Now that we've heard of the Sword Demon's whereabouts, we can't just let it go unchecked.
Although he is now a lone wolf who has left the team and lost contact with us, he is still a familiar former teammate. If he gets into a similar mess as at the beginning of the game, the one who will have a headache will definitely not be the lone wolf protagonist who is used to doing things his own way, but us who will be affected because of the progress being behind.
Even the people from the mountain, who had been debating whether to go to a more distant place to check if any other elves had been abducted, now put on serious expressions and became even more vigilant and cautious.
Clearly, they all harbored some wariness and suspicion towards this "companion" they hadn't seen in a long time.
Firstly, it is still unclear whether the other side shares the same goals as us, and whether it will ultimately escalate into a situation where a confrontation is unavoidable.
Secondly... the enemy's individual combat strength is simply too strong.
Caught completely off guard, it wouldn't take the Sword Demon long to overturn this place.
Only by resisting with all our might and prolonging the war can we have the possibility of overwhelming them directly by relying on accumulated momentum or an explosive attack.
The elf, also sensing the tense atmosphere, pricked up his long, pointed ears. Only after receiving assurances that they wouldn't harm him did he hesitantly relax his tense shoulders.
"If you want to know where that person went..." the elf rolled his eyes, finally offering his price, "first, help me confirm the safety of my companions who traveled with me!"
"……Yes???"
Therefore, given that the current atmosphere could turn into an extremely urgent situation at any moment, our actions have once again returned to square one.
Although it was a suggestion that wouldn't be too much of a burden for a combination of teams with multiple search capabilities, it still carried a heavy weight in my heart because it delayed the confirmation of whether the bomb had detonated.
Mistaking this as dissatisfaction with her not cooperating, the elf, who looked younger than her actual age, carefully offered reassurance repeatedly before pressing her bid again.
"In exchange, I will introduce you to the village chief. Besides, if you can successfully rescue the other children who are about to be kidnapped, you will also gain the trust of the villagers more easily. Isn't that a perfect hint?"
Yes, this is the suggestion from the elf who claims to be Thrall.
Although Sheng has a general understanding of the route ahead, and although he is anxious about what might happen next, now that there are other successful paths to take, he might as well try to do his best.
After making a simple decision, we resumed our advance under Sal's guidance and left the area that had been identified as a safe zone a few minutes later.
The newly entered area seemed to be a more vibrant place.
Everywhere were trees so tall that their tops were invisible, their broad leaves wide enough to envelop three or four people lying side by side, and giant insects nearly as tall as three or four people. The monsters that were occasionally glimpsed were also much larger than the types they had seen before, with wingspans of thirty or forty meters just by looking at them from a distance, their eerie aura almost crushing the earth.
Physically, we felt like a group of tiny people who had mistakenly wandered into the land of giants.
No, it might be even more exaggerated than that.
Turning around, one could see that the leaves surrounding Sal were of common size, probably carefully selected from the tree wall in the safe area, and even if they had a few thorns, they wouldn't be too irritating.
Taking a deep breath, I refocused my attention on the task at hand.
They said they were going to check for potential human traffickers in the area, so they ran along some path we didn't yet know, traversing a long jungle. Several times, to help them orient themselves, Shadow Butterfly led Dawn to climb to the treetops. But most of these attempts were hampered by the massive trees, and ultimately had to be abandoned in disappointment.
Ultimately, the task of conducting the exploration fell to Sheng and me.
The mountain serves as a good position for engaging and defending the front line, so there's not much to worry about when moving.
On the contrary, Thrall repeatedly used the excuse of "finding wild fruits that can be used as food" to leave the group. Finally, after being nearly swallowed by a giant python and being chased and running away in a panic, he realized his lack of strength and obediently stayed in the group to act as a pretty vase.
Then, just before we were about to exhaust all the energy we had accumulated from the day's hike, we finally spotted the human traffickers heading back.
Incidentally, just moments before we discovered them, those bastards, who seemed to be checking the situation and taking a headcount, were finishing their rest, getting up to pack their bags, and preparing to leave with a line of elves whose hands and feet were bound tightly with double-strapped ropes.
The terrain was a small, somewhat open hill, with two or three simple rest huts set up. Even including the unconfirmed number of people, there would be no more than twenty.
Considering the group of lost people we encountered earlier, we don't know if there were others who also got lost in the maze, or if only a few people came.
Successfully, after stopping the enraged Sal at the first moment, we quietly devised a plan. Using a stealthy, perimeter-clearing tactic, we took advantage of the thieves' momentary lapse in attention to eliminate most of the guards who were relaxed after their rest. Once they became alert, we swiftly eliminated the remaining few.
Aside from spending an extra two seconds on the leader who put up a fierce resistance at the end, there was no decent resistance whatsoever.
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