The Sun arrived at the horizon with the cosmic sky gone.
"Tigrigh-tigrigh"
The wild wind horses ran through at incredible speed, leaving behind the capital and entering a trail in the saffron canopy. The trail could easily accommodate three horses or two caravans at the same time.
It was a forest with its trees bending towards the roads, carrying yellowish leaves.
Occasionally, the leaves brushed the two warriors' faces, flowing softly with the wind.
Suddenly, their gaze met with a group of guys standing at a distance; a slight smile could be seen on their faces.
"Should we stop or charge forward?" Xenon asked, his eyes twitching.
"No need to stop; just activate Wind Rush as we get close to thirty meters in their vicinity."
She replied coldly.
Wind Rush was a unique attack of the wild wind horse; it doubles the speed of the wild wind horse for twenty seconds, while covering the whole body of the horse with a thick layer of wind shield, but its downside was …
"Stoppp," she spoke, feeling something was amiss while looking at Xenon.
The change in her decision slightly caught Xenon off guard.
They both stopped in their tracks approximately thirty meters apart.
The smiling faces suddenly frowned, and somebody from the group waved his hand towards them, speaking, "Hey, friends, we are not looking for trouble; we just lost our way and need some help."
"Why did you stop? Something's wrong."
"Shh! I sense something abnormal; slowly back off, don't make any move, and shut your mouth," she whispered to him, her heart rate increasing.
Both of them backed off slowly while still sitting on the horse.
The horse, too, had sensed the threat; its ears grew wide, and instinct compelled it to retreat silently.
Aurora got off the horse and placed her palm on the ground. Using her scouting tier 2 Flow Sense Shard. For a brief moment, she felt a profound sense of unity with the earth, allowing her to perceive everything within a hundred-meter radius.
The group, seeing both of them step back, grew irritated and began moving toward them slowly, their expressions grim.
Tump, thud, thump, thum…
"Be alert; a large group of monsters seems to be coming," Aurora spoke.
"Listen… we really need help. We mean no har…."
Snap… crunch.
"What?"
Thwack, thomp.
"Aaaahhhhhh."
"These are…"
Clang.
"Dammit, it's the group of ironback werewolves." Aurora spoke worriedly, removing her hand from the ground."
"Should we make a run?" Xenon spoke while perspiring.
"We can't, at least I can't. My spirit energy is insufficient, unlike you, who has the origin core. Let me refill it, keep me guarded, and don't create much noise." She took a few Crystals from one of her storage shards and started refilling her spirit core, sitting right under a tree.
Xenon watched the horrifying sight with his eyes; he had just read about it in a newspaper article.
One of the werewolves used its sharp claws to remove a person's head and devour it.
Blood gushed out of it like a fountain.
A much larger wolf, likely their leader, stepped on another, turning its body into a paste under the giant foot.
The Ironback werewolves were rank 2 wild beasts, being eight feet tall and muscular like any other werewolves, but what defined them was their rock-hardened back that covered their weakness of being attacked from behind. They were considered one of the strongest rank 2 wild beasts.
At the center of the pack stood their leader, a rank 3 being known as the steelback werewolf. It was noticeably larger than the rest, its body taller and more defined, with the stone along its back appearing smoother and denser.
Unlike the other, it had a more upright posture. Its fur was more grey than the others, which was dirtied by the blood that splattered around.
Both had sharp claws and a muscular jaw that could mash a stone into powder easily.
Even though he had seen his loved ones leave him one by one, he never saw how it happened. It was his first time experiencing something this brutal.
He was witnessing every part of the battle with his utmost attention.
"Get in formation; we are all also at the peak stage of the reformation level. Only two have died, don't fear," a tall and buff guy said.
The group of people was originally made up of seven people, but now only five remain.
The Ironback wolves numbered eleven, with their leader as the twelfth.
The intense battle between the two groups started, and blood splattered like water, coloring the trees and leaves red.
"Ahhhrrrr, Fire Fist!"
