38 Chapter 38: Crying Wolf (2/2)
An enormous Lycanthrope burst into the clearing, shaking the earth with its violent landing. Easily about four to five times the size of the other Lycanthropes, the newcomer towered over the entire pack. It snarled and growled at the fallen Lycanthropes who had been blasted by my little tsunami earlier. As expected, the surviving Lycanthropes cowered before their newly arrived leader and obediently retreated.
”That's the Alpha of the pack,” Alicia explained, the color draining from her face.
”Damn it,” I hissed through gritted teeth. Now I understood why Lycanthrope packs were ranked D. It wasn't because of the smaller wolf-like monsters. It was because of their Alpha.
”…what happened to Tao Zhou?” one of the other Black Roses stammered timidly. He stared at the red blood dripping from the Lycanthrope Alpha's claws, and turned even paler. ”Don't tell me she has…?”
”Tao Zhou?” I asked, not recognizing the name.
”One of our party members,” Alicia explained, her voice tense. ”She…broke down and ran away earlier. The Alpha pursued her.”
”She deserved what she got, that coward,” another Black Rose growled. ”Leaving us to fight the Lycanthropes by ourselves. Serves her right!”
”Hey!” the last Black Rose chided him. ”It wasn't her fault! And if she didn't lure the Alpha away, we wouldn't have survived against it!”
”Well, does it look like we're going to survive now?” the third Black Rose snorted. ”And you know as well as I did that she never intended to lure the Alpha away. She ran away screaming with her tail tucked between her legs!”
”Enough!” Alicia silenced them. ”Let's focus on the issue at hand! Elliot, you're our tank. Use your shield and serve as the vanguard. Nicholas, your job is to take care of surrounding Lycanthropes. Jin Hao and I will provide fire support.”
”President Alicia…” the guy named Elliot was shaking from fear. ”Please…I won't be able to withstand a single blow from that thing!”
”If you don't, all of us will die!” Jin Hao bellowed.
”Then why don't you be the vanguard?!”
”I'm not the one with the shield!”
”Guys!” Alicia called out desperately, but none of them was listening to her. While they squabbled, the Alpha was advancing closer.
”All of you, stay back,” I ordered. They all shut up and gazed at me in astonishment. I ignored them and took a step forward, conjuring a new wave of tsunami. The tidal wave washed over the Alpha, causing it to stagger, but other than being drenched, it didn't seem to hurt it.
That was fine. I never expected a burst of water to injure the Lycanthrope. Taking a deep breath, I charged at the Lycanthrope and swung Aquarius.
If Allison saw me, she would have scolded me. After all, I had literally ignored her instructions and had recklessly plunged into the fray. However, I never had any intention of abandoning my schoolmates from the start, especially when I had learned that Alicia was one of them.
”Run!” I ordered them. ”I'll hold them off for as long as I can!”
The blue broadsword bit deeply into the Alpha's flanks, and it threw its head back and howled in enraged pain. It dislodged my blade with a shake of its leg and tried to stomp me into oblivion, but I dove out of the way of the descending, giant clawed foot.
However, before I could get back to my feet, the Alpha's other foot struck me. I took the full brunt of the kick before being thrown several meters away.
”Richard!” Alicia screamed, but even before her usually gentle voice left her throat, she unleashed several volleys of arrows at the Alpha. The massive monster grunted as the energy projectiles embedded themselves deeply within its fur before vanishing, but was little more than irritated.
”OOF!”
I let out a muffled cry of pain as I slammed into solid ground. Rolling to reduce the impact, I used the momentum to spring back to my feet.
Even though the Alpha was partially distracted by Alicia's arrows, when it saw me stand back up, it turned its feral gaze toward me, its eyes blazing red-hot with murderous intent. I felt a chill run down my spine, but I refused to back down.
”Big brother!” I heard Adrian holler from above. I shook my head and held up a hand to reassure him, but inwardly I knew I had just taken a ton of damage. That single kick had probably broken several of my ribs and caused internal hemorrhaging. Clutching Aquarius with both hands, I managed to fend off the Alpha's next attempt to slash me by parrying its claws. Unfortunately, the sheer strength of its strike, coupled with the incredible weight of the Water Bearer, was enough to force the broadsword from my grip. I could only watch helplessly as Aquarius spun away and disappeared.
Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.
”Richard!” Alicia yelled, peppering the Lycanthrope Alpha's face with her arrows, but the enormous beast would not be stopped.
”I'm all right!” I called back, and was about to summon an alternative weapon. Unfortunately, before I could finish casting my spell, the massive Alpha caught me in its grasp, its giant claws digging into my side and drawing blood.
”Oh, shit…”
The Lycanthrope pulled its gnarled lips back into a wicked grin before moving its head forward to presumably take a huge bite out of me.
I grinned back. ”Just kidding.”
Castor and Pollux spun back like boomerangs, slashing the Alpha's flanks. The Alpha roared in pain and staggered from shock. The Gemini twin swords spun back toward my hands as if I was a homing beacon. Grabbing hold of them, I then slashed the wrist of the claws that were holding me, ignoring the geysers of blood that splattered me as I worked to free myself.
However, the Alpha's grip tightened further, squeezing the breath out of me.
”What…?”
Now this was beyond my calculations. Unable to escape, my consciousness slowly blacked out as my lungs were being crushed under the contracting claws…