"Report, Commander! No monsters have been found nearby for the time being."
The alerted soldiers first carefully searched the area around the resting ce of the refugees once again.
Clearly, the monsters had not yet approached closely.
"That''s good."
The No.1 Commander let out a sigh of relief upon hearing this.
If they were really attacked by monsters from the shadows at night, just their dozen or so people would probably be hard-pressed to provide perfect protection.
However, a choicey before them—
Retreat? Or clear out the monsters?
This would depend on how tough the enemies were.
"Tiger, take your men and support Bai E with me, and you scouts,e along as well."
Better to take the initiative than to wait passively.
Therge number of refugees, with no tactical training, would likely make a hasty retreat difficult without issues arising.
Taking advantage of the enemy''s distance to assess their strength and make a decision was better than waiting in ce for news.
And if the targets were indeed tough, the two squads plus a few scouts could still serve to slow the enemy''s pace, buying enough time for the refugees to retreat.
Leaving Squad 2 behind was for managing the refugees; if anything went amiss on Bai E''s side, they could immediately inform this side to retreat via voicemunication.
The arrangements of the No.1 team leader were swiftly carried out.
"Yes!"
"Received!"
...
With a "click," the safety pin of a fragmentation grenade was pulled, and timing thest two seconds, Bai E threw it to where the iing monsters were most concentrated.
Thanks to his newly acquired orcish throwing specialization, he managed to aim quite well.
The metallic casing bounced on the ground slightly before exploding with a boom.
Numerous tiny metal shards shot outwards from the center of the explosion, and a torrent of hot st instantly shredded a cluster of small spiders.
[Sessfully threw the grenade to the right location, Throwing Mastery experience +3.]
[Dealt 30 points of fatal damage to the target!]
[The target''s vital signs have disappeared.]
In encounters with bugs and orcs, these small individual weapons weren''t of much use, but against these smaller creatures that were within the bounds ofmon sense, grenades were definitely useful.
"Click~"
"Click~"
One after another.
Taking advantage of the spiders that hadn''t fully approached and within a safe distance, Bai E threw all five grenades he had on him in quick session.
Once they got really close, he wouldn''t dare to continue throwing grenades recklessly.
However, after just running down a street, the spider horde, slightly held back by the grenades, once again surrounded him.
Bai E passed the machine gun to his left hand, wielding both the machine gun and the military saber.
Benefiting from an ancient warrior''s specialty—Weapon Master— the proficiency in light firearms and light weapons effectively got a +1 level boost.
The actual effectiveness of a level 4 and level 1 specialization became level 5 and level 2, respectively.
The machine gun was for mainline killing, while the saber was for close defense.
Even when encountering more troublesome monsters, the de attached to the machine gun could work in tandem with the saber, allowing for a coordinated defense with both hands.
Of course, the de attachment on the machine gun was very heavy, belonging to the same category as the Bug-ying de, within the range of heavy weapons.
With Bai E''s level 2 Heavy Weapon Specialization, its effectiveness was actually at level 3, which was more than sufficient.
The three specializations came into y simultaneously, wielding both gun and de, sweeping through all opposition.
The two young ones following Bai E were also retreating rapidly and steadily, encountering some spiders that had previously been held back on the way back.
With 360 degrees of the battlefield, Bai E alone obviously couldn''t attend to everything; he could only fall back and do his best to hold off the main body of the chasing spider tide, leaving the few medium and small spiders on the way back to fend for themselves.
Fortunately, the spiders blocking their return were notrge, and fortunately, the two youngsters disyed astonishingbat abilities.
The orcish cleaver, which seemed small in an orc''s hand, seemed somewhat unwieldy when held by a human youth; the heavy weight meant Morphie had to grip it with both hands to properly wield it without hurting himself on the spikes and serrated edges.
When facing slightlyrger medium-sized spiders, it was he who bravely engaged them.
As for Kiro Lan... her performance was more reminiscent of Bai E.
Imitating Bai E''s stance of fighting with both gun and knife, Kiro Lan took a dagger from a sheath on Bai E''s calf.
