Timeless Prominence

The intelligence shown by the pack leader frightened Rein. That, combined with the willingness of the demon wolves to sacrifice themselves in such a manner! Rein knew no humans would be willing to listen to such an order.

Chirh paled as he sensed the bloodlust within these mad demon wolves. He had been repeatedly using the flashing skill on his weapon to blind approaching wolves, while Dahk covered any that slipped through the gaps.

“I should have stayed inside the caravan,” he whimpered in defeat.

“Harden your resolve, babe,” Dahk mocked as he activated the inscription on his spear. The spear extended and bent, rapidly stabbing in multiple directions like a hundred headed cobra. “If our death is inevitable, all the more reason to burn bright before the end!”

Demon wolves with their skulls and bodies punctured flailed limply as they rolled down the corpses slumped against the sides of the caravan.

“Let us come out!” Wilo demanded from within.

“No!” Xeeseir adamantly expressed his disagreement. “Once we come out, the wolves will no longer care about the caravan and the situation might be even less favorable! We need to find a way for all of us to hide inside the caravan until help comes!”

They weren’t that far off from the central outpost of the Halls. In theory, there should be reinforcements coming. The pack of wolves should alert the one in charge of the outpost, especially since they must have already been informed of the new initiates' impending arrival.

“Let’s go!” Rein no longer tarried. Initially, the demon wolves had been circling around him but backing off whenever he attempted to engage in combat, with the pack leader seemingly more concerned with keeping Wilo and Xeeseir within the caravan in check.

Now, it seemed that the pack leader had decided to command the demon wolves to target them while sacrificing demon wolves to block the slits of the caravan. Rein galloped forth on top of his leather-armored steed, with the twin ladies, Suey and Jory, following behind!

Rein spun his Soak Staff, smashing the heavy ends into the skulls and jaws of demon wolves that now finally surged towards them instead of recoiling. Many wolves attempted to dismount him by throwing themselves at his body, while others attempted to bite at the Soak Staff to disarm him.

Yet, upon leaping forth, all were accurately punted back down to the ground like balls of meat by the spinning staff. Any wolves that managed to chomp onto the Soak Staff were instead lifted and their bodies used as a bludgeoning tool against other wolves-- Rein’s physical strength allowed him to treat these wolves’ weight as leaves in the wind!

Another howl from the pack leader standing at the very back, and the wolves switched to targeting the horse instead. However, the horse had picked up a pace that made it difficult for the wolves to get their teeth in, and Rein’s wielding of the Soak Staff protected the stallion as well.

Behind him, Suey and Jory held their own, their bronze whips dancing left and right of their horse in perfect coordination. With the longer-ranged whips in reverse synchronized action, they fared even better than Rein. Whenever Suey swung her bronze whips to the left, Jory flung hers to the right. Their defense was perfect.

The flexibility that Suey had gained from the ‘Boundless Dissipation Tempering’ Art demonstrated itself with her even more elegant manipulation of the whip. Jory had also begun this tempering art, though her progress was far less since she did not have the assistance of Rein’s fists.

“Water!” Rein activated the water drop inscription skill on his Soak Staff, and a huge ball of water floated above his head. 

Suey and Jory knew what they had to do-- they had done this before. They took control of that ball of water, and twin water serpents formed a vortex, sending a whirling storm into the wolves blocking the slits of the caravan’s side!

Twenty or so wolves were forcibly sent rolling under the torrent of water, reopening the slits for Wilo and Xeeseir to fire through.

Rein and the twins circled around to free the other side of the caravan as Wilo successfully launched another wave of needles accompanied by another explosive arrow from Xeeseir that sent demon wolves yowling with burning fur and flesh.

The pack leader’s body suddenly suffused itself in a bloody-red aurae, and it tilted its head upwards to the moon. A crackling ominous howl sounded.

This howl sent the wolves into a state of frenzy. The demon wolves abandoned any semblance of cooperation as their furs rose and their eyes turned crimson. With no concern for their own lives, the wolves simply threw themselves forward in one meat wave after another!

This was what Rein most feared. The pack leader had been carefully controlling the wolves to test the Iron Ant Team’s defenses, with a desire to limit losses to the pack. This gave the Iron Ant Team time to respond and counter its moves. The reality was that the thousand wolves-- now nine hundred-- was certain to obtain victory just by forcibly swarming the Iron Ant Team!

Soon, Rein began struggling to clear through the sea of demon wolves. His body, having been tempered, had a much heavier weight. This led to his horse fatiguing rather quickly, finally succumbing to the fangs of the wolves as its pace slowed to a crawl.

Rein rolled forward then tumbled back onto his feet as his horse skidded and flopped to its death. He barely avoided being struck by the collapsing body of the poor stallion.

