Wells watched in shock as Death's Howl was blasted away. Just as he resigned himself to death, yet did not die immediately, his powerful survival instinct seized control of his mind again. He clawed desperately at the grass with both hands, crawling swiftly across the ground like a two-legged lizard.
Hearing the roars behind him, Wells was somewhat curious about what had happened, but the pain in his right leg kept him from stopping for even a moment.
Then, amid a thunderous explosion, the shockwave sent Wells tumbling into a rock dozens of meters away. The pain throughout his body made him give up struggling. He laboriously raised his head and looked toward the battlefield with his only remaining right eye.
The dying Wells finally saw what had happened.
A woman floating in the sky was launching relentless attacks on the giant wolf below. Fireballs continuously shot from her hands at Death's Howl, much like the little alchemist toys he had bought for Paimon as a child. But judging by how the giant wolf kept retreating, these fireballs were clearly far more powerful than the little fireworks that alchemist sold.
Looking at Death's Howl as it continuously snarled up at her, she frowned and extended a slender finger toward the giant wolf.
"Disappear, ugly thing!"
Death's Howl lay on the ground, staring in terror at the human girl floating above its head. The bone spikes on its back had long been shattered by her attacks, while black, viscous blood continuously flowed from holes of all sizes.
Its beastly instincts urged it to tuck its tail and flee in panic, but the voice echoing endlessly in its mind was like a nail, pinning the giant wolf firmly to the ground. Its magma-like eyes revealed intense fear and equally intense killing intent.
In the end, its killing intent overwhelmed its animal instincts. Covered in wounds, Death's Howl rapidly swelled like a balloon being inflated, while the black smoke that had previously spread outward drew inward at that instant.
The anticipated explosion came—but it was not the giant wolf that exploded.
Several beams of light instantly pierced through the giant wolf's body. Like a shoddy little umbrella sold by a crooked merchant, it served no purpose at all. The swollen giant wolf expanded for only an instant before returning to its original form.
With only a breath left in it, Death's Howl lay limp on the ground, its distinctly black-and-white eyes pleadingly fixed on the girl still above it.
But there was no change in the girl's pale violet eyes. She clenched her right hand toward the giant wolf below, and Death's Howl, limp as mud, turned into minced flesh that splattered in every direction.
"Watch your coordination! Watch your coordination! Don't go in alone!"
Havent held a longsword as he faced one Smoke Wind Wolf alone, while the remaining five or six mercenaries stood off against another Smoke Wind Wolf with weapons in hand.
"Paimon! Paimon! Pick up your weapon! Pick up your weapon!"
Standing beside Paimon, Havent shouted anxiously. After suffering blow after blow, Paimon knelt silently before Baki's corpse, tears streaming down like a brook.
"Paimon, we have to kill these two beasts, or even more people will die."
Paimon, still kneeling on the ground, fumbled for the two-handed axe in Baki's hand. He rose to his feet, walked to Havent's side, and glared fiercely at the Smoke Wind Wolf that had bitten Baki to death.
"Will, kill it! Avenge Uncle Baki!"
The two boys exchanged a glance, then charged forward with their weapons. There was no longer any fear in Paimon's eyes as he attacked the Smoke Wind Wolf with boundless hatred.
But a boy's hot-blooded courage could not erase the gap in strength. The Wind Wolf easily dodged Paimon's chop, opened its jaws wide, and bit toward Paimon's neck.
Havent, close behind Paimon, swiftly slashed his longsword across the Wind Wolf's neck. Injured, the Wind Wolf whimpered and retreated to one side, baring its teeth at the two of them. Red-black blood slowly flowed from the wound in its neck.
Seeing that his full-force strike had only cut through the Smoke Wind Wolf's fur, Havent frowned. He was about to use his ability to begin rehearsing an escape route, but after glancing at the red-eyed Paimon beside him, he shook his head again. Abandoning a friend was a little shameful.
Just as Havent hesitated over whether to knock Paimon unconscious and take him away, a blinding light flared up, as though the sun had suddenly risen.
As Havent wondered what was happening, the Smoke Wind Wolf in front of him began convulsing violently. Large amounts of black smoke drifted out of its body, rapidly enveloping it.
Seeing this, Havent pulled back Paimon, who still wanted to charge forward swinging his axe. A powerful sense of unease rose in his heart, just like when he had nearly been killed by the Demon Dragon in Baiman City.
At that moment, several violent explosions sounded in the distance, drawing Havent's attention. A ball of light flew rapidly toward the camp. Only when it stopped above the camp did Havent see that there was a human girl inside the glow.
Havent stood in the open with his longsword in hand, staring blankly at the girl in midair. As she slowly raised an arm and extended her palm toward the camp, countless blazing white fireballs poured from the magic circle formed in her palm.
The blazing white fireballs shot down at the Wind Wolves shrouded in black smoke below. Towering flames blazed throughout the camp as the girl turned her head, inspecting the ground to make sure none had been missed.
Watching the girl slowly drift toward him, Havent was stunned. Her long, straight silver hair gleamed brilliantly beneath the moonlight. Her pale violet eyes surveyed the survivors below, and her light-blue witch's dress gave her a faintly aloof air.
Watching her raise a hand and throw two blazing white fireballs, igniting the Wind Wolves wrapped in black smoke, Havent could not help muttering.
The girl's ears twitched twice, as if she had heard Havent. She turned and slowly floated over, stopping before him. Her pale violet eyes studied him for a while before she suddenly leaned close, wrinkled her delicate little nose, and sniffed.
Under Havent's bewildered gaze, the girl said something inexplicable and flew away with a whoosh. Watching her vanish into the night sky, Havent dropped to the ground.
Once Death's Howl and all the Wind Wolves had been eliminated, the remaining wild wolves scattered in all directions. The survivors stood there blankly. After quite some time, the mercenaries who realized they had survived all collapsed to the ground, while some clung to one another and wept.
"Let's go. We should see how Uncle Wells is doing."
After resting on the ground for a while, Havent stood up and patted Paimon on the back. The two dragged their exhausted bodies out of the camp. After searching for quite some time, they finally found Wells beside a rock five hundred meters from the camp.
Leaning against the rock, Wells watched the two boys approach from afar and closed his eyes in relief.
Before you continue