Then boom A massive explosion shook the earth as wolves were torn down by arrows infused with highly concentrated mana. The barrage continued faster, sharper until suddenly, it stopped.
As the smoke cleared, Micah and Bonnds stepped forward. Their eyes scanned the battlefield dead wolves littered the ground, torn apart. But it wasn't just wolves. Their comrades… friends… teammates… also lay in pieces, mauled by the beasts they fought beside.
"Fuck…" A tired sigh escaped Bonnds' mouth.
Through the thick smoke left behind by the bombardment, they pressed forward. That's when they saw it wolves still standing. But these beasts didn't attack. Instead, they backed away, their eyes wide in fear, as if something more terrifying than the humans now stood behind them.
Bonnds and the others couldn't understand it. These were the same monsters that had pushed them to the brink and now they looked like prey.
"What are you all doing just standing there?" A sharp voice sliced through the tension.
"I gave you an opening. Now wipe them all out."
It was Coroules. He had used just a sliver of his mana to carve a path through the chaos.
Micah understood instantly. Wasting no time, he charged forward with his blade. The wolves, dazed from the rain of arrows, barely reacted as one of their own was cleaved in half by Micah's enormous sword. Before they could regroup, Bonnds and the rest of the scavengers joined the assault, cutting them down with ruthless precision.
Thanks to Coroules' interference, the tide of the battle turned.
Meanwhile, Ji Ung and his unit received a transmission over the radio.
"We've got things under control down here," the voice reported.
"Alright," Naran replied. "We'll keep watch from above."
But as dust and smoke rose from below, Ji Ung narrowed his eyes.
"We need to move. The corrupted might be drawn to the commotion," he said.
"What… you mean go into the den?" a nervous voice asked.
Ji Ung turned. "What's your name? You look new."
"I'm Hugo," the soldier replied. "I just joined the Coroules Scavengers not long ago."
"Why?" Ji Ung asked. "Why risk your life?"
Hugo paused. His mind went to his younger brother to the hunger, the struggle, the cold. "I joined… so I could provide. For both of us."
Ji Ung looked at him with a fierce yet gentle expression. "If you're fighting for your brother… then trust me, I'll do everything in my power to make sure you both live to eat in peace. What we're about to do is dangerous, yes. We might not all come back. But if we succeed… we'll change everything."
He turned to Naran. "What's the plan?" she asked.
Ji Ung pointed toward a rocky opening ahead. "We're going in."
"That leads into the Wolves' Den," Naran whispered.
"It's dangerous," Hugo said again.
"It is," Ji Ung replied, bloodshot eyes burning with determination. "But it's a risk we have to take."
The opening wasn't a cave exactly more like a tunnel carved by time and claw. Naran thought it was the same place the gigantic lycan had once used to watch them from afar.
As they stepped in, they saw them. Corrupted wolves, all waking from slumber. Dozens of them.
Every one of them stood. They looked ready like they had sensed the disturbance outside their den.
They drooled uncontrollably, claws twitching, preparing to pounce.
Everyone froze.
"What the hell…?" Naran muttered. "Why are they like this?"
"They should've charged out already," Hugo added.
"They're waiting," Naran said slowly.
"For what?" another asked.
Ji Ung's face hardened. "The mutated lycan. They're waiting for his command."
"Then we can't let them go after the attack unit," Naran said.
Ji Ung nodded. "We need to disrupt them."
"But how?" Hugo asked.
Ji Ung smiled faintly. "We use their greatest strength… against them."
Everyone stared.
"Their smell," Ji Ung explained. "We use it against them."
Meanwhile, Micah called out, "There are more over there!"
He pointed his blade at a group of wolves hiding behind a pile of corpses. Before they could react, Bonnds' axe flew through the air, splitting one in half. He leaped forward, yanked the axe free, and cleaved through the others with brutal force.
What was once a desperate struggle was now a massacre.
And all of it was thanks to one man.
Coroules, head of the coroules's scavengers.
His presence alone terrified the wolves.
The moment Coroules stepped onto the battlefield, an unnatural stillness rippled through the pack. The more instinctive among them fled into the fog trying to avoid him. Even the more brutal ones, their minds clouded and driven by rage, hesitated. Something about him clawed at the remnants of their survival instinct. The glowing hue in his eyes, the way the very air around him shimmered with mana he was no ordinary scavenger.
And then he moved.
Those that didn't flee fell within seconds. Arrows soared like phantoms, finding their marks with inhuman precision. Each one burst with a crack of energy, tearing through fur, bone, and darkness. Coroules didn't waste movement. Every step he took was calculated, controlled, deliberate. He was a force of nature calm, relentless, devastating.
He fought beside them, but it didn't feel like that to everyone. To the others on the battlefield, it felt more like they were simply trying to survive in the wake of his destruction. Still, his intervention gave them a sliver of hope a chance to push back.
Micah, bloodied and panting between swings of his axe, found his gaze drifting toward the silent storm that was Coroules. A part of him wanted to cheer, to welcome the reinforcement. But another part, the rational side, twisted in worry.
He's not supposed to be here, Micah thought, gritting his teeth. Not like this.
Coroules' mana wasn't meant for this kind of fight. It was supposed to be held in reserve for the worst-case scenario. For when the corrupted evolved. Or if the Lansing appeared. That was the protocol. That was the plan.
But plans didn't matter when the numbers lied.
They had miscalculated badly. There were too many. The wolves weren't just swarming they were hunting with purpose, pushing the scavengers toward collapse. Coroules must've seen it from afar. Must've realized that if he didn't act now, there would be no one left to defend against what was still to come.
And so, he had made his decision.
Now, Micah could only hope that the price wouldn't be too high.
And there consequences not to great.
"Bonnds, get everyone together," Micah ordered. "We need to move. Now."
Coroules had spent precious mana. That they couldn't afford to waste. He knew They couldn't stay here.
"We need to reach the Lansing before the corrupted arrive."
"We move now!" Coroules shouted, his eyes burning.
They surged forward at insane speed.
"I can feel it," Coroules murmured, sensing the pressure from deeper within. He picked up speed.
"Wait, Coroules!" Bonnds called.
"No let him go," Micah said, picking up speed himself.
When he caught up to him, Coroules stood still, gazing down at something.
Micah stepped beside him. "What is it?"
No answer.
Micah looked and saw it.
Surrounded by a thick haze of raw mana, it stood: The Lansing.
Their hope. Their salvation.
"That's it…" Coroules said softly. "That's our future, our salvation."
The others caught up. And when they saw it, emotion flooded them. Some hugged, others cried. Even after all they had endured, they hadn't been sure the Lansing was real.
But it was.
Bonnds stepped closer but Coroules raised his hand.
"No," he said. "Look."
Around the Lansing were the bodies of dead creatures burned and twisted by the mana it emitted.
Micah nodded. "He's right. It's dangerous. The only way to counter that mana… is with mana just as powerful. Coroules may be the only one who can do it."
Coroules clenched his fists. He thought of all the sacrifices. The dead. The fallen. The hope in his people's eyes.
Failure was not an option.
"I'll handle it," he said. "The rest of you guard the entrance."
He walked forward, surrounding his body with all the mana he had left. The pressure slammed into him. He gritted his teeth, blood dripping from his gums.
Still he kept walking.
Closer.
Closer.
His hand reached the Lansing. He infused his mana into the artifact, pushing against its raw force.
And as he did, in the depths of his mind, he begged:
Ji ung please… hold them off. Hold the corrupted. Just a little longer.