Fight!

Even before they can do anything, the sound of low, threat-filled growls of whatever creature it was that had emerged to fight them. There was the sound of liquid splattering onto the ground even as the sound of metal slicing through the air met their ears.

There were two howls of commands that rang through the air, the sign that broke the stalemate.

Instantly, Alec and Elias were out of the wagon as the horses jolted to an emergency halt.

What greeted them was the sight of Henry fighting off the various creatures that looked like wolves. The thing that set them apart from normal animals was the faint wisps of magic that they each carried, emerging through the little flashes of light whenever their paws touched the ground.

With every step, the pack of wolves moved in a uniform fashion, encircling Henry in the middle. Each step was light, as if they never fully touched the ground before they moved forward.

As Alec scanned the situation, he frowned inwardly. There were more than fifty wolves here, which was a lot even by a normal animal canine's pack standard.

Considering that they were facing off with creatures, it was surprising that they were moving around in such a large pack. Even for canine creatures, this usually caused them to prefer moving around in twos or threes, if not alone.

This was because creatures usually enjoyed a higher form of solidarity as compared to their comparatively more simple-minded brethren.

Seeing such a large pack was unheard of.

Henry, fighting hard, already sported a variety of claw marks that were bleeding sluggishly. However, he gave as good as he got, his teeth bared in a reflection to the wolves' fangs. The man was trying to minimize his fatigue levels by dodging whenever he could.

He was hard-pressed in his battle, pushed beyond his limits as he fought for his life. Not even once would he have expected that he would face such difficulties along the travelling path to Welkton City.

He knew that the path wasn't as safe as it appeared on the map, sure, but having to face so many was unthinkable!

The hunter roared, his latent potential exploding under the combined assault of the pack of wolves. Luckily, Henry was already in the foundation stage of magic capacity, which meant that he outstripped the wolves by a rank at least.

Even then, he wasn't having an easy time.

Elias pulled out a new pair of daggers that had been strapped at his side, his presence fading to something softer, something harder to detect. The daggers were a product of his two weeks in Mystik Town.

The teen slipped into the fray without another word, slaughtering his way to the man. He stabbed only at fatal points, bringing down a fair number of unsuspecting wolves.

While Henry drew attention to himself, Elias took care of the various wolves that slipped through the man's defences, guarding his back.

It wasn't just them who were fighting. Bunbun, who had previously been dozing in the wagon, joined the fray, attacking with all his might.

Compared to the wolves going after the humans, the wolves that converged towards the bunny were a lot more. It seemed like the wolves' natural instincts won out here, before a howl of command stopped some of the wolves from diverting their attention.

Bunbun didn't falter in the face of adversity, nor did he cower in the face of these predators that usually took bunnies as nourishment.

Actually, the bunny was just barely smaller than the wolves that were attacking him in his crouched form.

If Alec wasn't so busy looking and categorising the flow of the battle, he would have laughed at the sight they made. It felt like a wolf being released in a sheep's pen. In this case, a bunny released in a wolves' pen, with Bunbun being the predator.

A giant bunny fighting wolves on equal ground. No, a giant bunny fighting against wolves and winning without much problem.

Bunbun savagely tore into the wolves' necks with his teeth, growling right back at the wolves, who didn't seem to fear him.

There were two groups of wolves, one sporting a shade of grey that ran close to black, and the other, which sported black fur with purple undertones. They looked the same in every way except for the colouring.

Even as Alec slashed out with the dagger that he was so familiar with, his eyes were always moving as he tried to determine the situation they'd found themselves in.

The trail of dead bodies around him steadily grew

These wolf creatures in the area didn't attack as long as no one strayed into their territory. It was the entire reason why this road had been built in the first place, after all. This area was supposed to be far enough from the wolves' territory that whatever travellers along the road would be relatively safe.

It clicked when he saw two distinctly alpha wolves howling as they led the battle.

The two packs of wolves were probably having a territory dispute when they intruded. They probably decided to take care of the intruders first before continuing their fight.

Unfortunately, Henry was good at what he did, and when first blood had been drawn, it had set off the rest of the wolves.

Alec avoided the blood splatter as he ducked low, utilising his speed to block a grey wolf's set of fangs with his dagger. He tipped the wolf in its soft belly, sending it skidding backwards with a whimper, only for a purple one to take its place.

Alec clicked his tongue, even as the rush of adrenaline made his blood sing. Two territorial wolf packs, working together to take care of a threat. They should just have allowed them to go on their merry way, preventing the casualties.

However, it was too late now.

"They're in the middle of a territorial battle," Alec let the others know. "I'll take care of the purple alpha wolf. Elias, the grey one."

Alec didn't hear Elias' reply, but the System knew that he'd been heard by the way he felt Elias' presence disappear from his perception of the area.

The few wolves that the teen had been facing off let out a couple of whines of confusion as their prey vanished.

A howl from the grey alpha wolf causes them to shake off whatever confusion they had been harbouring, quickly closing in on the hunter that was still unceasingly fighting against the swarm of fangs and claws.

Bunbun surged forward, protecting Henry's back. His powerful paws slapped at their soft bellies, causing a few ruptured organs as they went down for the count.

Alec jumped over to the purple alpha wolf at the back, finding that it was a lot smaller than the rest, causing him to raise a brow.

In fact, it was so much smaller than the rest of the purple wolves that it caused Alec to wonder how it had become the alpha of the pack. And it was indeed the alpha, since the purple wolves were reacting to its every howl of command.

The formations in which the wolves attacked changed accordingly to the howl coming out from the alpha.

The purple alpha wolf barely had any time to react when Alec slammed a fist on its head, causing it to stumble backwards.

Alarm bells rang in his mind as he felt the incoming danger, causing him to reflexively dodge to the side.

The wolf's powerful paw landed on the ground, causing a minor tremor as the ground fractured under the strike. The wolf's cunning eyes seemed to gleam at the prospective battle.

Alec was inwardly shocked at the display of strength which caused his blood to pump even quicker through his veins. For a rank one creature, it was already a lot. The ecstasy of being in a fight where he was matched in pure physical strength caused a strange sense of satisfaction to purr through his body.

Alec grinned as he readied his blade, taking a stance.

Similarly, the small purple alpha wolf bared its teeth, its legs poised to ready for a sudden lunge at any given time.

As their eyes met, human to creature, they recognized each other as a worthy foe and predator. This was a fight that they would enjoy.

Almost as if hearing a countdown, the two moved at the same time, bloodlust singing to them.