Defiance of the Fall

extremely sharp energy along with a hint of that mysterious force that Brazla called Sword Intent.
A muffled thud sounded out the next moment, and the group hurried over to see what had been the source of the killing intent.

It turned out to be a wolf with luxuriant white fur, with a grey marking in its forehead the only exception.
It was about as large as a cow, and seemingly just at the bottleneck of the E-Grade judging by the pressure the carcass emitted.

”Won ’t be too bad if the beasts are just at this level, ” Zac muttered.
”But there could be stronger ones out there as well.
Maybe we should- ”

”We can ’t back down from seeing just one F-grade beast, ” Thea interjected.
”We ’ll never reach the core of this Mystic Realm then.
But we need to be careful, if there is one wolf there are definitely more. ”

”Billy isn ’t afraid of any stupid dogs, ” Billy muttered as he gripped his club even tighter.

”Let ’s keep going then, ” Zac said as stowed away the carcass before spreading some corpse-removing powder across the grass to remove the scent of blood.

’

The group kept going, moving in a circuitous path toward the mountain ahead.
Zac kept his eyes peeled for more wolves, but there were no odd energy movements in the air, nor were there any bloodthirsty howls of a pack on the prowl.
A couple of minutes later they started to relax again as they closed in on the mountain.

However, Zac ’s eyes widened in shock when hundreds of wolves materialized out of what looked like moonlight, each of them emitting an aura of an E-Grade beast.
Not only that, but Zac could tell with one glance that they weren ’t some average mutts.
They should come from some powerful bloodline, as even the weakest E-Grade wolves easily eclipsed the pressure that the Fiend Wolf of the Beast Tides emitted.

He even sensed a few auras that were a match to his own.

”Run! ” Zac unhesitantly shouted, but he froze upon turning around.

They were surrounded.

More and more wolves kept appearing out of thin air and there were thousands of them encircling their small group before they had a chance to react.
Zac didn ’t know if there were even more of them on the way, but he knew that dealing with just these ones would be difficult enough.
They needed to get back to the glasshouse before they were overrun.

None of the wolves had made their move yet, but Zac wasn ’t above drawing first blood as a massive fractal blade appeared, stretching over a hundred meters and cutting dozens of trees apart from its aura alone.
It shimmered in gold and black, and Zac launched two series of swings at the wolves who blocked their retreat.

Two wolves, each of them radiating an extremely condensed aura, were ready for the attack though.
The marks in their foreheads lit up as the two clouds of [Rapturous Divide] shot toward their rearguard, and the thousands of wolves immediately released a unified howl.
A huge moon appeared above them the next instant, and it drenched the whole battlefield in a silver radiance.
The light contained an immense pressure as well, and it immediately forced Emily to her knees.

The others were able to stand it, though Joanna was visibly pale from the effort.

More importantly, Zac frowned when he sensed the energies of his strike being continuously whittled down.
He tried to counteract the effect by using his recently improved command of his Dao, but it felt like he was trying to hold back the tide with his bare hands.
By the time the two energies of [Rapturous Divide] reached the wolves they were all but hollowed-out.

The familiar scene of the paradisial divide still appeared, but it almost felt like an illusion.
A few dozen wolves were cut apart in an instant before one of the larger wolves literally bit the image with enough force to rip it apart, but there were more than enough beasts to fill up holes in the ranks.

The two wolves who towered above the others howled again, and the previously orderly encirclement rippled as over a hundred wolves started rushing toward them.

’

”STAY AWAY FROM BILLY ’S FRIENDS! ” Billy roared as his body started growing, but the growth actually stopped when he reached just four meters.

His physique had transformed though, his muscles turning inhumanly defined as a golden set of runes spread across his frame like a wildfire.
Zac was mostly focused on the incoming wolves, but he could swear that the giant even gained at least twenty additional muscles that humans simply lacked.
Even Billy ’s eyes radiated an immense primordial aura as the air exploded around him, and he was among the E-Grade wolves before Zac had a chance to make his next move.

A coruscating shockwave erupted where billy appeared, and five wolves were turned into paste before he had even swung his club.
What followed was a tremendous horizontal swing that caused sixteen wolves to implode, and the whole area shook and heaved as the titan remolded the area with his fury.

However, these wolves were far from ordinary prey, and a squad led by a grizzled alpha moved to intercept Billy ’s advance, and a wave of silver light actually managed to stop the giant ’s attack.
It looked like the energy of his attack was whittled down just like Zac ’s was just a few seconds ago.

Five wolves appeared out of silver light next to Billy the next moment, but it was as though the giant had eyes in his neck as the series of muscles in his shins generated a furious and instantaneous momentum, which allowed him to spin his club in a 360-degree arc, killing three and maiming another two.

”Help him carve a way out.
I ’ll protect our backs, ” Zac said as he exploded into action as well as a series of fractal blades shot out to hopefully cause some damage to the incoming beasts.

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However, the incessant moonlight from above was still causing trouble, and the fractal blades couldn ’t even guarantee a single kill before they were drained and broke apart.
It was like the environment itself was fighting against them, and the animals kept getting closer to the exposed backs of his squad.
Thea and Joanna were already desperately pushing forward and Emily ’s form was in constant motion as she sent out one buff or minor axe strike after another.

Zac frowned as he saw the incoming tide, and his eyes darted at the two leaders who still kept their position on top of a rock in the center of the pack like generals overseeing their army.
His wide-scale attacks were restrained by whatever that moon above was doing, so he would need to get closer if he wanted to kill them.
But doing so would likely result in the death of at least one person in his squad.

The fighting only started a few seconds ago, but everyone but Emily already sported wounds.
If they also had to deal with the wolves coming from behind they would be overrun in seconds.
He needed to thin out the herd a bit before he dealt with the leaders.
Using [Deforestation] or [Nature ’s Punishment] felt extremely risky as well as long as the moon remained, so he needed to come up with another solution.

A huge amount of energy surged toward an intricate fractal at the lower end of his spine, and it quickly started to radiate a shocking amount of power.

There hadn ’t even been a chance to test the skill out, but Zac saw no option but to active [Conformation of Supremacy].