<h4>Chapter 163 - A Horde</h4>


    "What is this?" Theo widened his eyes in surprise as when they stepped onto the Unending Grass Field, not only did they not hear any roarsing from behind the grass, but no monsters also appeared to attack them.


    "This… What had happened in this ce?" Phyrill narrowed his eyes and checked his surroundings. "This ce should have many monsters and I don''t think people will be foolish enough to eliminate all of them.


    "That''s right. Although no one says it, they know that this ce is a checkpoint and a special spot. There are no signs of fighting as well. It means this ce is untouched or the people, who killed the monsters, have fled a few hours ago.


    "Still, I believe one or two monsters should have been trapped here within that time frame, so I can''t see any reason for this to happen."


    Listening to Phyrill''s assessment, Theo said, "Either way, we will set up our camp on the other side of this field. Since there''s no monster, we will use this opportunity to cross this ce, discuss the urrence and search for a clue around here. If we can''t find anything during the night, we will continue our way, reach Art Beats City before lunch and report this finding."


    The group agreed with Theo and followed his n. As expected, Phyrill was the one investigating most of the area while the rest searched for anything they could find.


    Unfortunately for them, they couldn''t find a single reason for the group to leave this ce together, so they decided to end the day and return tomorrow.


    Yet, when they moved to another ce and continued their way, the ces were filled with emptiness. There wasn''t a single monster in this ce. Everything from the Unending Grass Field was simply empty.


    They thought they could find a single monster from this, but they didn''t know the reason for this emptiness. Even with Theo and Phyrill thinking together, they couldn''te up with a single reason as to why the monsters disappeared from this ce.


    Phyrill learned that the monsters went toward Art Beats Castle together like a horde, yet, he knew it wasn''t this simple. No horde attack should happen without any big trigger like an Earthquake or something.


    Even the previous earthquake didn''t create this kind of situation. That was why they wondered what moved the entire horde to attack the city.


    Theo and Phyrill kept contemting this matter while making their way to Art Beats Castle.


    Since the Unending Grass Field wasn''t that far from the Art Beats Castle, the journey didn''t take a long time.


    As expected, everything remained quiet until they reached the Art Beats City perimeter. A thunderous roar echoed in their ears and was followed by a huge explosion. It wasn''t supposed to happen.


    "What is happening to the Art Beats City?" Alea narrowed her eyes. But when she was about to move forward to see the situation, she stopped and remembered that they shouldn''t act carelessly. She didn''t want to make the same mistake, so she looked at Theo first to listen to his opinion.


    "I don''t know… Judging by the explosions and roars, I think the Art Beats City is under attack." Theo contemted for a moment and said, "We need to secretly move forward to witness what is happening to understand the situation better. Phyrill, you go ahead and lead us."


    Phyrill smiled and nodded. "Understood."


    After acknowledging themand, Phyrill disappeared and started looking around before returning to the group a few minutester with a grim expression. He looked at Theo and sighed, "Rather than exining, it''s better for all of you to see it first. Follow me… Just make sure you don''t make a loud noise, so we don''t get found out."


    The group agreed and followed Phyrill carefully while watching out for each other. After around five minutes, the group reached the exit and took a peek at the situation of Art Beats City behind the city.


    Theo drew a gasp while the rest couldn''t believe what they just saw.


    The Art Beats City was under an onught from a horde of monsters. In front of them was the southern wall, so they could only see the monsters around this area. Yet, they were numbered at least a few thousand. Combined with other areas, they might reach as far as thirty thousand monsters.


    Their ranks varied from Normal Rank to Hero Rank, making the situation iparably difficult. They could see numerous monsters trying to destroy the wall and open the gate while many soldiers and hunters defended the city from the city wall.


    This was also the first time Theo saw the cannons on the city wall used. Each round destroyed tens of monsters while leaving a huge trail on the ground.


    "This is catastrophic. A horde?" Theo narrowed his eyes and wondered if there was a connection between this ident and the Unending Grass Field.


    "What is my grandfather doing?" Alea remembered that her grandfather should be in the city. If he came out, the monsters should be suppressed easily.


    After seeing the current situation, an army soldier seemed to have spotted them hiding behind the trees while watching the situation.


    He leaped from the city wall to the sky beforending on the ground next to them. He was a middle-aged man with ck hair and a thin beard. His body was muscr as he suddenly took out his Skylink.


    "My name is Captain Hilkert. You must be one of the student groups that wandered in the wilderness. As you can see, the base is under attack, so we require as many helpers as possible. I hope you can help us fight the monsters on top of the western wall where most groups like you gathered. I will create a path for you and personally request the continuation of your leave from the school as this is a special emergency. Reinforcements are alsoing our way and it''s possible to eliminate them within two days in order to minimize the casualties."


    Hilkert exined them perfectly and the others looked at each other, agreeing to help since they couldn''t afford to have the base get destroyed. However, Theo''s face remained indifferent as if he didn''t have the intention to help.


    Uncaring of their opinion, Theo just kept observing the situation as well as the so-called Captain Hilkert as thetter said, "Let''s go. I will lead you to enter the city."