System's POV
chapter-493

"Where are they?!"

"They're somewhere around he—ack!"

"Hide behind the trees quickly!"

Sherry, Sean, Heidi, and their subordinates who had accompanied Thirteen on this daring night raid couldn't help but feel their blood boil inside their bodies.

The sense of exhilaration as they initiated guerrilla warfare against the Ratmen gave them an adrenaline rush they didn't expect to experience in Solterra.

After the chaos ensued in the Ratmen's base, the monsters had taken a defensive stance, thinking that the Lizardmen must have decided to take revenge on them for the earlier losses they had suffered in the day.

But as time went on, no more attacks followed the initial strike. This made the Commander of the Ratmen believe that the Lizardmen had only sent a small elite team to harass them during the night.

Although it had no proof of this, its instincts were telling it that its hunch was correct.

With this in mind, he sent out scouting parties in every direction to find traces of the bastards who had decided to raid them in the middle of the night.

Unlike other races, Ratmen didn't really have good vision during the night.

However, they were very sensitive to light.

Their whiskers also served as their very own radars to detect vibrations in the surroundings.

Although it didn't have a long-range, it allowed them to navigate in the darkness, helping them with their search.

Unfortunately for them, Zion, who had night vision, found them to be the perfect target practice for his archery skills.

Sean and Heidi, who had also practiced archery during their month-long stay in the Valley, had learned the basics.

Although they were not as good as Thirteen, hitting targets from a distance was not a problem for them.

Also, since they were Wanderers, they had acquired passive skills that helped them detect and target opponents from a distance.

Of course, they didn't fight using only arrows.

Since Thirteen had summoned his Parade of a Hundred Demons and their clones, they were able to take on Scouting Parties that they could handle with their numbers.

These "Demons" didn't attack the Ratmen and only observed them from a distance.

Their only job was to warn Thirteen and Erica if there were monsters they wouldn't be able to defeat with their current team.

The sound of screams spread in the night as Sherry, Sean, Heidi, and their subordinates killed one Ratmen after the other.

Thirteen didn't interfere unless he believed that the teenagers were in danger.

He couldn't acquire skills or items from killing the Ratmen, so letting the Wanderers kill them was the best option.

"That's the last one of them, Boss," Sherry reported after cleaning her short sword with a piece of cloth and throwing it over the corpse of a Ratman. "We left no one alive."

"Good." Thirteen, who was standing on top of a tree branch and keeping watch, nodded. "Check if they have anything of value, then let's circle around to find other parties to hunt."

The Ratmen they had killed weren't well off, and they had nothing of value aside from their weapon and armor.

Since carrying armor would only make them less mobile, the Wanderers simply took the daggers and short swords the Ratmen used before they died.

While they were doing this, they heard the sound of an explosion in the distance, prompting Sean to ask Thirteen a question.

"Did the Lizardmen also send a raid team to attack the Ratmen?" Sean asked.

"Maybe," Thirteen answered. "But this is good for us. They will think they are surrounded by many opponents, so their forces will be scattered."

Similar to what his party was doing, Erica's team, which was composed of six Apostles and a few Wanderers, were killing the Ratmen in favorable conditions.

Tiona's clone was there to provide vital information to the Sorceress, who was more than happy to launch her devastating range attack from a distance before running away to safety.

This hit-and-run tactic was very deadly and very effective, making the Scouting Parties fearful.

"We've cleared up everything of value," Heidi reported. "Where next, Zion?"

"Northwest," Thirteen replied. "There is a hunting party composed of eight Ratmen. With our numbers, we can handle them easily."

The Wanderers, who were still drunk on battle lust, obeyed Thirteen's instructions to the letter.

They conducted guerilla tactics for two more hours before retreating to a cave to rest for the time being.

Sherry, Sean, Heidi, and the other Wanderers were very satisfied because they acquired many valuable items from this raid.

If not for the fact that they were already exhausted from the constant battling, they would have continued it for a little while longer.

Thirteen also didn't want to push them to their limits at this point in time.

With this in mind, he decided to let them take a rest and told them that they'd resume their attacks after a few hours.

The teenage boy also told Erica that they should return to their own base because they had already helped plenty.

Since Thirteen intended to let the Sorceress' group take care of the Wanderers who were currently in Rocky's Mobile Fortress, he needed to release them somewhere near the Rebel Camp.

Thirteen already told Erica that it was fine to reveal that he was also on the same battlefield with her party members so that they wouldn't get confused if they found a few Wanderers near their base.

Although the Sorceress might take a lot of time to explain, he believed that she would be able to convince their team that everything was going according to how Thirteen planned it to be.

***

Drazzat watched the blaze in the distance with a calm expression on his reptilian face.

He had secretly followed Thirteen's team when they left the camp to see if the teenage boy would be able to keep his promise to keep the Ratmen occupied while his men recovered from their injuries.

However, when he saw that the Ratmen camp was set ablaze, he realized that there were other Wanderers assisting Thirteen in raiding the Ratmen Camp.

Drazzat sensed that the Leader of the second group had a Mount with the rank of a Rank 6 Sovereign, so he didn't make any move to question their affiliation.

'That boy is hiding things from me,' Drazzat thought as he watched the burning camp in the distance. 'Still, it seems that he is on our side… at least for now.'

Although the chaos in front of him was to his liking, he also understood that there were consequences for this sudden attack on the Ratmen.

For example, since their food supplies had been compromised, the Ratmen might settle for a blitzkrieg attack at the Lizardmen Camp because they were short on food.

Or they might relocate their base farther away while their Hunting Teams hunt for food to feed their army.

Drazzat was hoping that the Ratmen would choose the second option. However, he knew that this was just wishful thinking on his part.

If the Ratmen truly became desperate, then they might attack during sunrise in hopes of quickly ending the battle before they die from hunger.

Drazzat stayed for a little longer, watching Thirteen's team continue to harass the Ratmen until an hour before sunrise.

When the sky over the horizon was starting to light up, Thirteen decided that enough was enough and ordered his team to look for a place to rest.

Drazzat, on the other hand, returned to the Lizardmen Camp and sent scouts to observe the Ratmen's movements.

If his first guess were to come true, then today might be the day when the Varesti Tribe's forces would be completely and utterly defeated by the Ratmen, who were seething from anger after what they had experienced a few hours ago.