...…
After throwing everything they had, the group finally chunked down the Health Bar of Lupus close to their target. It was pretty slow because of the insane regeneration rate that the werewolf had, but it was steadily dropping closer to the twenty-five percent mark.
But as the HP Bar of Lupus dropped, the team was also starting to feel the pressure coming from the monsters heading towards their direction.
The powerful aura of those monsters was not only reminding them of the crisis that they were in, but it was also making their moves a little sluggish. The air around them was getting heavier as those monsters approach their location, making it hard for them to move freely.
And it became much worse when Lupus' Health Bar dropped to twenty-five percent.
Awoo~!
The werewolf howled towards the sky as a crimson aura seen by the naked eye appeared on its body. Its snow-white furs seemed to become erect as the berserk aura danced alongside them.
"Keep your focus, it is now entering a berserk state," shouted Shin as he reminded everyone to not let their guards down.
He might say it in a calm tone but he was also aware that the situation was currently not in their favor. Everyone was already reaching their limit. With such a high-paced and nerve-racking battle, the toll that they were getting was definitely heavy.
Moreover, Shin and the others at the frontline were using their Reality Manifestation for a long time already. And adding the fact that they were already using their respective Elemental Possession for an extended period of time, it was not surprising for them to be mentally exhausted at this point.
To make matter worse, there was only under two minutes before the two-fold berserk of Shin and Arthur would end. They were definitely going to be in a dangerous situation if they couldn't end Lupus right now.
Bang!
Swoosh!
A loud sound could be heard from the location where Lupus was standing, making everyone look at the werewolf with tensed gazes.
Every member of the group was looking cautiously at the werewolf, except for Shin and Leonard who were already running towards their backline where Cloe and the rest of the team were located.
Lupus might be too fast for the others to notice what happened, but Shin was able to anticipate its plan. On the other hand, Leonard was able to sense the danger with his Bestial Instincts.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Shin was the first to arrive as he had a lot of movement skills in his arsenal. He appeared behind Cloe and quickly raised his sabers, crossing them in above him to block an incoming attack.
Bang!
That attack came a little too fast for the others to react, Shin even failed to even use a defensive skill to block it off. He managed to arrive in time and successfully blocked the claws that were targeting Cloe.
But despite that being the cause, he still didn't have enough time to properly secure a good footing for himself to withstand the incoming attack.
Bang!
Swoosh!
"-51,392"
Shin was sent flying to the side as a huge chunk of his Health Bar disappeared. He also bumped into Ravier and Alucard, knocking them down during the process.
It was only at that moment that the others realized that the 'Lupus' they were looking at was just an afterimage.
S.Tigris might be a little slower compared to Shin and Leonard but he was still able to sense that ambush and quickly responded to it faster than the others.
He was nearer than Leonard, so he was the second to arrive and quickly used all he had to enhance all of his strength.
Bang!
"-60,312"
But even if he did everything he could, he was still not a match for Lupus, especially when it came to raw strength. He was also sent flying by the werewolf just like what happened to Shin. His HP Bar also hit a critical level, leaving him with a sliver of health.
He might have failed, but it was enough for the others to properly reorganize themselves.
Leonard arrived at the right time and forced Lupus to take a couple of steps backward. He then started throwing a barrage of skills without restraint, trying to buy enough time for the others to re-establish their formation.
Cloe and Black Hand also distanced themselves away from the two, casting a blinking skill at the same time. They also didn't forget to cast their healing skills at Shin and S.Tigris respectively, recovering their HP Bars back to a healthy state.
The two other mages also cast their respective Blink to create a considerable distance between them and Lupus. Ara, on the other hand, quickly leaped backward while also firing a couple of arrows at the werewolf.
The rest of the group, which was originally fighting at the frontline earlier, also charged back to support the others.
Leonard was struggling at fighting Lupus head-on. He was also pretty exhausted, which was why his movements were a little sluggish.
It was a pretty dire situation, but ironically, the others were acting a little calm. It was because they all knew that they already did their job.
Bang!
