Chapter 278: Their Lands

Vanessa wore a serious expression as she walked, following High Priestess Xaali.

They had been adjusting to their surroundings for a few days, but now they were suddenly awakened and called immediately.

They were not novices, at least not completely, and that made this call strictly and quickly attended to.

Sure, Vanessa could sense a certain sleepiness in Joslyn, very different from the other side of soldiers who seemed strict and accustomed.

They walked until they entered a room in the barracks.

“Good morning,” Aurora greeted and giving a signal for them to approach, she explained. “A mission has arrived. On the west side of our position on the borders of the forest with Duala City, a clash has just happened.”

Projecting a map, she displayed the position of the mission, which was several kilometers from their current position.

“A group of hunters encountered a group of intelligent magical beasts and there was a confrontation. Both were of equal strength and there were no casualties on either side, but there were injuries,” Aurora reported and, giving a look at the group, she ordered. “We need the medical group and the support group. Get ready while they prepare the portal.”

It was a quick, rushed report, but her group got to work.

Checking to see if they were carrying healing supplies, their weapons, their security artifacts, and, on the other hand, the army members did the same, focusing on their offensive and defensive capabilities.

This was the first mission they were starting and because the group had some experience having done work of this type, they finished quickly.

Aurora gave a nod of approval and then, with Alice holding a bag of chips, led them to the portal.

Only they moved because the soldiers in the fort were preparing to defend the place and nothing else.

When they reached the portal, they went through it and came to a small clearing surrounded by green trees, all lush.

However, there were also craters, destruction, fallen trees, and blood everywhere.

On the spot were some wounded black panthers while hundreds of butterflies were flying around.

They were small, but together they formed a larger butterfly.

They were called ‘Rejuvenating Butterflies’ and were dozens of small butterflies with one mind that made up a single entity.

An intelligent magical beast that was hunted not only for its healing functions but also for the qualities that gave it its name.

They could be used to rejuvenate the appearance of other people, and it was for this reason that they were often hunted at the request of actors, actresses, and show business people who sought to maintain their youthful appearance.

Of course, being rare, they were highly protected and their sale was considered illegal, but here they were healers.

“I’m going to raise a big barrier. Try to get everyone together,” Joslyn reported and sitting down in a comfortable cross-legged spot, she began.

A purple light spread out, generating a barrier of several meters, and while it had no defense and any attack could break through it, its function was another.

Accelerating the regeneration in the body of the creatures naturally, it helped the magical beasts recover at a faster rate.

Vanessa moved closer and aided the butterflies in their healing.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of the job,” Vanessa said to her patient.

It was a black panther, quite possibly of the leopard species, that gave it a fierce look by nature.

As an A-ranked beast, it was large and quite possibly with one paw could slit her throat.

Still, she began her healing.

First, she performed a standard analysis spell checking the situation and overall condition. These patients did not like to talk too much, so she had to perform mostly everything on her own and that was why she made the effort.

She was the only healer in their group, at least the one who was more direct than simple potions and scrolls.

That was why, while she let the others use potions, she focused on the severely injured.

Her patient had a thick wound in his stomach and seemed to be enduring the pain, but was unable to move.

The magical beast hunters used a potent paralytic, which not only prevented movement but also natural healing while lowering physical energy.

More than ‘paralytic’, it was a kind of poison.

Vanessa used spells to remove the poison in the body and then prioritized that grotesque wound helping the organs that were damaged on the inside, to finish using a potion on the outside.

Then she walked to a beetle whose stomach was open and had lost a leg.

“The leg has been saved for later to be reattached.”

Vanessa shivered for a moment as she heard such words coming from the beetle, which was quite big, but then she moved.

She could not deny that she had been startled by such a pleasant female voice.

“Don’t worry. Once you store it in a space ring, we can help you retrieve it back,” Vanessa reported like a professional doctor and beginning her healing, she murmured. “Your wound is quite troublesome.”

The wound in her patient’s stomach was large, but mostly deep.

It was bleeding heavily and what was most remarkable was that the beetle showed no sign of pain and remained silent like a well-trained soldier.

“We suddenly found ourselves and the battle broke out immediately. Our group was unprepared and while they weren’t either, they were cunning with their attacks,” the scarab muttered.

The voice was high and carried a deep coldness and rancor. Vanessa, listening, continued the work and healed the wound from the inside out.

The beetles had a very high defense, but it was known that their stomach was their weakness.

However, they were not easy to take down because they used earth magic to protect their weakness.

Obviously, the humans would be cunning, but Vanessa knew that quite possibly the other party was not completely right.

