We Are Fucked!

Awooooo!~

Multiple howls came surging in from different directions and before long, over a dozen creatures appeared before them.

They were packs of pitch-black wolves with glowing red eyes and blood mist exuding from their form.

These three-meter-tall creatures were highly intelligent and known to hunt in packs with ambush tactics.

{Bloodshadow Wolves!} Veyra exclaimed, notifying the others.

Bloodshadow Wolves were Tier 2 Greater Beasts with power levels ranging from Lvl 68–124, which was equivalent to Eryndor races Primal Master, Primal Grandmaster, and Primal Highlord Realms.

{Hold your positions and do not engage. We don't wanna give out our location} The captain ordered and they slowly retreated to the building behind them.

{Captain, there's something suspicious about these beasts} Watching the Bloodshadow Wolves slowly close the distance, Skylar's eyes narrowed as he spotted a fairly discernible red mark on their heads.

The mark was of two overlapped triangles facing opposite directions, with six pointed angles forming the shape of a six-pointed star—a Hexagram.

{What's on your visuals, Skylar?} asked the captain.

{There are traces of spiritual marks from a Beast Master on their heads. I think we've walked right into a trap} Right after he said that...

Awooooo!~

Grrraaowwrr!~

The Bloodshadow Wolves pounced.

{ENGAGE!!!} Captain Voss shouted while pointing at the inbound Bloodshadow Wolves with his fist clenched tight.

Skylar, Ren, and Voss sprang into action while Veyra, and Lyra—the team's advance medic, stayed behind with a foldable energy shield strapped to her back.

She was their last defensive option if things went south. The compact energy shield was designed to deploy instantly to provide cover for both herself and her team during an escape.

VREEEEEE-CHAK!!!

The sharp high-pitched sound of Skylar's dual Helix Blasters building up plasma resonated before releasing with a faint hum—like static electricity dispersing into the air.

SHRRZZT!

The sound of plasma searing through flesh could be heard as an inbound Bloodshadow Wolf was split in half from the middle down. Blood dyed the ground red like raindrops falling from the skies.

———

{[System Notification]}

Beast Eliminated: Lvl 77 Bloodshadow Wolf

Kill Points (KP) Gained: +77

[Silver Tier Kill Rankings Update]

Current Rank: 779 in Beastslayer Leaderboard

Next Rank: 778 (Requires 294 points)

Overall KP: 19, 232

———

The kill ranking system of the Nova Vanguard was divided into five tiers: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond. With every tier holding a set number of soldiers.

The Silver Tier includes 150,000 elite soldiers who are ranked based on their combat experience and kill points earned through missions. Each level represents a threshold of confirmed kills or significant victories during battle.

The Bloodshadow Wolves were slowly dwindling in numbers. Blood dyed the desert sands red and a metallic smell of blood filled the air as the team gained the upper hand.

Blue-white spirals of energy streaked across the battlefield as Skylar reaped lives with his double Helix Blasters.

He moved nimbly with deadly precision despite being in a battlesuit, rolling under the swipes from the sharp claws of a Bloodshadow Wolf that came within inches of his chest, glinting in a cold light.

Skylar's breath hitched as one lunged at him from a blind spot. Still regaining his balance, he turned to block its attack with his left arm.

His battlesuit's defense mode activated and a red energy shield projected outward from his forearm in the direction of the inbound Bloodshadow Wolf.

SPLAT!

The impact which Skylar was expecting never came, instead, a faint splatter of blood and brain matter was accompanied by an eerie silence that followed.

Benjamin glanced at the now headless carcass of the Bloodshadow Wolf, blood pooling the ground beneath it.

{You almost got yourself killed, Skylar. For a Silver Tier Vanguard, that's very disappointing} Veyra's mocking voice came through the comms, {You can keep the thanks by the way}

Skylar's brow raised in surprise; he was a little taken aback by her shamelessness, but then he shook his head. Deeming her unworthy of a reply.

But that didn't mean someone else would watch that play through.

{For a Silver Tier sniper, you sure must be very thoughtful for letting one slip through your nose undetected, or was that intentional, Veyra?} Lyra's ridiculing voice fired back without pause.

She was also surprised that Skylar had committed such an amateur error, but after thinking it through, she had a slight recollection of the beast charging over from Veyra's side of the battlefield.

Which meant that Veyra had either done it unintentionally or out of spite for some reason unknown to them. Or... she still held Skylar accountable for the glaring scar on her face.

{Ever the lap dog, Lyra... He must be a well-hung young man for you to act this toady now, huh?} Veyra didn't back down.

{You Bitch!} Lyra bared her teeth angrily, looking ready to pounce on Veyra at any moment's notice.

Skylar, who had been watching them go tit for tat couldn't look on any longer and decided to put a stop to their antics.

He placed a hand on Lyra's shoulder to calm her down and totally ignored Veyra, whose brows scrunched up in annoyance at being ignored.

{What's our next course of action, Captain?} He asked, turning to face Voss who was squatting close to a Bloodshadow Wolf while observing the blood mark on its head.

{This is the Blood Veil Art. It's unique to Beast Masters of the Eclipse Syndicate} He said, standing up with his multi-barrel rotary energy gun held like a light tool.

{If I remember correctly, only a Beast Master of the peak Primal Grandmaster Realm or above can control Greater Beasts without being close by. If there's only one or two of them they're manageable, any more than that would be dangerous for us}

{So what do we do now? Reach out to HQ? The orders were clear from the higher-ups; Do not return until you've taken hold of the objective} Ren chimed in gruffly.

{Comms are dead, we can't reach out to HQ and also can't locate Team-A. Moving blindly into an uncharted world like Oblivion's Verge is basically suicide... We're well and truly fucked!} Veyra shook her head at their fate.

{We have no choice but to continue our search, stopping now would only derail our chances of finding something useful}

Seeing his teammates nod in agreement, Captain Voss continued, {Ren, Lyra, and I will head toward the direction the Bloodshadow Wolves came from. Skylar and Veyra, you both should search through the Hollow Expanse and then we'll rendezvous at the next region. Any objections?}

Veyra mumbled incoherently, clearly dissatisfied at being paired with Skylar, but one glare from the captain was all it took for her to accept her fate.