The horned squirrels all leaped at the same time.
Dozens of white bodies shot through the snowstorm like projectiles, their icy horns aimed directly at the hunters.
Lydia tensed her arms and instinctively turned her head toward Liam. She was waiting for an order, but her husband said nothing.
Instead, he watched the other Emerald-rank hunter first.
’I want to see what he can do.’
Logan stepped forward and raised both hands toward the sky.
"Behind me!"
A crimson energy began flowing through his arms.
Then, a dome of red light erupted from the ground, completely surrounding the group.
The first squirrels slammed violently into the barrier.
The creatures bounced off the invisible wall, but they refused to give up.
They clawed at it with their paws, rammed it with their horns, bit at it, and continued pushing relentlessly.
The barrier trembled slightly with every impact.
Logan smirked confidently.
"What are you all standing around for?"
He looked back at the group.
"Attack!"
One of the young hunters hesitated.
"But... the barrier..."
"It blocks attacks coming from outside!"
He punched the glowing red surface.
"But we can pass through it from the inside!"
Liam understood immediately.
’Interesting... a one-way barrier.’
He sent Lydia a thought.
’Honey... take advantage of it.’
A message appeared before his eyes.
[Lydia: I was waiting for your instructions.]
Liam smiled.
’Rock Throw.’
Lydia raised both hands, and the skin on her arms transformed into green slime once more.
[Rock Throw]
Massive stone projectiles burst from her body.
The first rock crushed a squirrel into the snow.
The second sent two more tumbling several meters away.
A third completely shattered another rodent’s body.
The hunters stared in amazement.
"That’s incredible power!"
"She’s wiping them out!"
"Keep attacking!"
For several seconds, it seemed almost too easy.
The squirrels fell one after another.
But then...
Liam frowned.
"They’re changing."
The creatures farther back had begun observing the attacks.
They no longer charged straight ahead.
They waited.
They calculated.
One squirrel leaped just before a rock could hit it.
Another split a projectile in half with its icy horn.
A third darted through the gap between two boulders.
Lydia’s eyes widened slightly.
"They’re learning really fast..."
Liam nodded.
"Too fast."
At that moment, the other ranged attackers finally joined the fight.
The young man wielding the long spear stepped forward.
"Leave them to me!"
He thrust his spear through the barrier, skewering a squirrel cleanly.
With a sharp pull, he yanked the weapon back, and the monster collapsed lifeless into the snow.
"Ha!"
He grinned proudly.
"They’re not that tough!"
Beside him, the young man wielding chained blades began spinning them.
"Move!"
He hurled them forward in wide circles.
The blades sliced through several squirrels before returning to his hands.
"That was awesome!"
"Nice!"
The others slowly regained their confidence.
Even the girl whose phone had been broken smiled.
"I think... we can do this..."
Meanwhile...
Logan continued maintaining the barrier, and sweat began running down his forehead.
His arms trembled slightly.
He clenched his teeth.
"Tsk..."
More and more squirrels slammed against the barrier, making the crimson dome shake constantly.
Finally, he raised his voice.
"Healer!"
The timid girl jumped.
"Y-Yes?"
"Use your ability on me!"
She hesitated for only a moment, but Logan was already breathing heavily.
"Come on! Maintaining this barrier is draining too much energy!"
The young woman closed her eyes, and her staff emitted a faint blue glow.
The same shimmering light appeared around her eyes.
Slowly, she raised one hand.
"Enhancement..."
A stream of blue energy enveloped Logan’s entire body.
His eyes widened in surprise.
The strain in his arms almost completely disappeared.
He took a deep breath.
"Much better..."
The barrier stopped shaking so violently.
It felt solid again.
Liam looked at the young healer and smiled.
"Nicely done."
She blushed.
"R-Really?"
"Of course."
He nodded.
"You’re helping him a lot."
The girl smiled shyly.
Those few words seemed to give her far more confidence.
Meanwhile...
The other three hunters on the front line barely had a chance to contribute.
One carried a shield.
Another wielded a war hammer.
The third wore massive gauntlets on both hands.
But none of them could find an opening to attack.
Lydia’s rocks, the spear, and the chained blades left almost no targets for them.
One of them eventually lowered his weapon.
"I think..."
He sighed.
"...we’re not really needed."
Lydia continued firing rocks without stopping.
Every movement of her hands launched multiple projectiles, and her accuracy improved with every passing minute.
Some of the stones struck exactly where Liam indicated with nothing more than a glance.
He smiled proudly.
But then...
The noise grew louder.
It wasn’t just the squirrels hammering against the barrier anymore.
There were far more of them.
New groups began emerging from every corner of the forest.
Between the trees.
Behind the rocks.
Across the snowy hills.
The girl with the broken phone widened her eyes.
"No..."
One of the boys swallowed hard.
"How many are there?"
Liam slowly scanned the battlefield.
He couldn’t even count them anymore.
They were completely surrounded.
The red barrier was the only reason they were still alive.
The squirrels no longer attacked only from the front.
Now they struck from every direction.
Some even leaped onto the top of the dome.
The impacts became constant.
BANG!
BANG!
CRACK!
THUMP!
Logan tensed his muscles once more.
The blue enhancement was still strengthening him, but even so, his breathing became heavier.
The healer also began showing signs of exhaustion.
The blue glow in her eyes dimmed.
Her hands trembled.
Her staff slowly lowered.
Liam noticed her from the corner of his eye.
"Are you okay?"
She forced a smile.
"I-I’m fine..."
But as soon as she took a step, her legs gave out.
The blue light vanished.
"Ah..."
She clutched her head as the world began spinning around her.
Logan felt the difference immediately.
"No!"
The pressure on the barrier returned all at once.
The veins bulged across his arms.
"Don’t stop!"
The young healer tried to raise her staff again...
But she had almost no strength left.
She collapsed forward.
Before she could hit the ground...
Liam caught her by the arm.
At the same time, the girl with the broken phone grabbed her from the other side.
"Careful."
Together, they kept her from falling face-first into the snow.
The healer was breathing heavily.
"I... I’m sorry..."
She lowered her head.
"I’m... so useless..."
The words barely came out as a whisper.
Liam immediately shook his head.
"Don’t say that."
The young woman slowly looked up.
"But... I can’t keep helping..."
Liam smiled with the same calm expression he had worn since the expedition began.
"You just bought us several extra minutes by keeping that barrier going."
He looked toward Logan.
The man was still holding out because of the time she had given him.
"Without you, we’d probably already be fighting hundreds of those things in close combat."
The girl with the broken phone nodded as well.
"He’s right."
She smiled warmly.
"You helped us a lot."
The healer’s eyes began to fill with tears.
No one had ever said something like that to her before.
Meanwhile...
Logan gritted his teeth.
The barrier shook violently once again.
"Damn it!"
Blow after blow.
There were more of them every second.
And he was reaching his limit.
"I never should’ve accepted such a low-rank healer into this party!"
The young healer immediately lowered her head when she heard those words.
Liam stopped smiling.
Very slowly...
He turned his head toward Logan.
The calm expression on Liam’s face disappeared completely.