The small handgun and dagger might not have been as intimidating as Bai E''srge gun and sword, but weapons that suited her size were undoubtedly the ones she could control wlessly.
```
In the gaps where Morphie was fiercely fending off those iing sharp ws, it was Kiro Lan who made crucial follow-up strikes with his nimble knife and gun.
The coordination was surprisingly in sync.
"Did you often have to fight in your previous lives?" Bai E, who was sparing a fraction of his attention to watch his back and be ready to burst out at any moment, asked curiously.
"Not often..."
"Bang! Bang!"
Kiro Lan coolly fired his gun, and even after hearing Bai E''s question, he was still able to maintain a clear head and respond urately, "asionally followed an old hunter on a couple of hunts, but we never got the chance to take a shot."
So, was it purely natural talent?
And as the fight progressed, their performance and cooperation became more and more polished.
The two of them nced back at Bai E from time to time while fighting; their ability to control their weapons seemed to advance by leaps and bounds in this kind of livebat training.
At first, their attacks were straightforward, especially for Morphie, who seemed to struggle considerably to control the huge chopper in his hands.
However, as the battle went on, before any significant improvement in physical strength, their weapon handling became increasingly delicate.
Often, a defensive move would naturally transition into a counter-strike sh, something utterly unimaginable at the outset.
Amidst this adaptation tobat, the two small figures began to clear the way even faster.
Bai E, who was always watching his back, keenly observed this change.
On the side unseen by the two little ones, Bai E''s expression seemed a bit strange.
If these two didn''t act as recklessly as gamers, and seemed to have wide connections among the refugees, origins that could be traced, he would suspect they were also molded from the gamer temte.
Of course, the main reason was that he didn''t receive any experience feedback.
Just natives with strong learning abilities?
Like how Kiro Lan learned his medical skillsst night?
That''s fine.
With such abilities, whether right now or after reaching the city, they should be able to lead a decent life, so he need not worry about them anymore.
If one looked down from the sky, they would see a dense, grayish-white "carpet" spreading quickly in a certain direction under the cover of night.
Ahead of the carpet were three small ck dots moving swiftly, and in the direction they were headed, some simrly sized grayish-white dots were also emerging continuously from the dark ruins on both sides.
It seemed that sensing their prey was about to escape theid trap, the "presence" lurking in the dark finally lost its patience to remain hidden.
With the sticky sound of segmented limbs tapping on the ground everywhere, pairs of pitch-ckpound eyes focused on Bai E''s direction from all directions—as if the three enveloped in this boundless malice could feel a tangible desire for ughter chilling to the bone.
The desire to hunt had merged into a breath-taking killing intent, capturing the soul.
[With the help of "Self Restraint," you have sessfully filtered out a certain predatory marking.]
In almost the time it took to inhale, Bai E filtered out that intimidating killing intent that seemed to chill one from head to toe.
Compared to the corruption of higher-dimensional demons, the ability of these ordinary monsters was still insufficient.
Bai E took a deep look over his shoulder at the oing tide, where it felt like an icy, lifeless will was staring coldly at him...
The two children whocked the corresponding abilities felt an instant chill in their hands and feet.
Morphie, who was struggling to wield the chopper, was already in a precarious bnce, and the sudden mental intimidation made him stagger; he suddenly lost bnce and fell forward.
Kiro Lan showed no apparent reaction, but his response to a spider lunging at him was noticeably slower.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
...
"Damn it!"
A line of warriors emerging from behind a corner of the ruins, drawn by the sound of gunfire, tensed up at the scene unfolding before them.
The encirclement wasplete; the grayish-white spider army was gradually surrounding the three isted figures.
If it were only Bai E, they would naturally not worry too much, given thebat ability he had disyed.
But there were also two children by his side...
Would he risk injury for the sake of the children?
Their distance made them anxious but powerless.
...
"Puchi!"
The de of the war machine gun whizzed through the air, splitting the body of a small spider in two.
The two halves of the corpse drifted down slowly.
"Give me your hand."
Bai E''s always stable and calm voice rang in the ears of the little ones as a pair ofrge hands reached out towards the fallen Morphie in front of him.
"It''s just a predicament, I''ll lead you out of here."
```