Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The lead wolf howled as it ran at top speed toward the group. The soldiers were getting more nervous by the second, as they watched the wolves’ powerful, muscular limbs propel them forward, and their half-inch long, sharp claws and teeth gleamed like ice.

“Quick, release your arrows! Attack using magical spells!” Halalei ordered, raising his heavy sword. He positioned himself in front of the group. Yang Ling observed that Halalei felt like a more natural fit for leader of the inexperienced team. Lia, pale and distracted, commanded less attention.

“Ice Seal Arrows, go!”

The archer Lobina led the attack, releasing arrows imbued with magical spells. But the Ice Seal Arrows were easy for the Snow Wolves to deal with. They did not even have to dodge.

With Halalei’s fierce roars and the archer Lobina’s contribution, Lia came to her senses, and she clutched her staff and began an incantation. Worry clouded her face as she discovered she couldn’t even summon a tiny fireball, despite her effort. Perhaps her nerves were interfering, or she did not have enough Magical Energy stored up.

“Brother Yuri, retreat quickly!” cried Halalei the knight. He was deeply unnerved by Yang Ling’s seeming indifference to the approaching Snow Wolves, sitting cross-legged on the ground as he was. Halalei wished for a moment that he had just run away at the first sign of trouble. He’d lived with Lia, Maputo and the rest for some years, and he knew what they were capable of. No matter how much power Orlando and Yuna could offer, Halalei doubted very much it would be enough to counter the Wolves’ attack. He feared their time for retreat had passed.

Yang Ling looked around at the inexperienced pack of trembling fighters, and shook his head. Running away was a foolish decision!

As a precaution, he shot Yuna a look, and quietly summoned a few Horned Bee Beasts to protect himself. The latter understood his intentions, and clutching her staff, began murmuring rapidly.

“Quick, get on your warhorse!” Halalei cried. He was sure Yang Ling had been scared silly by the approaching wolves. He didn’t care too much about Yang Ling at that moment, and charged toward his horse.

“No, Halelei, help me!” Lia ran toward the warhorses, panicked. But the horses were spooked by the situation too, and did not heed Lia’s commands. They danced nervously from hoof to hoof, shying away.

Seeing the Snow Wolves just an inch away from them, Lia, Lobita and Maputo mounted their warhorses with Halalei’s help, while Fatso, who was hiding between Yuna and Yang Ling, panted nervously. He would have followed the rest of his party to the horses to make their escape, but his legs had turned to rubber, and he was too afraid to move.

“Fatso, quick! We must leave now!” Turning his horse and trotting to his side, Halalei considered dragging the fat man onto his horse. But then he looked back at the approaching wolves, and felt they were so close it would be seconds before he felt the lead wolf’s sharp fangs sinking into his own defenseless neck.

While Lia, Maputo and the rest hesitated, afraid to try to reach Halalei, the color drained from the latter’s face. Fatso’s mind remained blank from anxiety. Orlando, who had been prepared to attack for some time, finally took action. He aimed and fired two poison-coated harpoons at the wolf leader at the perfect moment, causing the wolf to veer away.

The lead wolf twisted its body away from the harpoons, avoiding Orlando’s attack by a hair. It changed its focus to Lia, who was off to one side of the group. But just as it crouched, preparing to spring upon its prey, a Wall of Fire appeared before it, flames raging.

Yuna had taken her shot at just the right moment. She surrounded the entire group with the Wall of Fire, protecting them completely from the wolf pack.

The Snow Wolves were natural ice element Magical Beasts, and had strong resistance to ice element magical spells like Icicle and Ice Arrow. Because of this, she chose to use fire element magical spells, which would cause the most damage to ice element Magical Beasts.

The Wall of Fire was not a high level Magical Spell, but it could become more powerful depending on who cast it. Yuna, who was not a fire element Spellcaster, but was just at the level of a beginner stage Magical Tutor, got the job done. The raging flames burnt continuously, blocking off the Snow Wolves that were naturally afraid of fire.

The wolves paced the flames’ perimeter several times and determined there were no openings. The lead wolf howled, seemingly frustrated. It commanded a few Snow Wolves to try to break through the fire wall by force. It seemed prepared to attack Yang Ling at any cost. Perhaps its empty belly was the cause of its brazenness.

A few wolves were able to make it through the Wall of Fire, but they suffered the damage the flames inflicted. They immediately bore the brunt of the group’s frenzied defense. Even the pale, terrified Fatso summoned his Green-skinned Condor, instructing it to spit acid. Each of them understood that if the whole wolf pack made it to them, they would not survive.

With the group’s combined efforts, they had managed to kill the Snow Wolves that had made it through the Wall of Fire. But as more Snow Wolves followed, and as the flames of the Wall of Fire slowly weakened, the situation became increasingly unfavorable for them. After all, no matter how massive Yuna’s Magical Energy was, there would come a time when it would run out!

After instructing the Horned Bee Beasts hiding around him to discretely launch a few poisonous stingers, Yang Ling creased his brows at the sight of the wolves’ mania. It looked like the trembling soldiers would not be able to last much longer, but he was unwilling to expose his abilities and identity unless he absolutely had to.

Yuna observed Yang Ling and knew what he was thinking when she saw Yang Ling’s frown. She deliberated silently for a moment before whispering, “Brother Yang, why don’t I use a Magical Illusory Spell Formation to trap these beasts and kill them?”

