Chapter 160: Surrounded
Along the way, the three boys would occasionally look at each other and burst out laughing. The three girls didn't understand what was funny, but seeing everyone so happy made their spirits better as well.
It seemed their bad luck had struck again.
Currently, the whole group was still inside the forest and continuing their journey.
Takeshi glanced around.
"Is it possible there's really nothing here?"
Airi: "Just keep going, why worry?"
Suddenly, the "clinking" sound of metal clashing rang out. The sound echoed as if coming from all four directions, causing everyone to look around in confusion. The sound was not very rhythmic, but because of that, it gave the sensation that a large number of things were surrounding them.
The group immediately emitted energy to envelop their bodies, entering a state of high alert. Their eyes darted constantly within their sockets. Gradually, the six of them turned their backs to one another.
Kazuka spoke softly: "It seems our luck has turned for the worse."
Aoto grit his teeth in annoyance.
"Damn it, I forgot to sense the surroundings; I was so busy looking at the scenery that I got careless."
Airi: "It's fine, just stay calm."
Elyssia liked everyone quite a bit, but she generally disliked it when people swore. Usually, her affinity for them would drop slightly, especially when it was said out loud in front of many people. This might be because she was an Angel or just her personality, but since they were in combat, she brushed it aside. They were friends now, after all, though her liking for them seemed to decrease a bit whenever Aoto or the others said words like "damn," "hell," and so on.
She told herself that they had only recently met; a little foul language was fine, as she hadn't been traveling with them for long.
At the edge of their vision, everything remained silvery-white, but now there were a few things moving up and down, like something was shifting.
Aoto focused at this moment. He sensed the surroundings and discovered an extremely large number of some kind of creature approaching. His eyes widened, and he lowered his voice in warning:
"Everyone? This is bad. We're surrounded. About two hundred and fifty creatures are closing in on us."
Takeshi: "Should we fight? At this speed, I can bring everyone in another safe direction."
Kazuka's eyes burned with fighting spirit.
"Fight! What's there to fear? We're going to run before even knowing what kind of monster is out there? My hands and feet are itching for action."
Ayaka gripped her bow tightly, ten energy arrows pointed forward, her drawing posture perfect.
"I think if it gets too difficult, we can still break the encirclement."
Quickly, these creatures finally revealed themselves. They were wolves, but they were not snow wolves; they were Silver Wolves. Their bodies were a single shade of silvery-white, their eyes a mix of silvery-white and black. Their sharp silver teeth were bared, bloodthirsty as they growled with hunger.
The whole group showed clear bewilderment; they didn't expect such strange creatures to appear.
Airi vigilantly glanced around.
"Careful, it's not clear what powers these wolves have."
Aoto: "Can creatures like this even exist?"
The silver wolves standing on two legs seemed superior to those on four, showing just how threatening the bipedal ones were. There were about fifty bipedal silver wolves here, with the rest being four-legged. The group was being heavily outnumbered. Since they were wolves, they would surely pounce—a "swarm of flies" tactic usually seen in large-scale warfare.
The silver wolves began to accelerate, each one fierce and wanting to tear the group apart.
Aoto immediately emitted energy outward, the energy forming a simple upper-body silhouette; he often called it "Guardian Spirit." The energy also flowed into the group's weapons, preparing for the strike. Ayaka fired ten energy arrows.
But the aggressive offensive was forced to a halt. Truly, favoritism is something else; possessing the power of the Earth element, Takeshi had started acting the moment Aoto gave the warning. Since his near-death experience, Takeshi had become much more quick-witted.
Immediately, the surrounding pack of wolves fell into a pit. A deep circular trench surrounded the group, filled with sharp spikes at the bottom. The wolves fell in and cried out in pain. A few trees also fell in. The distance from the group's side of the trench to the wolves' side was quite far; it was difficult for them to jump across.
The group stood stunned and turned to look at Takeshi.
Kazuka sighed.
"Really? Why didn't you say so sooner?"
Quickly, more than a hundred silver wolves had fallen in, including several bipedal ones and many four-legged ones.
Takeshi spoke with a serious voice:
"It's only a defense. Once many are killed, they will become wary. In the end, we still have to go out and attack. Creating another pit now is a bit difficult. Attack!"
Quickly, Kazuka was the first to rush out. He excitedly jumped over the wide pit and landed in the middle of the silver wolf pack, his legs spread wide, one hand bracing the ground. His right hand jerked the sword from his left hip, snapping the cord. Grabbing the hilt, he swung; the scabbard flew off and slammed straight into a nearby wolf.
