The Regressed Mercenary’s Machinations

Chapter 324: Chapter 323: You Can Do It. (2)

Chapter 324: Chapter 323: You Can Do It. (2)

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Alpoi, watching Queen of Greggs clear a path as if inviting him closer, turned around.

Then, he whispered desperately into the seemingly empty air behind him.

"What do I do now? What should I do?"

"Get closer."

"What am I supposed to do when I get closer?"

"Lure it away, I said. Just show off a few magic tricks. It'll follow you like it's mesmerized by something new."

"Uh... fine."

Alpoi took a deep breath and stepped forward. The Greggs merely wriggled, showing no hostility toward him.

As Alpoi cautiously approached Queen of Greggs, Belinda asked incredulously, "What's going on? Why are they acting like that? They attacked all of us before. Alpoi was with us, too!"

On their way here, they had killed every Gregg they encountered. The Greggs hadn't treated Alpoi any differently from the others.

The only notable difference was the presence of the Queen of Greggs here.

[When the scout party was annihilated, one reasonably skilled mage survived and wandered the forest alone. By chance, he stumbled upon the Queen of Greggs's location and was attacked by hundreds of Greggs, nearly dying.]

Ghislain nodded and explained, "Queen of Greggs is taking an interest in Alpoi right now."

Belinda blinked in shock.

"Wait... is that monster attracted to him? Does it want him as a mate?"

"...No, not that."

[According to the mage's testimony, he only survived thanks to the Queen of Greggs. Unlike the other Greggs, Queen of Greggs displayed slightly higher intelligence, particularly a curious nature. It tended to closely observe things it encountered for the first time. This was proven by the mage who survived his encounter with Queen of Greggs and returned.]

Watching Alpoi approach cautiously, Ghislain remarked, "That thing is interested in mages." "Mages?"

"Yeah, for some reason, it seems to sense magic power. That's why I sent Alpoi."

[We thought the Queen of Greggs might be friendly toward humans. Using the surviving mage as a guide, we sent a team for observation and investigation. But we were wrong.]

Belinda tilted her head.

"Then can't we just have Alpoi move with the group? We do have a mage with us."

"No. That thing has its limits. It won't tolerate just anyone."

[Only one person. The Queen of Greggs showed curiosity and trust only toward a single individual. Any more than that, and it became hostile. Additionally, it only displayed this curiosity when that one person was a mage. We concluded that Queen of Greggs had a special ability to sense magic power.]

Though skeptical, the group had no choice but to believe it—everything was happening exactly as Ghislain had described.

Belinda was on the verge of losing her mind from curiosity. The others were just as perplexed. 'How does the young master know all this? He's never been in this forest alone before.'

If he had entered the forest as a child, he would have died without leaving a trace. In the past, with his limited authority and power, Ghislain wouldn't even have been able to approach the forest.

And yet, he moved through it now as if he'd been here before.

When Ghislain accomplished other tasks, it was astonishing, but nothing compared to the strangeness of his expertise in the Forest of Demonic Beasts.

It was as if he was following a detailed record of the place.

Sometimes, women's intuition is alarmingly sharp. Belinda revisited a suspicion she had buried deep within her mind.

'It doesn't seem like he's possessed by a dark mage... Most of the time, he's still our cute young master...'

Still, it felt as though another entity was inside him, feeding Ghislain information.

'If I ever find out for sure, I'll put so many holes in him.'

She didn't consider the fact that Ghislain would die if she did so.

While Belinda struggled to shake off her doubts, the others dismissed them entirely. After all, they had experienced so many bizarre events with Ghislain that it wasn't worth overthinking

anymore.

Meanwhile, Alpoi continued his cautious approach toward the Queen of Greggs.

The surrounding Greggs merely watched him, making no moves to harm him.

"Ugh..."

"Squeee..."

When Alpoi got closer to the Queen of Greggs, he froze. He couldn't summon the courage to take another step.

Queen of Greggs lowered its massive head slightly, its multiple eyes shining as it scrutinized him.

