After that little kerfuffle, all of the wolves within his fifty foot radius regained all of their momentum and slammed into Ran. After all, their muscles were still taut and in working order. And though they were still terrified of him, their instincts controlled them as they ran away with their tails tucked between their legs and their paws flailing about in the air.
Ran ignored being trampled on, got up, and just started teaming up with others, helping them completely dominate their enemies. Team ups were actually quite common as everytime an enemy is slain, the victor is free from combat, usually, so it is natural for teams to form.
The only reason why so many wolves were near Ran at the time was because the extra one and a half thousand wolves or so were mostly low-level. Well, that and his cheeks were just that delectable.
Now, the white-hooded individual was instantly infamous within the wolf circle.
Yet, such infamy comes with it… consequences.
…
As of right now, it had been two hours since the battle started.
If everyone played their hand just right, they should be at about half energy at minimum. This way, they'll have enough for the next hour, until the first respite begins. This'll allow them to heal back up even faster.
In this world, war is more diplomatic and controlled than it might seem. After all, there are very special rules that forbid certain things and the punishment of such forbidden actions are… dire.
For one, you'll never see an army come up to a place in the middle of the night for raid or other such sneak attacks, this is very special rule number one. This explains why the Dire Wolves sent an emissary to confirm the date as well as other matters as everything needs to be systematically controlled to be "fair" for both sides. This prevents easy slaughter.
Also, while recruitment is possible, outside help from other empires or states are not tolerated, like large armies.
Secondly, after the battle, the loser is to harvest their own peoples cores and has to hand them over to the victor. This is a very solemn and heartbreaking process as the core is in the brain and thus, requires certain means to harvest them successfully without overly defiling the corpse. Both sides get to keep their own peoples bodies, to return to their parents or what have you. This is very special rule number two.
Thirdly, while there is no cap on the size of armies, things like espionage and sabotage are also not to be tolerated. This is very special rule number three.
Fourth, when a horde is to happen, the strongest side can't have a person whose more than one rank ahead of the other side's strongest warrior. This also helps keep some balance while preventing overwhelmingly powerful states or tribes from completely dominating others who are much weaker than it with peak powerhouses. This is special rule number four.
Fifth, after two years of consecutive hordes, being four in total, if a side has four losses, then a sudden death is initiated. The grand horde as it is called, is an all or nothing battle where every single citizen that is able to fight will, whether they like it or not. Win, you get every single spoil as well as land for whatever resources it may or may not contain. Any previous losses are reset as well.
Lose, however, and everyone dies. Again, whether they like it or not. This is very special rule number five. And actually, this is the Dire Wolf's second year as well as their third horde.
Like this, what's left are just two sides and whoever has more power, be it from sheer numbers or peak strength, wins. Winner gets the spoils and the losers lose some, or all, of their own strength in the form of casualties.
As for calculating the winner and loser, it's simple. Whoever has more deaths loses, simple as that. So size isn't necessarily everything.
…
Right, where was I? Ah, yes, consequences.
After more than two hours of fighting, Ran had been all over the place and fought many more wolves. Most were still rank-8, but as time passed, he started fighting more and more rank-7 wolves. Well, their numbers aren't going up, just that the number of rank-8 wolves are going down.
Yet, he never met a wolf person in battle as of now.
That was until, well… now. There was one standing in front of him as you read this.
Its body was partially covered in gray fur, mostly around the face and various other places like their hands. Its Icy blue eyes shone with a much more dangerous light than any other wolf Ran had met so far. He (the wolf) was also rank-7, but his aura was much more powerful than other wolves who were not in a bipedal form.
"Hi." Ran waved his hand at him, eagerly waiting for a reply. While I said he was right in front Ran, they were actually more than ten feet apart.
The wolf's blue eyes glinted with a cold light. He didn't respond.
He lifted his right hand, holding it out in front of him.
Then, grey juice poured out of his arm like tentacles, waving about. Before long, they coalesced into many small, wolf-like figures that ran along his arm before fusing at his palm.
All the tiny wolves fused and built on top of each other as an object was beginning to take shape. One of the bow kind.
It was a gray bow of simple design and structure, being just a normal longbow that happened to be gray and made of energy.
Yet, more wolves kept appearing, their gray and oozy nature running along the wolf person's arm.
Of course, what is a bow without an arrow? This gray arrow wasn't simple however. It had an unusually long shaft and no fletchings to speak of. Its arrowhead, on the other hand, was intricately designed as it dawned the head of a wolf.
Its eyes locked onto Ran and its canine teeth seemed even sharper than the real thing.
And as the arrow was knocked onto the string, the wolf began pulling it back; his face was cold and unfeeling, yet the snarl that he calls lips spoke of an untold fury.
Howl! Eventually, a loud howl was heard as he had trouble keeping the string all the way back, its taut-ness reaching a maximum.
But the howl wasnt from him. It was the arrow!
And Ran, oh Ran was gasping. He had never seen such a beautiful thing that he clapped at the display the wolf person put for him, though he knew it was for the purpose of intimidation. He still chose to appreciate his opponent's skill.
Yet while clapping, the howl grew more intense before a loud bang was heard as it shot through the air in a gray blur.
It seared through the air so fast that as it passed through the area where Ran would normally contain a fleshy heart, he was still clapping.
"S**t!" Ran frowned as he cursed himself for not being cautious enough. Luckily, it just passed right next to his soul heart and snapped some threads which grew back a second later.
Ran poked the hole through his body and felt angry. There was another hole in his sweatshirt! Wait… he looked at his back. S**t! Make that two holes!
The wolf person was, however, gasping for air at the moment. What the f**k was with this kid!? He… he's still alive!? I shot through his heart!
