"Howl!"
Just a few moments after I reached the outside, I heard this loud, authoritative howl. It came from the Alpha of the wolves attacking here. But it wasn't a solitary cry. Three more howls answered from three different directions, voiced by three more Alphas.
"They are finally on the move," I muttered. I clenched my fists, the leather of my gloves creaking. I turned to look at the remaining guards of Angelica. They looked stupefied and scared, their formation wavering now that their leader was gone.
"Don't let anyone step into that room!" I barked at them, referring to the generator room where the Hybrid had been. "Keep everyone in defensive positions and try to minimise the casualties."
I didn't wait for a response. I didn't have time to see if they would even follow my orders. I started to dart towards the outside, pushing past the threshold of the museum.
"Get the hell out of my way!" I shouted as I reached the front line. I started hitting any monster that dared to block my path, carving a hole through the chaos.
The wolves were on the retreat now. The four Alphas had summoned their respective armies and seemed to be running in a single, unified direction. My mind raced as I ran. I knew that Angelica had been teleported ahead of the planned time. Furthermore, the teleportation skill had been used by a weakened baby version of a Hybrid monster.
That meant one thing: she didn't reach the designated position intended by the Angels. She was safe for now; of that, I was sure. But the situation was still dire. Summoning four wolf armies was not a joke. Each army consisted of hundreds of strong wolves which could smell a human from miles away.
The Angels had sent these strong monsters to track us down, and the fact that they were deployed in such great numbers meant they had to cover a large distance. I wondered: were they this wary of her strength? Or did they just want to make absolutely sure she wouldn't escape?
The more I thought about the mystery of Angelica, the more determination I had to save her. I couldn't let such a mysterious person die—not before I knew everything about her and why the Angels wanted her so badly.
As I started following the four armies across the park, it was inevitable for me to be detected. I wasn't being subtle.
"Howl!""Growl!"
The wolves started to turn around in groups, peeling away from the main force to attack me. However, I wasn't planning on fooling around. I took out Angelica's sword, wielding it alongside my own, and started killing those monsters with cold efficiency.
Slash!Slash!
Just one hit from each sword was enough to kill each wolf. I aimed from the start at their heads, the most direct path to a kill. Despite being overwhelmed by their numbers, I knew I couldn't afford to waste time here. Every second I was delayed was a second she was in danger.
But the constant movement and fighting made me feel tired fast. I had crossed less than half a mile, and I was already starting to pant, my lungs burning.
"This won't do…" I gritted my teeth. "Convert six thousand coins into stat points now."
This was my hidden card. So far, I had accumulated almost forty thousand coins from all the killing I had done, including the massive reward from the Hybrid. I had saved them until now so I could use them for a moment just like this.
I didn't throw all the coins into stat points, though. Once converted, I couldn't undo the process, and my coin balance was too tempting to let go of entirely. I still had more plans for after this quest was over.
[Notification: You have gained three stat points. You are free to allocate them at any stat you want.]
"Open profile," I commanded. I didn't hesitate. I added the three points to my stamina. It was previously at ten, but now it has become thirteen.
Such an increase wouldn't only affect my ability to fight longer; it would also increase the recovery rate of my stamina. I felt more refreshed instantly. My breathing steadied, and I continued hunting those wolves with renewed vigour.
As I watched the force ahead, the four armies dispersed. Three of the armies headed off in different directions to widen their search, while one army stayed behind specifically to deal with me. I was alone, but it seemed they didn't want to risk my intervention in their hunt.
"How can such a moron be an Alpha?" I sneered. If the Alpha stayed behind to delay me, the best way to overcome the obstacle was by dethroning it. I stepped forward into a clearing. "I dare you in a challenge!"
"Howl!"
The Alpha felt humiliated by the challenge. As expected, it started to run towards me. The other wolves cleared the way, forming a circle to let the two of us compete.
Slash!Slash!
Using two swords seemed a bit problematic for me at first. The weight was different, and the timing of my strikes had to change. But after handling so many wolves on the way here, I didn't find it hard anymore.
I knew there was a specific skill regarding double sword fighting in the System, but it wasn't the time to think about technicalities. I just needed to kill.
I exchanged blows with that Alpha for a dozen times before the realisation hit me: this beast was a cut above the one I had slain previously. Its hide was denser, its reflexes sharper.
"A higher tier? I can't permit you to delay me any further," I gritted my teeth. From the corner of my eye, I could already see the other wolf groups moving further away, their paths no longer fanning out but converging toward a specific, singular point in the distance.
