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Chapter 290 Part 1

《【Pole Weapon】 Level Up!》
《You have acquired the【Pole Weapon】weapon arte【Decisive Thrust】!》

I’ll leave working on the second White Elephant Long Spear for later.
Well, it’s something I intend to keep as a spare anyway, so it’s ok to finish it another time.
The Majin are attacking at short intervals.
While I happily welcome them, my unfinished work is going to start piling up if I keep getting uninterrupted.
Let’s use these surprise attacks to vent out this frustration.

And so, we continued hunting.
But something strange happened.

There are no signs of any Lesser Gryphons circling above the Slave Beast – Turtlesnake.
Absolutely none at all!

However, I can see some monsters grouping up around the other Slave Beast – Turtlesnakes, so we can’t let our guard down.
I wonder if I’ll be able to continue doing my Woodworking at leisure…

No, I’ve got it all backwards.
We’re here to do something else.

Besides, we’ve got some time to spare.
The time is 11:30 AM.
It may be a little early, but how about we have lunch?
If I don’t take this chance to eat without any hurries, I’ll have to make do with a portable meal later.

『Then we’ll be logging out now.』

『Time to fight that that big guy at last, right Keith?』

「I guess it might come down to that depending on the situation… Well, fighting it doesn’t sound that unreasonable to me.」

『Reckless as always, huh?』

What?
Was what Adele said just now a joke?
Was that in response to me saying that I might have to fight the Slave Beast – Turtlesnake depending on the situation?
Well…
I’m not that much of a battle fanatic either!
I hate fighting when my chances of winning are low!

Alone inside the Instant Portal, I finish the White Elephant’s Long Spear.
Alright.
Did it come out the same as the first one I made?

《【Woodworking】 Level Up!》

A Level Up, huh?
This is coming up nicely.

Without delay, I hold the White Elephant Long Spear in my hand and swing it.
Yeah, it is heavy after all.
I’d have to reinforce it with a spell if I want to be able to use this with one hand.
I wonder if it can still be used effectively in that case?
After all, spears should be held with both hands.
With the exception of using them as if they were javelins, or when on horseback.

Oh well.
This one’s a spare.
I throw it in the Item Box.
In exchange, I take out a Needlefish Javelin.
I’m quite used to using these as references by now.
How many Needlefish jaws have I replaced so far?
This certainly is a convenient weapon, but that is its only problem.

The plan is to make a Javelin using a White Elephant Tusk.
Of course, I want them to be lightweight, but the White Elephant Tusks alone have a weight of 3+.
I have no plans to cut these tusks into pieces.
The only part of these javelins that can be made lighter would be their handles.
But that doesn’t mean that I’ll be able to make those extremely light.
They need to be thick enough to provide an easy grip.
And they should also be balanced enough for them to be easy to throw.
In other words, these handles need to be long as well.

What should I do…?
But while I was thinking about that, Adele came back.
Then Irina came back as well.
I guess I’ll have to postpone this.

「Then, shall we change our lineups and try to get closer?」

「Sure. However, let’s do this under the assumption that we’ll have to run away at some point. So make sure to bring a Monster that you can ride.」

「Roger that!」

「We’ll use the forest to get closer. So use Owls instead of Hawks, okay?」

「Understood.」

Well then.
I’ll go ahead and change my lineup too.

Volff, Zangetsu, Obsidian, Rig, and Nias.
The effect of Nias’ Cursed Song and Magic Melody doesn’t change that much between fighting a large group or a single opponent.
Well, actually…
It seems that the larger the group we’re fighting against, the larger the ripple effect of Nias’ songs will be.
The idea here is that we may have to escape at some point.
So I want to make sure I have some kind of insurance.

What about Adele’s lineup?
White Horse, White Wolf, Mystic Eye, Golden Fox, and Silver Fox.
Those are a lot of furry friends!
That sounds a lot like Adele to me.

And Irina?
Battlehorse, Great Owl, Pixie, Slime, and Mermaid.
Her lineup seems to be focused on support.
This should do just fine.

Let’s set this up at once.
Our mobility is as high as it should be.
We can instantly flee with this lineup.
What is the purpose of this strategy?
Intel.
Since we’re so close to the group of Demons, it would be a waste to not go take a look.

But we should be even more careful about our buffs.
We also use Forest Walk on each of our mounts.
Well then…
Let’s go!

As we ride through the forest…
The Slave Beast – Turtlesnake looks bigger than ever.

『We’re getting close!』

『Keith! Go ahead and start recording!』

「Oops, that’s right.」

Oh no.
I was supposed to record a video so we could look at them in more detail later, wasn’t I?
I had completely forgotten.

