Zenith's expression was grim. She could sense that these red demonic wolves, individually, weren't particularly strong. She could easily handle one or two of them.
But the problem wasn't their strength. It was their sheer numbers—there were at least twenty or thirty wolves right in front of them!
If this were back when she was part of the S-rank adventurer group "Fang of the Black Wolf," this wouldn't have been an issue. They would've taken care of these wolves easily.
Unfortunately, now it was just her and Wood.
And strictly speaking, Zenith was a healer. She wasn't really cut out for battle.
She knew that Wood's skill with a sword had long surpassed Paul's. But that was his swordsmanship.
Now, without a proper sword in his hand, and with him being only a mid-tier magic user, there was no way he could fight off the pack of wolves ahead.
Especially with the huge wolf leading the pack. Zenith could feel the threat from it, far more dangerous than the dark druid they had faced before.
That wolf was likely the leader of this area!
Zenith was an advanced magic user, and more importantly, she was Wood's mother. It was a parent's job to protect their children.
As the wolves started closing in, following the leader's howl, she was about to tell Wood to take care of Norn and Aisha while she handled the fight. But before she could say anything, Wood had already charged forward!
"Wood, what are you doing?! With your level of magic, you can't possibly take down that wolf king! Get back here right now!"
If Wood had a sword in hand, Zenith wouldn't have stopped him. But right now, he was holding nothing but a staff and running headlong into a pack of wolves. Of course she was worried.
Wood had always been gifted with a sword, and Rudeus with magic. Zenith and Paul both knew this.
But even though Wood was brilliant with a sword and exceptional in many ways, he wasn't a master of everything.
Zenith knew better than anyone that Wood's magic abilities were only at the mid-tier level. And the staff he held wasn't even his. Challenging the wolf king by himself was practically suicide.
"Mother, you're the one who needs to calm down. Take care of Norn and Aisha, and don't worry about me.
I'll handle this. We won't know if I can defeat that wolf king unless I try!"
The wolf king, seeing the human boy recklessly charging toward it, felt its pride being challenged. This wasn't just any beast—it was smart, and it understood what was happening.
With a thunderous howl, two-thirds of the wolves turned their attention to Wood.
"Advanced Earth Magic: Earthquake Thrust!"
As the demonic wolves charged toward him, Wood punched one wolf that had already reached him, sending it flying. Then, he quickly waved the staff in his hand.
Unlike most magic users who needed long and complicated chants, a dirt-colored magic circle suddenly appeared in front of Wood.
With a violent tremor, a crack opened in the ground and quickly expanded toward the wolves.
The crack looked like a gaping mouth of the abyss, swallowing several wolves in mid-charge. They didn't even have time to react before they fell into the crevice, their howls cut short.
The destructive power of advanced magic wasn't just about opening a crack in the ground to slow down the enemy.
If you looked closely, you'd see that the bottom of the crevice was lined with sharp stone spikes.
The wolves that fell in were instantly impaled, their bodies pierced by the spikes, leaving no chance of survival.
However, this earth magic had one major flaw—it was too slow.
When the fissure first appeared, many wolves were caught off guard and fell in. But those at the edges quickly realized what was happening and leapt out of danger.
Some of the ordinary wolves had managed to escape the full impact, and of course, the wolf king had no trouble avoiding it.
Still, Wood's spell had taken out a third of the red demonic wolves.
His main goal wasn't to wipe out the entire wolf pack but to buy time and support Zenith.
If you looked closely, you'd see that the crevice had now separated Zenith, Wood, and the wolves.
If the wolves wanted to attack Zenith and the others, they'd have to cross the wide, deep chasm filled with spikes. The ordinary wolves didn't stand a chance of jumping over it, and Wood wasn't about to let the wolf king cross either.
A few stray wolves had made their way to Zenith's side due to the earlier chaos, but she should be able to handle them on her own.
With those worries behind him, Wood turned his attention back to the horned wolf king and the remaining wolves.
The ordinary wolves weren't much of a threat and would be easy to take care of. But the wolf king was on a different level. It probably had the strength of an advanced swordsman, and it definitely had some level of intelligence.
With another thunderous howl, the remaining wolves spread out, surrounding Wood from all directions instead of charging in one mass.
This time, the wolf king joined in. As the wolves closed in on Wood, the wolf king raised its head and started gathering a huge fireball in its mouth.
The fireball had the power of a mid-tier magic spell, and since the wolf king was a magical beast, it didn't need to chant any incantations.
Although it took a little time to gather magic, it was still much faster than a human mage could chant a spell.
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P/S: If you are interested, you can read up to chapter 380+ at p@treon.com/Betek and change @ to a