Alphonse crouched behind a length of dense foliage that obscured him from sight on nearly all sides. Ash sat behind him facing the other direction with her back nearly touching his.

Her eyes were closed. The ears on top of her head twitched as she listened to the sounds carried on wind that mildly disturbed the leaves of the surrounding trees. Fingers flexed on the leather handles of her scimitars that sat in her lap, blades crossed in perfect congruity. Her shoulders didn't appear to move as she took slow, even breaths.

Alphonse listened as well. He could hear the clicking, harsh chatter of the deirgu a short distance beyond their concealment. A dull thunk reached his ears as one of the bipedal rodents stuck the tip of a spear into the ground in a fit of what sounded like frustration. More irritable speech followed some uneven stamping in the grass. One of the deirgu pushed an angry comrade and let out a series of clicks that traded back and forth in argument.

Somewhere directly across from them hidden amongst the bushes were Kirie and Emily. The rough road was a short distance behind them and snaked to the narrow pass near the village of Lamfell. A trap was set just outside the entrance, courtesy of Emily's earth magic, in case they encountered any unexpected surprises – big surprises, to be more specific. The spike pit was covered with webs of thick branches and chunks of earth concealed by a more natural layer of dirt that blended with the road. The weight of a regular human-sized individual wasn't sufficient to cause the trap to cave in, but the heaviness of a troll or other larger monster was more than enough.

Nearby, a little further off to the west, Asa and Liam finalized preparations for their attack. Asa's delayed protection spells remained in reserve for the new adventurers. Alphonse had prepared a signal for himself and Ash to indicate which of the delayed spells needed activation when Asa was preoccupied with other areas on the battlefield.

The plan was to hit the deirgu from three different angles in a staggered triangular formation. Two assault groups consisted of a heavy damage dealer and a spellcaster for defensive magic. Alphonse and Ash were the odd group. Their role focused on confusion and disarray among the monster ranks. The scout would attack from range and draw attention, since the deirgu were about as simple-minded as trolls with their singular focus on enemies. Ash would utilize her agility and make easy retreats if the situation called for it after splitting the forces down the middle. The hit-and-run tactics worked well against the deirgus' tunnel vision.

Alphonse had a second and third plan reserved in case a big monster decided to show up. The backup plans involved plenty of running and mostly relied on Ash and Alphonse changing their targets and being aware of the other's position. They were tasked with dispatching the larger enemy in a swift manner after Kirie's group attacked first. If the initial strikes failed, then Ash or Alphonse would continue on with separating the groups depending on who was closest.

Ash pointed to a few pairs of bushes that dotted the clearing where the deirgu milled about. “I figured they'd make camp right next to the ingredients.”

Alphonse caught on immediately. “For the alchemist?”

She nodded. “He pays decent for them. The prices are stupid high in the marketplace since monsters like to eat them.”

“Sounds like a hassle.”

“Well, there aren't usually this many-” She cut herself off and made a curious motion towards the ground.

Alphonse was about to question her further when a slight rumble shivered through his legs. He cocked his head as a new sound intruded on the familiar. It was heavier. Much heavier. It wasn't likely that a large group of deirgu were moving in unison like in some military formation. Deirgu didn't have the discipline for such organization – at least, not on their own. After a few seconds, he was able to determine that the rumbling was from a singular source.

Of course, Alphonse thought. Normally, he might've felt some dismay, maybe even frustration. But now, the unpredictability of monsters was becoming too much of a commonality. He was convinced that the quest details didn't boil down to incompetence on the part of the Guild Union's intelligence officers. Some other factor was causing the discrepancy.

Is there an undiscovered dungeon around here? he wondered.

No. He couldn't estimate the odds of so many undiscovered dungeons around the capital, but it was definitely near zero. The vast web of tunnels and caverns underneath the continent were supposedly all interconnected in some way since they once bridged the settlements of an ancient civilization -- like the old ruins of Hollow'dys One near the Submerged Oasis. There was no way a village would be built so close to a dungeon entrance, yet somehow large monsters were constantly unaccounted for.

“Looks like we're getting the fun job,” Ash whispered.

“I fail to see where the fun is,” Alphonse said.

