Chapter 95 - 89

*Creak Creak Creak*

*CRASH!!* ​​

Along with that loud ominous sound, I heard the celebratory roars and howls of the monsters as they continue chasing us down. And at that same moment, our group had entered the boundary of the trap-littered spot.

““AWOOOOOOOO!!””

Following the signal of our guides, the wolves spread into groups of three to five. 'Now, will it work?' I thought as I look behind.

As if in concert with the movements of our ranks, the monsters who were chasing us down also spread apart. 'I see, they’re really weirdly attracted to any signs of life.' According to the three alphas, those crazed monsters tended to chase anything alive. Furthermore, the bigger the group of living things was, the more captivated they become. Though of course, it didn’t necessarily mean that the monsters had the same mind, and because of that they weren’t capable of any coordinated movements or attacks.

Instead of spreading apart in groups, each monster moved in the direction that they liked. Because of this, the chaos started to spread among their ranks, and it wasn’t long before a stampede began.

It was then that the fallen monsters let out their dying cries, but without any regard to the fallen ones, the remaining monsters didn’t stop and trampled on the bodies that were on their path. As a result, we managed to reduce their numbers without any fight, but because of that very same ruthless behavior, we failed to slow them down. Fortunately, that wasn’t all that we had.

A few seconds after the monsters step foot on this spot, the forest was alighted with numerous flashes of light. Every time one appeared; a monster also disappears in its place, but what made these traps more effective was the fact that the monsters were too mad to even think about avoiding the spot where the other monsters had vanished. As a result, the crazed monsters continued to be whisked away one after the other without so much as a fight.

Of course, it wasn’t as if the traps were designed to only work on those crazed monsters. In fact, according to my sensory skills, some members of our ranks had also fallen for the same traps and had already been teleported away. The only difference was that our members had the presence of mind to avoid those dangerous spots thus resulting in lesser casualties on our part. Furthermore, our scout had left some branches on the ground all of which acts as a makeshift mark for the dangerous spots. Then together with the guidance of the two alphas upfront, we were able to minimize our losses and avoid some traps—or at least the most obvious ones.

“KWRAAAAAAAA!!”

Whilst letting out such unintelligible war cry, an amphibian-like monster tried to leap on my back. In response to that, I slowed down my momentum and ducked slightly to the side. As a result, the monster’s fangs were met with nothing but air as it fell headfirst into the ground.

*Thud!*

There was a flash of light, but without paying it any mind, I just dashed forward without looking back. At this point, numerous crazed monsters had already caught up. On my back, I could even feel a legion of ominous presences closing in like a tide. So, instead of trying to kill every monster that would come by, I decided to focus on running away all the while hindering their advance. After all, my claws were still unusable, whilst using my fangs in this situation was inefficient because it wasn’t suited for this type of combat.

'Damn it! Those guys at the center really need to pick up the pace!' As I cursed, I slide to the side and dodge the attack of an ant. But when I look to my other side, I was greeted by a charging Hellhound, its sinister fangs laid b_a_r_e before my eyes.

In that split-second, I used my momentum like a spring to launched myself up. Then, before the Hellhound could even sink his fangs on my t_h_i_g_h, I flipped in a counterclockwise direction before using my skill to propel myself forward.

With its target gone, the Hellhound crashed into the ant and they both tumbled into the ground. Unfortunately, that single mistake also spelled their doom because the other monsters ruthlessly trampled them to death before they could even stand. As I land, the last thing that I heard from them was their woeful screech and howl.

When I look around, I noticed that the other wolves on the rear were also having a tough time. But by working together as a team and defending each other’s backs, they were able to compensate for each of their weaknesses and barely fulfill their jobs.

'I guess I should have expected no less from the elites.' At first, I was quite worried about the composition of these teams because they were basically put together at the very last minute. But considering how well they were doing despite their first time working together, I could only admit that I may have been worried for nothing. 'Well, if things don’t go sideways at least.'

'A Glydon?' Upon seeing the monster’s appearance, I was immediately reminded of the monster that I had fought before. 'No, it’s probably related but not quite similar.' Unlike the Glydon from my memory, this particular monster was bigger, faster, and stronger. More than that, its shell was also pitch-black in color, and its body was covered with small sinister spikes.

'This is bad, those guys are seriously outclassed.' It wasn’t only the fact that the monster was fast, the main problem was the monster’s defense that could probably shrug off any of the wolves' attacks. In other words, those guys have no means of fighting back, whilst their enemy could very well harm if they were ever hit by an attack.

At that moment, a wolf swung its claws for an attack.

*Crack!*

But much to the wolf’s surprise, its claws exploded like a firework upon contact, whilst the monster had gotten away unscathed. Then, just as the wolf was about to continue running forward, the monster made a sharp and sudden turn, before it crashed into the wolf with a bloody crunching sound.

A scarlet mist was created as the wolf was sent flying backward. And as its body rolled around the ground, it left some red stains on its wake before coming to a halt. For about a split second, I saw the wolf’s desperate struggle to lift its head and stand, but probably due to the severity of its injury, it was swallowed by a charging horde of monsters and was utterly crushed on the spot.

With one of their members gone, the wolves tried to reposition themselves to fill in the missing spot. Unfortunately, that was when the monster decided to launch a follow-up attack ultimately disrupting the wolves' attempt to reform their ranks.

'Tsk! It will be a problem if those guys got wiped out.' For this triangle formation that we had designed, the four of us decided to put multiple lines of defenses on each of its three sides. To be specific, there were two lines of defenses on the sides, whilst there were three lines of defenses on the base where the battle would be most intense. Then, to prevent the monsters from reaching the center, we positioned the lines to cover the gaps of the one before them thus successfully dividing the load that each line would handle. That was why in the case of the baseline, once a team in the outermost was wiped out, the load that they were supposed to carry would directly be passed on the third or innermost line. And considering that some monsters had still managed to reach them, despite the efforts of the first and second line, letting those guys be wiped out would certainly double the burden of some unlucky team on the third line.

'Welp, I guess it’s time to move.' Since the Dumb Wolf and I were positioned at both ends of the baseline, there wouldn’t be many complications even if we left our post. Or to be exact, we deliberately designed it this way so that we would be able to move freely and provide some support to anyone who was in trouble.

*Thud!*

At the very last second, I managed to tackle the wolf away from the trajectory of the monster’s attack although in exchange I suffered a grazed on my left side. Fortunately, the wound wasn’t anything serious and could be easily taken care of by the combination of my skills.

'I see, so those spikes are sharp despite their size. And from the looks of it, those things might be even sharper than a Glydon’s spikes.' As I continued to run, I noticed that more hostile monsters had appeared nearby. 'Yeah, looks like I need to bury that pesky monster fast.'