"Stop." Arnold's voice echoed through the communication channel. 

The team of ten people and summons alike immediately came to a halt. All of them were handpicked by Arnold and were tasked with securing a perimeter for everyone else. If all ten thousands of them were to enter the swamp at once, it would cause a commotion and alert the lizardmen along with Devon. Something Arnold couldn't afford to let happen. 

That's why Arnold had selected nine of them other than himself and led them to kill the nearby monsters while also prepare a camouflage to hide their presence if possible. While they did what was needed, the others were left at zone 1. Which was the zone nearest to the swamp, as well as the zone Azyriah was the Section Chief of. 

The ones Arnold had selected, consisted of humans and his summons- Nina, Nicole, Johnny, Kolt, Azyriah, Talos, Natasha, Bad-Breath, and Alice. 

He had brought Alice along just in case they needed a healer. Although he doubted there would be a need for one right now, it was better to be safe now than be sorry later.

Arnold was walking in front of the group. Using the Nature affinity to take control of the trees around them to act like a sword and a shield at the same time.

In hindsight, he was now thinking he could've come alone and dealt with the monsters discreetly on his own. With the help of mutated trees at his command, he could easily kill the monsters without worrying that a monster would take note of anything odd. After all, monsters being eaten by the 'Devil trees' was a common occurrence in the swamps. This way he would've been more discreet. But he couldn't send them away now. Also, he had discovered a new use of his Nature affinity. 

He could become one with the trees he controlled if he desired to do so. Meaning, he could sense if someone or something was around the tree he was controlling without even needing to reveal his location.

The place he always found to be troublesome, had suddenly turned into the best battlefield he could have asked to fight on. 

While he found the swamp to be a strategical fort, the others couldn't help but curse the humid and gloomy weather shrouding the swamps. Especially the girls who were wearing tight combat attire. Nicole was the one feeling the most uncomfortable as Nina had already been to the swamps numerous time along with Arnold while Azyriah was used to this climate as zone 1 was closer to the swamps and hence the weather there was also a bit humid. 

"What is it?" Nina whispered over the comms. 

"Elite Lizardmen. Three of them, 2'O clock." Arnold replied. 

This was the type of lizardmen Arnold had told them to be more careful of. His instructions while facing this class of lizardmen were short and clear. Anyone having a lower rank than S was not supposed to indulge in combat with them at all. If they were to encounter one of them, the warriors were instructed to run away as fast as they could. As speed was the only thing these monsters lacked in. Even the S ranked warriors who were allowed to engage them were not supposed to do so alone. Only Johnny, Nicole and Arnold, including his summons, were allowed to take that group of lizardmen on their own. 

Nina had heard about these monsters from Arnold. But thought he was exaggerating things a bit when he told her that even he was pushed to his limits while facing them. But now that she had seen them with her own eyes, she knew Arnold wasn't exaggerating things... He was downplaying them. 

"Three of them, and three of us. Wanna take them down?" Johnny hissed.

He was getting bored after sitting around for hours without any action. Thus Johnny suggested that he, Arnold and Nicole should take them down on their own. But Arnold shook his head. Something was wrong. Elite Lizardmen never travelled around in a group. Never. After all, they were individualistic creatures.

'Unless...' Arnold got lost in his thoughts, 'Unless, they are waiting for something. It's either that or they know about our arrival.'

Arnold was sceptical about the latter theory. They couldn't know about the time and date of Arnold's planned attack. No one apart from him and Nathan knew about it and he was sure Nathan wasn't going to stab him in the back. 

That left him with two choices. Either they were planning something or they were at war with someone or something else.

They were wearing full body armour which strengthened Arnold's believe that they were indeed battle ready. Although he could be wrong.

But he wasn't. They were at war. Not with them, but the nagas. 

Arnold was about to give the signal to attack the lizardmen when a dozen of nagas popped out of the ground. It was like the ground itself was giving birth to the fully grown nagas. Lizardmen fought bravely and tried their best to expel the surprise attack but in the end, the numbers worked in the favour of the nagas. The lizardmen were quickly dispatched off and were quickly stripped out of their armour and weapons. 

Arnold was pretty impressed with the guerilla war tactic of the nagas. After looking closer Arnold realised that numerous traps doors were lying around the area the lizardmen were at. They were concealed such that no one would be able to tell that there were hidden trap doors around the swamps.

However, he soon realised that these were the same trap door Arnold and Nina had encountered while visiting the swamps a couple of months back.

'So that was their doing?'

Arnold was enraged as he remembered what happened when an automaton tried to open the trap door and was destroyed. Initially, Nina was about to open the trap door and had she opened it, she'd have melted down like butter on a hot frying pan. 

Most probably these traps were set to eliminate the lizardmen who were apparently the enemy of the Nagas. But Arnold didn't care. One of these traps could've taken Nina's life and for that, the nagas had to pay with their blood.

Just as Arnold was about to jump down one of these trap doors and give the nagas a piece of his mind, three nagas clad in golden armour appeared in front of them. Arnold and his party didn't notice but they too were standing next to a trap door themselves. 

Everyone was quick to draw their weapons and strike their new foe down. But before they could do anything, the nagas respectfully bowed before them. Everyone was taken by surprise. Just what the hell was going on!? 

The next moment, the nagas turned towards Arnold. Their hands up in the air, showing that they weren't there to cause them any harm or trouble. Arnold had been around monsters ever since the dungeons started popping up everywhere but not once had he heard about or seen such a peculiar behaviour before. 

"O great human, please heed our call!" The elderly looking half male serpent said out loud, "We desire no war, only peace with your kind. We have a common goal- the eradication of those filthy lizards and the great queen of the proud nagas has requested your assistance. O great human Lord, please come with us and visit her majesty Alleiah. Together we shall defeat the demons of the swamp and you shall have what you want."

"What do you know about what we want?" Arnold asked back. 

Everyone else was shocked that a monster could converse in English so fluently. Everyone except Arnold as it wasn't the first time he had heard a monster converse in human tongue thus nor he or his summons were surprised by the fact that they have encountered yet another speaking monster. They were, however, more interested in what they wanted with them. 

"If you help us, the queen would tell you about the whereabouts of the human you are seeking." The naga politely replied. 

"Interesting..." Arnold couldn't help but smile, 'looks like I won't have to go through much trouble to get a hold over Devon. But let's see where things will go first. If worse comes to worst, I'd kill them all.'