"Run! Keep going!"
A loud shout reverberated through the dense forest. The source was a huge hairy man with defining features, while the recipients were two similarly hairy Wind Wolf warriors. The figures of three of them flickered through the thicket of trees; two scaly skinned lizard bloodline warriors were chasing some distance behind them.
Eventually, the chaser caught up to the pursued, as they began throwing multiple ranged attacks. Dozens of star-shaped projectiles swiftly flew through the air, following right behind them was a cluster of fireballs.
Noticing the attacks thrown at them, the hairy man quickly responded and stopped all the projectiles without any errors. As for the fireballs, he dodged the fireballs, effectively fending off the attacks, as consecutive explosions struck the lush forest.
The man, however, did not leave unscathed. His arms were bleeding profusely from the sharp weapons.
"Urgh!" A groan of pain escaped from the man's lips.
Then, the large hairy man suddenly unleashed a bestial roar that shook the forest. His body started changing and eventually transformed into a Dire Wolf.
Immediately after, he turned around towards the chaser and tackled one of them to the ground. With his blade-like sharp claws, he instantly killed the lizard by making five gruesome holes in its chest, where the heart was.
He glared at the other lizard bloodline warrior, before jumping back with particular speed-based skill to chase after the two Wind Wolf warriors.
"Urrghh! There's more of them!"
The reason the hairy man didn't take out the other lizard bloodline warrior was because he detected that four more were approaching from left and right direction. He was just about to feel relief for dispatching one of their chasers, only to be foiled.
Arriving next to the two Wind Wolf warriors, the man cheered them on because he could see they were exhausted. "We have to keep going. Don't give up, we're almost there!"
But as soon as those words vanished in the air, the group was forced to stop as four other figures were already waiting a mile ahead of them.
"Darn it! We are surrounded," Brutus said in a bitter tone.
One of the Wind Wolf warriors turned to him and said, "Brutus, you are the strongest among us. Take the girl and go. We'll stay here to stall them."
The bitter tone in Brutus' voice deepened as he said, "Urgg… I don't think I can pass through that number of people as well."
The three people were stumped. They didn't know what they should do. The chaser also didn't give the group time to ponder their choices, as the nine of them quickly approached, while maintaining their encirclement from all directions.
They were all saint level warriors, despite the fact they were merely rank 8 cultivators, who chose to sacrifice all their spirit force for the sake of advancing into rank 9. This decision allowed them to possess the strength of a rank 9, but limited their spell prowess to the lowest level of low tier spells and rendered them unable to advance any further in their lifetime.
But unlike other saint level warriors who took this path, half-blood saint warriors had an even higher battle power thanks to their innate advantage since birth, allowing them to reach 130 to 150 points. Some even capable to raise this number even further through their gene transformation, hence they were considered a strong force comparable to a rank 9 acolyte.
For Brutus, who was a peak rank 9 half-blood acolyte, these people were no match for him in one-on-one combat. Unfortunately, his current situation was not a fair one. He might be able to take two or even three of them at once, but definitely not nine.
"Brutus! The girl is unconscious. We might have a chance if we just leave the girl here," said the other Wind Wolf warrior.
Brutus glared at him when he heard that. "Are you crazy?! The chief will definitely not like that!"
"She's just a serpent girl!" the Wind Wolf warrior tried to argue. "Between her and any of you, I know exactly who I would choose without hesitation."
As they talked and argued, the saint bloodline warriors had arrived before them and circled them completely.
"Leave her or not, all of you are still going to die!" said one of the half-bloods, who looked like an ape.
Brutus scoffed when he heard those words. "You want to kill me? Then come on and try!"
He roared once again and his body started to change, transforming into his full Direwolf form. Knowing it would be a battle of which fist was the strongest, the nine bloodline warriors also quickly employed their second transformation and their bodies began to change as well.
One by one they transformed: some turned into humanoid lizard with scaly skin, some turned into what appeared to be hairy monstrosities, one grew a pair of bone wings on their back, one's body was engulfed in blazing flames, while one had spikes protruding all over their body.
Following this mass transformation activity, there was a cacophony of frenzied roar from various kinds of creatures.
HOWL! ROAR! SHRIEK! CHIRP!
This particular area of dense forest suddenly turned into some kind of monster freak show.
With their current situation of three against nine, the group knew they couldn't let their attention be divided, because they were about to participate in what could possibly be their last. Therefore, the two Wind Wolf warriors swiftly put the unconscious girl on the ground, before they gathered closer. Together they created a small circle with their backs on each other.
Tension filled the area, as each of the three pairs of eyes stared at the three pairs of malicious eyes in front of them.
"FIGHT!"
Similar to a bow whose string had been drawn, it exploded. The situation turned into a mayhem of speed and strength, where no one could fully comprehend and understand what was coming to them.
Flesh was cut and split open, bones were broken, screams and groans resounded in the air, but it was clear the wolves were suppressed. It took only one mistake and one opportunity for the nine bloodline warriors to deal a critical hit on one of the Wind Wolf, creating an insolvable gap within the circular formation.
"NO!" shouted Brutus as what followed was one of the lizard warriors dashing in with a saber brandished high in the sky, ready to cut the unconscious girl into two.
"SSsshh mission succeeded!" shouted the Lizard warrior, knowing no one could stop him.
But then, a shadowy figure suddenly appeared near the lizard warrior and the next thing Brutus knew both of them had disappeared as if they never existed. This immediately attracted everyone's attention, both the Wind Wolf and bloodline warriors' group.
"There's another one hiding!" shouted the ape-looking warrior who spoke earlier. In an instant, the eight remaining bloodline warriors took a step back their gazes wandered warily, searching for their lizard companion and the unknown assailant.
"Where are they?"
"Who are you?!"
"Are you a coward?! Come out this instant!"
While they were trying to provoke the unknown assailant, the group's attention was quickly diverted when they heard something coming from the sky and it was coming down fast! In response, they all took another step back.
The darkness of the night coupled with the fact their current location was a deep forest with tall trees and dense leaves, by the time they realized what it was, they were already too late.
BAM!!!
A small crater appeared as it hit the ground hard. The remaining eight bloodline warriors and the wolves quickly turned their gazes to look. Two completely opposite expressions appeared on their faces.
The lizard warrior, who disappeared earlier was there, on the verge of life and death. He was lying on the ground, twitching and squirming weakly with his body broken beyond measure, having fallen from the sky at such a high speed.
"In the air!"
In an instant, all eyes were directed into the air but they still could see nothing but darkness and the faint silhouettes of tree leaves. They only heard the sound of something passing past them. The next thing they knew one of their members had once again disappeared.
It was the ape-looking warrior.
"What is going on?!"
Now that they knew where to look, they finally caught the glimpse of a figure in a shadowy cape blinking through the air, taking the ape warrior into the sky, while delivering a relentless strike to make the warrior unable to fight back.
From their current location, the remaining bloodline warriors could faintly hear dull sounds of their companion being hit repeatedly.
Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam.
After a dozen blink, the shadowy figure disappeared once again, leaving the half-unconscious ape warrior alone in the air, as he quickly descended from the high altitude he found himself with.
"Catch him!!"
The one who sprouted a pair of wings on their back swiftly took action. They knew he was the best choice to save the ape warrior from suffering the same fate as the lizard warrior. The winged bloodline warrior quickly shot to the air, but just before the managed to grab the ape warrior, another disaster struck.
In that particular moment, the shadowy figure had reappeared and this time right behind the winged warrior. In his hand, the remaining bloodline warriors could see a swirling dark sphere.
[Dark Matter]
BOOM!!!