Chapter 381: Act 138 – Breaking Through the Encirclement (First Update)
The wolf disaster surrounded the entire Loop of Trade Winds region, and now only the vanguard of the Wolf Tide had entered the outskirts of the Green Tower.
If nothing had changed, Brendel remembered that there should be at least twelve wolf packs in the first wave of attacks. As for whether the ones at the front of the Flower Wall were the Grey Claws and Blood Fangs or the White Manes and Frostbacks, he couldn’t recall, but at least he was certain that there were two medium-sized wolf packs.
This was the weakest link in the first wave of the wolf disaster, yet it could not be underestimated.
Led by the alpha wolves, the wolf packs could reach thousands or even tens of thousands in number, and mature black wolves possessed nearly the strength of a black iron peak. Most Druids of the Withered Wood Council barely reached that level.
Let alone that, in terms of numbers, humanity was no match for these monsters.
The only advantage the Druids had was that the monsters within the Guardian Range of the Fire Seed would be greatly weakened. Brendel recalled in the game that when the black wolves attacked the Green Tower, that solid and massive Fire Seed nearly suppressed them by 15 levels.
But the Flower Wall only had one unstable small fire seed, and its effect was much weaker than that of the Green Tower. Moreover, what Brendel needed to do wasn’t just defense; he had to break through the blockade of the wolf packs and enter the inner Loop of Trade Winds.
The difficulty was evident.
In contrast, Brendel’s plan wasn’t complicated.
Because there was a time gap of about ten hours between the first and second waves of black wolf attacks, as long as he could break through the first wave’s blockade before nightfall the next day, he would be able to enter the Loop of Trade Winds before the second wave arrived.
The only difficulty lay in how to break through this blockade within a limited time.
And this was where Brendel needed the Druids’ help—
As Centaur Elder Ward led his subordinates to Brendel’s position in the south, the Druids had already launched a full-scale attack on the front of the Flower Wall.
Like the long sound of a horn resonating in the dark night, countless birds took flight from the shadows, drawing the attention of all who looked in that direction.
It seemed like a giant dragon waking from slumber beneath the vast night sky, emitting a long cry that represented its awakening, echoing clearly and melodiously, shaking the entire forest.
In that direction—
Under the horn’s call, over a thousand Druids and treants surged out from the forest. These allies clad in cloaks of grass and wood formed a green defensive line, briefly halting the tide of black wolves rushing from that side.
Then, hundreds of Withered Wood Guardians awakened in response to the Druids’ summons. These ancient trees, several stories high, stepped into the wolf pack with a single stride, their massive palms sweeping horizontally could send those calf-sized black wolves flying.
More than a hundred Withered Wood Guardians entering the field instantly stalled the advancing wave of black wolves; even the black iron peak strength of ordinary black wolves was no match for the wrath of nature.
Summoning the Withered Wood Guardians was itself a fourth-tier spell; although the summoned low-level guardians existed temporarily, they had the strength of mid-silver, which, while inferior to real ancient treants, was more than enough to deal with these black wolves.
However, only the elite members of the Druid Council could summon Withered Wood Guardians, indicating that the Withered Wood Council was quite determined to support Brendel’s plan.
The Withered Wood Guardians served only as meat shields, while the treant archers were the real deadly threats; treants were born archers—most legendary tales mentioned this—yet there was a difference between hearsay and actual sight.
In the human world, an expertly trained archer could shoot ten to twelve arrows per minute at most, and even with magical assistance it was difficult to reach fifteen. But in treant society, even the most mediocre soldier could shoot at least twenty-five arrows per minute, using more resilient longbows.
With hundreds of treants, they could create a terrifying storm of arrows, and in the forest, to deal with the monsters, the treants used ironwood hunting arrowheads or conical arrows, which were a disaster for low-defense monsters like the black wolves.
After just two rounds of volleys, the black wolves’ left flank was left with a sea of corpses and began to collapse.
However, the immediate hit to the left flank quickly caught the attention of the leading wolves in the pack. These alpha wolves controlled their respective tribes with low whines while loudly notifying the ruling wolves further away.
The alpha wolf.
In an instant, wolf howls filled the battlefield in response to each other. Under the prolonged whine, the dominant predator hidden deep within the wolf pack finally raised its large head—the Druids’ sudden assault had disrupted the Wolf Tide’s offensive—and the king among the wolves realized this as well, lifting its head.
It let out an extended howl.
A cry distinct from all other wolf howls reverberated across the battlefield. From the sky, one could see the mighty wolf pack begin to turn, led by hundreds of wolf lords.
They were initially charging directly into the Flower Wall’s region but now began to spin slowly like a giant spiral.
The dynamics of the battlefield had changed.
But while the Druids attracted the attention of the alpha wolf, Brendel wasn’t idle. He immediately commanded the centaurs, treants, and his own young subordinates to carve a bloody path through the side of the wolf pack.
He was followed by a group of diplomats from Erluin, as Earl Ouding had to trail behind after finding it futile to persuade the so-called “Cold Fir Lord.”
