Several more projectiles flew, some seemingly in the direction of the other mercenaries. They flinched, momentarily thinking they’d be assassinated like this.

Unexpectedly—

ROAR!

"Don’t get distracted," the beautiful female voice said and this shook them back to the present.

Fortunately, this distraction lasted only a few seconds, and the mercenaries were quickly back on their feet, using various skills to handle the monsters.

While pitiful Lipin was lifted by his teammate, who had barely managed to free himself, the fight against the intelligent beast resumed. Garan stood at the side, prepared to assist, while at the same time weakening the rest of the mob for the others to handle.

Meanwhile, Althea’s vines were spread out. She had prepared a few possible paths around the beast, so something would latch onto it, regardless of the direction it went.

The vines held on to the monster’s feet to control its movements, and Althea shot several times during the few seconds it was tied up.

[Triple Shot]

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

Three arrows, three hits, the last one even partially embedding into the monster’s eyes.

ROOOAAARR!!

People heard its struggle and the tearing sound of the vines. It didn’t wait another moment before dashing in the direction of the arrows.

The monster quickly realized that Althea was the biggest problem. (In retrospect, it might’ve just targeted the guards first because of their size and position, with their uniforms making them appear larger and more powerful).

The others gasped as it broke free from the vines and rushed towards her.

Althea did not falter, just shot continuously while jumping on sturdy branches, and the various shots weakened it, making it bleed.

There was a time she almost slipped down, but thankfully, she also had her vines around her, balancing her whenever she needed them.

Her vine training really came in handy today.

Anyway, even while she was awkwardly hanging, her shots did not diminish. She was only using a lower weapon now, but the damage was still quite real.

The Bellagio bow used a lot of mana per shot, while the arrows were physical attacks that barely used energy. Althea was training not to be too dependent on her high-level weapons, and it looked like it was paying off.

Whoosh!

Another eye, hit.

Roarrr! It screamed, yelling at several monsters to attack Althea. About a dozen of the monsters shifted their targets and converged to where Althea was shooting.

One was right under her, limbs bolstering and ready to jump up, except a sharp spike of ice appeared from above, skewering it.

It died, just like this. "Don’t distract her," Garan said, throwing a few more spikes towards the other monsters, wounding them deeply. The others took the chance to kill the monsters. Anyway, there was no experience or copper gains for people of Garan’s level.

Althea had full trust in her husband, so she never even looked at the other monsters heading her way. She was fully focused on the leader.

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

Althea’s vines once again did their magic, but because the monster had been weakened, they could contain the beast for a longer time than before.

Soon, the mobs thinned enough that they could sneak looks in the couples’ direction.

They hadn’t used their elements much, at least not in an obvious manner, but they were even more impressive than the elementalists they knew, who often used flamboyant attacks.

They were not just elementalists, they were great ones. Further, how many elementalist have they seen who were not dependent on their elements? Most aimed to show it off as much as they could.

The couple was very skilled with their weapons too, using the minimal amount of energy to deal decent damage.

They didn’t know whether these two were really not using their elements every time, but the fact that they couldn’t see much was indicative of their foundational strength.

The group looked at the two with different eyes.

To think they had underestimated them before!

For shame!!

...

Althea could see the monster’s life draining very quickly.

She also did some calculations for herself, mentally recording how much mana and HP she lost while dealing with the monster while using minimal ’cheat’ like superior equipment.

It wasn’t that she was being lax; it was just the instinct of a scientist.

It was just that the intelligent beast realized that it was losing, gesturing to run away.

Unlike other beasts that would continue attacking even if they lost an appendage and were already bleeding to death, this one had a brain and knew when to back down.

At the same time, this one also knew how to be vindictive and hunt specific targets for revenge. Regardless of which one it was, it could not live. It had killed too many people and would continue doing so as long as it existed.

It even knew who were easy targets judging by who was being protected, and targeting them. It was either trying to take the person hostage or as a final act for revenge.

Either way, it was eerily intelligent.

Other than Althea, who was protected by her husband, and Lipin, who was protected by several mercenaries, there was only one other person who fit the bill.

This was none other than the bride, who was surrounded by a bleeding entourage, and whose carriage had been partially destroyed by the fight.

ROAAARRR!

"LADY ANNA!" the mercenaries yelled, immediately heading her way. They were so close to handling this, and they did not want to get demerits!

Fortunately, one of the mercenaries managed to arrive in time, shielding the woman with his equipment. The monster had been weakened enough, so the shield was enough.

This obstacle lasted only for a few seconds, but it was enough for Althea to finally send the finishing shot.

When the monster ran away, she had already jumped on branches, moving parallel to it. When it targeted Anna, she was already at a good angle.

Whoosh!

Squelch!

The previous arrow that had punctured the eyes was shoved deeper in, going through its brain. The dastardly monster finally fell like this.

The other people also lost their footing due to the tension, while Anna’s eyes were wide as she stared at the face of her rescuer, who had no other consideration but to protect her, even with his own body. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

"Y-You..." she uttered, shocked, but her eyes were already brimming with tears. "Why..."

It was none other than Wilem, her former fiance!