“Pervert Knight doesn’t have any fire. He may be a skilled warrior, but if he could slice all these necks for us, we could burn them and gain the experience, right?” I raise my eyebrows, waiting for confirmation.


    “Or maybe they won’t fight each other at all, and we’ll end up with an even deadlier group on our asses. We should flee while we still can and let things sort themselves out,” Astrid says skeptically, looking Mike in the eyes.


    “Yeah, you’re right,” Mike agrees, though he looks undecided.


    Dammit. You’ve got to be kidding me.


    “If this doesn’t work, we can still lure them to the shop,” I suggest.


    “That old jerk could annihilate Mike with a flick of his finger. And he’s definitely not a mindless enemy,” I reason.


    I can’t resist all these points within our reach. I need to convince Mike to help with luring them.


    Or should I do this alone? This is too risky.


    One of Mike’s weaknesses is his greed. I need to use this to my advantage, but manipulating someone was never my style.


    But on the other hand logic tells me to do it, at least for now. What are we supposed to do then? Kill nutrias in secret and level up by tiny bits for ages? Where are we even going to sleep? The whole area is infested.


    “Listen. I’ll go alone. I might not make it, but you’ll know where to find me,” I say.


    “You’ll wake up in a burning forest full of longnecks,” Mike points out.


    “Whoever goes with me, we split the leftovers for burning,” I say, looking at Mike.


    “How do you know the knight won’t ignore them?” Astrid asks, shaking her head.


    “That’s the neat part. I don’t,” I reply, raising my head.


    “Even if it fails, we can still lure them near the shack. The old man will pulverize them, and maybe we can still burn the leftovers afterward. Imagine all those skill points. I gained one by killing just one!” I add while looking at Mike.


    “Yeah, or it could lead to them teaming up against us,” Astrid counters skeptically.


    “Let’s vote,” Mike interrupts, a spark in his eye.


    “I’m with Markus!”


    Astrid sighs. “Of course, you are.” She turns away, shaking her head in disagreement.


    “Okay, be honest now. That torch—you lit part of the forest on fire on purpose, didn’t you?” she says, looking me in the eye, a bit annoyed.


    I remain quiet.


    Mike, ignoring the tension, unsheathes both his sabres and starts to run. Astrid shakes her head and mutters under her breath.


    A night jog through the crossroads is an easy run. Finally, we don’t focus on stealth but rather make as much noise as possible. Mike waves both sabres in the air.


    They reflect the moonlight occasionally as the clouds move fast. Silly movements, screams, whistling, and yelling—anything to attract them.


    “Come on, don’t just stand there. Help me out!” he shouts back at us.


    *Loud whistling and screams.*


    “Hey! XPs, over here!” I shout, waving my hammer. It’s a bit heavy, so I decide to save my stamina for running.


    I start to whistle too, marching toward the horde. Even Astrid joins in with her high-pitched screams, which attract not only the longnecks but also the knight himself.


    His shiny helmet reflects the moonlight as he emerges at the crossroads.


    It seems to be working—the horde is forming into a more focused line.


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    Repeating the same pattern, I try to make eye contact with the fastest longneck.


    “It’s working!” I exclaim.


    The one with its head and neck pointing straight up seems the fittest of them. It catches my gaze immediately and focuses on me.


    “What’s working?” asks Mike, dancing and jumping around.


    “We don’t want sprinters to follow us later. Let them clash now!” I shout.


    “Go! Lure the slow ones. I’ll handle this,” I order, sending Mike and Astrid to take the main lead of the horde while I maintain eye contact with the tall, fit runner.


    Constantly shifting between running and looking back at him, my adrenaline levels spike. My movements become more precise. I feel like I can’t fall, entirely focused on my goal, in full control of my legs.


    I manage to read the label: Jason, Level 15.


    The creatures are piling up, changing direction, and marching through the meadows toward the crossroads, trampling the tall grass.


    I’m close enough to the knight to see his health bar and hear him marching. That means I have his attention too.


    Now. The moment of truth.


    The knight grunts, and the satisfying sound of his claymore resonates through the area as he unsheathes it from the hook on his back, the metal sliding. I don’t dare get too close to him.


    Jumping around like a rat, I manage the whole situation successfully.


    The lured tall Jason is finally within his range.


    “Come on! Fight!” I shout loudly.


    The knight assesses the mindless beast as a bigger threat than me, switches to an offensive position, and raises his longsword.


