Insects flew into the campfire, their buzzing crying out within the deafening silence.
AAah-oooh!
The youths who had fallen asleep, snapped their eyes open. A rough, savage cry of a beast shook the forest.
"They are coming, make the surroundings brighter, Jose."
Jose set several of the piled firewood in their camp into flames. Fires ignited all around them, allowing them to see the surrounding forest clearly. However, they couldn't see a single werewolf. The only thing that shook through the forest was the howling of the wolves.
"The enemy is watching us, and we cannot see the enemy.'
Han looked to Kuro. Even without an exchange of words, Kuro was already focusing. He was attempting to use his immediate foresight to discover the source and timing of their attack. His eyes were glowing so bright that his irises seemed to disappear.
'If the immediate foresight fails, our team will be killed by the enemy's attack. Based on a werewolf's sheer strength, everyone would probably be killed.'
They will die without Kuro's immediate foresight at this moment. Han felt anxious, but he didn't want to burden Kuro more.
Gguuuu-!
The air current changed around Kuro from his psychic powers.
"Attacking. From the left."
Kuro said shortly. Han spread his hands and shouted to Jose.
"JOSE!!"
Jose and two more ignition users cast their psychic powers. When fire type psychic users combined their strength, it would cause a great explosion. The left side of the forest immediately got engulfed by flames.
HWaaaa!
They could see a werewolf from among the burning trees. The werewolf twisted through the maze of trees while its eyes flashed madly.
"Javelin team. Lead team aim and fire."
The wooden spear penetrated into the werewolf's body. The roughly put together javelin team's skills were mediocre at best, but the werewolf was massive and three spears successfully attacked the werewolf.
"Kyaaaoooo-!"
The werewolf howled in pain. The werewolf, that had been unruly, stopped upon slamming into the barricade. Obstacles continued to block the werewolf's path.
"Canute, let's go."
Han and Canute ran out together.
The two had perfect teamwork from their long practised team battles. Han oversaw everything on the right, and Canute was in charge of everything on the left. The two evaded through both sides of the werewolf and attacked from its back side.
Han's spear penetrated through the werewolf's chest. The knife tied onto the end of the spear was tangled and dirtied on dripping blood.
"Canute! Cut it!"
Han shouted. Canute climbed onto the werewolf's back and stabbed his knife onto its neck. The knife dug deep into the centre neck and glided out through to the side in one clean motion. A fountain of blood sprinkled out like a fountain from the wolf's half chopped head.
Bam!
"Uck."
Canute got hit by the flailing werewolf and flew out into the distance. Canute broke his right arm and leg. A single blow from the werewolf had practically critically injured half his body.
"$#!@$#!"
Han swore words he'd never let out. The werewolf rampaged by itself and somehow flung itself into the trap. The ignition-type psykers, who had been on standby, immediately set the trap on fire. Flames burst out of the trap.
Kwajik Kwajik!
Han stabbed his spear down many times to prevent the werewolf from climbing out. Then soon, the werewolf grew silent.
However, this was not the end. Another howl came from a different direction.
"Haa, haa. Canute, how's the injury?"
Han supported Canute, who had fallen over in the centre of their battle formation. With just one look, one could easily tell that his arm and legs were broken.
"Sorry, I won't be able to continue any longer."
Canute looked to the ground and said. Han nodded. Canute had always fought in the front lines of battle.
He had always been the one to suffer the most injuries during their squad battles as well. Canute had always silently carried on this dangerous role in their squad.
"This time, they are attacking from the front. There are two werewolves."
Han felt conflicted.
'Would we be able to pull through with our current numbers? Should we use our assault team now?'
The assault team would be able to easily take down the two werewolves. The two werewolves were so distracted by the happenings surrounding the forest that they didn't notice the assault team up on top of the trees.
'But, there should be the Elu tribe somewhere here. The enemy is trying to figure out our overall military strength by using the werewolves to scout. We can't show our entire military strength on a sacrificed enemy.'
Han bit down on his nails. There might be casualties, but as the squad leader, he must make the decision. Should we sacrifice some of our team to hide our military strength against the unknown enemy? Should we block all immediate dangers and show our entire strength to our enemy? The burden of this choice felt heavy.
'I've decided. We will use all our barricades and traps.'
"They are coming."
The javelin team shouted. They wanted to throw their spears and take down the werewolf as soon as they could.
"Wait, javelin team."
Han's eyes glowed. The werewolf must jump over their barricade, and at that moment, its movement would be limited while in the air. If they were to hit the werewolf while in the air, it would suffer a critical injury.
"Now!"
The werewolf jumped over the barricade. At that moment, the spears bulleted out and pinned themselves into the werewolf's body.
The werewolf was pushed back by the attack and smashed against the barricade. The barricade had many pointed wooden spikes, and it had lodged itself tightly onto the trap. It struggled to get out while blood dripped from its body.
"There is one more werewolf!"
The remaining werewolf came running in.
"Try to block it!"
Han shouted. The ignition psykers shot a fireball into the air. The werewolf punched its two fists and flew through the giant fireball.
"Push him back with the spears!"
The javelin team threw their spears. The werewolf had already seen its kin die from the hidden trap and evaded.
The werewolf lowered itself on the ground and let itself get hit on the shoulder and back. The werewolf's back became like a porcupine as the spears stabbed onto its back.
"Mo-monster."
One of the squad members mumbled. The team grew pale seeing the werewolf's stamina and prowess. Han ran to the werewolf before it could get up again. He threw his whole body at the werewolf and pushed it backward.
"Kaa!"
The werewolf growled while swinging its arms. Han reflexively lowered his head. He grabbed one of the spears stuck to its back.
Puek!
The spear penetrated its foot as it stomped down. The werewolf howled nastily from pain as it flailed its arms wildly. Han ran in circles as he dodged the flailing attacks at an almost superhuman speed.
Long before Han had been judged as a good squad leader candidate, he had been praised for his capabilities as a main striker and additionally, they had scored him highly for his quick wit.
As a second year, Han had transcended normal human strength and had grown highly impact resistant bones. His enhanced muscles made seemingly impossible postures easily obtainable. Han tied up the werewolf's movement and attracted its attention.
"Hup!"
Kijo joined in during the few seconds Han had distracted the werewolf. He stabbed into the werewolf's head and twisted the wound site. The werewolf swung its arm widely to rip Kijo apart.
"Kijo! Let go of your spear!"
Han grabbed Kijo's back and pulled him away. Kijo rolled onto the ground and tripped. The werewolf's nails swiped passed where Kijo had been in the next moment. That had been the werewolf's last remaining strength.
"Grr…."
The werewolf continued to growl with the spear impaled in its head, until it let out its last breath. During Han and Kijo's struggle, another werewolf had attacked from their right side, but Jose and his team had defeated it with much difficulty.
"Is it o-over?"
The fatigued youths mumbled. Only three minutes had passed, and in that short moment, they had been near death more times than they could possibly count.
Everyone had used a majority of their psychic energy and their heads hurt a lot.
"I thought I would piss my pants. $#%$."
Kijo complained in Korean. Han offered a helping hand to Kijo. Kijo grabbed Han's hand and got up.
Pah!
A flash of light passed. Something impaled into Kijo's chest. It was an arrow made of psychic energy. A neon blue arrow passed Kijo's chest and dissipated.