Chapter 15: The Storm Demon Wolf's Talent

As the rain fell, the surrounding Storm Demon Wolves became even more agile.

Their innate talent allowed them to ignore the effects of stormy weather amidst the tempest, granting them increased resistance to water, wind, and lightning. During stormy and thunderous weather, they also gained movement speed and attack power bonuses—a race blessed by the gale.

This was precisely why Zhai Guangyi had summoned this torrential downpour. By expending just 500 Magic Power and completing communication with the Spirit, he could enable the entire Storm Demon Wolf pack to unleash their unique advantages.

The sound of rain, thunder, and the footsteps of the Storm Demon Wolves echoed incessantly in the ears of the twelve Adventurers, like the continuous booming of war drums exploding in their minds, keeping their nerves taut.

The Forest Elf Archer was the first to act. Though she had no physical arrows by her side, she merely reached into the Void, and a phantom green arrow materialized on her bow.

One after another, phantom arrows pierced through the heavy rain, shooting straight into the depths of the forest.

Clearly, under such conditions, her accuracy had diminished. She could not aim precisely at the wolves darting and weaving among the trees.

After her first shot failed to hit any of the wolves in the forest, she immediately retreated behind the others. Her archery was merely intended to buy time, giving her teammates a chance to react.

“Damn it, it’s a pack of Storm Demon Wolves! Weren’t all those demon wolves from earlier dealt with? How can there still be a pack here?”

Luke exclaimed, swinging his sword to chop down a giant tree beside him. He lifted the trunk and hurled it into the depths of the forest while rushing to Bader’s side.

The trunk successfully blocked several Storm Demon Wolves attempting to pass, isolating them.

Seeing this, Mark followed suit, cutting down a tree trunk and hurling it into the forest before retreating behind the two Shield Warriors.

“Luke, didn’t you say that as long as we didn’t let a single Storm Demon Wolf escape, we wouldn’t attract a pack? What do we do now?”

Though Mark was powerful, he was not adept at wilderness adventures. Many of his tales of outdoor exploits had come from Luke’s stories.

While Mark held the highest status in the team, he trusted Luke’s adventuring experience deeply and tried to follow his advice as much as possible. However, the current predicament made him question Luke’s capabilities somewhat.

“Now we have to fight our way out. This terrible weather—encountering Storm Demon Wolves is just the worst.”

One Thief hoisted the weakened Jielude onto his shoulder, while another Thief tossed packets of luminous powder into the forest. As the powder scattered, it transformed into glowing particles, seemingly illuminating everything nearby.

In complete darkness, fighting was disadvantageous for them, yet the Storm Demon Wolves could see them clearly and move freely through the shadows.

Though the environment was now somewhat illuminated, the dense trees obscured their view, revealing only numerous dark shadows circling around them. From time to time, several Storm Demon Wolves lunged forward.

Before the Thief who had scattered the powder could react, a Storm Demon Wolf with its jaws wide open pounced. A nearby Shield Warrior quickly stepped forward, knocking the wolf aside.

But right after, another Storm Demon Wolf lunged from their flank. Luke swung his sword to block it, while Mark reached out and pulled the Thief to his side.

Luqi was quite frustrated. She excelled in fire magic and barrier magic, but in this rainy environment, fire magic was somewhat inefficient and unrewarding, while barrier magic required a long preparation time. For now, she could only use some earth magic or wind magic to deal with the Storm Demon Wolves.

However, the Storm Demon Wolves currently possessed strong wind resistance, making it difficult to inflict fatal damage. At best, she could barely manage to knock them airborne. Fortunately, her coordination with Luke was excellent—whenever a Storm Demon Wolf was sent flying, he would immediately strike.

But there were simply too many Storm Demon Wolves. Even if they were lucky enough to land a hit, it was impossible to kill one in a single blow; at most, they could only inflict serious injuries.

Luqi simultaneously used earth magic, manipulating small rocks to launch long-range counterattacks. However, with limited visibility, she could hardly hit enemies that were too far away.

Moreover, whenever a Storm Demon Wolf was knocked down, a new one would quickly take its place. Fallen wolves would also be dragged into the forest by their companions, disappearing from sight.

In such a dire situation, the group, despite their abilities, found it impossible to fully utilize their strengths.

