[The third wave has begun.]
I saw a resolute look creeping into Reghan’s expression when he saw the system’s prompt.
The once quiet and solemn atmosphere morphed into a sea of murmurs and restlessness. Every single person of the vanguard squad got into position, with Reghan following suit as he stood up and prepared his speech. Julie’s party was amongst the people, watching Reghan’s figure with a steadfast expression.
“The wave is here. We all know what to do.” His roar pierced the silence of the night, arousing the attention of those who were gathered. “I understand that we had our differences, but none of them mattered tonight. We’ll deal with that later.”
His eyes gazed at the full moon above, overlooking us with its dim light. “Let’s get this over with, I’m sick of fighting wolves.”
His speech garnered a few chuckles from the crowd.
“TO POSITIONS!”
With his final command, everyone gathered behind the newly built walls and settled into their respective formations. Now, Even those who chose to stay behind were forced to be in the formation. The numbers appeared to have tripled just from the addition of those people alone.
But numbers do very little against whatever was coming.
This fight was a matter of skill and coordination. A matter of power and wit.
Well, It’s not like we’re lacking in terms of offensive power either. With my empowered throw and Julie’s spells, I’d reckon that we could clear most of the fodder wolves - if there were any - and deal good damage to Ariandel if she decided to show her face. That sounded nice and all, however, we didn’t know exactly what would be thrown at us later.
The windy night turned turbulent as a chilling howl was heard from a distance on the front side of the encampment. It wasn’t the same howl from the wolves the night before, not even in the slightest, with each second that howl continued dropping the temperature even further. A light steam was visible from everyone’s breath right as I started to shiver.
Cold…
It was… frighteningly cold.
Echoes of murmurs from anxiety and fear were heard from the masses that cowered in front of me. Frankly, I was somewhat scared too. The fear of the unknown was exerting its full impact on our encampment.
I tried to search for any semblance of enemies from the distance, but the mist somehow had overwritten the darkness from the forest. My eyes failed to pierce through the white-ish fog.
Straining my eyes, I finally noticed the presence of something moving inside the mist.
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It is coming.
A mist approaches from the distance. A mist that is thin, that is barely recognizable, spreads wide across our horizon, covering the entire area that surrounds our puny walls. As time passes, it steadily grows closer while our vision diminishes inside of its cold fog.
The same howl that terrorized us before, now resounds inside of the fog once more. My breath is slowing down as the howl finally ended, and then…
Pure silence.
Everyone’s eyes are wide open. Everyone’s shoulders are tense. Everyone is frozen in their steps.
I then realize that I am amongst those who are unable to move too.
What I feel isn’t fear. It is simply not something anyone can describe. Somewhere… deep inside that mist, an insurmountable creature awaits us.
What is happening?
The freezing chill emanates from the mist, entering our encampment bit by bit. The temperature around us drops even further, reaching a point where I feel I am currently being frozen alive.
My shivering stops. Then, My breathing followed.
Then my heart… does it even beat now?
I can’t…
feel…
any-
“WHAT ARE YOU ALL DOING?” Julie’s yell breaks the cold silence, and then-
[You are affected by Ariandel’s bewitchment? Do you want to use Necklace of unyielding will?]
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Suddenly, heat, was felt. It came from where Julie stood, far away behind the lines, as a massive ball of fire was conjured from her wand, rapidly increasing the temperature inside of the camp.
The heat seemed to have alleviated whatever it was that shut our movements down. Julie’s flames had dispelled her bewitchment, at the very least, it appeared to be the case on the surface. Julie was a mage, and most likely, the only mage that stood between our ranks, so her willpower was the highest among all of us. It made sense that she could resist Ariandel’s Bewitchment.
I could use the necklace, but with the one hour cooldown, I had to be sure that using it would net me a positive result.
Everyone’s eyes came back to life, some of them were terrorized by what had just transpired, while most of them immediately looked towards Reghan for his next direction.
Reghan himself was… well, he was as shocked as the others that were around him. Was this the first time that he’d encounter a willpower check?
Not now. Focus on the wave.
The mist remained still. Julie’s flames had given up some room to breathe inside, but they’d barely scratched the unknown mystery from within the mist. None of us knew where Ariandel was, or if she was even here in the first place.
Once the howling ceased, I saw dozens and dozens of the usual wolves breaking through the mist, their forms clouding the ground that was beneath them. All of them were walking at a brisk pace, as if they were maintaining a formation.
Reghan braced the others for the attack, raising his shields along with the others that stood on the front lines.
And then, a giant, translucent wolf stood in the distance. Its fur color matched perfectly with the mist that enveloped it, with a set of glowing teal eyes staring at us from the distance.
“W… What the hell is that?” Julie’s red eyes stared in shock at the sight of the towering wolf, which we’d all presume to be Ariandel.
“STAY VIGILANT!” Reghan’s roar pierced through the quiet night.
The hulking wolf stepped closer. It was already inside the initial walls that we’ve built at this point.
[Lvl. 32 Spirit of Ariandel]
Yeah… This one’s a boss alright.
