Chapter 204: The Crimson Pack

"Guys!!!"

A sudden, shaken voice immediately attracted the attention of the rest.

Confused, they all turned towards Veyrath, only to see the failed Alchemist focusing intently on the crimson fog surrounding them, one trembling hand raised as he pointed into the murky depths.

"Something is wrong." His voice was barely above a whisper. "What are those?!"

Veyrath had decided to keep his mouth shut after realizing that he had thoroughly messed up earlier.

However, while the group had focused most of their attention on the Black Stalker, his senses had suddenly detected something else; s strange killing intent seeping into the atmosphere.

At first, he hadn’t thought much of it.

After all, Vael’zhur itself had been literally shrouded in that same Intent. Compared to the murderous aura of the Black Stalker, another trace of killing intent shouldn’t have been particularly noteworthy.

But the longer Veyrath paid attention to it, the more something felt wrong. The fluctuations were different, the aura was different, and most importantly, the source was different.

Eventually, after several minutes of trying to pinpoint the source of that foreboding presence, Veyrath suddenly noticed glowing red orbs within the mist.

At first, he thought they were merely strange reflections caused by the crimson mist. Then he noticed another pair and more of those.

It took only a few moments for the outlines behind those glowing eyes to gradually emerge from the fog and that was when Veyrath realized something was terribly wrong.

Without hesitation, he called out to the group. And as fate would have it, that happened to be the exact moment the Black Stalker disappeared...

Everyone followed the direction in which Veyrath was pointing and what they discovered sent a chill crawling down their spines.

Honestly, they had already thought that the predicament involving the Black Stalker had been averted. However, that thought and relief had barely taken root within them before they suddenly found themselves facing another situation—one that seemed even more dire than the previous one.

Surrounding the group were pairs of eyes; dozens of them. Yet it wasn’t merely what those eyes were that frightened the group.

Rather, it was what those eyes represented.

Through the thick fog, whose opacity was no longer an issue thanks to their enhanced senses, the cohort could perceive the presence of not one, not two, but dozens of beasts surrounding their position.

In fact, judging by the aura they radiated, it would be no exaggeration to call them all Rank One Animas. As a matter of fact, they were, without a doubt, Rank One Animas.

According to what they could perceive, there were dozens of wolf-like creatures focused entirely on their position.

These wolves weren’t like ordinary ones.

No.

They looked like monstrous mutations of their natural counterparts, magnified into creatures built almost entirely for slaughter.

Standing almost five feet tall, they possessed elongated limbs, massive claws, and rows of vicious fangs rather than the comparatively modest teeth and paws of ordinary wolves.

The largest among them stood nearly six or seven feet tall.

Their eyes, in particular, glowed with a fiery crimson light—the kind that promised nothing but death, dismemberment, and devastation.

Their mouths were pulled back into snarls and growls, saliva dripping from their open jaws as their fangs protruded beneath the crimson illumination of the forest.

They crouched low against the ground, just as a wolf would when preparing to pounce upon its prey. Their claws dug into the soil, their muscles remained coiled and every part of their bodies seemed prepared to explode forward at the slightest movement from the group.

Their fur was thick and coarse, with patches of crimson stripes crisscrossing over their bodies like bloodstained scars etched across dark hide.

In a nutshell, they looked like an entire pack of predators dragged straight from a nightmare and given physical form.

Immediately, the atmosphere that had previously been relaxed suddenly became tense. As a matter of fact, it was even more tense than the ambience brought about by the sinister presence of the Black Stalker.

A creeping, insidious feeling suddenly took root within the hearts of the eight as they stared at the pack of wolves gathering around them.

Actually, the wolves themselves weren’t what made the group wary and apprehensive. After all, this wasn’t the first time they had fought a Rank One Anima.

The thing that actually caused them to become uneasy was the number in which they had congregated.

When they first sensed them, they had counted no fewer than a dozen wolves. But from what they were seeing now, it was clear that there were considerably more than that.

Snarls filled the air alongside growls and feral howls as the wolves stared at the group with nothing more than savagery and bloodlust.

Veyrath let out an audible gulp, the pathetic sound echoing embarrassingly and crystal clear through the stillness of the moment.

But Veyrath couldn’t care less.

Then he asked, his voice coming out as little more than a whisper, as though he were afraid that even speaking too loudly might draw the attention of the feral Animas towards him.

