Bloodfang Tribe At this moment, on the other side of the jungle, a team of werewolves was making its way through the forest, leaving behind the bodies of zombies scattered carelessly along their path. Leading them was a tall werewolf and a gray-haired half-werewolf girl with beast ears. The girl wore leather armor and carried a greatsword on her back. Right now, she was riding on a giant canine creature covered in patches of gray and black fur. Such creatures were commonly known as 'huskies', except this particular one was much bigger... "Aw~" The 1.5-meter-high giant dog, colored in gray and white, let out an adorable cry. Upon hearing this, the beast-eared girl stuffed a Kakashi fruit into its mouth. "Good boy, we'll be arriving at Lola's village soon. I'll feed you some meat when we get there." "Aw~" The giant dog barked excitedly. Seeing this, Aruka shook his head. "My dear daughter, 'Auna.' Although Becca isn't a direwolf, if you keep feeding him only vegetables, that's not really good for him." "What's the problem? As long as Becca likes eating them." "But have you ever thought that those Kakashi fruits were only obtained by your dad shamelessly asking for them? You really..." "You nag too much, dad. Anyway, we're almost at Queen Lola's place. There will be plenty of Kakashi fruits by then." "Mm..." Facing his rebellious daughter, Aruka didn't know what to say, so he simply let Auna be. Looking back at the marching team, he saw direwolves of all sizes carrying one or more werewolves each. Together, they advanced through the forest, and at a glance, there were over eighty werewolves. At least twenty were clad in leather armor, armed, and rode upon the direwolves—these were the elite warriors of the Bloodfanged Tribe: the direwolf cavalry! They were currently escorting the werewolves of the Bloodfanged Tribe toward the forest's perimeter—there was where Lola's camp lay. The walled camps could protect the tribe's elderly and young from the threat of zombies. The journey passed without incident, and Aruka let out a sigh of relief. "We really must thank Lola and Queen Serea properly." "You're nagging again, dad! Let's move!" "Right, it's getting dark. We must reach the elven village soon." He was about to issue the order to quicken their pace when, suddenly, a signal flare shot up in the distance. "Hmm? What's going on?" Seeing the light from the signal flare, Aruka felt uneasy, and Auna had already knitted her brows. "That's coming from Lola's tribe's direction!" "!!!" Hearing Auna's words, Aruka felt his apprehension deepen, so he issued his orders. "Marching halt. Third company stays to guard. First and second company, come scout ahead with me. Move out!" Aruka rode his silver direwolf and charged into the forest first, followed by fifteen werewolf cavalry on gray direwolves. "Becca, let's go too!" "Aw!" The giant dog obeyed its master, dashing forward at speeds rivaling the direwolves. Carrying Auna, it kept up with Aruka and his team. Seeing his precious daughter follow, Aruka wanted to say something but ultimately stayed silent. He had to admit, with Auna there, he felt a bit more at ease. "Direwolf cavalry, charge!" "Aw aw aw!" Wolf howls echoed through the forest as they collectively rushed forward. With the direwolves' rapid charge, they soon spotted figures moving up ahead. ... A few minutes earlier... "Stop! You can't escape!" Dorothsam was leading his clansmen in a frantic dash through the forest, chased by a squad of armored human soldiers. Although, with their agile bodies and knowledge of the terrain, the elves could easily shake off their pursuers, there were wounded and children in their group—they could not abandon them. "Hurry, run!" Dorothsam supported an injured archer, but that person shook his head. "No, dorothsam, leave me here. I can't run any farther. The only thing I can do is buy you time to escape the humans." "Don't say foolish things. The Darkmoon clan never abandons a companion." "It's impossible. We are burdens—only slowing you down." With that, the archer pushed Dorothsam away, collapsing to the ground without support. "You..." "Go, I'll hold them off. Don't forget, I'm still a warrior!" The injured elven archer insisted. Upon hearing this, the other archers glanced at one another, and then they too stopped. "You go on. This is our territory. We'll draw the enemy away, then catch up to you later." One archer said, and then other rangers and archers—even the injured—stayed behind as well. "Everyone..." "Go!" The archers were resolute. After saying this, they hurried to find cover. The injured gathered together, hoping to help each other when the enemy arrived. "Sta—" The human soldiers caught up, led by a swordsman wielding a sharp blade. But just as he reached them, an arrow pierced through his brow. "It's the archers! Everyone, take cover and push forward!" Upon learning that the main force was made up of archers, the human soldiers had their shield-bearers lead the front. With their armor, the elven archers could no longer cause any damage. "Damn it!" As the enemy closed in, the archers' range advantage began to dwindle. They had to move closer to protect the wounded left behind. Engagement was imminent! The elves' rangers were forced to the front, but, after all, they were rangers, not true front-line fighters, and they were wounded. Against the charging humans, they had no chance. Still, they stood their ground. "Try to capture them alive! Lord Annika needs elves!" The command was issued, and the human warriors began to surround the injured rangers. "Everyone!" At this, the archers panicked, losing their composure. Once arrows are shot in panic, archers lose much of their fighting power. "Form up, charge! Teams, scatter the enemy archers!" The human commander kept his cool. He was none other than Cliff's adjutant, "Merlin." Facing the humans' charge, the archers gritted their teeth and shot arrows madly. But when the arrows struck the armored soldiers, they were useless. The enemy was about to close in, and Merlin showed a victorious smile. It was over! But at that moment, mournful wolf howls rose all around the forest. Aw aw aw! "Huh? A wolf pack? Why are they here?" Merlin was puzzled, glancing around, but with only the howls to go by, he couldn't determine their source. Then a voice replied: "For the friends of the great forest—Direwolf cavalry, charge!" (To be continued)