Almost the exact second after Kash sounded the alarm, the entire Sea Thorn squad sprang into action.
As veteran adventurers who had all attained professional levels, their reactions were lightning-fast.
Having just returned to the ground from the trees, their slightly loose formation condensed instantly.
With the party's spellcaster, Mint, as the core, the group contracted inward, adopting a "back-to-back" stance that still left enough room for combat.
Xia Nan, Vires, and Kash each took responsibility for a sector, their lines of sight covering a full three hundred and sixty degrees.
After all, the team had not been formed for long, and two of the members were newcomers who had just joined. Lacking sufficient synchronization, it was impossible for them to have a perfectly intuitive coordination.
Under such sudden circumstances, being able to react this way was already considered quite good.
Xia Nan gripped his Decapitation Longsword tightly. While reserving a portion of his attention to remain vigilant of his teammates beside and behind him, his pitch-black eyes stared into the deep night ahead, where the mist swirled. He focused his will to sense any potential dangers within.
If Kash's scent bait truly worked, it was impossible for there to be absolutely no movement in the misty forest at night after this much time.
That left only two possibilities.
First, Kash had indeed bought a defective product, and the bait had failed to work.
Considering the thick, rotting stench that still filled the air, rushing from the nostrils straight to the crown of the skull, it didn't seem like it had failed.
Xia Nan felt the probability of this scenario was very low.
That left only one possibility.
The dangerous predators that lived in the forest and were active at night had actually smelled the bait. They had even taken action, closing in on the location where the trap had been set.
However.
There existed some other, more ferocious and brutal aura that forced these predators, by survival instinct, to forcibly suppress their hunting desires and avoid approaching.
At some point, the high-pitched wolf howls that occasionally drifted from the depths of the mist had stopped sounding.
Xia Nan's expression was focused, devoid of emotion.
But in his heart, he couldn't help but feel that this was troublesome.
Where was it?
Which link in their operation had a loophole?
The situation, where they had originally been the hidden party against a visible enemy, reversed instantly. The Sea Thorn squad, maintaining their formation in the woods, felt as if they were trapped under a spotlight, wary of the profound darkness surrounding them.
Time flowed silently.
A few minutes—not even enough time to cook the wild boar meat over the campfire.
But for the people on the field, it felt as if hours had passed.
Though they were simply standing in place, not daring to make any unnecessary movements, a layer of fine sweat had already covered Kash's face. His muscles were taut, like a spring compressed to its absolute limit.
A single sound would cause him to explode into action instantly.
Vires held dual daggers, her tall frame and face shrouded in a veil-like shadow, as if she would melt into the darkness in the next second.
Although her specific expression couldn't be seen, such a reaction was enough to prove how seriously she took the situation.
Mint, protected in the center by the others, still gripped her branch staff tightly, her teardrop-shaped light green earrings swaying gently in the wind.
Her expression looked somewhat nervous, but her eyelids were lowered, as if she were using other sensory abilities to search for enemies in the vicinity.
Compared to the other three, Xia Nan's demeanor and movements seemed to have undergone no obvious change.
Naturally, this was because he hid it well.
Internally, he was actually quite tense.
The [Deathline] ring on the index finger of his right hand reflected a faint, inconspicuous luster under the moonlight; the "Deflection Field" was poised and ready.
At this moment, all four members of the Sea Thorn squad had completed their combat preparations.
They were like a powder keg filled with gunpowder; they only needed the smallest spark—proof of an enemy's actual existence—and all the suppression and restraint would be detonated in an instant.
Yet, precisely because of this, the spark to ignite the field never appeared.
As if sensing the tension of the group, there was not a single suspicious sound in the surrounding woods.
It was like a top-tier predator with exaggerated patience, hiding in the depths of the unknown darkness, peering at them and allowing them to waste their mental energy for nothing.
Staring at the silent, dim thickets ahead, at one point, Xia Nan even wondered if he was once again fighting a battle of wits with the air.
Could it be that everything happening was just a coincidence, and the so-called wolf pack or enemies didn't exist at all?
But in the very next second, he dismissed the doubt in his heart.
On the level of the five senses, there might be no special discoveries.