They must have found her.
Panic and urgency flared in my chest. Without any hesitation, I instantly commanded the System: "Convert ten thousand coins into stat points!"
[Notification: You have 5 stat points ready to allocate.]
"Open profile," I thought. I instantly added three points into Strength and two points into Speed. The moment the transaction finalised, I felt a literal surge of power gushing out from my bone marrow, flooding my muscles. My movement became smoother, the air feeling less like an obstacle and more like a medium I could glide through.
"Die!"
With my enhanced agility, I could now easily evade the heavy-handed attacks of that Alpha. My twin swords moved in a blurring cross-cut, and with the added strength, I didn't just cut—I cracked open its skull like a dry gourd.
[Notification: You killed a Tier-Two Alpha monster. You gained 2,000 coins.]
The System message flickered in my vision, but I wasn't joyful yet. The reward was a pittance compared to what was at stake. Those bastards were closing in on Angelica. I could feel the window of opportunity slamming shut.
"Convert ten thousand more coins into stats!" I shouted internally, not even breaking my stride as I started to run. I received my five stat points while my boots were still thundering against the turf.
Just in the previous few minutes, I had converted a staggering twenty-six thousand coins into thirteen stat points. This was a massive gamble, an investment of wealth that most wouldn't see for months. This time, I added all five points into Strength.
My Strength stat, which was previously stuck at a baseline of ten, had now reached eighteen. It was as if I had doubled my physical power in a heartbeat, and I had done it for one singular purpose: to become an unstoppable force.
"Bang!""Bang!""Bang!"
Just like a heavy freight train smashing through anything standing on its rails, I penetrated the three armies of wolves without pausing for even a single second. I didn't need finesse anymore.
Every time my shoulder or my sword made contact with a monster, it was like a bomb had exploded. All the wolves I faced were thrown high into the air, their bones shattered by the sheer kinetic energy of my passage. I cleared a wide, bloody path in front of me.
I didn't look back to see if they were dead or not; the lack of System notifications for every single kill didn't matter. I only focused on moving forward with all my might.
"Howl!""Howl!"
Two Alphas suddenly appeared in the path ahead, acting as a final bulkhead. They were accompanied by dozens of larger, meaner-looking guard wolves.
"Looking eager for a party? But I have to disappoint you… Bang! Bang!"
I didn't slow down. I met the first Alpha with my lead sword, the impact sending the massive beast flying far away into the air like a discarded toy. My second sword caught one of the guards standing nearby, and it faced the same explosive fate as its leader.
They looked like Tier-Two monsters—strong enough to wipe out a dozens of normal humans—but compared to my new Strength stat, they looked pathetic. I didn't have to use my sword twice on any of them.
A fight that should have been brutal, a struggle that should have defined a human's first quest in the apocalypse, turned into a one-sided massacre by my overwhelming power.
"Bang!"
The last wolf standing between me and the convergence point was thrown away, tumbling through the underbrush. Finally, the terrain opened up, and I got to see what was going on at the front.
"This… There are even traitors here?!!"
The scene in front of me was genuinely shocking. I had come here expecting only wolves to be the problem, a simple matter of monster-slaying. But just up ahead, I saw a group of fifty humans. They were surrounding one girl in the middle, their faces twisted with malice as they tried to strike her down.
I didn't need to use Angelica's compass to know their identities. Humans standing side-by-side with monsters to kill their own kind—there was no other word for them. They were the traitors.
"Good girl!" I whispered.
It seemed we had all underestimated this little "witch." Just as the traitors and wolves gathered around her for the kill, a shimmering, translucent hemisphere of energy erupted, surrounding Angelica and keeping her safe from the blades and claws.
"The Ball of Protection… Another surprising gear," I muttered. My eyes couldn't mistake the distinct geometric shimmer of that specific defensive item.
It was a one-time-use item, incredibly rare and carrying a high price tag in the hidden markets. Once activated, the Ball of Protection created an absolute sanctuary. No one could break it unless they possessed a Strength stat that was at least double the defensive stat of the user inside.
"Considering she bought it from the market," I analysed, watching the traitors fruitlessly hammer against the barrier, "that means she already raised her defensive stat significantly before the quest even started."
"Howl!"
The wolves wouldn't even let me watch the scene in peace. They lunged from the front, their eyes glowing with a feral, collective madness. I had already slayed three out of the four Alphas, effectively removing three distinct armies from the strategic equation.