Magical Illusory Spell Formation?

Seeing Yuna prepared to go all out, then looking at the nervous troops not far away, Yang Ling considered in silence. He had brought Yuna out this time with the hope that she could step up and deal with some problems from time to time, sparing him the trouble of taking action personally in every situation and having to reveal his abilities.

Even though Yuna’s Magical Illusory Spell Formation was powerful, it was also a double edged sword. It could trap some weaker enemies to death, but she might be heavily injured if she encountered a more powerful opponent.

Furthermore, if Yang Ling’s guess was right, the few newbie troops before them had to have families of some influence behind them. Lia, Fatso and the rest were not causes for concern, but that did not mean that the families behind them were equally ignorant. The Magical Illusory Spell Formation of the Heavenly Foxes was unique on the continent, and identifiable. It might attract a commotion if someone knew Yuna’s identity.

“No, Yuna, let’s wait a little longer!” After weighing the pros and cons, Yang Ling stopped Yuna. He wondered if he could summon a team of Horned Bee Beasts or Vampire Bats without notice, to pose as Magical Beasts that were passing by, and launch a surprise attack from the back of the detestable pack of wolves.

Woooo…

Just as Yang Ling was considering his course of action, the deep sound of a horn came suddenly from the wilderness. Following that, a black figure appeared on the horizon, racing toward them like the wind.

The black figure was lightning fast, revealing its identity not long after. As it turned out, there was a group of Vicious Dogs and Cloud Leopards leading the way, with a few young men riding Pegusi following closely behind them.

“Oh Yiblis, another group of Magical Beasts?”

“Oh lord, save me, I promise to attend mass at the Church daily after this!”

The troops really began to panic as they saw the large group of Vicious Dogs and Cloud Leopards, baring their fangs. The Snow Wolves had been enough to corner them, how would they be able to deal with more of these terrifying creatures?

The troops were terrified, but they weren’t alone. The Snow Wolves retreated some distance to observe the situation unfolding. They watched the Lead Wolf nervously, waiting to see what would happen. Even though they were beasts, the leader of the wolves had sensed the thick killing intent of the Vicious Dogs and no longer cared to attack the group behind the Wall of Fire.

The young men riding on the Pegusi had sharp gazes and wore three feathers on each of their heads, as well as a black bull’s horn around their necks. After they arrived, they communicated with each other in an unknown language, after taking in the Snow Wolves, who had taken up a defensive posture, and the group at the center of the weakening Wall of Fire. Their voices became louder and louder, as if they were in a disagreement over something.

Are these aborigines that have come uninvited friend or foe?

Looking at the Vicious Dogs and Cloud Leopards who were about the size of the Snow Wolves, then looking at the young men with the feathers comically stuck on their heads, Yang Ling did not dare be careless. He secretly took out his sharp dagger.

After the quarrel, a young man whose face was covered in pastel grabbed the bull’s horn at his chest and blew into it with force. In that moment, the Vicious Dogs and Cloud Leopards that were raring to go launched toward the Snow Wolves, completely surrounding them.

The leader of the wolves led the pack in an attempt to escape the embattlement. But unfortunately, the impeccable coordination between the Vicious Dogs and Cloud Leopards, as well as their fierce attacks, made it such that the calf-sized Snow Wolves were unable to gain any advantages.

The wild beasts unleashed an agitated, bloody brawl in front of the group. Pathetic wails and roars were incessant!

The Snow Wolves had the advantage in terms of their sharp claws and immense strength, while the Vicious Dogs and Cloud Leopards had the advantage in terms of numbers, speed and coordination. Soon after, as the Snow Wolves fell one after another, the wolf pack had lost all chances of escape.

The young man in the lead raised his head to survey the sky’s color, an anxious look on his face. He seemed to want to end the battle quickly, and he instructed the Vicious Dogs and Cloud Leopards to deal the fatal blow. As he was doing so, he instructed his clansmen to pace around with their horses, the bows in their hands never stopping as they shot out arrow after arrow. Nearly all of the arrows struck the vital areas of the Snow Wolves, like the eyeball or the throat. They were much more powerful that the archer Lobina.

The soldiers were elated as soon as they understood that these people and their beasts were there to help. They added their ineffectual attacks to the fray, unleashing their pent up anxiety on the Snow Wolves who were on the brink of death. This was especially true for Hans, the fat man, who was still hiding between Yuna and Yang Ling. He ordered his Green-skinned Condor to attack furiously, wanting with passion to make a rain of acid descend upon the Snow Wolves.

Could these be the so-called Necromancer?

Yang Ling took in these young men with the feathers on their heads, and the five hundred Vicious Dogs and Cloud Leopards under their command. Even though they had control of many Magical Beasts, it seemed to Yang Ling that they could only command the creatures using the bull’s horns they carried. They were more similar to a beast tamer in a circus act, and had a fundamental difference to the man in black shown within the Illusory Crystal.

Furthermore, the battle capabilities of the Magical Beasts that the man in black controlled was very powerful, able to pierce through the heavy armor of high level warriors with a single attack. They could destroy a sturdy castle gate with their magical spells alone. The Vicious Dogs and Cloud Leopards controlled by the foreign young men were not weak, but they were incomparable to the Magical Beasts of the man in black.