That Aurora and Alice were conversing with Pilirani the Goliathus in charge of the defense let it be seen that they were preparing to move.

She continued with her work and this time she had quite a bit of difficulty because some internal organs were damaged, not in a clean way.

“Don’t you feel a grudge against humans?” Vanessa asked with a serious expression.

Was this a bad time to ask this question?

Her attention was focused on her healing and that was why she didn’t think so much about the question.

Some wounds were not so easy to heal, just casting some spells to make it all over and this was a case where she had to concentrate to heal all the internal damage.

“We hate magical beast hunters... We hate those who kill our companions and kin,” growled the beetle and, giving a low groan, he clarified. “Still, since we were born, our life was a struggle. First among our own kind, then against others and now against humans.”

Vanessa finished reducing the severe damage to the organs and returning it to the most ‘original possible’ state.

The one who was teaching her about healing was Cardinal Brousseau, so she was advancing in her profession rather quickly.

She was unable to respond and continued with her work.

“Still, we are not so naïve to think that all humans are our enemies. We are not as loyal as those winged cats, nor are we the Queen’s species, but we understand that to survive we must adapt... And that includes cooperating with those the Queen ordered to do so,” said the beetle getting up after her healing.

She had lost a leg, but she hit the ground and with earth magic, formed another leg with the same ability to move.

Then a metal armor stretched across the body, covering the head and reinforcing the legs, along with the carapace.

Vanessa stood up and noticed that those lightly injured were recovered, while the few seriously injured were healed by the ‘Rejuvenating Butterfly’ that was surrounding a black panther.

Seeing that everyone was healed, Vanessa approached Joslyn and so did Aurora and Alice.

“Good job, that barrier is quite useful,” Aurora said, giving Joslyn a grateful smile and then looking at the group, she ordered. “The combat team gets ready. Our allies are tracking our enemies. They will not escape the magical forest today.”

Vanessa gave him a strange look, as she had noticed from the wounds that, although they were new, the battle had happened quite a few minutes ago and it was possible that the enemies had already fled.

Even if they were wounded, they would be far enough away by now.

“Do not underestimate them. The magic forest is their lands,” Aurora said, pointing at the group of magical beasts.

The black panthers who were few in number were scenting the blood to start the crawl, but the ones who looked the strangest were the Goliathus.

All of them had risen up equipped with their metal armor covering their bodies and paws.

“¡!”

Then suddenly they started pounding the earth with their paws and as Vanessa was about to frown, a slight tremor spread through the magical forest like ripples through the ground.

The next moment, in the distance, another one started and was spreading.

The Goliathus teams had begun scanning the area for their prey through the ground. The affinity of these magical beasts for earth magic was no joke, and they used it without hesitation to search for their enemy.

The reason why magical beast hunters had to prepare equipment to hide and hunt their prey stealthily without anyone knowing was because once they were spotted, they could be hunted down.

“GRAA!”

A black panther let out a high roar and the next moment roars, shrieks and all kinds of animal sounds could be heard all around.

The entire magical forest was hunting its enemies, and the prey would not escape.

******

A group took to the air in the midst of large trees concealed with darkness magic.

There were about seven individuals, but now two were seriously wounded and were being carried by their companions.

A and B rank mercenaries. It was a not so strong team, but certainly remarkable.

Now they wore solemn expressions, but their eyes revealed anger, fear and frustration.

“Shit... Shit... Shit!”

The leader cursed under his breath until his anger was finally let out, landing on the ground.

His group was exhausted, and the biggest reason was because they used potions and scrolls to heal the most important wounds. However, such hasty and careless regeneration generated physical exhaustion and hunger.

Around the surroundings, they heard shrieking, and no one dared to fly over the trees due to the occasional sighting of flying creatures.

They had heard of a group of magical beast hunters who were getting very rich hunting creatures despite the danger, and it was for that reason that they were now here.

They only wished to make money by hunting magical beasts.

They gathered decent equipment, bought the necessary artifacts for their hunt, prioritizing their concealment and before they knew it they were deep in the magical forest.

They had gone deep into the forest, believing that no one would see them and no one would notice them, but they ended up encountering a group of patrolling magical beasts that managed to capture them.

They used artifacts to hide, but the other party also used artifacts and it was all the fault of Zerzura City, who equipped those beasts.

“Boss, what do we do?” asked one of the mercenaries in their group.

As they had joined in different groups, only their acquaintances let some loyalty show. The others were surely planning how to retreat.

What to do?

The leader was not so naïve and knew there was not much to do.

