The beast tamer exiled from the hero’s party and the cat eared girl from the strongest race meet

Chapter 308 Encirclement network

(TL:By Rafael,valhallatls.blogspot.com)

Al used transfer magic, and we moved quickly to the edge of the forest area.

"Is this the place?"

No human hands had intervened, and there seemed to be no recognizable path. At best, it was a game trail.

The grass and trees grew thickly, blocking out the sunlight from above. Visibility was quite poor, and despite it still being daytime, it felt like night. Vines extended here and there, so we had to be careful where we stepped.

"It seems troublesome... the vegetation is quite annoying. How about..."

"Burn it?"

Interrupting Tania's line, Rifa uttered such a dangerous suggestion.

"Meow... Rifa, you're saying such dangerous things, just like Tania..."

"Has the brute-force virus infected you? Mm, proper treatment is necessary."

"You two, remember that later...?"

Glared at by Tania, Kanade and Luna both turned and whistled in the direction of the day after tomorrow.

"Aren't you going to burn it?"

"No, that's a no-go. Doing that would only make it harder to move forward, and besides, not only monsters inhabit this forest. There are also ordinary animals. I absolutely don't want to do anything that would take away their habitat or kill them."

"I see. Rain is kind."

For some reason, Rifa said so with a shine in her eyes. Was I being praised?

"So, how do we proceed? Like when we came to Krios, should Sora prepare some light?"

"We'll do reconnaissance."

"I can... if something happens, I can... poof into subspace..."

"Hmm."

Listening to everyone's opinions, we solidified our strategy.

From here on, it's enemy territory. There's information about the Oni tribe's possible counterattack, so the enemy won't be taking it easy. They should have fortified defenses to a certain extent.

Moving in a place with poor visibility and difficult mobility, we have to proceed while remaining vigilant of the enemy. It's quite challenging.

The demons have said to been weakened here... Perhaps that was the reason for their extra caution.

We don't want to waste any extra energy here. Conquering this forest is not our main objective. Our primary goal is to defeat the enemies lurking in the depths of the ancient castle.

"In that case... should we go with that?"

"That? What do you mean?"

――――――――――

His name was Agni.

He was a weapon crafted with ancient technology, and the type of weapon was called a golem.

While his rank was A, it was said that his power was comparable to some S-rank beings.

Agni, despite being a monster, was given his name by the master who commanded him.

Agni took pride in this.

He had diligently served each day with unwavering loyalty to his master.

His main task was to guard his master.

Currently, his master was in the ancient castle deep in the forest.

Agni scattered his subordinates throughout the forest and set up traps.

As a finishing touch, he deployed a barrier to sap the strength of any enemies who dared to invade the forest.

Finally, he would act as the gatekeeper of the castle.

With this, the forest had become a complete fortress.

Ordinary beings would likely not be able to reach the depths.

Of course, it would be a different story for the strongest beings...

Nevertheless, they wouldn't emerge unscathed, and their stamina would undoubtedly be drained considerably.

The strongest beings, once exhausted, were not adversaries of his master.

Perhaps, Agni would even be allowed to defeat them himself.

The defenses here were impenetrable.

Agni believed this firmly.

"Agni-sama, intruders!"

At one point, such a report was brought by his subordinates.

Could it be those from Krios?

Perhaps they were still futilely resisting.

Smirking inwardly, Agni inquired of his subordinates.

"How many enemies?"

"Eight... no, perhaps seven."

"That's a vague answer."

"My apologies. One of them is a puppet... and there have been reports of it moving, so it's quite difficult to judge..."

"I see. If that's the case, then it can't be helped."

"And... the enemies include the strongest beings."

"Oh?"

Upon hearing about the strongest beings, Agni let out a delighted voice.

As a golem with intricate mechanisms, his expression remained unchanged, but emotions were still present within him.

A hint of joy tinged Agni's voice.

While he was a loyal servant of his master, he was also a warrior at heart.

He relished the prospect of battling formidable foes.

