Chapter 20: Heroes Found
"That's the plan, get it?"
"I don't understand this 'skating' thing you're talking about, but I get that you're about to use that huge weird-looking sword and slash it around."
"W-Will this really go well?"
"Woof!"
The group of three people and one dog had decided how they would break through the battlefield and reach the isolated village hall.
Senna would act as the vanguard and use the skateboard as a booster so that he wouldn't get surrounded. Cybele would accompany Ran from close by as a bodyguard and insurance. And lastly, Bard the Axeman would bring up the rear and engage any potential monsters that might chase them.
They had to do this fast. The bestial army Senna ran away from must still be approaching this village at the moment. It was only a matter of time until they were overrun.
Evacuating those people trapped by the besieging monsters was now their primary goal.
"But anyway, who even are you? Suddenly arriving and helping us…"
"Err… Ran can explain it later. Right now, we're in dire need of time."
The receptionist knew him as a prospective new adventurer whose registration was unfortunately delayed by the emergency report. Senna wouldn't mind if she introduced him using that description.
The reason why he helped was just to satisfy his guilt-ridden heart, anyway. It wasn't even that deep.
"Alright, you better had time to talk with me later then. I owe my life to you."
"Stop exaggerating and let's go."
Cutting the conversation short, Senna readied his Bumper Sword and stepped on his skateboard again. He found out from the short skating he did earlier that even though he was a novice skater, there wasn't any difficulty in riding the board.
Not even the unpaved village ground presented any hindrance to him. Senna chalked it all up to his Taxi Driver System, and the mystery surrounding the dang thing grew even deeper.
*Whirl*
The tiny wheels jolted as he pushed forward. Passing through a corner between a shack on the verge of collapsing, he immediately ran into a group of grizzly bears devouring what looked like the corpse of a villager.
"Damn!" exclaimed him as he bolted toward them, the Bumper Sword glinting menacingly in his hand.
*Slice* *Slice* Senna passed them by as he slashed the greatsword around. The wild swings he did was very much random and without focus. But luckily, the bears were too crumpled up and distracted that the attacks were successful.
«You defeated three Rending Bears. 9 PPs received.»
Although killing three of them could be considered great, there were still two remaining. Senna turned back around and charged toward them once again.
There was one trick he had at his disposal besides the summoning skill. "Gaslighting!" he shouted as he reached the bears.
With the village's current condition, there was no need for concern about collateral damage by using this magic.
Just like before, intense flame burst forth from his left palm, striking one of the bears right on its face. Roaring in both pain and fury, it dropped to the ground and flailed around trying to put the fire out.
The other one, spared from the burning attack, clashed with Senna as he charged. The Bumper Sword struck its paw and created a solid clanking sound. "So hard!"
Contesting their strength, both he and the bear struggled to push each other back. "I'm still not done!" Thinking up his next trick, Senna immediately put it into action.
The Steering Chakram floated on its own from beside Senna's hips. It flew back for a bit before rushing at the bear at full speed. Rotating as it flew, the chakram passed through the gap between the two as they battled.
It ripped the bear's exposed stomach as it did so.
"Kuh!" Senna kicked the bleeding bear away. It crashed into the nearby shack and readily toppled it down.
Without hesitation, he trusted the sword and ended the burning bear's life as well.
«Two more Rending Bears defeated. 6 PPs gained.»
"Sen!" Cybele's voice could be heard calling for him.
"Need to start moving again. Still long way to go.»
*****
In the village hall, panic and fear enveloped the air and gripped the hearts of everyone inside.
"They're still coming. More monsters are spotted jumping over the fence to the west!"
"I saw a Boulder Rhino coming toward us!"
"Cleft's group still hasn't come back. I think we lost them!"
The neverending bad news kept being announced by the spotters tasked with observing the situation.
"What about Brad? I saw him running out to help some kids being hounded by a Woodland Cobra. Dunno what happened to him after that, though."
"Dammit!"
Brad was the strongest warrior-hunter living in the village. Losing him was a major blow to the villager's fighting strength. "No, I'm sure he's still alive. One Woodland Cobra could never do him in."
"But, Chief… There are lots more than 'one Woodland Cobra' roaming out there. Those monsters are everywhere." The young hunter speaking to the older man refuted his baseless statement.
"Don't go spouting such grim words to everyone, idiot. You're just creating even more panic."
"It's already been that dire ever since yesterday, Chief! Everyone already knows."
From the moment the forest fire consumed the village, everything had gone to hell. This morning, a strange commotion occurred. It was as if the whole forest's inhabitants were now out to kill every human living in the Randel.
It had never happened before. True, the monsters would attack if they were disturbed, but since the village was first founded, no deliberate unprovoked assault had ever taken place.
All the villagers were caught off guard. The village chief had mobilized every hunter proficient in fighting to defend the hapless and frail ones, including prioritizing evacuating the children to the well-protected hall.
At this stage, the casualties were already tremendous.
"What about Elrand? I hadn't seen him since he went to look out for that Reimi girl."
"How should I know? I doubt he's still alive. No novice could survive the onslaught out th—"
"Emergency! A pack of Red-Eyed Monitors is heading this way! There's so much of them!"
The two of them responded to the yell with dark faces. "I'll check it out," the hunter declared.
"Wait, don't. Let's just observe from here first. I'm not losing any more hunters." The chief grasped his shoulder with determination. The worry he felt from his aging hand was genuine, though the fear was also apparent and handily overshadowed it.
Rushing to where the report came from, both of them reached an open balcony on the upper floor. "Where's that pack?" the chief immediately questioned.
"They surged from the southwest. Chief, this is impossible. Those lizards are so many I can't count them all. At this rate…"
"I know. Holding them off is probably futile." Approaching the balcony, the two of them followed where the watchman indicated.
Among the ruined houses, crawling on the ground, countless lizards scuttled about. Each one was massive, the smallest would probably be around 2 meters long from snout to tail.
And they all gradually drew ever closer to the hall.
"Lord…"
"How…? Why? Why is this happening?"
Nobody present had any answer to that miserable question. But, being the oldest one there, the chief had an assumption.
It was merely a guess with no proof and not in any way a definitive answer. Nevertheless, the older man voiced it aloud.
"Perhaps it's a sign of a new era of Demon Lord…"
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
RasyaHelion
RasyaHelion Creation is hard, cheer me up!
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