But on another level, his perception—which far exceeded that of ordinary people—felt a clear and obvious hostility, almost like a hallucination.
A greedy and cold gaze pierced through the spatial barrier, clinging damply and coldly to his skin, seeping into his pores and drilling into his flesh under high pressure.
A hungry, brutal desire almost materialized in the air, turning into a phantom, freezing wind that blew repeatedly past his ears and the nape of his neck.
Absolutely, absolutely, something was crouching in some shadow, watching him.
Xia Nan was certain.
Time passed minute by minute.
Just as Xia Nan thought they would be wasting time here until dawn...
Suddenly, someone moved!
Knowing full well that continuing to stall in this situation would only cause the scales of victory to tilt further toward the other side, Kash suddenly gritted his teeth after weighing his options.
He pulled two or three small, pitch-black pouches from his waist bag and, without aiming carefully, hurled them with force toward the dark, deep forest ahead.
Boom—
Oil and powder were instantly ignited by a few stray sparks.
A fierce, bright light erupted like an explosion, illuminating the forest ahead.
The "Fire Oil Bomb," a versatile throwing item from the River Valley Town general store that almost everyone owned if they had the funds, once again demonstrated its power during the adventure.
It didn't burn any enemies, and under the suppression of the nighttime fog, the orange-red flames struggled to spread and were quickly extinguished.
But those few fleeting seconds of illumination revealed the blurred silhouette of a dangerous enemy that had been hiding nearby, casting covetous glances at the group.
Fluffy fur swaying in the wind, a massive and powerful body, elegant and slender limbs, and a strong long tail trailing behind...
It vanished in an instant, making it impossible to see its full form.
But the blurred afterimage left by that brief glimpse was enough to identify its species.
"It's a Temple Night-Wolf!"
"Prepare for battle!!!"
It was like a signal.
As the fire oil bomb was thrown and turned into a momentary flash of bright light, the previously silent dense thickets on both sides suddenly erupted with unusual movement.
Cold, ghostly green eyes rose in pairs from the darkness. The thick stench and the scent of pine resin in the air were blown away by the night wind, revealing the pungent, musky odor unique to beasts.
The low-frequency growls of canine threats made the blurred outlines under the moonlight gradually clear, revealing glimpses of silver fur flashing between the branches and leaves.
Their massive bodies displayed a contrasting agility, gliding through the woods like phantoms in the moonlight, making the sound of swaying bushes increasingly jarring to the ear.
These wild wolves living in the jungle possessed strong discipline.
They remained quietly hidden when undetected, patiently draining the prey's attention; but once exposed, they instantly became frenzied, swarming toward the group.
They left the Sea Thorn squad no room for reaction.
Almost the second after the fire oil bomb was thrown, seven or eight silver wolves, with shoulder heights reaching an adult's chest, charged out of the brush.
Awooo—
A piercing, high-pitched howl made the eardrums ache. Staring at the two Night-Wolves charging straight at him, Xia Nan's expression was intensely focused, and he even felt a slight sense of relief in his heart.
Compared to the previous high-pressure situation of waiting without release, entering combat actually brought him into his comfort zone.
He tilted the Decapitation Longsword slightly, the iron-gray sword light appearing even sharper under the moonlight.
His brain thought rapidly.
The current situation was a positional battle between the squad and the wolf pack; he could not move haphazardly.
Otherwise, if one or two wolves leaked past him, not only would the spellcaster Mint in the center of the team be in danger, but the other two teammates would also risk being attacked from behind.
Furthermore, being in the Misty Forest in the latter half of the night, even in the outer areas, the danger increased significantly.
With such a commotion, who knew what else would be attracted here?
They had to settle this quickly!
*Squelch.*
While he was thinking, the ground beneath his feet vibrated slightly.
Dirt flew as several green vines with barbs suddenly shot out from the soil, wrapping around the front leg of one of the Night-Wolves like tentacles.
The barbs pierced deep into the wolf's fur almost instantly and tightened as it moved, drawing blood in the blink of an eye.
Behind him, Mint's slightly greenish, smooth short hair moved without wind. She gripped her branch staff tightly, her lips moving as she chanted a spell.
