"Elder, Elder!" the little fox boy Paike cried out.
"Elder!" the Rat Person Heitu cried out as well.
"Elder?" The male and female swordsmen at the cave entrance called out too.
But the Orange Cat Person Husky leaned against the stone wall, utterly motionless.
Slowly, the cries faded. The entire cave fell deathly silent, and the air filled with sorrow.
Only the young Tiger Person Tyson remained silent from beginning to end.
He silently stepped forward, walked up to the Orange Cat Person Husky, and touched one of the wounds torn open by the ghost wolves with a finger, staining it with dark red, viscous blood.
"What are you doing, Tyson?" the Rat Person Heitu asked in confusion.
Tyson still said nothing. He heavily smeared three streaks of blood across his face, took a deep breath, gripped his chipped four-finger-wide sword tightly, and picked up Husky's Iron Sword from the ground with his other hand.
Holding a sword in each hand, Tyson turned to face the cave entrance.
Everyone in the cave focused their eyes on Tyson. Only then did he speak, gritting his teeth and saying with bloodshot eyes, "Teacher was right. From now on, we have to rely on ourselves! That damned Ghost Wolf King—its son ran around carelessly and got killed by a hunter's trap in the village, but it wants the entire village to pay with their lives. It won't even spare those of us who escaped.
"Fine, then come on. Today, I'll definitely satisfy it—I'll die right in front of it. But I have one small condition: it has to die with me!"
With that, Tyson strode toward the cave exit.
The others' eyes flickered. Inspired by him, they hesitated for a moment before picking up their weapons and following.
But just as the group