“I was being sarcastic.”

“Me too.”

A quiet sputter came from Ash as she suppressed a chuckle.

Alphonse felt himself calming down at the pleasantness of it. The weight of his nerves lifted from his shoulders. He'd felt a bit of apprehension as he wondered what kind of adventuring partner Ash might turn out to be. It was a pleasant surprise that she held a bit of humor out in the field. Emotions were contagious. The wrong ones dulled the senses and brought discomfort. Too much of the right ones made an adventurer lax and sloppy. She held a nice balance.

His unpinned ruminations were interrupted by the hulking figure that broke from the treeline to the east. Its rounded shoulder clipped a tree's trunk and splintered the bark without slowing its pace. The folded, dog-like ears on its head flicked as if irritated by hungry insects.

Alphonse knew exactly what it was as soon as the head emerged from the shadows of the trees.

The monster straightened itself to display its full height and observed the clearing of frightened deirgu. A disgusting mound of snot crawled over its upper lip from a bulbous nose. The snot trailed along one of its tusks and dripped on the body it dragged beside it. The feet were missing on the corpse and its face was caved in, making it impossible to determine the age, but it was definitely human.

That's a big one, Alphonse thought. Trolls usually averaged around eight feet, but this one had a foot of extra height. It was also much bulkier than the ones he encountered with Anya and Derek.

His fingers brushed the fletching of an arrow that he nocked to his bow. He glanced at Ash, who rose into a slight crouch with her scimitars low and parallel to the ground. She shifted next to him as they observed the behemoth shouting what sounded like orders in its guttural language. Alphonse didn't doubt that its furious roar was audible in the village beyond the passage to the north. This further begged the question as to how this thing managed to roam the area unimpeded. It was also clear that it retained far more intelligence than a regular troll.

The troll suddenly brought up its club in a fit of rage and swung it in a wide downward arc. A lone deirgu disappeared underneath it. No blood or gore spewed. It just simply vanished. When the troll lifted its club, all that remained from Alphonse's vantage point was a small crater filled with red paste and twisted limbs like gnarled roots protruding from the ground.

Alphonse lifted his arms on reflex as the troll shifted its gaze in their direction, but its focus was on another deirgu that prostrated itself and chattered desperately. The troll didn't seem pleased with whatever the deirgu said, for it raised its foot this time and decided to stomp on the creature's bowed head instead of swinging the club. The monster's skull made a sickening crunch as the troll's heel connected first before the rest of the foot curled around what remained of its cranium.

Holy shit, Alphonse thought.

Ash gratefully distracted him from the grisly scene as she recited his plan. He could tell by the look on her face that she was doing it for her own benefit as well.

“Only our role changes,” she said evenly. “We'll let Kirie and Asa's groups deal with the deirgu. One troll isn't a problem for us.”

Alphonse nodded. Taking into account an ideal scenario with no mistakes, it might take less time for them to deal with the troll, even if it was on the larger side. They could then move in and assist with the battle against the deirgu.

“They lead,” Alphonse said. “But you and I need to make a dominating presence for the troll. I strike first.”

“It will see you as the main damage dealer,” Ash said.

Alphonse glanced at her. “I'm guessing you have plenty of experience with these bastards.”

“Yeah, more than I would've liked.”

The troll spent most of its time facing towards their position. Alphonse couldn't give a signal to the other two groups without being noticed. Instead, they opted to wait. Kirie would catch on to his intention. Asa would then follow her attack, and the deirgu would respond by moving towards them so Alphonse and Ash could deal with the troll unimpeded.

“What if more monsters like this show up?” Ash asked. “I can understand one of them slipping through the cracks, but...”

Alphonse frowned as she trailed off. Her paranoia was something akin to his own. They'd already established a wide perimeter for scouting beforehand, but there were always other hidden factors.

Alphonse tilted his head towards the direction of the village. “Then we'll retreat. Kirie will save her active skill and buy the others enough time to escape. The boost to her defense afterwards will keep her safe.”

Ash nodded approvingly. “You seem confident.”

“She knows her limitations.”

