Dark Moon Era

The wolves arrived spectacularly on the second night.

Not many people were scared of the wolves’ annual attack which was similar to the offering ceremony.

Usually, as long as the walls remained standing, the number of casualties would be under control. The only time the number of casualties would increase was when the wolves arrived at the wooden barricades and started digging their way in or clawing at the walls. When that happened, shooting arrows from the top of the walls could not fend them off anymore because the villagers could not keep up with their speed of damage.

Then, the warriors would take the lead with a group of wandering hunters to slay the wolves at the most concentrated point. Only then could the villagers stop the wolves from overrunning the village.

Since it was melee combat, casualties would be expected, but they only had to defend the village until the first light. Every year, the wolves attacked at night. When the Purple Moon rose, the wolves gathered in packs. They would attack the walls ferociously to no end and retreat like the fading tide when the sun rose.

It was one of the three mysteries of the Raqir Plains: the invisible temple, the bloody wolf attack, and the Goddess Tear Lake where God was slain.

“So, no one cared about why the wolves retreat at first light anymore?” Tang Ling stepped aside and dodged the huge wolf claw.

The grade A alloy dagger stabbed the greedy wolf king diagonally, leaving another cut on its body. The extremely dangerous fight with the wolf king attracted cries of shock from the villagers who were defending at the top of the walls.

What else was more thrilling than this bold way of fending off the wolves? No stalling, no range attacks, no trenches with fire, and not even a group of hunters were needed for his style of close combat.

The young boy dove into the sea of wolves, and all the others had to do was cover him with bow and arrows.

Tang Ling was going for the alpha wolf. He was the one who came up with this bold defense strategy. He decided to go with that plan when he heard from Valencia that all the wolves were under a single alpha wolf’s command.

“If all of you trust me, remember, I only need archers, the best ones that you’ve got. The archers have only one job, which is to cover me and nothing else.” Tang Ling’s orders were simple, but no one doubted him the slightest bit because they had already seen his display of ridiculous power, and he was willing to stay behind to help the villagers fend off the wolves.

Those who stayed behind in the village were already gambling with their lives, so why not go all-in with these stakes? Moreover, they were grasslanders that lived by a motto, ‘If I trust you and acknowledge you, I won’t be afraid to place my life in your hands.’

However, no one expected this to work, so everyone thought of sacrificing themselves gloriously in the end.

Their ancestors had lived through the drastic change of the Purple Moon era, and what they bequeathed their descendants was not the wooden walls but the fearless attitude against death. It truly was their biggest wealth. They were fearless for the sake of survival. They were fearless for the sake of freedom and glory.

Nevertheless, once again, Tang Ling created a miracle before the eyes of the villagers of Barbarto Village. When the wolves were still gathering, he jumped off the tall barriers and raced into the pack.

He ran like the wind, faster than the fastest horse in the village. Not a single greedy grassland wolf could slow him down, and whenever he passed one, the wolf would die by his sword. He ran and killed, leaving a trail of blood behind him.

In less than three minutes, Tang Ling was already standing beside the giant alpha wolf and his sword was still dripping with the blood of the wolves he had killed.

All the archers on the top of the walls were spurred by Tang Ling’s performance, and at the same time, confused by his request. Did he not request for cover?

As a matter of fact, Tang Ling did not even need their help along his way to the alpha wolf. He alone was on a rampage and slaughtered his way to the alpha wolf in a flash.

Now, the real fight started from here! The alpha wolf was not just powerful on its own. Around it was eight more greedy grassland wolves known as beta wolves. The nine wolves always moved together, and whenever any one of them was engaged in a fight, the other eight would gang up on the enemy.

Was Tang Ling scared though? He was fearless! He had identified the alpha wolf as a Level 4 mutated beast while the eight beta wolves were just Level 2 mutated beasts, so he could fight them all. Therefore, the battle became his solo performance.

What else could be more exciting and arousing than the precise and thrilling battle? The villagers who had never seen such accuracy were overwhelmed.

The dodges were all performed in the nick of time like he had predicted the attacks. The stance he took was constantly changing and he would stand at the most precise location with the most advantage to his fight every single time. As for his attacks, they were like vipers hiding in the bushes, ambushing the target with a rapid strike and always landing on the weakest spot.

