Chapter 277: In The Presence of True Lords
Atlas felt his body stiffen as he witnessed the lone beast emerge from the darkness of the night, the cloudy sky disavowing even the glimmer of starlight to illuminate the surroundings of the village.
The wolf was a true giant, standing at least 3 meters in height and maybe 5 meters long, its sleek steel grey fur acting as a agis to protect its hide from any attack.
Just from the first glance of this beast atlas knew that he was no match for it, even if his entire team alongside Williams team grouped up he feared that they would stand no chance against such a foe.
And if the two women were to be believed their should be at least 10 more lord level beasts just waiting to come forth and demolish this entire village.
As he was thinking this his attention was brought back to the two strange women as they quietly talked to one another, his incredulity rising with each word spoken.
"Why are they sending the runt out first?" Asked Luna with a quizzical head tilt.
"They just want to see how we will handle one of their young. Look the bigger ones are just poking their heads above the hill there watching us whilst the babies try to act tough whilst hiding behind the small one." Replied Violet with an indifferent shrug.
"Hmm, yeah that makes sense I suppose. So are you going to fight it now?"
"Naw I’ll let them commit first, it won’t be any fun if they run away after only sending one of them in."
Atlas struggled to understand, what did they mean that this one was a runt? Did they mean that this great beast that shot fear through his very soul was the least of the Lord level beasts out there?
He felt himself shudder once again, what in the hells had he gotten himself into here. He then latched onto the second half of their short conversation, they weren’t going to attack the beasts right away because they wanted more of the high level beast to commit? What kind of twisted logic was that!
They wanted to fight more beasts, of similar or higher strength than that monstrosity at the same time? His brain failed to understand, how could they be so casual about this entire event.
A beast tide was a rare event yes, but when it happened it was a cause for fear and panic, something that held the potential to wipe entire towns off the face of the map. It would often take the mobilisation of an entire army regiment to clear out even a smaller tide, let alone one being led by a full pack of Lord level beasts.
Yet these two girls seemed to view this calamity as nothing but a casual event, one to be savoured and enjoyed not feared and dreaded.
Was it madness or confidence that allowed such thoughts?
Atlas desperately hoped that it was the latter else he feared that this could be his last night alive.
More movement scoured in the darkness, the shifting shadows parting to display at first a couple of wolves, then a dozen, dozens until atlas was unable to even count how many stood before him in the dark, all he could see was the twin glimmers of light being reflected in innumerable eyes as the giant pack stared at the village with malice and dark glee.
His already shaken mind almost shut down at the sight, yet even that was denied him as he felt a presence surge towards the defenders.
He only had prior warning as his mental tendrils had already been extended, they carried his mana as they searched for the minds of his soon to be attackers. So when the presence of the giant wolf before him surged out his mental feelers picked up on the power that lay behind the presence.
He braced himself, tightening his mental defences in preparation for the inevitable force that would undoubtedly slam into him any moment now.
Yet nothing happened.
He looked about in confusion for but a moment before he realised what had happened.
And it was only then that he realised that he was already under the influence of a presence, only this one was not malicious in nature, instead it acted as a agis for him and all the human defenders from the opposing force.
He surged his mana to get a better look, his nascent presence feebly searching for the invisable battle ground that was undoubtedly already in play.
Then he felt it.
A moment later he saw it and his eyes opened wide in awe.
Centered around the winged woman a presence extended, near invisible flickers of violet light danced around her as her presence covered the entire village and all of its defenders. It extended some distance out of the walls aswell, extending till just over half way towards the gathered wolves.
Similarly the presence of the wolf extended out, only the area that it covered seemed almost laughable when compared to the woman before him. It flickered and writhed, unable to maintain a coherent shape or form as it tried, and failed to gain any ground against the seemingly inviolable force of Violet’s presence.
It was only then that Atlas found himself actually believing that they may actually survive this night.
For if the two presences were anything to go by in terms of strength. Well, then that wolf standing before them truly was nothing but an insect in front of the winged woman, its feverish attempts at violating Violet’s presence better resembling a child ineffectually batting at its parents legs.
Yet the wolf did not seem to grasp the difference in their apparent power, be that through ignorance or arrogance Atlas did not know. So the wolf howled, and the army before them charged.
The front line defenders moved forwards, shields raised and swords at the ready. The few archers amongst the defenders loosed a volley, some hitting their targets and eliciting cries of pain but others missing entirely.
The pack was swiftly closing in on their location, the mass of bodies threatening to instantly overwhelm the defenders.
Yet suddenly the front line of the advancing pack inexplicably fell over.
Atlas blinked in stupifaction, then he focused and saw in utter bewilderment something that made no sense.
The entire ground between the walls and the wolves had been replaced by a smooth sheet of ice, the wolves claws ineffectually slid over the frozen flooring, unable to procure any grip whatsoever.
Even after that initial moment of surprise the defenders did not allow that opportunity to go to waste, more arrows fell, spears lanced out and magic fell on the suddenly helpless defenders.
The first blood of the night had been spilt and it went in favour of the defenders.
Atlas himself was working his own magic, worming his way into a dozen minds at once he barraged them with waves of mental force, disorienting them and sending sharp lances of mental energy at them. Some of the wolves minds simply shattered under his assult, others simply staggered in place as their mind reeled in shock and pain.
The adventures held the front line, determined to not allow any of the aggressors past to harm the relatively defenceless villages behind them. Yet they could not stop every wolf.
He saw one of the pack slide past the adventures before finding solid ground, it lept forward, its maw open wide as it aimed for a young man shakily holding a makeshift spear out before him.
Yet the wolf never reached the youth, instead it seemed to slam into a hexagon of utter nothingness that appeared before it. A crunch was heard from the impact and the beast crumpled to the floor in a stunned daze.
Similar scenes happened everywhere Atlas looked, whenever a wolf was about to deal a lethal blow a shield of nothingness would appear to block the blow that would have otherwise claimed their life or critically wounded them.
His gaze flickered to the two women and noticed that the winged one was constantly flickering her gaze across the battlefield, her fingers twitching with each shield that formed.
At first he wondered why she did not simply attack the beasts, until he thought about how she had discussed this attack with her companion.
Then the realisation hit him.
They don’t view this as a life threatening event, no, they view these beasts as prey, things to be hunted for experience.
From that point of view it made perfect sense, they didn’t want to claim the kills of these beasts as it would provide so little benefits so as to be entirely worthless. And given the apparent ease in which they could simply aid the villages didn’t it make more sense to allow them to deal the finishing blow in oder for the defenders to gain more benefits?
Atlas gaped upon that realisation, then he smiled.
Well if two powerful lords were willing to act in such a way would it not be rude to partake in their benevolence and reap as many benefits as possible whilst they had the opportunity to?
