"ARHOOOOOOOOOW!"
Ikaris and the other survivors were alarmed when they heard this shrill wolf howl. Their eyes all turned in the same direction.
"No, no, no! It came from the Last Saint Village side!" Malia cried out in anguish.
Swish!
The boy's blurred figure sprinted past her. Before he merged into the bushes the remaining survivors heard him shout,
"Go back and defend the village."
The terrified villagers did as they were told, running after him as they clutched their hatchets. Malia, Ezrog, and Nardor's eyes almost popped out of their heads at this sight, but the Oni and the dwarf soon followed suit. It was a compelling urge that came from deep within their souls.
Soon, only Malia was left, still gobsmacked by what had just happened. Then she thought of Ellie and Danchun to whom she was beginning to grow fond and her eyes turned orange. In the blink of an eye, she fell to all fours, ditching her clothes and transforming into a vampire fox hybrid.
It was a cute little fox, with big curious eyes, but the creature was as large as a wolf and its red irises glowed eerily in the darkness of the forest.
In a few hushed strides the Kitsune caught up with the other villagers, then with another overtook them. The villagers didn't even notice she was there, just the wind that whipped through their hair as she darted past.
Nardor sensed something and reflexively swung his axe around but it stuck in a tree trunk without hitting anyone.
"Hmm? It seems that growing old is making me paranoid."
Ezrog was not as lithe as his Lord, but he was much stronger. And for all intents and purposes, more strength often meant more speed. As he exited the forest, the open, unobstructed plain allowed his powerful legs to run free.
"My Lord, wait for me!" He bellowed as he charged after Ikaris like a raging bull.
Nearly immediately after him, a majestic fox with a coat as bright as dawn leaped over the giant, outrunning him in a heartbeat. The Oni whiffed the air and upon smelling that fragrance he understood that it was the young woman always accompanying their leader.
Ikaris of course noticed the Kitsune on his heels and while he was surprised he still recognized Malia's soulful eyes on the creature's face.
"Protect Ellie, Danchun, and then Kellam as a priority." The boy shouted as she dashed ahead of him faster than a race car.
The fox nodded softly, then sped off toward Last Saint Village. Fire and smoke billowed up from the village and Ikaris could already hear the screams of panic and agony.
'Damn it! If only I could run faster!"
He had already activated his Enhanced Strength Spell, but 30% more strength wasn't enough to make a difference. He could of course attempt a Speed Spell, but he knew that exhaustion would hit him so fast that even if he managed to reach the village conscious he wouldn't be in fighting shape by the time he arrived.
'Malia and Horny, I'm counting on you.' He prayed gloomily as he kept sprinting oblivious to the burning in his gasping lungs.
"ARHOOOOOOOWW!"
When he was almost there, Ikaris saw a huge 3 meter tall lycan resembling the gray Werewolves of the legends galloping southwards from the village at a speed on par with the transformed Malia. He reckoned he recognized Danchun's long, silky black hair in its mouth.
Several lycans about as big as their pack leader also retreated with a rabid fox at their heels, each holding a prisoner in their mouths. Malia appeared to be on the verge of catching up with them, when the one trailing behind entrusted its captive to another packmate and threw itself in a suicidal fashion against their pursuer.
A savage fight with claws and bites as short lived as it was chilling ensued. This lycan was not as weak as those who had ambushed them in the forest and even transformed Malia held no advantage.
She let out a few yelps after being mauled and bitten several times, until her red eyes began to glaze over and the blood of the lycan in front of her boiled and oozed out of all its orifices. Its blood formed a crystalline choker around the beast's neck, then constricted sharply, lopping off the creature's head in the process.
Following this, though, Malia's transformation came to an end and she knelt naked and covered in blood in the soiled flower field.
Knowing that he was far too late to help her, Ikaris focused on another straggler and ignoring the risk, decided to use whatever stamina he had left to attempt a Heart Puncturing Spell. The lycan closing the gap stumbled with a yelp and dropped the two prisoners into his mouth.
