If this world didn’t lack computers and internet, Malin would have flipped out long ago—three hours have passed since they started at noon, and they’ve caught nothing. This damned forest contained nothing but their own men and dead "different kind"; it was supposed to be a pursuit, but it felt more like fishing in murky waters.
The mercenaries had been grumbling from the start, and Malin thought these guys must have underestimated him and his girls—not that he could blame them, since they’d probably have more respect if they were beaten up daily like the Church’s senior apprentices.
But... never mind, pretending to be a pig to eat a tiger is where the fun lies, right?
Harboring such thoughts, Malin perceived a dangerous presence ahead in the woods—subtle, but there. He slowed his pace, noticing his sister had stopped.
Alright, finally caught a big fish.
With that thought, the party also began to move. The Paladin of Justice stepped forward, while Malin undid the chain of his shoulder bag.
As the sir Paladin drew his longsword, Malin placed the bag on the ground.
When the Apprentice began casting the Spell Formation, Malin started assembling his hammer.
By the time he had his hammer assembled, Malin could see the blood-colored "different kind" emerging from deep within the woods, about thirty skinless creatures. They were crossing a small hill, and upon realizing their situation, the leading "different kind" let out a screech and picked up speed, followed by more of its kind cresting the hill.
"Is this what the Church claimed to have been mostly cleared out?" asked the Dwarf, having donned his plate armor—it had always been packed in a large box and carried with him.
"Anyway, it’s not our Church," replied Malin with a smile before drawing his revolver, "want to take a few shots, gents?"
"I don’t like using guns in these situations," the Paladin shook his head.
"Then you truly are missing out on a fine weapon for easily dispatching evil," said the Dwarf with a laugh, picking up his double-barreled shotgun.
Then Malin watched as the Paladin waved his hand, gathering a holy flame within his grasp before launching it outwards—exploding amongst the "different kind" and reducing the five closest ones to smithereens, while several more were flung about dancing in the air.
"Well then," shrugged the Dwarf. As someone who couldn’t cast Spell Formations, he raised his shotgun and opened fire.
Meanwhile, he spotted Malin lifting his .44 revolver, "Isn’t that thing a bit too big?"
"Not at all," said Malin, after pulling the trigger, the "different kind" in the mechanical sights dropped, a bullet boring into its head and turning the whole thing into history.
In mere seconds, the first wave of "different kind" lost more than half their numbers. Two mud elementals strode forward, slow but the "different kind" mindlessly threw themselves upon the bloodless beings, getting entangled with them.
The other half advanced on their ranks. One leapt into the air only to be nailed in the face with a ballista bolt, its leap gruesomely distorted and crashing at the feet of the Dwarf, who then hammered the beast’s head to mush. Turning his head, he saw the little leopardess winding her crossbow.
By his side, Malin had stowed his now empty revolver and with a flourish of his hammer, sent an evil "different kind" flying. He didn’t bother to watch where it landed, but judging by its arc, it should end up near his team’s Healer.
If they couldn’t handle such creatures, they’d be a disgrace.
Mr. Paladin of Justice had already slain the third "different kind". Malin hastened forward, felling another trying to exploit the gap between himself and the Dwarf before pivoting—a Divine Ray shooting forth and igniting another "different kind" in mid-leap, aiming for the Dwarf. Without a sound, the creature started burning, crumbling to dust by the time it hit the ground.
The girls also fired a few shots. Although the bullets weren’t as large as the ones in Malin’s revolver, they were effective because they had been either soaked in Holy Oil or blessed. If one shot didn’t kill the target, another could be fired.
Thus, the first wave of the different kind was completely wiped out without any surprise—the ones entangled with the mud elementals were mostly torn apart by them, and the mud elementals were firmly advancing towards the second wave of different kind—more than ten more than the previous wave.
This time, Faye and Clovis also moved to the front lines. Although the two girls couldn’t match the Paladin in close combat, their basin-sized Fireballs were truly effective. This time, the different kind didn’t even manage to get close—they were either blown up by the Fireballs or dashed onto the bodies of the mud elementals, only to be annihilated by the self-destructive nature of the elementals, turning them into pieces.
Jack, the captain of the mercenary squad who had struggled to take down one of the different kind in the first wave, was somewhat at a loss. "Is this battle?" he asked the Paladin.
The latter nodded, "Yes, a very simple battle, simpler than I had imagined."
"Wow, I can’t believe it! What is that!" the young captain pointed ahead.
Malin had already seen the huge different kind. Its forelimbs alone were longer than Malin’s entire body, and its mouth, which split open completely, was filled with dense, sharp teeth. Along with the giant different kind at the top of the hill, there was a large number of its kin.
Meanwhile, a Mage flew over the space above them, "Damn it! Why are you here! Those different kind are converging!"
That explained why there were so many minions surrounding the giant different kind.
Malin took the shotgun off his back.
He opened the barrel, producing a crisp sound.
He pulled out a specially made hollow point bullet from his ammunition belt and loaded it into the barrel, making an equally crisp sound.
He closed the barrel and raised the shotgun.
Faye drank a potion, and the basin-sized Fireballs in her hands never stopped.
Clovis summoned two mud elementals, then downed a potion and summoned another two. The four mud elementals started to advance.
Jessica and Shela also moved to the front lines at this moment. Jessica held a longsword, and Shela held a shotgun equipped with a bayonet.
The ballista began to work as well. However, the first shot hit the back of the giant different kind and then... bounced off.
So under Selena’s control, the ballista started targeting the smaller, isolated different kind.
The Mage flew away, but before leaving, he left a message, "Hold on! I’m going to call for reinforcements!"
Malin shook his head—at this rate, by the time reinforcements arrived, they would either be there to watch the show or to collect the bodies.
With that thought in mind, Malin pulled the trigger.
The bullet flew across the clearing in the forest and entered the gaping mouth of the massive different kind as it roared.