“Phew…”, I held my right arm that was trembling from the feedback of the recent throw. Richard looked to his back and waved a hello when he realized what had just happened. I couldn’t see his expression all that well from this distance, but I could tell that he was relieved.
The last group was to the other side of the wooden gate, where Karl was busy firing his arrows away at the werewolf who was busy avoiding the swings from the players ahead of it. From this distance, I could see the tail end of his arrows sticking out from the wolf’s back, which is a good sign of where their fight was heading.
But what I saw next completely took me by surprise. From the shadows, a figure holding a set of daggers emerged, leaping high up in the air. The wolf barely noticed her as she plunged both her daggers deep into its skull, finishing it off in one attack.
The listless figure of the wolf fell, all of its limbs stretched wide on the ground as it drew its last breath. Amanda kicked the wolf’s head to check if it was still alive, and the lack of reaction proved that they’d dealt with the Elite, at least, for now.
Now… What’s next?
A series of howling emerged from the treeline, right on the side where the wooden gate stood. It seemed that the attack would come only from that direction this time, if we were strictly taking their obvious bait at face value.
But believing that the wolves are that obvious is an exercise in idiocy.
The separate groups remained in their positions, watching the treeline for any sudden attack, learning from their mistake when they’d fallen to the werewolves’ initial assault. The howls faded as the moon shone brightly from up above, as the ground roared with the sound of a massive wave of wolves advancing to our positions.
Calling their numbers as massive was an understatement; Countless wolves emerged from the horizon with their green fur clouding the plains that surrounded us, their rumblings shaking the dirt beneath us with each step they took.
Screams from the ones outside the walls penetrated the sheer volume of the wolves’ numbers, calling each other out to form a defensive line inside of the walls.
This was Reghan’s second plan. If there ever was a time when the numbers of the wolves turned overwhelming, they will sacrifice the walls and cut down the wolves’ population with ranged attacks from the inside. The core of the group will stay near the gate as a last line of defense.
I watched their organized movements from atop the podium; It wasn’t long before a set of familiar faces popped into view, with Reghan standing the furthest apart from the gathering of people. The rest of the non - combatants - combatants were gathered here as well, hunkering behind and screaming for dear life.
Julie and Karl, along with the other archers stood the closest to the Gate of Beginnings and fired their arrows and spells one after the other.
Witnessing their coordinated attacks, I watched the color of the night mixed in with the flare of Julie’s flames, followed up by the cries of the wolves that were unlucky enough to be struck by her spells. Now, I knew how valuable her magic truly was; The reach of her area damage far, far supersedes mine.
Frankly, out of everyone, Julie’s abilities was the best at dealing with such a tremendous number of enemies like this.
“Elites! To the front!” Reghan’s voice pierced the fiery atmosphere. He was right, A few 20 or so meters away, 5 dark figures were jumping and moving about the structures, killing those who failed to catch up with the main group. Before them, the sea of wolves that had breached the walls were not too far behind.
I suppose this is my time to shine.
I leaped over the mass gathering of sweaty fighters beneath me and landed beside Reghan, “Let me deal with those elites. You take care of the rest.”
His eyes went wide from my sudden appearance, but due to the lack of time to discuss, he couldn’t come up with another response other than a nod.
I conjured a dark spear from my arm, eliciting a glance from Reghan and the others behind me, then charged an [empowered throw] and combining it with [first strike]. The spear in my hand tore the air as it launched towards the incoming wave, and what I saw next completely took my attention away from the chaos.
[You killed Lvl.8 Greenhorn Wolf.]
[You killed Lvl.8 Greenhorn Wolf.]
[You killed Lvl.8 Greenhorn Wolf.]
[You killed Lvl.8 Greenhorn Wolf.]
[You killed Lvl.8 Greenhorn Wolf.]
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
[You killed Lvl.8 Greenhorn Wolf.]
[You killed Lvl.8 Greenhorn Wolf.]
[You killed Lvl.8 Greenhorn Wolf.]
…
I couldn’t even count how many of those wolves I had killed with that throw. I wanted to check out the logs, but shrugged that idea of since the time is of the essence.
The figures of the Elites were closing in on the main group. Responding to their presence, I jumped ahead of the main group and intercepted 2 of the closest elites that my eyes could perceive. They both reacted with a quick claw swipe that I carefully ducked under as I dragged their attention away from the main group.
Leashing the other elites that I could see as I dashed amongst their kind, they soon found themselves on an empty spot of land that was away from the main gate. Fighting five of those elites wouldn’t be easy, but I had a trump card that was stored inside of my belt.