Turning around, it met the teen's murderous gaze and a cold shiver ran down its spine. Instead of picking up the two prisoners, it ignored the pang of pain in its heart and bolted without looking back.
Knowing that Malia was okay, Ikaris let her catch her breath and continued to run toward Last Saint Village, though barely faster than an old man. In the end, it was Ezrog who carried him the rest of the way.
A few seconds later, he found himself in the middle of torched and smoking tents. The ones that hadn't caught fire had been dismantled and he heard grunts of pain inside one of them.
It was that of Taguchi, the anti-social otaku. The boy held his breath and ignoring the corpses in his line of sight he ran lividly towards his cottage where the Elsisn Stele was located.
When he entered the house, a huge cleaver blocked his path. Only after confirming the identity of his Lord did the Tartarus Enforcer step aside to let him pass.
Ikaris finally released a sigh of relief when he saw Ellie and his Stele undamaged. The young woman's survival was no accident. She, along with Malia, Horny and himself were the only ones allowed into the cottage. By protecting the Stele, the Tartarus Enforcer had indirectly saved her life.
"I-Ikaris. I'm sorry." Ellie stammered sick with guilt as she didn't dare to look him in the eye. "They took all the women. Sniff, sniff, they t-took Danchun and Ling..."
That was all it took for the crybaby to burst into tears. It had been a while since the last meltdown.
Since Ellie stayed in the village all the time, she had made friends with the first villagers and was familiar with everyone. The fact that because of her privileged position she was able to hide so easily while the others were totally ignored by the Tartarus Enforcer was enough to drive her crazy.
"Stop blaming yourself. I'm glad you made it out unscathed. If you had been captured too it wouldn't have made any difference." Ikaris sincerely consoled her as he gently stroked her hair.
Ellie was indeed a burden most of the time, but when all was well her cheerfulness and sweetness was somewhat refreshing in this alien world on the verge of apocalypse.
When she calmed down, the boy went to the Stele and checked the population index.
[Territory population: 41/200]
Ikaris made a quick calculation and was surprised by the result. Except for the two men who had been killed by the lycans in the forest after pissing themselves, everyone was still alive, including the captured women.
So those corpses outside... The boy rushed outside and crouched down in front of one of those bodies and discovered that those ones were not completely human. By their bushy ears and tails sticking out of their clothing they were dog men, a beast man variant common in the Forsaken Lands.
Inspecting the wounds that had taken their lives, he recognized the typical damage of Horny's charge. When getting impaled by a horn was not enough to take their lives, a frenzied hoof-stomping had taken care of it.
'By the way, where is that damn bison?' Ikaris began to look around for the beast.
In the end, he ended up finding it in the otaku's tent with Kellam and Marvin. The bison was lying on its side, practically eviscerated alive. The three men, tired and also covered in deep lacerations were trying to stabilize his blood loss as best they could with limited success.
"My Lord!" They rejoiced as they recognized their leader.
Ikaris greeted them stiffly, then asked them to fetch something to bandage and disinfect the bison's wounds. Knowing that the lycans and dogmen had left, they obeyed without question.
"Mooooo..." (They got me good.)
"Yeah, good job Horny." The boy couldn't help but chuckle as he patted the bovine's side.
"MOO!" (Easy! That fucking hurts!)
"Oh, sorry, hehe..." Ikaris apologized with a grin.
Kellam and Marvin returned with the bandages and sutures and Ikaris set about stitching up the huge bison's belly. This was the practical side of the preposterous Demonic Beasts' constitution and vitality. As long as their wounds were treated in time, there was no need to worry about surgical complications.
Horny would survive.
Now that the bison was out of the woods, Ikaris finally focused on Kellam, Marvin and the otaku huddled in the corner and finally noticed what had been bothering him since his return.
If even Horny had been spanked like that and all the women except Ellie had been captured, why were they, the weaklings, still alive?
