[Bog Forest, Glittering adow]
Bolt gazed at the sunlight filtering through the dense canopy of trees. Even though it was midday and the sun was at its highest position, the Bog forest still appeared dark in so parts, almost like night. However, Bolt decided not to light the torch.
They didn't want the torch's fla to disturb the sleep of the ferocious mutated animals, causing them to beco agitated and attack. Their task was not to hunt mutated animals in the Bog forest but to escort the caravan to the front line.
Bolt was the leader of this caravan. He was initially a rcenary but was hired by a wealthy noble family to be their caravan escort, delivering supplies to the front line. Bolt gladly accepted the job because of the high pay.
Moreover, walking through a dense forest like the Bog forest was not uncommon for Bolt and his team. He was forrly an adventurer but decided to bury his dream of becoming a mage due to his mounting debts.
With the vast expanse of human alliance territory, various disputes between regions sotis occur. Whether it's because of a mana stone mine or simply the pursuit of a woman, wars sotis break out between one noble and another.
As the saying goes, where there is profit, there will be war. But for Bolt, the saying is more appropriate as: where there is war, there is profit. Although these nobles want to pay a high price for famous rcenaries, large-scale wars between nobles are strongly prohibited by the human alliance.
Although they are in a ti of peace, wars between mana species can occur at any ti, as they do now. Therefore, the human alliance always has a policy of resolving conflicts between nobles through diation or duels of honor.
Thus, sotis Bolt and his rcenaries have no work for months. Until a war between mana species breaks out again, and Bolt is inundated with job offers.
Although he has a low education, Bolt is not foolish. He knows that if he were to enter the battle, he would only beco cannon fodder for the mages. Therefore, Bolt chose a different job, becoming a guard for supply caravans.
Although the Bog forest is dangerous, if he is careful not to enter the territory occupied by dangerous mutated animals, this journey is almost like a vacation for Bolt and his rcenaries.
Bolt and his rcenaries have repeatedly passed through the Bog forest to escort supply caravans, and as expected, there have been no dangers encountered. However, this ti the supply caravan they are escorting is a bit peculiar.
Normally, Bolt receives his escort mission from the human alliance's logistics division. Despite the mages always looking down on Bolt and his rcenaries, they always pay them fairly. But this ti, Bolt has been tasked with escorting a supply caravan for a noble he doesn't know.
At first, Bolt wanted to refuse this mission because of a bad feeling. However, the noble promised him tempting weapons and armor equipnt, and the pay was several tis higher than what the logistics division usually gives them.
Even so, Bolt still feels worried about this task, especially after seeing the carriage that they have to escort. The carriage is too luxurious to just carry food or other war supplies. The carriage is more suited to transporting a noble princess around the city.
But eventually, Bolt couldn't refuse the noble's request after he promised him a bottle of mana potion. Although Bolt had buried his dream of becoming a mage deep inside, the image of a powerful mage always haunts his dreams.
He can only use the excuse that the Bog forest is not as dangerous as he thought to calm his mind about the strange task. They depart by taking a different route than usual, as the noble claims that the route is safer than others.
Squeak!
The window beside him opens, and Bolt can only sigh heavily before turning to look. Through the quarter-opened window, he sees the face of a noble with white skin and a thick blonde mustache above his lips.
"Uh... Commander Bolt, how much longer until we arrive? I'm sorry for asking this repeatedly, but it's very hot inside the carriage, so could you speed up the caravan?" he says.
For who knows how many tis, Bolt feels like killing this noble and burying him deep in the Bog forest. He is inside a luxurious carriage with suspension, so he doesn't feel any vibrations even though they are passing through the rough roads of the Bog forest. Bolt even feels the cool air coming out of the window crack, so he knows that the air inside the carriage is not as hot as the air outside.
Not only that but the noble nad Jas has repeatedly asked the sa question, which makes him very angry. He can only calm his mind by repeating "for the mana potion" in his head.
"Lord Jas, I'm sorry, but we cannot accelerate the caravan's pace any further. The sound of our footsteps will easily be heard by the mutated animals in Bog forest, and rushing will drain the warriors' stamina. I hope you can be patient a little longer," Bolt replied with bulging eyes.
