I'm a Immortal Tavernkeeper, But My S-Rank Daughter Doesn't Know That!

As soon as Victor had finished all his instructions on how they were going to deal with the undead ahead, the group mentally prepared themselves to enter the domain of the demon’s aura.

When they finally did, it was like stepping through a portal into another world, for the sensation that enveloped them was one of terrible, almost unbearable pressure, as if the air itself was charged with an unpalatable, toxic element that pushed the oxygen out of their lungs.

Even the color of the cloudy sky seemed to change at that moment, adopting a darker, redder and heavier tone.

To top it all off, the demon’s voice echoed in their minds with malice.

"Come, brave hunters," Gravisk hissed like a serpent. "Enter my realm, free me and face me. If you succeed in defeating me, you will be rewarded with what your hearts desire most. All my power is at your fingertips, all you have to do is take the next step."

Orie felt a shiver run down his spine as he heard the demon’s insinuating voice, but his training and determination kept him firm. He looked at the others, seeing the tension on the faces of Pyaxu, Riggilo and even Victor and Elban. They were all aware of the danger, but they didn’t seem willing to back down either.

"Don’t listen to that voice, hunters," said Elban and his voice cut through the charged atmosphere like a beacon illuminating the darkness. "Gravisk doesn’t really want you to undo its seal, it knows it’s not necessary because it’ll break free anyway. The only thing it wants is to lure you out so that you can be killed by its minions and join its army."

"That presence..." The demon’s voice echoed again. "Urgh! The Hero Elban is accompanying you. Weak and foolish, you will meet a fate worse than his, don’t worry."

Victor Shieldman stepped forward and pushed through some bushes to continue on his way. "Let’s get going, it doesn’t know where we are and we have a lot of work to do. After a while it’ll be quiet."

Without apparent hesitation or fear, Victor went ahead, leading the rest of the group.

Gravisk’s voice continued to echo in their minds, taunting them, but they remained focused on their goal: exterminating the undead that infested the forest.

The sound of breaking branches and distorted moans echoed through the trees, announcing the presence of the undead infesting the area. So it wasn’t long before they encountered the first undead.

Skeletoids were distorted and decomposed beings, whose bodies had once been nothing but bones and sometimes part of their clothes and weapons.

Quick as an assassin, Victor approached the first skeletoid and stuck his sword in it, without giving it a chance to even be noticed.

The others watched and were surprised at how easy Victor made it look.

Skeletoids were indeed the weakest type of undead and didn’t have good natural senses, but it was also unusual for a large warrior like Victor to be so silent and lethal. It was more like the skills of an assassin.

However, there was no time for them to be impressed by Victor.

The gray-haired hunter signaled for Pyaxu and Riggilo to position themselves on the sides, while Orie stayed a little behind, ready to attack from afar.

For his part, Elban was a spirit, so monsters of any kind didn’t care about his presence at all, because most of them couldn’t even see or hear him. So for the group of hunters he was very useful, because he could provide some inside information of the terrain ahead, such as the undead count and their location.

When Victor clicked his tongue twice, Orie received the signal he needed and unleashed an accurate arrow that hit a zombie square in the head, causing it to collapse lifelessly to the ground. As soon as this corpse fell to the ground, the thud attracted the attention of a skeletoid that was wandering nearby. This distraction was perfect for Pyaxu who, with his sword imbued with a blue light, cut through this monster with impressive efficiency.

The deeper they got, the more the forest environment seemed distorted, as if nature itself was reacting to Gravisk’s presence. The trees were contorted in strange ways, and the natural light seemed to arrive with difficulty, even though it wasn’t even noon yet.

Finally, Victor raised his hand, signaling for the group to stop moving forward. Then he stood up from behind the tree and motioned for the others to come to him.

"What’s wrong?" muttered Riggilo to Victor, crouching down with his staff. "Aren’t we making good progress?"

"That’s not it, we’re doing fine. But..."

"You’re surrounded." Elban said, hovering unobtrusively over the group who were crouched in some bushes.

Victor agreed with regret on his face. "Yes, there are three skeletoids on our right, four on our left and a group of zombies in front of us. If I were alone, I could snake around or take them out one by one in a straight line, but there are four of us, it would be too risky to go on like this and suffer the risk of being caught off guard."

"So, what’s the plan? I know you have one." Orie said and looked seriously at Victor and Elban.

Victor looked at Elban and the spirit seemed to give him the go-ahead to tell him their idea.

"Pay attention, it’s a risky plan, but if it works we’ll be able to finish everyone off quickly." Victor said, picked up a stick from the ground and began to draw a circle. "This is where we are..."

The plan that Victor began to explain to the boys at that moment was a simple one. They were surrounded by undead on all sides, except behind his back, because they had eliminated those in the way, and the normal course of action would be for them to choose one side to follow and exterminate the monsters on that side, but with Victor’s idea, they could eliminate them all at once. The only problem was that a plan with such efficiency usually has its risks. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

"...and when Elban gives you the signal, Riggilo, you go boom!" Victor finished explaining and raised his head to listen to what the others had to say.

"That’s great!" Pyaxu said.

"That’s definitely not going to work." Oriel slapped a hand to his forehead and let his thoughts slip out loud.

"Err. I don’t know if..." The Riggilo cleric was hesitant, but then Victor stuck his sword in the middle of the circle where he had drawn the plan.

"Let’s do it!" Victor declared, giving no room for fear.