Ayumi and her team managed to capture a lot of Melody Geese more than they had expected. Perhaps, they could fill two wagons of them... Aside from that, almost half of them are captured alive.

Apparently, for the first time in their generation, they will try to breed them and see whether it could truly change their living conditions.

​​

'Master… I noticed that these people were actually strong.'

'Of course, they survived here for a long time already… It would be weird if they remained weak.' Reiji replied to Ayumi.

They've seen them with nimble feet and impressive coordination during their hunt. Perhaps, these people are the elites of the village and qualified to lead a few cultists to capture some sacrifices for their imp god.

Aside from that, their half-imp bloodline was also something they shouldn't underestimate. Reiji can't treat them as normal people because of this and he had to expect a better result from them.

'Mio, there's a beast lurking behind that huge rock… Let the others know.'

'Yes, Master.'

Ayumi replied calmly as this happens often. She would always be reminded of these dangerous creatures before they could even become a threat.

She can only be thankful that her master had awakened most of his powers in the past few years as it made his detection ability a lot stronger and almost no beast could reach them unnoticed.

'And it's Ayumi, Master Reiji…' She added.

Anyway, the names that Reiji had given to them were actually names of his classmates before. After all, his Sword Slaves needs to have proper names when he decided to let them become his messengers to the villages they visited.

He can only think of some familiar names and gave them to the ladies.

"Everyone… There's another beast over there… Be careful…"

Ayumi pointed to the huge rock which stopped everyone from collecting the bodies of the Melody Geese…

Then, Ayumi saw Tamas raised his spear… It seems that he's planning on engaging with the beast after hearing her.

He's the strongest half-imp in the group and she knows that this man is capable of establishing his branch of Evil Cult within the kingdom if he wanted to…

Anyway, it's not her intention to stop them from killing it but only to let them know to avoid getting ambushed.

Rooaar!

A thundering roar was suddenly heard as the said beast noticed the approaching half-imp…

"Whoa! It's here!"

"Look! That's a minotaur!"

"How did it get here?"

"I won't be here alone… I think we should run…"

The half-imps suggested after realizing the identity of the enemy. It's not like they are afraid of the minotaur… After all, they fought way stronger creatures than them.

However, they normally move in groups of 10 or 30 depending on the status of their leader. Seeing a hiding minotaur here means that he's probably waiting for his companions…

"Wait! He's injured! We can kill him quickly… The others will retreat… We have to bring those safely to the village. Is that alright, Ayumi?"

"Fine…"

The lady replied but she's not planning on moving yet… She decided to let the half-imps fight the creature.

Roar!

The minotaur is holding a crude axe made of sharpened stone as he slammed it on the ground.

Boom!

Tamas and his four other companions were not intimidated by such actions as they moved forward and raised their weapons…

Haa!

Each of their strikes was imbued with their Spiritual Energy…

Viper Strike!

It is an Arcane Magic that weakens the target… It is a common ability being used by the members of the cult.

After all, half-imps may not be strong physically compared to the minotaur, but they are blessed with intelligence that allows them to easily learn and create Arcane Magic…

Unlike pure humans, they do not have to be Arcanist to utilize the power of the objects or materials to create a Magic Item. They have the power to bring out the full potential of any materials as long as they have made preparation.

Ayumi then heard the minotaur scream in pain as he was being stabbed by the five half-imps…

They were having a hard time piercing the tough hide of the creature. Luckily, as the minotaur weakens, the spiritual energy covering his body dissipates…

It wouldn't be long before he would succumb to his death.

'This is bad… Master, do you think it has allies?'

'There should be… You have to hurry…'

'I understand, Master…'

As Tamas and the others are still taking long, Ayumi decided to step in and give a finishing blow…

A sword stab filled with her spiritual energy followed by Reiji's Void Slash killing the beast completely and even pushing the corpse inside his storage space…

It happened so fast which confused the others… They had never seen an attack that completely obliterates the opponent!

"Ayumi! What was that attack?! How did the minotaur vanish?"

"I'll explain later… Its allies should be getting near, we have to leave this place now. Do you think we can move the wagons faster?"

"Ahh… Yes… I have a storage ring here. However, I can't allow living creatures inside… This is only a Rare-Rank Arcana, after all."

"I understand… It will lighten their burden at least…"

Ayumi nodded after hearing the man. She leads their way out of the forest as they heard the rampaging minotaurs behind!

It seems that they've noticed the disappearance of their kind… Reiji decided to take its complete body to remove the traces of its death in hopes of getting away with it without any more trouble.

However, the scent of blood around the area was still probably present and it made them realized that their fellow minotaur was taken away.

"Ayumi… If the minotaurs managed to get closer, the five of us will stop them… You lead the rest away from here…"

Tamas courageously said as he was prepared to sacrifice himself…

"I understand… But that may not be necessary… Anyway, have you fought with these guys before?" She asked.

"No... They should be deep inside the forest or perhaps in the mountain where the origin of the river flows…"

"Oh… They must be hunting for food then…"

"Mhmm… Yes, perhaps they've already eaten all the smaller creatures there… They no longer have predators in the forest so their population must've grown large after several years…" Tamas muttered as he glances behind them from time to time… He can already see the silhouette of the minotaurs chasing their group.

They do not have horses for everyone as the horses were only for the wagons they have… Although they placed the corpses of the Melody Geese in their storage rings, they were still not moving enough…

"Do you think they'll chase us even after getting far away from the forest?"

Ayumi asked since she knows in the past that the Evil Beasts has their own territory they wanted to protect. There are many cases that once they leave their territory and entered another creature's place, the ones chasing them would hesitate before moving away.

"Mhmm… As long as they've set their eyes on us… They wouldn't stop chasing us…"

"I see… That's bad news…"

Ayumi muttered as she squinted her eyes… Her master just reported that 24 minotaurs are chasing them… She's considering whether they should stand on their ground or split up like what Tamas wanted.

However, she suddenly heard one of the members cursed under his breath…

"What bad luck! Those minotaurs should be guarding that tomb right?! Why are they here?"

'Tomb?' This is the first time she heard them talk about the tomb…

As far as she remembers, her master was actually looking for a tomb inside this forest a long time ago!

As expected, as soon as the man said this, her Master Reiji immediately urged her to get more information.

"Hey! You with the poop hair! What did you say about the tomb?! Tell me more about it…"

She arrogantly asked while running…

"Eh? W-we're still running? Can't we do this later?! I'll let you know after we survive here."

The man was surprised after being called by the female guardian… She had never talked to him before and was a bit flustered. He realized that her voice sounded even more angelic if it was directed to him.

Nevertheless, although he was excited to speak with her, he was still reminded about their precarious situation…

Though they have better physical qualities compared to humans, the difference wasn't that big, and running around like this can still exhaust them.

'Master…'

'I understand… We'll deal with the minotaurs… I already surveyed this area before but I didn't find any tombs… It seems that asking locals is still the best option.'

'I understand…' Ayumi said as he stopped running with the group as she pulled the wooden sword strapped on her waist.

Apparently, the reason why Reiji was looking for the tomb was because of what Odette told him before…

That's right, it is the location of one of the Cursed Arcana in this chaotic land. A Cursed Arcana that is definitely a Sentient one….