There were still over two hours until dawn.
At this time, the sky had already begun to show a faint glimmer of light, but the heavy fog made it appear as dark as night. Having slept for only a little over three hours, Sean felt no trace of drowsiness at all... The goat-man before him—no, the half-beast goat-man—suddenly underwent a change when its health dropped to two-thirds remaining.
The process of health decreasing in real combat should be called a continuous decline in health. Regardless of the attack that lands, once the opponent's armor is broken or a severe injury is inflicted, when health falls below one-fourth or one-fifth, it will steadily drop. For instance, if a sword pierces the body, it might not be fatal, but the ensuing panic and agitation will accelerate the loss of life force. Depending on the individual, a robust physique might slow the rate of health loss, but there will still be a decline.
The goat-man before him, after his continuous attacks, was already riddled with bullet holes. Aside from the health lost from normal attacks, the burns from the flames and its own exhaustion were steadily draining its life. Yet at this moment, its health was suddenly fixed. Moreover, the type display now showed the word "demon"...
"Watch out!" Seeing Jonathan and the others moving in to finish off the severely wounded opponent, Sean called out.
But it was too late. How could a swung blade be pulled back?
Before Sean could act, he saw flames erupt from beneath the goat-man's feet...
Green flames, and a long battle-axe that the goat-man seemed to pull from nowhere.
Roar~
With a casual swing, a black object was hurled toward them from the opposite side.
The flare's light still lingered, and the campfire on their side hadn't fully died out. Sean lowered his head to look at the object rolling toward them, leaving a trail of foul-smelling liquid.
A head.
It was the head of Feng, a member of the mercenary squad.
Sean had witnessed death before—he had even personally killed someone who "recognized him" in Koga City, and in Taylormian Town, he had seen so many innocent townsfolk swallowed by the blizzard. But even someone familiar with death couldn't claim to remain completely unmoved when facing it.
Feng.
Though they had clashed in opinion, he had restrained his noisy emotions, quietly sticking with the team and doing his own work without a fuss. Mercenary squads were inherently free individuals, but once formed into a team, all interests became tied together. Whether for personal reputation or safety, following the squad's orders was always the discipline of a mercenary group. Other teams could be ignored, and one could stand by during their battles, but one's own squad had to fight together.
This was evident from the fact that he hadn't joined Luka and the others in their ruckus. If they disbanded tomorrow, they would have parted ways formally. But in just one night...
Now...
Feng's head lay before them all.
Alphonse and Sean stared at the object on the ground.
"Come back!"
Jonathan, standing closest to Feng, might have been stunned into shock. He was the first to see the goat-man raise its axe and sever the head in an instant.
Sean quickly switched the bullet's attribute to frost. The halo above his head instantly changed to [Precision~] and [Paralyze the Enemy~]. He couldn't afford to worry about the massive mana consumption now. He hadn't expected the opponent to have another form, and with this form, its health was actually recovering.
[~~]
It was slowly restoring its previous state, and the wounds from his flame bullets were gradually being covered by its green flames.
Demon!
Such creatures really existed in this world.
"Come back now!"
He fired several more shots, freezing the goat-man's swinging motion. The axe, just raised, was instantly encased in frost, causing a brief pause. It wasn't long—less than a second, perhaps.
Meanwhile, the goat-man continued to howl...
Its cry was no longer that of an ordinary animal, but a completely unclassifiable roar.
Seizing the moment of hesitation, Jonathan snapped out of his shock and turned to run back. At this point, the other mercenaries in the camp couldn't just watch anymore and joined the fight.
With Feng's head severed, it was clear the monster was ready for a deathmatch. If they didn't act, the next head to fall might be their own.
"The rest of you cover us. A few of us will feign an attack with me."
The speaker was Luka, who had remained uninvolved until now. As the strongest in the mercenary team, he had to step up. As he passed Sean, he added, "You guys help too."
Sean chuckled inwardly. Only now thinking of fighting?
Too late.
"Master Sean... Feng, he..."
"I know. It's not your fault," Sean reassured the emotions within his team.
At that moment, nearly all twenty-odd mercenaries had joined the battle to eliminate the demon goat-man. Its heavy axe couldn't inflict the same lethal damage it had on Feng against those at Order Level 9.
"No, we have to avenge Feng and kill that monster." Jonathan, as the leader, stood up again.
"Let's go!"
"...?"
The group looked at Sean in confusion.
"I said let's go. Get out of here... Don't look back. They're doomed." Sean's eyes widened. Without waiting for Jonathan and the others to react, he grabbed Alphonse and Rast and ran toward the rear.
Only Jonathan and Lawrence remained, still not understanding what was happening, instinctively following.
"Lord Luka, those guys are running, the bastards!" A mercenary still in combat easily spotted Sean and the others heading in the opposite direction.
Luka, having just cut off the demon goat-man's arm, turned to look back...
"Those useless cowards. We're fighting for them, and they run!" He struck the goat-man with another heavy blow, planning to deal with them after the battle.
But as his sword swung down, it seemed to hit something that blocked it...
Huh?
Through the fog, he saw another hand appear behind the goat-man.
Strange, hadn't he already cut off its arm?
..........................
Sean ran with the two, but both Rast and Alphonse tried to stop him.
"Sir Sean, what are you doing? Are we running?"
He couldn't explain.
Because in his field of vision, an extremely dangerous warning had appeared.
This time, it wasn't any "being watched" or "being observed" prompt, but directly displayed words like [Danger Approaching...].
Sean was acting purely on the prompt's first reaction...
He remembered that since the prompts first appeared, he had initially always felt compelled to check what they meant—who was watching him. But after repeated occurrences, he had learned to react to the prompt's content first rather than wait for the target to appear, by which time it would be too late.
It wasn't yet dawn, but shortly after entering the southeast region, they had already been attacked by the goat-man.
This forced Sean to wonder why!
The soldier who had returned earlier muttered a bunch of incomprehensible words.
Stars, goat-men, and so on.
And now the goat-man had appeared...
Sean suddenly looked up at the fog above.
"Is the fog starting to thin?" His question only confused those around him.
Just then, the ground trembled, and an even louder roar came from behind...