—Balse East Gate Wasteland
"Looks like this is finally the end of it."
Letting out a sigh of relief, Ilza Harnish sank to the ground and wiped away the sweat pouring down her face.
A surging wave of monsters had swept in from the Silke Sea of Trees.
Ilza and the other hunters had formed ranks to cull the small fry, leaving the Deep Zone monsters to Wolfman and Knight Captain Arnold. And just moments ago, Knight Captain Arnold had cleaved off the head of the last one-eyed giant, effectively sealing victory for the Balse Monster Extermination Corps.
All that remained was mopping up the stragglers—goblins, kobolds, and the like. Even low-rank hunters could handle that easily. In other words, Ilza and her fellow hunters had won.
Everyone was running on fumes. That boy's arrival was still at least a day away, so not having to rely on their contingency plan was a tremendous stroke of luck for Ilza as well.
"Seems like we're mostly through."
A heavily muscled, blue-haired middle-aged man sporting stubble approached Ilza, voicing in a gentle tone the very relief she was feeling.
"Yeah. You must be exhausted too, Knight Captain, so we'll take care of the rest. Please get some rest!"
She tried to get up on shaking knees, but her legs buckled, sending her right back onto her rear.
"Haha! You all did splendidly. Wolfman and I will handle the stragglers. There's no need to push yourself."
Knight Captain Arnold offered the suggestion while glancing over at Wolfman—a tall man draped in wolf pelts and crowned with a wolf mask, who stood fixed in place, piercing the Silke Sea of Trees with a sharp glare.
The Knight Captain and Wolfman had been fighting without a wink of sleep for days on end. Yet here they were, claiming they could keep going. Were they and Ilza truly the same species?
(I feel like I'm drifting further and further from S-rank.)
What Ilza aspired to reach was the S-class hunter rank—the pinnacle of the profession, hailed as superhuman and envied by hunters across the world. In all honesty, she hadn't realized the gulf between them was still this vast.
Just when she thought she had closed the distance, looking up only left her overwhelmed by their towering height. Was the summit of the world really that far away? An inexplicable swell of emotion welled within her, and she bit her lower lip.
"Understood. I'll take everyone and withdraw."
Summoning the last ounce of her strength, she rose to her feet and bowed deeply.
"Right. Leave the rest to us."
Just as Knight Captain Arnold gave a slight nod—
"Arnooolld!!"
Wolfman's sharp roar tore through the wasteland. Ilza reflexively whipped her head toward the sound, spotting Wolfman crouching into a combat stance, his eyes pinned on the Silke Sea of Trees.
Standing there was a single goat-headed man clad in exotic garments.
"That thing is... bad news."
It was the first time she had ever heard such thick distress in Knight Captain Arnold's voice.
Tucking in his chin, the Knight Captain lowered his center of gravity and drew his sword from its scabbard.
Neither of them had ever reacted so intensely, not even against the Deep Zone monsters. Did that mean this goat-headed man was even more monstrous than those one-eyed giants? He really didn't look that strong, though...
"Fall back to the city gate, now!!"
Shouting at the top of his lungs, Knight Captain Arnold lunged across the ground toward the goat-headed monster, while Wolfman charged the beast at the exact same instant.
The battle between two of humanity's finest warriors and the goat-headed monster was underway.