"Yeah... these beasts have a very strong sense of smell, especially when it comes to their fellow beasts' pheromones... right now, there are five of them approaching us," Drake reported.
"Did you say five? These beasts are incredibly difficult to defeat. They are almost here; I can feel their aura already," Kael said, tightening his grip on the hilt of his sword.
"Oh man... is that why you're all frightened? I've been waiting for this moment for a long time. I'll take out two; your senior colleague can take out two as well. After all, the way he forges those weapons out of nowhere is kinda cool. Just try to hold out against one..." Thorne said in derision.
Kael was fuming inside, but he kept his calm. After all, there was an impending threat coming after them. He managed to say, "We'll see who will struggle soon."
"Enough, both of you. These beasts are not to be underestimated. They are already here, but they're approaching with caution. So, our best chance against them is to use a kind of ambush and defeat them without giving them any chance to go berserk," Drake said.
He was right... Beasts entering their berserk mode was nothing anyone wanted to experience. That was one of the main features of all creatures categorized as beasts.
Whenever they were on the verge of being defeated or pushed to their limits, they usually became berserk.
In this state, they lost all sense of rationality, acting on their instincts only.
Their eyes turned red, their physical strength doubled, and their attacks became even more voracious. They struck at anything in sight without any thoughts of defense from enemy attacks.
Some usually wielded strange powers, especially elemental powers, in their berserk mode.
Therefore, the best way to deal with beasts was to finish them off as fast as possible before they became ferocious.
"Ambush? How? In a place like this," asked Kael, looking around the tunnel to find a possible place to lay their ambush.
The particular spot where they were was darker than other parts of the tunnel, as the bioluminescent fungi that would have produced illumination had been caught between whatever power killed the beast. That made it even harder for them to see clearly.
Also, it wasn't wide enough for an ambush, nor was it crooked with boulders around, where they could hide and await the approaching beasts.
However, it appeared that Thorne had a plan for that.
"Hey, knight! Leave that to me... it's one of my specialties," Thorne assured them.
•••••
In the next few moments, the five Slythwyrms arrived at that spot, one after the other.
They were all roaming around the dead one, producing a ghostly shriek from their mouths, filled with rows of sharp, pointed canine-like teeth.
They kept circling around the dead one as if waiting for the killer to appear.
There was no one there; the trio was nowhere to be seen.
Out of nowhere, five spears of malevolent condensed aura hurtled towards all five beasts, who were still shrieking and walking around the dead one.
The spears came out with a nature-defying speed, giving the agile beasts no chance to evade the attacks.
And boom! They all struck the five beasts on the neck region but did not penetrate, instead falling off and dissipating into aura particles.
As if angered by the assault, they all let out a deafening shriek. Their tails and vines stood erect, waiting for whoever the enemy was that attacked them.
Standing magnificently away from them, towards one of the tunnel entrances, was Kael.
It would have been hard to truly recognize him, as he was wearing his Telescope Mask in addition to the Magma Shroud. If not for his height and hair - being a little shorter than the other two with very long brown hair - and also his signature long sword, which he was holding with one hand by his side, with its tip touching the ground.
However, this time around, something was different about him. He was grinning crazily at the beasts that were shooting daggers at him.
And just around his hand holding the sword's hilt were churning swirls of condensed aura, which had given the sword a dim bluish glow.
If one were called to describe his stance right now, they would summarize it as a 'Hysterical Bloodlust Warlock.'
His stylish emergence, however, did not faze the five beasts at all, let alone scare them away, if that was his purpose. Because, right away, they all hurtled after him with killing intent emanating from each one of them.
"Run!!!" An amplified voice reverberated across that area.
Then, as if waiting for that instruction like student Aetherians, Kael took to his heels. Running away from the beasts in the other direction, after slashing his aura-imbued sword at them.
It seemed like a stupid act to slash at the empty air before scurrying off. But it was a calculated attack.
This was because, from that slash, a very condensed aura attack flashed at lightning speed towards the beast in front. Then, with no resistance, the Aura Slash sliced through the beast's head. That was not the end of the massacre, as it struck the next one before dissipating.
It was a devastating blow, as a thump was heard from the first beast. While the second one sustained a deep cut on its head, though not fatal enough to slash its brain.
The remaining four all slithered across the dead one while still after Kael.
But, out of nowhere, another spear, bigger and thicker this time, flashed so fast and hit the already wounded Slythwyrm, exactly at that point of cut. That was two down now.
Relentless in their pursuit, while shrieking even more painfully as their comrades were being killed, the rest were catching up with Kael.
That was because he stopped and made another Aura Slash.
Although, this time, his plan didn't work. As the beasts all dodged it.
The slash connected with the wall of the tunnel behind, exploding on impact.
Three more spears flew past them too, which two dodged while the last one got scratched by it.
One more spear came after the scratched beast, but instead of hitting it on its head. It pierced it on its tail, pinning it down by the wall.
That was not the only one that was pinned down, because the other two seemed to have been demobilized as well. Not by any spear, but by the walls of the tunnels that had sprouted out like hands, holding them still.
"I guess it's now fair. One man against one beast. It's quite too wicked for five of you to fight one man, don't you think so, Drake?"
It was Thorne who said those words, as sarcastic as ever. He and Drake were already standing next to Kael, who was panting from all the running he did.
"You were quite a tricky one, I'll say. More like the Master of Ambush," Drake replied, referring to Thorne, the mastermind behind the fate of the beasts.
Kael was surprised himself, not from the success of the ambush, but hearing Drake compliment someone for the first time in his life.
He had worked with and under Drake for a long time in the Templar Force. So, he was kind of envious of Thorne for being the first person to get Drake's praise. Especially since he was not a Templar. All he could do was scoff.
The beast, however, was not easy to beat just like that. Because the earthen grip holding the other two cracked instantly. And they let out their vines at the trio.
Surprisingly, the vines were elongated before their eyes.
Drake had summoned his weapons of aura already before he instructed, "Kael, finish off the other one that is still stuck before that spear dissipates. We will deal with these two..."