Three hours had passed at the battleground, the intensity of the wolves' attacks did not seem to be ebbing away however.
Han Yue was feeling their extra hours were merely an exchange of his allies.
It felt hopeless.
"My leader, take a rest. You have fought enough, leave the frontline to us for the moment." A voice was heard as a pair of lances came from his back. He then felt being forced to the back, into the circle of the formation. The long battle had completely drained him. That was a handy change of pace. His loyal allies offered a switch in the nick of time. No gratitude was heard from him, as his words only escaped as the fainting pants. He begged for a dramatic recovery, just so he could return the favor better by getting back into action before things went wrong again.
His bleary eyes glanced at the standing men whose face were all worn out and getting insane somehow. It was a demanding fight, he knew. He also saw the few wounded men being forcibly dragged behind, as the few mentalists had ordered. Their extrasensory perception however had bestowed them the sensibility in the situation. Their senses, their mind and their heart made them the best strategist in group. The mystic arts seemed more ornamental at this situation, gorgeous but impractical in war field to most men perhaps. Nonetheless, it was the mystic arts that had become the bad luck ward of those warriors in front. The spells guarded the critical attacks for them on occasions.
The main attackers were the martial arts practitioners and alchemists. Yup, the alchemists were always the most lethal with their potions which could easily launch a heavy AoE attack - perfect for the belligerent wolf packs. Unfortunately, the trump force of the team seemed to be diminishing, as a large portion of the raw materials had been consumed for the attacks. Soon the alchemists went dethroned of their largest output to the battle as they got escorted to the very center again as a non-battle member in the team.
They could only rely on the practitioners and the mentalists now. The people who got out of the frontline was dead silent, as they gargled drinks and crunched their food supplies, striving for recovery quickest as possible.
Glad that I brought quite a number of mentalists this time. I might have lost way more allies if without these mentalists. But well, not like I managed to keep most of my allies.
Not even half of his army remained standing in the field now...
He glanced at the old lady again. She still retained her character - insensible and undisturbed - which was convincingly highly experienced of the spices of life.
Such old lady! Such decisiveness... I could never compete. Probably I would lose more men if she did not call her men to join the field. Yes, she was left with 2 guards, as the other eight formed into pairs guarding four directions. Their strength were far greater than even the leader of the surrounded team, Han Yue himself, that their stance remained like a dead nail on the wall, unshakable.
Their vitality seemed everlasting as the pace of their attacks persisted. No panic, no confusion, like 8 humanoids, overclocked, unaware of fatigue and careless mistakes. Their expression remained stern and solemn, as if nothing could shake them at all.
Thanks to the 8 guards or we would have...
That was a frightening thought Han Yue had.
When are the aids arriving?
Han Yue could hear his heart pounding in wails as he saw the retreating men in cuts and blood. But all he could do was to wait... for a flickering hope that felt unreachable.
"Have some water." A bottle was passed to his lips. Han Yue flinched, he lifted his head to see the white clothed lady resting by his side. It was the servant of the old lady! Her fair hands were holding a container of classy design. Han Yue's eyes shifted to the old lady who returned him a smile at the other side. He stood up and gave a bow immediately, as his hand reached the bottle, "Thank you my lady." The lady smiled, "You're most welcomed."
Han Yue was going to take a sip, however one wounded ally suddenly sprung from the ground as his bloody finger pointed the sky, "My leader! Take a look at the sky! The sky! W-what is that?!"
Han Yue's eyes traced the direction and they enlarged instantly, as his raising hand stopped. People were looking, with all their attention upon the sky.
There was a tiny spot... traveling rather rapidly... towards ... here?
...
Ye Chong was trying to regain control of his glider. The turbulence was tormenting the sense of balance, especially for a newbie like him. It would be a great if he could land in one piece, but that seemed as far-fetched as a miracle when the glider seemed to be getting hopelessly out of control. The speed was increasing. The airflow was pressing his squinted eyes.
