The overgrown wolf was unexpectedly nimble on its injured leg and managed to dodge a few attacks, but at least five magical blasts struck true and battered on its leathery hide like hail.
It looked severely mangled now and had slowed down significantly compared to the start of their confrontation.
Using its pent-up exhaustion against it, Teo hurriedly spun several strings of stabilized Mana and scattered them around himself in an attempt to entangle it with them.
Unable to dodge in time, the Barghest ran straight into the trap and began to drag around the net of Mana threads with its movements, slowing it down even more.
Its speed was not so impressive anymore, and Teo patiently prepared his blade to meet this foe.
The jumping ability of its legs seemed to be heavily impaired now, and it could only charge straight at him, which he dodged with a swift step to the left.
Teo had to concentrate on dodging and only left a shallow cut on the side of the tiring animal; then, he steadied himself for the next attack.
Circling him from behind, it looked like it would pounce at any second now, something Teo did already expect and was ready for; but for a fraction of a second, a malicious grin seemed to flash over the beasts ghastly face, sending shivers down Teo's back.
With a sudden jerk, it forcefully pulled back it's right foreleg and swept Teo off his feet.
"Ahhhhhrghh!" Teo screamed, shocked from the sudden change in perspective, as he fell over and landed on the short grass of the clearing, his hands slowly sinking into the soft earth that wholly covered the forest floor.
He needed a second to reorient himself and wondered what had happened; then, it hit him.
The Mana threads, which he had used to entangle the hound previously, had unnoticedly wrapped around his own ankle when the Barghest ran around him. It directly connected him to the strong limbs of the beast — what a sly bastard.
He swiftly dissipated the Mana that made up the strings, erected an emergency barrier in front of him, and tried to get up as quickly as possible. But he was too late.
A giant, clawed paw was already fast approaching him.
Fueled by his almost full reserves, Goliath intervened and concentrated all the available Mana into the barrier, especially fortifying the area around Teo's face — that was all he could do.
When the giant paw landed on the barrier in front of Teo's face, its impact produced a loud noise and made it groan under the immense weight, but the barrier held up, managing to tank the hit.
The attack was not over, though. The large claws of the beast scraped over the surface of the barrier forcibly, the dark Magic eating away at the fibers that made it up in the meantime. The paw left deep grooves in its wake as it traveled farther.
However, Teo did not just sit around idly either. He quickly rolled over to the side and thrust forth his magical weapon in retaliation.
When the claws left the fortified area, they finally managed to shatter the shield and thumped onto the soft ground where he had previously been with immense force— they only grazed Teo's upper arm, though. They did not manage to inflict a serious injury.
The Barghest was not as lucky. Teo's sword did not hit its mark perfectly either but managed to inflict an extended cut on its flank anyway, causing dark blood to ooze forth and forcing the beast to retreat a few steps.
It did not take long for Teo to get back onto his legs, but what he heard from his Partner next instantly soured his mood even more.
'Great! It looks like we got company again,' said Goliath in a sarcastic voice.
Teo did not realize that anyone had approached them since he had needed his full concentration in this fight and did not have any time to spare on minor matters. He looked around the clearing in a hurry, wondering if the adventurers had returned with additional backup, but he had guessed wrong.
Over a dozen dark silhouettes shuffled around the edges of the clearing, silently watching over them from the cover of the abundant shrubbery. They were obviously not human though, covered in grey fur, equipped with deadly claws and sharp teeth.
A pack of wolves had encircled them, eyeing the scene curiously from a distance, probably lured over by the smell of blood or the sounds of battle.
Their natural weaponry may seem unimpressive, compared to a humongous beast like the Barghest standing in front of Teo, but they were many, and their targets were exhausted and injured — the potential danger of the situation could not be denied.
Apparently, the new arrivals did not have much cross-species sympathy and after the alpha gave the signal with a deep howl, they all dashed into the clearing to join the fray.
With at least two dozen wolves attacking them from all sides, the former enemies could not care less about their original opponent and focused solely on their own struggle against the lesser beasts.
Teo was doing pretty good actually. He was not very experienced in fighting large groups of enemies, but his Magic provided him with an impressive advantage.
He did not have enough power left in the tank to form a solid, unidirectional shield, which would protect him without further effort. However, Goliath automatically created small barriers right in front of any incoming attacks near his back and provided an excellent overall defense anyway. In the meantime, Teo would hurt or dispatch one wolf after the other with his sword.
The previously formidable Magical Beast was not doing as well. Its speed was not what it used to be, it was exhausted and severely injured. Each swipe with its savage claws would rend one of the animals, but two others would fall into its back in return.
It would not be able to defend itself much longer; defense never was its strong suit in the first place. Soon it became increasingly more sluggish and started to look at Teo with a pleading look in its eyes.
'Why is it looking at me like that?' Teo asked Goliath, confused by the sudden appeal to his empathy.
'Maybe it wants your help?' Goliath called the obvious but did not seem to care much.
'Help
'Well, that is not something I am concerned with. It's your decision what you want to do with it. If we do nothing, it should succumb to the constant attacks soon, and after cleaning up the other nuisances, we can easily sack the loot and be on our way,' Goliath said while he intercepted a large wolf in midair, flattening its face in a most hurtful manner.
Teo wanted to refute the idea directly, but seeing his former opponent battered by constant attacks, becoming weaker by the second and whimpering, something in him stirred. He did not have a grudge against it per se, they just fought over the same limited resources, but it was no longer a real threat to him now.
He chose not to save the adventurers already, maybe this was his opportunity to make up for it, yet he was not sure if it really was a good idea.
Then he had a sudden epiphany and was eager to try it out.
While keeping the pestering wolves at bay, he wove a strong thread of Mana and used it to connect his mind to the struggling Barghest. With his increased control over Mana, he was already capable of forging a bidirectional Mind Bridge by himself with ease now.
'Hello?' Teo asked probingly, unsure if it was even possible to communicate with a Magical Beast.
'Who there? Please help!' a deep voice echoed in his mind loud and clear.
It seemed like it really was possible to communicate!