Xia Nan gave a barely perceptible nod and suddenly took two steps forward.
His pitch-black eyes reflected the white wolf, whose speed had plummeted due to the entangling thorns.
*Bang!*
The thick leather boots connected to his greaves slammed onto the ground, like the roots of an ancient tree drawing power from the depths of the earth.
Calves, hips, waist, chest, abdomen... the power conducted upward, finally gathering at his fingertips and swinging out with the blade.
*Sshhk—*
A perfect iron-gray arc reflected the moon overhead, vanishing instantly in the dim woods.
The dull sound of a blade cutting through flesh and bone reached his ears for the first time in a while.
[Whirlwind Slash]!
Having long been practiced to perfection, this was the only "Proficient" level combat skill he possessed. Though it seemed like an ordinary basic move, it remained Xia Nan's most reliable asset in battle.
It had become even more powerful as his physical attributes improved.
Tilted, from bottom to top, in an upward slash.
As the cold light vanished, viscous brain matter flew out, carrying half a jaw, an eye, and a few shreds of an ear.
A small portion of the head had been sliced off.
The mangled wolf corpse still possessed forward momentum, but its consciousness had already plunged into darkness.
The muscular body, spraying blood, collapsed to the ground in spasms, no longer capable of attacking.
The longsword, having torn through the wolf's body, followed the momentum of the strike and turned a circle and a half.
Xia Nan took another step to the side, his body turning with it.
He did not relax his vigilance.
The longsword was already held horizontally across his chest in a defensive posture to deal with another Night-Wolf flanking him from the side.
But to his surprise.
Just as he shifted his footing and changed his position, an invisible ripple suddenly flashed across the bone fragments on the surface of the light-gray leg armor, which had become finer in texture after being cut and polished.
The ferocious wolf before him, which had been growling and revealing sharp canines, suddenly froze, stunned in place.
A touch of human-like bewilderment appeared on its narrow wolf head.
The beastly eyes, previously filled with violent malice, were now blank and clear.
It even stuck out its tongue to lick its own nose.
...
[Bone-Binding Iron Shins] (Effect 2) Hostile beasts with a Challenge Rating no higher than "1" have a chance to enter a stunned state.
...
Realizing this silently, Xia Nan did not hesitate and turned defense into offense.
He took another step forward, exerted force with both hands, and unleashed another [Whirlwind Slash].
The iron-gray arc flashed down.
A complete wolf head, splashing crimson blood, spun and hit the ground.
In his ears was the dull thud of a heavy object falling.
From the moment the wolves appeared, only a dozen seconds had passed.
Breathing slightly, Xia Nan looked back toward the other two sides.
Mint's sweat-drenched face was pale, and her hands were trembling.
Clearly, a large amount of casting in a short time had exhausted her greatly.
But her results were equally outstanding.
The body of a Night-Wolf was twitching on the ground beside her.
Faint marks left by plant entanglements could be seen on its limbs.
However, what actually killed it was a small, bleeding wound on the side of its neck—a single lethal strike.
It had come from the blue-gray stone spear in Kash's hand.
At this moment, this middle-aged man, who claimed to be a fisherman and had become a professional by chance, was locked in a bitter struggle.
Unlike Xia Nan, there were three wolves charging at him.
Even with Mint's help in solving one, he still had to deal with two Night-Wolves simultaneously.
While not in a fatal situation, he looked exceptionally disheveled.
Many marks left by the wolves had appeared on the surface of his decent scale armor.
As for Vires...
Xia Nan suddenly frowned.
As a "Rogue" known for agility and a combat style favoring movement, this Drow hybrid was very ill-adjusted to the current positional battle.
Also facing the siege of three Night-Wolves, she had perhaps used her relatively flexible figure to dodge their pounces and leave wounds on the wolves, allowing the toxins coated on her blades to gradually take effect.
But Vires's original position had shifted under the intentional or unintentional pulling of the wolf pack's siege.
The formation had been quietly split.
And the final two Night-Wolves, who had been lurking in the vicinity since the start of the battle, were now like shadows under the moon, lowering their bodies and approaching silently.
They had slipped through the loophole.
And they were lunging straight for Mint, the center of the team!