Chapter 344: Outmatch

Darion stared at the system notification floating before him, the blue text glowing softly against the backdrop of the dark trees.

[Each of them can actually match a Yuimon equally in a fight.]

His eyebrows slowly rose. Then his expression tightened. ’Match a Yuimon?’

Darion looked toward the five undead surrounding him. A Yuimon wasn’t some ordinary undead animal. They were among the strongest creatures in his current animal inventory.

A single Yuimon could tear through multiple trained knights. They possessed overwhelming physical strength, speed, and durability. Darion had relied on them repeatedly in actual battles. When he summoned several of them, they could completely change the course of a fight.

And now the system was telling him that each individual Frood could fight one of them on equal terms.

Darion’s eyes moved toward the seven creatures. ’These things are that strong?’ He looked at their massive bodies again. Suddenly, their claws didn’t seem quite as impressive as they did a moment ago. They weren’t simply dangerous forest animals. They were monsters capable of fighting his undead combat beasts head-on.

Darion’s thoughts began racing. One Frood could match one Yuimon. Seven Froods... His gaze moved across the creatures. That’s seven opponents at Yuimon level.

He glanced at his own side. Five Yuimons. Edric Vorne. Himself. Marrick. And a frightened horse.

Darion’s expression became serious. He quickly realized the problem. ’I can’t just overpower them.’ Even if his five Yuimons engaged the Froods, there would be two more creatures left over. And if the Froods were truly equal to Yuimons, Darion couldn’t casually assume that his undead would win.

He needed an advantage.

Darion’s eyes narrowed. ’Then I’ll have to outmatch them.’ That was how fighting worked. If the enemy was stronger, being equally strong wasn’t enough. You needed something they didn’t have. Better positioning. Better numbers. Better tactics. Better abilities. Darion didn’t need every creature on his side to be stronger than every creature on theirs. He simply needed to create an advantage.

His mind began working through the possibilities, mapping out the terrain, the Yuimons’ placement, and the Froods’ spacing.

Darion was still thinking when...

WHOOSH!

One of the Froods suddenly disappeared from the ground. Darion’s thoughts stopped completely. His head snapped upward, his eyes widening. ’What the fuck?!’

The creature had jumped. Not merely high. Absurdly high.

It launched itself upward with such force that its enormous body rapidly rose above the surrounding vegetation. Darion stared as the creature kept climbing. Higher. Higher. Until it rose above the tall trees surrounding the road.

Darion’s mouth parted slightly. ’You can jump THAT high?!’

The Frood reached the peak of its leap. For a brief moment, its huge silhouette hung against the sky, a dark blot against the morning light. Then it began descending. And Darion realized exactly where it was heading.

Straight toward him.

Darion’s body immediately tensed. He looked around. The other six Froods were moving. One after another, they crouched. Their powerful legs compressed beneath their enormous bodies.

Darion’s eyes widened. "Oh, come on..."

BOOM!

Another Frood launched itself into the air. Then another. Then another.

Soon, the forest was filled with enormous bodies flying overhead. The sound of the wind rushing past their thick hides was deafening. Marrick looked up in absolute horror, his face going pale.

"M’lord!"

The Froods literally jumped higher than the trees, blotting out the sunlight for a split second as they soared overhead. Darion grabbed his sword.

The Froods weren’t randomly jumping. They were targeting them. Their trajectories were different, approaching from multiple angles. Some were heading toward Darion. Others were aiming toward Marrick.

Darion immediately understood what was happening. ’They’re coordinating.’ His earlier surprise turned into genuine concern.

Then, Darion suddenly remembered something. The Froods had been standing there for a surprisingly long time. They hadn’t immediately attacked. They had watched him. Watched the Yuimons. Watched Marrick. Watched the horse.

Darion had even had enough time to speak with Marrick, think about capturing the creatures, and read the system notification. At first, he had assumed they were simply confused.

But now... that wasn’t hesitation.

Darion’s expression hardened. ’They were evaluating us.’

He thought about wild animals. Normally, when a predator saw potential prey, there wasn’t some long conversation in its head about what the enemy could do. Most animals relied heavily on instinct. They identified something as prey or threat and reacted quickly. A wolf saw a vulnerable animal and closed the distance. A large predator didn’t normally stand around for minutes while its prey calmly discussed what to do next.

But these creatures had done exactly that. They had watched. They had observed the strange undead. They had seen Darion. They had seen Marrick. They had seen the horse. And instead of immediately rushing forward, they had remained still.

Darion realized why. ’They were figuring out how to kill us.’

His eyes tracked the Froods flying through the air. Their first attack wasn’t a reckless charge. It was an aerial assault. They were using their enormous jumping ability to attack from above. They were bypassing the defensive formation of the Yuimons. And they were targeting Darion and Marrick directly.

’So that’s why you waited.’

These things weren’t simply strong. They were intelligent enough—or instinctive enough—to recognize that something about this group was dangerous. They didn’t rush into a fight they didn’t understand. They watched. They learned. And then they attacked using the advantage they had.

But despite the danger, a small, dangerous grin began forming on Darion’s face. The creatures had made one mistake. They assumed an impressive jump would be enough to overwhelm him.

Darion had fought wars. He had fought armies. He had fought monsters. He had commanded hundreds of undead. A creature jumping through the air wasn’t going to make him freeze.

Darion tightened his grip on his sword.

The Froods are strong, Darion thought, really strong, smart... fast. And apparently, they can jump higher than damn trees.

For a creature to jump higher than a tree, especially the talls ones in this forest, is actually impressive.

Darion’s eyes sharpened.

But... they made a mistake.