Yeah. It’s the [Unawakened Spear of Tzatch].
I wanted to use this to help with the main wave, but I didn’t know how far the reach of the blindling light was. While yes, it could’ve incapacitated some of them, but it wouldn’t do enough against the masses of wolves that were behind the first few lines to warrant a once in a day cooldown. Using it here was a better idea, since the elites were the most dangerous soldiers of their army.
The spear materialized in my free hand while I dodged their relentless assault. I wouldn’t be able to do this comfortably before, but the previous fight from the lone elite gave me enough experience to read their tells and move accordingly.
Once a short opening showed itself, I lifted the spear up in the cold, dark air, mimicking the same type of gesture Tzatch showed when he used the blinding skill before. I was afraid that these wolves might be able to resist the blind if they had sufficient willpower, but that shouldn’t be possible due to their reliance on physical stats.
The skill activated; The once dark and eerie darkness of the night was momentarily disrupted by a sudden flash of brilliant light. It turned out that I was right, the reach of the skill was barely a few 20 or 30 meters away.
[You stunned Lvl 19. Elite Black-furred Werewolf for 5 seconds.]
[You stunned Lvl 18. Elite Black-furred Werewolf for 5 seconds.]
[You stunned Lvl 19. Elite Black-furred Werewolf for 5 seconds.]
[You stunned Lvl 20. Elite Black-furred Werewolf for 5 seconds.]
[You stunned Lvl 19. Elite Black-furred Werewolf for 5 seconds.]
5 seconds… No time to waste.
Rushing forward, I spun the radiant spear in my right hand and promptly executed the one elite that was holding its head, cowering from the intense brightness. Even without the [first strike] bonus, my arms still possessed enough strength to pierce its skull in one strike.
[You killed Lvl 19. Elite Black-furred Werewolf]
The next victim came into view as the one I killed slumped on the ground. With a decisive charge, I ripped its chest apart with Tzatch’s spear as I pushed off its chest with a kick, sending me flying in the air.
[You killed Lvl 20. Elite Black-furred Werewolf]
Observing the location of the remaining werewolves, I switched the grip of Tzatch’s spear to my left arm, then summoned a dark spear and flung it towards the furthest target while I fell. The dark spear popped its head wide open, netting me a kill as I shadow-stepped behind the other one and ruptured its skull with, again, Tzatch’s spear.
[You killed Lvl 18. Elite Black-furred Werewolf]
[You killed Lvl 19. Elite Black-furred Werewolf]
One left…
The last werewolf didn’t have the time process what had just happened before its sight returned. It cocked its head when it realized that all of its brethren had died during the time it was blinded, and in the middle of the scene of carnage, the only thing it saw was the person responsible of killing its friends.
Rage fueled its limbs as it screeched, leaping towards me with a level of fury I’d never personally felt before. Its jaw snapped wide open, filled with the desire of tasting the one who’d murdered its kin.
Yet… All it tasted was the cold steel of my spear.
[You killed Lvl 19. Elite Black-furred Werewolf]
[Congratulations! You gained a level!]
[Level 20 reached. One talent point gained.]
[Dark arsenal - Intermediate leveled up!]
[Spear mastery - Intermediate leveled up!]
The system actually gave me a level for that?
———————————————————————————————————————————————————
“Graaaah!!!”
[You killed lvl. 8 Greenhorn wolf]
Reghan’s blade cleaved through the head of another wolf while charging forward, breaking the wolves’ formation as his group managed to push the wave backwards. It turns out, that without the presence of the elite, their numbers couldn’t do much to harm his allies, or the gate, for that matter.
Another magical fire rained upon the distance, destroying the morale of the wave from each bolt of flame that erupted inside the walls.
“Haa…. Haa…. Haa…” Never once had Reghan expected that the second day would go as planned. Yeah, the first few deaths from the elites were unexpected, but they dealt with the elites pretty handedly afterwards.
The howls and the numbers terrified Reghan, and especially so after he saw even more elites approaching their position. At that short period of time, he was shaken. But that lasted until Zane suddenly approached his side, ask- no, telling him that he’ll deal with the elites on his own.
Reghan was still shaking then. He wanted to tell him to deal with them together, but the huge lump in his throat got in the way. Zane then conjured a spear made of darkness - something that Reghan had never seen before - and proceeded to draw a line of wolf guts and skulls from his location to the other side of the wall with a single throw.
If he ever doubted his strength before, there was no way he’d doubted it now.
Then, amongst the icy wind of the night, he simply vanished from his sight.
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