Chapter 72: Chapter 69: Deadly Watcher
Allen walked over. Bruno was pointing at the corpse of a Marching Ant that had been blasted into the open by a grenade.
This Marching Ant was nearly a full size larger than the others, but that wasn’t the strangest part.
The corpse of the much larger Marching Ant lay still on the ground. Its cause of death was neither the explosion nor the fire.
In the very center of its hard cranial shell was a circular hole, about the width of a finger. The edges of the opening looked as if they had been lted by intense heat and then cooled, as though it had been precisely pierced by an invisible, scorching-hot poker.
A wound like this was clearly not caused by one of Allen’s grenades.
Allen crouched down. Instead of touching it with his hands, he took out a pair of Alchemy Forceps from his Space Ring and carefully probed the hole.
"The opening is smooth, and the inner walls are scorched. I’m not finding any foreign objects inside," Allen said after a careful inspection.
"Instantaneous high temperature, incredible penetrating power, and a perfectly straight trajectory. It probably wasn’t a physical attack."
Baston drew a sharp breath. He stared at the deep hole, imagining what would happen if his shield—or even his head—were to be hit by sothing like that...
"You an... before we burned this swarm of ants, sothing else was out here... doing target practice?"
Baston’s voice was hoarse.
"Not target practice."
Allen stood up, his gaze sweeping over the gloomy, dense forest around them, as if countless pairs of eyes were hidden there.
"It’s a hunt. And we might have just stumbled into another Hunter’s territory."
That one word sent a chill through the air, dropping the temperature to a freezing point.
The three of them, who monts ago had been in awe and relieved at having annihilated the swarm of ants, now felt nothing but a bone-chilling dread.
They had thought they were the hunters, never suspecting that they might have been the prey in another’s eyes all along.
"Lina."
Allen’s voice snapped her out of her terror.
"Here!"
"Focus. Block out all other emotions and scan for just one thing... a feeling of being spied on, of being observed with cold intent."
"I’ll try!"
Lina imdiately closed her eyes. The vibrant spectrum of emotions within her azure irises quickly faded, and the world in her perception turned to black and white as she focused on capturing that single, discordant "color."
A few seconds later, she snapped her eyes open, her face growing even paler.
"I have it! It’s very faint, like a cold needle. It’s... to our front-left, about three hundred ters away, near a massive tree! It’s very calm, very patient. No hunger, no anger... only... observation."
’Found it!’
A sense of certainty settled in Allen’s mind.
A powerful enemy wasn’t the scary part; the real terror was an attack from an unknown direction.
Now that they had discovered the enemy’s presence, the scales of victory began to tip in his favor.
"Should we run?"
Bruno asked, his voice trembling as he subconsciously moved closer to Allen.
"If we run, we’re just showing the enemy our backs."
Allen stated flatly.
"A hunter that specializes in long-range kills loves nothing more than a moving target."
He glanced around, his mind racing with the aid of DSeek. Terrain, wind direction, team mber status, available items...
Countless streams of information converged into a bold plan.
"If it likes to watch, then let’s put on a show for it," Allen said coldly.
He took several inconspicuous square iron boxes from his sack.
They were Steel Ball Scatter Mines. Then, he took out a few "Lightning I" grenades.
"Listen up,"
His voice was grave.
"We’re going to continue cleaning up the battlefield and pretend we haven’t noticed a thing. Baston, you’re on corpse collection, but keep your shield up and covering your and Bruno’s left side at all tis."
"Bruno, you gather the mandibles from the Marching Ants and pile them up. Act like you’re taking stock of the materials. Your job is to watch my hand signals and be ready to throw a Lightning Grenade."
He then looked at Lina. "You, stay crouched behind Baston and keep your focus locked onto it. Don’t lose it. The instant its emotional state shifts from ’observation’ to ’intent to attack,’ give the signal."
"Got it!" the three replied in unison.
Allen’s calm deanor and clear instructions suppressed their fear, transforming it into heightened tension and focus.
Allen activated his Magic Shield. His Craftsman’s Hand lifted a few Marching Ant corpses to use as cover as he walked unhurriedly toward the other side of the clearing. There, a patch of dense shrubs sat right in the middle ground between the "watcher" and his team.
