As Leon and Mako rushed forward to help their friends, they saw that the wolves had surrounded the campsite and were attacking from multiple angles at once, making it difficult for them to fend off the attacks. The four of them were already struggling to keep the wolves at bay, and it looked like the situation was getting worse by the minute.
However, with Leon and Mako's arrival, the tide of the battle began to shift in their favor. Leon used his speed ability and shiv to accelerate and dodge the wild wolves' attacks and stab the wolves that were attacking from behind while Mako used his agility to dodge and weave around the wolves, delivering swift and precise blows to their vital points.
Mako's first priority was to reach the group and make sure that everyone was okay. This was why he was rushing through the attacks and not dealing with wolves seriously. He used a combination of his Ten Palm Strike, Electrical Discharge, and Flame Wheel to deal significant damage to wolves as he quickly rushed toward the main group followed closely by Leon.
As they fought, they noticed that the wolves were a lot more coordinated than any beast they had ever fought before getting more and more frenzied as they fought, making it clear that something was amiss.
Even the Terra Beetles that Mako had fought in the cave weren't this organized in their attacks as they still had the feral factor inside of them, which made them just attack with all their might with no regard for their body.
After stabbing another wolf with his high-tier combat knife, Mako took the opportunity to Analyze the beast and find out what was wrong.
[Analyze]
[High-level Silver Wolf] (Hypnotized)
[Ability: Speed (Level 3), Lunar Influence (Level 1)]
These wolf beasts were quite unique as they also held two abilities and one of them was quite a rare and good ability that Mako had only heard stories about and had never witnessed in real life.
However, the most shocking thing about their profile was their condition status next to their name. The status showed that the wolves were hypnotized, confirming everything to Mako.
These beasts were so much stronger and well-coordinated because they were being manipulated by someone else. This also confirmed the fact that this wasn't just a regular attack by a passing pack of wolf beasts, but a deliberate tactic to remove them from the game.
Mako had no idea, which means were used to hypnotize the beasts because it could be practically done using any emotional manipulation ability; however, each one had different effects on the beast that was manipulated. Mako didn't know accurately how strong of a cadet they were dealing with because he assumed it would be quite difficult to hypnotize 20+ beasts and direct them to attack a group of attacks.
Additionally, Mako also didn't have a clue who was behind all of this, but he could make an educated guess based on the conversation he heard as he approached the group to defend against the wolf beast attacks.
************
"Andrew, what are you doing? Use that fire skill you always use and take all of these wolves out in one go," Erin shouted as she continued to battle alongside Andrew confused as to why he was only fighting physically and not using his ability.
"Don't worry, babe. I still haven't recovered all my energy and small fry like these don't need the use of abilities to deal with," Andrew said as he tried to assure Erin that everything was alright and that he was just warming up.
************
The wolves were getting wilder and more ruthless by the minute and the group was starting to have trouble dealing with the wolves. Just then, one of the wolves attacked Iris from one of her blind spots and was able to bite her arm.
Iris' pain-filled scream resounded throughout the whole battlefield as blood started to gush out of her arm very quickly.
Her scream gave the boys a wake-up call as they started to fight with no remorse or regard from the beast and save Iris from the clutches of death.
Before the wolf could even continue after its bite, multiple sharp stone spikes quickly emerged from the ground and stabbed the wolf right in the abdomen, killing it on the spot.
Iris was then quickly covered by an Earth dome, and Bill appeared from the ground underneath and quickly began to assess the situation. Luckily, the wolf's teeth had not made it to the bone of her arm and only the tissue and muscle were damaged.
Iris was still in a lot of pain and it looked like she could faint any minute. Leon raised her in his arms and started to run toward the campsite whilst manipulating the dome around him to move as well so that they would be protected against wolf attacks.
Bill quickly reached the campsite and brought one of the backpacks inside the dome. He first sterilized the wound by washing it with water and then tried his best to bandage the wound. He wasn't the best person in the world to do this kind of work, but it was enough to stop the bleeding.
Bill instructed Iris that she had lost too much blood and she has to start healing herself this instant. Iris could barely register the things that were happening around her as she felt very dizzy. Somehow, after a lot of shouting, Bill was able to get his message across and Iris began to heal herself as her arm began to glow green.
It was very important that Iris stayed awake during all of it because she was the only person who could save her arm. Bill continued to shout and through water on her face so that she would not faint and continue to heal herself.
Realizing that the situation was beyond their control, Bill opened the dome and let the group know Iris' situation and suggested that they retreat and regroup.
Mako was worried about Iris too and agreed with Bill's idea to retreat. He instructed Erin and Andrew to run back to the camp and gather everything while he and Leon defended them from attacks.
They quickly moved back to the camp and within minutes, quickly gathered everything and were inside the dome with Bill and Iris. Erin quickly rushed by Iris' side and Bill entrusted the duty of keeping her awake to her.
After they were all safe inside the dome, Bill gave Mako the signal to retreat as well. Mako and Leon slowly began to move back to the dome while continuously fighting off the feral wolves. Soon they reached the dome as well, and Mako instructed Leon to go in first because he said he was going to use an ability that he wouldn't want to be caught in.
As soon as Leon went inside the dome, Mako's entire body crackled with electricity as he prepared a huge move. Just as the first row of wolves was about to lunge at Mako, Mako's entire body released a massive pulse, one greater than any Mako had made before and this electrical pulse stopped all the wolves right in their tracks as they were now paralyzed.
Mako took the opportunity to also go inside the dome, and Bill began lowering the ground itself and once deep enough made a roof of earth over them, effectively burying them underground.
Mako provided light using his fire ability and Bill and Leon got to work as they began manipulating the rock in front of them to open up and making it so that they were now tunneling underground and would be completely safe from the wolves, who would have no idea where everyone went.
After a few minutes of running, they finally reached a safe distance from the campsite. Bill and Leon opened up the tunnel to the surface and they stopped to catch their breath and assess their injuries. Fortunately, none of them sustained any serious injuries, except for Iris who Mako was carrying while they were moving through the tunnel.
Since the tunnel was completely walled off from any source of air, the group could only tunnel for so long before the air inside was all used up. Mako laid Iris down next to a tree and she continued to fight through the pain as she healed herself. Her arm already looked a lot better than before and it would be completely healed soon.
As soon as Mako sat Iris down next to the tree, he activated Dash and went straight for Andrew who was standing beside Erin. Andrew was caught by surprise and didn't have time to react and so Mako was able to grab him by his neck and slam his head next to a boulder that cracked due to the strong impact.
Mako continued to put pressure on Andrew's neck and keep him in that position while he stared at him with eyes full of hatred.
Erin didn't know what was going on, but she couldn't just stand and watch as she saw one of his new friends try to assault her boyfriend.
"Mako! What the heck do you think you are doing?!" Erin shouted as she ran toward them in hopes of separating them, but Mako suddenly began to release a fierce aura that made her stop dead in her tracks.
Mako had released his energy manipulation aura which was by far his strongest even though it was only level one and it was enough to make everyone freeze in their tracks and even made Andrew gulp down hard.
"This is not Andrew, Erin... He is an imposter!" Mako announced as he continued to hold the fake Andrew by the neck.
