Chapter 154: Pincer Attack

"You, please keep an eye on things from up there," Ron instructed You, then followed his companions in a leap through the waterfall.

The current here was much more turbulent than in the underground river, but Ron was far more capable than he used to be. The group plunged through the cascading water, landing steadily on a rock platform protruding from the mouth of the cave behind it.

"Well, this saves us some trouble." Silvia looked at the cut tripwire at the cave entrance. Just like the other traps inside, it had been deliberately and completely destroyed.

"But there’s no treasure, either," Delaford said, a little dejected.

"Treasure, or bait?" Aive chuckled. "The last group that took the bait hasn’t even been wiped out, and you’re already after it again?"

"You can’t just pass up a windfall," Delaford said with a carefree grin.

Victoria didn’t join their conversation. Instead, she brought up the rear, standing at the cave entrance and looking out, but she saw nothing.

Silvia noticed Victoria’s preoccupation. Her Walking Stick gave off a faint, dark glimmer, and in a corner no one saw, a massive four-legged creature hid itself in the shadows.

’Guard this spot. If you encounter anyone other than us, howl immediately to sound the alarm.’ Silvia issued the command to the Night Howling Hound through their Mind Link.

Even if one didn’t fully trust the premonitions of a Priest of Heim, it was always wise to take precautions.

"There’s basically nothing here," Sera said, growing more and more bored as they ventured deeper into the cave without a fight. "Don’t tell me all we have to do is fish Wilson and his team out of that Water Prison?"

"Quiet!" Aive cut her off abruptly. "Everyone hide! Something’s coming!"

The cave system was natural, not man-made, so there was no shortage of places to hide. Ron and the others each found cover. Just as Aive had warned, a few moments later, the sound of footsteps echoed from the cave’s depths. But when they saw the figure in the lead, they all froze.

"Is that... Wilson?" Sera blurted out. Though she immediately realized her mistake, it was obviously too late.

Hearing Sera’s voice, "Wilson" stiffly twisted its head around, then opened its mouth, posturing as if to roar.

Yet, nothing happened.

Victoria emerged from her hiding spot, gesturing that she was in a bad state. It was likely because she’d lost concentration on the Protective Magic she was maintaining.

Sera, meanwhile, rushed toward "Wilson," finishing it off before it could escape the range of Victoria’s Silence Technique. The whole thing was over without a sound.

"Something here is trying to corrupt our minds!"

Those were Victoria’s first words after dispelling the Silence Technique. She hurriedly recast Protection from Evil on herself. "What in the hells! What on earth is in this place?"

"If it weren’t for Heim’s protection, you might have had to kill me! First, it tried to trick me into signaling for you to drop your protections, and next, it was going to have me lead you deeper inside!"

"Wilson’s team didn’t have a Priest, I think. They had a Druid instead," Delaford recalled. "Seems like nature isn’t as useful as the Deities!"

"I’d advise you not to make such dangerous statements," Victoria glanced at the goblin. "Some Druids also worship a Deity, like the Old Oak or the Old Stag—it’s just that Heim focuses more on vigilance and guardianship."

"The Deities you all worship are too much trouble..." the goblin grumbled, bending down to examine the very dead "Wilson" on the ground. "Is this the real Wilson or not? Victoria, can you use Communication with the Dead?"

"It’s not him," Ron said, undoing the corpse’s clothes to check his skin. "Remember? Wilson was covered in countless scars, but this person only has a few deep ones."

"Not only is this not Wilson, I suspect he’s one of those creatures You mentioned—the ones that came out of the furnace. What kind of situation leaves a person with only scars from what should have been fatal wounds, and no signs of other, lighter injuries?"

"But his face wasn’t covered in black mist," Aive pointed out. "You could all see his face clearly, right? It looked just like Wilson."

"...No. You guys... could see it that clearly?" Silvia slowly raised her hand. "All I could tell was that he was a middle-aged man. I couldn’t make out his face at all!"

Ron and the others had almost forgotten—there was a half-dead person in their group!

"That’s not right. Didn’t you see that tall, heavyset man outside clearly?" Victoria asked, confused. "Why couldn’t you recognize this one?"

"That was obviously different. Even You could see that one’s face normally," Silvia frowned. "Besides, I only realized something was wrong with that one when I was about to drink its blood. This one is clearly not a normal creature."

"Something’s wrong. Very wrong," Sera said, cupping her chin. "Ron, Silvia, you two are the smartest in the group. Have you ever heard of anything like this?"

"No." Ron was surprised to see Silvia shaking her head at the same time he was. She, in turn, seemed annoyed by his reaction.

"Why are you looking at me like that? How could I possibly know so much!"

"Stop arguing. What do we do now?" Victoria frowned. "Can’t you hear it? More footsteps are coming this way."

"Take the body and let’s fall back to the entrance!" Ron motioned for Sera to hoist the corpse. "If we have to, we’ll retreat outside and regroup! Something is seriously, seriously wrong with this place!"

The main issue was that they all needed Protection from Evil, which would hamper them in a fight. Once outside, fighting or retreating would undoubtedly be much easier.

But, as the old saying goes, when it rains, it pours. Just as Ron and his group were preparing to retreat, the Night Howling Hound Silvia had left in ambush at the cave mouth let out a ghostly howl!

"Someone followed us in!" The color drained from Silvia’s and Victoria’s faces, while Aive and Sera, now at the rear of the retreating party, looked even more tense.

"Couldn’t you have picked a quieter signal?!" the Half-Elf shouted, weighed down by her heavy Full Body Armor and tower shield. "The hound gave us away! The things inside are right behind us!"

Ron didn’t dare look back, but the path ahead was clearly blocked as well. Right at the cave mouth, he saw a familiar stranger.

The Elf who had come with the envoy from Carolina! She still wore her hood and was dual-wielding a pair of curved blades. After slashing through the Night Howling Hound’s mist-like form, she charged directly at him!