The wolves swarmed and lunged at Kazuka. Immediately, the energy surrounding him thickened.
*Boom!!!*
To create space, Kazuka generated interfering energy outward, making it contact normal energy. A large explosion occurred; many surrounding wolves were immediately blown back. A large crater was formed, and black smoke and silver dust flew blindingly.
A blue light flashed inside the smoke; energy from Kazuka's sword shot straight into the sky and grew to a massive size, then immediately slashed down vertically.
*Boom!!!*
The ground was split in two; a series of wolves within range were slashed or crushed. Silver blood spread everywhere.
Immediately after, Kazuka rushed out of the smoke. Shimmering silver dust flew in his vision, making him squint, but since these wolves attacked at close range, he could still sense and react in time within his immediate surroundings.
Currently, the group could be considered strong; they could still escape being surrounded by this silver wolf pack. But this pack was not easy to deal with; if they were easy, no one would have died here. Whenever a wolf was injured, it would absorb the silver dust and heal itself, making the pack seem endless.
If it were just that, it wouldn't be too hard, but these silver wolves also had great stamina and defense; one could call them "thick-skinned and tough-fleshed." That was why Kazuka's slash, despite being so strong, did not turn any wolf into mincemeat or kill them instantly.
The battle was divided into six directions, each person in a different spot, constantly attacking and defending. Ideally, Ayaka should have gone with someone to make it easier, but she also split off. Fortunately, although the wolves swarmed her, she continuously fired energy arrows like a rainstorm, making it hard for them to close in despite the tight encirclement.
Aoto flew overhead and looked down. Many wolves were climbing on top of each other, forming a pillar for those behind to lunge close. But because he flew too high, they could hardly reach him.
Aoto's eyes glanced down; he saw a bipedal silver wolf have its body sliced in half by Airi's horizontal sweep. Silver blood sprayed out and its body was tossed away, but the moment its body touched the silver dust below, the bipedal wolf's body quickly recovered and rejoined the battlefield.
It looked like the group was fighting an even match, but in reality, they were just probing as if playing around.
Aoto realized this and frowned slightly.
—"So that's it. They absorb the surrounding silver to recover. No wonder we've been fighting this long and not a single wolf is lying dead below."
—"If it continues like this, the battle will take a very long time. Although everyone can still fight, it's a waste of time. I must solve this problem; ignoring it to keep fighting is too reckless."
Aoto yelled down from above:
"Everyone, these wolves absorb the silver around them to recover; fighting is useless. Takeshi, hurry and bring everyone up!"
Elyssia had also just realized it; before she could speak, Aoto had already said it. She swung her arm, her palm facing forward, and fired a large pillar of white, slightly opaque energy. Immediately, many wolves could not withstand it and were blown away. The energy pillar flew through the battle; a few wolves had their entire bodies blown apart by this massive source of energy, causing them to die before they could recover. A few wolves lunged, but she was prepared; she used a great deal of energy to envelop her body, causing the wolves to bite her energy without touching her. Using that much was indeed quite harmful, but this was for testing, so Elyssia still felt okay. Beneath her feet, the ground suddenly vibrated slightly; a block of earth lifted Elyssia's body and flew into the sky.
Only Aoto used wings to fly; the remaining five stood on the earth block.
Kazuka was regretful to the point of tears because he couldn't get back his scabbard. He didn't even know where he had thrown it earlier; he had been too excited, combined with thinking the battle would end quickly, so he had thrown it away carelessly. Who knew he wouldn't be able to find it now?
"Oh gosh, I lost the scabbard!" As he spoke, he held up his sword.
The swords of Elyssia and Airi, along with Ayaka's bow, also disappeared from their hands.
Aoto was still flying, his elemental wings like dragonfly wings flapping continuously.
"Let's just avoid them; fighting for a long time is a waste of time."
Elyssia hurriedly said: "If we use a powerful blow to destroy a wolf completely, that will prevent them from recovering."
Kazuka seemed to ignore Elyssia's statement and said:
"Let's fly high to cut off their line of sight, then land somewhere else in the forest and continue."
Sometimes, in a group of friends, ignoring someone's words happens frequently; it's not necessarily that every word requires an answer, nor is it out of dislike. It might be because one is in a stream of thought; when the other person speaks, they don't notice, and so the person thinking won't know the other's statement and accidentally ignores it. Generally, this is frequent and not strange.