There was no alternative.
Their group had only two or three dozen guards; retreating back within the Flower Wall’s defense was nearly an impossible task. And it seemed that centaurs and treants weren’t particularly willing to escort them back either.
They found that their supposed status as Erluin diplomats held no sway over these barbaric creatures, though at least it somewhat balanced things out—the Cruz people were having no better luck either.
However, the treants and centaurs treated Brendel with great respect; in fact, that was an understatement: Elder Ward and the treant leader named Quinelle simply had a brief discussion before handing over command to Brendel.
Earl Lobolen had initially insisted on going to the front of the line to find Brendel to send them back, but after coming face to face with a black wolf, this chubby man quickly retreated to the middle of the group, no longer mentioning his proposal.
And at the front of the group—
The troubles Brendel faced were no less than those that the nobles felt.
Elder Ward led hundreds of centaurs to carve a path through the tide, and initially, the pressure wasn’t too significant. According to Brendel’s words—ordinary black wolves were easy prey before the centaur elder’s guardians.
However, as they gradually approached the thorn watchridge east of the Flower Wall, the situation began to change.
“Look over there!” Brendel heard a voice chattering behind him.
He didn’t need to turn around to know it was the daughter of a noble from the Cruz Empire, the heiress of the Flowerleaf Territory. At least the three young Cruz people were not foolish enough to fall behind—they knew to keep up with them—awkward as it was, it might save their lives.
Brendel glanced at the direction Faina pointed, his brow immediately raising slightly—he originally thought it was just the lady making a fuss, but he was surprised to actually see something worthy of attention.
He saw amidst the thick black wolves to the north, several noticeably larger black wolves—almost giant wolves—charging towards them along with their kin.
Black wolf lords!
One, two… four, five, six. Brendel counted six from closer positions, and another five in the distance; the appearance of eleven mini-bosses made his heart sink slightly. It wasn’t strange for the leading wolf to appear, but having so many appear at once was certainly unusual.
Brendel quickly glanced around to see if there were any signs of the alpha wolf; logically speaking, the appearance of so many boss-level black wolves nearby should have been authorized by the alpha. However, he clearly hadn’t heard that distinctive howl of the alpha wolf, which indicated he either misjudged the situation or that the alpha was nearby.
But after surveying his surroundings, he found no trace of the unique figure of the alpha wolf. Brendel knew that his perception had reached level 25. Even in the darkness, under the faint light, there should be no blind spots within hundreds of meters.
Yet to be safe, he carefully searched again—there was indeed nothing.
But Brendel didn’t feel at ease. He immediately called out to the centaur elder guardians, “Elder Ward!”
The centaur elder was at that moment stabbing a black wolf through the head, but he quickly turned his head, looking at Brendel with a questioning gaze.
“Did you see them?” Brendel pointed toward the direction of the wolf pack and shouted, “Those black wolf lords, to your left!”
Elder Ward nodded immediately. Although it was his first experience with the wolf disaster, as the highest commander of the centaur guardians, his combat experience was considerable.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Tell your men to retreat a little.” Brendel commanded, wanting to observe the reaction of those black wolf lords, ideally to capture the position of the alpha wolf when it gave orders.
Although Ward was puzzled by Brendel’s sudden command, the centaur elder did not question further. He immediately blew his whistle, and the hundreds of centaurs in an orderly manner shifted formation, closing in toward Brendel.
The young men under Brendel’s command couldn’t help but gasp at this scene, for it was their first time on the battlefield; they were greatly shocked by allies like the treants and centaurs, who existed only in myths and legends.
And at the same time, the fact that even the lord was able to give commands to these treants and centaurs left them feeling even more awed.
“Those big guys are called black wolf lords? What a strange name?” Brendel heard the noble lady behind him curiously ask, “What does that mean? Is it like a lord among humans?”
“Hey, I’m asking you, country… Erluin person—” She couldn’t help but shout after not receiving a response from Brendel.
Brendel shot a disgruntled glance back at the lady, though he didn’t say anything, the words ‘Are we that familiar, Miss?’ were practically written on his face.
Seeing Brendel’s expression, Faina restrained herself from turning away—when she was in the Empire, who would dare to treat her like this!
However, this young lady’s eyebrows were raised to her forehead, her eyes widened in shock, but in the end, she still didn’t dare to point at Brendel and say a word.
“Hmph, fine, if you don’t want to say anything, whatever.” Finally, the noble lady muttered under her breath in frustration, of course, low enough to avoid Brendel hearing.
……
(PS: I originally planned to deliver multiple updates in a few days, but yesterday the plot hit a snag. Fortunately, my inner cosmic burst for a day broke through the bottleneck. It seems that not having stored drafts and hoping for bursts is somewhat unreliable. Starting tomorrow, I’ll continue stockpiling drafts and see if I can surprise you in a few days. This is the first update; another update will be posted at 8:00 later.) (To be continued, for more details, please log in for more chapters and support the author with legitimate reading!)
