Chapter 18

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation

Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Meng Yang walked out of Gustav’s old house when dawn came.

The entire population of the settlement gathered in the clearing outside the house. Everyone—women, children, the elderly, and the weak—looked at him.

Gustav had passed away last night. Before his death, he appointed Meng Yang, the stranger new to this land, as leader of the settlement. The motion was passed almost unanimously.

One of the most important reasons was that the two most important people in the settlement—Phoenix, the female archer, and Hera, who had healing powers—showed no objection. In that case, the other people would naturally not say no.

The settlement had stood for a long time. There were almost no healthy, strong young men here. Meng Yang was an outsider, but that was not important to the people in the settlement. Whoever was fine as long as he could lead them.

Meng Yang scanned the crowd down there. He already got a grasp on the camp’s condition. There were only 58 people here including him. Half of them were the elderly and children, while the rest were women.

This happened because most of the young and healthy had departed to face the monsters when they attacked. Only the women, children, the elderly, and the weak were left. Of course, in a city this big, surely many people had survived both inside and outside the city walls. Danger was everywhere, though, so it would be difficult to establish contact with them.

“What are you going to do next?”

Phoenix, the female archer, stood beside Meng Yang, looking at him with a straight face. She wanted to know the next phase of his plan.

It seemed like matters of life and death could no longer affect the female archer who had witnessed thousands of deaths.

Arriving in this world and dying—that was just what life was. Dawn and dusk both illuminated the world.

If he died, then so be it. Only the living mattered in the long run!

Meng Yang cleared his throat slightly as he moved to stand in front of everyone. Facing the crowd, he did not know what to say.

At this moment, the bronze bell on the walls sounded.

“Gnoll!”

“The gnoll has found us!”

An old man standing on the walls hollered.

Almost immediately, Phoenix the female archer dashed out. She climbed the wall quickly and reached the top within a few steps.

The people present were all nervous. The first thing the women did was to retrieve weapons from their homes. The City of Despair was not short of weapons, and the settlement collected them. The children automatically hid in the depths of the settlement behind a wooden door.

Meng Yang trailed after Phoenix. He, too, ascended the wall quickly through the ladder by the wall. He stood beside Phoenix and looked down.

In the street outside the walls, two gnolls were surveying the scene with six jackals in tow.

One of the gnolls had a lump of something black on its shoulder as if it had applied some medicine. Meng Yang could clearly identify this gnoll as the one that had attacked him and Gustav and had been shot by Phoenix. The black stuff on its shoulder must be some kind of ointment.

Next to this gnoll injured at the shoulder was an even burlier gnoll. It had a scar near its left eye, making it seem more threatening. Compared to the gnoll next to him, it was clear that this gnoll was on a higher level. It not only wore some kind of chest plate, but it also wielded an iron ax as a weapon.

“Growl!”

The scarred gnoll growled.

The jackals immediately dashed out from beside the jackals, surrounding the walls around the stronghold, circling, trying to find someplace they could climb on.

The walls were quite high, actually, at about 4 meters tall. It was nothing against massive beasts like the tiger, but against the jackals, modestly-sized animals weighing about thirty to forty kilograms, they were an impenetrable fortress.

The six jackals circled the periphery, growling quietly. Every now and then they dug holes and looked for footholds to leap on, almost like they were experimenting. Their actions made the people on the wall even tenser.

Meng Yang had come into brief contact with the jackals before. Although he did not fear those canine creatures, his heart seized involuntarily at the sight of their actions.

Thwack!

The sound of the bowstring tightening could be heard.

A jackal, which had been digging holes ferociously in the loose soil at the walls, howled piteously. An arrow had pierced through its neck directly from on top of the walls, pinning it to the ground.

The other five jackals looked cowed by the shot. They unanimously retreated a few steps and barked furiously at the wall, baring their fangs.

The scarred gnoll growled at the sight. Hearing it, the other five jackals quickly retreated from the area.

The gnolls did not look at the jackal yelping sadly at the bottom of the walls. They led the other five and disappeared quickly.

Before leaving, the scarred gnoll turned toward the walls and gave them a hard look.

“We’re in serious trouble!”

On top of the walls, Phoenix lowered her bow. Her calm demeanor turned serious for the first time.

“Didn’t those gnolls leave already?” Meng Yang asked, confused.

“No!” Phoenix shook her head. “They’ll be back. Those gnolls that came here today must’ve found this place tracing our tracks yesterday. We’ve already killed a few of their jackals, so you can say that we’re already feuding with them.”

“How many of them will come the next time?” Meng Yang asked the question he was concerned with the most.

“Ten or more, at least. Maybe more.” Phoenix explained solemnly. “The gnolls live in groups. A herd may consist of 20 to 50 gnolls and about a dozen jackals. The gnolls bringing jackals with them are their scouts, or should we say, hunters. If they encounter opponents that they cannot defeat, or if they’ve established a feud, the entire herd may come.”

“When?”

Phoenix paused for a while before saying slowly, “Probably tonight.”