" Shouldn't you tell the others?, " I said.
She looked at me for a moment and said, " I should "
" Everyone! We should expect an army of Nightcrawlers along with the Nightcrawler lord, " She said in a loud voice. Everyone looked back at Grandmaster Arilyne.
" What makes you think so?, " asked Leeben Hestra.
" It's an Alpha of the Nightcrawlers after all, Alphas are known to have the ability to command their kind just like Alpha Red Hound whom I fought no long ago was controlling a bunch of Red Hounds. " She replied sharply.
" That's plausible, " said Leeben Hestra.
Grandmaster Jenny looked at Grandmaster Arilyne as if she suspected something.
" Also my student said he noticed multiple imprints and tracks outside the Demon Mouth Cave which suggest a horde of Nightcrawlers passing through, " she boldly said it.
The eyes that redirected towards me were not so friendly but I saw the Royal Inquisitor smiling and Grandmaster Jenny looking annoyed, Grim Doctor with his usual smile, Lady Tashrani just looked at me as if I was interfering with their work. Serpentine Queen winked at me, Leon and Knight Rhendy smiled and laughed a little. Dual Fangs showed no expression.
" Who is this kid?, " said grandmaster Jenny. " Are you saying us grandmasters were not good enough to notice the tracks outside the cave? But this kid did?, "
Ohhh I knew it, it was not such a good idea to let them know. Oh shit, seeing how offended grandmaster Jenny was, I knew she wasn't not going to like me. I felt betrayed by grandmaster Arilyne, when I suggested to her to tell them, I expected her to take the claims as her own and not throw them at me like that.
" Hohoho- it seems like us grandmasters are not as great as we take it to be, " commented grandmaster Hensord.
" He has very keen eyes and a sense of observation unlike us who solely rely on magic, " said grandmaster Arilyne.
" This is a very seri-, " Grandmaster Jenny was interrupted by Lady Tashrani.
Lady Tashrani hovered down next to me and said, " What makes you think an army of Nightcrawlers also escaped along with the Nightcrawler Lord?, "
" At the entrance of the cave, when we first arrived I noticed faint marks on the grasses but they were covered by fallen dried leaves, as if they were stomped by multiple creatures, they were quite distinctly everywhere around the cave entrance, plus there were multiple claw marks around the trees and on the branches too." I answered.
Lady Tashrani looked at me and smiled, " Well done, boy. I also did notice claw marks on the trees but I failed to notice the marks on the ground," she said.
" Is it true Lady Tashrani?. " grandmaster Jenny asked.
" Yes, there were multiple claw marks on the trees,it seems the nightcrawlers used the trees to transverse across the forest. " she replied.
" Then we really have to face an army of Nightcrawlers, " said Leeben Hestra.
" Ordinary Nightcrawlers are nothing to worry about, " replied Grim Doctor.
" No, Assume the Lord has every Nightcrawler from the cave under its command and if there are ancient Nightrotters among the army then this will shift the power balance of this battle. " said Lady Tashrani.
" We will leave the Nightcrawlers to our Master slayers and if there are ancient Nightrotters among them, I think we will need the strength of every grandmaster here to handle them along with the Lord, "said Grandmaster Jenny.
" Okay, " said Leeben Hestra.
" We leave the small fires to you Masters, " declared grandmaster Jenny.
" Roger, Ma'am " replied Leon.
" Consider it done, Grandmaster, " said Dheno.
" Understood, " replied Feibei.
After five minutes, Cyril caught up with us, he informed us that the funeral had been carried out properly and he bid them a proper farewell. Leon then informed Cyril of what has discovered about the Nightcrawler Lord. Cyril accepted without hesitation and further suggested that it's possible since it has intelligence far superior than any of the Nightcrawlers.
The glowing insect drove around at a speed that was not so fast that I was able to catch on using only Beast steps and not breathing technique. Then it led us for another thirty minutes towards the eastern parts of the Stonewood forest away from Ohen Nag ranges which forms a hemisphere around Reed Peak. The eastern Stonewood forest enveloped several villages and hamlet and bandits camps around, the reason why the Nightcrawler Lord headed east must be the presence of human life forms. It must have wanted to feed on humans, I began to wonder whether any of the villages in eastern stonewood were attacked by the Nightcrawler Lord.
