The milky white fog swallowed us in a suffocating silence. My fingers gripped the hilt of the Blood-Iron sword tightly, ready to meet a steel slash from any direction.
Beside me, Ragnar's breathing sounded heavy and regular. The greatsword in his hand was already radiating a golden Aura that illuminated the fog within a one-meter radius.
We awaited an attack from Vane and the Blood Sword Faction, who had already surrounded us.
However, what came instead was something far worse.
The muddy ground beneath our feet suddenly vibrated. Instead of a volley of arrows or the flash of swords from behind the fog, a reddish-purple light exploded from beneath the rotting leaves.
The light formed intricate geometric lines with glowing runes, piercing the dense white fog to create a circular radius ten meters wide.
It was a Summoning Circle.
Before I could even shout a warning, a growl far heavier and raspier than a typical Mutant Wolf vibrated our ribs. From within that purple light, giant shadows leaped out, landing with loud thuds that made the ground shake.
These were no ordinary Mutant Wolves. Their size was comparable to bears. Their fur was pitch black, looking stiff and sharp like braided steel wire. Fangs protruded from their jaws, dripping steaming saliva.
Dire Wolves. Mid-tier wild monsters usually found only in the deepest zones of the Forbidden Forest.
"Defensive formation!" I shouted, my commander instincts instantly taking over.
The fight broke out in a matter of seconds, and its brutality far exceeded the previous clash.
A Dire Wolf lunged at Ragnar with a speed illogical for its size. Ragnar swung his greatsword horizontally, smashing into the monster's jaw with full force.
THUD!
If it had been an ordinary Mutant Wolf, its head would surely have been crushed to pieces. Yet, the Dire Wolf was only thrown back a few meters. It shook its bleeding head and growled angrily once more. Their bones and muscles were too dense.
On the other side, I darted forward to meet the second monster. Utilizing the weight of the Blood-Iron sword, I twisted my body and slashed the ancient wolf's neck. My black blade tore its skin, but not deep enough to decapitate it.
Hot blood soaked my sword and was immediately absorbed greedily. The Sanguine Core in my chest pulsed, pumping additional power into all my muscles.
I used that power to jump backward, right before the monster's jaws clamped down, nearly crushing my waist.
Even Selena, the anomaly who previously looked as if she were strolling through a park, was now forced to show a tense expression. The wind walls and light shields she cast began to crack under the barrage of blind attacks from the Dire Wolves.
As Selena tried to lock one monster's leg with a glowing root, another wolf slipped through her blind spot. Its giant claw slashed.
RIP!
Selena managed to dodge at the last second, but the claw tore the edge of her robe and left a bleeding scratch on her pale white arm.
"Damn it!" cursed Ragnar, kicking the stomach of a wolf whose eyes he had just slashed. Fresh blood dripped from his right shoulder, which had been grazed by a claw. "Where are those Blood Sword cowards hiding?! Why aren't these monsters attacking them?!"
I severed the neck of an already injured Dire Wolf, letting my sword drink its blood dry.
However, right as the giant carcass collapsed into the mud, the magic circle beneath us glowed again. Two new Dire Wolves leaped out from the purple light, instantly replacing their fallen comrade.
"They are not here!" shouted Selena, her voice filled with tension as she focused her mana to patch a cracked shield. "This is a Mid-Tier Summoning Scroll! An illegal relic! This device plants a magical signal into the ground and will continuously summon monsters until the scroll's duration runs out... or until its marked target dies!"
I gritted my teeth, parrying a claw aimed at my face. Orvelis Nightbane was truly not playing around. He used his faction's wealth to purchase this deadly artifact, letting these starving monsters do his dirty work without leaving a trace of murder.
This wave of monsters would be endless. No matter how great the stamina injected by the Sanguine Core, my body had limits, and so did Ragnar and Selena's mana. Holding out here was akin to waiting for the time of execution.
Amidst the chaos and the sound of savage roars, my combat veteran brain worked at lightning speed, assembling pieces of information.
Vane set this trap and then retreated. If they could escape without being eaten by wolves, it meant they had a safe evacuation route outside the radar range of this scroll.
We only needed to find that route.
"Ragnar! Selena!" I shouted through the din of battle. "Give me ten seconds! Protect me! Do not let a single monster touch me!"
"Are you crazy?!" roared Ragnar. Yet the large fighter did not hesitate for a step. He jumped in front of me, swinging his giant sword like a windmill of death. Selena swiftly cast three layers of wind shields around us, her face pale from mana overload.
