Chapter 278

The smoke from the forest was intense this close to Traehall. We were just getting to the edge of where the forest surrounding Traehall started to become denser around the road, which meant we had to be more on guard for this next stretch as our caravan approached the small city.

"Bone dogs!" Torien called out as she shot an arrow into the forest. A canine yelp of pain rang out, but six more of the monsters entered the road in front of us.

"Lots of fire mana in the air," Morrigan said as she created a twister of fire. The monsters reacted, quickly moving out of the area with slightly singed fur. The fire tornado continued to spin between us and the monsters. She kept it moving at our pace, so we didn't need to slow down. It was easy to maintain for Morrigan with the rich fire mana in the air. The monsters growled and started to dodge around it and flee back into the woods to attack us from another angle. They were wary, but not giving up on us yet.

The bone dogs looked as gross as the first time I'd seen them. Mangy canines with long bone protrusions sticking through their dirty fur. I could see the wispy shadow mana that surrounded them clearly now, something that I hadn't been able to perceive last time we ran across them. Their glowing red eyes made them easy to track even when they dipped back into the forest to come back at us from another angle.

Another yelp from behind us. I turned and saw Silva throw one of the bone dogs to the side of the road with a flick of her spear. Silva was currently riding a basic looking [Carousel] horse. It was plain, but it was familiar, letting Silva focus on fighting from horseback. I trailed my eyes across the treeline, watching for those red eyes. With the lull in the combat, I cast [Fireflies] around us which should keep the shadow monsters at bay. Small twinkles of light surrounded us, and it quickly became apparent that the bone dogs gave up on us not long after that. It had been better than I expected, probably because my [Magic Force] is so much higher than these relatively low-level monsters.

Torien pulled up beside me on her mount. "Bone dogs this close to the edge of the forest isn't a great sign. It means that lots of monsters have been displaced around Traehall. Not surprising if the monsters piled up by the walls are demons, but concerning nonetheless."

I nodded. "My [Fireflies] spell was pretty effective against them, but it's only useful against shadow monsters."

"I need to do something about this smoke," Morrigan said with a frown. "We're nowhere close to the town yet, and it's already getting thick enough to become a problem. I can use some wind magic to do something about it, but I'll have to keep my focus on it. I'll need cover in the meantime."

"Make sure not to push the smoke in the direction of the town! It could harm any survivors that are still there," Torien pointed out.

Morrigan nodded. "I'm aware. I was already planning on pushing it away from the city, but that's part of why I need to maintain so much focus on it."

I turned to the side of the caravan. "Sibyl, come here!" I called out.

Sibyl came over quickly. "What do you need?"

"Hang back with Morrigan and protect her from anything that might attack. She needs to focus on large-scale wind magic to deal with the smoke," I told her.

Sibyl nodded. "That sounds good. The smoke is quickly becoming a problem."

"How are the merchants faring?" I asked.

"Better than I expected. I haven't heard any complaints yet. Eira's team is doing a good job of keeping everyone calm as we drive forward," Sibyl replied.

"Good. Thanks, Sibyl. Go near the center of the caravan and watch over Morrigan," I ordered. "Morrigan, come here real fast."

She pulled up next to me, and I patted her on the shoulder. "Good luck," I said with a smile as I cast [A Touch of Good Luck] on her. I didn't know if it would do anything, but it felt like a good time to use it.

Morrigan smiled. "I'll make sure to keep all the smoke away from us." She turned and followed Sibyl's lead to the center of the caravan. It would be unfortunate we wouldn't have her versatile magic for this next stretch, but we needed to get through the forest without suffocating.

I pulled back up to the front with Torien at my side. She had some of the best perception skills of all of us. Combined with her bow, it made her a deadly shot. She was even more powerful when using her new shadow arrows, at least when the monsters we were fighting weren't shadow monsters themselves. Just as I was thinking that, a shadow arrow coalesced in her hand, and with a twang, the arrow was shot into the forest.

Torien grimaced. "Rebadon, it's a shame that we won't be able to collect its core. It feels like a waste."

"That fire monkey thing?" I asked.

She nodded. "They're common in the area."

Before I could reply, I heard a wailing screech from above. I looked up just in time to see a flying monster rushing right at us. It looked like a giant mutated bat. It looked almost as if it were melted in places, and its skin looked a disgusting shade of yellow in the areas where its fur was missing. Its limbs were unnaturally long and thin, making the monster very oddly proportioned, even for a bat.

Reacting quickly, I summoned a hand of [Blackjack] to my hand and threw it, only looking at the numbers as they flew. Ten and four. Not a great hand, but enough to throw the flying monster off course from us, and twist off to the side while wailing again.

Torien winced. "Banshee. That thing is a demon! Don't let it screech in our direction if you can help it, it can cry loud enough to stun you." She rubbed her cat ears. "My ears are already ringing," she said under her breath.

I summoned another hand of [Blackjack]. Ten and Queen. Better, a hand of twenty. This one should be good. I just need to hit it as it approaches.

"Lilith, can I get a [Flame Imbue] on my quiver of arrows? I'm not sure how effective my shadow bolts will be against these and I'd rather not test it when it dive bombs us next time," Torien asked.

I transferred my cards to my left and hand reached over to grab her held-out quiver with my right. [Flame Imbue] worked a bit differently on arrows, I was able to cast it on an entire set of arrows as if it were a single weapon. The effect was pretty straightforward too. It just made them add fire damage once shot. "Done," I told her as I pulled my hand away. The arrows now glowed with a warm red aura.

"Is it a good idea to shoot fire arrows into a forest?" I asked.

