With a bandage on his hand and leg, Raushan's lip quivered.
"Leader, do we have a chance?"
Aman's face darkened.
Is this the time?
But quickly regaining his composure, he commanded,
"We have a chance. Rahul's beast will hold the mysterious one while we end these wolves as fast as we can."
"Rahul, can your beast hold?"
"Don't worry about that."
"Good. As usual, Raushan, you take the position while Munna recovers for a few minutes."
"Rahul, make a way for your beast."
"Ok."
"Emberfluff, your chance has come to shine."
Roar
Roaring, Emberfluff sprinted into the air, massacring the beginner and elite wolves as Rahul specifically cleared the way for it.
On the other side, the Lone Wolf's eyes glistened with cruelty as it leaped into the air.
"Emberfluff, you have to handle yourself from there."
Roar
Receiving confirmation, Rahul's attention shifted to his team, whose situation didn't look good.
Munna was resting, Raushan—though wounded—sprinted into battle, Rishikesh's energy was giving out, and Aman, their leader, had already expended his energy, his willpower being the only thing holding him.
One thing Rahul had to admit was that the cruelty of time had made them hard.
I mustn't lose.
At first, he only had a choice to select, but now he was determined to choose for his goal.
The sword, once fast and ruthless, claiming lives with ease, now moved slowly, conserving every ounce of energy.
Swish
Suddenly, an arrow flew, and the wolf that was just 10 to 12 inches away had its skull pierced, its life claimed.
"Leader, don't lose hope."
"Don't worry. I'll be the last to lose hope."
Swish
Swish
The dagger calmly made cuts, leaving only shallow damage, as previous 3 to 4 attacks had been enough to claim wolves' lives.
Panting, the dagger continued making cuts.
Swish
Another arrow flew past him, ending an already wounded wolf.
"Raushan, no need to leave deep marks. Just give shallow wounds to avoid putting yourself in danger."
"Thanks, Rahul."
Time continued to pass.
"We are nearing success. Only 10 elites and 20 to 30 beginner beasts left."
"Leade... Leader, the situation on our side is also degrading."
"Yeah... le... Leader, my body is already screaming at me."
Rough, panting voices raised their difficulty.
"Bastards! The beasts will kill you later, but I'll kill you now if you utter any nonsense. Calm your heads and just listen to my orders if you don't want to die."
"Did we struggle all those years just to die now? No. Never. Don't make me laugh at our trust and brotherhood. We will survive."
"Ok?"
"Yeah, brother."
"As you've always trusted me, trust me again this time and fight until I tell you to stop."
"Ok, brother."
As if remembering their hellish days, their eyes turned red, and their attacks became completely ruthless.
A dagger danced in the wind, slicing necks deeply enough that no follow-up was needed.
The same went for Munna. He now stood up, thrashing the spear's tip at beasts and claiming lives every time it moved.
Rahul, calmly doing his part, shrugged his shoulders.
Maybe that's how they survive.
Madness.
Who doesn't have madness?
They're just using it in the right way.
Rahul noticed that the number of beasts was now visibly reducing. Loading a poisoned arrow onto his bow, he shot at an elite since it posed the greatest danger. He couldn't let his teammates face it head-on.
"No, only two are in range."
Seeing that his teammates didn't need cover, he quickly loaded another poisoned arrow and aimed at another elite.
"Rahul!"
An elite beast leaped through the air toward the Leader.
Swish!
Tearing through the air, the poisoned arrow struck its eye.
Growlll!
Another poisoned arrow flew into its mouth as it opened to growl.
"Leader, that's an easy kill now."
On the other side
The Lone Wolf clashed with Emberfluff.
Ding!
Both of their forelegs collided, claws scratching faces.
Grahhh!
Roar!
They tackled, and the resulting shockwave threw them both off balance.
The Lone Wolf, its eyes blazing with feral intensity, snarled and bared its teeth.
Emberfluff met the Lone Wolf's attack with a swipe of its massive paw. The Lone Wolf dodged, its agility belying its size, and countered with a lightning-fast bite.
Emberfluff wasn't slow, either. Raising a massive paw, it delivered a tight slap to the open mouth.
The Lone Wolf recoiled, its mane ruffled, its eyes burning with anger.
Growh!
Growling, the Lone Wolf, now bearing a paw-shaped mark on its face, sprinted forward, using a shockwave attack.
Emberfluff countered with its own shockwave. But the Lone Wolf, cunning as it was, sidestepped at the last moment. Emberfluff's eyes shrank, realizing too late that a wind-elemental attack by the Lone Wolf's claws was already upon it.
Thrashed!
Thrown off by the attack, Emberfluff's beautiful fur was scratched, and bruises appeared on its body.
Roar!
As if enraged, Emberfluff's eyes shone with intensity. It teleported directly in front of the Lone Wolf and delivered another tight slap to its face.
The Lone Wolf, thrown to the ground, widened its eyes in panic. At this rank, it understood the situation clearly—it was outmatched.
"Emberfluff, kill it!"
Encouraged, Emberfluff roared at the Lone Wolf and unleashed its ultimate skill: Transformation.
Its body now burned with orange flames. It spewed fire at the Lone Wolf.
Grahhh!
Boosted in every aspect, Emberfluff began teleporting and bombarding the Lone Wolf with relentless attacks.
Thrashed!
Thrashed!
Simply teleporting, it pounded its paws against the Lone Wolf's face and back, leaving it powerless, burning in flames, and humiliated.
The Lone Wolf gave its life, its eyes glancing at the sky.
"This..."