Chapter 22 - Monster Moles Murdered Hundreds. Adventurers Promoted Animal Cruelty in Retaliation. After the area was cleared, the soldiers found either their missing comrades or their bodies in the mole’s tunnels. The majority of the survivors were bitten, and their companions were forced to eliminate them before they turned. Casualties were tallied. Of 100 adventurers, 30 lost their lives. The military lost over 150 men as they were hit the hardest. Moreover, H5N9 got bitten. The commander signaled everybody to withdraw. Lupus relayed the order to the adventurers and announced the bitter result. Get full chapters from 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹•𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒•𝙣𝙚𝙩 The expedition failed. Sparrow and her team were relieved that they didn’t have to risk their lives fighting the Starve and the 10 remaining Hungers. They collected their used weapons and prepared to head home. Meanwhile, Parita drooled like a rabid zombie, gazing at the giant treasure trove, aka the monster corpses. She imagined the edible meat she could get from these monsters. Parita turned around and noticed that Parrot had called for her. She pouted and pointed at the dead monsters. "Mom, can I take these home?" "I am not your mom, and you cannot keep those." Parrot rolled her eyes and walked over. Before Parita could cause more trouble, she pinched Parita’s ear and pulled her along. And thus, everybody retreated to the city. However, Parita forgot one thing. She was in the middle of streaming. = Adventurer’s Guild = Adventurers of C rank and below got stuck in the city as they weren’t authorized to join the expedition. Starting at dawn, a majority of the lower-level adventurers in the town gathered in the guild, waiting for good news. Should they succeed, the town’s prosperity would continue for a century. In the event of the contrary, every inhabitant of the city, encompassing both civilians and adventurers, would have to evacuate as it would soon be overrun by the Hungers and their bloodscorch virus. However, as soon as they arrived, they found a monitor cube showing the real-time event from a bird’s-eye view. Although the camera focused on Parita, everybody could see their colleagues and people from Sparrow’s party. Appendix, one of the adventurers whom Lupus assigned as backup in town, had been staying in the guild since last night. When the monitors appeared, he was the first to grab a chair and pick the best spot to watch the show. His teammates, who had been pretending to sleep, then woke up and started organizing the chairs and tables. While having a small breakfast, they observed the stream from the front row. Unfortunately, the stream started after H5N9’s narcissistic speech. The team was marching south. Appendix crossed his arms and smacked his lips. He wished he could join them. But when he thought of the Hungers and the legends he heard from his parents and grandparents, he shivered. One of Appendix’s team members, Nephrolith, was a lizardman knight. He sat next to Appendix and watched what Parita was doing this time. The march continued for hours, and so did the livestream. More adventurers arrived to work or find low-pay F-rank jobs they could do. When they spotted the broadcast cube, they stopped and watched. "What is that?" One of the adventurers had never seen the cubic screen before. He pointed and asked the others. "Ah, that?" Appendix explained. "I see guildmaster and Miss Rubella there. That seems to be the current expedition." New adventurers got interested since this raid would determine whether they could continue working in this city. They gathered around the cube, spectating the raid. At noon, the expedition team arrived at the Heni Farm. They encountered the Hungers at a distance, and the cameras zoomed in, highlighting their appearance. Those who had never seen a Hunger before recoiled, disturbed by its ugly face and unique appearance. Female teenagers shrieked. Even full-grown men got goosebumps. Then, the moles ambushed the troops. People sank into the tunnel system, being dragged by the monster tongues. Three boars charged at them, and battles broke out. Appendix and every fighter in the guild building broke a cold sweat. They were so engrossed that they forgot to breathe and couldn’t look away. The cameras were also kind, showing every important fight around Parita. The adventurers also got to see Sparrow and two knights disappear into the jaws of a monstrous boar. Many young men who had a secret crush on Sparrow held their heads, horrified by the development. Parita moved. The livestream focused on her. Appendix recognized her. Parita retreated to the back line, where the mages and long-ranged attackers were. She intercepted a hunger, but it bit her. "Not the pink elf too!!" One of the men wailed. A lot of people were devastated, interpreting the incident as a catastrophe. Appendix was the first to notice it. The camera might be capturing the footage from above, but he didn’t see blood coming from the monster’s mouth. Instead, there was a sharp crack, like a bone breaking. Still, people looked away. They thought the monster was eating Parita alive. But then, the monster spat her out. She landed on her feet, kicked the ground, and jumped. Upon landing on the Hunger’s head, she stabbed its head with a short sword. The boar-faced Hunger hissed and squirmed like a wild horse trying to shake off its rider. However, in the end, it collapsed. "HOLY SHIT! SHE DID IT!" Appendix and the people who didn’t look away cheered. Those who stopped watching turned to check and found the new development. Everybody dropped their jaws, flabbergasted. "The toilet elf won?!" "FAT ELF ROCKS! I LOVE PINK ELVES!" "Shut it, you baldy." The camera panned to the Sparrow’s fight. She and the others escaped from the boar’s mouth. As for the monster, it died almost at the same time as the other boar. "ANOTHER HUNGER’S DOWN!" The mood was lifted. Everybody who had been sitting earlier got up, holding their ale cups or food. They stopped drinking and eating, absorbed in the life-and-death situation on the screens. A boar screamed, and the two moles returned. The camera focused on the new holes, and two giant crabs with human faces rushed out. The crowd closed their mouths. Witnessing four more Hungers attacking, they couldn’t imagine themselves fighting the monsters. One of the moles caught Parita with its tongue. This time, its face twisted in anger. It raised its claw, aiming at Parita. This time, everybody believed that Parita might not make it. And yet, she twisted her body and generated a sword aura. She sliced the monster in two with a single stroke. "SWORD AURA CRUTCH! LET’S GOOOOO!!" The fight continued. The local troops weren’t vegetables waiting to be consumed. They coordinated and killed one of the moles. However, a four-armed, human-faced crab ran them over and broke their formation, running amok and slaughtering dozens. Lupus soloed one of the crabs. Rubella killed another, while Catbird and Goldfinch shot down the last boar. Seven Hungers were down in minutes. The other monsters retreated. "They made it!" Appendix let out a long sigh of relief. "No. There are still more Hungers." Nephrolith pointed at the retreating silhouettes on the screens and added. "I counted 11." Appendix and nearby adventurers turned solemn. When they focused on the figures on the screen, they thought of the earlier ambush and the casualties. Everybody worked together to kill seven, yet about half of them fell. The adventurers and the army would have been destroyed if the monsters had attacked them again. Appendix thought of Parita, who had gotten bitten. He sighed and closed his eyes. Their side won the battle. In this war against the Hungers, they lost.