On the other hand, the Storm Demon Wolves, fighting on their home turf, were in their element. A Thief had his arm bitten, and while Luke used his sword to block one of the wolves, he also kicked to assist the Thief.

The Storm Demon Wolf that had bitten the Thief’s arm was quickly kicked back into the forest, along with the short sword the Thief had been holding.

The three Shield Warriors at the front couldn’t block every direction, and a few Storm Demon Wolves always managed to break through. At such moments, the Forest Elf would shoot arrows to drive them away.

Agile as fish in water during the rain, the Storm Demon Wolves coordinated seamlessly. Arrows struggled to hit them, and even when one was struck, its companions would drag the fallen wolf away to consume Healing Fruit.

Seeing this, Jielude, positioned in the center of the group, gritted his teeth and spoke with difficulty.

“I’ll create an opportunity. Everyone, prepare for the shockwave!”

Suppressing the pain in his abdomen, Jielude raised his staff and began chanting toward the ground.

The others immediately understood his intention—Jielude was most skilled in large-scale magic, particularly earth-element magic.

Luke and Mark exchanged a glance and quickly called for everyone to gather together. The Shield Warriors formed an outer defense, while the Thief and two Swordsmen coordinated to prevent the Storm Demon Wolves from interfering with Jielude’s spellcasting.

The previously scattered formation quickly condensed into a spherical shape. Shields blocked the wolves’ assaults, while those inside launched counterattacks. However, the wolves were too fast, and the group couldn’t stray too far from the Shield Warriors, making it difficult to deal effective damage.

At that moment, Xiong Batian arrived at the scene, wielding a spiked club. She raised the club and struck Bader’s shield with a heavy blow.

With a thunderous crash, Bader’s shield was dented by the impact. The powerful force made it impossible for him to maintain his stance, forcing him into a half-crouch on the ground. His knees scraped against the surface, leaving long trails of blood.

The Archer standing in the center quickly reacted, firing seven or eight arrows at Xiong Batian. Xiong Batian raised her spiked club to block, but the arrows pierced straight through it. She hastily dodged, yet one arrow still struck her shoulder.

Gritting her teeth against the pain, Xiong Batian tried to pull out the arrow, but it had already vanished, leaving only a bloody hole behind.

Luke saw Bader kneeling on the ground and immediately raised his longsword, thrusting toward Xiong Batian.

But then Xiong Batian, who had been right before his eyes, suddenly vanished.

Xiong Batian had activated her Level 2 Stealth Skill while simultaneously triggering her Berserk Skill, giving birth to an invisible berserker.

The Level 2 Stealth Skill could only conceal her presence and create an optical illusion, not achieve complete invisibility.

The heavy rain poured down on Xiong Batian, and though the raindrops revealed her silhouette slightly, the dark environment combined with the downpour made it impossible for the Adventurers to clearly see her.

A heavy punch struck another Shield Warrior’s shield, sending the Shield Warrior flying backward. The shield spun several times in the air before landing on the ground, only to be snatched away by a Storm Demon Wolf.

Fortunately, the Shield Warrior was clad in sturdy armor and sustained no injuries.

The moment Xiong Batian attacked him, Mark also caught sight of her and swung his sword in retaliation. A sword slash accompanied by a howling sound parted the rain and struck Xiong Batian squarely.

Xiong Batian quickly retreated to dissipate the force, allowing the slash to only graze her chest slightly, but a distinct bloodstain still appeared.

However, her figure soon vanished once again.

The Forest Elf also fired three arrows the moment Xiong Batian made her move, but unfortunately, all of them missed.

Witnessing the scene, Mark furrowed his brow. The assailant was highly skilled and possessed the Thief’s Stealth Skill, making her extremely troublesome. Yet, he couldn’t act freely now—he had to protect his team and couldn’t recklessly pursue Xiong Batian to finish her off.

“Earthquake Spell!”

After a lengthy incantation, Jielude finally unleashed this Magic. The ground suddenly began to tremble violently.

In an instant, the earth became unsteady, and everyone’s feet slid uncontrollably as if unable to find solid footing.

Sensing danger, Xiong Batian quickly issued a retreat command to her nearby allies, using her strength to leap onto a nearby tree to survey the surroundings.

Before the wolf pack could react, the ground began to shake intensely, followed by cracks appearing one after another as the earth churned.

