The raiders, split into eighteen groups, deployed a wheel formation. They had already figured out that the High Elves were spread throughout the Forest of Silence. There might be other main forces, but they were all positioned deeper inside. By slowly surrounding them from the outside, they would inevitably be revealed. There was only one reason they had deliberately deployed the wheel formation.

—”This is the twelfth group. One High Elf is fleeing toward the fourteenth group.”

—”This is the fourteenth group. We have a visual on a High Elf straight ahead.”

—”Take it out, quickly. The other High Elves are catching on and fleeing deeper inside.”

—”Don’t worry. As long as we keep them surrounded, there’s no way out!”

It was solely to cut off the High Elves’ escape routes. The raiders, split into their respective positions, began to anticipate the High Elves’ escape paths and launch their attacks.

[High Elf Panael has cast Mana Arrow.]

[High Elf Saphaela has cast Swift Strike.]

[High Elf Neru has cast Multi-Shot.]

They put up a fierce resistance, trying to break through the encirclement. However, no matter where they fled, raiders were waiting. The soldiers who had ambushed the thirteenth group tried to provide support, but it was too late. Some of the raiders were already engaging the ambush unit. One by one, the High Elves began to sustain injuries, and the situation gradually worsened.

[High Elf Benipper has been captured.]

[High Elf Neru has been captured.]

In the end, two of them were the first to be bound and captured by the raiders.

—”Tch. You humans. Don’t you dare touch me!”

—”Is it because she’s a High Elf? She’s way hotter and has a better body than regular elves. Captain Charon, can we have a little fun here?”

“There will be plenty of time for fun after we get out of the Forest of Silence. For now, focus on dealing with the remaining High Elves.” He couldn’t repeat the same mistake as last time. Charon warned the raiders in advance before cutting the communication. The rest of the High Elves would soon be dealt with. The raiders were slowly closing in on the center, so this battle, too, would be resolved without issue. Pleased, Charon cast a skill.

[Aura of Agility has been cast.]

[The raid party has been enchanted with Aura of Agility.]

[All raiders’ agility stats will temporarily increase.]

Aura of Agility. It was one of the Enchanter skills and was particularly useful in a pursuit like this. With their increased agility, their accuracy and movement speed would also have risen.

“Sir Charon. Should we join the other raiders?”

“No. Not yet. We’ll just stay here and watch. Things are going smoothly for now, but Taehyun Yoo must have a few tricks up his sleeve. For example…” He had just raised his finger when a message appeared before his eyes.

[The seventh raider group has been hit by an Explosion Trap.]

“Something like this.” The seventh group was part of the wheel formation. They must have hit a trap while circling along their designated route. Charon led his raiders toward the opposite side. ‘Sorry, but I anticipated this as well. We’ve captured most of the High Elves, so it’s time to withdraw.’

The reason his own group had deliberately stayed back was to deal with situations just like this. Charon had no intention of overextending before entering the dungeon. Taehyun had surely anticipated this and laid traps along the routes, but he wanted to avoid any further losses. Charon issued orders to the raiders in advance via the communication device. “If Position Transfer is nullified, retreat immediately. Keep the bounty hunters alive at all costs.”

—”Understood.”

With the Aura of Agility enchantment, regrouping would be much easier. Charon put down the communication device and looked ahead. The exit of the forest was slowly coming into view. He halted the raiders and took out a Position Transfer item. “Now, will he use a nullification item, or will he save the item and give up the High Elves? Well, either way, he loses the High Elves.”

If Position Transfer was nullified, the raiders would retreat as planned. If not, they would still regroup via the position change. Charon placed a marker on the ground and activated Position Transfer.

[Position Transfer has been used.]

[All raiders’ positions will be changed to the previously saved location.]

Since they were raiding as a joint force, the location Charon had saved applied to the other raiders as well.

“Huh? Where is this?”

“Looks like Captain Charon used Position Transfer. Was that really necessary?”

“Are you an idiot? Look at how many people we’ve lost already. Four groups were killed by traps.”

The raiders who had been in the middle of the pursuit successfully regrouped with Charon, where they could see the captured High Elves. A total of nine. They struggled even in captivity, but with the shackles on, escape was impossible. Charon nodded his head in satisfaction. A few High Elves still remained, but this alone was a huge gain. ‘So he didn’t use the nullification item after all. He tried to inflict some damage, but without a mobility skill, that’s impossible.’

Now, they just had to enter the Valley of Silence, and they would be right at Balak’s entrance. Charon decided to make camp before entering the dungeon. “Taric, we need to get through the rest of the forest. If we camp at the dungeon entrance, we can manage our stamina.”

“Uh, yeah. We should.” Taric, who had been staring at the High Elves, snapped back to his senses. The two of them were about to lead the raid party out of the forest when something caught their eye in the bushes. ‘What’s that?!’

They were arrows rigged as triggers for traps. Charon urgently tried to stop the raiders, but it was no use. An arrow, fired from a distance, had already triggered the traps.

[Electric Trap has been activated.]

[Electric Trap has been activated.]

[Binding Trap has been activated.]

[Binding Trap has been activated.]

In an instant, the traps went off in a chain reaction.

“Aaargh!”

“I-I can’t move.”

“What’s happening?!”

The raiders were confused, simultaneously shocked and bound. Charon checked the few raiders who had resisted the traps and shouted, “Those who weren’t caught, assume combat positions now! There aren’t many soldiers left in the Forest of Silence. We’ll hold them off here!”

Fortunately, the A-rank and higher raiders had resisted the traps. Charon led them and scanned their surroundings.