"Regaleon, what are we going to do now?"

Veyrath didn’t realize it.

But subconsciously, whenever trouble struck or the group happened to find itself in a disadvantageous position, there was one person he instinctively relied upon.

And that person was none other than Regaleon; the very same person he had tried to sell out only a few minutes ago.

Yet now wasn’t the time to dwell on past grievances and grudges. Now was the time to figure out how they were going to survive the onslaught of the wolves.

Honestly, even Regaleon was stumped, to say the least as he simply couldn’t think of how they were going to get themselves out of this predicament.

Although they were now solid Flesh Artificers, they were merely Vein Awakeners—beginners in the realm of Etheryeans.

Being Initial Stage Rank One Etheryeans certainly had its advantages. But these advantages weren’t so overwhelming that they could simply fight and triumph against a pack of canine Animas consisting of no less than a dozen Rank Ones.

If he were being brutally honest with himself, there was a considerable disparity between them and the pack; not just in strength, but also in numbers.

And no matter how he thought about it, Regaleon knew that there was no getting away from this predicament the same way they usually did.

However, that didn’t mean he had lost hope.

After all, Aelric was still there. And if there was one thing the green-eyed youth could offer, it was experience.

Besides, Regaleon remembered Aelric warning them about a pack of Animas that once used the cave they had broken through as their den.

Since Aelric had encountered them before, Regaleon could only presume that the green-eyed youth would have some way of dealing with them.

Having reached that conclusion, he didn’t reply to Veyrath immediately. Rather, he turned towards Aelric before asking.

"Aelric, these are the same Animas you warned us about, right?" He gestured subtly towards the surrounding wolves. "Since you’ve encountered them before, how do you propose we fight them?"

The moment Regaleon posed that question, the group shifted their attention towards Aelric.

Regaleon was usually their leader under most circumstances. But in this situation, they knew that the person most likely to get them through it was none other than Aelric himself.

However, the person they were looking at for guidance still maintained his same lackadaisical demeanor.

Despite seeing the overwhelming number of beasts and smelling the overwhelming stench of death surrounding them, his emerald eyes still carried that same passive indifference.

It was almost as though death itself could pose no impediment to him neither did it seem to be a catalyst capable of forcing him to abandon his casual disposition and become serious.

The moment he heard Regaleon’s question, Aelric did nothing but turn towards him and flash the silver-haired Knight an enigmatic smile.

He raised a brow as he reiterated. "What do I propose?"

Then, shaking his head, he replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

"What else can you do but fight?" His smile widened slightly. "I see no way out but you fighting... Also, if you’re through, then you can call for me."

Before the group could understand what he meant by those words, Aelric suddenly moved towards Sylveris.

Placing one hand upon her delicate shoulder, he suddenly leaped into the air...

Within the blink of an eye, he was already occupying the branch of a distant tree, with Sylveris standing beside him.

Sylveris wasn’t even given enough time to gasp before she found herself several feet above the ground.

She looked down. Below her was Aureleah and the rest of the group. And surrounding all of them was a pack of berserk wolves.

Before anyone could ask any questions, Aelric shouted from where he was perched.

"You guys should be grateful for this opportunity." He gestured casually towards the wolves. "You see, I wouldn’t think of these wolves as Animas."

He grinned. "Rather, I would think of them as sparring partners."

His expression became almost mischievous as he added. "When you’re done, you’ll understand what I just said and thank me."

After saying that, Aelric sat upon the tree casually. One leg dangled from the branch while the other supported his arm as he leaned his back against the trunk.

Then, as though they weren’t in the middle of a dangerous forest surrounded by murderous beasts, he casually plucked a crimson fruit from the tree and held it out towards Sylveris.

"Would you eat?"

Sylveris stared at the fruit for a moment before shaking her head. Upon seeing the worry clouding her silver eyes, Aelric reassured her.

"You know, you don’t need to worry about them." He took another bite from his own fruit.

"They can survive this."

Then he glanced towards the group below.

"And if they couldn’t..." His smile became faint. "I’m here, aren’t I?"

The young girl knew that Aelric’s confidence was not without foundation, but hearing his reassurance nevertheless somewhat alleviated the concern weighing upon her.

Nodding her head, she finally took the fruit from his hand before sitting beside him.

And just like that, the two of them focused their attention back on the forest floor, watching a fight play out before them...