He saw Ran poking his own hole, feeling his insides in a bloody and gory mess; he again started gasping for air in an attempt to understand the current situation.
If I can't kill him with one hit, then I'll hit him again!
Just then, a howl once again rang throughout Rans surroundings.
Hearing this, Ran broke out in some cold sweat as he knew this sound, the sound of the arrow. But… Why was he hearing it from behind him?
His mind worked quickly and his eyes opened wide as he realized. He quickly dodged to the side, the arrow narrowly missing him as it whooshed by and made his clothes flutter.
"It's homing!?" Ran had just figured out the secret of the arrow before he heard the same howl again. He kept dodging as the arrow flung around like a weaponized firework.
Its teeth seemed much more threatening than before as it looked just like a wolf who found its prey.
It howled again as it slingshotted around the field, dodging others and trying to poke more holes in Ran.
Ran physically knocked his head, trying to think of an overcomplicated plan when he should do what he does best. And that's what he did.
As his palm glowed with his sigil in a white-pink light, his mind focused on the arrow. Then, the wolf was startled.
Why? Maybe it had something to do with the connection he felt with the arrow!? And why was it changing colors!? Why pink!? No, it has to be gray!
"Ugh." The wolf person shivered as his mind focused on his arrow. What was this!?
He felt very uncomfortable with the other party's actions, though not by the action itself. More because of the method. The current situation was akin to a horror story as this… weird pinkish goo left marks all over his arrow! It kept staining its beauty, damn it!
It grew like an infectious mold, branching out in every direction, touching… everything. Traces and marks were left all over the arrow like spores as he lost more and more control over it.
Funny thing was, why wasn't he doing anything? He was just watching as the scene unfolded in front of eyes.
Yeah, why am I not doing anything?
The wolf noticed that while it was doing its… thing, it was pretty slow all things considered. It was fast, just not fast enough. In part, probably because, and he noticed this himself, it was too weak. A whole rank to be specific!
With his mind free of emotion, he retaliated. Retaliated hard. So hard in fact, the other party, Ran, was over there sweating his *ss off!
He was having trouble from the get go and realized this wasn't like how he did it with Queenie and her fire some time back. This wolf boy was surprised, yes, but not stupid. It realized his weakness and capitalized on it.
A headache came on as his intense focus was a strain.
Bang!
The arrow, all this time, was mindlessly shooting everywhere as it became a battlefield in it's own right; but like all battlefields, it had ended.
Suddenly, it regained its gray luster and even increased in speed as it once again sped in Rans direction.
"Man, next time, I'll just go the easy way." Ran was dejected as he looked at the arrow. He lost this one.
No! Ran pick yourself up, man! This is not the time to wallow in defeat.
Ran picked himself up as he looked at the arrow heading towards his face and was only a couple feet from it.
He summoned his sword and immediately braced himself.
"Hmm, should I scream in preparation or not? It would be pretty cool…" Ran was thinking about strange things as a force abruptly hit his sword and carried himself off the ground.
"Ah, this is the life." Ran felt as though he flew through the clouds at this second as bouts of blood spurted from his mouth.
While he was enjoying his delusion, he looked down as he flew and found a familiar hole in his chest. He saw inside himself, but this wasn't what made him frown.
It was the blood! God, no! The blood! IT'S-EVERY-WHERE!!!
The sheer force from the arrow hitting him made him fly off dozens of meters, the force shook his body and the internal bleeding spilled out the hole and onto his-used to be pristinely white-clothing.
S**t! He actually forgot about the gaping in his chest, heck, I can even see the soul heart! Quick, fix it! So, he did.
Then, a roar resounded around the battlefield!
"BASTARD!"
Ran stamped his feet on the sand and forcefully stopped his flight, leaving deep trails in the sand.
His sword, having latched onto the arrow had, by now, fully absorbed the arrow and glowed dimly.
Rans eyes glistened as a cold sheen took over, leaving his once-full of life-eyes a… desolate wasteland.
Then… he moved himself towards the person who is RESPONSIBLE.
Then… he began walking towards the person who is RESPONSIBLE.
Then… he began running towards the person who is RESPONSIBLE.
Then… as the wolf person looked at Ran, he knew he was RESPONSIBLE!
And as he felt Rans gaze on him… he knew he was gonna die!
Damn it! The wolf person felt as if he was locked on by his own arrow! An absolute horrible feeling! A feeling of impending doom!
He did what he could and summoned another arrow before sending it at Ran with even more speed, the wolf person desperate for empty results.
The arrow reached Ran within a single second and almost bit his face into pieces… until he dodged with a simple bend of the neck.
Ran knew what to do and sped up as well, trying to cover as much distance as possible.
Howl! A howl was heard and Ran grinned at such a hideous sound. As the arrow turned around and chased after Ran, it reached his back at incredible speeds.
Yet, just as it was going to poke another hole in his back, it was caught by something… his sword. He saw it coming and had prepared his sword behind his back.
Bang!
A loud bang rang out as the force of the arrow hit his sword, propelling it and Ran into the air like he had a rocket strapped to his back.
Yes, that's right, folks! Ran used that fool's arrow against him!
He became a messy… white-pink blur as the blood and his clothes make for an odd, yet familiar mixture of color.
The wolf person watched in horror as the pink blur reached him before he could even blink his eyes. Then, he felt a sensation in his midsection.
Ran already forcefully stopped a few feet from the person who is… responsible. He watched on coldly as the scene unfolded.
The wolf person opened his eyes wide as he watched his body get split horizontally, falling helplessly onto the sand.
His lower half began having spasmodic episodes as the legs twitched and thrusted out.
Pow.
His leg twitched and kicked his face, knocking him unconscious and killed him in the process; the final blow being dealt from his own body.