Celestial Era: The Rise of the Full-Time Enhancer

Crash!

The squad led by Porthos destroyed the establishment's door as they stormed inside to search for the remnants of the Zemin Clan.

The owner and the staff working were surprised by the sudden intrusion.

They immediately found a corner to hide as the soldiers of the revolutionary army hurriedly searched the place.

"Where are the members of the Zemin Clan?!" Porthos shouted as he held his sword tightly. He can tell that the people remaining within the inn weren't Mana Arts Practitioners at all.

"T-they left while we're preparing to hand over our contribution for your supplies... They used the backdoor…"

The owner answered truthfully hoping that they'll just leave and search for his previous customers.

"Hmph! Follow them! They shouldn't have gone too far yet!"

"B-but General Porthos, we might be delayed… Our main objective is to surround the Ankle City." One of the high-ranking officials of the army reminded. Even though catching the members of the Zemin Clan will reward them, it's not as important as their real mission after all.

Porthos hesitated for a moment before he made a conclusion.

"Send three squads to chase after them! If they can't be caught within the day, they have to move to our next rendezvous point."

"Yes, General!"

The three squads may only have about 40 Journeyman and 10 Master Magicians but the Savage Beasts that they could control is over a hundred!

Since the Zemin Clan only has 20 or so remaining members, this should be more than enough to deal with them considering how some of them were reported to be injured as well.

With this in mind, Porthos made sure that the Zemin Clan's members were indeed out of town already before he decided to continue on their path to Ankle City.

***

"I think you've made a good call Vincent…" Yulia said as they rode their horses away from the town.

Apparently, as soon as Vincent realized that the revolutionary army would be coming to the town to resupply, he already realized how dangerous it would be for them who had literally fought against their forces at the eastern border.

Furthermore, they were already aware of Joran's position within the revolutionary army so it wouldn't be surprising if he could send orders to the dispatched forces of their army.

"Are we going straight to the Zemin Clan this time?" Vincent asked curiously.

"No, it will still take us two more days to get there. I have a plan, don't worry." Yulia replied with confidence.

Hearing this, Vincent no longer questioned her as he also didn't want to continue having a chat while riding a horse. Well, he might bit his tongue if he made a mistake.

Instead, he glanced at the other members of the Zemin Clan and realized that they were also not worried about being chased by the revolutionary army.

Clack~

As they were going uphill, Vincent instinctively held Tara's waist tightly. It felt a bit cold as it was probably her Celestial Armor hidden beneath her coat.

He then shifted his gaze at the valley ahead of them and realized that there were many signs of people around. He can see camp smokes and traces of hunters going into the thick forest.

After a few minutes, they have also bumped into several groups of hunters. These people were the ones actively hunting Savage Beasts for their cores and valuable materials. They were earning enough gold coins in this kind of job after selling them to the right buyers. There were a lot of these people in the surrounding cities.

After three more hours, they found a place to take a break… This time, Vincent finally found out about Yulia's plan.

It was actually related to the gathering of many Mana Arts Practitioners around this area.

Apparently, a few more hours away from their location, there is a dungeon that they could use! In addition, there is a passage there that they could use to arrive near the territory of the Zemin Clan.

"So there is that method…" Vincent nodded after understanding their plan. For him who doesn't have much knowledge about the existence of dungeons, he found this very useful.

He can still remember how Tara could easily navigate inside a catacomb-type dungeon. He's expecting that she could similarly do that same and they might even find unknown passages again.

"That's right… Is this your first time going inside a dungeon?" Suddenly, Lesley approached him and asked.

Her face is still flushed red perhaps because of riding the horse instead of a carriage she was used to. Anyway, Vincent couldn't help but appreciate her beauty. Her grey eyes truly attracted him and he even suspect that it was some kind of charm magic if there is such a thing.

"No, I've been to one before though it didn't take that long as I also left after getting my objective inside…" Vincent answered with a stiff smile.

