Transported to a hyper-realistic RPG.

What's going on?

We continued to crush the monsters, we managed to keep going north, and by the time the sun came up... even the Effe were in a strange and surprising situation.

"He's not here..."

"There's really nothing there..."

We kept going north to north, and it was time to get near the lake, but suddenly the monsters disappeared from the surroundings.

"It's as quiet as if the situation before was a lie..."

"What the hell is going on...?"

As if the threads were broken, the monster raid stopped, and the monster's sign was no longer even felt. I don't care what you think, it's a strange situation.

"There are many dangerous monsters near the lake, so other monsters won't come?" When the basilisk and the red lion came out, other monsters didn't come close, and there were monsters all over the place to protect the territory...? "

"That's right... we met an individual who was pushed out by a defeat in a territorial struggle... but it feels too quiet..."

Is each monster taking territory extensively?

Is it true that the monster with the territory here has a relaxed and comfortable life?

Monsters with territory close to the lake reign supreme in this forest. It is believed that a few monsters took the territory widely and pushed out other monsters, and a large number of monsters were pushed into the path so far.

"What are you going to do, keep going?"

"... no. Let's take a break here once. If the other monsters didn't attack, it shouldn't be a problem to take a break. Of course, we need to be more vigilant than ever."

It is the territory of the monsters that dominated the survival competition of this chaos, so if they are attacked, there is a high chance that there will be more fierce battles. I needed to be vigilant to avoid that, but I kept fighting monsters until I got here, so if I could recover from my fatigue, I should do so.

Therefore, while trying to be as discreet as possible, I rested at noon.

"I think you'll see the lake soon, but crossing the lake might not be that difficult."

“It's too optimistic. It's not that simple. There are individuals who have beaten the ones we have crushed. Don't be so careful."

In response to Surakutan's words, Efu shudders back.

A dog that just got alarmed will bark, right?

Heine unleashes a provocative word against the words of the Efraim.

"Ugh... yes, I was helped earlier, but I'm not going to fall behind again."

Eph and Heine argue, but in the end they seem to recognize each other's strength.

While arguing, it's working well together, and it's probably not a bad relationship...

"More than that, the problem is the lake, right?"

"I see... I don't think it's as deep as I'd have to swim if I could just walk across it, but... it looks like information from a long time ago, and I'm sure we'll have to see what's going on in this area right now."

Can we go and check it out first?

"No. Like the Effe said, the monsters around here are very strong, so it's dangerous to be apart." Let's all get together and head north. "

"Let's hope that the battle doesn't happen as much as possible, and that we can pass woosh..."

I don't know if Suraktan's prayers will be heard by the gods or keeper of this world who will force us to suffer, but there have been fewer battles.

Hoping that the prayer would arrive, he finished his rest and proceeded north.

I honestly didn't think Surakitan's prayer would arrive, but we didn't fight any monsters for tens of minutes after we started heading north.

On the contrary... I couldn't even sense a single sign of a monster.

"... no matter what I think, this is weird... right?"

"I see..."

There weren't many fights with monsters. That's true, but... even at the stage when the lake is about to be seen, it's an abnormal situation to not even meet the monster.

Originally, there had already been a battle with two or three of them, and they had already made it to the distance where they were supposed to feel the twice as much, but they didn't feel anything at all.

"This situation... you've seen it a few times before..."

"... yes."

Nil and I have some idea.

Is there anything you can think of?

"I can't say for sure... but when the monsters are gone like this, mostly what the monsters fear lies ahead."

"... similar to the situation around Rockbird's Nest..."

By the way, Suratan was watching the Rock Bird's Nest.

"Yeah. I was really just watching, but there weren't any other monsters around the nest as close as there were here."

A rock bird is... an SS-ranked, natural disaster-grade flying monster...?

Yeah. Didn't you hear from the bandits?

"What are you talking about?"

It seems that one of the attacks on the Rock Bird eggs was entirely on the hands of the bandits, and the Eff doesn't know about that one.

"There were a lot of things before." Well, that's not a problem. The problem now is that there may be a rock bird-like presence ahead. ”

"I mean... there are monsters of SS rank...?"

“I can't be sure, but at least there may be some people ahead who are afraid of basilicos and red lions and won't get close to them.”

I don't know if it's an SS-ranked monster, but at least I think it's close...

"However, I haven't heard of such a powerful monster here." If they were here, they would have noticed. ”

"... this is my guess... but maybe the monster has been here lately."

"Recently...?"

