System's POV

Chapter 541: Encounter With The Steel Falcons

Leaving the Randall Stronghold was rather easy.

Since the wooden wagons had crossed the one-way portal alongside Thirteen's group, traveling in a group was possible.

Nearly all the Wanderers who were with Diana also had Avatars of their own, so they had something to mount on.

As for the Goblins, Lizardmen, and Ratmen, they also had their own mounts, which they acquired by hunting when they first arrived at the stronghold.

Diana's former comrades were still wary about the monster outbreak, but after she repeatedly told them that there was nothing to worry about, they reluctantly agreed to head to their next destination.

It wasn't really that hard to convince them. Their second mission had a time limit, and it only had to be brought up. So whether they liked it or not, they had no choice but to leave the stronghold. Even without directly bringing it up, they also knew that if they stayed behind any longer, they might fail their mission.

With nearly nine hundred individuals traveling together, they were a force to reckon with.

Thirteen had sent the members of his Hundred Demons to scout ahead, making sure that they wouldn't be taken by surprise by any powerful monsters in the vicinity.

After four days of traveling, they arrived at the foot of a mountain, which they needed to traverse in order to reach their destination. But before that, Thirteen gathered everyone for a strategy meeting.

"This mountain is home to Steel Falcons, which are all Rank 3 Monsters and above," Thirteen said. "Their numbers are over two hundred, and they will be a pain to deal with because they can attack from a distance using feathers that are as hard as steel.

"Our strategy will depend on the situation, but it's highly likely that we'd clash with them. All of them are very aggressive monsters, so once we fight even against a single individual, their entire group will descend on us like mob monsters."

Each Falcon had a wingspan of five meters, and they were very fast, agile monsters, capable of performing aerial maneuvers that could easily dodge most range attacks from a distance.

They could also charge at their opponent, using their steel wings and talons like swords to cut their opponent's flesh.

"Although these Steel Falcons have high physical defense, they are very weak to magic," Erica commented. "I can easily deal with them, so you don't have to worry about anything, Zion."

Thirteen nodded. "I know that you can easily deal with them, but that isn't the problem. If possible, when you kill them, don't burn them completely. Our goal is to kill them with their bodies intact.

"Their feathers can be used as throwing knives, which will be useful in any situation. Their beaks and claws are also something that blacksmiths can use to craft weapons. To put it simply, they are very valuable materials, so we shouldn't waste any of them."

"Last but not the least, if possible, the Apostles must help the First Timers land the last hit on the monsters. I know that crippling them is harder than killing them, but if the others can gain items, weapons, or avatars from them, we will be killing three birds with one stone."

The Apostles nodded in understanding because this was truly a way to maximize the value of the Rank 3 Monsters.

Although there was a chance that they could gain items by killing them, those chances were not very high because these monsters were slightly weaker than Apostles.

The Wanderers who had come with Zion were quite happy to hear that they might be able to gain items from Rank 3 Monsters with the help of their seniors.

For them, this was a very good deal and also a very rare opportunity.

At first, they climbed the mountains, thinking that the Steel Falcons would attack them indiscriminately.

But they were wrong.

Some of these Falcons weren't mindless monsters, and were deterred by their presence.

Only a dozen or so, who thought that they could overpower their enemies, decided to attack them, which led to their deaths.

Using her Magic Bullets, Erica shot these aggressive birds from the sky, making them the prey of the Wanderers who were waiting for them in the ground.

Everything was going smoothly until night came.

The Steel Falcons who didn't attack them during the day launched an all-out attack during the night.

Led by a Rank 5 Alpha Falcon, they used the cover of darkness to attack the Wanderers, thinking that they would be easily dealt with.

But they were wrong.

Thirteen already knew what they were planning to do because his scouts were paying close attention to their movements.

Because of this, he asked the Wanderers to stay inside the caves that they discovered, while the Apostle and the other Rank 4 Monsters and above like Drazzat faced off against the monster army.

Using the trees and terrain as cover, they used hit-and-run tactics against their foes.

Originally, Thirteen, the Apostles, and the monsters accompanying him shouldn't have won easily. After all, they were greatly disadvantaged by the number of their enemies.

But Gwenn made a humongous difference.

The Overlord Beetle controlled the mind of the Rank 5 Alpha Falcon, as well as the nine strongest Steel Falcons in the group.

Since the Alpha Monster was the leader of the monsters, Gwenn made it issue commands that made Thirteen and the others have an easier time subjugating them.

By the time the other Steel Falcons realized what was happening, it was already too late.

The Alpha Monster and the nine other Steel Falcons that were under Gwenn's control backstabbed their comrades, making them all lose the ability to resist.

The battle lasted for an hour before over a hundred Steel Falcons lay dying on the ground, waiting for the Wanderers to kill them off one by one.

Sherry, who had accompanied Thirteen, was able to kill one Rank 4 Monster with the help of her Blade Panther.

The item she received from killing it was a pitch-black short sword that was extremely sharp.

The other Wanderers were a bit lucky because a handful of them managed to get Rank 3 Steel Falcon Avatars, while the rest got items and weapons like Sherry.

As for the Rank 5 Alpha Monster, and the nine other Falcons that were now under Gwenn's Control, they were taken inside Rocky's Mobile Fortress, where Thirteen would decide what to do with them.

Thirteen was tempted to have the Rank 5 Alpha Falcon get killed by Erica or Sherry, but he decided that it would be a waste to kill it like that when he could use it as a flying Mount.

It was just that the Falcons they captured were too proud and too stubborn to yield and submit to them.

They would rather die than serve someone like Zion.

This was especially true for the Rank 5 Alpha Monster, who didn't hesitate to fight even the strong monsters inside the Mobile Fortress, despite being at a great disadvantage.

In the end, Thirteen made a hard decision and allowed Diana to kill the Alpha Monster, which gave her an item.

This item was none other than a pair of Steel Falcon Wings, allowing the Crusader to fly, making Erica and Sherry feel envious of her.

Fortunately, the two settled down after they were allowed to kill the rest of the Falcons, which made them acquire Rank 4 Avatars that they could use as flying mounts if need be.

Three days later, the Wanderers looked in the distance, where the pillar of light was shining towards the heavens.

Although they were still far away, they could now see a glimpse of a city that was surrounded by a purple barrier.

Thirteen frowned as he gazed at this scene. According to Rocky and Tiona's clone, the purple barrier extended even under the ground, preventing anyone from entering the city using normal methods.

"What should we do?" Diana asked.

Thirteen pondered a bit before giving his opinion.

"Let's form a small elite team to investigate if we can break the barrier," Thirteen said. "The others will need to hide for the time being until we finish our investigation."

Erica nodded in agreement because this was indeed a good strategy.

Thirteen had already warned her that the enemy had multiple Rank 8 Monsters inside the city, so they should be extra careful with their approach.

Since the other Wanderers wouldn't survive against an encounter with such powerful monsters, they could only find a hiding place for a while until Thirteen's team was done assessing their current situation.