    I jump back and crouch in the tall grass, watching the first contact through the blades of grass.


    Mike and Astrid have been more than successful, too. The rest of the horde is moving toward the clash.


    “Here!” I stand up for a second to let them know my location. They join me further back, hidden in the tall grass. We observe the scene.


    <hr>


    Lecherous Knight, level 31 vs. Jason, level 15


    “Oh my god! It’s working!” I watch, excited, my heart racing.


    Jason tries to close the distance with the knight quickly but is brutally interrupted. In its zombie-like state, the mindless beast charges broadly without expecting any heavy resistance.


    After a heavy slash, the long neck falls to the ground like a snake, and the headless torso continues its momentum toward the knight. He dodges with a powerful sidestep, then performs a nimble turn and stabs his longsword through the fallen remains.


    *Stab*


    He manages to stab it using only one arm, wielding that massive claymore.


    My eyes shine as I witness this glorious event. On the other hand, thrilled with the idea of using this knight in a fight, I’m genuinely glad he never fought us indirectly like that.


    With this level of skill and these moves, he could annihilate all three of us in seconds.


    The only person skilled with their weapon, even a bit, is Astrid. Compared to us amateurs, any construction worker could probably swing a hammer better.


    What brings the most joy is the fact that Jason’s health bar is unchanged. Nor does the knight gain any experience from the fight.


    He simply does the dirty work for us. I think to myself as I watch the scene, my teeth bared.


    The knight grunts while he stabs the body on the ground repeatedly, but it doesn’t have much effect. He slashes the ground, dismembering it.


    The horde is now shaped like an arrow, with the fastest and most agile zombies in the front rows. This triggers the nutrias to start fleeing through the grass. They ignore everything, only moving through.


    As more zombies approach the knight, one after another, he fearlessly massacres them, cutting off limbs and heads as if they were made of butter. So far, they’re approaching one by one.


    “What do you say now?” I ask, looking excitedly at Mike and Astrid. “Who has the popcorn?” I add.


    “You know we were just lucky, right?” Astrid replies, her face pale.


    “Come on, stop worrying. We’re immortal. Why do you even care so much?” Mike says, trying to lighten the mood.


    Astrid scoffs. We catch our breath and watch the old armored man and his moves.


    <hr>


    A slight wind starts blowing toward the moving horde, blowing away the clouds too. The moon is finally free, illuminating the area better. The fire in the forest is still burning, expanding slowly.


    “They’re following each other. Let’s get moving. By the time we get there, the forest will be empty,” I suggest.


    Tension builds as the knight chops down multiple enemies at once. Body parts fly, necks are sliced to pieces. He spins around with his sword like a helicopter.


    When there are five of them, one seizes the chance and grabs him from behind, winding its neck around his head. Quickly, the knight pulls a small dagger from his calf holster and stabs the creature, escaping unscathed.


    “He might seem invincible, but I bet he can’t keep this up forever. The horde seems endless. We’d better start moving away now, as Markus says,” Astrid observes.


    <hr>


    The sun begins to rise as we reach the far left edge of the forest.


    Mike takes out his sabres. I grip my hammer, and Astrid slings her quiver over her shoulder, only a few arrows left.


    We enter the trees, watching for stray zombies and the fire I started. It’s still burning in one spot but not spreading much.


    Maintaining a distance from our original path, we try to make our way back to the river and cross it.


    “I’m glad we made it so fast, even with the new route,” Astrid notes, taking a few large sips of water.


    We can clearly see through the trees beyond the river. Not a single hanging corpse, nor even the ropes'' remnants.


    “Maybe we’re too far from it?” I mumble.


    <hr>


    After crossing the river, we walk for a few more minutes. I try to steer us right, getting closer to where the hangmen forest should be.


    The trees here are crooked, with fewer leaves. The sun is up, and God rays shine through the forest canopy.


    “Not a single one! I can’t believe we drew them all away,” Astrid shakes her head.


    “This strange silence is terrifying,” she adds.


    “Call Pocco. He helped us with the water before; maybe he can help us now,” Mike suggests.


    As Astrid snaps her fingers, a strong wind suddenly rises behind us. It''s so strong we have to cover our eyes as dirt and leaves fly everywhere.


    *Puff*


    The cat appears, but his back is arched, and his tail is between his legs. He hisses, meows, and runs off with the wind.