[er Calendar, March 10, 1 Year of Demon War]
The Bog Forest is truly a place where wild plants can thrive freely. Damp mosses grow abundantly, covering every side of the trees. Dense underbrush, reaching up to the chest of an adult, fills the forest.
Combined with the towering trees that block out the sunlight, the area beneath becos dark, untouched by light. The bustling sounds of chirping birds, running animals, and hidden predators fill every corner.
This makes Bog Forest a true natural wonder, untouched by human hands.
However, the beauty of the Bog Forest cannot be experienced by the children of Class A15. They have just witnessed how humans were skinned and deboned by a group of monsters. Their eyes turned red, their teeth clenched tightly, and their fists clenched, holding back the anger within their hearts.
Although nobles look down upon the lives of commoners, they still consider themselves as part of the sa species. When they see mbers of their species being skinned and chopped like at in a market, it naturally makes them feel sick.
But they couldn't do anything when Robert ordered them to just sit and observe. Their investigative task beca completely different when they realized that the true culprits behind all the anomalies in the Bog Forest were not the two suspects they had imagined: the mutated animals or the fifth mana species.
It was caused by foolish monsters they regarded as re pests. This was completely beyond their expectations, and even Dony, who considered himself clever, couldn't believe it.
However, their doubts grew even stronger when they saw a young orc slap away a fireball cast by a Level 1 Constellation Mage. This was truly strange and unusual because they all knew that monsters had no mana within their bodies. There was no possibility for a monster to overpower a mage, and such a thought had never crossed their minds.
But when Robert revealed that the monsters were slaves of the demon species, everything made sense. The young orc must have been given sothing by the demon species to be able to slap away the fireball with his sword.
And the reason why Robert restrained them from interfering also made perfect sense. During the ongoing second mana species war, no demon had managed to breach the frontlines established by the three mana species alliances.
This was due to the combination of detection spells based on mana detection technology developed by the three alliances. So, any creature with even a hint of mana in their body would be imdiately detected by these spells. It was therefore impossible for a demon species to attack them from behind by circling around.
However, monster species are different. They are a cursed species hated by the world, which ans there is not a trace of mana within their bodies. As a result, they can easily bypass the detection spells.
This was never imagined by the previous alliances because no one had ever thought of using monster species in warfare other than as training dummies for their children. These species were extrely weak, even weaker than chickens.
But when the monster species was ard by the demon species, they beca a dangerous threat to regular non-mage troops. The demon species ordered the monsters to sneak past the alliance's defenses and attack their supply lines. Although the impact was minimal, it could cause so losses for the alliance.
This was the right way to use the monster species because if they were placed in direct battle, they would only beco cannon fodder without causing any significant damage. As a result, when Robert reported this to the alliance, Aqua decided to assign him a mission to find the location of the monster's stronghold and eliminate them all at once.
Initially, Robert suspected that the monster stronghold would be in an area not covered by the lines on the map. However, he decided to be cautious and chose to tail the monster horde as they returned to their base.
As the sun reached its zenith, the monster horde finally returned. They brought back many items they had taken from the fallen soldiers, collecting all the tal they could find and carrying away any at they ca across.
Their movents beca slow, making it easy to follow them from a distance. Robert glanced at his classmates, who were eager to eradicate all the monsters imdiately. But he remained patient and careful, avoiding making hasty decisions.
His cautious approach paid off.
The monsters did not go to the location he suspected as their stronghold. Instead, they took a different turn, moving cautiously and deliberately obscuring their tracks. They eventually arrived at a seemingly abandoned cave.
The monsters entered the cave cautiously, checking multiple tis if they were being followed. Even after several checks, they suddenly rechecked once more. All the students of Class A15 were impressed by Robert's caution and his incredible patience.
After so ti, Robert ordered everyone to leave their hiding spot. Quickly, a mage with the Earth Spell faction checked the condition of the cave using their spell.
They discovered that the cave was connected to a location quite far away from their current position. If they were to walk through it, it would take three days to reach the other end of the cave. However, they also sensed mana movent within the cave, the sa kind of mana movent they felt on the Mana Train.
Robert quickly concluded that there must be so form of transportation inside the cave that allowed the monsters to move from one end to the other. If that was the case, they had limited ti to tail the monsters and they needed to move at the speed of that transportation.
However, Robert didn't want them to enter the cave to pursue the monsters. He was concerned about potential traps or the collapse of the cave, which could endanger them or seal off the monsters' tracks. Therefore, the pursuit had to be conducted on the surface, but the Earth Spell faction couldn't detect it at such long distances.
But Sigurd quickly showcased the power of his new detection spell. He was able to locate the marked targets even if they were 10 kiloters away. He had already marked the monsters with his spell. The monsters, unable to sense mana, had no idea they had beco targets of Sigurd's spell.
Robert's face lit up with joy. He imdiately asked Sigurd to guide them in the pursuit. The chase resud, and true enough, the monsters moved incredibly fast, as if they weren't running on two legs.
Robert remained cautious, keeping several hours of distance between his group and the monsters. He wasn't worried if so monsters beca aware of their presence, but he feared there might be other traps set up by the demon species.
Initially, Robert wanted to send a few people to the location he believed was the monsters' stronghold. However, he abandoned the idea due to the sa fear. He didn't want any of his friends to be killed because of his suspicion.
He only reported his suspicions to the alliance and let them handle it. If there were any traps there, the alliance mages could deal with them because they were much stronger than the mages in his group. After all, they were just newbies who had never experienced real warfare.
The pursuit continued for a full day until Robert and his team found what they were certain was the monsters' stronghold. The campsite in front of them looked like both an evacuation and a prison.
Several winged demons could be seen flying above, keeping watch over the monsters below. In addition to the monsters, there were also several human prisoners who were treated the sa, if not worse, than the monsters.
Robert and his team realized they had found the right location. However, Robert remained cautious. He reported their findings to the alliance and waited for further orders. He noticed there were so demons there, but most of them were just Level 1 Demon Cores, and the number of Level 2 Demon Cores was very limited.
Robert felt that his team could destroy the stronghold on their own, but he didn't want to act recklessly.
"Robert, what are you waiting for?" Artur said, his eyes still fixed on the stronghold in front of them without blinking.
"Artur, don't be impulsive. We don't know if there are any traps inside the stronghold, and we don't know if there are Level 3 Demon Cores in there or not," Robert said.
"This is just a stronghold to hold the monsters. Don't you think it's excessive to have Level 3 Demon Cores guarding the monsters?" Artur replied impatiently.
"Artur, follow my orders! We have to wait for the alliance's decision before we make a move!" Robert asserted, his eyes serious.
Artur ignored Robert's command, his eyes still fixed on the stronghold. He seed to be searching for sothing, clearly scrutinizing the area. And then he found it—a woman with silver hair.
"Anna!" Artur whispered, but Robert, who was beside him, heard the whisper clearly.
"Wait, Artur, wait... Shit!"
Artur had already leaped out of his hiding spot with his unsheathed sword.
Robert had no choice but to also co out of hiding, shouting, "Charge!"
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