A massive barrage of fists coated with a thick layer of fire was shot at the front of the ironback werewolf, decapitating it on the spot.
"Whirlwind!"
Abruptly, the leaves that had fallen from the ground began to float and struck another ironback werewolf at tremendous speed, covering its sharp eyes and leaving short cuts on its face.
The werewolf went berserk, unable to see, swinging its sharp claws everywhere, but suddenly,
"Lightning Infusion!"
Slash…
Another man assisting the wind-set user severed the ironback werewolf's head from its body, causing it to roll on the ground.
The Steelback werewolf growled upon witnessing the death of its companion, piercing a person's body with its claws before smashing it violently in the direction of another man.
The man flew a few feet before smashing into a tree, spurting blood out of his mouth, and dying instantly.
Only three remained, while the werewolves were still ten.
The werewolves' pack covered them from each direction; saliva was dripping from their open mouths.
The three were stuck in a deadlock, but suddenly, all three took a small black pill and swallowed it.
Their bodies became larger in size, and their eyes turned bloodshot. But their face was expressionless; the fear of dying in their eyes was gone.
"Fire Field,"
"Wind Cyclone,"
"Electric Discharge."
A massive cyclone appeared in front of the wolf pack, instantly killing four of them.
While the others backed off, sensing immense killing intent from the cyclone.
The steelback werewolf could just feel, looking at it, that it was no ordinary cyclone.
It was as huge as he was, but it was wrapped in fire as the whole ground was emitting fire, and the most dangerous was the sharp electricity that was radiating out of the tornado.
Inside the tornado, the three men were starting to have difficulty in maintaining its form, their spirit energy decreasing at an alarming rate, but they supplied even more power, and its size surpassed the size of the steelback werewolf; its firepower surged, and the lightning flow became more constant at the edges.
One more werewolf was caught in the storm, dying on the scene.
The storm size increased at an alarming rate.
Shivers were sent down Xenon's back, witnessing the intense and horrific battle between the two groups.
Then, suddenly, Aurora opened her eyes, standing on her feet, seeing the tense situation; her spirit core was filled a little more than half, but it was sufficient for the current situation.
"Get on the horse quickly," she spoke alarmingly.
They both mounted the horse quickly; meanwhile, the werewolves started retreating.
"Get ready," she said.
Boom…
Fwoosh…
The massive cyclone lost its shape and spread in all directions at a massive rate. The werewolves were severely slashed; their wounds were electrocuted and burned with the fire, and the massive wind pressure collapsed them to the floor. Their flesh was torn apart from their bodies, and within a few seconds, they all were lying lifelessly on the floor, except the steelback werewolf, who went into frenzy and charged directly at the three people, smashing them into each other with great force, turning them into a slurry of meat.
Although the storm was damaging him, its effects were not severe enough to immobilize or kill him.
Suddenly, it sensed the presence of someone from behind, and just as it turned around,
"Now!"
"Fiery blade."
"Hydro coating."
Slash…
It saw two faint shadows of someone before its head rolled down to the floor in the storm.
"Don't stop, or we will lose our lives too. Keep supplying your shield spirit energy," Aurora shouted.
The wind pressure that had formed a temporary barrier around the horses, created by Wind Rush, was beginning to wear off in the storm, and cuts and bruises started appearing on both the riders and their mounts.
"Ahh, rrr..." Xenon was writhing in pain and activated his defense shard to cover not only himself but also the horse.
"Ahhr... Just a few more seconds," Aurora mumbled while activating her defense shard, too.
While Xenon was receiving assistance from his origin pearl, both of them could feel their spirit energy rapidly diminishing; she, however, lacked the origin pearl.
The storm started to diminish, but the cuts on their bodies became more severe.
Slowly, the dizziness started creeping over them, but they still poured their energy into the shield while also supplying adequate energy to the horses to maintain wind rush.
Aurora was the first one out; the cuts on her body increased massively while the horse's speed also declined.
Following her, Xenon also fell unconscious.
Both they and their horses were being ravaged by the storm, their bodies severely damaged as their flesh was torn apart.