Chapter 451 - Nightmare
"Commander!"
The soldiers were screaming. Tears started to build up in the corner of their eyes.
Seeing their commander die like this pained their heart as he was a kind of inspirational figure.
Theo widened his eyes, never expecting the commander to die so quickly. However, he noticed one thing that might be the cause.
Turning to Phyrill, Theo asked, "What is this artifact all about?"
"Is this the time to ask that?" Phyrill's eyebrows twitched as he knew the wolves would keep chasing them, so they needed to get going as soon as possible. He still answered him though. "Normally, monsters will disappear together with their weapon or equipment, right?"
"Yes."
"The one that doesn't disappear is called an artifact. It's something coming from this world that isn't directly attached to the monster itself. I can't say anything more because we have more important things to do." Phyrill looked at Theo with a grim expression. "Please lead this group."
"You are the most influential person right now, it's your job." Theo shook his head. "For now, we need to prevent the soldiers from sacrificing their lives. Then, we will have the soldiers kill the wolves by manipulating their anger. Depending on the wolf king, we may need some sacrifices."
"Okay. I will control them." Phyrill disappeared as his voice soon resounded in everyone's ears. "All people here, listen to me!
"We are going to continue our escape according to the original plan and leave Sinx Forest as soon as possible. You, soldiers… Have you forgotten Commander Ivan's last words already? If you can't accept it, just insult me or whatsoever for being ruthless.
"However, we need to keep going… We need you. Kill those wolves and survive together with us and tell the story about Commander Ivan to everyone you know, including his family. This is your new task. I'm not a commander, but I know whatever we can do for him in the future requires us to survive! Understand?!"
Phyrill's shout shook the soldiers' hearts. They had mixed anger and sadness in their hearts, but they certainly had the orders they needed to carry.
"Let's return to the base."
"O-oh?!"
The soldiers weren't as fired up as before, but they all retreated together with the ground instead of fighting the wolf to death.
"Good." Phyrill smiled and returned to Theo, heading straight to the camp.
Little did he know, Theo wanted the wolf king to chase them, letting all his blood flow out. With that much blood loss, the wolf should be weakened where even someone like him could kill them.
Albeit, the plan failed before it even began when he saw the wolf king grab one of his own kin. He carried it in front of his mouth before opening his mouth, taking a huge bite.
"Aooo!" The wolf screamed in pain, but the wolf king didn't care about his suffering as he continued munching the wolf.
Soon, a white light covered his severed hand and the blood stopped flowing. He could see the wound had yet to be healed, but he wouldn't be weakened further from blood loss.
"Seriously?" Theo gritted his teeth, trying to move as further as possible before the wolf king started moving again.
"Phyrill, this situation…" Theo hit the wolf that almost bit him and asked, "Do you have any reinforcement? Looking at our situation, we may not have the option to retreat."
"You want to fight to the death?" Phyrill asked with a serious expression.
"I can get away, but not you." Theo shook his head, explaining the real condition.
"…" Phyrill paused for a moment. "What do you want me to do?"
"We need to split up before…" The word stuck in his mouth when he felt the killing intent from behind. He turned around and found the wolf had started chasing them again.
"This is not good." Theo clicked his tongue. "Anyway, the only way for us to survive is to split up. The wolf king can't chase us like this."
"I understand. We will split in five directions. The independent groups, the military, and my group, which will be split further into three groups with me, my assistant and you as their leaders. Can I ask you to lead my group to safety?"
Theo hesitated for a second. He didn't want to take care of the others to be honest and he could just fly away from this situation using his Telekinesis.
Theo ended up agreeing to his request. "Taking into account our relationship, I will do it as long as they can follow my command. However, don't blame me if we're separated for various reasons."
"Of course."
"How about Ellen?"
"With you," Phyrill answered without hesitation.
"Okay then." Theo nodded and looked back, seeing the wolf king getting closer and closer to them.
Unfortunately, their nightmare had just begun one step faster than Phyrill and Theo.
The chasing wolf king suddenly stopped and growled to the sky as if it conveyed something to his subordinates.
The wolves surprisingly followed his move and halted their steps before jumping off the ground.
"!!!" Theo was shocked by that sudden movement and instinctively used his Awareness to the fullest, sensing something moving underground. He shouted and followed what the wolf did. "Jump!"
That shout startled everyone, but Ellen, Phyrill, and the Hilbert Family's people had witnessed Theo's good judgment first hand. They didn't want to doubt him anymore, at least in this kind of emergency.
They all jumped at the same time as Theo.
Sadly, the rest didn't have a quick reaction like them.
Multiple bandages suddenly emerged from the ground, rising to ten feet above the ground.
All people widened their eyes in disbelief. Some of them managed to escape, while some of them got caught by the bandages.
The wolf king turned to his right, finding the one he was looking for.
Theo followed his line of sight and found a mummy with red skin. His bandage was black like the Coal Dome, but it was easy to distinguish him from the rest as his body didn't rot as much as other mummies.
The mummy emitted his killing intent and said in a human language. "Foolish humans. This is time for you to pay for the sins you have committed in front of Great God Osiris."
