Gauss took the lead in eliminating most of the stirges with precise attacks.

Then he glanced at the raven Eck, who wasn't idly watching but had already begun flapping its wings to chase after the stirges fleeing toward the sky.

Its flight speed surpassed the stirges', and its straight pointed beak and sharp claws were far superior.

In terms of mobility and offensive power, those last two or three escaping stirges stood no chance against it.

Guessing those stirges would likely die by Eck's talons, Gauss saw no point in wasting further time.

The remaining low-tier monsters had already begun showing signs of disintegration.

Though the enemy numbers were overwhelming, and two people alone probably couldn't stop all fleeing foes, Gauss still intended to do his utmost.

After all, this concerned his accumulated monster kill count. Even disregarding that, each monster represented tangible money.

With monster bounties in place, every kill meant silver coins in his pocket.

Not much individually, but currently eliminating these minor creatures posed little difficulty for him.

Gauss ignored the twenty or thirty still-bloodthirsty monsters grabbing weapons to charge at him.

Seeing their aggressiveness, he naturally prioritized keeping them alive to first eliminate the terrified ones - he could always circle back to deal with them later.

Those terrified monsters referred specifically to the quasits.

Their bloated bodies had already begun retreating, using fellow monsters as shields.

Gauss wouldn't let them escape.

"Magic Missile!"

A bright blue missile homed in on the nearest quasit.

The projectile tore through the air, striking its swollen head with perfect accuracy.

"Boom!"

Like a bursting watermelon, the quasit's head instantly exploded.

"Quasit x1 killed"

"Current Common Monster Encyclopedia entries: 15"

The quasit illuminated the 15th image in the common monster encyclopedia.

"Title acquired [Quasit Hunter]"

"Title effect: Penetration. Attacks gain special armor-piercing properties against quasits and their evolved species, more easily penetrating their fatty defenses."

Strangely, after Gauss killed the quasit, its headless corpse collapsed and rapidly dissolved into pus and greasy residue, vanishing completely.

Returning to the Abyss upon death? Gauss blinked.

Not being native to the Prime Material Plane, some abnormalities were to be expected.

Shaking off these thoughts, he turned his firepower toward other fleeing quasits and goblin-like creatures.

"Boom!"

Alternating between downgraded Magic Missiles and Fire Bolts, he conducted efficient harvesting.

Against persistent goblins whose attacks couldn't penetrate his armor, Gauss occasionally found time to draw his rapier from the Storage Bag, dispatching them cleanly.

He noticed an interesting phenomenon.

Some goblins, upon recognizing him as a spellcaster through his magic use, became significantly more eager to attack him.

This wasn't an isolated occurrence.

Was there some underlying reason?

In the distance, after using Entangling Roots to immobilize escaping low-tier monsters at the periphery, Aria began finishing them off with her oak staff.

Though not strong in frontal combat, her professional physique allowed her to effectively kill goblin-like creatures and other low-tier monsters with staff strikes.

Beside Gauss, the gray wolf Ulfen became a blur of motion.

With Gauss Field's enhancement, it darted across the battlefield, effortlessly decapitating low-tier monsters with single bites.

With so many monsters, complete extermination was impossible in this timeframe, eliminating any notion of "kill stealing." The unrestrained Ulfen displayed the formidable power expected of a druid's companion.

Having completed two new low-tier monster encyclopedia entries, Gauss fully immersed himself in the "money-making operation."

"Silver coin +1!"

"Silver coin +1!"

Text seemed to constantly flash before Gauss's eyes.

When the dust settled,

the duo and wolf stood catching their breath amidst the ravaged battlefield.

"Seems...we didn't get them all," Aria surveyed the scene with mild regret.

"Probably let 20-30 escape," Gauss estimated.

Total monsters slain: 672

He calculated having killed about fifty this round,

with Ulfen and Aria jointly eliminating thirty more. The rest had fled in all directions into the forest.

By guild standards, this level of extermination already qualified as mission completion. With numerous low-tier monsters, total annihilation was nearly impossible.

When hundreds of low-tier creatures scatter in full retreat, a small team realistically can't catch them all.

With monsters already dispersed, pursuing them into the forest was impractical.

"Let's rest. After recovering, we'll find our next target."

Gauss lit a green signal flare marking completion.

Later, guild collection teams would handle the spoils.

"Okay," Aria panted in response.

Her stamina couldn't match Gauss's, and the recent exertion required recovery time.

Gauss expertly retrieved a red mana berry and began chewing fragrant monster frog jerky -

a familiar resupply action during battles by now.

After a few chews, warm energy suffused his body.

The Divine Berry Spell's mana berry energy transformed into immediately absorbable nutrients first,

like sweet rain revitalizing his entire being, quickly restoring some stamina.

The monster frog jerky provided longer-lasting energy, continuously refilling his Energy Storage Gland.

"Want some?"

Gauss offered another jerky strip to Aria.

Aria blinked, recalling her town experience when she'd tried Gauss's highly-praised compressed frog jerky

only to have her mouth numbed into prolonged silence.

Her pupils contracted slightly, face twisting in refusal.

"No...thanks, you enjoy it," she stated firmly.

Gauss felt somewhat sorry for her as he chewed the aromatic jerky.

One mana berry plus two jerky strips should suffice to fill him up.

While digesting the jerky and recovering stamina and mana,

he mentally tallied the approximate gains from this extermination.

"Elite monster half-ogres: 2.5 gold coins each"

"Low-tier monsters average about 1 silver and 10 copper coins per kill.

Assuming 75 kills total, roughly 83 silver coins."

"For spoils - based on past experience - half-ogre axes and armor, half-ogre materials,

camp supplies, low-tier monster weapons...should collectively fetch 3-5 gold coins."

Total: 7 or more gold coins!

Though the Adventurers Guild took a cut, it was merely symbolic compensation for labor -

one key reason adventurers braved risks and harsh weather for these exterminations.

Compared to regular work, this money came remarkably faster!

Gauss could practically see mounts, spells, and equipment "waving" at him already.