It tilted its head as if sniffing him a few times. Watching its drooling maw made Alpoi's legs go weak.

After observing him for a while, Queen of Greggs let out an unsettling growl.

"Grrooo..."

In response, the surrounding Greggs began moving more aggressively, raising their claws and inching toward Alpoi.

'These little...'

When life is on the line, human senses can become extraordinarily sharp.

Alpoi immediately realized that Queen of Greggs was losing interest in him.

"Screeeeech!"

As Queen of Greggs cried out and the Greggs started advancing, a small fireball popped into

Alpoi's hand.

"Look! Look at this! Fire! It's fire!"

"Screeeeech?"

Queen of Greggs recoiled in surprise. The other Greggs also halted their movements.

"Isn't it amazing? Look, I can move it like this."

Alpoi used all his focus to manipulate the fireball. His control was so precise that even a seventh-circle grand mage would have been impressed. Truly, desperation can bring out the

best in people.

"Screeeeech!"

Queen of Greggs twisted its massive body in apparent amazement.

'It's working. It's actually working.'

Gaining a bit of confidence, Alpoi continued moving the fireball while slowly stepping

backward.

Queen of Greggs followed, transfixed by the moving flames.

Alpoi, drenched in sweat, maintained his concentration.

'Just get to where Lord Ghislain is.'

As long as he made it back to Ghislain's position, everything would be fine.

He was trembling as he moved, but then Queen of Greggs suddenly stopped.

"Screeeeech!"

Alpoi understood the meaning instantly. It was demanding something new. His survival instincts had become so sharp that he could interpret the creature's cries.

'Damn picky monster!'

Finally, Alpoi extinguished the fireball and unveiled his trump card.

"Look at this."

He picked up four small stones from the ground and held them out to the Queen of Greggs.

"?"

The Queen of Greggs tilted its head in confusion. Alpoi flipped his hand over, using a simple

sleight-of-hand trick.

Swoosh.

With only the back of his hand visible, Queen of Greggs didn't notice one of the stones

disappearing.

When Alpoi slowly reopened his hand, there were only three stones left.

"Screeeeech!"

Queen of Greggs let out a screech that sounded like astonished delight. It was as if it were

shouting, "Amazing!"

There was no way a monster could recognize a human's sleight-of-hand trick for what it was. Continuing to display small "miracles," Alpoi lured Queen of Greggs closer.

Every step he took backward, Queen of Greggs followed. The other Greggs sat motionless,

watching.

Watching this unfold, Kaor muttered, "Unbelievable."

Ghislain's plan was working perfectly. It was hard to tell who was more incredible-Ghislain,

who had orchestrated this, or Alpoi, who was successfully luring the monster.

'Does this guy really have something special?'

He was the man who had defeated a goddess, after all. Kaor, who had always looked down on

Alpoi, began feeling nervous as he watched him perform.

Unbidden, memories of the airship crash came back, and Kaor shook his head violently to

dispel them.

The rest of the group held their breath as they watched. Their palms were slick with sweat.

'Come on! Come on!'

You can do it, Alpoi!

'You're the man who defeated a god!'

If Queen of Greggs decided to swing one of its massive claws, Alpoi, distracted by his tricks,

would be torn apart instantly.

"Screeeeech!"

Each time Queen of Greggs screeched, Alpoi flinched. But he continued luring it with

remarkable resilience.

In the suffocating tension, Queen of Greggs finally approached the spot where Ghislain and

the others were hiding.

Though there was still some distance, it was close enough for them to act.

But that was as far as Alpoi's ingenuity could take him.

"Screeeeech!"

"What do I do now?"

Alpoi's mind went blank. He had shown everything he could think of, short of taking off his

clothes.

As Alpoi panicked, the Queen of Greggs screeched again.

"Screeeeech!"

At the same time, the surrounding Greggs raised their claws and began advancing on him.

Ghislain's eyes glowed red.

"Now."

Bang!

"Screeeeech?"