An ice arrow whistled through the air and struck approaching wolves, freezing ten in their place.

“I’m out!” Xeeseir had run out of arrows to fire! This was a common issue with inner and shell advancers using bow and arrows. An outer advancer would be able to form arrows using their aurae!

Surprisingly, Wilo was still able to send out waves of poison needles, seemingly having an endless supply. Unfortunately, the demon wolves had grown wise and now lowered their heads to protect their eyes and snouts against every wave. Their furs and pelts prevented the penetration of the wooden needles.

Now grounded, Rein quickly found himself surrounded on all sides. He stabbed the staff into the earth and activated the wood-based aurae art on the staff to infuse his tired body with vitality and increased strength. He began a death struggle against the surrounding demon wolves.

His body was tough as iron, but the wolves’ claws were sharp, some even carrying a glimmer of wind-aurae. Luckily, he had the Halls robe, which provided him with an extra layer of defense.

The light of the Halls’ robe was originally bright with hope, but it gradually dimmed under the repeated bites and swipes of the demon wolves. Soon, the Halls’ robe would run out of its aurae reserves and be torn to shreds by the wolves-- Rein would then be fully exposed!

His body might be strong but Rein knew that repeatedly being struck and bodied by over a hundred rank one demon wolves would still be the end of him.

Already, a group of demon wolves had gathered together, ready to charge and drag him to the ground.

“My celest!” Suey and Jory had successfully remained on their steed, having two long bronze whips to defend the horse. Their advancer arts also did not increase their weight, thus the horse still remained capable of swift movement. However, they certainly would not be able to provide Rein with assistance, separated by the denseness of the demon wolves.

The amount of demon corpses surrounding the caravan also made Chirh and Dahk atop the roof much more susceptible-- these corpses functioned like an ascending ramp for the demon wolves still standing. Dahk had quite a number of lacerations, and though none were severely debilitating, the man would soon lose too much blood if the battle continued.

Unfortunately, the team had been unable to create any windows during which they could retreat into the caravan and rely on its defenses to wait for reinforcements. The demon wolves had relentlessly attacked under the pack leader’s berserk command.

At this critical moment, Rein’s mind spun, analyzing every option he had. Before his very eyes, a group of demon wolves began swarming towards him.

He recalled a past vision of Gent, and opened his mouth wide.

A dragon’s roar vibrated the eardrums of all humans and demon beasts! By no means was this comparable to what Gent had performed in Rein’s visions. Why was Rein capable of this? He had shared the body of Gent in his visions! As such, he had felt how Gent controlled his body to activate this skill. He unknowingly had full knowledge of exactly how to control his muscles and veins to generate the dragon’s roar!

Only now with the situation dire, did he dare to make an attempt at copying the sensation he felt while occupying Gent within those visions. He was currently only an inner advancer though, and thus could only create the sound, unable to integrate any aurae into the roar.

Rein betted on this move, after recalling how one of the Convergence Sect disciples he had dueled against used pure sound to disrupt opponents.

To his disappointment, although the demon wolves were momentarily stunned and tottered on their legs, they remained standing, very much ready to resume the confrontation.

It was then that the pack leader lowered its front legs and dipped his head in a bow. With a howl, the demon wolves gathered around their leader and left the scene!

The members of the Iron Ant Team were all open-mouthed, unsure of what to make of this despite their relief. Rein himself was confused-- he had opted to try something this ridiculous only because of the highly unfavorable situation they were facing, yet did not quite expect this outcome.

The only two that didn’t seem at all fazed by this event were Suey and Jory. Suey dropped down from their remaining horse and threw herself into Rein’s right arm, while Jory hesitantly pressed herself into Rein’s left!

Rein had expected this from Suey, but not Jory. The younger twin had remained silent and distant all this time after their initial coupling. Rein had left her be-- he assumed that Jory only wished to discard her virginity to avoid attracting the devils in the western wilderness.

Yet now, the younger twin had opted to approach him after the startling end to their predicament. Rein was naturally befuddled to no end.

_____________________________________________________________________________

In the far distance, Beincen observed the battle alongside many accompanying members of House Larne and Malak. They did so with the assistance of handheld scopes.

Upon seeing the demon wolves activate their berzerk state, Beincen was overjoyed to see the Iron Ant Team begin their last struggles. It would soon be over, and the hated Rein dead. He would avenge his younger brother’s lost arm! He still held the gut belief that Rein was responsible for the contaminated medicine despite the lack of any proof.

Yet, at the very last critical moment, a majestic eardrum-shaking roar that even he heard from in this far-off hiding spot caused the demon wolves to willingly retreat.