I retreated to the center of the formation, squeezing my eyes shut.
Until now, I had always used the Sanguine Core to strengthen muscle fibers and bones. This time, I had to do something far riskier. Holding my breath, I forcibly drew the flow of bloody energy away from my arms and legs. My body instantly felt weak, as if being dragged to the bottom of the ocean.
In exchange, I pumped all that magical lava directly into my sensory nervous system, focusing it on my sense of smell.
My visual world was dark, but it instantly exploded into an incredibly sharp scent map. The air that previously only smelled of fog now shattered into thousands of layers of information.
I smelled the metallic tang of monster blood spilling into the mud. The sour scent of Ragnar's sweat. The sharp ozone smell from Selena's magic. The stench of carrion from the wolves' breath.
All that information slammed into my brain, nearly making me nauseous.
However, I pushed all of that aside. I traced every inch of the air, sorting the aromas.
Not monster blood. Not ally blood. Enemy blood.
Then, I found it.
Beneath the dense forest aroma, there was one very thin yet very distinct red thread of scent. The smell of fresh human blood, slightly sweet, with a trace of a noble's perfume concoction.
It was Vane's blood. The arrogant youth had refused to be healed by Selena earlier. When he led his comrades running back to avoid this wolf trap, his rapid foot movements must have caused the scratch wound on his arm to reopen, dripping blood along their evacuation route.
His arrogance had charted a golden map for me.
I opened my eyes, which now gleamed with a dark red hue like an ancient predator. I pumped the flow of the Sanguine Core back into my arm muscles.
"Three o'clock!" I ordered with a deadly hoarse voice. "Break through their lines! Do not stop to kill, just get them out of the way! Follow me!"
Ragnar did not ask many questions. He channeled all his remaining Aura into a single giant vertical strike, creating a shockwave that split the formation of three Dire Wolves in front of us. Selena threw a light explosive that blinded the remaining wolves momentarily.
We ran, breaking through the encirclement. Cold air hit my face as we exited the radius of the Summoning Circle. However, the savage howls of dozens of Dire Wolves behind us indicated they were in pursuit, attracted by the scent of our fear and blood.
I led at the front, my eyes glued to the forest floor.
Sure enough. On a broad fern leaf, there was a drop of red blood that was still fresh. Three steps ahead, another red stain colored a tree root. This dotted red line formed a straight path through the fog, escaping normal vision but glowing brightly in the eyes of the Tracking Hound.
Ragnar panted heavily behind me. "Kael! Those damn wolves are still chasing us! Their numbers are increasing!"
"I know!" I replied, my eyes continuing to lock onto Vane's blood trail.
"Then where are we running?!" protested Ragnar, slaughtering a wolf that tried to pounce from the side with a counter-swing. "If we keep this up, we will run out of energy before the fog lifts!"
My steps slowed. Ahead of me, the blood trail ended around an area of large rocks forming a natural depression. It was an incredibly strategic hiding place to take cover and watch the slaughter from afar. The Blood Sword Faction must be hiding up there, laughing while imagining our bodies being torn apart by monsters.
I stopped completely, causing Ragnar and Selena to nearly crash into me. Behind us, the growls of the Dire Wolves grew increasingly deafening. Dozens of those death-bringing monsters were less than thirty meters away, charging like a black tidal wave.
Selena's breathing was ragged; her hands trembled under the burden of excess magic. "Cadet Draven... what are you doing? They will run us over!"
Instead of panicking, I turned around, facing the approaching wave of monsters. I stared at the Blood-Iron sword in my hand, then shifted my gaze to a small puddle of Vane's blood dripping on a flat rock right in front of me.
A crazy, dark, and merciless grin formed on my lips.
"Do you two know what is much more fun than being hunted by a pack of ancient wolves?" I asked with a quiet voice, which somehow managed to slice through the roars of the monsters behind us.
I crouched down, driving the tip of the black Blood-Iron blade right into Vane's blood puddle. The dark steel hissed, absorbing the enemy's blood greedily, recording the magical trace and the identity of its owner. The Sanguine Core in my chest resonated, altering the resonance of my sword into an attracting beacon.
I stood up slowly, letting the blood vapor from my sword merge with the foggy air, amplifying the scent of Vane's blood a thousandfold in all directions.
I glanced at Ragnar and Selena, who were staring at me with tense faces.
"Herding these wolves..." I whispered with blazing eyes, "Straight to the front door of our enemy's house. Let us see if those noble executioners can survive their own trap."