Seeing the emperor griffin land so abruptly, and its rider - a brown-haired girl - catching one of their own, the villagers started screaming in panic and running away.

Yeah...

As if!

----

"Hostiles on the premise! Take them out immediately!"

Every single person charged towards the monster with their bodies shining with skills.

All forty or so 'villagers' with no exception but with perfect coordination as if they were prepared for that exact situation.

----

"Damn it! Blueberry, pull up!"

Mary freaked out, released the hooded man, and pulled on the griffin's feathers.

"Skwee! (We can take them on!)"

Blueberry screeched in response and her wings, claws, and beak started shining as she disobeyed her master and begun a counterattack.

*SWOOSH*

The skill-enhanced flap of wings caused a gust of wind so powerful that the closest buildings got blown away as if they were made out of hay, revealing that they were completely empty inside.

Just like the building that got destroyed, the villagers got stopped by the wind pressure, and those who were too eager and jumped in the air for a better angle of attack got smashed back into the ground.

----

"What the hell is that thing?! Higher-ups didn't mention shit about high-rank monsters in the area!"

One of the villagers shouted as his eyes started glowing and a bluish bubble-like dome appeared from thin air and protected the rest of them from the wind.

"I guess that's that for an easy low-risk mission, huh, commander..."

Another one sighed and pulled off the loose rags that he was wearing for clothes revealing high-quality armor underneath.

"Shut up and check up on the ones who got hit! Magic assault squad, attack!"

The barrier man shouted.

Without saying anything back, the villager in fancy armor nodded and rushed towards the groaning comrades.

Similarly, at the barrier villager's command, fifteen villagers stepped forward creating a perfect combat formation.

Their hands lighted up and the combination of fire, lightning and ice type of magic skills shoot through the barrier as if it wasn't even there, straight at the blue griffin and her master.

----

"SKWEE! (SKWEE!)"

Blueberry pulled back and let out a deafening screech, so powerful that the ground in front of her shoot up, and the incoming attacks all crushed and vanished against the wall of dirt and sound.

"Blueberry! Get us away from here! Fly away!"

Mary panicked and burrowed her face in the griffin's feathers.

"Skwee?! (Master, are you dumb?!) Skwee! (In the air I either throw you off again or be the biggest and easiest target!)"

Blueberry scoffed at her master - completely unapologetic after foolishly staying instead of retreating - and smacked the air in front of her with her massive front talons that were glowing brightly.

Instead of it being just some attempt to scare their opponents, it was a straight-up attack that ignored the distance between the parties.

*CRUSH*

*WOBBLE*

As the hit connected, the bubble-like barrier shook and stretched back like an enormous jelly but didn't break and instead returned to its original shape.

---

"What in the world was that?!"

One of the villagers shouted gritting his teeth.

"Shut up and continue to fire until effect! If this thing escapes and decides to attack us from behind we're screwed! I don't even want to think about the mess we will get in if we let this beast roam free, the higher-ups hate civilian casualties!"

The barrier villager shouted back, sweating profusely as he concentrated on keeping the barrier functional.

----

"Skwee? (Eh?) Skwee! (Those guys aren't weak!) Skwee! (Somebody, get the guy that master dropped!)"

When another powerful attack from Blueberry leveled three-quarters of the village but didn't even put a dent on the translucent barrier, the emperor griffin screeched loudly and started backing off while continuously attacking using her wings and claws while protecting herself and her master with the sound barriers of screeches.

The hooded guy that Mary released just a few seconds before was still underneath Blueberry's body and was trying to crawl away.

But then the griffin's cry was answered.

A blurry shadow speed towards them from the orchard and changed into one of Mary's black wolves.

"Raugh! (Big sis Blueberry, I got him!)"

The wolf barked and picked up the hooded man by the scruff of his robe.

"Skwee! (Thanks, Plum!) Skwee! (We'll join you right away so stay put in the back!)"

"Raugh! (Big sis, the other humans went to get back the little human!) Raugh? (Think you can keep those here busy long enough for them to return?)"

The black wolf barked questioningly with its jaws full.

"Skwee! (Ugh!) Skwee! Skwee! (Fine! But tell Arion and sister Cinnamon to be ready to jump in and help me if I'll call them!)"

Blueberry screeched back, tensing up.

Things were becoming annoying.

They were supposed to just act as a decoy for some weak humans for a few seconds, why are they holding back an organized group of strong humans?!

And Blueberry's master's wails certainly didn't help boost the morale of her named monsters...

----

"Commander! There is something unidentifiable on the winged monster's back! Also... I-I think I saw a shadow fang next to that giant griffin...!"

"What did you say?!"

Once one of the villagers approached the barrier villager and reported, the barrier villager shouted back in shock.

"Shadow fang? Shit!"

He cursed.

"Is it possible that some of our native monsters followed us through the sea of mist...?"

The messenger villager asked clenching his fists, trying to remain calm.

"It... it is possible... Shadow fangs are ridiculously smart even in the confusing mist, and if there's one, there are others nearby! Damn it!"

The barrier villager gritted his teeth.

"Who the hell told you to stop the assault?! Increase the firepower! You've heard the scout! Those there are our monsters! Use some real skills or the civilians in the area won't have a chance of survival and we're all going to be sent to the first line!"

He shouted at the fifteen villagers who stopped the offensive to listen to what the messenger villager had to say.