Chapter 002: Night Battle 2

“Rotting Corpse Wolves!?” Chenchen’s puzzled voice appeared in Du Fan’s mind. “How could such creatures appear here? Weren’t they said to only exist in the southern swamps?”
Du Fan was stunned. Realizing Chenchen had recognized these monsters, he quickly asked in his mind, “Do these monsters have any weaknesses?”
“I… I’m not entirely sure. I seem to have seen them before, but… I can’t remember their weaknesses…” Chenchen seemed distressed. “But… you must be very careful around them… If all else fails… run away quickly…”
After saying that, no matter how much Du Fan asked in his mind, Chenchen remained silent. Du Fan guessed that she might have remembered something from the past, but in such a critical moment, he couldn’t stop to ask her further. He could only grit his teeth and focus ahead.
At that moment, although occasional flashes of combat energy could be seen, it seemed the previous attack had also enraged the three Rotting Corpse Wolves. Their fangs and claws were longer than when they first appeared, and their movements were several times faster.
A Temple Knight swung his knight’s sword, which flashed brightly, and slashed at one of the wolves’ heads. With a “thud,” the sword pierced into the wolf’s skull.
Yet the wolf seemed unharmed. It let out a hoarse roar, raised its claws, and swung at the Temple Knight.
The Knight’s greatest disadvantage was that he was unarmed at that moment and couldn’t draw his sword immediately. He could only grit his teeth, gather all his combat energy, and form a shield of light…
Boom—
With a scream, the Knight was thrown backward, crashing heavily into a tree. After falling to the ground, he spat out a mouthful of blood. Fortunately, thanks to the properties of the Light Combat Energy, his last desperate effort had managed to block the fatal blow. Without that protection, this Level 6 Temple Knight would likely have been killed.

The remaining few Templar Knights couldn’t help but change expressions upon seeing their comrades in such a state. These men had been carefully selected; though their strength wasn’t at the top of the Templar Knights’ ranks, they could still cause havoc anywhere in Roland Continent. But against these three Corpse Wolves, their level 6 combat energy meant nothing. No wonder the Snow Fox Mercenary Group had been hunted to such a state earlier.

Since they were able to enter the Ice Plains, the Snow Fox Mercenary Group must be quite strong. Yet, facing these three Corpse Wolves, they ended up like this—it was terrifying just to think about it.

“Bang—Bang—”

Two more Templar Knights were sent flying. Among the Templar Knights who had followed Du Fan here, aside from Ferre, only one remained. The three Corpse Wolves seemed to realize that those Templar Knights were the main force. After knocking out two of them, the wolves rushed at the remaining two.

Ferre’s face turned pale. They weren’t wearing any armor, and facing these Corpse Wolves, they had to be extremely cautious at all times. Even a slight touch would mean certain death. Fighting in such conditions felt rather constrained. To make matters worse, these Corpse Wolves were incredibly strong, seemingly covered in venom, and moved at great speed—far too fast to deal with in a short time.

Seeing more comrades get knocked away, Ferre roared in anger. His knight sword sliced through the air as he unleashed another Holy Light Cross Slash. This time, perhaps using all his strength, the holy light above the slash burned fiercely.

Faced with this attack, the Corpse Wolves seemed somewhat fearful. They shrank back, preparing to dodge.

The other Templar Knight shouted from his spot, twisting his knight sword and delivering several Holy Light Cross Slashes in quick succession.

With several “thwack” sounds, a deep, bone-reaching wound appeared on the back of the lead Corpse Wolf…

That Templar Knight had already charged forward. His knight sword glowed with holy light, clearly as if he had concentrated all his Light Combat Energy into it—meaning he had given up on defense.

The sword’s power and speed were impressive. If it hit the Corpse Wolf, it could likely split it in half. But the wolf suddenly stepped back, opened its mouth, and its black tongue, covered in spikes and barbs, lashed out, with black liquid emitting green smoke from it.

