The Pathway Of Wisdom-Chapter 85: The Count’s Convoy Returns. Part-2.

"Talking about danger... recently there was also news that the valley of sorrows had a surge in monster activity around the time we left the city for this trip..."

"I worry that some of the monsters from that area might have migrated over to this area through the mountainous region in search of more prey..."

When monster density in an area increases too much, it’s obvious that some of those monsters would migrate to other places in search of less populated places to reduce the risk of gathering food.

"Yeah... that’s the main reason why I was against letting our soldiers pass through the swamp... in case a battle happens, we will be very helpless..."

"And it’s not like we are travelling through a small area... it will take an entire day just to cross this swamp alone..."

Foot soldiers and cavalry might still be able to pass through easily; the biggest issue was with the carriages that had food, weapons, and other items in them.

It was possible for the wheels of the carriages to get stuck in muddy ground somewhere, and even the horses pulling them were having considerable difficulty doing it.

Several dozen soldiers were busy just pushing the carriages from behind.

The luxurious carriage in which Count Foley and his son were in, needed two horses and dozens of people pushing it forward to move!

It was too big and covered in luxurious metals and items that isolated the inside from the outside with extreme precision; thus, aside from being big in size, the carriage was also very heavy!

That carriage got stuck in mud various times, and sometimes even ’Pathwalkers’ had to lend a hand to push it forward when the soldiers couldn’t manage to get it out.

All in all, the entire operation was a nightmare.

"Thankfully, when we first came, we didn’t come from this way... it was rainy season back then and we might have been a lot of trouble if we used this road at that time..."

Just when the commander was complaining to the vice-commander about the stupidity of the Count, his instincts as a strong Pathwalker suddenly reacted, and he jumped away from the horseback instantly!

*BOOOOM!!!!*

As if someone had launched a ballistic missile at the group, a loud explosion happened!

Dozens of soldiers that were travelling beside the commander were blown apart from the power of that explosion, and pieces of their bodies flew in all directions as the water got painted red from blood!

The Commander hurriedly got up from the ground.

When he poked his head out from the swamp water, he saw that the vice-commander, who was gossiping happily with him just a few seconds ago, had his entire upper torso destroyed!

His lower torso was now floating on the swamp, lifeless, with his intestines spilling out and blood staining the water red!

Standing on his spot, a look of shock and disbelief appeared on the commander’s face as water dripped from his entire body due to getting wet from the swamp water.

*OIIIIIIIII!!!!!! OIIII!!!!!! OUUIIIIIIIIIEEEEIIII!!!!*

A massive elephant-like creature emerged out of the swamp not too far away, but the most horrifying thing was that the monster had a humanoid face, and instead of an elephant trunk, it had a giant horn!

Its entire body was covered in giant tumors, and pus was leaking out of them constantly.

Maggots the size of a man’s arm crawled on its gigantic body, and just by looking at that creature, Commander Jack felt horrified!

The massive monster was as tall as a two-story house and at least a dozen meters in width!

A creepy humanoid grin hung on its gigantic face as it stared at the convoy with its completely dark eyes that had no pupils in them!

*OUUEEEEEEE!!!!* *OUUUUEEEEE!!!!*

It jumped in excitement; it giggled in joy as it swayed its body as if it was happy to see its victims in that fearful state!

"A... M-monster class beast... H-how can this be... h-how..."

A ’Monster’ class beast is strong enough to wreak havoc in an entire city and cause massive casualties!

You can say that it’s equivalent to a peak Phase-1 Pathwalker in terms of raw strength, and some of them even have bizarre abilities that make them even stronger than regular peak Phase-1 Pathwalkers!

The moment Commander Jack laid his eyes on that monster for the first time, he knew that it was impossible for him to defeat this monster!

Even if he worked together with the other ’Pathwalkers’ in the convoy, it would be impossible to kill it without facing heavy casualties, and there’s also the risk of total annihilation!

Without a second thought, the commander looked at the terrified soldiers and the shocked Pathwalkers and spoke in a loud voice!

"Attention Everyone!!! We have encountered a very powerful monster!! All shields to the front! Archers, take aim!!!"

"All Pathwalkers are hereby allowed free movement order!!! Engage the enemy at your own disposal!"

After issuing his orders loudly, the commander hurriedly pushed the ordinary soldiers forward and personally chose half of the Pathwalkers from the group that were the weakest to engage the opponent and keep it busy.

While the rest of the half were told to directly lift the carriage of the count upon their shoulders and bring the count out of the swamp to keep him safe!

The commander personally shouldered the responsibility of escaping with the count, while the ones left behind were given the order to retreat slowly while keeping the monster from chasing behind the count!

In simple words, the weak soldiers and the weaker Pathwalkers from the group were all abandoned and left behind!

With such a powerful monster attacking the convoy, it was impossible to just grab every single soldier and run away, even for the Pathwalkers.

And there was a need to leave behind some Pathwalkers so that the soldiers won’t get slaughtered one-sidedly and at least the group would be able to buy some time for the escaping group!

The decision was cruel, but as a commander, Jack had to prioritize saving the more valuable assets of his army, which were clearly not the ordinary soldiers at all.