Pack leader

"GGGGGGRRRRRRRRRR!"

With the roar, various types of birds began to fly away, trying to escape from the place as fast as possible. And the land animals could only run disoriented in the dark, many colliding with each other.

And all this commotion happened only because of the fur in front of Alessia's group.

"Did you manage to perceive where the roar came from?" Zia asked.

They all raised their hands, pointing in the direction they estimated to be the right one. But they all pointed in different directions. However, there was only one similarity.

"Northeast, don't lose sight of that place."

Although they pointed to different degrees, they all agreed to say that the leader of the pack would come from the northeast.

Vaguely, they heard a rumbling in the distance as the minutes passed. This rumbling grew in intensity to the point where the earth began to tremble!

"It's approaching our positions!" shouted Irina.

With her shield in hand, Zia is the one in front. Miria and Alessia are two steps behind her, one on each side, respectively. Irina, the team leader, is at the rear since her spear allows her to get to the front at any time she wishes and attack the unsuspecting enemy.

They all held their positions and kept silent. The rumbling and shaking grew louder and louder, hinting that in less than 5 minutes, the Leader of the pack would arrive.

*Fwoosh*

A black mass is heading towards them, 3.5 meters tall and similar in appearance to a panther but gigantic in comparison. Its speed reached the pinnacle, where it melted into the darkness, becoming virtually invisible in the night!

*Fwoosh*

[Teriar Lvl 11]

"Now Zia!"

With Irina's shout, Zia ran to the front with her shield held in two hands.

"GGGGRR"

The teriar opened his huge snout, showing its fangs to the fullest. Any mistake in front of this monster could cost their lives! One bite, and it's all over!

"Aaaahh!"

'- Look at me alone! I'm your worst enemy!'

The atmosphere around Zia changed, hinting that if she isn't killed first, then the teriar will regret it all its life!

*CLANG*

The impact between the shield and the fangs was heard tens of meters away, resulting in Zia retreating more than 10 steps back and being unable to create distance with the enemy's muzzle.

'- Well done. Now it's my turn!'

In complete silence, Irina ran after Zia, taking advantage of the enemy's full attention on her companion. She did so in such a way that she completely evaded the monster's vision, using Zia as cover.

And once she managed to get close...

*Swish*

Her spear was directed towards the enemy's right eye.

Teriar: "!!!!"

Its instincts told him that if he didn't back off now, that spear would destroy its eye! And it even has a chance of killing him!

"Ggggrr"

Even though it was about to succeed in murdering Zia, without hesitation, it expanded its forelegs over 8 meters. In just an instant, this caused its body to recoil at an incredible speed, sending it flying a few meters into the air.

"We knew you would do that!" shouted Miria.

Teriar: "!!!!"

'How did they get here?' If the teriar had any wisdom, it would say similar words. And that's because it was so focused on Zia that it lost sight of the other humans' locations. The monster never thought they could predict its movements!

Alessia's group defeated 22 teriar monsters. They had long ago memorized each of their attack patterns! When they felt in danger, they always retreated in the same way.

In the air, the monster opened its eyes wide. Alessia and Miria are on either side of its head. Only two more meters and their weapons will do the job Irina couldn't do... Pierce through its eyes!

Sensing mortal danger, the teriar decided to no longer hold back. It will unleash its entire arsenal right now!

"GGGGGGGRRRRRR!"

A black-colored aura surrounded the monster, indicating that it was about to release its magic.

Alessia: "!!!!"

Miria: "!!!!!"

They both realized this, but being in the air, they have no way to change direction!

Desperately, they watched as the two meters it took to reach the monster's eyes took forever. If only they could get a boost, they would end this battle with a single attack!

Unfortunately for them, the magic activated first.

"GGGRRR!"

At that very moment, the teriar's aura mysteriously appeared around their bodies. It didn't seem to cause them harm or apply a special effect... Or at least it did at first.

In the next split-second, gravity changed.

