Although adventurers in Rigar call this small creature that they occasionally encounter flying goblin, it is obvious that the connection between them and goblin is limited to similar body shape and appearance.
From the perspective of a doctor who is familiar with living things, these things have a mature physiological appearance - they are not like the monsters encountered before that suddenly mutated due to some external force. This is a very curious characteristic that is recognized almost only by biologists and is quickly identifiable by the details of its appearance and the behavior it exhibits.
They are creatures rather than monsters. The two are often difficult to tell apart because they are both dangerous to humans and people often confuse them, but in fact the difference is huge.
Monsters—existences like ghouls, violate the laws of nature: they are mutated products of contaminated humans, and have no place in the food chain or ecological environment.
To put it bluntly: they are neither predator nor prey. They are not part of any part of the animal kingdom, but are purely biological-looking weapons.
But that's not the case with these six-limbed creatures the church currently calls imps.
Like a cross between a bat and a bird.
The largest pair of limbs on their backs are connected to a translucent wing membrane, and the lower end reaches near the knees of the lower limbs. The huge conjoined wing membranes provide enough lift for these things to fly on their own, and there are three pairs of eyes next to the flat nose similar to that of a bat, one pair of large ones and two pairs of small ones.
The slender torso is stronger primarily near the ribcage, where the muscles provide the power necessary to flap the wings. The extra two forelimbs naturally curl up when flying. The anti-jointed feet, which are like cats, dogs and birds, have thick claws, and judging from the blood stained on them, it is obvious that these creatures have an attack habit similar to that of raptors.
Similar to the physique of a large raptor and the temperament of hunting in groups, these physiological signs indicate that they play a specific role in the food chain - but the more Aya looks at it, the more confused she becomes, because this is very different from common creatures but has reasonable habits. .
It can only be born in another complete world.
——But she had no time to continue thinking. The little devils--let's call them that-- rose into the air. The non-combatants were evacuated into the protected carriage and no probing was allowed, while the combatants set up their positions. weapons.
After the sound of "puff puff" wings sounded, in just a few seconds, these creatures rose to a height of more than ten meters. They seemed to even have basic intelligence or other unique senses. Narumi launched a free fire However, every time the warriors pointed their bows and arrows at them, they would retract their wings to lower their altitude, then spread their wings to slow down, and flap rapidly to move up, down, left, and right.
They seem to be able to feel that they are being targeted, or at least know that the bow and arrow are a threat to them.
Targets that can move in the air and actively evade are more difficult to hit than targets on the ground, because the trajectory of the arrow is not straight, and the higher you aim, the greater the curve of the fall. Compared with flat shooting on the ground or shooting from a high position, this kind of attack from high places requires archers to calculate more complex variables - and although their arrows now have hundreds of arrows, considering that they may not be able to replenish them in the future, But it cannot be wasted casually.
"Don't worry about the consumption of arrows. Don't aim carefully and launch a volley." Although Mira and other people from Rigar have only heard of this existence and have never actually met and fought, the sage obviously knows this. Characteristics of the little devil.
He said this, and the archers launched an attack in response.
The arrows were shot out without careful aim, but unexpectedly, two of them almost grazed the small targets about ten meters away, scratching their skins and flying away. go out.
"These things can sense your hostility towards it, so aim carefully and try to avoid it." The sage explained to the archers unhurriedly: "Spikemen, please be careful, don't raise your weapon too high, and don't look at it. they."
"Don't look at how they are going to hit, what a cunning ability." The Luoan girl complained, and the warriors then launched a second round of volleys. This time the effect was better, and one shot directly hit the target. An imp's chest shot it out of the air.
"It's coming!" These flying creatures that hunted in groups were obviously very vindictive. They screamed at extremely high frequencies after realizing that their companions had been seriously injured.
"————" The astonishing noise, as if someone was standing next to a huge bronze bell, made everyone cover their ears involuntarily for a moment, even the ghost warriors. These small flying creatures seized this opportunity and raised their altitude to fly vertically above the group of people. When everyone reacted, they tightened their limbs and retracted their wings, turning their entire bodies into something like weaving cloth. It looks like a machine shuttle.
"Raise the spear, raise the spear!" "Archers get down!" The commanding voice reached my ears at the last moment. The warriors threw themselves on top of the large carriage in embarrassment, but these little devils ignored the huge body. The ghost clan, Henry and Galeva, two northerners, rushed towards the smaller samurai ashigaru.
"Crack——!" The short spear that was raised at random pierced two little demons. Counting the previous shots, it hit three of them. Black bodily fluids that smelled like sulfur flowed out from their bodies while the other ones ran. The little devil that flew past the archers on the second floor of the carriage used its powerful claws to scratch the leather armor on the backs of the archers.
"Hiss--" The dull thumping sound and the impact comparable to a light blunt weapon made the archers almost vomit out the contents of their stomachs. The powerful claws tore apart the surface of the hardened leather armor under the support of the dive. But because they lay down in time instead of standing upright, there were no smaller targets such as shoulders or heads to grasp, so the little devil failed to lift them from the carriage.
"Drink--ah!" The two-meter-tall Zhaoyue waved the golden stick in her hand and directly smashed one of the little demons that had not had time to fly into a ball of flying mud. While the other two hurriedly took off, they were also hit by another one. The short spear thrown by the ghost clan pierced the wing membrane of one of them.
The nearly two-meter-long short spear's strong inertia in the process of passing through the thin wing membrane tore a huge hole at the end close to the body. The wings that could not hold the air soon made the little devil lose its balance and scream in the air. It fell down and fell solidly on the ground, dying.
