When Eiran arrived at the town hall with the Ember Pact members, they saw that a large crowd had already gathered there. Eiran assumed that some of them were from other mercenary groups.
He also noticed knights from the Solhen Kingdom. Eiran began to think that the Kingdom at least still cared about the condition of this city, considering Frosthollow was one of their strongholds against the Monsters.
"I just received word that a new wave of Monsters has appeared. We don't have time to waste. I'll divide you into two groups."
The head Knight then split the ten groups that had gathered into two, sending them to two different waves of monsters appearing on the west and east sides of the city.
The Ember Pact Mercenary was assigned to the eastern area along with three other mercenary groups and a squad of Royal Knights.
"Are the monsters really that many? To the point that they're dividing us into large groups like this?" Eiran, who was experiencing this kind of mission for the first time, looked confused.
"I don't know either. This is also my first expedition to Frosthollow," Finric whispered, shaking his head slightly.
"Looks like we're going to be shunned by them again," Eiran said with a bitter smile when he saw how the other groups were looking at him and Finric.
"No surprise there. I'm used to being treated like a servant by them," Finric didn't flinch, he even shrugged indifferently.
Eiran just nodded, mentally preparing himself to be the errand boy of their group. After the tasks were assigned, Eiran realized that the Royal Knights would be leading their team.
The atmosphere was very crowded, and Eiran could sense that these people weren't nervous at all, but seemed relaxed instead. While Eiran was organizing their gear with Finric, he sensed someone approaching.
When he turned around, he saw their Captain standing there, staring down at him with a condescending look.
"Do you need something, Captain?" Eiran frowned in confusion at his presence.
"You, come with me!"
Eiran was shocked when he felt his shirt collar grabbed from behind by the Captain. Whether he liked it or not, he had to follow his hurried steps.
"Damn it! What are you doing!" Eiran began to get angry when he saw the Captain had no intention of stopping.
Then Eiran was thrown toward the rest of the Ember Pact members, causing him to crash onto the hard ground. Furious, Eiran shot a sharp glare at his Captain.
"You'll be joining the Tanks to pull the monsters' aggro."
"Why are you suddenly letting me fight?" Eiran sensed something was wrong. They were definitely planning something to get him killed.
"We're short on Tanks. Besides, I'm your Captain here, so don't go questioning my orders," the Captain hissed dangerously, emitting an oppressive aura toward Eiran.
Eiran gulped harshly, saying nothing more in protest. Several pairs of eyes glanced at him with pity.
While still in shock, Eiran felt someone wrap an arm around his shoulder from behind, making him jolt.
"Relax, buddy. I don't mean to hurt you," said a man with a shield on his back.
"Let go of me!" Eiran felt uncomfortable with the stranger's touch.
"We need to regroup with the other Tanks to plan the assault, so behave before I use force."
Eiran felt the friendly grip turn into a chokehold around his neck. He grunted softly at the treatment from this other Ember Pact member. At this point, he had no choice but to go along.
Under the supervision of the man, Eiran remained silent as he listened to their battle plans. It didn't take long before the group left Frosthollow City, heading toward where the monsters had appeared.
Not knowing the destination, Eiran followed silently, mentally noting the paths they took, until he saw that they were starting to enter a forest already covered in snow.
Now that Eiran was on the front lines, he was separated from Finric and didn't know anyone around him. Worse, he was now being watched by a man named David, the same one who choked him earlier.
"Hey, don't mess anything up later. You'll die at Joseph's hands if you do," David whispered in a threatening tone.
Eiran assumed that the Joseph David referred to was that damn Captain. He decided to observe his surroundings instead, realizing this forest was different from the one he had visited before.
Tall, leafless trees lined up as far as the eye could see. Sunlight could easily reach the ground now that the trees had shed their leaves, and the ground was starting to be buried in snow.
Eiran suddenly froze when he sensed a dark energy not far from where they were.
David, noticing something was missing beside him, turned and glared in irritation when he saw Eiran had stopped and was blocking the way.
"I sense something," Eiran whispered as he rejoined David.
"What do you mean?" David frowned, already annoyed enough to punch Eiran for acting up.
Suddenly, they heard wings flapping above, and in the blink of an eye, a large bird swooped rapidly toward their group. Seeing that, Eiran grabbed David and ducked.
→ [Protection Point: 11]
"Everyone, get down!" Eiran shouted as he ducked with David.
"Arghhh!"
Because they were slow to react to the strange bird's attack, two people were snatched away by the creature.
"Damn, it's a Raventhorn! Elementalists and Rangers, be ready!"
From afar, the Knight leading the group began to take action and ordered his men to prepare for battle.
More Raventhorns began to appear and attack their group. Eiran and the other Tanks started forming the strategy they had discussed.
Just as one of the Tanks was about to pull aggro from the Raventhorns flying overhead, the ground beneath them started to shake.
A monstrous roar could be heard in the distance, and Eiran's face turned grim when he realized that Raventhorns weren't the only type of monster they would face.
In an instant, their group was surrounded by monsters shaped like horned bison, with scales resembling those of a dragon, and even their tails appeared poisonous.
"Captain, they're everywhere!"
"Damn it! There are too many of them here!"
"Fall back into formation!"
But the chaos made it difficult for them to reorganize as they were being attacked from every direction. Everyone now drew their weapons and started fighting off the monsters.
Eiran did the same, dragging a monster toward himself and then throwing it to one of his teammates to finish off.
Thankfully, they coordinated well, so that tactic proved quite effective in dealing with the newly arrived Drakehorns.
What made things more complicated were the Raventhorns, which constantly looked for opportunities to strike and not only that they made eerie screeching sounds that disturbed the group.
Eiran had to raise his shield several times to block attacks coming from above.
→ [Protection Point: 12]
While everyone was focused on fighting, the ground beneath their feet shook again but this time even more violently.
A massive bison monster stepped closer to the battlefield, carrying a giant axe on its back. Its roar made everyone freeze in place.