"Susu, Pat and Top are helping us. We need to break through quickly. If they get us entangled, we're doomed."

I shouted, and then the spear in my hand, like a venomous snake spitting its tongue, seized the opening of several Haru in front of me and pierced a hole in their lungs, causing them to leak water.

After a few mournful cries, the Haru all collapsed to the ground, with only blood and foam still oozing from the corners of their mouths.

Then I aimed at the heads of the row of Haru in front of me and fired two more shots. More than a dozen Haru fell down again. Even the Haru that were lucky enough to survive lost their fighting ability instantly and rolled around on the ground in pain.

After a fierce battle, we finally tore a huge gap in the road ahead. Now, nothing can stop us, and I immediately shouted...

"Everyone, follow me, we're retreating!"

Top received the message and immediately began to squeak twice towards the sky from the treetop, as if communicating with Pat.

Pat, without needing Top's reminder, had already spotted our retreating figures in the air. As it circled towards us, pebbles from its claws rhythmically fell from the sky.

This was Pat's sixth takeoff. Although he wasn't flying very fast, his stomach, which had just been full, was already empty.

The stones that were falling at that moment exploded right above Haru's head as he chased us. Each time a stone hit its target, Haru's head would either explode or his body would be hit and have a fist-sized hole in it.

Either limbs are severed and scattered everywhere; in short, the scene is far more gruesome than damage caused by a shotgun.

Helpless, the Haru could only raise their shields to block the stones flying overhead. Those without shields dared not huddle together any longer.

In an instant, Haru's tightly packed formation was disrupted, and he was scattered like an anthill that had been blown apart.

They now have a phobia of the sky, and every now and then they have to stop to see if anything is falling from the sky.

They naturally had no idea that the stones were thrown by Pat. Now, Haru's suspicious and cautious nature actually created many opportunities for our escape.

Soon, we all ran out of their sight.

A large number of Haru have now been deployed, so areas where Haru have not yet been found should be considered safe for the time being.

Even if Haru's population were large, it would be impossible for them to occupy every corner of this region. If that were the case, we wouldn't have been without news of Haru for so long.

However, for safety's sake, we found the nearest spot close to the rock face to walk. Walking with our backs against the rock face would eliminate all blind spots within a 180-degree field of vision behind us.

Even if Haru is on guard above the rock face, we can detect him immediately. Now, as long as we make sure Haru doesn't appear in our line of sight ahead, there shouldn't be any major problems.

After walking for a while, we came to a ravine near a rocky cliff. There was a shady spot where we could hide and rest for a while to organize our equipment.

At that moment, Pat and Top also rushed out of the woods and joined us.

Su Su affectionately patted Top's head and Pat's feathers and said to the two little guys, "You've worked hard. Here, have something to eat."

As she spoke, Su Su handed Pat the giant dragonfly muscle that was tied up, letting him use his claws to tear it apart.

Then she took out the fruit that Top had left with her from her backpack, and Top could take whatever it wanted to eat.

After replenishing our food supplies, we began to check our equipment. First, the metal drum magazines filled with arrows were wearing out quite quickly.

Now I'm the only one left with most of what I have. I still have three complete drum magazines and a small number of arrows in my crossbow.

This is because I also used a shotgun; the conflict just now consumed more than ten rounds of iron shot.

Susu and Dante had about the same amount of metal drum magazines left; each had only one complete drum magazine and some arrows left in their crossbows.

I didn't expect that we would get off to such a bad start. We were discovered by Haruqun as soon as we entered, and we lost more than half of our crossbow bolts.

It was only because Pat and Top were there to help us later that our energy expenditure was even greater; otherwise, it might have been even higher.

I frowned and took a bite of the red fruit in my hand. The sweet and sour juice lingered in my mouth, but I didn't feel any excitement about escaping.

We've only temporarily escaped the pursuit of those Haru; we're still in their lair.

We don't know what the terrain is like here, and if we don't return the way we came, we are very likely to get lost in this unfamiliar primeval forest.

Based on the descriptions on the murals, we probably didn't encounter all the Haru here; they were most likely just combat-class and ordinary Haru patrolling this area.

The high and mighty leader who rules over these Haru people, as depicted in the murals, must be in the dense forest deeper into which we have ventured.

If the murals depict reality, then those living in the upper levels of the buildings likely already possessed the same methods of construction as humans, and were able to build fortifications such as walls to defend against invading enemies.

Thinking about this made me feel a chill run down my spine. Dealing with such a beast whose intelligence is comparable to that of Homo sapiens is not so easy.

The Haru on the outer perimeter have already nearly killed us; the Haru in the central area, with their higher status and rank, must be even more difficult to deal with.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to suppress the once-powerful Mira tribe so much that they fled all the way to the western forbidden lands, only managing to catch their breath when they joined forces with the even stronger Asada tribe.

We need to be more careful with our next move, otherwise I might cause a disaster for everyone here.

Fortunately, I had the foresight to know that the journey would be extremely dangerous, so I rushed to make protective gear for everyone.

Apart from a few holes in their bodies, no one has suffered any bleeding injuries from this conflict.

However, our legs were still hit a few times by some sticks, after all, wild boar skin is not as protective as crocodile skin.

Even through the protective gear, we still had several bruises on our legs.

I prepared some herbal remedies for bruises and sprains, crushed them into a paste with stones, and applied them to everyone's injured areas. These herbs have excellent effects in reducing swelling and bruising, and can speed up recovery.

However, this injury is not a big problem for us who have been trained for a long time. Now that we have applied some medicine, the injured area feels cool and is much more comfortable than before.