*Boom*

Their bodies became incredibly heavy, and they fell like meteorites toward the ground. Using all the experience they had accumulated in their lives, they managed to minimize the damage as they fell, causing them only minor injuries.

'- The magic didn't seem to affect its own body since, while we fell, the monster couldn't stop the momentum of its jump!' Alessia thought as she saw that the teriar still didn't touch the ground.

Since it still remained in the air, the monster couldn't get close enough to give them the final blow. Only seconds later, its jump ended and its paws touched the ground.

"Are you all right?!"

"Do you guys need an HP potion?!"

Irina and Zia approached them, getting in front of them to protect them at the slightest enemy movement.

"We're fine, just minor injuries."

"More importantly, the monster used magic. And that means..." Miria said with a mischievous smile.

'- Once it's deactivated, it will be its moment of weakness!' They all had similar thoughts.

The aura surrounding their bodies disappeared immediately when the monster distanced itself from them. In other words, its effect only lingered in the vicinity of the summoner. To corroborate this, they all looked towards the teriar.

"Its magic affects a range of 20 meters around the monster's body. Just look around it. All the terrain has been mysteriously flattened." Irina said calmly, with a small smile on her face. Only someone beside her will be able to realize the latter.

"Hahaha! I know what we should do!" Miria smiled cheerfully.

Alessia: "????"

"Let's run until its mana runs out completely!" said Miria.

Alessia: "..."

'- It's... It's a simple plan, and as much as I'd like to be against it, I can't help but think it makes a lot of sense.'

To corroborate her thoughts, Alessia looked at the others. They all had a similar look to hers, but they also couldn't find a better plan than that.

"All right, let's go," Zia said. And her big sister attitude was enough to get them all to agree and carry out the plan without complaining about the idea of running as if their lives depended on it.

"GGGRRR" The teriar began to chase after them.

With each of its steps, the ground flattened around it. If Alessia's group were to fall within the area of effect, they would not be able to withstand the pressure! They would directly fall to the ground without being able to lift their bodies!

To a third party's eye, this would look like a cat-and-mouse chase, where Alessia's group would conform to the mouse. And it's just that the size comparison is so abysmal that they look tiny in comparison.

And there arose the biggest flaw in the plan. The monster is so big that, with just a wave of its paw, it covers a great distance.

"At this rate, the teriar will catch up with us in just a few seconds!"

"Running will only buy us some time; we must think of the next move."

Hearing this, Miria smiled again.

"Zia, Irina, don't worry; I knew this would happen!"

"???"

Seeing the question marks above their heads, Miria felt that her time to shine had come. So, without answering them, she removed an object from her storage ring and threw it toward the monster chasing after them.

*Boom*

The object slammed into the teriar's head and exploded noisily. The next second... a cloud surrounded its head.

"That's..." Alessia was surprised.

"Haha. I didn't think you were still carrying them with you." Irina smiled at Miria's mischief.

"Eh... It's interesting to see how you came up with this. Why do I have a feeling this isn't the first time you've done something similar?" Zia narrowed her eyes.

'- Ugh! I can't tell her that I made a super-strong monster angry and ended up escaping the same way I did now!' Miria kept running without answering to avoid giving herself away.

The object is nothing more and nothing less than a stink bomb!

Despite its name, this one is not only stinky, but it also interferes with its target's breathing and vision, causing the teriar's tears to keep falling and making it unable to breathe normally. It is simply a bomb made by the devil himself!

"GG-... Ggggrrrgrgr!" Strange roars came out of its snout.

The teriar slowed down. Its movements became disoriented and it stopped chasing them in a straight line, implying that it couldn't see properly.

By the looks of it, the teriar is suffering from a lot of unfairness.

Again, the distance between them and the monster grew. Even if the teriar enlarges its two legs, it will be impossible for it to get close in time to apply its magic to Alessia's group.

"Hahaha"

Due to the adrenaline rushing through their bodies, being in such a dangerous situation made them all unable to help but laugh as they overcame this dilemma in such a strange way. Even when Irina tried to hold back her laughter, the situation far exceeded her limit, and she ended up laughing just like the others.