Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
On the gentle slope where trees had collapsed in broad swaths, several of the lead monsters were now less than three hundred meters away from the carriage, revealing themselves to be demonic boars.
At the front, the Dioscuri brothers exchanged glances and nodded as their muscles rippled and bulged, letting out a synchronized, thunderous roar that triggered a resonant surge in the surrounding ether while they each gripped a bronze spear and hurled the divine-rune-engraved weapons from their hands.
*Pfft! Pfft!*
The two thrown spears pierced flawlessly through the eye sockets and mouths of the demonic boars, driving straight through their skulls and continuing forward to carve a path of blood and muffled groans through the herd, taking down three or four of the beasts before their momentum finally vanished.
A thick, red-and-white fluid sprayed out, splattering across the lush green grass.
Yet, upon seeing this, the brothers' expressions shifted slightly.
The impact felt kinda wrong.
Under normal circumstances, an attack like that against low-level magical beasts should have easily decimated double-digit numbers.
As confusion stirred in their minds, a frantic, hysterical screech erupted from the herd when one of the demonic boars, distinguished by its brownish-yellow hide, bristling mane, and unique patterned markings, upon witnessing the death of its kin, reared up on its hind legs like a human and slammed its front hooves heavily back onto the ground.
Instantly, a surge of khaki-colored light rippled out as the terrain of the mountain path split open and several earthen spikes thrust upward in rapid succession.
Caught completely off guard, the speeding carriage flipped violently, sending passengers and horses tumbling.
Seeing their chance, several wild boars bared their tusks and charged forward with roaring momentum.
As the beasts threatened to breach the defensive line, two figures flashed forward in tandem, their gold-and-black longswords weaving a dense net of blade light that carved a path ahead and reduced the charging boars to tumbling chunks of flesh and pools of foul, flowing blood.
However, the moment those two figures surged forward, the ground shook and rows of earthen spikes shot out precisely where their feet were about to land.
Hoping to capture the ringleader by eliminating the oversized demonic boar first, the Dioscuri brothers' expressions changed and they immediately slammed their palms together mid-air, utilizing the counterforce to spin their bodies like tops, unleashing hundreds of sharp arcs of sword light, shattering the incoming earthen spikes to pieces.
Roar
But by then, the herd of smaller demonic boars had already bypassed the twins and rushed straight toward the mountain path.
Amidst the wreckage of the carriage stood a frail figure, clutching the exquisite Staff of Apollo with her face completely pale.
Watching the swarm of demonic boars charging directly at her, the young girl's body shook uncontrollably.
The knowledge of hexes and magic in her mind seemed to vanish entirely in an instant.
Seeing the situation, the brothers' hearts tightened with worry for Helen.
Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!
Right at that critical moment, a brilliant rain of white light fell from the sky, suppressing the herd and pinning dozens of the charging small boars to the ground like pincushions under the dense volley of arrows, causing them to die instantly.
"Focus on the one ahead and don't let it escape, because we will handle this side!"
Atalanta, having stepped in just in time, shouted her warning as she bounded onto a branch that offered a clearer field of vision, continuously drawing her bow and letting fly arrows to pick off the demonic boars rushing the path one by one to ensure the safety of the two casters.
Simultaneously, Lorne raised the spear and shield he carried to take up a vanguard position while
Medea waved her scepter, enveloping her teammates in magical barriers while standing ready to use High-Speed Divine Words to enhance their stamina, speed, and strength the moment a crisis erupted.
With her teammates providing a reliable shield, the panicked Helen finally calmed down, and finally recalling the magic and hexes she had studied, which provided a helpful though somewhat clumsy contribution.
"Hahaha, brilliant!"
With their rearguard secured, the Dioscuri brothers laughed heartily and brandished their longswords to plunge into the herd of demonic boars, slashing and thrusting until the beasts wailed as the scent of blood filled the air.
"You're next, beast, so don't even think about running!"
Having cleared out the smaller boars nearby, the two charged with clear intent toward the oversized boar with the patterned mane.
Clang!
However, as their two longswords descended, the blades struck the patterned skin of the boar as if hitting a steel plate and bounced right back.
Looking at the layers of khaki light shimmering across the boar's surface, Lorne narrowed his eyes.
Those weren't patterns, but rather divine runes that meant the beast had actually been granted divinity.
Roar!
Seemingly provoked by the stinging pain of the strike, the tan-colored demonic boar let out a furious, low growl and lowered its pair of stark white tusks, putting its head down to charge toward the twins who were still recoiling in mid-air.
Seeing this, Lorne decisively pulled a spear from the broken carriage.
His body coiled tight like a drawn bowstring before he snapped his arm forward in a throw.
Accompanied by a sharp, piercing whistle, the spear drove straight into the giant boar's eye socket, causing the monster to halt mid-charge and thrash wildly, roaring as it blindly trampled everything in sight.
Seeing the perfect opportunity,
Castor reacted instantly in mid-air by grabbing his brother's arm and hurling him toward the oversized boar.
Pollux understood implicitly, leveraging the momentum of his descent to raise his right leg high, and the moment he made contact with the boar, he stamped down brutally onto the spear embedded in its eye socket.
Pfft!
In an instant, the spear drove completely through the boar's eye socket and skull, emerging from the beast's groin along with a fountain of golden-red, tainted blood.
As the fully impaled boar rolled onto its back, its body gave a few slowing twitches before going completely still.
Looking at the trumpet-like exit wound at the boar's rear, Lorne felt a sudden, phantom sting in his own butt.
What a horrific way to die.
Still, considering the creature had been blessed by the earth, rendering its entire body as hard as steel, anyone wanting a quick kill naturally had to find a vulnerable opening to breach.
