The thunderous roar of the gunshot jolted everyone still lost in their dreams awake.
It was as if they were yanked from a beautiful dream back into reality. All the mercenaries stared blankly at their surroundings. Just moments ago, their dreams had been so idyllic, but the instant the gunshot rang out, their thoughts were forcibly dragged back to the present.
Before them still lay the thick, foggy weather...
The biting cold wind once again reminded everyone of their current environment.
A metallic, rusty scent hung in the air. No one was smelting iron, nor was there anything corrosive, yet this smell seemed to have been drifting through the air all along.
Bang!
Another gunshot rang out, and only then did the crowd notice a man among them firing continuously at the outside of the camp.
It was only now that those who had yet to snap out of their thoughts gradually began to understand the meaning behind shouts like "Get up!" and "Danger!"
"What's going on?"
"What happened?" Among the mercenaries, Rukar was the first to stand up.
As the highest-leveled person present, Rukar was the first to grab his weapon and follow Sean's lead...
A flare shot through the dark, foggy sky once more. Despite the mist, if the light was bright enough, it could still illuminate the surroundings. When the glowing projectile hit the ground, everyone saw a tall figure.
A goat-headed, human-bodied creature covered in fur.
"What is that?!"
...
Several consecutive shots made Sean realize that the opponent was agile, deliberately dodging around and refusing to charge in.
Since it was night and the fog was thick, Sean could only keep using flares to light up the area outside the camp...
"Master Sean!"
At that moment, Jonathan and a few others caught up.
"What is that thing?!"
"Goatman," Sean replied almost without thinking.
"Goatman? What's that?" Jonathan had never heard of such a thing, but this wasn't the time for a detailed discussion. The massive humanoid beast in the distance was still roaring and fleeing.
"Don't let it escape. We finish it here, or it'll call more of its kind!" Sean shouted at the mercenaries around him.
Yet none of them dared to step forward...
It was then that Sean remembered Freya's assessment of mercenaries: hesitant, disorganized, and lacking discipline. While he understood their instinct for self-preservation at critical moments, they felt like dead weight in a fight.
Not a single one dared to advance!
Waiting for the enemy to come to them felt safer than charging into battle against an unknown beast.
But the goatman wasn't stupid—why would it charge in?
After Sean's repeated shots were dodged, the creature once again ran into the distant fog...
"What are you all standing around for?!" Sean turned back and shouted again, seeing the mercenaries behind him frozen in place. For the first time, he understood what Freya meant by "dead weight." Mercenaries who weren't part of a unified team were hard to command.
Under the flare's light, a small semicircle around the camp was illuminated. Though the fog remained, the creature's large frame made it impossible to hide in the light.
Roar~
The goatman let out a roar toward the mercenary camp, as if deciding not to run anymore.
In the light, everyone finally got a clear look at it... It had a goat's head and legs, but a human torso and a pair of nimble hands, and it walked upright.
Its entire body was covered in brown-black fur, except for a patch of bare skin on its chest, which seemed to bear some kind of pattern. Its sharp, goat-like mouth was twisted and grotesque, with what looked like bloody strands dangling from its chin...
Saliva dripped from its mouth with every breath.
Sean could hear the sound of everyone breathing...
"Master Sean, what do we do now?"
"Kill it here. Don't let it escape, or we'll face more goatmen." Though he wasn't entirely sure, Sean remembered the soldier who had returned mentioning seeing goatmen in Tacoma City, which was still far from here.
If they were appearing here, did that mean there were even more goatmen out there?
He glanced at the creature's stats:
Health: [/, Half-Beast] Emotion: [Fury!]...
A total of 15,000 health—not too high. With so many people behind him, it should be manageable.
Since Sean had leveled up to Order Level 3, he hadn't received any warning prompts, but he could now see the classification of creatures. The "Half-Beast" displayed was the creature's racial category.
"Jonathan, you and Lawrence will flank it from both sides. Make sure it doesn't escape. Laster and Feng, you too. As for you, Alphonse, if it tries to flee, can you restrain it?"
"No problem. No enemy has ever escaped from me," Alphonse said confidently.
Sean adjusted the ammunition's properties, switching to fire rounds.
[Precision~]
[Reduce Enemy Movement Speed~]
[Rapid Fire~]
He activated three passive auras simultaneously and launched the attack first.
Bang, bang, bang~
Even the goatman didn't react in time before the flaming bullets were already fired.
It happened in the blink of an eye—too fast to respond. By the time the gunshots rang out, sparks had already burst from the goatman's body. Even Jonathan, who was about to charge forward, was startled.
He had never seen such a fighting style. So this was how the gun Sean had kept at his waist was used!
But what was with the flames?
When had this weapon become so powerful?!
The goatman tried to flee, but the flaming bullets kept hitting it without pause, as if they needed no cooldown.
Sean's gun was a finely crafted firearm with a damage range of [600~1200], and the flames added a burning effect... However, the creature's sturdy, goat-like hide seemed to have some resistance. After several shots, its health had only dropped by less than 2,000.
But the continuous burning and suppression kept the goatman almost immobilized...
Charging forward was out of the question—there were more than six mercenaries here—so it could only try to run. Yet every time it moved a step, Sean's shots followed.
[Magic Proficiency: 241]...
[Magic Proficiency: 242]...
[Magic Proficiency: 243]...
"Don't just stand there. I'll cover you. Go finish it off," Sean said to his team.
Even Rukar, standing behind, watched the battle with interest. He wasn't afraid of facing any beast one-on-one, but the way this "mercenary" fought intrigued him.
When did someone like this appear in Rietis?!
In the midst of battle...
Sean didn't care what the other mercenaries thought. The more auras he activated, the more mana he consumed. He couldn't afford to drain his magic here—he needed to end this quickly.
Watching the goatman, now in a state of [Rage!], Sean suddenly cast [Activate~] on it.
Its health had just dropped by a third when its status suddenly changed...
[/, Demon]
The skill it used was [Summon~]...