The next day, the group gathered again in the field after a long night's sleep.

"I guess you all had a nice sleep last night." Kai smiled when seeing their complexion.

"Of course, unlike the sleeping bag, the bed is justice." Michelle nodded with a serious expression.

"Anyway, we will have a long journey this time because the base is a bit far from our destination."

"We are ready for that." Isabelle nodded while Ayaka asked. "What is the ETA?"

"It's about twelve hours of driving. Or should we teleport there?" Kai glanced at Tasha.

"That's the best, but sometimes you can find something that might lead to another important thing, so it's best to ride there," Tasha answered with her personal experiences.

"Fair enough. We indeed found something like that a few times in the past." Kai nodded in agreement and turned to everyone. "That's how it is. Any objections?"

"Just one." Tommy raised his hand. "The journey will take a long time, so any shifts for the driver?"

"Yes. We will switch every two hours." Kai nodded. "I don't want any of us getting too tired when we get there. And we don't want to get there too late, so we are moving at 5 AM, which is thirty minutes from now."

After Tommy's question, they didn't have any more questions. Kai then instructed them to prepare all the things they needed.

When they were going to the truck, he found Leona, who seemed to have predicted him.

"Commander Leona. Do you need anything from us?" Kai furrowed his eyebrows.

She looked at his teammates and made a complicated expression.

"We can talk over there." Kai pointed his finger to the side.

Nodding her head, they walked a bit farther from the group.

Leona still had complex feelings about this, but she still reminded Kai. "There is a hidden danger in your mission. General Sebastian forgot to mention it yesterday. So, when I learned that you were going to leave right now…Yeah, I came here."

"What is the danger?" Kai frowned. "Is it on the way or in the ruin?"

"On the way." She thought for a moment and sighed. "There is a huge group in your way, so I think you will be meeting them soon."

"How big?"

"From what we know, there are at least two intelligent beasts and two thousand beasts. They just descended from the mountain a few days ago. We only stop the mission for students and create a relief squad to fight them."

"So, you are going to fight with us?"

"That's the original plan, but the general wants you to clear it yourself."

"We can handle that, but it's going to take a bit of our time." Kai thought they needed at least two days to arrive at the ruin now that he knew there were thousands of beasts in their way.

"I will help you in any way I can. After all, the one who is supposed to be the leader of this relief squad is me."

"It's fine. I don't have a problem with this. I just need more supplies." Kai shrugged. "We are a few days ahead of our original schedule anyway."

"I am sorry to bring you more trouble, but I will report it, so you will be rewarded." Leona nodded before giving a salute. "In any case, congratulations on your advancement, Brigadier General Kai Carter."

Kai saluted back before turning back to his usual way after putting that hand down. "Well, it's not official yet."

"Haha…There is no doubt that your achievement has surpassed many of us. I mean, it's already hard enough to kill fifty thousand magical beasts with just a group of ten. Along with the other achievement, you have enough achievement to have that star on your shoulder. Just ignore those who are salty about it. They have traditional ways of thinking. Rather than believing in the younger generations who will lead the base in the future, they are just too proud of their own achievements, consciously or unconsciously."

Kai made a small smile. "Thank you."

She patted his shoulders while smiling. "I feel like I will see you again soon. That's why I really want to see what kind of person you are."

"Ahaha…I hope we don't meet too soon. After all, it will be a war." Although Kai said it in a joking manner, they both knew it was true.

Kai then nodded his head and returned to his teammates, telling about his discussion with Leona.

As expected, the group felt it was a hassle. They could simply leave it aside and let the army take care of it, but Kai persuaded them.

In the end, they agreed to fight those beasts.

The group then finally set off from the beasts, heading straight to Caral.

As expected, many beasts that were scattered around the road began their attacks, but Kai and the others simply eliminated them. They weren't that big of a deal anyway.