From the darkness of the forest, something shot out, making Queen of Greggs lift its head.

"Good work, Alpoi!"

Ghislain shouted as he swiftly severed Queen of Greggs's limbs.

"Kaaaaaah!"

As Queen of Greggs's agonized scream echoed, the team leapt into action. The other Greggs

howled and charged toward them.

"Bind it!"

Kaor shouted as Belinda's robe flared, sending dozens of daggers flying.

The daggers, attached to fine, durable threads, wrapped tightly around Queen of Greggs's

body. The knights then used their ropes to secure it even further.

"Screeeeech!"

Though Queen of Greggs thrashed, it couldn't escape the tightly bound ropes.

"Run!"

Ghislain's shout sent the team fleeing with the bound Queen of Greggs in tow.

"Belinda, grab Alpoi!"

"Got it!"

Belinda grabbed the back of Alpoi's collar and ran.

"Kaor! Clear the path!"

Boom!

Ghislain swung his sword, smashing through the trees ahead. Kaor joined him, breaking

through obstacles to ensure the Queen wouldn't get caught on anything as they dragged it.

As they fled, the team couldn't help but think:

'Did we really need to go through all this trouble?' Couldn't they have just killed everything and brought it back?

The Greggs chasing them couldn't keep up with their speed anyway.

As the hundreds of Greggs pursued them, they were no match for the team's pace.

It seemed they could simply make it back to the fortress without issue.

But then Ghislain shouted again.

"Run faster! Now!"

He sounded as if something was after them. Though confused, the team obeyed.

And soon, they felt vibrations rumbling from all directions.

Rumble. Rumble.

"Screeeeech!"

Queen of Greggs continued screaming, but the vibrations seemed to follow its cries.

Something was coming.

Belinda, whose senses were sharper than anyone else's, froze. The vibrations weren't coming

from the surface.

She glanced down as they ran.

"Underground?"

The rumbling was coming from below, like a massive tidal wave moving through the earth.

"It's not just one."

If it had been a single giant monster, it might have been manageable. But the vibrations

weren't from one entity.

It was the movement of tens, hundreds, thousands of creatures.

[We wanted to uncover the secret of how Queen of Greggs maintained its territory. Leading

such a weak group, how had it survived in the Forest of Demonic Beasts? We had many

theories.]

As Kaor ran ahead, cutting down trees, his eyes widened.

Crash!

"Screeeeech!"

The ground collapsed as Greggs burst out from below.

"What the hell is this!" Kaor screamed in panic.

A handful might have been manageable. But at a glance, hundreds of Greggs were emerging.

And they weren't stopping. More and more poured out from every direction.

"Screeeeech!"

Rumble. Rumble.

The underground vibrations only grew louder. As the team hesitated, Ghislain's voice

thundered through the chaos.

"Break through!"

Slash!

At the forefront, Ghislain cut down Greggs indiscriminately.

Each Greggs was as strong as a human soldier, making them weak individually. But gathered

in such numbers, the situation was different. Just as an army of human soldiers could be

terrifying, so was this swarm. [We believed that uncovering this secret would make it easier to conquer the Forest of Demonic Beasts. That's why we kidnapped the Queen of Greggs. But we were wrong. There

was no secret. The Forest of Demonic Beasts functioned solely on the logic of brute strength.] "Screeeeech!"

The Greggs bursting from the ground now numbered in the thousands, filling the

surroundings.

Kaor gritted his teeth and fought relentlessly. Belinda and the knights focused on defending

the captured Queen of Greggs.

As the swarm grew, the team's pace slowed. The ground was riddled with so many holes that

there was hardly anywhere to step.

[As we had guessed, Queen of Greggs did possess a unique ability. It could summon and

command all the Greggs in its vicinity. They came in droves to rescue their queen. And the

number of Greggs that moved to save their queen...]

Boom!

Ghislain activated the third level of his core and shouted.

"Push through faster! We can't hold out if we're delayed!"

[...was approximately 200,000.]

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