Dylan had just finished using the skill on both Grotho and Kuraura when he felt the telltale sense of intruders entering his cave. The skill had taken an exceptional amount of his mana, so he had used up the rest of the time left on it, leaving him without mana for about an hour at most. It wasn’t like there was much he could do even if he had mana, other than continue to summon more stone-clawed spiders and other varieties of monster. Since he had massive numbers already, he wasn’t too worried about having to replenish them, as long as the enemies did not have area of effect (AoE) attacks, Dylan could use the swarming strategy he was quite confident in.
As the many intruders began to fill up the entrance of his forest cave, Dylan observed them with his [Dungeon Vision] skill, but he wasn't surprised at what he saw. An army of wolves had entered his dungeon, many of which were of varying size and color. He, however, saw many black-colored normal wolves, which mildly surprised him, as Dylan’s wolves were all a uniform light-grey to white in color. The black wolves had sharp canines protruding out of their mouths, even when closed, and they seemed slightly larger than Dylan’s wolves. This made Dylan wonder if the wolves were different species, or if those black-colored wolves were in fact monsters. After checking up on the quest log again, Dylan was sure that these were the normal wolves mentioned in the quest, as their numbers matched what was declared on the quest log. Although they seemed slightly stronger than his normal wolves, Dylan had no reason to be concerned about them.
But this… Dylan’s anxiety rose. This is bad…
Scattered throughout the horde of normal wolves were several shapes of larger black-colored wolves which stood out. They seemed much more muscular and aggressive compared to the normal black wolves, and they glared with hatred at the surrounding forest.
Dire Wolf… I believe that’s the dire wolf in the quest… Dylan was grateful that the wolf army hadn’t moved yet, so he could better study his enemies. The dire wolves seemed capable of causing casualties among Dylan’s monsters, and he wasn’t sure if one of his whistle wolves could take one down in a one-on-one battle, despite their similar rank. The dire wolves were significantly larger than his whistle wolves, after all. Several other types of wolves stood out amongst the sea of black; there were wolves with black pelts streaked with red, some wolves which had a sand-like color, and some which were as large as the dire wolves, with grey fur similarly to Dylan’s own wolves. Dylan had guesses on which type each wolf was, but he didn’t want to risk it, as looks could be deceiving.
In addition, there were several humans amongst the wolves. Three were tied to a couple of the dire wolves with what appears to be rope, and two butt-naked humans were standing next to that wolf as well. Dylan could even see their…
Anyway! Let’s analyze! Dylan assumed that the three tied to the dire wolf were part of his prize, the three ‘human prisoners’ which were mentioned. All three of them looked to be in horrible condition, malnourished and emancipated, they were all unconscious. There was a petite girl with torn clothes, wearing the remnants of a robe. Her dirty hair covered most of her face, but from what Dylan could see, she looked fairly pretty, though her face was mostly caked in dirt. The only injuries Dylan could see was that both of her legs were missing at the knee, and were completely burnt up and cauterized. She seemed unconscious. Another human looked to be completely burnt, his face and chest were charred black, yet Dylan still felt the telltale sign that he was an intruder, which meant he was still alive despite his horrifying injuries. The last person was a large man who was well built, his skin a coppery tone. He had multiple claw and bite marks and his arms, legs, and body. A huge gash from the top of his right shoulder to his left hip dripped blood occasionally, yet most of it had begun to scab up. These were most likely Dylan’s ‘human prisoner’ prizes, which Dylan wasn’t too happy about.
They’re in such a horrible condition! What kind of ‘prize’ is this?! They’ll probably take up more mana to use mana healing on then they’re even worth! WTF?! Dylan felt cheated, as his three prisoners did not look like they were worth the dozens of extra wolves which had come along as well. Dylan turned to look at the two naked humans which had intruded next. These were most likely the two werewolves which were the main threat of the quest. Something about their sharp-toothed grins, glinting red eyes and un-marred bodies screamed to Dylan that they were the leaders of this pack. The stocky, muscular redheaded one was most likely Uruga, the warrior, while the tall black-haired lean man with his hair in a ponytail would be Maxin, if Dylan were to judge on looks. Two cute baby wolf puppies with beautiful gleaming red fur were flopped over the black-haired werewolf’s shoulders, and Dylan may have dismissed them due to their size if it wasn’t for the dangerous aura they seemed to exude. Dylan knew something was up with them, so he simply expected them to be the two fireball wolves on the quest, despite their relatively harmless appearance.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Suddenly, the black-haired werewolf man cried out in some guttural tone, his deep and powerful voice carrying over the waves of wolves. As one, the wolves seemed to leap into action and sweep through the entrance, into the misty rain and through the first stages of Dylan’s forest cave. The wolves seemed to split into two different groups, with the vast majority of black, dire, sandy colored, and grey wolves following the red-headed stout man. A few black wolves, dire wolves, red-streaked wolves, and the two tiny but beautiful red wolves stuck with the black-haired man. The two wolf armies seemed to split into two separate streams as they searched through the dungeon.
