Chương 30: Attack

Bang!

Bang bang!

Two loud explosions followed, and Shane immediately opened his eyes.

He quickly scanned his surroundings, but there were no suspicious figures or signs of the barrier being damaged, so it seemed that he hadn't been attacked...

I breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Perhaps it was caused by other adventurers in the vicinity.

He rubbed his eyes, looked at Frillie on the other side of the campfire, paused for 5 seconds, then wiped his face and let out a deep breath.

Girl, your sleeping posture has shattered my fantasy of an elven beauty into dust.

Before Frillie woke up, Shane tidied himself up a bit and set off to catch fish.

He felt that he must have chosen the wrong two fish last night, and this time he could try small fish instead. Drinking some fish soup in the morning would also be a good choice.

Arriving at the riverbank, he scooped up some water, washed his face, and after seeing his reflection in the water, he suddenly stood up and looked up at the sky.

Several bird-like magical beasts are flying from this side of the forest toward the direction of [Gostan City].

Meanwhile, two plumes of thick smoke were faintly rising from that side.

not good!

Shane quickly ran back to wake Frillie up.

"Frilian, wake up! Something seems to have happened in Godstan City!"

Frillie was woken up, her hair all messed up, and she was still half asleep, her eyes barely open. Her body was up, but her soul was still in bed.

"A large number of bird-like magical beasts flew towards the direction of Gostan City. I also heard two explosions, but I don't know if they came from the city gate."

Upon hearing Shane's words, Frilian looked up at the sky and saw two bird-shaped magical beasts flying by in the distance.

Her expression turned serious:

"I remember when we entered the city, the guards mentioned that there had been some unexplained attacks recently. Now it seems that it might have been the work of monsters or demons."

"We can't let them destroy the city; we have to go back and help."

Hearing Frilian's words, Shane was not surprised. He knew that Frilian would not allow humans to be attacked by demons, and he agreed to go back and help.

but……

"It's at least half a day's journey from here to Gostan City. If you're carrying me, can your flying magic get you there?"

"Flying magic can only be used for a maximum of half an hour continuously. If you're included, the flight time will likely be even shorter, and we definitely won't be able to fly. Furthermore, we can't overuse flying magic and deplete our mana prematurely, which would be disadvantageous if we encountered powerful demons."

Xia En nodded.

The question then becomes: how can they get back as quickly as possible?

Frillie was also thinking about this problem.

Her gaze passed over Shane and fell upon the moa scattered among the bushes in the distance, a bold idea forming in her mind.

Xia En followed her gaze and looked over, her eyes filled with terror, alarm bells blaring.

"No, don't even think about it, it's absolutely impossible... I refuse!"

15 minute later.

Xia En, holding onto the [Terror Bird] by the neck, sped along the road.

"Frilian, if I die from this, you'll be fully responsible—" He roared angrily, but his roar was swallowed up by the howling wind.

Frillie rode her Terror Bird with great interest, watching Shane darting left and right ahead, a slight smile playing on her lips.

……

……

What would normally be a half-day journey was completed in just one hour with the help of the moa.

Not far from the city gate, the two disembarked and chose to walk.

The situation was far worse than they had anticipated.

A large hole had been breached in the city gate, with weapons scattered around and bloodstains on the ground. Not far from the gate, a large hole had also been found in the wall, half of which had collapsed.

Xia En guessed that the two explosions he heard must have come from here.

As the two stepped through the city gate, the area closest to the gate was completely destroyed. Xia En even spotted the tailor shop where they had once hidden. The second floor of the tailor shop had been completely sheared off and was almost razed to the ground.

The other houses weren't much better.

There was rubble everywhere and sporadic fires, but thankfully, they did not see any injured or dead residents.

"Who goes there!"

Just then, two soldiers suddenly rushed out from the side, their sharp spears aimed mercilessly at the two men.

Xia En quickly held up the Adventurers' Guild's quest scroll.

"Don't misunderstand, we're adventurers returning to town to turn in a quest. What happened? Do you need any help?"

Upon hearing this, the two soldiers exchanged a glance. One of them took the scroll, examined it, and nodded to the other.

"The city has been attacked by demons. The injured civilians have been moved to the city hall for refuge. You two should go there quickly too. The search and rescue work has been taken over by the guards, so don't worry. Please go to the shelter as soon as possible."

"Where are the demons you mentioned?" Frilian asked.

"We don't know either. After the demons attacked the city gates and caused chaos, they disappeared. General Grüx suspects they have taken advantage of the chaos to infiltrate the city and is leading his men in a citywide search. Don't wander off; please get to the city hall as soon as possible."

After saying that, the two soldiers did not delay any longer and continued to check the damaged houses one by one to ensure that no civilians were left behind.

Shane and Frillie exchanged a glance, both harboring bad suspicions.

Demons are adept at disguising themselves as humans; if they have already infiltrated and blended into the crowd, then things are going to get really bad.

Fortunately, the city hall gate had a magic that could identify demons, which they had seen before.

It seems that General Grüx's decision to send people there for refuge was not only for their safety, but also to narrow down the search area and find the demons as soon as possible.

Bang!

Just then, an explosion was heard from the northwest corner of the city.

Bang!

Another explosion rang out, and the same sound came from the southwest corner of the city.

Bang!

Another explosion was heard, this time from the southeast corner of the city.

The series of explosions proved that the demons had not been identified and were still causing unrest!

Frilian grabbed Shane and used [Flight Magic] to fly into the air with him.

Thick smoke billowed from the three locations from which the sound came, obscuring the specific situation.

However, it can still be seen that a large number of soldiers are rushing to the streets connecting these places.

"The demons are deliberately causing trouble; they must have some purpose..." Xia En guessed, frowning.

Hearing his words, Frilian nodded.

"By creating disturbances in different directions to scatter their forces and defeat them one by one, it seems the enemy also has a clever commander. Such a large-scale operation is unlike their usual style; there must be something here that they desperately want."

"Frilian, let's go take a look in the northeast."

"The northeast? There was no explosion there, why go there?"

"Because it's a diversionary tactic."

Upon hearing the phrase "luring the tiger away from the mountain," Frillie's expression turned serious. After a moment's thought, she agreed with Shane's assessment.

These demons have always been generous in displaying their power, carrying out massacres and annihilations of entire clans in the most extravagant way possible. This time, however, they are acting furtively, hiding their true intentions and making it clear that they do not want a direct confrontation.

What are they afraid of?

Afraid of being outmatched? Then they wouldn't have launched a surprise attack.

Since they're not afraid of losing, there's only one other possibility: they're afraid of being entangled or hindered.

In order not to be hindered.

Their true destination must be wherever there is no unrest.

Just as Frillie thought, so did Shane.

He also recalled the adventurer's map he had seen before, which featured a blood-red skull symbol that left a deep impression on him.

The unexplored labyrinth, "Upside-Down Land," is located in the northeast corner of the city.