The Strange Wolf Bandits

In the center of the valley, the battle was unfolding in the most gruesome manner imaginable.

Wolf Bandit, these ferocious creatures that existed between man and wolf, had always been known for their fearlessness in the face of death.

But the performance of this pack today could no longer be explained by the simple term "fearless."

Every Wolf Bandit's eyes glowed with an unnatural scarlet hue, white foam hung from their maws, and their muscles bulged to an unnatural degree, with dark blue veins crawling across their exposed skin like earthworms.

They emitted low growls that seemed to be squeezed from the deepest parts of their chests; the sound was less like a threat and more like the venting of extreme, agonizing pain.

The leader of the Wolf Bandit was a behemoth nearly two and a half meters tall. Its gray-white mane stood on end, and its scarlet vertical pupils held not a shred of reason, only pure, unadulterated bloodlust.

Its strength was roughly equivalent to a Soul Emperor, which logically should have been nothing before a Soul Saint, yet it was currently locked in a struggle with the strongest of the operation—the level 73 Soul Saint Riels. Not only did it show no sign of waning, but it attacked with every move, fighting with a complete disregard for its own life.

Riels's martial soul was the Earth-Splitting Violent Bear, a path of rigid and domineering power. Every punch he threw carried a halo of earthy-yellow soul power, and the ground cracked inch by inch wherever his fist wind passed.

His seventh soul ring was already glowing. Under the augmentation of his Avatar of Martial Soul, he transformed into a giant bear phantom three meters tall, capable of smashing a millstone-sized boulder into powder with a single palm strike.

By all logic, under such a crushing level of power, the Wolf Bandit leader shouldn't have lasted even the time it takes to burn an incense stick.

But the reality was that the Wolf Bandit leader held its ground.

That palm strike landed squarely on the Wolf Bandit leader's chest. The crisp sound of shattering bone was clearly audible, the creature's chest visibly caved in, and its entire body was sent flying over ten meters, crashing into a pile of rubble and kicking up a sky full of dust.

Before Riels could even catch his breath, a more savage roar erupted from the rubble. The Wolf Bandit leader sprang from the dust, and the collapsed wound on its chest was healing at a visible rate; new, distorted flesh squirmed and crawled like countless insects beneath its skin.

"What kind of monster is this?" Riels's pupils constricted. He had fought for half his life, from the Great Soul Master War to the suppression of Evil Soul Masters—he had seen it all—but this speed of recovery completely exceeded his understanding of the Wolf Bandit species.

The Wolf Bandit leader gave him no time to think, pouncing on all fours with such speed that it left a blur, snapping its jaws toward Riels's throat.

Riels dodged to the side, but the Wolf Bandit leader's fangs grazed his shoulder armor, leaving a deep gouge in the sturdy soul bone plating.

At the same time, the Wolf Bandit leader's claws swept across, and five streaks of blood erupted as deep, bone-reaching wounds were carved into Riels's ribs.

A beast at the level of a Soul Emperor had wounded a Soul Saint who had activated his Avatar of Martial Soul.

"Bishop Riels is injured."

Hu Liena's voice turned taut. She pressed down on Yan, who was about to charge out, her tone urgent, "Don't be impulsive. If you go up there now, you're just throwing your life away."

"So we just watch the Bishop get dragged to death by that beast?"

Flames seemed to burn in Yan's eyes. His martial soul was the Flame Lord, and his temper was naturally explosive. Seeing the strongest of their side injured, the fury in his chest nearly burned through his skull.

"Fool."

Xie Yue spoke coldly, his tone as indifferent as if he were stating a fact.

"If you charge up there, Bishop Riels will have to split his focus to protect you.

As three Soul Elder, our greatest role in a battle of this level is not to fight to the death, but to not be a burden."

Yan's clenched fists emitted the creaking sound of grinding knuckles, but he did not retort.

Because Xie Yue was right. Although the three of them were exceptionally gifted, the chasm in their Soul Power Level was undeniable. A Wolf Bandit leader at the Soul Emperor level, combined with a pack of berserk Wolf Bandit, was simply not something three Soul Elder could face head-on.

But the problem was, they couldn't retreat even if they wanted to.

The exits on both sides of the valley had been blocked by the pack.

The original plan was to use Riels as the core for a frontal assault, with four Soul Emperors guarding the flanks and the remaining soul masters forming a formation to seal the retreat, trapping the Wolf Bandit in the valley to wipe them out.

But the situation had completely reversed—the Wolf Bandit were not afraid of death. Two of the four Soul Emperors were already injured, three Soul Ancestor had fallen, and the five Soul Elder-level team members had been scattered; the formation had long since collapsed.

Riels was pinned down by the Wolf Bandit leader and could not break free, while the other Wolf Bandit were devouring the Martial Soul Hall encirclement at an alarming speed.

"Something is wrong."

Hu Liena suddenly spoke, her voice dropping a few notches, carrying a rare gravity, "Look at their eyes."

Xie Yue and Yan followed her gaze simultaneously.

Every Wolf Bandit on the battlefield had that unnatural scarlet glow in their eyes, but upon closer inspection, one could see that the red light was not uniform. It pulsed rhythmically like a heartbeat—dimming and brightening, dimming and brightening—with a perfectly synchronized frequency.

It was as if something was controlling their brains in unison.

"Puppets? No, puppets wouldn't have such strong autonomous combat awareness."

Hu Liena shook her head, then her pupils shrank violently:

"It's drugs.

Something has stimulated their central nervous systems, stripping away their sense of pain while pushing their soul power circulation efficiency to the limit.

If this state continues, they will exhaust themselves to death, but before they do, their combat power will skyrocket several times over."

"That's why they dare to trade blows with Bishop Riels," Xie Yue narrowed his eyes, "This is a suicide tactic."

"The question is, who drugged them?"

Hu Liena's gaze crossed the chaotic battlefield, casting toward the area shrouded in shadow at the deepest part of the valley.

Wolf Bandit were pack animals, and their lair was there, but at this moment, there was no movement in that darkness; it was as quiet as a grave.

"I can't worry about that anymore."

Yan stood up abruptly, the phantom of the Flame Lord appearing behind him as his third soul ring lit up, "Bishop Riels can't hold on much longer. I'm going to help him."

This time, Hu Liena did not stop him.

Because she could see clearly that the situation in the center of the battlefield had deteriorated to a dangerous tipping point.

Although Riels had relied on his foundation of Soul Saint-level soul power to hold out until now, the Wolf Bandit leader's offensive was growing more ferocious with every wave, and the other three Soul King-level Wolf Bandits were already flanking from the sides, frantically tearing at Bishop Riels's defenses.

If this dragged on any longer, this level 73 Soul Saint might truly perish here.

"Brother, you and Yan go together. Your target is those three Soul King Wolf Bandits. Don't worry about killing them; just keep them occupied."

Hu Liena issued her orders rapidly, her tone so calm it did not sound like that of a teenage girl.

"I am going to find the source."