Chapter 21 - A Local Lord was Rushed to the Hospital Following a Zombie Bite With 300 soldiers and 100 adventurers, they force-marched. Before noon, they reached the Heni Farm, where Rubella and the adventurers had last spotted a herd of Hungers. The herb farm stretched from horizon to horizon. All plants on the farm would become ingredients for potions, and Diddease Town would export them as specialized goods. Pigeon, the local alchemist, was in charge of managing the farmland and the potion-making. On the field, the herbs were ravaged, and footprints of giant beasts were everywhere. 50% of the field was ruined. Farmers and E-ranked adventurers were supposed to tend the fields during this season. However, no one showed up for work. Instead, several giant figures could be seen at a distance. The troops halt their advance. H5N9 smirked and pointed at the dark silhouettes ahead. "Go, you peasants. Kill them for me. The first man who brings me a Hunger’s head gets to use my discarded slave." The encouragement didn’t help. The soldiers formed ranks silently and raised shields, preparing for battle. 100 adventurers united as one team. Shield bearers got to the front. The second row belonged to melee combatants, and the backlines consisted of healers, rangers, and mages. Parita got pulled to the second line behind Sparrow and Caladrius. She frowned, puzzled by why Caladrius was present at the front. "Sparrow, isn’t she a healer?" Parita pointed out. Sparrow snickered. "Don’t worry about her. Worry about yourself." Caladrius laughed dryly and explained. "I was born with a strong constitution. It’s fine." "By strong constitution, her physical strength is stronger than that of average heavy knights, but she sucks at archery and melee combat," Sparrow explained. "The only thing she’s good at is magic." Parita stopped questioning. She gave up dwelling on the weird tank mage. Just as the troops formed ranks, the distant silhouettes noticed them. Three dark figures stomped on the ground and kicked up dust, charging at them from the front. Everybody was ready until more figures emerged from burrows. Three giant moles crawled out of the ground underneath the soldiers and dragged half of them underground. The formation crumbled. Adventurers scattered in all directions to save themselves. Party members got separated. Soldiers and knights turned around to save their comrades, but it was too late. A 10-meter-tall mole emerged from the ground. Similar to the boar that Parita killed, it had a heinous human face with an abnormally large mouth full of fangs. Its long tongue swept across the field and scooped five mages into its mouth. After getting its meal, it sank into the ground, escaping. Nobody had time to relax, even though the moles had retreated. From a distance, three boars with human faces grinned widely while their eyes rolled upward. They moved towards the crowd at the velocity of a NASCAR vehicle. Sparrow and two shield bearers roared, activating their taunting skills. The beasts flinched and switched direction, heading toward them. Seeing the incoming monsters, Sparrow’s face turned white, yet she gnashed her teeth and got ready for impact. Caladrius poked Sparrow with a wand in her hand. The red-haired elf’s body turned gold as the healer tank’s holy magic boosted her defense and created a layer of barrier around her. Nearby, several heavy knights regained their senses and commanded their team members to reform their formation. As the mages chanted their spell names, their words became lost in the chaotic screams of the wounded soldiers. Fireballs, lightning bolts, ice lances, earth spears, and various projectiles flew over Sparrow’s head, targeting the incoming monsters. Magic hit the three boars. One of the magic explosions tripped one of them. The second boar halted its charge, but the last one endured the pain and arrived in front of Sparrow and nearby shield bearers in the same formation. Instead of slamming its head against the shield wall, it opened its mouth to devour the tanks. Sparrow and two other tanks didn’t dodge. The monster’s teeth bit into them, gnawing their thick armor. A tooth, blunt as a mace, cracked the tower shield of a knight nearby. Its barbed tongue coiled around them, pulling everybody inside. The three tanks roared in unison. Sparrow and the two knights raised their weapons and stabbed the tongue. The knight on Sparrow’s left side severed it, releasing everybody. The sword of Sparrow then pierced through the monster’s upper gum until the hilt hit the ceiling. From outside the monster’s mouth, Caladrius and the surviving second row fighters rushed in to finish off the monster. Among them was Parrot, who leaped on top of the monster’s head and plunged a longsword into its head. Adventurers plunged additional weapons into the monster’s face and head while climbing the boar-like creature. Meanwhile, Parita didn’t move along with the attackers. She wanted to, but she couldn’t. The mocap suit stopped her from joining the fray. ’Let me go, you dumb system!’ Parita protested. [Your target is elsewhere. Look behind the boar.] Parita turned her eyes towards the other monsters. She found the second boar, which had halted its approach earlier. It sneered at its injured friend and ran around the formation, detouring and keeping a distance from the shield bearers. Its target was the back line. Parita was enlightened. The system released its control, and she gently tapped the ground with her right foot, sending her gliding across the land at a speed of 100 km/h. She leaped over the back ranks and landed behind them, facing the detouring boar. It sneered at Parita and charged forward with its mouth wide open. This time, the mocap suit didn’t help her. She flinched and hesitated, not sure which move to take. When she realized it, the monster’s tongue found her and pulled her into its mouth. The human-faced boar’s teeth found her flesh. The leather armor’s buff ’Stone Skin’ protected her. The teeth failed to sink into Parita’s skin. Instead, the tips of its fangs shattered, and it spat Parita out. Parita was surprised. Getting back on her feet, she leaped on top of the Hunger’s face and pulled out the gladius from her inventory. She then plunged it into the monster’s big head. The human-faced boar thrashed in agony for a moment and collapsed to the ground, dead. Parita pulled the short sword out and admired it. The rust on the weapon was gone. As though it had become vitalized with the enemy’s blood, it glittered, reflecting the sunlight. Parita’s eyes swept across the battlefield. The monster that Sparrow and others were fighting was also dead. The third giant boar that had collapsed earlier from the magic volley got up, but it had lost one of its eyes. Enraged, it glared at the crowd and raised its head to the sky, screeching. Its voice vibrated throughout the entire farm. Adventurers and soldiers covered their ears because of its high-pitched noise. Parita also flinched. The ground trembled. The two moles from earlier swam underground as though they were sandworms in myth. One of them emerged behind Parita and seized her with its long tongue. The mocap suit took over. Parita adjusted her sword grip and twisted her body, facing the monster. Ignoring the tongue, she slashed the mole’s face. A sword aura emanated from the blade, increasing its effective range and bisecting the mole. "I’ve got two!" Parita laughed, thinking of the rewards she would get. [One was assisted. The bonus rewards will be halved from the original.] Parita pouted, but her smile brightened. She observed the field while she stood on the boar’s corpse. The second mole finally came out, and it brought friends. Two giant crabs with flat human faces followed the mole out. Each crab boasted four pincer arms. A pair was normal crab arms, but the other two were razor-sharp scissors. Their spiked legs stomped the ground, kicking soil everywhere. However, the military had already regained their senses. The men coordinated and stabbed the leading mole with metal spears, while mages ignited it aflame, killing it on the spot. The two crabs dashed and broke the encirclement. One circled around the army men while the other charged into the loose formation of adventurers, who were in disarray. The injured boar also rushed in and flanked everybody. Sparrow, who had just climbed out of the boar’s mouth, noticed the incoming enemies. Without hesitation, she roared, activating her taunt skill once more. A crab switched its direction, heading toward Sparrow. A figure in the crowd of adventurers also moved to support Sparrow. Lupus leaped and raised his bastard sword and swung down. His body turned red, and his sword radiated crimson light. He slashed down and split the human head of the crab in half. Meanwhile, the screaming boar found the hole in the adventurer’s formation. It stomped on two mages who failed to react. It then pushed forward and found two stray members of Sparrow’s team. Catbird, the green-haired elf in disguise, raised her tower shield and planted it in the ground. After setting the trivial barricade, she kicked the ground and leaped backward, drawing