Chapter 95: Sometimes, animals are annoying

Helgan leaped into the horde, his flaming arms swinging with enough force to crush the skull of a charging wolf. The beast collapsed, only for another to vault over its body and snap at his throat. Helgan ducked beneath its jaws and drove a burning fist into its ribs, launching it into a tree.

Wen charged beside him, swinging his club into the face of a boar wrapped in earth armor. Fire erupted across the weapon as it connected, sending the beast skidding through the dirt, but it immediately scrambled back to its feet.

"Of course it does," Wen muttered.

A flock of rotting birds descended from the sky, their eyes glowing before beams of concentrated spirit energy tore through the darkness.

Helgan crossed his burning arms, deflecting one beam, while Wen twisted aside from another. A third blast struck the ground between them, throwing dirt and splintered wood into the air.

Jol stepped forward behind them, spear sweeping across the battlefield as he froze the legs of three wolves at once. One shattered its own frozen limbs against the ground and crawled toward him anyway. Jol grimaced before thrusting his spear through its skull and kicking the body aside.

A lion emerged from the darkness, its body dissolving into shadow as it disappeared from sight. "Behind you!" Jol shouted.

The lion reappeared behind Wen, but Jol slammed his spear into the ground, spreading ice across the forest floor. The beast’s paws froze solid, giving Wen enough time to spin around and smash it with his burning club.

Another lion charged. This one suddenly hardened its entire body into gleaming metal.

Mika intercepted it. Her bronze sword struck the beast with a deafening clang, barely denting its hide. The lion swung its metallic claws, forcing Mika backward, but vines erupted from the earth and wrapped around its legs.

Itha raised both hands, twisting the plants around the beast until it crashed onto its side.

Mika didn’t hesitate. Fire spiraled around her sword as she brought it down again and again until the metal body finally stopped moving.

Behind them, Zuna maintained her healing aura, its gentle energy washing over the group. A wolf tore into Helgan’s shoulder, but before he could even react, the wound closed.

"Annoying creatures!" Helgan roared as a massive boar slammed into him. He flew backward, rolled across the dirt, and immediately sprang up.

Wen was surrounded by monkeys, each one moving unnaturally fast. One stretched its arms like ropes and wrapped them around his legs while another released a deafening sonic shriek.

Wen gritted his teeth and unleashed a burst of fire.

The monkeys were thrown away, burning and screeching—but several began crawling back. Then the wolves came. Then the deer, their antlers glowing with crackling energy.

Then another wave of birds descended from above. The warriors stared at the endless horde rushing toward them. And none of the beasts showed the slightest sign of fear, death being their greatest asset.

"What in the world is going on?! How can there be so many beasts in one area?" Wen continued to bash the beasts with his flaming club while pulling Helgan away from a bear that nearly swiped at his head.

"I don’t know, but we need to find a way to retreat before we are overwhelmed. Mika, give us some breathing room! Wen, get ready for the Inferno!" Helgan shouted.

Mika slammed her bronze sword into the ground with both hands.

The earth violently split apart around the horde, massive cracks racing beneath the beasts before the ground collapsed. Lions, wolves, boars, and deer plunged into the widening chasms, their bodies crushed between slabs of earth as the ground closed around them.

The beasts that remained barely had time to react before jagged spikes of stone erupted from beneath them.

One after another, the spikes tore through their rotting bodies, impaling them from every direction and sending several beasts flying into the air.

"Now!" Mika shouted.

Helgan and Wen stepped forward together.

Wen unleashed a tremendous surge of wind spirits, whipping the forest into a raging vortex as flames erupted from Helgan’s burning arms. The wind caught the fire instantly, spreading it across the battlefield until an enormous inferno swallowed the entire horde.

Fire raced through the beasts, engulfing their bodies as the wind drove the flames deeper into the mass.

Helgan thrust both arms forward, feeding even more fire into the inferno, while Wen continuously strengthened the winds until the flames roared high above the trees.

"Fall back!" Wen shouted.

The three Typhon warriors turned and retreated with Jol, Itha, and Zuna as the forest behind them disappeared beneath a sea of fire.

None of them looked back. They already knew what would happen if even one of those beasts survived.

They all ran, faster than they ever had before, longer than they thought they could, and didn’t stop until the feeling in their guts told them that it was safe.

It was a long night, so long that none of them got any proper sleep and the sun was already out. Still, that was better than being dead. All of them shared that sentiment.

"Think we lost them?" Jol glanced back to check the horizon, as that’s how far they traveled. He saw nothing, even after looking for a few minutes, so he breathed a sigh of relief.

Helgan sat down on a log to catch his breath. Every time he and Wen use inferno, they burn through the spirit energy they possess faster than ever. "Doesn’t matter if we lost them or not. We just need to gather our strength and be prepared if we come across those beasts again."

"Look on the bright side," Mika said, pointing into the distance. "We’re nearly there."

Itha looked where Mika was pointing. "We are? I don’t see anything." Even squinting didn’t reveal the village’s location.

"It’s the cave." Wen pointed out. "A natural landmark that lets us know that we’re nearly home."

Jol got up, a smile on his face as the first step of their mission was almost over. "Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go!"

"We’re waiting to regain our strength; that’s what."

"Oh, right. My bad." Jol sat back down and started swaying his legs.