It was then when the cover from the archers become useful, but they would also have to catch the timing perfectly. Tang Ling would sometimes be surrounded by five or more wolves and the attacks came at him from all directions. The archers were responsible for distracting the alpha wolf to stop it from ambushing Tang Ling.

The alpha and the beta wolves were all astoundingly large. The alpha wolf itself was half as big as a copper-skinned cow while the beta wolves were as big as calves. Unfortunately, because of their size, they were not able to pounce on their target together at once.

However, wolves were cunning animals. They knew how to work together and utilize group tactics to hide and use their senses to locate the best angle and timing for the attack. Nevertheless, their senses were no match for Tang Ling’s Precise Instinct.

Slash!

He brandished his sword furiously, and separated a beta wolf’s head from its body.

He jumped forward and shoved the next beta wolf’s lunge away with his body. While he was tumbling away, he yanked the beta wolf’s body along and used its back to block the bites from the other wolves.

At the same time, he held the dagger in reverse in front of his forearm. As he extended his hand, he blocked the alpha wolf’s bite from his side. When the dagger clashed with its sharp teeth, he twisted it upwards and flung it forward, perforating the alpha wolf’s tongue.

The alpha wolf retreated with a bloody mouth. Tang Ling had Lionel to thank for this killer move, which he had renamed ‘Tang Ling Phantom Stab’.

He tossed the beta wolf that he seized into another beta wolf. Then, he regained his steps and swung his sword to the right, slashing another beta wolf.

His precise performance attracted overwhelming cheers from above the wooden barricades. What a stellar performance! He blocked the attacks of nine wolves among the sea of wolves and even killed a beta wolf!

Those with sharper eyes would notice that Tang Ling was using his sword against the beta wolves and would only use the dagger against the alpha wolf. He was not going after a single strike kill. Instead, he left cut after cut on the alpha wolf’s body.

The level of his combat technique was astoundingly high! The longsword and the short dagger danced in harmony as the young boy performed his ability to separate his attention gracefully! He seemed to live for battle. To anyone watching, he was an artist of battle.

The kill did not stop with one beta wolf. The number continued to climb higher.

A minute later, a beta wolf that jumped on Tang Ling and tried to bite his neck was gutted with a single powerful slash.

Three minutes later, another beta wolf that tried to ambush him was kicked after a quick tumble. He crippled its hind legs before he slashed its torso.

Five minutes later, another beta wolf that tried to bite him from the back was stopped short by his shoulder strike and slammed towards a huge rock, dying on impact.

Seven minutes later…

As the beta wolves died one after another, Tang Ling got quicker with the kills and in less than ten minutes, the alpha wolf realized that there were only two more beta wolves around to its shock. As for its enemy, the terrifyingly powerful human that was like the Grim Reaper seemed to know no exhaustion.

Under the purple moonbeam, he was covered in the greedy grassland wolf’s unique glowing blood, making him look like a glowing demon king.

The alpha wolf jumped out of the battle all of a sudden! The two beta wolves must secure its temporary retreat for it to use its ultimate skill, the Moonhowl.

There were a total of 12 wolf kings in the grasslands, and six of them would come out each year to attack the respective village. However, not a single wolf king used the Moonhowl at all throughout the years because it would summon the other wolf kings to the location as reinforcement.

After using the Moonhowl, the wolf king would fall into a weakened state since howling at a frequency that humans could not hear and spreading it out to the entire grasslands required tremendous energy.

Would Tang Ling allow the wolf king to perform the skill though? He fixed his eyes on the wolf king’s action. He knew that as a Level 4 mutated beast, it had its own unique way of assault which he had been waiting for since the start of the battle. Even the villagers from all six villages were unable to tell him what the wolf king had under its sleeve because they never got the chance to find out.

Therefore, when the wolf king moved away from the battle, Tang Ling followed and the two beta wolves chased him tirelessly.

The wolf king could not shake Tang Ling off due to the many cuts on its body that were bleeding ceaselessly, affecting its mobility. Regardless of the mutation, no matter how ferocious an animal was, excessive bleeding might not kill it instantly but would definitely influence its mobility.

The wolf king dared not delay anymore. It quickly sat down on its haunches and raised its great head to the Purple Moon. An enormous amount of energy started to gather at its throat.