The Temple Knight’s expression changed drastically, but it was clear he had already thrown himself into the fight. His sword remained in motion, continuing to swing toward the head of the Corpse Wolf. At that moment, Feray shouted loudly and charged at the Temple Knight, swinging his knight’s sword with all his strength at the suddenly appearing black tongue. With two loud “bangs,” Feray’s sword struck the tongue, but the extremely durable sword broke in half. Still, with that strike, Feray managed to push the Temple Knight aside. The two rolled across the snow, managing to avoid that nearly fatal blow. Even the Temple Knight’s sword, made of steel with somemysterious silver added, couldn’t withstand the Corpse Wolf’s tongue, showing just how monstrous it was. Although Feray managed to cut the tongue, its momentum didn’t lessen at all. It spun in the air and swung toward Du Fan’s direction. Du Fan knew that even if he gave it his all, he might not be a match for those Temple Knights, let alone this Corpse Wolf. He had no chance of winning. So he gritted his teeth, shielding his chest with Silver Moon, and quickly threw out the magic scroll he had hidden in his other hand. The scroll contained an ice wall spell, which was extremely powerful in this snowy environment. Instantly, an ice wall appeared, blocking Du Fan’s path. But unexpectedly, when the Corpse Wolf’s tongue reached the ice wall, it twisted and stabbed at one of the Snow Fox Mercenary Group members who was lying on the ground, shivering. That man had already used up all his strength during the previous escape attempt. Now, apart from trembling, he was useless. After lying in the snow for a while, his limbs had frozen solid, leaving him unable to move even if he wanted to. With a scream, his chest was pierced. Due to the immense momentum, his body was thrown into the air and hung from the tongue. In less than a second, his entire body turned black—he was dead beyond redemption. Soon after, his body melted like a candle, gradually disappearing into the black tongue. In just a short while, he was completely devoured!!!

Du Fan finally understood how these necrotic wolves “ate” people, but aside from fear, he felt even more disgusted. Eventually, the tongue slowly retracted back. The Templar knights and Snow Fox Mercenaries lying on the ground stared at the tongue, afraid it might suddenly lash out at them, while a few of them had already closed their eyes, resigned to death. At that moment, Du Fan stared at the necrotic wolf, his eyes flickering. He quickly slipped his Silver Moon Sword into his storage ring, then fumbled around with his hands, soon having several magic scrolls clutched between his fingers. By then, the tongue had returned to the necrotic wolf’s mouth. The three necrotic wolves moved forward one after another toward the nearest Templar knight, as if playing a game of cat and mouse. Facing humans who were now completely helpless, they seemed determined to savor them slowly. As for Du Fan, though still standing, magical beasts had an innate strong sense of perception and immediately realized that his strength posed no threat to them. They promptly classified him as prey that could not resist. Frowning, Du Fan threw out a few magic scrolls first—supportive spells like “Swiftness,” “Fury,” and “Iron Armor.” He recklessly cast them on himself. Yet as he did so, he felt extremely frustrated. Compared to offensive spells, these supportive spells were not only harder to create but also more costly. In just a short time, the amount spent equaled a small city’s annual taxes, causing him intense pain. Damn it! Others fought with combat energy or magic! I fight with money! Damn, I’ve already lost over a hundred thousand gold coins in this fight. There really isn’t anyone in this world as extravagant as me! But despite his thoughts, with no reinforcements arriving, Du Fan couldn’t just wait for death. Not wanting to reveal his secret of knowing magic, he had no choice but to spend money frantically. If he lost his money, he could still cheat and swindle, but if he lost his life, he’d have nothing left at all. Finally, after casting the last “Wind Shield” spell on himself, Du Fan felt somewhat relieved. With the boost from various supportive spells, although his combat energy wasn’t abundant, his speed and strength were now on par with those of the Templar knights. He then flipped his hand again, holding dozens of magic scrolls, and stepped out from behind the ice wall.