The Goddess Granted Me the [Hatching] Skill and Somehow I Became the Strongest Tamer, Commanding Mythical and Divine Beasts - 89

Chapter 89: Invisible Attack

“That was surprisingly quick,” Ritz said with a sigh of relief after the battle.

“That’s because of Carol. It wouldn’t have worked without her,” he added.

“Eh, it was nothing special,” Carol responded, as usual, not sounding impressed by the praise.

“Anyway, all that’s left is to call the others and carry the Cockatrice bodies,” I said.

Although I had been worried about the request, it had been resolved without any casualties.

However, Carol still had a serious look on her face.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Something about the way the Cockatrices moved was strange,” she answered.

“What was strange about it?” Ritz asked.

“The Cockatrices are most mobile in the forest. I thought they might escape there if they were at a disadvantage, but they didn’t show any sign of trying to escape,” Carol explained.

As Carol said, even the Cockatrice I faced didn’t try to run into the forest. If it had, it would have caused us a lot of trouble, yet it didn’t…

“Could it be… there’s something in the forest?” Carol suggested.

“Something? What do you mean?” Hanna asked.

“I’m not sure,” Carol replied vaguely.

“But we should check just in case,” she added.

“Now? We’re all tired…” Ritz groaned.

“Let’s follow the leader’s orders. Figuring out what this mysterious thing is will help keep the roads safe in the future,” I said, trying to calm them down.

Both Hanna and Ritz sighed in response. We started investigating deeper into the forest.

“We’ve been looking for so long, but we haven’t found anything. Could it just be your imagination?” Ritz asked.

“Monsters don’t always act rationally. Maybe our plan worked too well, and they couldn’t escape into the forest,” Carol replied.

It had been over half an hour since we entered the forest, and there was still no sign of anything unusual.

“Hmm… this is strange,” Carol said, tilting her head as if she didn’t quite understand what was going on.

“How about we report to Paris and gather people for a more thorough investigation later?” I suggested.

The sun was setting, and it was getting dark, making it difficult to see clearly.

“Yeah, other parties have probably finished their Cockatrice hunts by now, and if everyone is safe, that’s the important thing,” Ritz agreed.

Indeed, we had already eliminated the biggest threat, so it was best to focus on other concerns later.

As I began to relax from Ritz’s words…

“Hey, Rock, is something wrong?” I noticed Rock starting to squirm restlessly.

“Is he upset about the familiar?” Hanna asked.

“Usually, he’s calm, but… wait a second. Let me calm him down,” I said.

Just as I was about to try to soothe Rock, a bad feeling suddenly washed over me.

“Claus! Watch out!” Carol’s urgent voice rang out, and I was shoved aside.

“Ouch…” I landed hard and couldn’t react quickly enough to soften the fall, sitting down awkwardly as I looked up.

“Impossible…” I heard Hanna and Ritz’s shocked voices.

“Carol?” I asked in disbelief.

In front of me stood Carol, but she had been turned into crystal.