Alphonse moved along the edge of the foliage to get a better angle. His legs froze as a pair of deirgu entered the clearing from where the troll had first appeared. Held between them was an older man with nothing but rags covering his private regions. A nasty purple lump stood out on his bald head with dried blood caked over one ear. One leg was twisted at an awkward angle with a lump sticking out above the knee, clearly broken.

The deirgu dumped him in front of the troll. The man straightened his arms out and let out a sharp cry as one of his wrists bent back from the fall. He grasped at it with his other hand and curled up at the behemoth's feet.

The troll rested the club casually on a shoulder and let out a low growl.

“Human-pathetic,” the monster said in its heavy, throaty voice. Thick, putrid saliva splattered on the old man's bare back.

Alphonse's breath caught in his throat as the troll spoke. It speaks common?

The circling deirgu let out a series of harsh cackles as the troll pressed its toes against the human as if he were already a rotting corpse. The smaller monsters prodded the man with their spears. A few dug deep enough to draw trickles of blood.

Shit. Shit. Alphonse started pulling back on the bowstring. He couldn't decide whether to attack or wait. Initiating from his side would throw their plan into disarray, and the deirgu would be drawn to the wrong side. Not only that, it might just prompt the troll to stomp on the man right then and there. He needed to strike it with his blade, but the deirgu would see him if he rushed out now...

Ash broke his deliberation and affirmed the decision for him. “I know what you're thinking,” she said. “You're absolutely right. We need to wait.”

As soon as she finished her statement, more deirgu emerged from the forest.

“Goddammit,” Alphonse breathed.

He stared at the general area where Kirie was hiding with Emily. He wondered if she caught on to his delay. There was no way he could make the first move. The deirgu would shout a warning before he could even make it a few steps, which defeated the whole purpose of him attacking in the first place. Kirie needed to reveal herself, immediately followed by Ash and himself.

Come on, Kirie. You know what to do, Alphonse thought.

The troll took a step back. The club lifted off its shoulder. Alphonse thought for sure the monster was preparing to demolish the poor man, but it rested the head of the club on the ground instead. It settled a knee down, and the ground depressed beneath it.

“Mana," it grunted. How much-mana?” More saliva spilled from its mouth as its tongue struggled to form the foreign words.

The broken man made no more than a whimper.

Mana? Alphonse lowered the bow slightly. His apprehension was quelled by curiosity. The troll sought answers. The whole scene kept getting stranger.

Alphonse's stomach dropped as the troll suddenly raised its club. It brought the weapon down and pulverized the man in one motion. There was no warning -- no indication that it planned to do more than throw out its poorly enunciated questions. It just happened. So simple, straightforward and brutal.

Pure ferocity.

The man's head exploded in a spray of shattered bone and brain matter. An arm tore off from the force and spine severed with a sickening snap that echoed louder than the troll's roar. The trees shivered as if they shared Alphonse's mortified shock.

His eyes widened as the monster brought the club up again and brought it down. Again. Again. Again. Now it was just slamming the crude, heavy weapon into nothing but tortured grass and crimson dirt. Soon nothing else remained to indicate that a human once laid there.

Alphonse's body shook as the shock morphed into rage.

“There's nothing you could have done,” Ash whispered. Her calm tone only stoked the flames of hatred building inside him. But the firmness of her hand held him back.

“Why?” Alphonse breathed. “All of a sudden-the bastard just...”

I should've attacked! I should've planned for this! No, how could I-

He knew that Kirie and Asa's mindsets mirrored his. Something held them back as well. He was amazed that Kirie hadn't appeared screaming with her axe held high and ready to cleave some skulls. Surely she was feeling the same guilt. Either of them could have initiated the attack. But something else stayed their legs. They didn't have only a prisoner to think about, but two new adventurers in their party. This wasn't the adventure they signed up for.

We can't do this, Alphonse thought. This wasn't supposed to happen. Emily and Liam can't fight in this condition. Not after that.

Despite these thoughts, he carefully slung his bow and readied his shortsword. His body moved on its own. They needed to stand firmly together and proceed from there. He waited for Kirie to attack.

The sound of crunching debris on the forest floor reached his ears. More enemies.