"The journey to this point, as Nil said, was unusually high in monster density, and it was a difficult place for an ordinary S-ranked adventurer party to get through.

Maybe it's because the powerful monster appeared in this lake... ”

"Even though the density of monsters was lower, the appearance of those powerful monsters in the lake, the center of the chaos, pushed out other monsters, increasing the density of the monsters on the outside...?"

"Yeah. If that powerful monster came here recently, I don't think it's surprising that the territorial feud between the pushed-out monsters hasn't ended and it's getting dense."

I think it's more natural for you to think that the number of monsters has increased in the chaos...

If that prediction is true, do you mean we have to fight natural disaster monsters like Rock Birds...?

"No, there's no need to bother crossing such a dangerous bridge. If we take a detour around the lake like this..."

"It's going to take a few extra days, but I don't need to deal with that monster..."

Speaking of SS-ranked monsters, the Heavenly Fox and the Rock Bird actually fought, but both were deadly battles. I was lucky not to die.

The Heavenly Fox had crushed it, but that was because Ricca, a snow girl who was known as a monster of the same grade, had joined the fight as an ally. Without Ricka, the crusade would have been a dream again.

As for the Rock Bird, it was hit unilaterally, and I managed to get my eggs back and get forgiven.

Even if I was a member of this party, there were some monsters that were hard to defeat. Given the possibility that it is ahead of us, we should quickly bypass the threat.

"If so, let's get out of here... right away?!!"

A powerful monster that may be in the lake. Before I encountered it, when I changed my direction and tried to escape to the north... I realized that I had already stepped into a position where I couldn't escape.

Until recently, the forest that we saw around us was a forest that had not changed, but when we noticed, our feet were burned and wet.

As she stepped out, she made a rumbling sound, and the water leaked out from the gap of the humus. I realized that there was a lot of water at our feet that I shouldn't have seen before.

”This means... you can't escape, right?”

Heine's tense voice.

"I guess... they're completely supplementing us."

It was Efraim who responded to that voice.

The three of them, together with Pilates, look to the trees on the north side. I think I can feel the signs from your side.

Basha... Basha...

Soon, we can hear something walking on the shallow water in our ears.

Signs of a monster with overwhelming power.

I don't want you to hit me, but I think I did.

Oh, my God!

Bashaan!

I don't see it yet, but I can feel something huge coming towards us.

The growing trees are easily knocked down as if they were not originally rooted, and the water splashes that rose at that time can be seen among the trees.

Basha... Basha...

I stare at the sound of it approaching gradually.

"That's...!"

The trees were in the way and I couldn't see well, but when I stared at the moving shadows, I saw something like black Moya, from which I could see muscular and huge legs.

Kelpie!!

Kelpie, in a nutshell, is a big horse.

However, unlike an ordinary horse, it has a black moya all over its body, and above all it has a body length of nine meters. It was over ten meters tall, and anyway, it was huge.

The trees that are native to the chaos are over five meters tall and are quite large, but they are bigger than that.

During the game, the players had defeated him with a raid, so he could tell that he was Kelpie by just looking at his legs, but without that experience, he wouldn't have known what he was dealing with.

Kelpie is a monster that specializes in Dark Magic and Water Magic and is ranked SS. They were strong enemies.

However, it was the weakest monster in the SS ranks, and it was a monster that could be defeated by the players' raid.

Her temper was rough and ferocious. If they find their prey, they'll come for sure.

"Shinya-kun! It's dangerous to stay like this!"

"Ah! Everyone, climb the tree once!" Get out of the water! "

Hearing what I say, each climbs a nearby tree.

Basha... basha...

A short ride on the tree stops Kelpie's legs.

"Did it stop...?"

“Kelpie senses the vibrations coming from the water around him and looks for distant prey locations. Therefore, when I turn away from the water, I will not find it."

I knew Kelpie existed... but did you have that ability...

"I've seen you a few times before..."

Kelpie was famous among players as a hunted SS rank monster, but only among them.

The top players who have strengthened their characters so far are not adventurer guild quests, but discarded players who personally enjoy challenging strong enemies. Therefore, I did not bother to report to the Adventurer's Guild about the characteristics and habits of Kelpie.

In the first place, the stupid idea of crushing SS-ranked monsters only occurs to players. The NPCs in this world are monsters that must flee immediately. Characteristics are not talkative.

"Are you going to tell the tree to run?"

"... no. I can't.

