Chapter 172: Clear The Woods

The group silently climbed down the tree and followed the noise of the monster camp toward the location the Giants had picked as their base.

The ogres were still avoiding the area, as Hawk confirmed, once he started his overhead surveillance.

"Fifty or more Goblins, ten Ogres, twenty Hobgoblins, and Four Giants. None of them are as large as the leader of the last group, but they all look the same according to Hawk, so I'm going to say that they are indeed more Hill Giants." Karl confirmed.

Bob motioned for them all to follow, and both mages took out wands from their coats. One was the wand of Fireball that they had recovered from the Ettin Mage, and the other looked similar, so they were probably both similar in function.

The more mana that they could save at the start of the fight, the better. They were going to have a tough time with that many Hobgoblins and Ogres, and only Thor, Bob and the Golems could effectively deal with the Giants.

Bob paused only a few dozen metres from the tree line around the Giants' encampment as he made his final preparations.

"Call the Golems as soon as we arrive. Then area damage to remove the smaller threats, while I hold off the Giants with Thor. The wood Golems have a vine attack that can hit multiple targets, so use it on the Hobgoblins.

Karl, I am counting on you, Hawk and Rae to deal with the Ogres.

Once those are down, join us at the Giants, and we will finish the fight as quickly as possible, then retreat away from the camp to rest before clearing the rest of the area." He whispered.

That didn't sound too bad to Karl. With Rae and Hawk, they shouldn't have too many problems eliminating the Ogres, who were relatively slow moving. If he dodged well enough, he might not even have to engage them in close combat at all.

Everyone but Thor agreed that was ideal. The more enemies that you could eliminate from a distance, the better. Even Rae felt that way, and she didn't have a true ranged attack. Instead, she preferred to let the enemy tire itself out on her web before she finished it off.

Karl moved to the right, closer to where the Ogres were gathered, and Bob moved left with Thor to approach the Giants from the back.

The monsters would hear their approach soon, as Thor wasn't great at stealth, being a nearly two metre tall scaled dinosaur. But the sound of monsters moving in the forest wasn't a sound that the Giants were unfamiliar with, and instead of taking it as a threat, they just kept tracking him, waiting for the Cerro to get close enough for them to attack.

One Lightning Cerro on its own was an easy meal for this large group, and that was all that they could hear so far.

The Giants roared in victory as they decided that Thor was close enough to attack, and Karl heard them run off into the trees. They hadn't waited for Bob to launch the attack, but the other monsters weren't joining them, as the Giants would take it as a threat to their authority if the others stole a kill.

That was when he attacked.

[Rae, grab the Ogres with your web to slow them down. Hawk, full attack.] He announced mentally as he darted forward to throw Rend attacks into the unprotected bellies and legs of the Ogres.

Their hide was thick, and tougher than most hardened leather, thanks to their status as Awakened monsters.

None of them were fully grown, as Hawk had informed them, and they were all on the low side of Awakened in power, which was letting his attacks cut deep furrows into their hide, enraging the Ogres, and making them charge toward the trees where he was hiding.

That was precisely what they wanted. Ten to one seemed like good odds to the Ogres, and even after a few of them stumbled and hit the ground, they still saw an overwhelming advantage for their side.

But Hawk was attacking from above, and the fallen Ogres had been killed without ever knowing they were under attack from multiple directions.

Then, the front row reached the trees, and Rae sprung into action, pulling them to the ground with a web she had left lying on the ground as a trap.

The moment she pulled it tight, the remaining ogres became entangled, and the Bloodbath Spider charged into them, tearing bodies apart from behind as Karl attacked from the front.

He was still retreating, leaving space between him and the web so he could attack without being in their retaliation range, but within seconds, that wouldn't matter.

They weren't bright, and they were becoming even more entangled as they fought with each other to get free.

Rae spun more web around them as Hawk bombarded them from above, and then moved off to assist Thor, who was having a tough time with the Giants.

Just because they couldn't smash through his barrier in a single strike didn't mean they couldn't at all, and the mighty Cerro was on the defensive, sweeping with his horns, and using Earthquake to keep the Giants off balance.

Being on four feet gave him the advantage in stability, and even when he stepped into his own effect, he was still able to stab and charge at the giants, herding them away from the main clearing, and away from Bob, so the warrior could finish his second fight without interference.

With the combined efforts of Karl and Rae, the Ogres were all in states of incapacitated already, and Rae was finishing them quickly to add to her snack pile before anyone could tell her they wanted something off the bodies.

They had been stripped of their loot and clothing when she tossed them in the space, and she didn't see any reason that the others would want the body parts, so they were hers. She had claimed them, and she wasn't giving them up.

Karl quickly checked the pile of items from the Ogres, and stuffed the bits of gold and silver into the side pocket of his bag, then moved to join the fight against the goblins.

The Hobgoblins were already down, eliminated by the golems, and most of the Goblins were gone as well, taken out by a large area fire spell.

Doug gestured for Karl to keep going, as the remaining Goblins were being held off by the golems array of roots and vines. They didn't need the help, as the goblins were much weaker than they were, just too numerous to be immediately eliminated.

That gave Karl an idea, though. Hawk knew a fireball that could expand over a small area. If he kept training at it, he could likely expand it enough to cover most of a clearing. Even if it weakened the spell significantly, it would allow him to eliminate threats like a goblin tribe in a single shot.

Nobody in the group had a large-scale spell like that, but Karl was certain that it should be possible, since the bird had already used it as both a stream of flame and as a ball.

With a gesture from Karl, Rae circled wide around the edge of the clearing while he charged through, attacking the few Goblins that turned his way as he headed for the Giants.

They could see him coming, and one broke free of Thor's distraction to charge at the incoming warrior, only to realize too late that it was a trap.

Hawk set a Wind Barrier in front of him, stopping the giant in his tracks, and the Bloodbath Spider was all over his back, tearing him apart in a position that he couldn't reach.

His scream of frustration distracted the other Giants, and one immediately fell to Bob's blade, while the other was knocked to the ground by Thor, then had its rib cage crushed by an Earthquake enhanced tail strike.

Karl finished the Giant and turned back to the casters, just in time to see the last of the Goblins fall.

That fight wasn't nearly as bad as they had feared, though Thor had retreated to his pond to rest and recuperate before the next battle. He would heal quickly even out here with his lightning, but it was better to completely rest until he was called on again.

Rae felt the same way, but mostly because she wanted to arrange her treasures in her web.

That left Hawk circling overhead, and an upbeat group of Elites, ready to move on to hunting for the rest of the monsters in their zone.