"Ah... okay.. okay... but.. but... can you tell how much longer until we reach the front line?" Jas asked, intimidated by Bolt's stare.
"We just passed a adow, and after this, we have to cross several jungles before reaching the front line. Again, I hope you can patiently wait. It's for your safet--"
"AARRGGHHH!!!"
Suddenly, a rcenary's scream was heard. Bolt quickly ignored Jas, who turned pale, and ran towards the source of the sound. He saw a rcenary lying stiff with a hole in his stomach.
From the wooden spear stuck in the ground behind him, Bolt knew the rcenary was killed by that thrown spear. Before he could warn of an attack, dozens of spears flew from behind the bushes.
*STAB! *STAB! *STAB! *STAB! *STAB! *STAB! *STAB! *STAB! *STAB! *STAB! *STAB! *STAB! *STAB!
The wooden spears didn't only kill one rcenary but pierced through his body and killed other rcenaries behind him before stopping after killing the third. The spears were so strong that they could penetrate through the shield.
"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!!!" Bolt was finally able to yell out his warning after more than a dozen rcenaries were killed.
"Protect the carriage! Make barricades with your shields! Archers, find the location of these damn enemies!" he ordered, and the rcenaries, who had gone through various life and death situations, quickly ford a formation around the carriages.
But before they could locate the direction of the spears, the next attack was launched. This ti it was not a hail of wooden spears, but a hail of stones that fell upon Bolt and his rcenaries.
Just like the spears, the stones were thrown so hard that the rcenaries' shields shattered upon impact. The formation they had made was broken, and the fear of death began to creep in.
"Attack at 9 o'clock!" shouted an archer who had managed to climb onto a carriage.
"Archers! Shoot at 9 o'clock!" Bolt imdiately ordered a counterattack to buy ti for his troops to reform their defensive formation.
But before the archers could draw their arrows, ten giant green creatures suddenly erged from behind the bushes and slamd into Bolt's confused rcenaries. Their movents were incredibly fast and deadly, ard with wooden clubs, spears, or even bones, the green monsters decimated Bolt's troops.
In a matter of seconds, the number of dead rcenaries had reached more than a dozen. Once again, the enemy's movents were much faster than Bolt had expected.
"ORCS!!!" yelled one of the rcenaries, identifying the enemy.
"What are you doing?! There are only ten orcs! Split up and surround them!" Bolt gave his orders with frustration.
The tactic of separating and surrounding orcs in battle was well-known to the human alliance ard forces, including Bolt's rcenaries, although they had never fought orcs before. Nonetheless, Bolt remained vigilant in case they had to face the strongest monster race in the future.
Following the rcenaries' plan, the orcs suddenly separated themselves and fell into the rcenaries' trap. Bolt felt lucky because, although orcs were known for their strength, they were also considered foolish creatures who relied solely on their physical abilities.
However, his happiness was short-lived as the besieged orcs showed no signs of being overwheld by the outnumbered enemy. Like a dance, the orcs moved swiftly, slipped through the gaps in the human forces, and wreaked havoc on the hapless soldiers within their reach.
Like scattered dust, the disfigured body parts of the unfortunate humans flew through the air, struck by the primitive weapons wielded by the orcs. The siege strategy failed miserably, as not only could they not harm a single orc, but they also couldn't even touch their skin.
Bolt realized that they were not fighting the barbaric orcs but an elite orc army that mastered martial arts beyond what they had ever seen in their lives. The sense of impending death grew stronger, piercing Bolt's skin.
"ARCHER!! ARCHER!! SHOOT THOSE DAMN GREEN MONSTERS! I DON'T CARE IF YOU HIT OUR OWN TROOPS! ARCHER!! ARCHER!!! ARCHER?" Hearing no answer from his archers, Bolt turned around.
The archers who were supposed to stand on the carriages and shoot their enemies had disappeared. Looking further, Bolt found the archers hanging from trees with spears piercing their stomachs, already dead.
Bolt's face turned pale. He felt as if he saw the end of his life, and if he didn't do sothing, it would beco a reality. Hurriedly, Bolt knocked on Jas's carriage window.
"LORD JAS! LORD JAS! LORD JAS! I know you're with a mage! Please help us, or we will all die!!"
At the sa ti, the carriage window opened wide.
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