"He's not dead yet, kill him quickly." The little devil in front who was stabbed in the chest by an arrow, the one whose two ends were stuck on short spears, and the one who fell to the ground were all still alive. The archers crawled with the pain in their backs. He stood up, drew his bow and nocked arrows, and fired several rounds at the two little demons who were motionless on the ground. The samurai and ashigaru holding spears shook off the ones stuck on them. The ghost warriors strode forward and struck hard. He beat half of his body into a pulp.
"Run away without looking back." Narumi said as he looked at the last little devil flying towards high places without looking back. The gap in combat power was huge, but fortunately, there was no danger in the end.
Their screams, unique sensing abilities, and a certain degree of intelligence and group cooperation caused some trouble for the group, but they were ultimately well-trained and well-equipped warriors, so the outcome of this battle was not unexpected. .
"So weak. Is this really the legendary demon?" The Luoan girl looked at the hot corpses of the killed flying creatures. Their body temperature seemed to be higher than that of humans. In this very hot weather, Mist can still be seen.
"It's just a small scale. In their place of origin, these things can be counted in hundreds as the minimum unit." The sage said, and the group fell into silence. They didn't really want to know why he knew this, and they didn't really want to know. Where is the place of origin? Although the familiar yet different characteristics of body fluids and what the doctor just said, combined with what they already know, anyone with a quick mind can guess that it probably comes from that place. .
No one can tell what kind of existence the inner world is.
Its time and space do not follow the laws of the real world, but monsters like ghouls who are affected by it can accurately navigate and use the inner world to travel, which means that there are still some laws.
Human beings will suffer the effects, even superficial effects, which can be fatal. The same is true for other living creatures that exist in this world.
——But if you exclude those that are too weird, such as memories embedded in whispers in the abyss and biological mutation speeds that are far beyond common sense, and only compare with what is known.
It is actually very much like a special environment.
Just as aquatic creatures usually cannot survive on land for long periods of time, terrestrial creatures such as humans cannot dive for very long either. It is common knowledge even in this world that living things cannot move for a long time outside their native environment.
But just because you can't adapt, it means that there is a desert of life. This is obviously too human's egocentric thinking.
Perhaps deeper inside, there is a world full of beauty and vitality?
Bizarre, similar yet different creatures like these little devils can be seen everywhere - what a desirable land it must be - Aya's eyes and expressions once again got out of the carriage to study. Having said this clearly, Miss Doctor can be more impulsive than the most reckless Rigal adventurer when it comes to issues related to novel research.
Fortunately, there were enough people here to stop her urge to find out.
— and they have more serious issues to think about.
Since the existence of the little devil is known to the church and adventurers in Rigar have also reported sightings, and it is even so frequent that it is nicknamed the Flying Goblin, it means that this kind of existence is not particularly rare.
Although they are probably not common, they are obviously still likely to be encountered by ordinary people.
One reason for this is the sheer number of animals Henry describes, but another reason is obvious - they can fly.
Their sheer numbers and high mobility mean there's a higher chance of these things escaping through weak cracks - but that's also the point.
The crack.
No one can be sure that the Platinum members who tried to destroy the node were only the ones killed by Henry and his party. What if there are still others? What if they did the same thing elsewhere?
Another crack opened near here?
And this leads to the second question:
If this is what happened.
So.
Is there anything else coming too?
The sulfurous smell intensified.
The high-frequency scream of the little devil to intimidate the opponent is the interference before the self-defense counterattack. This sound is enough to spread far and wide.
They only use this technique when necessary, because although this sound wave can temporarily paralyze some enemies.
But it will also attract other beings.
Those that prey on them.
The temperature of the air seems to be getting hotter and hotter, and there is a rustling sound, which is the sound of something passing through the bushes - but there are towering trees here, and the bushes are quite sparse, only existing on both sides of the road.
So either the other party was deliberately walking against the bushes, or.
It is so big that when walking in the middle of the road, its body can rub against the bushes on both sides.
"Dong——dong——" "Bah——"
It has a huge six-legged body, a face with a slender snout, and two pairs of purple eyes protected by thick eyebrows. Its long tail and red body are covered with a dorsal sail like a fish fin. At this moment, In a half-open state.
It stood about ten meters away, blinking its eyes and spitting out its huge and forked tongue. Under the mist caused by the high body temperature, it looked down at the existence of these little demons that obviously did not make sounds, and fell into a state of doubt for a moment. middle.
"Salamanda (Salamander)." Henry held the sword, but turned his head and waved.
"Turn around quickly."
"Retreat." As the sage said this, the huge predator reacted - even if these small creatures are different from what it usually preys on, they can obviously become a delicious meal.
"Boom——!" The humans grabbed the reins, and the ghost warrior threw two short spears. The salamander, which twisted its body and moved with six legs, slightly deflected its head, and projected it with astonishing speed and power, enough to penetrate it. The short spear covered in hardened leather bounced off its orange-red skull with a "ding!"
"This?!" Teruyuki was stunned as she threw the short spear. She had full confidence in her own strength. She thought that the blow just now would make it slightly injured and stop its movements.
"Hurry up!" The distance of about ten meters was quickly shortened. The carriage picked up speed and the archers opened their bows and shot arrows immediately, but it was obviously to no avail.
The huge salamander, which weighed several tons and was comparable to an earth dragon, stuck out its tongue and twisted its huge body to catch up. Although it was not fast, they didn't have much means to deal with it, so they had no choice but to flee.