"Spirit Cat, dragonkin, spirits, deities, and Oni... There are two spirits, probably sisters. And one human. And a puppet."

"That's quite a force... Considering the presence of an Oni, they might be reinforcements for those from Krios?"

"Likely so. What shall we do?"

"We'll do what we must do. As always, wear them down and pick them off one by one. If defeating them proves difficult, aim to wear them down. Eventually, I'll step in, or perhaps the master will intervene."

"Yes."

With a bow, the subordinate departed.

"Several strongest beings, huh... This time, I might need to intervene myself."

Agni was created solely for battle.

Therefore, demonstrating strength in combat was the essence of his existence.

Fighting strong opponents and taking their heads was the ultimate source of pride for him.

Agni remembered feeling his heart race.

Although they had faced a Oni attack some time ago...

During that time, his master had taken the lead, so there was no opportunity to display his strength.

However, this time was different.

It seemed his master had some business, so he was holed up in the depths of the ancient castle.

Therefore, he would have to fight himself.

He rather welcomed this.

And the opponents were the strongest beings.

It seemed more enjoyable to fight them than dealing with small fry.

The enemy was not lacking.

Indeed, they were the best opponents he could hope for.

"Now, come quickly. Entertain me."

――――――――――

Two hours had passed since the report of enemy sighting.

But there was still no progress.

There were no reports of annihilating the enemy, nor were there reports of being counterattacked... There was nothing.

Agni, understandably puzzled, summoned his subordinates.

"What happened to the enemies reported?"

"Uh, well... That is..."

"What happened?"

"...I'm terribly sorry! We lost sight of them!"

"What did you say?"

Agni's tone inadvertently grew stronger.

Pressured by his intensity, his subordinate trembled nervously.

"Why did you lose sight of them? Were you perhaps careless? Or did you underestimate the enemy?"

"N-No! There's no excuse. While it may be true for humans, the enemy consisted of several strongest beings. We approached with the utmost caution and engaged them."

"I see."

Realizing this, Agni slightly suppressed his anger.

All his subordinates were seasoned warriors.

While they might have some leeway against humans, they wouldn't dare to be careless against strongest beings.

However, losing sight of them meant the enemy was superior.

What kind of opponent could outmaneuver his subordinates?

Agni felt intrigued by the enemy and their abilities.

"Tell me about the situation then."

"Yes. Initially, we refrained from attacking to ensure they couldn't easily flee, and we lured them deeper into the forest. Along the way, the enemy stopped, so we decided to observe. Afterwards, the enemy used what seemed to be a smoke screen. We judged that they had discerned our intentions and immediately launched a coordinated attack. The enemy retreated deeper into the forest. By chance, we managed to lead them to a dead end. We were fully prepared to surround and annihilate them, but... that's when they disappeared."

"Disappeared? How did they vanish?"

"Suddenly, their outlines broke apart... It felt like water splashing. In hindsight, it might have been an illusion."

"I see."

Agni concluded that his subordinates' speculation was likely correct.

The enemy created their own illusions and used them as decoys.

That explanation seemed unquestionable.

However, two questions remained.

While the strongest beings were said to include Spirit Cat, dragonkin, spirits, deities, and Oni, could any of them possess the ability to create intricate illusions?

While simple illusions could be created with magic, maintaining the deception for an extended period to fool his subordinates would be challenging, even for spirits. While it was conceivable that deities possessed unique abilities, Agni, who had lived for a long time, had never heard of such an ability.

The second question was, where did the enemy disappear to?

His subordinates had completely surrounded the scene.

Not only could they not escape on the ground, but they also couldn't flee by flying in the air.

So where did they go?

Unable to predict the enemy's actions, Agni pondered over the puzzle along with his subordinates.

Then it happened.

A strange noise came from nearby, followed by a loud thud, and a large hole appeared in the ground.

"Huh... Looks like it went well."

From there emerged... a human.

TL Note- Who is that pokemon.....it's  Rain.

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