Chapter 224: That's Enough
"Hey, what exactly are those other things?" Leon had already finished more than a dozen alchemy arrays, but Salomon was still completely in the dark.
"Look behind you!"
"Huh? Behind me...?" Salomon turned around, half skeptical, but the moment he glanced back, he let out a startled cry: "Hell, why are there so many!"
Almost as Salomon turned, a dozen Ghoul Monkeys sprang out from the thicket. These level-15 magical beasts were born killers in the dense forest—swift as the wind, claws dripping with venom. Get too close, and even a mage would clench in fear.
The moment those Ghoul Monkeys burst from the trees, their shrill screeches echoed as they lunged toward Leon under the ancient tree. Their venomous claws glimmered faintly in the gloom—deadly even in the shadows of the forest.
"Bardrack!"
"Understood, Magus Salomon!" Bardrack, captain of the Flash Arrow Mercenary Company, was no less experienced in battle than Seth.
Almost the instant the Ghoul Monkeys appeared, Bardrack, Seaview City's only Ninth Rank Sharpshooter, had already drawn his bow. Three golden, glowing magic arrows were notched between his fingers—no need for aiming, just three brilliant flashes. Three Ghoul Monkeys in midair dropped before they could even scream, shot down by the magic arrows.
Then—boom! The fire elements sealed inside the arrows erupted, and three bursts of flame exploded. The three Ghoul Monkeys hadn't even hit the ground before they were reduced to scorched charcoal by the roaring blaze.
At that moment, Leon—busy as ever—spared a glance over his shoulder, then dove right back into his frantic scribbling, paying no mind to the leaping Ghoul Monkeys or the strange noises echoing through the jungle.
This was exactly why Leon had chosen Bardrack. Among the Nine Great Factions of Seaview City, there were certainly stronger fighters than Bardrack—Kadgar or Lance, for instance, whose combat prowess easily surpassed his.
But Leon hadn’t brought them along this time. He’d chosen Bardrack because archers are the true masters of forest warfare—especially someone at Bardrack’s level, standing at the very peak of sharpshooting. Even now, with Salomon and Hubert barely lifting a finger, Bardrack alone, with bow in hand, was keeping a dozen Ghoul Monkeys at bay.
"Looks like you won’t be needing me after all..." Salomon’s voice actually held a trace of regret.
But Salomon didn’t stay regretful for long...
Because as Bardrack shot down the tenth Ghoul Monkey, the strange sounds in the woods turned into a chorus of soft footsteps. Glancing over, Leon saw flickering wisps of ghostly fire among the thickets, eerie and menacing in the gloom...
Suddenly, a chorus of wolf howls echoed, overlapping and relentless. Yet the wolves themselves were nowhere to be seen—just shadows flickering across the ground, multiplying by the second...
"Shadow Wolves!" Salomon’s heart skipped a beat. At a glance, there had to be dozens of shadows—meaning a pack of at least several dozen Shadow Wolves...
Just remembering that Shadow Wolf that ambushed Merlin when they first entered Four Seasons Gorge—the speed, the power—Salomon felt a chill run down his spine. These things were all around level 15...
"Hubert, get up front!" At that moment, Leon, still frantically inscribing alchemy arrays, glanced up from his work once again.