"Oh~ I guess you'll be surprised inside that dungeon then. It's completely different from any other dungeons out there." Lesley said enthusiastically.

Of course, Vincent was indeed excited to enter the dungeon so he couldn't help but ask more about it.

Unfortunately, one of the watchers returned with a ragged breath.

"Take a deep breath… What's going on?" Yulia asked.

"T-they are here! More than a hundred Savage Beasts and several rebels are coming for us. We need to move." The man said in hurry.

He was expecting that as soon as he reported this, Yulia and the other elders would hurriedly get on their horses to continue on their path.

However, surprisingly, they stood on their ground and a hint of a cruel smile even appeared on their faces!

"Good! We will be eliminating them here!" Lady Yulia said as she revealed her plan to everyone else.

Romain also nodded as he realized this plan after observing the surroundings. They were in a good spot to launch an ambush against the rebels and the Savage Beasts!

Though it is impossible to form them to fight against a thousand Savage Beasts with their small team, a hundred of them shouldn't be a huge problem.

"Y-yes! Lady Yulia! We will follow your orders!" The Mana Arts Practitioners of the Zemin Clan acknowledged the plan after being flustered for a brief moment.

Anyway, they wouldn't be sent to stop the Barbarian Invasion if they lack the courage to face such adversity.

Lady Yulia then arranged a plan to surprise the rebels and the Savage Beasts.

Soon, they hid behind the stones and trees along the path leading to the next village ahead of them. This village is just an hour away and if the revolutionary army would search for them, they would surely pass this location if they wanted to get to the Zemin Clan's territory as quickly as possible.

On the other hand, Vincent wasn't sure about this ambush. After all, even up until now, he could feel the mana fluctuations of the hidden members of the Zemin Clan.

If he could feel their presence, someone in the rebel army and those sensitive beasts should notice this as well.

Nevertheless, he didn't speak about it since Yulia and the others should've known about this as well and they must have a plan in their mind.

As expected, the Savage Beasts that were moving at a fast pace slowed down after reaching this part of the forest.

"There must be another ground of hunters ahead…"

"Let's just drag them out and make sure just in case."

Two officers of the rebel army concluded that they were hunters trying to take cover after seeing a horde of beasts. Well, it wasn't all that surprising as they must've run over to some people who did the same a while ago.

With that in mind, he ordered a squad of Master Magicians to drag the hunters out.

This squad is controlling Savage Beasts which were Demon-Eyed Goats. They weren't really that good in combat if they were alone but dozens of them can be real trouble even for Magic Knights.

Furthermore, their eyesight is very useful in finding hidden creatures…

The two officers were waiting patiently for the other squad to return… However, they suddenly heard their cries within the forest as they tightened their grip on their weapons.

​ "Have we found them?" The two officers looked at each other with excitement. It seems that they didn't find some idle hunters but the people of the Zemin Clan!

They immediately followed the noise they heard. They were expecting an intense battle between their Savage Beasts and the Zemin Clan but what welcomed them are the corpses of the Demon-Eyed Goats and the soldiers who were supposedly commanding them!

Five minutes! It was less than five minutes since they followed the sources of life within the forest!

"How could this be?!"

"It was a trap!"

"Formation!"

After realizing what was going on, they immediately ordered their Savage Beast to form a circle.

"Stonebreaker Wolves will be in the outer circle! Black-Winged Serpents will stay in the inner circle!"

They have only brought three types of beasts with them. The first one is the demon-eyed goats, while the other two were the wolves and serpents.

"Captain! Above us!" One of the rebels finally noticed where the enemy was as they all looked up.

Indeed, Yulia and others were on top of the trees this time!

"Darkness Mystic Eye: Control!"

Yulia overexerted her eyes again as she started tearing with blood. It was as if she has no qualms even if she became blind at this point!

Nevertheless, she managed to take control of the two leaders of this squad!

"Hmph! Die!"

Romain and Lesley immediately acted and killed these two leaders! Without a proper chain of command, they are hoping that the rebels would weaken and lead to their demise!