Alphonse took a ragged breath as he isolated some of the sounds around them. He soon realized that the footsteps also came from a short distance behind him. Each group of deirgu had entered the clearing from different parts of the forest.

So many. This can't be...

He watched as the monsters in the clearing hoisted weapons up high and let out a loud cheer. Drawn out, raspy sounds emit from their mouths in an unsettling chant.

Alphonse then saw Kirie appear from the treeline with her axe already in a swinging motion. It dug into the head of the nearest deirgu that didn't even have time to look in her direction. Its eyes bulged from the force of the blow and flung into the ground as Kirie forced the weapon free in a spray of blood.

The ground roiled beneath the feet of a few deirgu off to the side as Emily cast some of her earth magic. The monsters lost their footing and were unable to take advantage of Kirie's exposed back as she focused on another group.

Liam charged from a position a few yards away. He screamed with tears brimming in his eyes and stabbed his glaive through the chest of another rodent. He immediately dumped the body, slid his grip down the handle of his polearm and swung in a wide arc that sliced another deirgu from thigh to opposite shoulder. Asa shielded his right side with a protection spell and cast a small fireball that engulfed another deirgu instantly. The monster reeled and collided with an unfortunate comrade that happened to be standing behind it.

Alphonse didn't wait to admire the details. He rushed from the forest as the troll was distracted by the turmoil. He couldn't reach its head even if he jumped, but the center of its spine was enticing enough. He drove his shortsword deep into the troll's back and planted a foot at the waist. He pushed off its body and pulled the sword free as the monster reared up from the force. It roared in pain and windmilled its arms as if it were trying to scratch an unreachable itch.

Alphonse didn't stop there. He whirled about before the troll had a chance to retaliate and managed another slice along the monster's calf. Ash appeared after reading his movements and struck at the same side with her scimitars, deepening Alphonse's initial cut while creating her own.

The monster's hand swung around and desperately grasped for the scout, but Alphonse was already out of reach and skirting the trees. He taunted the troll with his sword before sheathing it and readied an arrow on his bow.

The monster raised its club and charged him in a fit of blind rage. Spittle flew from its mouth as it delivered an undisciplined strike that collided with a tree and sent vibrations up its thick arm.

Alphonse planted his feet and loosed the arrow. It dug into the troll's shoulder and opened its stance on one side as it instinctively reached for the shaft.

Ash seized the opportunity and stabbed one of her scimitars into its thigh and dragged it upwards, slicing deep into the monster's body from the leverage. She raised her other arm and drove her second scimitar into the troll's neck as it bent forward. A gurgling roar spewed from its mouth as blood bubbled in its throat. The troll reeled with its arms swinging frantically and managed to deal a glancing blow on the fox woman that lifted her off her feet.

She immediately shrugged off the weak attack, tucked herself into a back flip and landed amidst a pair of shocked deirgu spearmen. They didn't even have time to collect themselves as Ash extended both her blades to either side of her and stabbed the small monsters simultaneously through their chests. She stood up and drew her scimitars forward to create visceral gashes that spewed their life's blood.

A group of deirgu charged forward when they saw the fox woman standing alone. Ash calmly took a sliding step to lower her stance and whipped a deirgu's leg out from under it. The monster careened through the air and met the fox woman's blade as its body submitted to gravity. She released the sword when it unexpectedly pierced too deep through the deirgu's chest and severed its spine. Another deirgu close behind lifted up on its toes as her second scimitar drove between its ribs. She twisted her hips in a quick motion and unceremoniously dropped the monster face-first as she jerked the blade free. A third enemy died mercilessly as Ash slit its throat with one of the crossbow bolts she drew from the holster strapped to her lower back. She loaded this bolt into the serving of her hand crossbow and fired it into the forehead of a deirgu that stupidly thought it had found an opening. The last of the group backpedaled a few feet away before bursting into flames from one of Asa's fire spells.

Ash stepped around the smoldering corpse and retrieved her other sword that still pierced through the first deirgu like a spit angled over a campfire.

Alphonse saw most of this impressive display as he dispatched a group of deirgu that attempted to ambush him from the treeline. Alphonse ducked under a thrown spear and parried a sloppy attack from a deirgu's dagger. He drove his shortsword through the rodent's mouth and pulled its body aside to use it as a meat shield against another enemy's thrusting spear. He planted a foot on his first victim's chest and pushed it towards the second attacker to disrupt its footing.