The temperature seemed to have dropped further with every step it took. The once warm air that originated from Julie’s flames had waned, resuming the chill that had haunted us from before.
None of us knew what to do. From its presence alone, we knew any attempt at resistance would be futile.
Do I surprise it with a preemptive spear throw?
I summoned a dark spear as Ariandel’s eyes scanned everyone that was present before her. The naming from the system was accurate. Her translucent figure was a giveaway that she wasn’t truly here physically.
Does that mean the thing we’re looking at right now is Ariandel herself? No one knows for sure.
“Weak… Too weak.” A feminine voice played inside my- no, our heads, ”None of you matched the one that I fought; The one that was bathed in his radiance. The one that led her people with the blessing from the light…” Everyone turned and looked at each other to confirm that they were hearing the same things that I did.
Blessings from the light… Aria White? So she was granted some kind of a boon from Uriel, the same way Tzatch did.
“At this rate… you will perish.” Ariandel shook her head, disappointed by our strength. Her eyes then scanned the walls that we’d built. “I’ve murdered so many of your kin. All of you seemed to believe that your walls and structures were of any use against us. How many of you had to die before you realized that without the system’s blessings, nothing you build will be effective.”
A howling wind shrieked from the directions she came from. It was gentle at first, but as its intensity grew, the dilapidated walls that were behind her were lifted and scattered by the wind. The newly built sets of wooden walls appeared to have resisted the initial rush of air, but they too, were ripped apart within minutes.
The gale stopped just inches away from Reghan’s shield, as it carried all the wreckage that it’d lifted along with it. Our generally high levels meant that they were able to shrug the logs and branches with their shields, and those who were on the back simply ripped the incoming structures with their weapons.
It only took a few seconds before everything we’ve built was utterly demolished. I expected little it in the first place, we only built them since there was naught that we could do to prepare, but still…
Reghan, for the first time since I met him, quivered. Then I realized that it wasn’t just him.
Everyone was shaking in fear.
If I wanted to make a move before any heads began rolling, I had to do it now. I turned my gaze behind me to check on the only other person that I felt was reliable. Relief washed over me when I watched Julie’s red eyes were still showing signs of defiance, despite her body shivering from the fear that was eating her up or, was it from the cold?
Our gazes met, and her nod showed that Julie had come to the same conclusion too.
“Distract her. I’ll do what I can.” I briefly communicated my intentions to her in the lowest voice I could muster.
She extended her staff once more, pointing it towards Ariandel, and summoned the largest sphere of flames she could conjure.
“That’s not too bad…” Ariandel smirked at the ball of flames. “If I was a few levels lower, your flames would’ve been able to char my fur…”
Julie didn’t give a shit and fired the fireball towards her anyway. I shadow stepped to the side, far away from the main group and climbed on top of a short structure, then let the spear that was held in my arm rip the air towards her at the same time.
Ariandel didn’t appear to be mindful of my projectile at first as her eyes remained locked onto the incoming flames. Reacting to Julie’s fireball, She drew her head back, preparing to release something from her maw, but right as she was about to do so, My spear broke through the darkness, forming a line of clear air towards her eyes.
Her eyes went wide as she twisted her torso, avoiding just enough of my surprise attack to avoid a direct damage to her head. My spear plunged deep into her left shoulder instead, releasing a gush of… white mist? From the spot where it hit.
But that wasn’t the only attack that was coming toward her. Julie’s fireball collided against her snout, pushing her backwards as the roar of flame exploded with a raging fury. Her flames were so great that it clouded Ariandel’s figure completely within its smoke, and afterwards…
“CHARGE!!” Reghan’s order led the others to charge as we sensed a momentum brewing, but right as the smoke dissipated, Ariandel was no longer to be found.
“The power of shadow… No wonder I failed to sense you when I arrived.” Ariandel’s voice played in our heads despite her figure not being present. “But you have shown yourself, and that… is a mistake.”
Was that… not her real body?
Reghan’s group was distraught by the recent turn of events, and right as he was about to order a retreat, a wave of howls echoed from the mist, signaling the wolves’ incoming assault.
“How foolish do you think I am to assume that I will saunter in with my real self?” She howled along with her kin, as a mix of high leveled wolves and elite werewolves rapidly closed in.
What do I do? Do I ignore the main wave and look for Ariandel instead? Can they hold their lines on their own?
The best way to end this defense was to search and kill Ariandel. With the recent upgrades with their new classes and skills, they should be able to defend significantly better than last night.
My gaze searched for Julie’s. A nod from her was enough to tell me she was confident that she’d hold the gate with the others. It wasn’t like I needed her permission in the first place, but I needed assurance from them to tell me that they were capable of holding the gate on their own. After all, even if I killed Ariandel, it wouldn’t matter if the gate still fell in the end.
I sneaked through the sides of the incoming wave, and with repeated use of shadow steps and my cloak’s natural dark haze, I avoided their detection. A part of me understood the futility of my actions, but if Ariandel assaulted our group along with her kin… It’ll definitely be the end of us.
Approaching the mist, I shook off the cold with a grim look in my eyes.