“Fuck! What in the twelve hells was that?” He swiveled his head around, attempting the pry answers from the other House Larne members. They had gathered information on the whole Iron Ant Team. Where did this roaring art come from?!

Some of these members were perched on the leafless trees like carrion vultures. Uncle Naohr was one of the elders that accompanied Beincen to the western wilderness. Unlike before, he no longer whispered endlessly into the young man’s ears, and instead offered occasional information when requested.

“It must be the ‘Demon Voice Imitation’ Art…” He muttered atop a branch as he observed the wolves leaving. His knowledge was the deepest within House Larne. That was why the patriarch placed him beside Beincen in the first place.

“It’s said that some idiot of a bygone area discovered that low level demon beasts are highly susceptible to suppression from a more powerful bloodline. Thus, he thought to imitate the beastly voices of superior bloodline demons. That person was and is still considered an idiot because this art only works on weak rank one and rank two demons… the art is useless against metamorphic stages for demon beasts, the equivalence of upper shell to mid outer human advancers in terms of power.”

Of course, Rein knew no such art. However, those knowledgeable often base their guesses on what they knew. As such, another misunderstanding of Rein’s abilities was formed, alongside the idea that he had a fiend bloodline due to the physical capabilities of his body.

“Should we attack? They are weakened…” another elder wondered.

‘No,” Beincen held down his own desire for bloodlust. He had reached the mid-shell realm, and believed himself capable. However, “we’re too close to the central outpost. Reinforcements may come soon.” Now that he was in the western wilderness, he certainly had a lot more freedom to throw his weight around. Yet, he still needed to be careful of the Halls’ rules while in the vicinity of the outposts.

Frankly, Beincen along with most nobles disliked having to restrain themselves and abide by the Halls’ rules. It was just that they simply had no choice if they wished for the Halls presence in northwest Minhr Nation to block the western wilderness while serving as a bulwark against the Great Sects.

“I’ll make a move. It’ll be quick. I might be able to severely injure your target-- Rein.” It was Malak who offered to strike.

“How long will you need? The reinforcements might arrive soon.”

“A few heartbeats!” Malak grinned.

“Quickly, then!” Beincen wondered how this bulky man with supposedly a fiend bloodline would complete such a task! Malak was lent to him by Supreme Guihnes, after all!

______________________________________________________________________________

The Iron Ant Team began cleaning up the battlefield. These rank one demon wolves just weren’t worth all that much. The reason for this was their undeveloped heartblood. Some of these wolves could barely strengthen their swipes with wind-aurae. As such, their heartblood only contained the beginnings of understanding with regards to wind swipes. Not even worth the effort, really.

The rest of the bodies would certainly be useful for blacksmithing, weapon and armor creation. Once again, the issue was that the bodies of rank one demon beasts just lacked quality.

Regardless, there were just too many corpses, and the Iron Ant Team soon decided that it would be best to wait for reinforcements to assist in harvesting the demon wolves.

“Rein!” A voice hollered out of nowhere.

Rein turned and blinked in astonishment at the sudden appearance of an unknown bulky man in a full hood and robes, holding a tube-shaped object on his right shoulder that was hidden underneath another piece of red cloth.

“Take this shot!” The man cackled and pulled the piece of flowing red cloth with his left hand, revealing a canon perched on his right shoulder!

The inscriptions on the surface of the cannon’s barrel lit up and a heavy metal ball blasted forth with a resounding boom and billowing smoke! The low mist that occupied the surroundings in the dusklight parted concentrically as a cannonball, also augmented by inscriptions, flew directly at Rein!

Rein side-stepped, thinking that the cannonball would miss with this simple movement. Instead, the cannonball swerved at the very last moment and Rein could only gasp in surprise and lament his own foolishness!

Despite the rigorous tempering of his body, his ribcage cracked as the cannonball struck his chest, carrying his body into a spiraling flight with limbs trailing.

The other members of the Iron Ant Team had been cutting up demon wolf corpses, their minds turned off after their stressful predicament. Everything had happened so rapidly that they were unable to react and assist Rein in any manner.

Already, the bulky man with the cannon had dashed away at a frightening speed that none of them could reach.

Eventually, Rein tumbled across the barren ground for a kilofeet like a ragdoll before coming to a stop while coughing up blood from his internal injuries

The cannonball that carried him this far also came to a stop beside his body, and its inscriptions dimmed before the sphere shattered into multiple pieces, revealing a note inside!

Rein, struggling to move due to his injuries, still reached forth to pick up this note.

If you survive and recover from this attack, you are worthy. Join me at the northern outpost on the first full moon of the next month! I will wait an extra three days.