Battle the Magic Wolves

"Smack, smack, smack..."

Lin Lei swiftly wielded his Three-Pointed Double-Edged Glaive. With more than three hundred jin of strength behind each blow, he smashed the magic wolves that appeared before him. Even when the blade did not strike their bodies, every hit shattered their bones and sent them sprawling to the ground.

The middle-aged man who had registered Lin Lei yesterday stood at the outer edge of the caravan, directing the defense. His original cloth garments had been replaced by a suit of black armor. Lin Lei personally saw a Moonlight Magic Wolf slam its claws against the armor, yet the armor remained completely unharmed. Instead, the middle-aged man reacted and cleaved the wolf in two with a single stroke. He was likely also a Bronze Rank fifth-stage expert.

As Lin Lei thought this, he casually shook the bits of flesh and blood from his blade. In just a short while, he had already killed seven or eight magic wolves that had rushed into the caravan's defensive perimeter.

"These are only Bronze Rank third-stage young wolves. If the pack sends Bronze Rank fifth-stage magic wolves charging in, this precarious defensive ring will shatter at once."

Lin Lei thought to himself and could not help sighing. He turned back to search for Red Fire. The moment he had gotten off the carriage, he had sent it out.

He looked around but could not find Red Fire. Lin Lei had no choice but to use his mental power to sense it and urge it to return to his side. Before long, he would need to flee with it.

Even while using his mental power, Lin Lei's hands did not stop. Seeing that killing these ferocious magic wolves one by one was no longer enough, he had no choice but to open his Heavenly Eye and unleash the piercing Good and Evil Rays.

Based on the power currently contained in Lin Lei's Heavenly Eye, he could use it at most three times. Any more than that, and he would faint as he had in Wheat Town.

The white laser beams were especially dazzling in the night. Three successive rays robbed at least forty or fifty magic wolves of their ability to fight. The stamina he gained from them filled the somewhat exhausted Lin Lei with strength once more.

Lin Lei's Heavenly Eye ability swept the wolves at the perimeter clean, creating a huge gap. The wolves behind them had not yet arrived, and the defensive line that had nearly collapsed finally eased up and stabilized once again.

Lin Lei's actions greatly encouraged the warriors who had only just fallen into despair, restoring their fighting spirit. But Lin Lei knew this was only an illusion. Once the Wolf King organized the Moonlight Magic Wolves for another attack, he too would have to start running for his life.

Lin Lei did not reveal this information. Nearly every surviving mercenary was injured. Even Lin Lei had claw marks on his arms and legs. They desperately needed something to believe in. Telling them would be the same as pushing them onto a dead-end road, though they were already on one.

During the break, no one spoke. They silently awaited the next wave of magic wolf attacks. Whenever Lin Lei passed by them, he could see their gratitude and awe toward a strong person.

"Whew, whew."

The enormous physical exertion left every survivor gasping for air. Lin Lei looked at them and saw no fear of death in their eyes, only indifference toward life.

"Awooo..."

The familiar wolf howl rang out again. All sorts of sounds emerged once more from the sparse forest.

"Looks like the next attack is about to begin."

Lin Lei tightened his grip on his weapon. Suddenly, the wolf howls grew shriller, while the lightly rustling forest began to ripple backward.

"This is... the wolf pack is retreating."

From the cries just now, Lin Lei knew something major must have happened to the Wolf King. Otherwise, it would not be so urgently calling its subordinates back for aid.

"What could threaten something protected by so many magic wolves?"

Lin Lei was puzzled, but he did not dwell on it. It was already a blessing that the caravan had survived. Whatever happened over there had nothing to do with him.

Lin Lei jumped onto a carriage and surveyed the entire situation. The several small caravans had originally numbered over a hundred people, but only fifty or sixty remained now, including more than a dozen women and children with no combat ability. The caravan had suffered terrible casualties this time.

Many of the remaining mercenaries were missing arms or legs. Even the armored middle-aged man had lost his left arm. He would likely find it difficult to break through to Silver Rank for the rest of his life.

The caravan that had originally consisted of twenty-four carriages was reduced to fifteen. Apart from a few that had been accidentally damaged by mercenaries, most had been smashed apart by the Moonlight Magic Wolves. Even the ones left behind had suffered minor damage to varying degrees.

"Still, we killed so many magic wolves this time. Selling them should make up for at least some of the losses."

Lin Lei thought this as he prepared to get up and return to the carriage to rest, but wolf howls sounded again, rising and falling one after another. The people who had just calmed down tensed up once more.

Amid a burst of commotion, an enormous Moonlight Magic Wolf led a pack of fewer than thirty wolves past Lin Lei. They moved with incredible speed, yet in obvious panic.

"The one in front should be the Wolf King. But why is it in such a miserable state? Its entire body is covered in blood. Even its waist has been slashed open by a blade. Is someone chasing them?"

Lin Lei warily raised his weapon and studied the wolves that had been so arrogant just moments ago. Suddenly, Red Fire shot out like an arrow and bit down on the Wolf King's leg.

