Chapter 1558 Strategy



Dense tree formations with tall, lush grass, deep brackish swamps and undulating rocky hills; those were the geographical conditions of the Silvermane Sacred Ground where the Royal Hunt was being held.

However, one of the main features that made this particular place sacred and chosen for this grand event was the fact that the airspace above the island has an inexplicable gravitational domain that affected anyone who flew ten meters above the surface, and pulled them down towards the ground.

Coupled with the fact that most of the trees that filled the island were over ten meters high, this made hunting from above very difficult. Therefore, almost no participants could be seen taking off into the air when the Hunt began.

But on the other hand, traversing the terrain through foot was also not without risks. Without someone who had a good Spirit Reading sense, it was not rare to find participants getting lost on the island.

Fortunately, this problem did not affect Emery and his Twilight Fang pack since they arguably had the most diverse array of perception skills among the other wolf packs. Guided by the combination of Emery's [Nature Sense] and Yoro's [Earth Pulse], the group made sure neither of them strayed from the others by sharing information through the [One Mind] skill.

The sacred ground was divided into three sections, namely the outer layer, the middle layer, and the inner layer. And since it was common knowledge that the creatures in the inner layer awarded the most points, many packs, especially the ambitious ones, would head straight for it.

Emery's Twilight Fang, however, had a different plan in mind. Since they knew exactly where they were thanks to Beowulf's experience of the Royal Hunt in the past, they set their eye to three specific areas, one in each layer, where they would spend some time hunting before eventually going into the inner layer.

"Alright we're almost at the first area. Let's do it according to plan!"

Thanks to Emery's [Patriarch Blessing] bestowing powerful enhancement to his pack members, Twilight Fang was currently one of the packs at the forefront and thus drew quite a lot of attention to themselves. But to the surprise of the onlookers, the group of 6 in black uniforms suddenly split into three.

Emery alongside Andrei went round to the left, Morgana with Yoro headed for the right direction while Beowulf and Tatyana kept running straight. The moment they gained some distance between their members, the audience watched as the group began looking for prey in haste.

Since the group was still at the outer layer, [Shadow Cat] and [Chaos Bat] were the only creatures that could be found. Nevertheless, the measly amount of points from killing them didn't hold back Emery and the others from hunting them down.

Instead of using a lethal attack, each of them unleashed attacks that impacted the surrounding area, forcing these low-level creatures out of their hiding places and running away. They all chased after the fleeing creatures but didn't kill them.

A few minutes later, the results of their actions could be seen; hordes of the two creatures were gathered in a particular spot – a small clearing that lay in the middle of the dense forest. 

Dozens of creatures found themselves trapped by the group of six, and before they could try to escape, Morgana cast [Hell Flame] and annihilated most of them before the others finished off those who had managed to survive the flames.

The next moment, numerous notifications entered the bracelets they were wearing.

[Twilight Fangs - Rank 4 - 27 creature - 68 points]

With the strategy they used, Emery's Twilight Fang quickly rose to the top 5 in just the first 10 minutes of the event. The sight of an unknown team managing to rise through the rankings so fast immediately caught the attention of the audience, especially after they found out that said group only had two magus in their pack.

Emery and the others didn't dwell long on the area for more hunting as by the time they cleaned up the killings, the other wolf packs that had been behind them had arrived and flooded the area. Now that it was already crowded, their hunting efficiency would drop drastically.

"Good work, everyone. Let's continue!" said Emery, who everyone followed quickly.

Once again, everyone rushed deeper into the island, making their way towards the middle layer.

Normally, it would take half an hour for one to reach the middle layer of the island from the outer layer. But since Emery and Morgana were much faster than the others, the two of them would spend some time hunting nearby creatures to match their timing.

When the group finally reached the middle layer, they saw that the second hunting spot they were trying to take – a rocky hill with numerous caves – was already filled with a group of familiar blue uniform magus.

Led by Zev, the Talbots' military magus flooded the place, and seeing the way they used smokes to force out the [Abyss Worm] and fought in systematic formation, Emery quickly came to a conclusion that they would be unlikely able to gain much point hunting near these veteran groups.

He didn't panic when he realized his original strategy couldn't work. To be honest, they also didn't place much hope in this part of strategy since the [Abyss Worm] was a creature that was hard to track down because it lurked deep underground. 

Since it wasn't easy to find a second hunting ground in this situation, the group went for their backup plan which was to ignore this part completely and head straight to the inner layer, mustering their efforts to hunt the dangerous [Treant].

"Let's go."

The group quickly rushed deeper into the island. It was also at this time that Emery realized that all the magus teams had started their hunt, which was evident from Twilight Fang's ranking dropping to the lower twenties.

Just as he called his members to hurry up, Emery suddenly sensed something up ahead and quickly ordered his pack to stop.

"Whoever you are, get out now!!" Emery shouted as he turned his gaze in a certain direction, where he could feel figures hidden behind the line of trees.

Five figures appear in front of them. A group composed entirely of half-blood magus, all wearing dark clothes. It was clear that they were waiting to ambush Emery's group.

The person who appeared to be the leader gave Emery a condescending smile as he said, "You are very impressive to be able to sense our presence. Unfortunately, this is where you all will drop out of the Hunt."