Alphonse maintained his stance as the ground rumbled under his firmly-planted feet. He glanced over his shoulder and saw that the troll had finally succumbed to the blood loss from the wound dealt by Ash.

Well, that's pretty nice, he thought.

His next two opponents were a simple matter as one tripped over a root bulging from the ground and the other pressed forward, unaware that its comrade was no longer striking at the opposite side.

Alphonse side-stepped the deirgu's spear and grabbed the shaft to pull the surprised monster towards him. His shortsword dug through the back of its neck as he passed it, and he whirled about to slice the chest of the deirgu that struggled to stand up. The remaining deirgu that managed to pull free of its comrade's corpse charged him blindly and met the bite of Alphonse's dagger. The short length of steel practically devoured its eye and the monster fell limply to its back.

He started moving towards another group that planned to reposition when he saw a crossbow bolt stick through a deirgu's throat. Ash pounced on one of the monsters leading this other group and removed its head with a clean, crossed slash from both scimitars. 

"I've got this one!" she shouted.

Alphonse nodded an affirmation as he ran his gaze over the area in search of more enemies that might emerge from the treeline and to see if his other party members needed assistance.

The scene looked like pure chaos, but the adventurers were mostly in control. Based on Alphonse's assessment and perception, he realized that one of Asa's protection spells was targeted to protect Emily as a pair of deirgu broke formation. Emily was in the midst of casting another earth spell to separate a line of deirgu spearmen charging Liam.

Alphonse's thought-process took only a second to comprehend all this when he noticed Kirie finish a wide swing of her axe that cleaved two deirgu in half. He rushed forward and flung one his daggers at a deirgu that skulked behind the warrior beastkin. She planted her back foot to turn around and jab the unseen enemy with her axe's handle, but the deirgu's head had already whipped to the side and carried its body with it. Her lips parted in plain surprise as she saw the handle of the dagger sticking from its ear.

Alphonse darted past her without breaking stride and dispatched another deirgu holding a crude wooden shield. He pulled his shortsword from its stomach and spared Kirie a quick nod before moving on.

The warrior catgirl grinned at him and returned the gesture. Before he was out of earshot he heard her say, “Showoff.”

The battle raged on. The adventuring party didn't fall to the chaos. They stood firm despite the moments when enemy attacks managed to break through and deal some damage. Their separate groups started to naturally merge closer together as Ash and Alphonse removed elements that started applying too much pressure. Sometimes the enemy didn't know whether to look forward or behind.

Kirie kept her active skills in reserve, replacing them with sheer ferocity and heavy swings that demolished any of the enemy's formations. Limbs flew through the air and blood spewed as if from a pressurized hose.

Liam used his glaive to disrupt groups of enemies wielding polearms. He rested his weapon beneath the handle of an enemy's spear and turned it over to press its weight on top of the deirgu next to it, essentially braiding the polearms and making them unusable. This presented opportunities for anyone else nearby to take advantage of the openings.

Emily focused on protection spells when her earth magic started to consume most of her mana pool. She displayed a high-level of awareness as she used the sharp end of her staff like a spear and stabbed enemies that Liam disarmed with his braiding technique.

Asa created defensive buffs and traced lengths of fire along the ground to funnel enemies into positions that were more favorable for her party. She anticipated the directions of attacks towards her sister and formed smaller portions of protection spells instead of creating full walls. This conserved enough mana in case the battle took a turn out of their favor.

The harsh ring of metal, the heavy thuds and shrill sounds of blades entering armored flesh, the grunts and screams – all the sounds of battle soon abated after a few minutes that felt like hours.

The adventurers eventually regrouped in a circular formation at the center of the clearing. Alphonse scanned the forest on his side and relied on the rest of the party to watch his back.

The whole scene that descended on them was unnatural. There was a sudden silence that didn't belong. It was practically deafening as even the wind seemed to have retreated.

Plenty of deirgu remained on the battlefield, but for some unknown reason, the surviving monsters had just simply...stopped.