Putting that aside…
Let’s also try to identify the monsters that have formed a group at the feet of the Slave Beast – Turtlesnake.
Let’s start with the big one.

　Slave Beast – Turtlesnake　???
　Event Monster　???　???
　???　???

After all, all I can see with 【Identify】 is its name.
There seems to be a Majin-like creature on top of its head, but my 【Identify】 isn’t giving me anything about it.
What about the ones at its feet?

　Obsidian Beast　Lv.1
　Event Monster　Demon
　Enemy Target　Active
　???　???

I can’t see its attributes, huh?
But what about that other big guy over there?

　Tri-horned Lizard　Lv.1
　Event Monster　Demon
　Enemy Target　Active
　???　???

Oh no.
The Twin-horned Lizards were big creatures, but this one is huge too!
It only looks small in comparison to the humongous Slave Beast – Turtlesnake!
At least there aren’t as many of these guys…

What about the other Demons?
There are some small ones too.
When I say small, I mean in comparison to the Demons around them.

　Garm　Lv.2
　Demon　Enemy Target　Active
　???　???

Wouldn’t these be relatively easy opponents to fight?
They look like the Hellhounds I once fought at the Twelve Heavenly Generals.
However, some of them seem to be of a higher Level than others.
The lowest ones are Level 1, but there are a few that are Level 5 as well.
Still…
There’s only one thing bothering me.
There’s a lot of them!
Overwhelmingly so!

There’s another problem.
These guys are fast.

「Turn to the right! Let’s run away!」

『Y-yeah!』

『Those doggies are chasing me! 』

「Let’s dispose of them! It’s okay, we can do this!」

It’s okay!
Let’s take this opportunity to train while reducing their numbers!
Doggies, huh?
Those Garms do look like dogs.
They look extremely atrocious, but I guess it’s fine to call them dogs.

The pack of Garms is coming at us through the forest with tremendous force.
Since we’re in the forest, their markers aren’t completely visible.
But they’re red.
Bright red.
I’ve seen something like this before.
In a place full of Ants…

Still…
These guys are so fast that they can’t be compared to the Monsters I’ve fought before.
Even though Zangetsu and the others are galloping through the forest quite fast, these Garms have enough momentum that they seem to be catching up.
Do they have some kind of terrain advantage?
That might be the case.

Nias’ singing voice echoes through the area.
It’s also met by the singing voice of Tear, a Mermaid under Irina’s command.
They sing a peaceful song that makes our bodies feel at ease.

But I can also hear a third voice.
What is it?

　Insanity Bard　Lv.9
　Event Monster　Majin　???
　???　???

　Beast Master　Lv.3
　Event Monster　Majin　???
　???　???

　Svadilfari Slave　Lv.3
　Event Monster　Demon　???
　???　???

Oh boy.
A Majin comes after me on horseback.
And the song of the Insanity Bard echoes vigorously through the forest.

So this is song versus song?
In terms of numbers, I think we have the advantage.
But the fight itself isn’t looking good for us.

The pack of Garms is about to get real close to us once again.
Damn it!
I thought we had them for a second!

Nias changes her song.
This one sounds courageous.
It’s a song that inspires allies!
It turned into a chorus alongside Tear’s own singing.

The pack of Garms is being led by a Beast Master riding on a Svadilfari Slave.
I unleashed a spell right in front of it.

「Thorn Fence!」

The pair rammed straight into the thorned wall.
The Majin must have gotten entangled in the ivy and fell off its mount.
Only the Svadilfari fell through the wall.
The point was to cause them to stop, so the wall had done its job.
In addition, it seems that several Garms had come to a halt as well.

Still, those red markers were still shining brightly in front of my eyes.
How many of them are here?

『There’s no end to them!』

「Let’s go west! If we can at least leave the Majins behind, we should be able to manage somehow!」

『I’m trying, but there are too many trees in the way! 』

I can’t say for sure.
The next Svadilfari Slave is chasing us through the forest.
The Insanity Bard rides it at a high speed.
They seem like they’re very tough opponents.
They’ve just jumped over my next Thorn Fence!
What’s up with that?

The group of Demons behind us…
It should be getting smaller to some extent, but their numbers don’t seem to be going any lower.
What should we do?
At this rate, all we’ll be doing is run away while we shoot Demons down.

「Change your Wolves to something that attack from a distance!」

『Are we going to fight against that many of them head on?』

「If we don’t switch to the offensive and start taking these down, we’re going to get overwhelmed at some point!」

Using Switch Monster, I recall Volff and summon Heather.
Adele replaces her White Wolf for her Pixie.
Irina switches her Great Owl out for her Silky.

The problem is whether our MP bars will last against these many monsters.

While choosing and activating an offensive spell, I start thinking…
How did this happen?