-class or above of a four-ring mark.

"Anyway, we have no choice but to drop it with anti-air attacks! Mages not holding defensive barriers, prepare anti-air attacks! Mages holding defensive barriers, the embrasures..."

Among the adventurers participating in the caravan escort, the male mage with the highest level issued instructions to the other adventurers.

But before he finished saying those instructions, an impact as if receiving a bombing crashed over the entire campsite.

Together with a roar that split the ears, all the defensive barriers shattered, became a group of countless fragments, and vanished.

Not only the adventurers, screams of the contractors and workers who appeared from the tents echoed.

Receiving an impact too violent as if eating an intense Aura Shot over his whole body, Kazui too was blown away while raising a scream.

Even performing defense with Aura Mail, the bones of his whole body creaked, and Kazui was tormented by intense pain.

Even so, Kazui’s body that had trained as a martial artist this half year immediately started moving to rebuild his posture.

Somehow taking a breakfall, immediately standing and bracing, Kazui confirmed the surrounding situation.

Dirt smoke and grass flew up, and the surrounding situation was hard to grasp.

But that the griffin’s attack could not be fully stopped by the defensive barriers and the attack reached the campsite was a clear situation.

(The attack getting through means all the defensive barriers were broken!)

Kazui guessed what happened.

(With the first attack it couldn’t fully break the defensive barriers, so the second it raised the power.)

Kazui’s guess was correct. The griffin had raised the power above the first and released a second attack.

Even though more powerful defensive barriers were deployed, all being broken was because the second was more powerful.

"Yuri! You all right?"

Worried about Yuri’s safety, Kazui called out.

Unlike himself, Yuri could not protect his body with Aura Mail, and the defensive barrier was deployed to defend around the tents and had not been used to protect his own body.

That was why Kazui worried about Yuri and called out, but there was no reply from Yuri.

He called out repeatedly, but the result did not change.

"Hey hey, no way... Yuri isn’t dead, right?"

To Kazui’s ears tormented by unease, a voice of another adventurer who was not Yuri reached.

"Kazu, right? If it’s Yuri he’s alive!"

"Tint!"

What he heard was Tint’s voice.

While rejoicing that Yuri was alive and that Tint was safe, in bad vision from flying dirt smoke and grass, Kazui started running toward where the voice came from.

Then immediately Kazui arrived at Tint who had been about twenty meters away.

Near Tint, Yuri and Nora were lying down.

Only small Kazui was blown far, and Tint and the others were not blown far.

Similar weight, so Tint and the others three together had been blown to a close place.

Kazui stopped and asked Tint.

"The two of them’s state?"

"They took the shockwave full on and are unconscious, but their bodies seem safe, so I think there’s no danger to their lives."

Hearing Tint’s reply, Kazui was relieved.

"The thick defensive barrier somehow seems to have stopped the griffin’s attack to some degree."

Tint continued looking frustrated.

"That defensive barrier was all broken too, so if we eat the next attack it’s probably the end."

(The mages here, many are low level. Probably a situation not much different from Yuri and the others.)

At a certain level or above, even magic job adventurers could use a defense-granting magic called Magic Mail on themselves and protect their bodies in the sense of Aura Mail.

But participating in this caravan escort were only lower-rank and trainee magic job adventurers.

In other words magic job adventurers who could protect their bodies with Magic Mail were not many.

Like Yuri and Nora, that they were unconscious or in a state close to it, Kazui and Tint could guess.

Actually the dirt smoke was being carried by the wind and settling, and the miserable state of the surroundings started entering Kazui’s vision.

There were people collapsed here and there, but the ones who could move properly were about the situation of martial arts job adventurers.

(Redeploying defensive barriers can’t be expected immediately. If we eat the next attack, just as Tint says, it’s the end.)

At this rate the caravan would be wiped out, and he would die too.

At the fear of death approaching their bodies, Kazui panicked... and was flustered.

"Carrying the two of them would be impossible, but if it’s just me and Kazu we might be able to escape. And it’s a griffin. If it’s us lower-rank and trainees, even if we run we won’t be complained about."

After prefacing, Tint asked Kazui.

"What will you do? Run the two of us? Or fight here?"

Ordinarily it could be called a situation where running was obvious.

Running from a monster with no chance of winning that clearly did not match the reward was only an obvious thing as an adventurer.