Only one organised army remained, and it was currently packed in a tight, suffocating circle around Angelica's Ball of Protection, snapping and clawing at the shimmering energy in a desperate attempt to crack the shell.
"Bang!""Bang!"
I didn't need to be subtle. Just waving my swords around with my newly bolstered Strength created a spectacle of gore and kinetic force that made me visible to everyone in the clearing.
Despite the carnage I had left in my wake, the traitors here clearly never expected me to catch up to them so soon. They had calculated for a delay, not a juggernaut.
"Kill him!" one of the men shouted, pointing a gloved finger at me.
Surprisingly, the remaining Alpha responded to his command as if the man were a superior officer. It was a bizarre sight; I had never seen a traitor exert that level of direct authority over System wolves this early in the game.
But that wasn't the most pressing issue. Seeing the meticulous arrangement of the enemy and the sophisticated defensive preparations of Angelica made me crave a conversation with her even more.
She must be someone incredibly special to attract this level of focused hostility, I thought. I hadn't received this kind of "VIP treatment" from the Angels yet. Aside from myself and the other person with the ability to rewind time, what could she possibly be to merit a Tier-Three Hybrid and an army of fifty traitors?
"Bang!""Bang!"
Despite being lost in thought, my hands moved with mechanical precision. I swatted away the wolves coming at me with ease. The gap between our Strength stats was now a chasm; even a Tier-Two Alpha wouldn't stand a chance against me in a direct contest of power.
"Whoosh!"
I lunged forward, intending to break the traitors' line, but a sudden shimmering wall of force erupted in my path, stopping me dead in my tracks.
"You can't be serious!"
Seeing a second Ball of Protection being deployed made my scalp go numb with disbelief. Each of these items cost at least twenty thousand coins in the hidden markets, and that was just the starting price for the auctions.
To see two people with enough liquid capital to throw away forty thousand coins on one-time-use items was statistically impossible for the first quest.
What the hell are these people? I wondered, a spike of paranoia hitting me. Were they the ones who came back in time and not me?
I stared at the semi-transparent surface standing between me and those fifty bastards. They were all well-equipped, and strangely, they all wore the exact same Spartan-style helmet Angelica had worn at the museum.
I could see the corners of their mouths tilting up behind their visors—they were confident. They believed they could kill her, and then they could kill me.
"Howl!"
"Go to hell," I snapped, kicking a wolf away. I wasn't in the mood to accommodate the small fry anymore. Unfortunately, the Alpha had retreated inside the traitors' shield, staying just out of my reach.
"Did you call for reinforcements? Really? Just one man?" the leader of the traitors sneered. His voice was loud and carried easily through the magical barrier. "Let's see how he fares against all the armies in this park. Kol, use the horn."
"The horn?" I narrowed my eyes. I didn't recognise the specific phrase, but in the apocalypse, anything called "The Horn" usually preceded a massacre.
One of the traitors stepped forward, pulling a small, seemingly insignificant bronze horn from his belt. He blew into it, and a long, drawn-out tone echoed across the Great Lawn—a sound so deep and resonant it felt like it was vibrating in my very marrow.
"The Horn of Leadership… Damn!"
I couldn't underestimate that relic. I instantly turned my back to the traitors' shield, shifting my stance to face the darkness of the park. I wasn't worried about them hitting me from behind; that shield was a double-edged seal. No one could get in, but no one could get out either, until the energy was exhausted or smashed by overwhelming force.
"Now, let's have a nice talk, my sweetie," the traitor leader said, his voice dripping with a predatory confidence. He turned his attention back to the trapped Angelica, ignoring me as if I were already a dead man.
I knew the mechanics of that bronze horn. The Horn of Leadership was a top-tier gear used to exert control over scattered, leaderless monsters. To use it, the player had to pay a hefty amount of coins for every monster called. The wolves from the three armies I had dismantled were currently in disarray, wandering the park without their Alphas.
To make things worse, that traitor seemed to be spending over a hundred thousand coins at this very moment to reel them all back in. He was summoning every scattered wolf from the three broken armies directly to my location.
I was about to face nearly two thousand wolves head-on in a single wave, while the traitors sat comfortably behind their barrier, waiting for the wolves to crush Angelica's defences.
But would I let them do what they wanted?
"No f*cking way!" I growled, bracing my feet against the blood-soaked grass.