"Clovis! Look!" Melody pointed at the mountain and even marked it so that they could see the same thing. Kanaria squinted her eyes to check.
"That’s…" Clovis’s expression turned serious the moment he thought this was going to be the ruin.
"I think that is the entrance. I can see the gap between those vines!" Kanaria nodded.
The spot that Melody chose was like that of a cave. The entrance wasn’t that big and it had been covered with boulders and vines. However, once spotted, it was easy to determine that there was actually a room inside that entrance.
Without hesitation, Clovis ordered, "We’ll climb right away."
"Safety first!" Kanaria stopped them and asked them to put on the harness they had brought. This way, they could somehow attach themselves to the wall. Even if they somehow slipped, they wouldn’t fall too far.
They exchanged looks. Clovis was the first one to put it on so that the others did the same.
The preparation was brief. However, they didn’t attach themselves to each other with ropes this time.
After all of them were ready, they started running toward the mountain. Melody had prepared the path, so they only had to follow it.
As expected, the moment they began climbing, their position became exposed since there were no trees covering them.
There were roars and howls filling the air.
Clovis turned his head around, finding more than ten beasts coming straight at them.
"Tsk." He clicked his tongue. The current terrain only had a narrow path, so it would be hard to fend them off. Looking at the beasts’ movements, it was clear that these beasts planned to climb the steep wall as if they didn’t care about such terrain.
The assistant AI had identified them and given them the information on the screen.
The beasts turned out to be Chalicotherium, a large herbivorous mammal with a unique body structure that lived around twenty million years ago. It had a long neck, a robust body, and long forelimbs with large, claw-like hooves. These adaptations allowed them to navigate through various landscapes, including steep and rocky terrain.
Its size was also enormous. Each of them had a height of more than two meters. It would be easy for these beasts to grab humans and fall together.
"Attach yourself to the wall!" Clovis shouted. Instead of using the normal equipment, Clovis simply stabbed the rock with his short sword.
After that, he took out the pistol and faced the first beast to buy them some time.
When the first beast arrived, Clovis took a deep breath, looking at this beast in slow motion. The pistol was his last resort, so he waved his blade while following the movement of those large claw-like hooves.
His sword managed to avoid the huge arm, but when he cut the beast, the latter didn’t actually show any sign of pain.
It was simply ignoring this pain and trying to grab Clovis as if wanting to drag him down. Clovis hurriedly kicked his body away so that this beast would fall down.
To his surprise, the beast actually hung on with its other hand.
Clovis cut down those fingers, causing the beasts to fall to the ground. It rolled down for twenty meters. While it wasn’t a full drop, there were a lot of pebbles and boulders on the way, so it should be pretty painful even for a Tier 1 beast.
Yet, the Tier 1 beast actually stood up as soon as it stopped.
"!!!" Clovis finally understood what was going on. It appeared that this beast had gotten used to the pain of falling.
There were still other Chalicotheriums that were climbing up at a fast speed. The nearest one would be the beast that was about to reach Melody.
Without hesitation, Clovis pulled the trigger.
*Bang!*
The bullet pierced through the beast’s head, killing it.
It looked so easy to kill one when he couldn’t do it earlier. Hence, Clovis said, "Kanaria, Melody. There is no need to hold back. Release everything you’ve got on these beasts!"
"Alright."
Kanaria aimed at these beasts’ heads with her rifle. When she shot one, the bullet pierced through the head and killed it easily.
However, the moment Melody shot this beast, they suddenly covered their heads with their giant arms.
*Bang!*
*Bang!*
*Bang!*
The bullets all hit their thick arms, unable to actually pierce their flesh.
It seemed that the beasts managed to learn how to protect themselves after just two kills.
Clovis couldn’t help but wonder if the beast’s stronger ability originated from the harsh terrain or because it was close to unknown territory.
Unfortunately, he didn’t have the time to analyze the situation. He just overwhelmed the beasts with all the bullets. A few beasts sneaked around and climbed the mountain through the same narrow path as Clovis’s group.
Jay immediately moved to the rear and slashed them with all his strength. However, such power required a good surge of strength from his lower body, meaning that he had to step on the ground a bit harder.
When he did it, the rocks on the edge slid down, destabilizing his stance. As a result, his strength was only a third of what he released, which was easily blocked by even a Tier 0 beast.
This showed how inexperienced they were on this type of terrain. Yet, their misfortune hadn’t ended yet.
All of a sudden, they heard a series of cries coming from the air. A single glance was all they needed to see giant birds flying toward them.
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That wasn’t all. There were a lot of roars coming from the opposite side of the Chalicoteriums.
The cave where they were supposed to go suddenly released one beast after another. It only took them a moment to realize what was going on before they began to go down to reach Clovis’s group.
"What?" Clovis was stunned. He didn’t expect that the ruin would have so many beasts. Still, this caused them to be pincered in three different directions. Clovis hurriedly said, "We’re going down! Jay is to open the path, Kanaria and Melody will assist him, and I will protect our rear!"
"Got it!" They nodded after hearing his order.
Clovis gritted his teeth, looking annoyed. To think that the first climb would be so disastrous.