The Rat King's series of attacks seemed unending as it frenziedly clawed and pounced on Hugh. Trying to rip him to shreds. Smashing down into the ground.
Despite the intense beating, Hugh managed to stay conscious and endure the pain. He didn't know for how long the assault had been going on, nor for how much longer the Rat King would continue to attack him. But for every minute the Rat King spent venting its rage on his body, his Janitors got one more minute to escape.
It was a far-reaching hope, but it helped Hugh keep resisting the Rat King's attacks.
Unfortunately, as soon as the Rat King pulled out all stops, Hugh lost the ability to resist, and before long, his consciousness started slipping. His body relaxed and was about to release the fetal position he had curled up in to protect his head and face.
However, before Hugh's eyes completely lost their focus and his head was mere moments away from being chomped away at by a raging Rat King, he sensed something come flying at an incredible pace.
Unbeknownst to both the Rat King and Hugh, a group of four had been spectating their entire fight. One human and three cats.
Unlike what Hugh thought, his actions in constantly leaving the camp weren't that stealthy, and it was practically an open secret that Hugh was usually out wandering. What exactly he was doing, no one knew, but at least he wasn't selling state secrets or kidnapping little children, so everyone just let him be. However, the curiosity had been a little too much for a certain group of explorers, and neither Toz nor any of the cats could resist following him to try and find out what it was about.
But since they had to be careful when following Hugh around it took some time to find out what he was doing. Despite Hugh's clumsiness in sneaking around, he is still a fifth level mage and an experienced explorer. Trailing someone like that when still at the third level isn't exactly done all willy-nilly. Thankfully with Toz and Lucy working together while being extremely careful and meticulous, they managed to stalk Hugh without him noticing anything. And eventually found out what he was looking for.
That was the reason they continued trailing him. If Hugh really chased down the ends of every lead he could find, there was a very real chance of him eventually ending up in front of Toz.
There were several beasts in that mountain range who had seen his face after all, and despite the mixed relationship between humans and wild beasts, there weren't many who would keep quiet in front of a fifth level mage. And then, if Hugh brought a decent description of either him or his cats and asked around for any clues, it wouldn't take long until he discovered Toz's traces.
In front of a reputed fifth level mage who often works closely with the Explorer's Guild, why would anyone hide or lie about having seen Toz?
Naturally, they didn't spend all hours of the day following Hugh around, despite him actively looking for Mindle's egg. Sometimes they would inspect what the explorers were doing in the wasteland. At other times, they would relax back in town while listening to the latest gossip from Amber. That was how they found out about the Scorched Earth Rats and the Scorched Earth Rat King.
Considering the situation and Toz's deep involvement with the entire situation, Amber didn't see a need to conceal the information that her superior had given her, especially since she was already telling everyone who could handle the information without panicking.
Like Amber had expected after further getting acquainted with Toz, he didn't panic and calmly assessed the situation.
Toz naturally wanted the Scorched Earth Rats to die, but because they were actually killed, and not because they couldn't be defeated and would have to be locked up and starved to death. The Scorched Earth Rat King really knew how to disrupt someone's desires. Toz naturally couldn't let the foul creature go unpunished for trying to survive after having provoked him and injured his cats.
After listening and reading through all the information available to Amber, Toz and the cats headed out. From what he could understand, it would be best to kill or weaken the Rat King as soon as possible, before it grew too strong for anyone who cared, to handle. After Toz made the decision, he immediately headed for the wasteland.
Although there weren't yet any signs of the Rat King, it would be better to stay close to the place it would come from and make eventual preparations.
Unfortunately, those plans came crashing down as soon as the Rat King actually appeared. It was way beyond what Toz could handle at the moment. But Toz didn't give up just because of that, and neither did any of the cats. If anything, they got more fired up. Especially Nil, since one of the best ways of dealing with enemies who possess greater raw power is using traps.
However, in order to properly deal with the Rat King by setting up traps, the traps needed to be sufficiently powerful themselves, so they wouldn't just get destroyed. Thus their work began.
It didn't take long to figure out the Rat King's destination since it instantly turned in the direction of Yellow Sparks after it appeared. It became even more certain as it headed straight toward the town filled with humans, and it only veered off course to kill other humans. After which, it returned to heading straight for Yellow Sparks.
With the Rat King's speed and power, they didn't have the leeway to dawdle, and Toz and Nil rushed ahead to start preparing traps, while Lucy and Mindle were responsible for keeping track of the Rat King. Although the Rat King's destination was pretty much set in stone, in the case it changes directions, all their hard work would go down the drain, and they would eventually have to evacuate the plane without exacting their revenge on the Scorched Earth Rats.