After following the insect for a while, a small hill appeared in front of us and on top of the hill was an old ruin that looked like a half chewed tower by time and a flag was raised at the top of the broken tower.
" Wait ! That's the Langmoor Fort, " said Gheno.
" Looks like a bandit's camp, " commented Knight Rhendy.
" Yes it is, looks like the bandits have fallen prey to our monster, " said grandmaster Jenny.
" Activate Enhanced Magic Sensor, " casted grandmaster Jenny.
After a moment, she said, " As suspected I'm sensing multiple magic signals from the camp, This must be it. Let's go, " announced she. The insect led us to the top of the hill, we climbed along with it without any delay.
And after a while, the insect stopped moving and halted in front of the camp. Grim Doctor gently return the insect back inside the container and muttered, " You have done a great job, "
In front of us lay the broken Tower and around it were some ruins of the Langmoor fort , debris, broken walls decayed over time covered in moss and grasses. Few tents spread around the Tower and a fireplace in the middle but as we suspected it was indeed a bandit's camp, several bodies of the bandits lay around the camp all torn and devoured in pieces and bits. I sensed multiple auras in the tower and around the camp.
" Get ready for battle, Slayers!, " declared grandmaster Jenny.
And from the darkness behind the tower and from the ruins came out in glowing eyes and crawling out in four limbs hissing and snarling at us a horde of Nightcrawlers, it was more than a hundred Nightcrawlers!
And on top of the broken tower, a dark and mighty figure appeared in it's most diabolical aura, everyone knew in an instant that it was the Nightcrawler Lord. Demonic horns sprouted in its most glorious manner from its head, limbs as long as the whole body, somehow it reminded me of Sloghk and around Nightcrawler lord, another four figures appeared, they were half crouching and stood on two limbs. Under the moonlight they stood like a general and along with his supreme commander.
" Well, that must be the Nightcrawler Lord, " said Leon.
" As I feared, four ancient Nightrotters, huh " muttered Lady Tashrani.
" Those are Nightrotters? This is my first time seeing one, " commented Leeben Hestra. "Interesting"
" That's quite a number to be honest, haha- " chuckled Leon.
" We leave them to you, Masters. " said grandmaster Jenny.
' Roger! Grandmaster , " replied Leon.
" Leave it to us, " said Gheno.
" Lets go, Feibei, Knight Rhendy. Let's sweep these fuckers!, " said Leon, I saw a thrill rising up in White Claws eyes.
Drawing their blades, five of them approached the crowd of the Nightcrawlers waiting for their Lord to give them command and I saw, like a general the Nightcrawler Lord uttered something, more of a beast howl which signalled them to attack the slayers.
" Activate Thunder Wind, " casted the Dual Fangs. Thunder Wind, an intermediate spell which improves speed and reflex.
" Activate Power Surge, " Leon also casted a spell. An Intermediate spell which temporarily boosts physical strength but drains a lot of magic in no time.
" Activate Knight's Vigour, " casted Knight Rhendy on himself. A specialised spell for the Order of Echona developed by the church of Dryphellia. The spell enhances senses, strength, speed and will power temporarily to some extent.
" I'm ready, " said Serpentine Queen.
" Lets go Slayers!, " declared Leon.
Four of them charged at the army of Nightcrawlers fearlessly bearing their blades open, the swarm also rushed at them. When the two groups were about to clash, with only few inches away from cutting down each other Feibei casted a spell, " Activate Salamander's Paralysis, "
Bright green light appeared under the army of the Nightcrawlers and a quarter of the army, the frontal wave collapsed in paralytic fit, seizing the confusion and opportunity, the Masters sweep through them, obilerating every Nightcrawler who come close to their blade, Dual Fangs as if they were one body, they massacred the Nightcrawlers with their dual blades, such frightening movements and speed, I thought to myself.
But they were outnumbered and the rest of the swarm surrounded them, Febei kept on casting trap spells consecutively slowing down their movements but even then, some of the Nightcrawlers unable to participate in the fight turned on us and charged at us. There were quite a number of Nightdevourers among the swarm and they kept the Masters slayer occupied in each of their own battles. Nightdevourers weren't necessarily strong but if they were to fight multiple of them at once, even for a master slayer it would take some time to defeat them.
" Get back, Lan. " grandmaster ordered. Without a word, I stepped back and climbed up a tree nearby overlooking the battle scene, with my bow in my hand, I was ready to engage anytime.