They had already used their space magic scroll to flee far away, but they were still in the magical forest and, as if that wasn’t enough, he could now sense that they were being hunted.

The forest was not so quiet, roars and shrieks could be heard in the distance.

It was as if hundreds of eyes were watching him at this instant and even though they were still using artifacts to hide; he felt that he was still being seen.

Surveying the greenish surroundings and taking hold of the handle of his hammer, the leader hesitated.

He had thought he could do the same as those imbeciles going into the forest, but now he realized that was a mistake.

No, perhaps the other party wished for others to go deeper so that they would attract attention.

“How about surrendering?” hesitated, one member holding a wounded man.

That woman was holding her partner whose chest wound was thick, but not yet closing.

Surrender?

“Are you crazy? Do you think those beasts will put us in prison? They will devour us!” shouted another mercenary with an incredulous look.

One could tell she was inexperienced and unfamiliar with the magical forest.

Maybe in the northern part, where security was higher due to Zerzura City, they could surrender and go to prison without losing their lives, but here it was different.

Those beasts would kill them all.

“We’d better keep moving,” replied the leader, and checking his artifacts that were already in perfect condition, he added. “We’ll use another concealment scroll.”

With such words, he tore a scroll containing a darkness magic spell... This kind of scroll cost a hundred thousand dollars and at this point, it was necessary to use it.

Then, as they were about to move, they felt a tremor and from the sky a huge beetle fell to the ground.

Its wings were left in full view and the group was stunned not to know they were flying, but to see a young woman land beside the beetle.

Black eyes and hair with a rather captivating figure. Her gaze was nonchalant and in her hands she held a bag of chips.

The beetle was a rank A Goliathus, but her presence was different and unique.

“...” The leader signaled for silence.

That creature hadn’t noticed him and the young girl gave the feeling that she didn’t notice them either.

The leader tried to hide his trembling at having recognized that young lady... At least he wished he was wrong.

However, his hope was destroyed in seconds.

That young woman turned her gaze around the surroundings, then noticed them... In reality, their surroundings must have been covered by darkness that seemed to have swallowed them up and normally they would not be detected.

Unfortunately, the person they encountered was not normal.

From the young woman’s back tentacles came out, and that was enough for the leader to realize they were in trouble.

“Run!” shouted the leader immediately and the whole group moved, fleeing for different directions.

However, the leader could see that from the shadow under the young woman’s feet people were appearing and his expression only became harder when someone jumped towards him.

“I took charge!” shouted a young man with dark skin and a strict look.

The clawed combat armor was deployed on his body and the man attacked using the claws.

The leader dodged it, but realized that while the other party was an A-rank, he was not as strong.

Such a thought lasted only a moment, as that young man began to transform into what the stories would call a ‘werewolf’.

His size increased, and the armor adapted to the body’s changes, while the eyes became the same as a beast’s.

The large wolf mouth opened, revealing fangs, and its natural claws merged with its ancient metal claws.

“GRr!”

The werewolf attacked him roaring with fury and the leader managed to cover himself with his hammer to defend himself.

The claws not only became stronger but also too fast and the metallic sounds when defending let it be seen that the claws were powerful.

“GRAA!”

A scream came from afar as a flying limb was crushed by a huge beetle that fell from the sky.

Elsewhere, huge roots were surrounding another young man as he attacked and caught the other fleeing members.

The strength of those roots and his presence made it clear that he was an S rank despite his young age.

What was worse was that the leader recognized him as the leader of the Zerzura Academy in the international tournament.

And from a distance he could see how a man was attacking with his psionic energy another member who was trying to flee.

His expression grew uglier and uglier until he could see that in the background another young woman had appeared who was just watching.

The young woman had black hair and eyes and she was looking at everything clearly, while next to her stood a military woman and a priestess, along with a gluttonous woman devouring chips.

“Ugh!”

Taking a hit from that A-ranked lycanthrope with his barrier, the leader used the force to retreat backwards.

He could see that more magical beasts were coming from afar and the worst thing was that those who were facing the magical beasts, it wasn’t a battle like the one he was having with that lycanthrope; they were fighting to the death.

Gritting his teeth, he took a deep breath and made his decision.

“I surrender!” shouted the leader, throwing his hammer to the ground.

Just as he expected, the lycanthrope looked at him cautiously without attacking him and those humans in command signaled him to lie down.

The next moment, all his team members began to surrender without dropping dead.

It was one matter to surrender with magical beasts that literally had no jail or laws, and another to surrender with humans... At least with Zerzura authorities, the chance of survival was higher.

Now the leader wished his decision was correct.