Hunting: The Dawning

Chapter 20: The Bandit Chief Attacks

The old coachman was the only other person in the caravan who was as worried as Paine.

Everyone thought this trade route was safe. The senior members of the merchant guild even believed that running this trade route only three times a year was a serious waste of resources. So they specially arranged an additional trip this year before winter had ended.

"Those fat and wealthy big shots have no idea how dangerous the monsters that have been hungry all winter are. Even their hunting range will expand a lot!"

The old coachman who had been driving carriages all his life cursed in a low voice.

Unfortunately, neither he nor Paine, the leader of the caravan, could change the decision of the merchant guild.

"Another half a day. We'll be able to pass through the dangerous area in another half a day." Paine kept comforting himself in his heart.

He sat down beside the old coachman with a gloomy face.

It seemed that only by constantly watching the herbivorous dinosaurs pulling the carriages quicken their pace slightly under the urging of the old coachman's reins could his anxiety be alleviated a little.

"Moo-uhn!"

"Moo-woo, roar!"

"What's going on? Stop quickly!"

"What's wrong with these beasts?"

Without any warning, the whole caravan suddenly fell into chaos, and the source of the chaos was those gentle herbivorous dinosaurs that had been working hard without complaint and would only grunt twice when whipped.

They actually went mad all at once!

The herbivorous dinosaurs twisted their bodies desperately, struggling to break free from the restraints of the reins and shafts. No matter how the coachmen whipped and scolded them, they couldn't calm down.

A sturdy adult herbivorous dinosaur even stood up on its front feet, causing the wagon behind it to overturn. Bundles of precious furs were scattered all over the ground, covered with dust.

"What's going on?! Hayata! Hayata, where are you? Come here quickly!" Paine shouted loudly. His tone, which was sharper than usual, showed his inner uneasiness.

"Mon... monsters. There are monsters coming..." The old coachman's face turned as pale as if he had suffered from heatstroke. His trembling soliloquy attracted Paine's attention.

"Monsters? Where are the monsters? How could there be monsters!"

Paine shouted furiously. In fact, subconsciously, he had made the same judgment as the old coachman, but emotionally, he didn't want to believe it.

The old coachman jumped down from the wagon and said in a hoarse voice, "Herbivorous dinosaurs don't get scared easily. Even if they are scared, it's impossible for the whole team to go mad together. They must have sensed the approach of predators!"

This reason was sufficient.

Paine slapped himself hard, venting his remorse while using the pain to force himself to calm down.

He jumped onto the shaft and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Try to calm the herbivorous dinosaurs down. Surround all the wagons in a circle. Everyone get inside the circle and take out your weapons!

We have thirty people. There's strength in numbers. Don't be afraid!"

The leader's instructions gave the panicked people a bit of confidence. Everyone worked together. Some pulled the reins to control and calm the herbivorous dinosaurs, while the rest helped push the wagons. The crude defensive circle slowly took shape.

Paine walked quickly, patrolling back and forth.

He had no experience in fighting monsters and didn't know how to deal with them. So he just followed the method of dealing with human bandit gangs and directed everyone to build temporary defensive works with the wagons.

Hayata was stuffed by him into the pile of furs in a wagon inside the wagon formation. And he ordered her in an unprecedentedly stern tone that she was not allowed to come out no matter what happened.

All the members of the caravan gathered together.

Everyone grasped the short swords they carried for self-defense in their hands. Looking at the wall more than one person tall formed by the wagons fully loaded with goods, they gradually calmed down.

Perhaps... there was really no need to be so afraid?

Even if monsters really attacked, we had thirty swords. One blow from each person could kill the monsters, right?

"Gaa-ow! Gugu-guwu!"

A strange howl, similar to a bird's cry but much deeper, came from behind a nearby earth slope.

Everyone nervously looked in the direction where the cry came from. The first thing that caught their eyes was the huge bright red crest.

This was a huge and terrifying creature.

Its ridge height exceeded two hundred centimeters, and its length from head to tail was about six meters. Its half-meter-long blood-red front claws seemed to emit a pungent smell of blood. The bright and large crest was like a crown, symbolizing its status as a leader.

It was the king of the Velociprey group — the Velociprey Lord.

Surrounded by two adult Velocipreys, the Velociprey Lord walked towards the caravan with a calm pace like a real king.

In the caravan's position, several cries full of fear and bewilderment came out.

The vertical pupils of the Velociprey Lord, like those of a venomous snake, coldly stared at the people under the siege of the wagons. The sharp teeth in its huge jaws gently rubbed against each other, just like a butcher polishing a sharp knife, looking at a group of panicked pigs locked in a pen.

All it was thinking about was which one to eat first.

In the position of the caravan surrounded by wagons, everyone prayed in panic.

They hoped that these wagons were sturdy enough to become a barrier for their lives and stop the steps of the Velocipreys.

Since seeing this terrifying Velociprey Lord, almost everyone had lost the courage to fight against it and understood why monsters were called "monsters".

If they were just ordinary Velocipreys, they might still be able to fight against them with the advantage of numbers and the short swords in their hands.

But facing the Velociprey Lord.

What was the difference between the iron short swords, which were only about half a meter long including the blade and the handle and were only three or four centimeters wide, and toothpicks?

Just with its blue scales that faintly emitted a metallic luster and the hard keratinous skin several centimeters thick, it was already invincible.

Soon, the Velociprey Lord and a few other Velocipreys came to the side of the wagon formation.

The wagons over two meters tall couldn't completely block the tall body of the Velociprey Lord. Its huge head protruded from the top of the wagons, looking down at the terrified humans inside the formation from a high position.

The boundless fear was like an invisible big hand, tightly gripping everyone's throats, making them unable to breathe.

However, at this moment, the Velociprey Lord suddenly turned its head and left.

Uncontrollable joy of surviving a disaster appeared on everyone's faces. Many people slumped to the ground as if all the bones in their bodies had been removed.

Only Paine's face was as pale as paper. His hand grasping the hilt of the sword was slightly white at the knuckles due to excessive force. His eyes were fixed on the direction where the Velociprey Lord had turned its head and left.

Before the Velociprey Lord turned its head, he clearly saw a very human-like look of mockery in its scarlet vertical pupils.

It seemed to be laughing at their stupidity and overestimation of their own abilities.

"Stand up! Everyone take up your weapons, quickly! It hasn't..."

"Boom!"

Paine's shout was interrupted by a loud noise.

One of the wagons used as the wall exploded as if it had been hit by a cannonball. Broken pieces of wood and goods flew in all directions.

These "walls" composed of wooden boards and goods couldn't resist the casual Iron Mountain Charge of the Velociprey Lord at all.

The wall of the wagon formation that had been broken open by the Velociprey Lord was no longer a barrier to protect everyone's lives but instead became a fence that blocked their escape.

Several blue shadows easily leaped over the roofs of the other wagons and landed among the panicked crowd.

They were the two Velocipreys following behind the leader!

Their appearance made the already panicked faces of everyone even more desperate.

These monsters were showing off.

Even without the Iron Mountain Charge of the Velociprey Lord to destroy the wagons, they could also easily cross this ridiculous barrier.

The so-called defensive circle had been meaningless from the very beginning.