"-46,310"
Leonard finally failed to withstand the attack from Lupus. He was slammed on the ground as a huge chunk of his HP Bar suddenly disappeared.
The werewolf was about to finish him off but none of them tried to save him as Shin ordered them to retreat. "Everyone, get away from Lupus as far as possible for now!"
He then took out a scroll from his inventory and ripped it immediately after. The scroll turned into a light and flew straight to Leonard with extreme speed.
Swoosh!
After that, a pair of magic circles suddenly appeared on the ground under Leonard and beside Shin before releasing a blinding light.
Whoosh!
Bang!
It was at that moment when Lupus' claw thrust forward, trying to pierce Leonard's body with it. But unfortunately for it, the body of the Lionkin in front of it suddenly turned into a speck of light, making its attack miss.
Thud!
Then Leonard appeared in the circle beside Shin with a confused look. "What is that?"
Shin gave him a sidelong glance and spoke. "That is one of the special scrolls that I've got the Hand of Midas Trading Firm. There is a variety of them and they look pretty useful, so I buy a couple of them in case of emergency."
'I am planning to save these for the latter stages of the quest, but I have no choice but to use them now since we are currently in a dire situation,' thought Shin as he turned his attention back to Lupus.
The werewolf didn't care whether its attack landed on its target or not, what was important to it right now was to get rid of the owner of the Divine Energy that it was sensing alongside the others that would try to stop it.
Lupus was about to resume its pursuit of Cloe when it sensed a dangerous threat coming from a different direction. The werewolf immediately released a powerful force field that created a spherical barrier that would protect it.
Swoosh!
Bang!
But that barrier was immediately shattered by the silhouette that came out of nowhere before slamming at Lupus immediately after.
Lupus managed to block the attack by crossing its arms in front of it. But the werewolf was still forced to slide backward due to the incredible force behind that attack.
Raising its head, it saw a black wolf, which wearing a special set of armor, looking back at it.
Grr!
Lupus growled deeply when it saw Lycan. It showed its hostility at Lycan, though it was also pretty cautious at the same time.
Lycan stared at Lupus with a lonely gaze for a moment before starting to talk. "Forgive me, master. I failed to live up to your expectation."
The two remained unmoved, seemingly unaffected by the powerful creatures that were heading their way.
'Tsk! This is bad!' thought Shin as he could feel the presence of the powerful monsters. His breathing was also starting to get affected due to the suffocating pressure they had.
He then turned his head towards the other members of the group and saw that they were also struggling. Even Lawless and Faker, who were supposed to have much more powerful willpower compared to the rest, were starting to show a clear sign of exhaustion.
Seeing that, Shin finally instructed them. "Aside from me, Zero, and Faker, the rest of you will be retreating towards a safe location to hide yourselves."
There was obviously some objection to his orders, especially Arthur who was about to say something. He was unwilling to stop right now when this battle was about to end. 'D*mn! This is being recorded. No matter how good Miss Bunny is at editing the videos, there are still some scenes that I can't afford to miss.'
Regardless, he still continued before his brother could even open his mouth. "We are the fastest among our group, so we can immediately retreat if the situation calls for it."
"We are going to stay here and help Lycan take down Lupus as soon as possible and secure our loot while the rest of you are retreating."
"Siegfried, Simba, and Lawless are going to protect the rest while you are making your way toward the forest."
Hearing that, Black Hand nodded his head and voiced out his thoughts. "We can't let all of us stay here right now when the situation is this dire, so it is better to divide ourselves into two groups and assign a specific job that will benefit us the most."
The others didn't have enough time to think too deeply about it since they could already feel the monsters getting near them. They could even hear the sounds of falling trees from the distance.
With that, the rest of the group started executing the plan and moved as fast as they could.
"Hmm?"
In the meantime, Zero was squinting his eyes and staring in a certain direction. He was not sure if it was just his imagination, but he felt a familiar aura coming from the woods where his gaze was directed.
Unfortunately, the current situation didn't let him to head over that place and clear his doubt. He needed to focus on the current matter at hand before taking care of his personal business.
...…
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