A large beast appeared on top of a ruined building overlooking the land bridge. It stood on four legs and was covered in long, black fur. It was a magnificent black wolf, one which was at least two or three times larger than any other wolf in the pack.
Even from a distance, its sharp eyes gleamed with intelligence and viciousness. There was a calmness about the creature as if everything it had just seen was insignificant. It was as if the humans and their summons were nothing but ants. Such composure was surely a sign of strength.
"Awoo! Awoo!" The large wolf gave off two howls.
Following their leader’s command, the wolf pack immediately resumed their attack with a ferocity that the survivors had never seen before. It was as if they had gone crazy. Instead of attacking in small groups, the whole pack advanced like a roiling black wave.
"Boss! Boss!"
"Help! Ahhhh!"
In a flash, two summons, a spider and a furry pig, were buried beneath this surge. One of the four people defending the land bridge was also overwhelmed. He could only scream in agony as his flesh was torn to pieces.
"James! Damn it! Damn it!" Aaron shouted, "Bella, Adrian! Defend the bridge! Hurry! Georgi, you go too!"
Three people dashed towards the land bridge, leaving Aaron and two others with Zachary and Katherine. Aaron grabbed his summoning orbs and brought out another four summons in quick succession, they included Meatball the furry pig, a blue and red snake, a yellow parrot the size of a turkey, and a wolf.
Zachary responded in kind, calling out Oakley, Arrow, Onkie, and his newest summon Sable. The rest of the survivors also brought out their summons.
“Damn it, you two caused this. James’ blood is on your hands.” Aaron said.
Zachary scoffed, “The wolves were never going to let us off, not with that big one as the pack leader. Our only chance is the doorway. Katherine! How much longer?”
The square doorway on the face of the monolith was still slowly opening. It had receded over a meter by now.
“I need more time!” Katherine shouted over the howls and screams, "Opening this doorway is our only chance to survive. Don't distract me!"
"You bitch…” One of the women behind Aaron started to say but she was cut off.
"Shut up! Jensine, Mia, go defend the bridge!” Aaron commanded.
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“But…”
“Go!”
The two women shot Katherine dirty looks before rushing to the land bridge. With their addition, the situation there was temporarily stabilized. Eight summoners and their summons which numbered close to thirty formed a wall of bodies to block the way.
Insect claws clashed against sharp teeth. Burly bodies crashed into each other. Blood and guts splashed on the ground. Severed limbs and even a few wolf heads flew in all directions. In such a melee, it was hard to tell friend from foe. Some of the summons even started fighting each other.
“Hold them!”
“Adrian, help me!”
The shouts of the humans mixed with cries of various Ensouled. It was chaos.
“Yellow, no!” Someone shouted.
Two wolves had just pushed an armored beetle off the edge. Their teeth and claws could do nothing against the beetle’s defense so they chose to fall to their deaths together with their foe.
Soon, similar actions happened across the land bridge. The wolves used their strength in numbers to force more and more summons over either side. Several powerful summons were taken out in this manner.
“Retreat!” Aaron bellowed, “Get off the bridge!”
He wanted to join the defense and even took several steps toward them. However, he stopped and once again glared at Zachary as if all of this was his fault.
Zachary mostly ignored him and kept watching Katherine intently. Eternum still flowed through her body and into the control stone. Sweat was pouring down her face and she was panting from exhaustion.
The doorway had receded over three meters. It was now truly their only hope. Even if they could defend against all of the smaller wolves, Zachary had no confidence that they could defeat the pack leader. That howl, that burst of power, it was not something that Ensouled at the novice rank were capable of.
“It’s almost open!” Katherine said.
“Are you sure?” Zachary asked.
She nodded while panting, “Yeah, a few more seconds. Look.”
She had removed her hand from the stone but the doorway was still receding on its own. Within the shadow of the recession, Zachary saw a dark gap that was slowly widening. It was really open!
However, just as he started to feel excited at the prospect of surviving this ordeal, a thunderous howl immediately shattered his budding hopes.
“Aaawwwooooo!!”
The huge black wolf leaped off the ruined building and sprinted towards the monolith. Ignoring the land bridge and the ongoing battle there, it directly charged at the wide chasm.
Then, it leaped.
“No…” Zachary muttered as he watched the magnificent and deadly creature soar over the gap.
Its figure formed a perfect black rainbow, covering the vast distance with supreme ease. It landed in front of the pinecitta tree, its four paws barely making a sound. The beast was huge. Its chest was as broad as a bull. It stood as tall as Aaron. Its whole figure emitted an aura of wildness and power that was waiting to be unleashed. It sniffed the air and then licked one of the unripe fruits as if to make sure that its precious possession was unharmed.
“Grrr.”
The beast growled, revealing long yellow fangs, as it looked between Katherine, Aaron, and Zachary. It didn’t even bother with their summons. Its blue eyes were now bloodshot and filled with killing intent. These little apes had killed so many of its pack so now it wanted revenge.
Zachary tensed. Cold sweat poured down his back. He didn’t dare to breathe. For the first time since stepping off the ship and into the New World, he felt true fear. It far surpassed what he had felt facing the blue tiger sharks, the forest elephants, the flower monster, or even the crazy seagulls.
He was going to die. They were all going to die. Even with his strong lineup of summons, even with Aaron who was no pushover, he somehow knew instinctively that they had no chance.