The lever of the glider was being frantically shifted all sides, but the outcome was unhelpful. If Ye Chong was a professional in this, such wind might not be a trouble as he could have utilized the ever-changing airflow to regain momentum and control of direction. But well, Ye Chong was not a professional, so was his glider. Those techniques that sounded almost acrobatic were speaking alien in his head.
He tried everything he could, yet the situation remained unchanged. He focused on the control, as he realized he should forget about direction to ensure at least a safe landing.
Phew.
Finally he felt the airflow slowing down - the biggest good news of his entire life probably since a complex and ever-changing airflow is the most lethal at high velocity. He could imagine himself directly crashing into the ground if the airflow refused to cooperate.
People would have imagined an iron orb causing a crater on the ground for Ye Chong's accidental landing, but he was still human, and it was almost natural for a human like him to shatter upon crash.
The flight had stabilized. He was feeling at great fortune when the glider actually did not get dismembered by the potent air flow.
Finally...
He quickly took that leisure to observe the landscape.
What?
Ye Chong might be a brave man who had broken different places he once treaded his step on, but the dense pack of Fangwolves was an alarming horror. He did not recognize the species being Fangwolves, but any social animal traveling in group would be a taboo to make contact with.
He would love to glide a bit longer, but there was no uplifting air thrust to bring him to the sky again. And it was not possible to make drastic direction change at this point. His schemata ran wild as he watched the glider slowly descending.
That was when he saw the surrounded men.
He calculated the landing point. Okay, he would be 50 meters away from the group at best.
As the airflow was much more stabler at the lower altitude, the steer of the glider could be unmonitored. So Ye Chong took out those intense hallucinogens as the final preparation for landing, since he knew the fact that all sorts of these intense hallucinogens would be his best bet after his experience with smoke pearls. He had lots of these trickeries in his Vinesacks as well as the crates.
It should be fine if I use it wisely. I should be able to escape the wolf pack alive. Thought Ye Chong, with zero mention of the surrounded men in his mind.
20 meters before landing.
He was prepared to jump, as he did a countdown. 10 meters... 8 meters... 5... Ye Chong gave a gentle hop.
The wolf pack was very much ready for this falling meal. Some of them lowered their body, going to pounce, while the others were howling endlessly.
Gah! Ruff! Grrrr...
Before Ye Chong even reached the ground, the few Fangwolves had already thrashed upon him. The bloody eyes, the cold fangs flexed as their bodies when they launched themselves.
Ah!
It was a scream in the surrounded group, coming from the white clothed servant. She shut her eyes tight as she covered her mouth, fearing to behold the upcoming scene.
Ye Chong decided to write a plot twist himself. He ignored the shriek and picked with his lance, the powdered hallucinogens sprinkled.
The Fangwolves' raid was merely child's play to Ye Chong, who had once spent his daily life handling all kinds of intelligent monstrosity on Trash Planet back then. The mutated lifeforms were much, much more aggressive and unpredictable than the wolf pack.
He retreated his legs slightly as he dodged the jumping Fangwolf. Then he launched his legs again right onto its forehead.
Owww Owwwww Owww...
It felt like a hammer slam upon the head of the wolf, as it crashed the ground like a meteorite. It came up fast and it landed faster.
Hush... the sand tinted the air. Ye Chong regained height with the momentum he created, causing all the following attacks of those wolves missed gracefully.
Such kick... Complimented Han Yue in his mind. It could feel a little shabby as one could imagine any grown man producing such force on his kick, but this weird man was in the air, there was nothing for him to conserve the momentum to produce the attack, so he was indeed amazing.
Well Ye Chong certainly deserved the label "weird man" since his appearance was ... pretty peculiar. His original clothing was technically burnt during the process of fighting the Wangs, then he got lost in the forest. Most of his equipments came from the things of the nature as he hung tons of Vinesacks over his body like ornaments, while a greenish fine pole was lifting two giant crates.
It was strange , just very strange.
When Han Yue was expecting further action to be taken by the strange man, something just happened!