He didn’t use Invisibility Magic, fearing it would alert his target. Instead, he quietly cast a scent-masking spell.
He bent down, pretending to be processing the corpses, but in reality, he was hiding a Steel Ball Scatter Mine among the roots of the bushes and cleverly laying its tripwire across a likely path of attack.
He set three mines in total, creating a deadly trap.
Once that was done, he returned to the center of the group and also began to "diligently" carve up the appendages of a Marching Ant with a small knife, looking for all the world like a defenseless Alchemy Apprentice.
The seconds ticked by.
The forest was terrifyingly quiet, the only sounds being the crackling of the fire and the subtle noises the three of them were deliberately making.
Every second felt like an eternity. Sweat trickled down Bruno’s temple, and he could hear his own heart pounding in his chest.
Suddenly!
"It’s attacking!"
Lina’s shriek shattered the feigned calm. "It’s moving! Target is Bruno!"
The instant she scread, an almost invisible beam of white light shot out silently from the canopy of a tree three hundred ters away, like a viper’s tongue striking straight for Bruno’s head!
Its speed was so extre that it left no ti to react!
ZZZZZT—!
A massive Tower Shield materialized in front of the white beam as if it had teleported there!
It was Baston! He had followed Allen’s orders to the letter, using his body and shield to protect his teammates at all costs!
The white light slamd into the shield, erupting in a blinding halo.
Baston let out a muffled grunt, the imnse force shoving him back three steps before he could barely regain his footing.
In the center of his Tower Shield, which was forged from special materials, a fist-sized, molten crater was now smoldering, wisps of smoke rising from it!
’What terrifying power!’
"Lock onto it! Provoke it, Lina!"
Allen roared.
Hearing this, a flash of understanding crossed Lina’s azure eyes.
She imdiately drew upon the unique Witchcraft of her Heart Image Tower, weaving feelings of "contempt" and "mockery" into an invisible Spiritual Thorn that she plunged precisely into the senses of the watcher whose position was now exposed!
An inhuman, unearthly shriek echoed from the tree!
Imdiately after, a translucent shadow, having lost all reason, shot down from the canopy at an astonishing speed. It moved like a phantom, rushing straight for Allen’s group in an attempt to launch a close-quarters assault!
"Grenade, Bruno, now!"
Bruno flinched in fear, but Allen’s shout made him follow the order on instinct.
He looked in the direction Allen was signaling and hurled the "Lightning I" grenade with all his might!
At the sa ti, Allen also moved! His Craftsman’s Hand instantly materialized, snatched a large rock from the ground, and launched it like a cannonball in the sa direction to provide cover for the grenade!
Three auto-tracking Magic Missiles followed right behind it.
Blinding arcs of electricity spread out like a spiderweb, completely blanketing the area.
BOOM! BOOM!
The transparent shadow burst from the bushes, carried by its incredible montum, but it had clearly been struck by the lightning, its movents now stiff.
The path it chose led it straight through the trap Allen had laid!
One of its claws brushed against the inconspicuous tripwire.
*CLICK.*
The sound of the chanism was so faint it was almost inaudible.
The next second, the ground shook violently!
BOOM—!!!
The Steel Ball Scatter Mines buried in the bushes detonated with a thunderous roar!
This was Allen’s true killing blow!
Hundreds of steel balls, propelled by a violent shockwave, instantly engulfed the fast-moving shadow!
A blood-curdling shriek echoed through the forest!
The shadow was thrown back by the imnse kinetic energy, slamd heavily into a massive tree, and slid to the ground.
The explosion had completely shredded its camouflage, finally revealing its true form.
It was a Magical Beast, about two ters long, that resembled a chaleon.
Its scales had a strange, translucent quality that allowed them to refract light and blend in with the environnt.
Now, half of its body was a bloody ss, riddled with steel balls, but it wasn’t dead yet!
Its single remaining eye stared venomously at Allen, as a strange, diamond-shaped crystal in the center of its forehead began to gather a dangerous light once more!
On his retina, a red warning box from DSeek instantly appeared.
[Magical Beast Na: Micro-Light Scale Armor Beast. Level: Low-Level Magical Beast. Abilities: Optical Camouflage, High-Energy Scorching Beam, Extre Speed. Danger Level: High.]
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