Kelpie doesn't feel dull like a jellyfish. All of a sudden, our reaction just disappears and we're confused, and we know where we are.

Even if you try to escape like this, if you run through the woods with that giant, you will be immediately caught up. "

"Well, then... what are you going to do?"

"...... I guess we'll have to fight..."

"What?!!!!

Efe, Heine, and Pilte were stunned.

That would be true. They were SS-ranked monsters. It would be a sane proposition to fight a kind of monster that was treated like a natural disaster. Not only Efraim, but also Rockbird, and Heine and Pilte could not help but be stunned.

You're going to fight... you're going to fight that?!

"... oh."

Surakitan told me that various players had crushed Kelpie in the game era, and I wasn't surprised by my judgment because it seemed like I was in the crusade myself.

Nil... I guess somehow anticipated what I was thinking.

"It's just not like a big monster?!" It's a monster! ”

"I know, but... I think this member could take it out."

What happened?!

I'm not trying to defeat myself. I was wondering how I could escape if I really had no chance of winning.

However, they were able to defeat the players with their raid. I knew the pattern of the battle, the attacks Kelpie used, and Kelpie's weaknesses. Thinking about those things, I thought that if I was a member of this group, I could defeat them depending on the way I did it.

But it wasn't an easy fight.

Even when the players defeated Kelpie, there were more than twice as many of them, and they were preparing a lot of things.

Naturally, it would not be easy if only six people had to accomplish it without prior preparation.

"Of course, it's not easy." I think it's going to be a pretty tough fight. "

"It's not about the level of tightness...?"

"No. Effe is joining us, and we're working together." We can beat them now. "

"I can defeat you..."

Whether it's half-hearted or half-hearted... Efe looks at me with a face I can't trust.

By saying that, Cynthia is quite likely to be able to defeat you, right?

“That's right, then I think we should try.”

In contrast to the half-hearted Efraim, after hearing my words, Heine and Pilté immediately switch their heads in the direction of the crusade.

"Oh, are you serious?! Is that it?!"

"You don't know, but you don't say that you can do what Simya can't do." Cynthia says she can do it because she believes we have the power to do it.

And when that happens, you can definitely do something about it. In that case, we'll have to do it, right? "

Heine lets out a serious expression to Ef.

"... Shit! All right! Let's do it!"

"Thank you."

I figured I could do something when all six of us here were together. If even one person is missing, it changes from possible to impossible. I'm glad the Effe agreed.

"It's time for Kelpie to get moving." Instructions are given while moving. First, keep your distance from Kelpie and head north. ”

To the north?

"If there are trees, our sight will be blocked." I was more afraid of seeing Kelpie's movements than of seeing her. First of all, aim for a place with few trees. ”

Everyone nods when they hear me.

I don't have time to talk about Kelpie's behavior patterns and weaknesses in detail. You should be able to move better whenever you tell them to.

Surakitan must have participated in Kelpie's crusade, and he knew what he was doing. And the command shall be given unto the other four in the Lord.

Let's go!

Tan!

I kick the branches of the tree, land on the ground, and run instantly.

Basha!

Then you can hear Kelpie's foot moving towards me.

Basha! Basha!

I can see my foot stepping on the water hidden under the humus and raising the splash of water.

"It's split left and right!" Suratan! Left, please! "

Ok! I'll take care of it!

With Kelpie as the center, and me and Surakutan at the forefront, it divides into left and right.

For me, Nil and Heine.

Efraim and Pilate followed Suratan.

It's hard running because of the water!

Although the amount of water at the foot is not enough to take the foot, the water splash rises every time you run, and the clothes become heavy when you suck the water, and you feel the spiciness of running.

Kelpie seems to have followed Suraitan-sama!

Even a horse that is nine meters long will travel a tremendous distance just one step ahead. It's only a matter of time before the Surakutans are caught up.

"Alright! I'll see to the timing and get backup!"

It's Black Moya who needs to be careful! It can't hurt itself, but both physical and magical attacks can attenuate its power! You can move around and distract yourself without putting your hand in the wrong place! "

Yes!

Roger that!

I told her that I had to tell her as it is. It was more important to get used to Kelpie's movements than to attack her first.

"Oops! We're going through the woods!"

Running north, you can see the wide-open area across the trees. I can see the surface of the water reflecting the sun's light, and it must have reached the lake.

Flying through the forest with Basha Basha.

The high sun and the circular lake reflecting the light. I... don't know the size. A few kilometers in diameter would not be enough at all. Anyway, I knew it was a huge lake.