After returning inside, Kai checked the map and information about the horde of beasts. It seemed they were going to meet them later that evening, so Kai purposely slowed down their pace, so they could meet the group of magical beasts tomorrow morning.

Ultimately, they covered enough distance on the first day and decided to stop.

"Kai. What are the two intelligent beasts?" Isabelle asked.

The group was also curious about it and listened to what Kai said while eating.

"The first one is a Snapping Turtle while the other one is an eagle."

"Snapping Turtle?" Michelle seemed to have found the weird thing in the report.

Kai had been thinking about it too, but in the end, he gave up. "I know. Snapping Turtles normally live in the wetlands, so I don't know where this one comes from. As for the eagle, I think it's possible."

"They are also dangerous, you know?"

"I know. One snap, you are gone. I don't know whether the exoskeleton can withstand its jaw or not, but our weapons are surely not able to withstand it." Kai nodded.

"This has become annoying." Michelle scratched the back of her head. "I mean, I don't use normal weapons, so I don't need to worry about my weapons. But the others are…Anyone brings a spare?"

None of them raised their hands. Kai was special, so he obviously didn't have a spare. It was hard to create it even for Ria Ross.

"Yeah. And there is a good proportion between the flying beasts and those on the lands, so it will be a difficult fight for Isabelle and Tasha. Well, I will be helping you guys after finishing the fight on the ground."

"I will too." Ayaka and Evan immediately raised their hands, followed by Sofia.

"Thanks for the help. Just focus on your task first. We should be able to stop them for a while." Tasha smiled while Isabelle nodded in agreement.

"Alright. We will observe the situation tomorrow, and the arrangement will come after it. Okay?" Kai ended the discussion.

"-Kay!" They lazily answered and finished their food.

…

During the night, Sofia, who was in her shift, suddenly opened the tent and shouted. "We have an emergency!"

However, Kai had already woken up as soon as he heard the numerous footsteps. When she warned him, Kai was waking the others up while coming up with a plan.

"Wake the others up first," Kai asked her while pondering the matter.

When the girls heard that shout, they woke up almost immediately. "What happened?"

"We are in a bad situation," Kai answered with a meaningful reply.

"What do you mean?"

"Let's have a talk with the others, so we don't waste too much time. There are approximately ten minutes before they arrive here." Kai then left the tent, followed by the girls.

Evan and the others also came out while looking at Kai, wanting to know his order.

"I think you should be the captain in this situation." Isabelle instantly asked him to take the position because no one knew how to handle this situation.

Kai nodded. "I never thought that they were charging at us. No, probably they are aiming at the base. To think they have reached this far with only one day. They probably will reach the base by tomorrow morning.

"In other words, we need to stop them in this darkness." Kai looked around and knew that they had limited sight. It was so dark because their only source of light was the moon and stars. This was why they refrained from continuing their journey during the night.

"Thousands of beasts in this condition? If I am not wrong, beasts have good eyesight during the night…Well, most beasts."

"Probably. At the very least, I only know that the beasts coming here have that ability because there is no way they will come if they can't see." Kai nodded with a serious expression.

"For the time being, I, Ayaka, Evan, Sofia, Isabelle, and Michelle are the better option to fight in this darkness. Well, we also brought night visions, so it's better than nothing." Kai thought for a moment. "However, the rest will mainly protect our camps and support us from the back. Alright?"

"Understood."

"Night, huh." Michelle looked down for a few seconds, grabbing the group's attention. Suddenly, she began to stretch her body and put on her equipment. "It seems I need to work a bit harder tonight."

Shadow began streaming off her body, knowing that she just used the technique to increase her power during the night.

The ants had good eyesight in the dark, so Ayaka was capable of fighting in the frontline along with Evan and Michelle. Isabelle would remain in the back. They took their positions with Kai and Michelle on the very front.

"Are you going to enter my shadow?" Kai asked.

"Nope. I am going to show you something more interesting." Michelle made a mysterious smile.