Tang Ling no longer possessed the ability to see the flow of energy or weak spots, but he was able to sense that the wolf king was gathering energy. Therefore, he stabbed his dagger at the wolf king’s eye from an unexpected angle.

The wolf king did not dodge the stab. Instead, it turned its head to Tang Ling, allowing him a free aim at its eye. If Tang Ling really stabbed its eyes, he still would not be able to stop the Moonhowl. Even if he swung his longsword, all he could do was defend against a single attack from the wolf king. It seemed like he had run out of options, but then, another shocking scene happened.

Tang Ling let go of his dagger and tossed his sword out. Both weapons exchanged places in the air and landed in the other hand respectively.

When the dagger landed, his thumb flung it out and it stabbed the throat of the beta wolf which almost landed a bite on his shoulder. The momentum with his sword continued as he swung it forward after he gripped it tightly. The sword plunged smoothly into the wolf king’s throat, stopping the Moonhowl in its throat.

Blood splashed as the wolf king’s head flew up into the night sky before it fell on the ground. Without the alpha wolf, the sea of wolves in the grassland erupted into chaos right away. They lost their attacking tempo and scattered around like headless flies.

There was only one beta wolf left and it was able to partially control the other wolves. Unfortunately, it ran into Tang Ling. With the other beta wolves dead, how could it possibly survive? Because it was just a Level 2 mutated beast, Tang Ling only took 19 seconds to kill it.

The windy night breeze whistled across the grasslands under the night sky. It blew Tang Ling’s shirt that was tainted with the glowing blood of the wolves and made his hair flutter.

He stood alone in the sea of wolves, but not a single one dared to move close to him. They whimpered weakly and ran. With all the beta wolves and the alpha wolf, which was one of the 12 wolf kings, dead, the wolf pack had lost their leader. They scattered in groups and eventually disappeared beyond the horizon of the grasslands.

Tang Ling sheathed his longsword before he lifted the wolf king’s big head while he held his dagger in the other hand. He would never forget his spoils. The fang of the wolf was excellent forging material that could be ground into flying knives.

What about crystals? There were nine mutated beasts around him. Would there be any crystals in them?

Tang Ling started to salvage his spoils, but the villagers at the top of the walls could never forget the scene of him standing under the moon. Wielding a sword in one hand while being covered in blood, the glowing young boy stood tall in the wind and dominated the wolf pack while his faint smile that resembled a Grim Reaper’s was mesmerizing.

Was he the God of War? Maybe even a reincarnated God of War that could kill a wolf with a single blow could not fight as artistically as the young boy. It was overwhelming and would leave an impression in one’s heart forever to the extent that one could also infinitely benefit from his battle.

“He killed the beta wolves with the sword and attacked the alpha with the dagger! He did that on purpose to confuse the alpha so that in the end, it wasn’t wary of his sword. But who could have thought of such a tactic? Exchanging weapons in both his hands in the midst of a battle!” Valencia slid down the wall and ran swiftly in the night breeze while analyzing excitedly. She was a talented young lady, and after witnessing Tang Ling’s battle, her battle talent was aroused as she seemed to understand his battle tactic.

Since Tang Ling was a natural warrior, he possessed instinctive battle techniques. Still, it mattered not because he had buried a seed in Valencia’s heart, and with her talent, the seed would sprout into a sapling and eventually grow into a towering tree.

“Hurry! Get the cows and sheep ready. Prepare the best horse milk wine! We are going to hold a feast for our hero!” someone among the villagers cheered loudly.

The people reacted to the situation and scrambled down the walls. Some were bold enough to open the gates as a horse was prepared because they wanted to welcome their hero with the warmest hospitality.

Tang Ling tossed the last crystal into his little pouch. He then turned around to Barbarto Village, his gaze deep. He then walked towards the south and never turned back. Although he did not even run, his figure swiftly disappeared into the night.

The hero had left much to the disappointment of the villagers.

“After tonight, the people of Barbarto Village will never forget him,” said one of the villagers. He then added, “Don’t look for him or keep him. This young boy is a hero. He’s destined to walk his glorious path, and tonight, coincidentally he shed his splendid light on Barbarto Village.”