The ground heaved like turbulent seawater, wave after wave of tremors seeming to devour the creatures on the surface, opening up gaping fissures.

Many Storm Demon Wolves, caught off guard, found their bodies trapped by the churning soil or sank into the thick earth, struggling frantically. Yet the ground continued to shake, as if determined to swallow them whole.

Jielude weakly pointed in a direction while half-kneeling on the ground, too exhausted to speak. This Magic had drained all his Magic Power.

The nearby Thief quickly helped him up, pulling a blue potion from his pocket and feeding it to Jielude. Then, everyone began retreating in the direction he had indicated.

The earth churned in all directions, but the path Jielude had pointed to remained relatively calm.

The group swiftly retreated along the route free of tremors, refraining from attacking any of the Storm Demon Wolves trapped in the soil.

This magic time is extremely limited; they couldn’t afford to slow their pace because of a few Storm Demon Wolves. Otherwise, once the other Storm Demon Wolves struggled free, they would find themselves back in the same predicament as before.

For this team, as long as they could endure this terrible weather, these wolves were nothing to fear—in fact, dealing with them would be quite easy.

Storm Demon Wolves were exactly that kind of creature: they relied entirely on heaven’s favor to unleash their full strength. Without heavy rain, they were no different from ordinary wolves.

“Just now, a strange Demon Human attacked. My arm is still trembling, and I didn’t even catch a glimpse of her figure.”

Bader spoke to the group with a hint of fear.

“I shot her, but her body is incredibly tough. The arrow didn’t pierce through.”

The Forest Elf responded to Bader in an emotionless tone.

“It seems we’ve encountered a pack of Storm Demon Wolves led by a Demon Human. This thunderstorm is likely her doing as well. Let’s escape this crisis first, then think about the Demon Tree.”

Luke replied to the group.

“No, the Demon Tree must be dealt with. It concerns the city’s safety. We can’t let it grow unchecked, or our city will become the next Banye City.”

As the defense Captain of Banwang City, Mark couldn’t allow a Magical Beast threatening Banwang City to grow unchecked, especially since it was only two weeks’ journey away from the city.

Luke nodded in agreement. He was the one who discovered and proposed this Demon Tree incident. As long as he could help the City Lord eliminate the threat, he would receive a generous reward—an amount that would allow him to avoid work for years. Moreover, judging from earlier observations, the Demon Tree shouldn’t be very powerful now. With Mark and the others joining, this Small Team had enough strength to handle it.

When the group fled to a point 50 meters away from Zhai Guangyi, the violent wind and rain in the sky suddenly vanished. Many Storm Demon Wolves were trapped by churning earth or pinned under fallen giant trees, unable to move. Maintaining the storm no longer served any purpose.

“It seems this heavy rain was indeed summoned by magic. A spell capable of altering the weather—that Demon Human cannot be left alive. She will pose a great threat to Banwang City in the future.”

Mark spoke while running.

The direction of their escape was straight toward Zhai Guangyi. He hadn’t expected that, facing such harsh weather and being surrounded by so many wolves, they could break through without losing a single person and even seemed to have strength to spare, charging directly toward his position.

“Not good! This direction leads to the Demon Tree. Once we’re out of the magic’s attack range, quickly veer to the side.”

Luke, who hadn’t paid attention during the breakout, suddenly realized and urgently spoke.

Everyone nodded, but just as they were about to change direction, a massive rock hurtled toward them. They happened to turn at that moment, and the boulder crashed beside them, kicking up clouds of dust.

The attacker was none other than Xiong Da. Originally, he had aimed to smash them head-on in their charging direction, but their reaction was so swift—they suddenly turned—causing him to miss entirely.

“Can we just… not fight?”

Xiong Da asked awkwardly. As a modern person, he felt somewhat resistant to fighting Humans. Moreover, compared to the wilderness, he longed to integrate into Human society.

Everyone halted their steps, preparing for battle as they warily watched Xiong Da.

“There’s no need to converse with a cunning Demon Human. Prepare to fight.”

Luke’s longsword began to coil with red flames. He lowered his stance slightly, readying himself to strike.

“Another Demon Human! Will this ever end?”

Even as Luqi complained, her wand aimed at Xiong Da and unleashed three consecutive Fireball Magic spells.