Chapter 238: Sharp Whistle
At the same time, the Lewis Guild and the Vikings Guild finally received reports of the demons’ appearance.
But compared to the demons that appeared to attack the south of the southwestern province, the difference was like heaven and earth.
The demons could barely amount to a thousand, while the strongest demon was only at the peak of the Greater Demon rank.
The Lewis Guild and Vikings Guild were not confused, but the Imperial Army was.
After all, their understanding of the Great Demon Incursion from what they had learned in the Imperial Army was many times more terrifying than what they were currently facing.
Unknown to them, the Great Demon Incursion had only been experienced by the Imperial Army in Mirefall Province.
A B-rank Phantom Stalker in the Demon Hunters Guild stood on a branch of a tree, watching as demons emerged from the space rift.
His face was grim while his hand tightly clutched the Portable Demonic Detection Crystal.
Suddenly, the Demonic Detection Crystal broke into pieces, snapping him out of his thoughts.
He gazed down as he opened his fist and saw the fragmented pieces of the Demonic Detection Crystal.
He found out that the Portable Demonic Detection Crystal had broken apart not only because of the intensity of his grip, but also because of the overwhelming presence of demonic mana.
The B-rank Phantom Stalker watched as the demons continued to emerge from the space rift until the branch of the tree he was using as a platform withered from the demonic mana.
Despite how close he was to the demons, even with a Greater Demon less than a hundred meters away from him, the B-rank Phantom Stalker remained undetected.
In fact, if it had been a Phantom Stalker from the Imperial Army, he might have already been detected.
A Phantom Stalker needed to remain calm first. Once their heartbeat raced, even the smallest mistake could result in exposing their presence.
The Phantom Stalker was naturally one of the demon hunters trained by Rose Khan herself.
Hence, despite the presence of tens of Greater Demons ranging from middle to peak rank seemingly surrounding him, the Phantom Stalker remained calm and collected.
When the Phantom Stalker confirmed that the space rift, maintained by a Rift Binder through his four arms, slowly closed, his eyes flashed with a cold glint as he looked at the Rift Binder.
The Phantom Stalker, however, could not make a move against him.
In the end, he decided to close his eyes and chant.
When he was finished, he opened them again, but this time, the color of his eyes had changed significantly.
They were also brilliantly shining from the mana he had used during his chant.
The Phantom Stalker entered an enhanced reconnaissance state.
His detection range greatly increased, covering the entirety of the demon army in front of him.
His brain continued to be flooded with information about the demon army.
Suddenly, a lean demon with elongated limbs, sharp horns, clawed feet, and extremely thin armor detected an unusual appearance of mana above him.
The demon abruptly tilted its head upward, but it couldn’t find the source of the unusual mana.
It bent its lower limbs and suddenly burst toward the origin of the unusual mana, using its sharp horn to attempt to pierce through the existence behind it.
The lean demon stopped and seemed to have penetrated a solid object atop the branch of a tree.
The Phantom Stalker was revealed before he slowly disappeared, causing the lean demon to fall to the ground.
Every demon near him turned their heads toward him and communicated in a language that only they could understand.
The lean demon proudly told them that he had slain a sneaky human.
The demons doubted him since they could not spot the corpse of the human, but the lean demon immediately explained that the human had disappeared after dying.
But the demon who talked to him denied that such a thing could happen. When a human died, it would not simply disappear but would leave behind a corpse.
The lean demon rebuked him, inevitably turning their conversation into an argument.
Their conflict was reflected in the eyes of the Phantom Stalker, who was now standing upon a half-withered tree a hundred meters away from them.
This time, there was no demon directly below him, allowing the Phantom Stalker to continue gathering intelligence.
When he was finished, he glanced at the lean demon and snorted.
He disappeared and arrived at the main camp where Gareth was stationed.
Gareth and a B-rank Tactician were present, watching the map showing countless dots and symbols.
The Phantom Stalker silently appeared and coughed, catching their attention.
"At exactly 2.5 kilometers to the northwest, a space rift appeared, bringing a peak Greater Demon, four middle-rank Greater Demons..."
He paused briefly before continuing.
"The demon army has a thousand and one hundred demons in total."
As the Phantom Stalker continued to disseminate information about the demon army in the northwest, Gareth nodded and turned toward the B-rank Tactician.
As though they had the same thought, the B-rank Tactician nodded.
"It’s best to strike there first."
The B-rank Tactician then explained to the Phantom Stalker, who was completely taken aback.
"A demon army not different from what you reported has appeared from various directions near us.
"But the other camps in the western frontier will have to strike first.
"Only the demon army you reported is near us, so that will be our prey."
The Phantom Stalker nodded. "Right now?"
"Right now.
"Given that we are the most powerful camp in the western frontier, we must become a reinforcement to the other camps as much as possible.
"They can’t hold on much longer. They need our support."
"So, why would they strike first?"
The B-rank Tactician replied, "Being active is much better than being passive."
As the Phantom Stalker processed what the Tactician said, the latter and Gareth left their tent.
The B-rank Tactician then whistled sharply, signaling their camp’s first mobilization against the demon army...