With their leader dead, the gathered small boars were shaken awake from their frenzy by terror, growling softly as they scattered and fled in all directions.
After easily dispatching a few stubborn boars lingering near the carriage, Lorne knelt down and pulled out a knife to slit open the bellies of several nearby carcasses, rummaging through their insides.
As the bloody entrails spilled out, Medea and Helen felt a wave of nausea, covering their noses and stepping back.
Conversely, Atalanta, with her extensive forest and hunting experience, walked over and asked casually, "What are you looking for, because I can help."
"Open up their stomach sacks, since I want to take a look."
Lorne handed the knife to Atalanta, his voice grave as he stated his request.
The huntress nodded, relying on her seasoned skill in dressing game to easily locate the stomachs of several demonic boars and slice them open one by one.
Instantly, the sour, foul stench of partially digested food drifted into the air.
Medea and Helen felt the gastric acid rising in their throats, forcing them to retreat even further.
Lorne and Atalanta crouched together, using twigs to poke through the contents of the opened stomach sacks as they carefully observed the undigested food remnants and even leaned in to sniff them, entirely unbothered by the filth.
The more they looked, the grimmer their expressions became.
"What is it? Did you find something?"
Having finished cleaning up the battlefield, the twins walked down from the slope and questioned Lorne and Atalanta.
Atalanta turned around first, answering with a solemn face, "Something's wrong, because aside from wild fruits, the stomachs of some of these boars contain a significant amount of ground grain, wheat bran, and bean dregs."
"What does that mean?"
The twins scratched their heads, thoroughly bewildered.
Lorne dropped the twig in his hand and stood up, explaining in a deep tone, "Strictly speaking, demonic boars are inherently ferocious and primarily carnivorous, whereas wild boars aren't as picky, being omnivorous and eating wild fruits, bamboo shoots, and small animals."
The twins remained confused.
"Then the grain, wheat bran, and bean dregs?"
"Are typically high-quality feed prepared for domesticated pigs," Lorne answered quietly, his voice heavy with implication.
Catching the underlying meaning, everyone exchanged startled glances.
"Are you saying these monsters were transformed from wild and domestic pigs?!"
"To be precise, they were corrupted."
Lorne corrected them, his gaze sweeping over the dozen or so opened stomachs on the ground before looking out toward the mist-shrouded Arcadia Mountains, his eyes growing increasingly deep.
"I'm afraid this Beast Calamity isn't that simple, and there is very likely something, or some power, in the mountains driving these animals to undergo demonic corruption."
"Now that you mention it, we felt something was off too."
Realizing the implications, the twins provided additional details.
"When we fought those demonic boars just now, they felt harder to kill than the ones in our memories, and furthermore, demonic boars are famous for their fierce tempers, yet when these monsters saw the tide turn, they actually turned tail and ran."
Hearing the brothers' account, the group's expressions grew a fraction heavier.
As they conversed, an unfamiliar, low growl echoed from the deep recesses of the mountains.
Lorne glanced at the wild boar carcasses strewn across the ground and suggested in a heavy voice,
"The scent of blood here is too strong, so we shouldn't linger.
There are far too many anomalies regarding Arcadia's Beast Calamity, meaning we should clean up and head to the royal capital to regroup first!"
The group nodded in agreement, and Medea and Helen on the slope were especially eager to leave this wretched place that was giving them goosebumps.
However, just as the two were about to rejoin the group and set off on the next leg of their journey, a monstrous silhouette swooped down from above, flattening a swath of trees as it landed directly behind them.
A scalding breath blew against the napes of their necks, causing a dense sheet of goosebumps to erupt across Medea and Helen's skin, leaving them deeply regretting their decision to stay away from the team just to avoid a bad smell.
In that split second, the two casters instinctively prepared to bolt back to their companions.
"Don't move!"
From a distance, Lorne mouthed the words silently, making a calming gesture.
Out of sheer trust, the two exerted every ounce of willpower to suppress their terror and froze in place.
Meanwhile, the four facing them looked up at the creature that had appeared before their eyes, their expressions turning rigid.
It was a magical beast nearly a hundred meters long, with an appearance resembling both a serpent and a dragon.
A purplish-red fleshy crest glowed vibrantly atop its head while the eyes beneath its lids were a solid, blazing crimson, seemingly spitting roaring flames, and the three tongues darting from its maw resembled tridents.
Its jaws were lined with three rows of sharp teeth that glinted coldly as venomous saliva dripped from the gaps, letting out a sharp hiss of corrosion the moment it touched the ground, sending plumes of pale green toxic mist swirling upward.
Judging by the density and luster of its scales, it had long since reached adulthood, possessing peak capabilities and hunting experience.
More importantly, it had three heads.
Supported by slender necks, the three serpentine heads converged around Medea and Helen, completely cutting off their path of escape.
Fortunately, serpents were notoriously poor at tracking stationary objects, which was the only reason the monster hadn't immediately noticed the delicacies standing right beside it.
Lorne looked at it, wondering why this three-headed dragon-serpent looked so familiar, thinking of dragons, Typhon, serpents, and the Mother of Serpents, which made it look like a downgraded version of the Lernaean Hydra..
Did Typhon cheat on Echidna, or did the Mother of Serpents have an affair?
As doubts flickered through Lorne's mind, the three flicking snake heads were finally drawn away by the heavy scent of blood nearby, slowly shifting away from Medea and Helen as they opened their maws and began tearing into the disemboweled demonic boars.
Seeing that it was the perfect moment, Lorne and the twins bolted forward simultaneously, each matching up against one of the writhing serpentine heads.