As we ran in the night towards the forest once more, I had found out all I needed to know to help the City prepare itself just in case. It was time for me to do a little extra for myself as we made it to the forest, and I used the necklace to make a tree turn into a portal, and a Dryad walked out and bowed. "Sir Jacob, how may I help you?" She asked, and I told her I would like the Queen to look after these three until the army has been dealt with, as they will be safe in her palace, away from the Empire's Knights for now. She bowed and went to report to her Queen as I pulled her dead husband's body out of the bag and started to wrap him in a cloth.
The Dryad guard returned and told me the Queen will allow it, as long as I deal with the army and then spend some time in the palace. I agreed as I let the Dryad help with moving the body, as Tina and her daughters need time to mourn the loss of their father and husband, and I left them as they entered the tree. I made sure to keep microraptors around the village as I followed the Knight as he fled towards the army, and I finally found them, but what shocked me was ten earth dragons and two with red scales and wings. If I were a betting man, those are fire dragons and are Epic rank dragons stronger than earth dragons, but I feel like my Dinosaurs, who have evolved, could hand the dragons now. I just need to think of a way to stop them from flying.
They would make it close to the forest within a day, but I don't think they will move as fast as before unless their leader wants to make it to the City before the army of Leblanc moves towards the new City from Guel. I found that a smaller area with different flags was set up away from the military. They look to be mercenaries, meaning the odds of the army sending them to deal with me are high, as they wouldn't want to risk using their forces. The only bad thing is, I don't know what the flags mean. I need to study the Crests of Mercenaries when I get the time, so that I can determine their rank.
I noticed the Knight entering a tent, and I made the microraptor land in the tall grass near it as it crept towards the tent, as I overheard voices. "What is the meaning of this?!" a loud voice yelled out as female screams echoed out as a group of women ran out of the tent, half-naked. "General Girffith, please let the Knight speak. He can't explain if you keep choking him." A feminine male said, making him grunt and let him go. "Explain why you have these two heads," said the feminine male voice. The Knight explained what had happened at the village before the sound of a sword being pulled echoed out and a thud happened.
"Well, aren't you overreacting a little, Girffith. But this is a problem, if this child is as strong as what he said and those dragon-like beasts, then we may have to deal with him before we get to Everlast City." The man said, making a general grunt as a moan escaped his mouth before he spoke. "Sir Quin, after you're done, bring the Mercanaries leaders here." Girffith moaned out as gagging could be heard, making me not want to think what was going on, but a minute later, a man walked out with his black hair up in a bun, wearing what looked to be old Chinese-looking clothes from my old world as he walked away.
It didn't take long for about fifty men to return with the guy as they entered the big tent, and I listened in on the talks. From what I heard, there are three S-rank groups and about fifteen A-rank groups; the rest were lower levels, and the General wanted them to pack up and push forward, clearing the forest near the path the army would be moving along. He was also going to send four dragons along with them to help three earth dragons and a fire one.
Before they left, I ordered the Microraptor to fly, as it took off into the night, watching the Mercs moving back to their tents and starting to pack up. Within two hours, they had begun to move out; their numbers were about a hundred thousand. Matching the army I had once defeated made me smile, as this would be a significant advantage. I leaned against a tree and closed my eyes, as it would take them till tomorrow evening to get here, letting me prepare for it.
Early morning, I woke up and got to work using my earth elemental magic to make pits within the forest, covering them with branches before covering them with dirt and making them look like all the dirt around it. I made thousands of them before digging two bigger holes, putting two male mega T-rexs in them, explaining what I wanted them to do when I told them, as they roared, as I covered the holes with branches, but not dirt.
Then I waited and watched. By the time they got here, it was already six, almost seven in the evening, and I wanted to see if they would rest or push into the forest out of hubris. They picked the hubris, as the three men leading sent half the forces into the woods, making me smirk. "Fools, it's about to be night, and you're entering a forest you know nothing about. You think numbers will win this battler, that is going to bite you in the ass." I said, realizing they didn't even send in the dragons, was it out of hubris or fear that if they lost them, would they be killed, maybe both. But this was a death sentence for the ones they sent in.
I had already summoned my dinos, spreading them out with the Utahraptors up front with Tri's as I put the Carnos behind them, letting them cover them with shadow magic as the sun went down. The forest became so quiet as I watched the Mercs take their first steps inside. I made the first holes about 1,000 meters inside, spread out. Within the forest, their spacing will become chaotic once they move deeper inside, and it becomes thicker.
"Quite men." One leader said, wishing it were a brighter night as their torches shone in the night. He didn't want to use it, but based on the intel they received, the child they are hunting has beasts that have shadow elemental magic and will need it. The forest was giving him the creeps. No animals were making a sound, not even the bugs; it was like death was in the air. He didn't want to go into the forest at night, but the S-ranks wanted to get this over with and quickly, so they sent all the Mercs that didn't belong to their groups.
With every passing minute, the men started to sweat more, stepping into the forest. They noticed the torches spreading out further to the point that the closest one was about 300 meters from them, and a scream came out. Then another, but no sounds of fighting. People started to fall into pits that I had spiked until one finally yelled out. "Watch out, the place is set up with traps!" He yelled when he heard movement coming from a bush close to him and froze as he got closer. A microraptor ran out and walked away. "Oh, is your nest here?" He said that, not having eaten all day, he moved the leaves and froze in fear as a Utahraptor stared him down before attacking him.
His screams run out, and not long after, more did as the chaotic forest battle began. I stayed out of it, watching from my microraptors. They couldn't give orders right away as they were too far apart. The pits and Utahraptors had struck fear in the lower-ranked ones, only leaving the A-rankers with the ability to put up some kind of fight. Still, my Utahraptors had already evolved after my last major battle, overpowering the A-rankers along with the Carnos who had been leveling up like crazy.
The S-rankers could hear their screams until it went silent, and a single wounded man walked out and fell to his knees as heads started to fly through the air, as I ordered the Wind Utahraptors to collect all the dead men's heads and throw them out of the forest to send a message. One, that the S-rankers heard loud and clear.
That night, none of the living Mercs could sleep from the sight of fifty thousand heads being thrown out of the forest, rolling on the ground. What scared them the most was that they couldn't see anyone doing it. It was like a ghost was taunting them, something they had no chance to win against. They wanted to flee, but the leaders made sure they could not by threatening to kill anyone who did.