According to Aether's understanding, at least three Lv.6 and four Lv.5 adventurers, a total of seven first-class adventurers, should be stationed around the Large Tree Labyrinth.
Meanwhile, Lv.4 and Lv.3 second-class adventurers were even more numerous.
Honestly, this scale of force far surpassed the future original trajectory of this world's "Hermes lineage + Hestia lineage + Tool Elementals" team setup.
Logically, even without the Arrow of Orion, adventurers should at least be able to hold the frontline against the Scorpions of the Secret Realm.
Yet now, the split offspring of the Scorpions had appeared far from the Large Tree Labyrinth…
"Riveria-sama."
"Hmm?"
Under the moonlight, the forest around them dim and shadowed, Lumine walked alongside the Elf Mage Unit and spoke earnestly to the Elf royal:
"Gareth… when was the last time they reported the battle situation?"
Riveria furrowed her brow.
"Why are you asking this?"
She didn't think Lumine was the type to casually pry into another lineage's secrets. There had to be a reason.
As expected…
"The few Genshin I dispatched to the village saw many giant scorpion-like monsters," Lumine explained bluntly.
"According to Amber, these monsters look almost identical to the ones that caused the monster uprising near the Large Tree Labyrinth."
"So…"
"The last report from Gareth was five days ago."
With her intelligence, Riveria didn't need further explanation.
She knew that if these scorpions appeared here, the frontline defense hadn't held. The expected result had not been achieved.
Of course, Gareth and the others were still alive.
In this world, if adventurers of a lineage died, their god could vaguely sense the disappearance of blessings. Even if a former member switched lineages and leveled up, the original god could sense their transformation.
Given this, Freya's insistence on personally checking the teleportation anchors must have… been her first experience of an older sister worrying about her younger brother.
Anyway…
"Five days ago… two days before we departed."
After Riveria's reply, Lumine analyzed quickly:
"Orario is over ten days' walking distance from the northwest edge of the Large Tree Labyrinth."
"Previously, Gareth and our high-level forces from the Freya lineage flew directly on tamed dragons, so the travel time would've been shorter."
Indeed, the first batch of high-level adventurers had borrowed all the tamed dragons in Orario, leaving Riveria's group no choice but to walk.
Continuing the analysis…
"If Gareth left Orario about half a month ago, and the messenger could also fly, then the information received five days ago is at least a week old."
No wonder even the usually hands-off Freya insisted Lumine, a teleport specialist, head to the Large Tree Labyrinth.
The round trip alone took four to six days. The information delay was deadly.
Coupled with Freya's earlier warning that a small nation had already been destroyed…
"Between Orario and the Large Tree Labyrinth lie the Laguea Kingdom and the Kaios Desert."
"Could some Scorpion splits have taken a detour from the desert?"
If so…
"Once again proving the advantage of foresight can't be over-relied upon."
Ancient monsters weren't unintelligent. Whether the Three Great Quests' targets or hidden bosses, they had brains.
"If they were stupid, how could they have thought to 'devour gods and borrow their power' in the original trajectory?"
This made the situation far trickier.
Defending the Large Tree Labyrinth's edge already stretched the frontline long. A few scorpion splits bypassing from the desert would complicate matters further.
"Why does this feel less like encountering fantasy monsters and more like a StarCraft scenario?"
Truly, enemies with army-scale forces were extremely hard to handle.
Aether had the Genshin system, not a Demonic Army system.
"We need to check the Kaios Desert situation…"
"Stop."
Riveria's sharp command cut through the thought.
Almost simultaneously…
"Thump thump~"
Red arrows appeared in Lumine's vision.
The Hostility Perception triggered.
"Monsters here too?"
Frowning, Lumine summoned the Dawn Divine Sword into her hand.
Through the mental link:
"Amber, how's your side?"
"Almost cleaned up," Amber replied. The energetic scouting knight answered via thought.
"These are the Scorpion splits, right? Many in number but weak individually… at least against us."
"To ordinary people, they're still deadly."
"Potential rating… roughly high Lv.1."
Troublesome, indeed. A swarm of high-Lv.1 creatures…
Think of an endless sea of killer ants… geez.
"No wonder these ancient monsters could only be sealed previously, killing them even with god-forged weapons was impossible."
Lumine frowned.
Then…
"Since your side is nearly done, I'll summon Diona and Fischl to assist. Is that okay?"
"Yes, go ahead."
Amber, awakened to her true consciousness, confirmed.
"For now, the enemies are weak individually but numerous. No need to deploy Childe or the Geo Archon."
Lumine knew: Childe excels in solo BOSS fights, and the Archon's magic amplifications consume enormous energy.
"Once Amber clears the village monsters, I'll have the Archon finish off these remaining ones."
Meanwhile…
[Offense and Defense]
With a thought, Lumine summoned Cat Shields around everyone using the Statue of the Seven skill.
Before the hidden monsters could attack, protective shields enveloped the team.
"So this is the protective spell Lefiya mentioned, triggered by a short chant?"
Riveria whispered, impressed at Diona's sudden appearance.
The other elves expressed amazement too.
Just then…
"Focus on casting to defend; don't worry about setting the forest ablaze. I'll handle fire suppression afterward."
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