"Elliot, should we save them?" Kumoko whispered beside Elliot's ear (or where his ear would be in human form).
When Elliot was still an Earth Dragon, he never let her climb on his back to be lazy. Now that he was in human form, he didn't seem to mind her presence so close.
So she could comfortably perch on Elliot's shoulder, watching the humans being besieged by the wolf pack below.
"What do you think?" Elliot smiled. To him, saving them or not wasn't a big deal. As the saying goes, "all are ants beneath a sage"; naturally, a god wouldn't particularly care about the life or death of mortals.
Damn am I getting arrogant or prideful?!
"Let's save them, I guess. After all, those wolves... they look pretty tasty. Humans, on the other hand, their meat is sour. Blech~" Kumoko made a gagging motion. She had tried human flesh once. Whether it was psychological or physiological discomfort, she threw it up immediately and decided never to eat humans again.
"...Alright then," Elliot chuckled.
The five humans below, despite being a standard warrior-mage-priest setup, wouldn't last much longer.
Several of them were complete newbies with no real combat experience. They were basically dragging the Hero down.
However, since he was the Hero, he was bound to have some plot armor. Someone would probably show up out of nowhere to save them.
As a potential asset, Elliot quite liked this Hero. Instead of letting someone else save them, he might as well do it himself.
…
Anthony deeply regretted his decision now. Him, a respectable human mage, actually accompanying a bunch of kids on a reckless adventure into the Beast Mountain Range!
As a fairly well-known mage adventurer in the Human Adventurers' Guild, he should have been able to join much better teams.
But he had been greedy for vanity, wanting to show off his strength in front of these newcomers. He'd puffed out his chest and guaranteed he could lead them through the beast forest for some leveling.
At first, everything in the Beast Mountain Range seemed normal. The magical beasts on the outskirts were no match for them.
Under his "brilliant" leadership and powerful magic, these beasts were easily subdued. The two girls, Anna and Lilith, looked at him with eyes full of admiration, even envy.
Both young ladies were fresh-faced rookies, still clumsy with their bows and staves. So, seeing Anthony cast spells so fluently naturally filled them with awe and wonder.
This provided his ego with unparalleled satisfaction.
His success on the outskirts gave him the false impression that the Beast Mountain Range wasn't so tough after all.
To strike while the iron was hot, to make the young ladies completely worship him, and to add more glory to his record, he decided to lead the four newcomers deeper into the mountains...
But then, unexpected things started happening.
First, it was that rookie mage whose name Anthony didn't even know! This new mage, apparently also wanting to show off in front of his companions, slowly burned a wild wolf to death with a fireball. As everyone knows, in a forest, it's best not to provoke pack animals.
And the result? This. Their group of five was now surrounded by hundreds of Level 15 and 16 wolves.
Even though as adventurers, they possessed a considerable number of magical items and precious potions everything from mana and health restoratives to powerful magic scrolls with the increasing number of wolves, those scrolls had long since been used up. Even their healing and mana potions were nearly depleted.
The other newcomers beside him had long since lost their composure in this situation. That rookie male mage was so scared he could barely hold his staff steady.
Anna, the archer, had emptied her quiver. Lilith, the priestess, didn't even have enough mana left to cast a healing spell.
The only one who still seemed somewhat effective was the warrior, Julius. Though he looked like the youngest in the group, he possessed tenacious willpower and fighting strength.
If Julius hadn't been holding back the wolf pack's assault, Anthony himself would have probably been devoured long ago.
A skilled mage must never be controlled by negative emotions. But looking at the overwhelming sea of wolves, Anthony couldn't help but swallow hard.
Fear seeped through his blood, into every limb. A shiver ran through his muscles and nerves. Human instinct wasn't so easily overcome.
"What do we do?!" Anna, the archer, her hands trembling so much she couldn't aim her longbow, asked pitifully, her voice choked with tears. "I don't want to die..."
Emotions are contagious. As Anna cried her heart out, the fighting spirit of the others dwindled. Despair settled over the small group.
"Damn it!" Anthony gritted his teeth. In a crisis, the worst thing is for someone to have a mental breakdown. Once despair takes root in one person, it spreads rapidly. The situation would only get worse!
"Calm down! There's still a chance..." However, Anthony's words did nothing to soothe the young adventurers.
They were already on the verge of collapse, unable to listen to reason. The rookie mage was even thinking of abandoning his staff and trying to break through the wolf encirclement alone.
If their defensive line broke, and the wolves swarmed in, they would all be finished!
Just then, Julius, the warrior standing at the front, his back to the others, hands gripping his sword, spoke.
"Don't worry, everyone! I've used magic to send a distress signal! Someone will come to rescue us soon! We just need to hold on a little longer! We will be saved!" His clear voice reached everyone's ears.
Julius's words were incredibly convincing, inspiring an inexplicable sense of confidence and courage in the others.
"Mm... We'll definitely get through this!" Priestess Lilith nodded, the gloom on her face vanishing, replaced by a smile. The others also lifted their heads, seeming to feel a glimmer of hope.
Among the five, the most shocked was the mage, Anthony. He knew better than anyone that Julius knew jack squat about sending magical distress signals.
Those words were purely to comfort the others. He couldn't help but feel astonished. This young man looked so young, yet he possessed extraordinary resilience and courage! What kind of leadership quality was this!
The group quickly rallied their spirits, preparing to face the wolf pack's siege. But both Anthony and Julius knew in their hearts: no matter how much they tried to boost morale, if no rescue came, they were all going to die here. Was there really no way out?
BOOM—
Just as sweat beaded on their foreheads and they were preparing for a desperate last stand, they suddenly saw dozens of wolves at the rear of the pack get violently thrown backwards, their bodies torn apart, reduced to mangled limbs and torsos. Blood splattered everywhere, like a crimson rain!
The sharp sound of something tearing through the air, a ripping noise, echoed through the forest. Anthony, Hero Julius, and the rest of the group all turned their heads in unison.
They saw beams of golden light, like spears, falling from the sky a rain of golden blades, descending from a distance with unstoppable momentum.
The golden spears impaled the wolves below, pinning them to the earth. At the same time, an unseen slashing sound was heard.
None of the five could see the true form of the attack, but they saw wolves in its path instantly split in two, the wounds incredibly clean and smooth.
A path was suddenly cleared through the previously dense encirclement of wolves.
Under the astonished gazes of the five adventurers, a miraculous scene unfolded.
The sun blazed like fire. A young man slowly walked out from among the wolves. His handsome face held a faint smile.
The terrified, trembling howls of the surrounding wolves didn't seem to affect him at all. And on his shoulder... perched a small, pink-and-white spider.
….
Extra Chapter on every 300 power stones.
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