38 Chapter 38: Crying Wolf (1/2)
Originally, there were twelve members in Alicia Violet's party, including her. They had accepted a mission to eradicate a pack of Rank E monsters in the vicinity.
They didn't expect to run into Rank D monsters. The Rank E monsters had been a trap, distracting them long enough before they were ambushed by the more powerful Rank D monsters, who proceeded to tear them apart.
Right now, hardly four of them were left. The others were lying on the ground, most likely dead. A good number of them were in pieces, mauled beyond recognition, so I somehow counted more than eight corpses. The sight of such gruesome deaths made me gag.
In the center of them all, Alicia was rallying the surviving members of her party, and they were somehow stemming the tide. Alicia was wielding a bow and firing a volley of arrows at dark shapes who were prowling along the edge of the clearing. They jumped back, but a good number of them were speared. Howling, they limped away, but Alicia's bombardment left at least two of them dead, their skulls pierced through by her volley.
”Black Roses! Rally to me!” Alicia shouted, determined to prolong the lives of her party for as long as possible. ”Reinforcements should be arriving soon! We just need to hold out until then!”
”P…President! They are coming back!” one of her subordinates exclaimed in panic, the other three hiding behind her back. Alicia bit her lip, but raised her bow. Violet energy condensed in the fingers of her right hand and she took aim with those magical arrows.
”Keep fighting!” she ordered.
”There's too many of them!”
High above, I watched helplessly as the monsters reemerged from the forest and into the clearing again, growling. Their long, lupine bodies loped gracefully from behind the trees, their spiky black fur bristling in an intimidating manner. They advanced on two legs each, their canine scouts seeming to sniff the air.
”Lycanthropes,” I whispered, recognizing the Rank D monsters.
”Lycanthropes?” Adrian repeated anxiously. I could detect the terror in his quivering voice, so I smiled reassuringly.
”Stay here. I'll take care of them.”
”Eh? Big Brother, what are you…?”
I didn't answer him. Instead, I jumped off Cygnus's back and plummeted feet first toward the clearing.
Boom!
Landing heavily, I actually crushed a single Lycanthrope underneath my feet, its skull and upper body flattened into a bloody pulp from the impact. I didn't even glance down at the carcass, already moving the moment the creature hit the ground.
”R…Richard?!” Alicia cried out when she recognized me. ”How did you…?”
I didn't answer, and instead focused my attention on the approaching Lycanthropes.
”Gemini!”
The moment Castor and Pollux materialized in my hands, I threw the both of them into the air. Spinning rapidly, the black and white swords flew in a wide arc, cutting through any unfortunate Lycanthrope that stood in their paths.
The remaining Lycanthropes pounced on me, thinking that I was vulnerable without any weapons.
”Richard!” Alicia cried, also believing the same thing. She immediately unleashed a second volley of arrows, cutting down the first row of lunging Lycanthropes. ”Watch out!”
”Don't worry about me,” I assured her. ”Stand back.”
”Eh?”
Raising my hand, I summoned Aquarius. A blue broadsword materialized in my hand instantly and I swung it, cutting several approaching Lycanthropes in half. Grinding my right foot against the ground, I swung the Water Bearer in a broad arc, releasing a giant tidal wave of water that washed the remaining werewolves away from my location.
”…eh?” Alicia repeated dumbly as she watched the Lycanthropes get swept away by the little tsunami. Her surviving subordinates also drew closer, staring at me in disbelief.
”Is that really that Richard? The summoner guy?”
”I didn't know he could do that! I've never seen him summon those weapons before!”
”Well, now you have,” I told them dryly before glancing at the wet and sprawled Lycanthropes. At this rate I could finish them up before the reinforcements arrived.
This was weird. If they were this weak, how were Alicia and her party unable to take care of them by themselves? Surely I wasn't stronger than a party of twelve. Not to mention, these guys didn't feel that much stronger than Ravagers. They were different from what I had read about.
”We're supposed to exterminate these Lycanthropes, right?” I asked Alicia. To my surprise, she shook her head.
”We can't.” she glanced nervously in the direction of the forest. ”Let's get out of here before it comes back! Otherwise we'll all die!”
”Huh?” I gaped at her, bewildered. ”Before what comes back?”
As if in reply, the clearing began to shake as if there was an earthquake. As I tried to balance myself despite the tremors beneath my feet, cold dread gripped my spine.
”You've got to be kidding me,” I muttered under my breath.
”What on earth…?” Adrian muttered ironically, because he was still high in the sky and riding on Cygnus. But he had also observed the trembling of the earth as something massive and incredibly heavy stomped toward us. Trees were shaking with each step, and a flock of birds burst out from the canopy in panic.