So they don’t know where my core is? I guess that’s a good thing! And its great that they split up! Dylan had seen the events that had transpired with his [Dungeon Vision]. He was desperate to both defend himself and get some new monsters to summon, so he decided to focus most of his efforts on the group led by the red-head. He pulled several dozen leaping bombardier beetles which were stationed in the first half, then sent them as a distraction against the black-haired werewolf’s group. They were under strict orders to hit-and-run, yet Dylan wasn’t sure if their intelligence was up to the task. Dylan himself chose to commandeer the rest of the monsters in the first half of the forest cave to fight the other wolf groups…
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Uruga hummed to himself as he led pack of wolves from the back, issuing orders with guttural growls to direct the beasts in the right direction. He himself was sitting on the back of a dire wolf, keeping guard on the other dire wolves which were carrying the prisoners. Uruga himself would have chosen to consume them long ago, as all of the other wolves would have as well. Despite the main force of them being summoned monsters, all of the wolves they had recruited post-summoning were wild-born monsters which needed to eat to survive. They had cleaned through several villages and devoured their way through the forests to reach this Dungeon.
I wonder what plans My Lord has for these people and this Dungeon… Uruga thought to himself as he stroked his beard. He normally wouldn’t request us to save the people, so he could only mean to give them to this Dungeon… But our order was to destroy this Dungeon with all of our might so we’ll do just that anyway…Then can we eat the people?
His ears suddenly perked up as he heard a sound similar to the buzzing of insect wings. Suddenly standing on the back of the dire wolf, Uruga let out a guttural cry which silenced the insects immediately and caused all of the wolves to stop, the un-summoned ones turning to look at Uruga at confusion and snap at each other. Uruga sighed at the stupidity and aggressiveness of the wild wolves before looking up towards the trees calmly. Wolves began to take notice until nearly all of them were quiet, sniffing around at each other but otherwise not bickering anymore.
Suddenly, a puffing sound could be heard, and waves of liquid flew at the wolves in alternating timing, resulting in a seemingly endless barrage. Wave upon wave of the strange liquid arced through the branches before striking the wolves and ground. The range of the liquid wasn’t very far, as Uruga himself could notice the light reflecting off the carapaces of the insects which fired them, but the liquid itself was a bit of a problem.
Across the formation, a ripple of snarls and howls erupted from Uruga’s wolf pack as the massive barrage of liquid pelted the wolves. Although the liquid wasn’t enough to bother the wolves if it got caught on their thick fur, their exposed body parts such as their faces caught some of the spray, causing irritation and some pain to the wolves which made up the front line. The back line wasn’t as badly affected due to the short range of the spray. Uruga sniffed in disdain at the wild wolves which made up the front line. They were in chaos because of just some minor pain. The still and unwavering forms of the summoned wolves stood out amongst their rowdy counterparts, and it was getting on his nerves. Uruga felt his body heating up as he watched his unruly wolves, before his stocky body suddenly erupted with long, red-brown fur. His jaw began to elongate into a wolf’s maw, his fingers stretched out into claws, and the very structure of his body began to change into that of a bipedal wolf. As his bushy tail burst out, he leapt off of his mount, flying gracefully through the air for a dozen feet before landing. Immediately after his landing, he gracefully leapt into the sky again before landing before a rowdy wolf.
The wolf turned to glare at Uruga in pain, before yelping in fear at realizing who it had just crossed. With a flash of his claws, Uruga tore into the wolf’s side, puncturing through its flesh and crushing its bones before he grabbed its heart and crushed it. As the wolf flopped down, dead, Uruga lifted the wolf’s body, arm still burrowed into the wolf. All of the previously rowdy wild wolves were silent, even as the spray of the bombardier beetles peppered them. This was the absolute power of the wolf pack’s leader, the Werewolf Warrior, Uruga.