Kaylon glanced in the direction the monsters were stampeding, then looked at the silent, towering beast in the distance, quickly making calculations in his mind.
Right now, the monsters were focused solely on fleeing and would not actively attack.
But with so many of them riding wolves directly into the oncoming rush, it was inevitable that they would be scattered.
He immediately pointed at a young Warrior in the team and said in a deep voice,
“You, head back to town immediately to deliver a message. An anomaly has occurred in the dungeon—a giant beast has emerged, and the monster tide is fleeing north. Tell them to quickly organize the town's defenses and not to be careless.”
The young Warrior froze for a moment, seeming as if he wanted to say something, but was forced back by Kaylon's cold gaze.
He could only pull his wolf's head around immediately and gallop away toward Blackcreek Town.
Kaylon turned around and said to the remaining team members in a heavy voice,
“Form a wedge formation and stay close to me. The monsters are only focused on running away right now and won't attack of their own accord, but if you get knocked down by them, no one will be able to save you.”
The team members immediately went into action, quickly organizing themselves.
Kaylon led the charge, with the Deputy Captain guarding his rear-left, the Shield Guards lining both flanks, and the Archers and Mages protected in the middle of the formation.
The wolf mounts lowered their bodies, their ears pinning flat against their heads, letting out low whimpers from their throats.
Urged on by their masters, they pressed forward.
The oncoming monsters instinctively veered to both sides when they saw the team.
Occasionally, a few panicked monsters that had lost their way crashed into them, only to be firmly pushed back by the Shield Guards on either side or cleaved down by the swords of the nearby Warriors.
“Maintain your speed!” Kaylon shouted. “Don't chase the monsters, don't stop, and absolutely do not break formation!”
A Miasma Hound brushed past Kaylon's leg, its warm fur sweeping against his knee, carrying a pungent, foul stench.
After running a few paces, the Miasma Hound couldn't help but look back, its eyes filled with utter terror.
It was not afraid of Kaylon, but rather of the direction of the giant beast behind him.
Kaylon did not look back. He simply gripped the reins tightly, nudging with his legs.
He urged his lead wolf mount forward, taking step after step toward the reshaping land and the silent, colossal beast.
In the distance, the market at the dungeon entrance had been pushed far away, leaving behind only an indistinct silhouette.
The giant beast still stood there like a silent mountain range, majestic and terrifying.
The cold wind howled past, whipping up a flurry of ash and dust into the sky.
The air was filled with an indescribable, metallic and astringent scent.
Perhaps it was the air that had been buried deep underground for a thousand years, finally seeing the light of day again.
The pace of Kaylon's lead wolf gradually slowed.
It was not due to a lack of stamina, but an instinctive hesitation and resistance.
He could clearly feel the mount beneath him resisting.
Its muscles were tense, its ears pinned flat against its skull, and every step it took was heavy and stiff, as if walking on red-hot branding irons.
Kaylon squeezed his legs, gently nudging its ribs with his knees to reassure it that there was no need to fear.
The gray wolf's steps stabilized slightly, but its ears never perked back up; the underlying terror had never truly dissipated.
Most of the wolves ridden by the team members behind him were the same; some slowed down, while others tucked their tails and refused to budge.
Someone muttered in a low voice, saying that this was no longer something that fifty gold coins could compensate for.
No one refuted it, nor did anyone agree. Silence enveloped the team, weighing heavily on everyone's heart.
“Keep formation!” the Deputy Captain bellowed at the top of his lungs, but his voice lacked conviction, unable to hide the panic in his heart.
A young Swordsman suddenly slid off his wolf's back.
His hands had long been paralyzed by fear, unable to even grip the reins.
He slumped on the ground, his eyes fixed on the increasingly colossal beast ahead, his mouth opening and closing as he gasped for air in vain.
“I... I'm not going... I'm not going... I don't want the fifty gold coins anymore... I don't want to die...”
The Deputy Captain nudged his wolf forward to pull him up, but his hand was violently slapped away.
The young Swordsman threw himself onto the ground, burying his face deep in his arms. His shoulders shook uncontrollably, his suppressed whimpers sounding exceptionally clear in the silence.
The promise of fifty gold coins still echoed in their ears, but at this moment, fear had completely overwhelmed greed.
Kaylon did not look back. His gaze remained locked on the silent mountain in the distance from beginning to end.
That was where the giant beast stood, and it was their destination.
But now, there was only a suffocating sense of pressure radiating from it.
More people gradually slowed down, quietly falling behind the team and widening the distance between themselves and those in front.
They did not speak or shout; they simply fell behind in silence, like fine sand slipping quietly through fingers—noiseless, yet irreversible.
The monster tide gradually thinned out.
The ground bulged more and more violently, and the crisscrossing cracks and ravines channeled the fleeing monsters in different directions.
Ancient buildings rose out of thin air, blocking the path of most of the monsters.
Kaylon couldn't tell if this was a stroke of luck, or if this sleeping land itself was quietly filtering out intruders.
“Speed up!” Kaylon suddenly roared.
The lead wolf lunged forward in response, its sharp claws scraping against the shattered stone slabs with a harsh, grating sound, kicking up faint sparks.
In this kind of broken ruin terrain, wolves were far more agile than horses.
They could easily scale steep slopes of nearly sixty degrees and find the most stable footing amidst the chaotic piles of rubble.
And they could leap across chasms several yards wide.
These wolves of Silver Heart had been painstakingly domesticated from wild packs over several years by the lord backing Kaylon, with each one worth over a hundred gold coins.
And now, it was finally time to put this massive investment to use.
The entire team wound through the ruins of Ancient Glay like a gray serpent.
Figures gradually appeared in the distance—all of them adventurers fleeing for their lives.
They ran in groups of three or five, some on horseback, some on foot, and some even barefoot.
Their clothes were in tatters, their faces smeared with blood and dust, and their eyes were wide with a single, bone-deep emotion: terror.
“Don't go any further!” a bearded Warrior shouted toward Kaylon, his voice filled with urgency and bewilderment.
“That way is hell! Everyone is running out, yet you guys are charging in! Do you have a death wish?”
Kaylon did not stop. The gray wolf sped past the Warrior like a gust of wind, the draft fluttering his tattered cloak and scattering his warnings.
Several more adventurers shouted in succession behind them.
“They're crazy!”
“We can't stop them.”
Some said nothing at all, merely shaking their heads as they watched the backs of this team marching against the tide.
The only exception was a young female Mage.
Several holes were burned into her robes, and she tightly clutched half of a broken staff, her face covered in tear stains.
She screamed at Kaylon's team, “Can you take me with you? My brother is still inside, he hasn't come out yet...”
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