Chapter 133: War (5)

A bell rang throughout the town, signaling an incoming attack.

“Monsters! Bendigos are coming!”

“The Bendigos are coming!”

People’s faces frowned at the shouts of a Bendigo attack. They were bipedal monsters that looked like apes that were about four feet tall. But it was fast as it was small and they howled at each other to communicate.

‘Maybe it is true.’

Howen frowned at the news. Bendigos were elusive monsters that were rarely seen. They only resided in the deeper parts of the southern forest area.

The bigger problem was that the number of Bendigos was just too many. Warriors, women, and kids alike seemed to be concerned at the sight of such numbers.

“Bendigos! What the..!”

“There’s so many!”

“It’s too many!”

“It’s okay! We can win!”

“Our walls are taller now. It’s okay.”

“Don’t worry, Catherine! I’ve got you!”

“Me too! I will protect you!”

“Yeah! Trust me!”

“We’ll protect you.”

The kids that were maybe five or six years old, spoke proudly as they held their bows. If they were normal human kids, it would have been considered a child’s foolishness, but these were Ainos kids. They knew how to use bows.

Joonbum looked at the kids for a moment and then turned to the forest. There were hundreds of Bendigos surrounding the town. It seemed like the number was close to a thousand. The monsters began screeching angrily and one of them that looked like a leader walked up.

‘Hmm.’

It was about six feet tall, twice the height of a regular Bendigo. It had a strong and stout body.

‘It can climb trees with that kind of body?’

Joonbum thought at the sight of the leader Bendigo. The scary part about these monsters was that they knew how to climb trees. Their main habitat was in the trees and even though they weren’t that strong alone, living in packs of hundreds made them a strong predator in the mountains.

Hundreds of Bendigos screamed as the Ainos calmly watched them with their bows. At that moment, five Guardians climbed up the wall, showing themselves to the Bendigos. Galfus, who climbed up, let out a long, loud howl, which other Guardians followed. The five Guardians howling made all Bendigos freeze in fear.

At that moment, Galfus jumped off the wall and the others followed. Galfus’ huge body dropped to the ground and darted at once toward the leader Bendigo. She only took three long strides to where the leader Bendigo was shivering and crushed its head and neck, crushing its bones. Galfus shook and tossed the body to the side as the dead body flapped without resistance.

That was when the other Guardians lunged upon the pack of Bendigos. It was a massacre. The Guardians pounced, bit and crushed any Bendigos standing in their way. The Bendigos began to run away in every possible direction. Some of them that gave up on running, tried to attack the Guardians but it was futile.

The Guardians were on edge. There had been too many fights happening in their territory recently. The attacking Bendigos made them grow more vicious as they chased after all the Bendigos running away. Galfus howled, signaling the other Guardians to run past the fleeing Bendigos and surround them. The surviving Bendigos were now trapped by six Guardians and became panicked. It was a one-sided massacre after that. Galfus was especially vicious against the monsters.

‘It’s because of her cubs.’

She had twenty-seven cubs. There was no chance that she would let monsters get close to her cubs.

“We won’t have to worry then.”

“The Bendigos should be good food for Galfus.”

Joonbum nodded. People were gathering up, getting ready to skin and scavenge the meat.

‘Well, they couldn’t hunt for days…’

The Ainos were hunters and gatherers. There were greenhouses that helped them farm, but hunting and gathering was still their main way of life.

“It’s done.”

There were hundreds of dead bodies all around the area. Galfus and the Guardians sat down and let out a victorious howl as they had driven out the enemies from their territories. Joonbum felt somewhat proud at the sight of the Guardians. No monsters, unless they were strong like Kawiqunins, would dare to attack.

‘The problem are the humans.’

Joonbum frowned as he remembered the messenger from Count Khalodian who barely managed to deliver the information. The monsters, after coming out of the forest, headed to human land. All the animals and monsters were now out on human land and the monsters had changed to preying on humans as they were easier to hunt down. Unlike herbivores, who had power and might to fight back when needed, humans were powerless, weak, and slow. Small towns were attacked without any means to fight back.

According to the message, Khaloda Village also was attacked. But it already had strong defenses as it was located so close to the forest that saved them from taking more severe damage. The problem was that all the roads in the area were now filled with monsters. The count was barely managing to protect the towns and their annual trade with the Ainos was now impossible at the moment.

‘I should go help.’

Joonbum looked at Sunsook, who looked like she was full of concern. She was definitely thinking about the count.

‘For mom and for everyone’s sake, I must go.’

If his theory was correct, the Ainos also had to leave this forest. If that happened, they would need a place to live and that place would be in the lands of Count Khalodian. It was better to help at this moment.

“Move! Quick!”

People were moving quickly to skin and cut out the edible parts of the monsters and they began smoking the meat. To the side, twenty-seven cubs were feasting on the bodies of the Bendigos that their mother had just killed.

‘They’re growing fast.’

Joonbum grinned. At the same time, the good smell of meat being smoked filled the entire town.

“Son.”

Sunsook came to him with a skewer of meat, it looked juicy, with spices all over it. Joonbum took a bite.

“It’s good.”

“Yeah, I didn’t expect that.”

Joonbum nodded and drank some beer. Sunsook, who was watching him silently, hesitated for a moment before she spoke.

“So… are you going to go help?”

Joonbum nodded.

Sunsook blushed. She seemed to have difficulty expressing what she was feeling. Joonbum continued.

“It’s for the Ainos people. I will go tomorrow.”

“Oh, r-really?”

Joonbum nodded. There was no need to mention it.

‘I know what you are thinking.’

“Oh, look at me… I should tend to Catherine…”

Joonbum carelessly took a bite at the meat as Sunsook mumbled, pretending to be busy and left.