[C-rank Raider Netans has appeared.]

[C-rank Raider Yulina has appeared.]

[C-rank Raider Bermula has appeared.]

Soon, about ten raiders appeared from the front. They were likely Balak’s own raiders. To Taric, they were laughable. He immediately ordered the melee raiders to deal with them.

“Taric, what are you doing? We can just take them out with ranged raiders, there’s no need to send in the melee fighters!”

“Th-They’re just C-rank. I don’t see any other soldiers, so what are you so angry about?”

“You idiot! Then who’s going to protect the ones caught in the traps?!” The shield bearers and melee raiders had been protecting the immediate area. But he had just sent them off to deal with a mere ten raiders, leaving their rear wide open. Charon quickly used the Radar Detection Net.

[Radar Detection Net has been cast.]

[The detection net will be active for a set duration.]

[Any beings that enter the detection net’s range will be automatically discovered.]

The detection net enveloped the raid party. Charon gritted his teeth as he checked the beings identified by the net. ‘Taehyun Yoo, you son of a bitch. Not only did you set traps in advance, but you also had soldiers positioned here?!’

The lack of a nullification item, the dozens of traps, the presence of soldiers beyond the ambush unit—it was as if he had predicted that Charon would move separately. Charon thought of the Effect Reversal Card but quickly shook his head. As long as the A-rank raiders were fine, they could easily block this many soldiers.

“Everyone, do your best to fight while protecting the trapped raiders! Shield bearers, spread out to the left and right! Melee raiders… dammit. If you can’t hold them, just use your one-time skills!” A much larger number of soldiers than expected appeared from all sides. At this rate, even if they fought defensively, the trapped raiders would be in danger. ‘Dammit. That means the ambush unit that fought the thirteenth group was only a fraction of their forces!’

The soldiers slowly charged in. The A-rank raiders began to fight, doing their best to protect their trapped comrades. However, the soldiers were only targeting the raiders in the rear. They had no choice but to use their one-time skills to deal with them.

—

[A-rank Raider Fedex has cast Ice Bug.]

[A-rank Top-Tier Raider Baret has cast Earth Breaker.]

[A-rank Top-Tier Raider Berhendime has cast Arrow Rain.]

Skills of immense power were being cast, all of them limited-use skills from A-rank or higher raiders. The B-rank soldiers were being instantly annihilated, but it didn’t matter. In fact, Taehyun was methodically sending in soldiers, looking for an opening.

“He’s not using the Effect Reversal Card,” Riel noted.

“He probably thinks he can handle this. And he’s right—if they use their one-time skills, they can. But does he know how long the duration of dozens of overlapping traps will last?” He had already anticipated that Charon would move separately instead of regrouping. Charon may have thought he had figured out Taehyun’s plan, but that was exactly what Taehyun had been aiming for. Assigning Kadum to him in advance, having Hyena lay traps in designated locations, and revealing only a part of the ambush unit—it had all been in preparation for this moment.

“Hyena, how’s your mana?”

—”I can cast the skill a few more times, Master.”

“Good. Pour out the rest.”

—”Understood.”

Hyena, who had been gradually recovering her mana, began to unleash traps again.

[Electric Trap has been activated.]

[Illusion Trap has been activated.]

Finally, the Illusion Trap was activated. The raiders, who had only boosted their elemental resistance, were caught in an unavoidable situation. The raiders who had been fending off the soldiers fell into confusion and began to attack their own comrades.

—”D-Dammit! I’ll kill you all!”

—”You’re crazy! What do you think you’re doing? N-No, use the one-time skills on ‘them’!”

—”Guhk. Help me.”

It was utter chaos. Even A-rank raiders had weak immunity to illusions. Taehyun watched the pandemonium and smirked. “Loqueen. Now.”

—”Okay. I’m going now!”

This was the stage set for Loqueen. Having prepared in advance, she cast her skill toward the raiders caught in the traps.

[B-rank Top-Tier Raider Loqueen has used To a Faraway Place.]

[Raiders within a certain range will be forcibly moved to the opposite side of the dungeon.]

Mana erupted from among the dolls, and the raiders were sent flying. Judging by the numbers, it was close to a hundred people. Now, only the A-rank raiders were left.

—”Get out of the forest, now! The forest terrain is disadvantageous!”

Charon led the remaining raiders out of the forest. They would probably try to regroup outside. Taehyun had no reason to pursue them. Just like that, Kadum and the soldiers freed the High Elves from their shackles and successfully rescued them.

—

Meanwhile, the raiders who had been flung to the opposite side of the dungeon were in a state of utter confusion. Just when they thought they had finally been freed from the traps’ effects, they found themselves looking at the entrance to Heimdall.

“Th-This is Heimdall! We were sent all the way here?!”

“It looks like we were hit by a main skill. Dammit. What do we do now?”

“The A-rank raiders have all the food and camping supplies. Let’s just wait here. Or go back first.”

They each offered their opinions, deliberating. Just then, soldiers appeared from the entrance of Heimdall.

“Aaaargh! You humans! Tell me where Granzle is!” It was Grizzle and the A-rank soldiers. The raiders were instantly flustered and forced into battle. However, with only B-rank raiders, they were no match at all.

“Aaargh! Who’s Granzle? I don’t know! I swear I don’t know!”

“Th-That guy is Granzle! I saw him, I saw him!”

“Argh! Who the hell is Granzle?!”

In the end, they were mercilessly cut down by a sword filled with hatred and annihilated.

—

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep