20 Hours Without Backup (4)

As soon as we detected the presence, I quickly passed the Rhinoceros Lance of Death back to Hailey. Right after, I opened my World Storage, about to pull out my hammer, but...

"...?"

The presence suddenly felt familiar. Moreover, I couldn't feel any bloodlust coming from it at all. Before I could wonder what was approaching, a loud howl echoed in the dark night. No, more than a howl, it sounded like a cute shriek.

"It's the baby foxes!" I quickly realized, closing my storage again. "Why did they come here? Did they follow us?"

To notify them of our direction, I tried clapping my hands. Soon enough, probably after hearing my signal, the little foxes' presence quickly changed directions and went straight towards us.

It didn't take long before their silvery-white fur appeared in our view. All three of them were together, running to the best of their abilities. However, as they approached, I noticed an anomaly.

"Blood?"

There's a thick scent of iron hanging in the air around the three. As they came close enough for the light coming from the brazier to light them up, I felt my breath get caught in my throat.

"R-Ruin!!" Hailey called with impatience in her voice.

Of course, I know what she meant. After all, the three little foxes all had large wounds across their bodies—long slash marks. It's not something they'd get randomly that easily. "They were attacked!" That was the only conclusion that would explain this situation.

Anyway, enough analysis. I quickly opened my World Storage once more and quickly pulled out potions enough for the three of them. I passed one to Hailey, who caught it expertly and ran to the little fox furthest from her.

I quickly splashed the potions over their wounds, making sure that they took effect, before heaving a sigh of relief. However, although their wounds closed, they were extremely weakened after losing too much blood.

"We're over 5 kilometers away from their nest. It must've been hard for them to follow our tracks," Hailey muttered in worry.

"Right..."

It really is worrisome. After all, the three little guys were heavily injured and had to run to us to seek help. "I hope their parents managed to run away safely..."

Although I want to run back to their nest to confirm, the road is pitch black. Assuming that there'll be an encounter battle, then we'd be at a disadvantage due to the lack of vision. I feel sad for these three kits, but safety first...

"Ruin, I heard some noise! Is everything alright?!"

Just as the situation calmed down, Toki came running, with the rest just behind her. "Wait, isn't that the pups of those foxes?! What happened?"

As soon as everyone came into audible distance, I relayed the situation to them, including my own prediction about the matter. Their faces all turned somber, but nobody suggested we go and rescue the kits' parents. After all, they knew just how dangerous it was to fight without proper vision.

"If only we had things like wards or flares..." Mina muttered, but things like those are rare to come by… wait.

"I have some flares left." I quickly opened my storage and checked. "There's... five flares left."

The flares I have are signal flares, not flares used to create bright light for a location. Still, it should be able to light up a large area.

"I also learned a new spell just now. I took the illumination spell, Light!" Lily announced with a firm expression. Did she get it after leveling up? Anyway, this is convenient!

"Shall we?"

I checked everyone's expression while asking. All of them had fearless smiles on their faces before answering one after the other.

"Nighttime is the best grinding time, so I'm all for it!"

"Ah, as long as Lily doesn't miss a heal, I'm all set!"

Mina and Hailey announced it almost simultaneously, followed by Toki and Lily.

"The enemy attacked at night, so it should have good night vision. Now that we have a light source on our side, this should be a piece of cake."

"I-I'll do my best to support everyone!"

Finally, I turned to Marionne, but it seemed like I didn't even need to ask. "I'll go wherever Ruin goes!"

Our decision was already made, so there's no longer a need to wait. "Then, let's go save these kids' mom and dad!"

---

After that, I redistributed everyone's gear and weapons, passed a few more consumables, and gave each one a safety hat with a light attachment. After all, we can't waste Lily's MP along the way, so we need some form of light while running.

For our guide, the three kits were already raring to go, so there are no worries about that. It seems like their tracks, filled with drops of blood, had left a strong scent track for them to follow.

We finished all preparations in under ten minutes before finally commanding the pups to run. "Go as fast as you can!"

I'm not sure if they understood my words, but they ran quickly. All of us ran as fast as we could too, but Lily, being the one with the shortest legs, ended up unable to catch up.

"..."

Not wanting to waste time, I had no choice but to carry her in my arms and run.

"R-Ruin?!"

"Unfair!"

"I-I'm next!"

"Come on! Focus on where you're running!"

"Mahiro, that's sexual harassment if done without consent."

Everyone's voices echoed loudly in the quiet night. Hearing Toki's reprimand, I turned to face Lily and smiled wryly. "Sorry to surprise you, Lily, but we need to rush. I'll carry you, so make sure not to bite your tongue, alright?"

"...!"

I couldn't confirm well since I didn't want to turn the headlight straight at her face, but I think she did nod her head. Anyway, with that, our speed increased a fewfold, running across the wasteland-like field as fast as we possibly could afford.

Within minutes, we could already see the mountain of bones near the nest. Although it looked several times scarier now that it was nighttime, the girls ignored it and ran ahead without as much as a peep.

As we headed further, the sound of battle started to enter our ears. Everyone's pace toned down a little, enough to be able to react to anything. When we were roughly a hundred meters away, I could already see the large shadows of the mom and dad foxes jumping around, fighting something.

"Lily, light!"

"Roger!"

Without delay, Lily fired a ball of light straight toward the sky. It was small, about the size of a basketball, but it was bright enough to let us see everything.

"...!"

What in the nine hells is that?! It looked like a centipede, but it was the size of a building! Furthermore, its legs were sharp, like a razor blade, and they were cutting anything that bumped against them.

*GRRRRRR!*

The two foxes were already filled with lacerations. One of them was already down and unmoving, but hopefully we aren't too late.

"Lily, I'll be letting you down! Go to the wolves and tend to their injuries!" I quickly gave an order before slowly letting her off.

Although she almost fell flat on her face, she managed to correct her posture and continue running along with us. Seeing her gain a safe pace, I finally took out my hammer from the World Storage and gripped it hard.

"Phew..." I took a deep breath before taking a giant leap forward. "Everyone else, attack at your own discretion!!!"

*BAM!*

I landed the hammer against its scaly body, but I could feel that my attack barely worked on it. The impact felt like it was dispersed by the scaly armor on its back. It's not a single plate?!

"Ugh! Woah!"

Just as I was wondering how thick this monster's hide was, it suddenly started to move. The razor-sharp legs started to move, aiming to reach my body. I was in midair with no foothold, so it was basically impossible to dodge!

"What the hell are you doing? Suicide?!"

Moments before the blade-like legs hit, Marionne came from behind me and used me as a foothold, kicking me down while propelling herself up. Thanks to her help, I managed to dodge the legs and land safely... or not. My back hurts.

Above me, Marionne was doing her best. With her frozen blade, she was running down the giant centipede's wide back while slashing at it nonstop. Although she couldn't leave even the slightest scratch against its tough scales, the added freezing from each strike made the centipede's movements slow down gradually.

"Fireball!"

Toki, on the other hand, continued harassing it. She kept firing fireballs straight toward the monster's face, or eyes, to be more specific, trying to limit its vision. Well, I'm guessing it doesn't rely on vision, anyway. But it doesn't change the fact that the eyes are a great weak point for it.

*BANG!*

Mina was taking her time to aim. She wasn't willing to waste her limited bullets on firing at the hard exoskeleton when she knew it wouldn't even scratch it. Instead, she was doing the same as Toki, aiming for the eyes.

Lily had already reached the two foxes and was using potions and her heals to fix them up. From the look on her face, it looked like the other one was still alive, although barely.

"I can't stay idle either!"

I ran once more, ignoring the pain in my back, and approached the part of the centipede's body that was on the ground. Without hesitation, I swung my hammer—horizontally.

"Haaaap!"

*TTTTTTTIIIIIIIIIING!*

Sparks flew as the hammer gradually chipped. However, the other party didn't remain unscathed either.

*SCREEEEEE!*

The blade-like legs that met the hammer... were now bending toward the other direction, broken!