Escape? Fight?

[Ace POV],

"Awooooo~" "Awooooo~" "Awooooo~" "Awooooo~" "Awooooo~"

Hearing multiple sounds that were suspiciously similar to wolves' but more strong, I knew it wasn't just one monster beyond the gray light curtain, but multiple monsters.

If the situation wasn't already bad enough, another sound followed the wolves howling.

"Screech*" "Screech*" "Screech*" "Screech*" "Screech*"

"Ace, why does that sound so familiar?" Anna voiced a question alongside me in hushed tones, a suspicious expression on her face as she began to take several steps backward. The crow that had also been sitting motionless on her shoulder before began spreading its wings.

Hearing Anna's question, I gave my reply as I followed her actions and slowly took several steps back towards the bridge. It wasn't just me who did this; Emma and Chris, who heard the familiar sounds, began taking multiple steps backward as well.

"Because they're familiar," I stated as Anna spoke once more.

"Don't tell me it's what I think it is?" Anna inquired as she continued to take multiple steps backward. Perhaps she asked the question to deny the reality in front of her, even though she knew the truth, and sadly for her, I wasn't going to tell her otherwise.

"It's exactly what you think it is," I replied, pausing before adding another sentence in hushed tones.

"Fire eagles," I said as Anna, who had heard me, cursed in a low voice as she clutched Mia tighter in her arms as the crow on her shoulder flew away.

Anna: "Sh*t"

Ace: "Run"

Before my voice could land, wings sprouted from Anna's back, propelling her into the sky and towards the bridge with Mia in her arms.

I, Emma, and Chris were not to be outdone, as we also dashed towards the bridge, surprising everyone who hadn't expected our sudden action.

Emma was even more ruthless as she slammed her staff to the ground and instantly began casting spells on the three of us as we ran.

"Strength Boost!" "Agility Boost"

Of course, casting two spells on three people at the same time depleted a reasonable chunk of Emma's total mana reserves, but this was no problem because Emma took a pill bottle from her cloth and took a basic mana pill inside it.

Because of the pill's effect, I gave Emma and Chris pill bottles containing some of the basic mana pills I concocted and kept the rest for myself.

I gave Emma more basic mana pills than Chris because she uses more mana than Chris and, along with Anna, she was the team's support. She was also a damage dealer and a huge help to the team, so it was obvious why she deserved more basic mana pills. Of course, I gave Anna some pills as well.

Unlike the humans here, who were unaware of the danger that fire eagles posed, my team and I did as we had witnessed it firsthand.

When we inadvertently entered their zone, I noticed a few things. The first is that all of the fire eagles had a minimum strength of level 23. That meant there were no fire eagles below that level. The second, and most important factor, was their numbers. They were far too numerous.

Even the ones who chased us for a relatively long distance were only a small portion of the group, they were the ones that never got tired of chasing us. Combined with their ability to cast magic, even a rank 1 specie physique was not something that could save a person if he/she was to end up surrounded.

In layman's terms, being surrounded by multiple fire eagles with no way to escape meant death, even if you had a low rank 1 specie physique.

This is not an exaggeration on my part. My team and I were even considered fortunate since the location in the forest where we were at the time did not provide an environmental advantage to the eagles and instead aided us. If it hadn't been for that, some of us would have been eagle dung by now.

As I was thinking about these things, I was interrupted by a loud scream from behind me, and when I turned my head to see what was causing the scream, it was something unexpected.

Aside from a human girl whose body was on fire and who was screaming, there was something else that made the air around me feel cold.

[Rank 1 Bravyrr Wolf level 25],

[Rank 1 Bravyrr Wolf level 25],

[Rank 1 Fire Eagle level 25],

[Rank 1 Fire Eagle level 25],

Four rank 1 species. A whole four! And behind these creatures were more monsters from their respective races. They were numerous.

Seeing this, I increased my speed and turned my attention to the bridge, which had previously appeared close but now appeared far.

Wouldn't want to fight any rank 1 specie, especially when there were four of them at the same time, but it appears that not all wishes are granted as a huge creature suddenly appeared in front of us and blocked our route from the bridge despite being so close to it.

[Rank 1 Fire Eagle level 25],

When I saw this, I paused my charge, as did Emma and Chris, and was about to issue some instructions when another massive creature emerged in the corner of my vision.

[Rank 1 Shadow Crow level 26],

It was Anna summon who didn't bother greeting a fellow bird race and instead spat a huge mass of black fire at the fire eagle, who screeched loudly as soon as the black fire came into contact with it.

Even from where I was, I could feel the heat emitted by the flames, which weren't even aimed at me. The fire eagle's present state became a testament to how lethal the black flame of the shadow crow was.

Looking at the bleeding rank 1 Fire Eagle in front of me, I realized how unique the shadow crow was even among those of the same rank.

The enraged rank 1 specie took to the skies with a loud screech to battle the shadow crow, who immediately welcomed it only to be ganged up on and attacked by the other fire eagle.

But this was none of my concern because I had my own.

We were already surrounded by fire eagles and Bravyrr wolves.

Seeing this, I infused my mana into the twin blades and coated them in blue flames before speaking to my teammates beside me.

It was only one word.

"Fight"

.....

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