Torien shrugged. "Generally, I would say no. But considering the forest is already on fire, I don't think it'll do much more harm. We need to take the banshee down quickly. It's worth the risk of making the fires worse."

I didn't have much time to consider her words as the banshee monster swooped down at us again. Its screech was cut off as one of Torien's arrows tore into its wing and lit it on fire. I threw the pair of cards at it, and it burst into a large explosion of mana that made the monster wobble in the air. Just as I thought we hadn't managed to take it down, a bolt of lightning cracked behind us. I turned to see that Silva had thrown her spear at it like a javelin and had finished it off.

[Your party has defeated a Flying Banshee][Novice Magic Swordsman has increased from level 14 to level 15][Luck Magic has increased from level 11 to level 12][Enhancement Magic has increased from level 10 to level 11]

"Whoa, that was a lot of experience. A bunch of my stuff leveled," Torien commented as I dismissed the messages away.

"Me too, went up a class level." I turned and saw Silva stop to retrieve her spear before catching up to the moving caravan again. Mimi jumped off the carriage and ate the monster before it completely turned to black miasma and jumped back onto the carriage effortlessly. Mimi's strength was rather scary sometimes. No reason to waste a good meal though, I guess...

A sudden squall of wind roared around us and thinned the smoke that had been subtly increasing. When I glanced at Morrigan, she still looked focused. I figured she knew what she was doing better than I did, so I didn't question it. I looked ahead again and saw the walls of Traehall on the horizon. The sun was about to go down now, so the sun was at our back, but the orange haze of the fire in the forest kept everything well-lit.

The area around Traehall had been cleared of anything flammable, so the fire hadn't spread to the city walls. The exception may be the giant pile of bodies near the gate, but enough of the forest surrounding the city had been cleared, so the odds of that catching were unlikely. I could see small reflections of light from the top of the walls from the late afternoon sun, which made me think that there were still people alive there. I hoped that we weren't too late. As much as Goldenhearth felt like my home now, I still had a certain attachment to the smaller city too. It was the first place I visited in this new world and made most of my closest friends.

"Don't get nostalgic on me, Lilith! There are more coming!" Torien called out.

Torien could read my emotions through the bond now. I felt like some teasing would be inevitable. "Where? Flying or land?" I asked.

"Land this time. I can't tell what they are, but they look like demons. Disgusting things coming from forward port!"

I looked to the left and saw the movement before I could see what it was. I summoned a hand of [Blackjack] again. Eight and six, I took another card, ten of clubs, I bust. The cards popped in my hand and gave me a bit of magical feedback. It wasn't enough to actually hurt, but it wasn't a pleasant feeling. Another hand. Six and two. Fortuna wasn't being very accommodating today. I took another card, eight for a total of sixteen. Not great, but too risky to hit now. I waited for the monsters to rush out from between the trees and threw the cards forward the moment they broke through.

A small explosion stunned some of the closest ones, and Torien's burning arrows sank into the monsters, enhanced by her skills. The monsters screamed like people, but the thing I was looking at was anything but. The demon was a torso with its skin pulled tight around it like an emaciated person's back, long spindly limbs came out of where its normal limbs would be that forced it to walk at us like a spider. The thing didn't have a head, just spikes of red crystal jutting from where its head and crotch would be. Unfortunately, our attacks did not kill them that easily, and there were four of them.

"Silva, we're going to need your help!" I called out while casting [Augment Strength] on myself.

"Got it!" she called out before dashing over to us.

"We might need to stop to fight these!" Torien yelled.

"Bad idea," Silva replied back. "If we stop now, we'll be surrounded!"

Silva pushed in front with her spear and took most of the monster's attention. It was hard to tell precisely what they were focused on, but all four moved to surround her. The monsters chased Silva down the road as we fought them off without slowing. I pulled my mithril sword from its sheath and moved to flank the one closest to me. Torien moved to the side to get a clear shot on them at the same time.

I swiped with my sword, and it crunched into the leg of the monster. The sword sliced through the monster's leg and barely made it through. An obscene amount of blood poured out of it, way more than should be possible, and the blood sizzled against the ground as it trailed along the path.

"Acid blood! Avoid getting splashed!" Torien called out.

"Fuck, I hate demons like this!" Silva yelled.

The monster that only had three legs now redirected its attention to me, and I had to quickly duck out of its range when it tried to splash me with its blood. The fluid sizzled against my uuna magic construct mount, but the magic held fast. I didn't even want to think about what would happen if my mount died while we were moving this quickly.

I cast [Flame Imbue] on my sword and slashed at another of the monster's limbs. With the added fire damage, this cut was easier and had the added benefit of cauterizing the wound. I had been hoping that would be that, but the monster now ran at us on two of its spindly legs, one from the torso's leg and one from the torso's arm. It seems the thing was coordinated enough to run like this with its body sideways. It was disgusting and its acid blood sprayed all over the place. My mount ducked and dodged out of the way, avoiding the acid as nimbly as if it were actually Nikka. I hoped that maybe my memory of riding her was influencing how I wanted the mount to react.

I pulled one more hand of [Blackjack]. "Come on, Fortuna, I could really use this one right now."

Six and two of diamonds. "That's not helpful!" I pulled one more card and got a nine of clubs. Seventeen is better than busting. I threw the cards at the monster, and it exploded against the demon's torso. The thing wobbled but wasn't dead yet. Fuck.

"More coming from behind!" Sibyl yelled. I looked past the monster chasing me and saw three more of these things coming.

I wasn't feeling very lucky right now.