Lin Lei seized the chance to use his Reversal of Heaven and Earth. After sensing the mental mark, he appeared before the Wolf King in the blink of an eye and swung his blade at the already exhausted beast.

The Wolf King remained vigilant. The instant Lin Lei appeared, it noticed the attack and forcibly avoided its vital point before lunging at him, fighting with its life on the line.

Lin Lei slightly shifted his body to evade its attack, then lashed out with a kick. Carrying more than three hundred jin of force, his foot slammed into its mouth and knocked out several of its teeth.

However, although the Wolf King had been ambushed by Lin Lei's Reversal of Heaven and Earth and its injuries had worsened, the wolf guards surrounding it had also rushed over, completely encircling Lin Lei and Red Fire.

These wolf guards were the strongest warriors of the pack, each possessing Bronze Rank fifth-stage strength. Lin Lei could not slaughter them as easily as before. Surrounded from all sides, he could not get anywhere near the Wolf King.

The escaping Wolf King did not stop and continued fleeing deeper into the dense forest. Before leaving, it glanced back at Lin Lei. Its bluish-green eyes held undisguised malice.

Wolves held grudges, especially magic wolves with Silver Rank strength. They would certainly seek every possible way to take revenge.

But Lin Lei had no mood to think about such matters. The few wolf guards left behind by the Wolf King already had him walking on thin ice, and the danger around him steadily increased. Even Red Fire had a chunk of flesh viciously torn from its leg, leaving it unsteady on its feet.

"Whoosh... whoosh... whoosh."

Suddenly, the air filled with the explosive whistle of flying arrows. The Moonlight Magic Wolf right in front of Lin Lei instantly had a huge hole blasted through its chest, its body torn apart by the rain of arrows.

Lin Lei steadied himself as a group of black-armored soldiers riding Dragon-Scaled Horses swept past him, charging toward the place where the Wolf King had disappeared. Seeing the enormous horn bows on their backs, Lin Lei knew they had fired the arrows just now and helped relieve his predicament.

"Who are they? They're so strong. They must be quite famous, right?"

Lin Lei asked a mercenary who had come over to check on him. Lin Lei had just saved the mercenary, and seeing him standing alone for so long, the man thought he was seriously injured and came to help him back to the carriage.

"They're the formal knight order of the Dawn Order. Every day, they purge nonhuman races across the territories of various lords. We were truly lucky to run into them this time."

The mercenary answered casually. This was common knowledge to mercenaries across the continent. Only someone like Lin Lei, who had just left his village, would fail to recognize such an armed force.

"Is that so?"

Lin Lei muttered and stopped looking in the direction they had vanished. He began tending to his wounds.

"Hiss... it hurts this much?"

During the battle, Lin Lei had not felt the wounds on his body. Once he let down his guard, pain and numb itching frantically assaulted his nerves.

After returning to the carriage and sitting down, he removed his tattered clothes. A wound as long as a chopstick was visible on Lin Lei's right arm. During the battle, he had failed to dodge in time and could only use his arm to block the bite of a bloodthirsty, crazed magic wolf.

Looking at the wound, he saw red flesh exposed to the air while blood continued to flow. Lin Lei had no healing medicine and did not know what to do for the moment.

"Is Mr. Lin here? I represent the caravan in delivering medicine."

Speak of the devil. Just as Lin Lei was troubled, the caravan steward entered. His left arm had already been bandaged, but he had not changed his bloodstained clothes. A bloodied longsword hung at his waist.

Lin Lei looked toward the steward's right hand and indeed saw several bottles of medicine—Green Spirit Powder, which was already considered fairly good healing medicine on the market.

Lin Lei did not stand on ceremony. He happened to be short on medicine, so he calmly accepted the steward's gift.

After seeing the steward off, Lin Lei applied medicine to all his serious wounds and bound them with strips of cloth before beginning to treat Red Fire's injuries.

Red Fire's fur was not very thick, which saved Lin Lei quite a bit of effort. He sprinkled Green Spirit Powder on it as well and wrapped the wound with cloth strips.

The caravan simply did not have a priest. Otherwise, a single Holy Light spell could have healed Lin Lei and Red Fire's wounds.

Elsewhere, after delivering Lin Lei's medicine, the steward arrived before a heavily guarded carriage. The guards around it did not have a single injury. Even at the caravan's most dangerous moment, they had not gone out to fight, instead remaining outside the carriage to protect the people within.

"How did it go?"

A pleasant female voice came from inside the carriage. The voice could easily stir improper thoughts in ordinary people, but the steward respectfully knelt on the ground without a trace of such thoughts.

"Reporting to Madam, I have delivered medicine to every surviving mercenary. Only the silver has yet to be distributed."

"Oh? Then hurry and send it out later. After all, they faced such great danger because of us. I feel somewhat guilty."

As she spoke, the woman inside stroked the "puppy" in her arms. They were likely the Moonlight Wolf King's cubs, stolen by people she had sent, which had then triggered the magic wolf pack's attack on the caravan.

"Yes."

The steward left respectfully.