her longbow. Goldfinch, who was nearby, also readied her longbow. Both ladies fired explosive arrows at the incoming boar. Two arrows pierced the remaining eye of the boar and detonated. It hissed and thrashed around in agony before it tripped on the planted tower shield and fell. Adventurers close by, wielding spears and swords, finished off the beast. The last monster crab tore through the military men. While it was rampaging, it broke through the royal guards around H5N9. As soon as it spotted the man on the horse, it seized him with its giant pincers and pulled him toward its mouth. "NOOOO!! HEEEELP!!" Latest content publıshed on 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⁂𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖⁂𝕟𝕖𝕥 The barbed mandibles and appendages stabbed H5N9’s shoulder and severed his right arm. Rubella, who had been chasing the crab, caught up with the monster. She summoned an ice lance and pierced the back of the crab’s human head. Its eyes rolled upward and fell, releasing the nobleman. Surviving knights and military healers rushed over and dragged their lord away. At a distance, ten more Hungers observed them. Leading the herd was a massive lion chimera, which had been watching Parita from the beginning. The surviving adventurers and soldiers reformed ranks. Those who had been injured in the ambush earlier moved away from the front line as healers from all parties tended their wounds. The lion snorted and turned around, showing its back and walking away. The other beasts also followed their leader. The giant monsters vanished from the horizon. Nobody cheered for her kill or their victories. The chaotic battle lasted a few minutes, but the casualties were heavy. Parita looked around and noticed that more than half of the soldiers were missing, and several parties of adventurers made a lot of commotion after they found the lifeless bodies of their comrades. Most deaths came from the mole’s ambush. Parita climbed down from the dead mole. She regrouped with Catbird and Goldfinch. Caladrius and Parrot supported Sparrow and carried her items to the back line. They stripped her armor and helmet, revealing bruises and small wounds. Parita and crew found them not long after. Parrot and Caladrius examined the wounds and were relieved. "Small cuts. Not a bite. Your armor and helmet saved you." Caladrius also took off her helmet and gauntlets to wipe her sweaty face. Sparrow let out a long sigh. "7,000 gold for my life, I guess." "You can earn those back later. Don’t cheap out on equipment. Had you gotten bitten, it would have spelled doom for you." Parita overhead it and asked them. "What happens if you get bitten? Will you turn into zombies?" "No. You become one of them." Parita thought of the early event when the boar attempted to eat her alive. Although its fangs scratched her leather armor and head, they didn’t leave a scratch on her skin. She was relieved that the leather armor had saved her. Caladrius then checked the other members and noticed that Parita was dripping in the monster’s saliva. She frowned deeply. "Kestrel, take off your clothes now!" "Why?! I didn’t get bitten!" Parita was surprised. She blushed and covered her chest. Parrot got behind Parita and removed her cloak. The others helped her undress. Parita didn’t resist since they seemed to be inspecting her body for wounds. Catbird and Parrot confirmed that Parita was clean. They helped put her clothes on. Meanwhile, Parita’s heart skipped a beat due to embarrassment and shame. Fortunately, no adventurers cared since many male and female adventurers also stripped to check if they got bitten during the earlier attacks. None of them seemed embarrassed or aroused. Not far away from the elf team, a B-rank adventurer party, consisting of two knights, two rangers, three mages, and one healer, looked gloomy. They gazed at one of their mages, who got stabbed by one of the crabs. Both their knights, who fought side by side with Sparrow earlier, had bite marks on their chests, heads, and shoulders. The three injured men smiled bitterly and looked at their friends. A female ranger cried as she pressed a short sword and stabbed one of the knights to his heart. The other teammates also stabbed the other injured knight and the mage. Everybody heard the commotion. They turned their eyes away from the defeated team. Parita’s face turned white. She was brought back to reality, and the fact that isekai worlds weren’t as fun and bright as many anime stories had depicted. [Again, let me remind you. Welcome to the World of Forgotten Terror.]