NOVEL WEB Chapter 278: Howlers
"Hmm, but I am not alone, and it is better to have a few cannon fodders in an unknown place." Vritra replied. It had been so long, he wondered if he should hunt a few demons.
Finally, Vritra sent a few of his soul wraiths to look ahead and find any creature.
Just forty or so minutes had passed when strong wind started blowing. The trees were pulled off the ground, and heavy rocks were floating in the air. It seemed to be a tornado, but not a natural one.
"Another group of bandits? Just exactly how many people are living in this place? Sigh, no wonder the guards seemed so afraid to come on this trip." Vanessa spoke, rubbing her forehead.
"The bandits this time are a little stronger and more in numbers." Vritra said lazily. The barriers of the carriages stopped them from getting swept away in the storm.
This time, a fight broke out — the guards fought against the bandits. Although the bandits had the element of surprise, the well-trained guards quickly overpowered them and killed most of the bandits, while a few managed to flee.
After everything was settled, the ride continued on its journey.
***
Two days had passed since they had entered the Night Forest. Till now, they had been attacked by bandits more than thirty times, and each time it seemed the bandits were getting stronger.
The guards were already starting to struggle. It seemed they wouldn't be able to hold on to the defences for long.
All the guards seemed rather depressed since they were sure they would all be killed before ever reaching the White Kingdom.
Vritra rested his head in Diana's lap while the goddess fed him fruits. Vanessa and Fiona were busy chatting; his mother was teaching her various arts of seduction.
The pair of teacher and student were really into their lessons; Diana was also listening to the lessons.
THUD
Once again, something fell in front of the carriage and they stopped. Vritra rolled his eyes.
He was seriously getting bored by this development; he didn't want to expose his soul wraiths, so he hadn't ordered them yet to make a move.
He quickly scanned the surroundings and found that this time there was no one around. After a few seconds, there was a knock on the carriage door and a low voice sounded.
"Sir, we are going to enter the area of the swamp, and make sure you don't leave your carriages no matter what you hear on the outside.
This is the region where Howlers live — the creatures who can make all sorts of sounds to lure us into their traps. We will be safe as long as we are inside the carriages." The guard finished and waited.
"Okay, I will be careful, thank you." Vritra said as he sat up and opened the window, before asking:
"How strong exactly are these Howlers?"
"We know little about their exact strength, but I have heard even the weakest of the Howlers are at the middle of the 1st Myriad rank. As long as the king Howlers don't make a move, we should be fine in our carriages." The guard answered.
"What about the king Howlers? How much do you know about them?" Vritra questioned. They hadn't even reached the middle of the Night Forest, yet they were already encountering such creatures.
"About that… those creatures might even be at the 2nd Myriad rank. I had heard that with just a single scream they could make anyone go wild.
But they are very lazy and just use other Howlers to bring food — though they occasionally go out." The fear in his voice was evident.
"Okay, you can leave." Vritra nodded. As the guard walked back towards his own carriage, Vritra shut the window and asked:
"Wifey, what do you have to say about it?" Vritra asked. Yasmine's knowledge and advice were top-notch, so it was better to listen to her.
"We will be fine, don't worry. With the barriers you have created around all the carriages, even the king Howler's scream wouldn't have any effect on us. And those creatures aren't as strong physically.
Unless some fool leaves the carriage, no one would die here." Yasmine said as she appeared in her human-like form and sat over Vritra's lap, wrapping her arms around his neck.
The others had already seen Yasmine's human form. They were all surprised at her appearance; she possessed the sort of beauty that could create wars and destroy races.
"Wifey, after we arrive in your kingdom, how difficult do you think it will be for you to get your body back?" Vritra asked, pulling her closer into his arms, with his head resting over her chest.
"It will be very easy. We will enter without informing anyone and just need to steal a couple of things from my house." Yasmine said, her tender lips curling into a smile.
"Oh, sounds so simple. Breaking into one of the strongest races and then into their castle, stealing something, and then leaving — yeah, simple enough." Vritra nodded.
"I mean, you would be strong enough by then that we could just enter by the front door and take whatever we want—" Yasmine was just speaking when she was interrupted by a noise from outside.
"Agggggghhhhh! T-There is a king Howler, save meeeeee! Uwaaaaaah!" The scream of a man reverberated. All the carriages fell into complete silence, but they didn't stop moving.
The horses pulling the carriages neighed and seemed afraid of the creatures lurking in the darkness, but they weren't normal horses either.
Despite the eerie environment, they continued to march through the swamp.
The coachman didn't need to control the horses; they hid inside one of the carriages.
That scream was just the beginning — soon, all sorts of sounds started coming from the outside.
Sometimes it was the cries of a baby, which gave chills to almost everyone. It was like they were experiencing a horror movie in reality.
Sometimes a sweet, melodic voice would come from the outside and call out to them.
"Diddy, help meeeee, ughhh they are haa hurting meeeee, it's me, Karen." Another scream sounded soon, and Vritra pinched his temples in advance since he knew what was going to happen.
THUD
And just as he expected, the sound of a door opening from one of the carriages sounded, followed by a loud screech and then a painful scream.
No one tried to look outside or help him, as everything suddenly became silent.
Just when everyone thought he was dead, with another loud thump, Diddy's voice sounded from the outside. He seemed to be in pain, out of breath, and extremely scared:
"FUCK! DIE! DIE! DIE! Ughhhh, Karen, I really loved you, now you will regret not accepting me." Diddy said before going silent once again.
"Tch, disgusting men." Karen's voice sounded from one of the carriages.
'I wonder if she only knows how to speak those two words.' Vritra thought. He finally got a good look at the so-called Howler.
"Hahaha, I was just joking. I am still alive, so Karen, you don't have to worry — my eternal love will always be with you." Diddy's voice sounded from his carriage.
❖❖❖
Thanks for reading...