Return to Jorgaldur Volume IV: Reunion

Encirclement (I)

When they entered the dungeon again, they didn't make the mistake of the previous occasion. Their armor and weapons looked of much lower quality, similar to that of any average adventurer. As with armor, different models could be applied to weapons.

They also changed costumes. Gjaki had suggested using some reptilian ones, but had been met with a direct refusal from the lynx. Taking the form of another mammal was humiliating enough. A reptile was non-negotiable.

In the end, Goldmi wore again her panther-woman costume, and the lynx was a panther. Although she didn't like it, another feline was the lesser of two evils. Eldi decided on Goldmi's brother, a panther-man. He had tried on a reptilian one, but it was difficult for him to control the tail naturally.

The vampiress hesitated, but in the end, she settled on a blue-skinned male reptilian. It wasn't the first time, and the tail wasn't a problem for her.

"Are you sure that the vampiress thing isn't the costume, and this's the real you?" Eldi joked, surprised.

She stuck her tongue out at him, a long tongue that forked at the tip. The costume went to that level of detail.

"Then, maybe, you'd like some of this," Goldmi suggested with a half laugh, offering her a bug cake.

"Where did you get that from...!" Gjaki exclaimed, too surprised to react.

"Ha, ha. Espid asked me it for the birthday of one of her grandchildren," the elf confessed. "It's the first test. Can you give it to her when you see her? But don't eat it!"

"Ha... Ha..." the vampiress pretended to laugh ironically.

Despite this, she accepted the cake, and looked at it curiously. After that, she stored it in her inventory, to give it to her friend. That way, she had a good excuse to visit her.

"Hellhorses. More than thirty," Goldmi suddenly changed the subject.

Her sister was flying over them, and had warned her. They were beings with a certain resemblance to horses, although not exactly the same. They had red horns, and the players had renamed them.

The horses were difficult beings to hunt in groups. Not only were they too agile for the holes, but they fled in disarray, each on a different path. In addition, they were very sensitive to any changes in the terrain.

In the past, when she had visited the dungeon, the vampiress had tried to approach them with Darkness several times, but they had always detected the moving shadow. They had fled in every direction an instant later, except towards the shadow.

The horses weren't very strong, and never faced their enemies, since they were easily frightened. They were also fast and difficult to catch.

If they could be surrounded, the horses were easy prey, for they didn't dare try to break through the encirclement. They just ran from side to side. However, that was easier said than done.

There was nowhere to hide in the prairie to get close enough on all sides. It was almost impossible to spot them before being discovered. Of course, there were exceptions, like the help of a bird that scouted for them, such as a white goshawk.

Another problem was that the group weren't numerous enough to surround the horses, but they could multiply.

Gjaki used Darkness to get within a hundred meters. She knew that, if she went any further, they would find her out. She waited, while her Bats watched her companions.

Camouflaged, Goldmi kept a greater distance, since she didn't need to be so close. The lynx stayed with her, ready to move when the time was right.

Eldi, for his part, summoned several Burning Golems. Along with Goldmi's Wind ones and some Blood Hounds, he advanced from the other end of the triangle the three of them formed.

The elf and the vampiress stood still as Eldi closed in with the reinforcements, which spread out to cover a wide area. They were waiting, until one of the hellhorses spotted the approaching small army. It raised the alarm, and the pack fled in all directions, always moving away from Eldi.

The lynx ran out at that moment to cover one of the flanks, while the goshawk flew over. She was their wild card. She could arrive at any point in a moment, and intimidate whichever wanted to flee that way

The elf stood up and started shooting arrows non-stop. Thanks to Hawkeye, she could see clearly despite the distance. Also, she could modify the trajectory of projectiles with Curved Shot to make sure she didn't miss.

Although she could innately calculate the exact point where they should fall, as she knew the trajectory and speed of the mana beings, they often changed direction.

The arrows landed in front of the hellhorses that were going towards her area, cutting off their path. In reality, they just fell harmlessly in front of them, but these beings were extremely skittish. So were the real ones they were based on, although they didn't go as far as running away from an arrow stuck in the ground.

For her part, Gjaki got up and began to move calmly, while she waited for her prey to approach. When they reached the proper distance, she summoned several illusions in front of them, with Imaginary World.

The illusions didn't move and were rather crude, as she didn't want to spend a lot of mana. However, the sudden appearance was enough for the mana beings to turn around.

Eldi had started running towards them as soon as the hellhorses had fled from him, and the small army followed him. In that way, the encirclement was tightened, so the distance between the Golems decreased. When their prey decided to try again in their direction, they found that there were hardly any gaps. Furthermore, the Golems were fast enough to intercept them.

If they had been more daring and zigzagged toward them, they might have created gaps. Also, they could have simply passed through the Golems, thus taking only light damage. However, they were too cowardly.

Goldmi had also moved closer, making it easier for her to block them with her arrows. She could even afford to injure a few in the hindquarters, and hinder their movements.

As for Gjaki, she had already started pretty close. She just needed some illusion from time to time to control them.

It is true that some escaped the siege. However, after Colliding with the goshawk, they would immediately turn around. Only when two managed to escape at the same time, one of them fled for good.