"Why are you saying that it's acting odd? Maybe there's no trap, and it just wants to eat the food inside the crates."

Uresha asked in a hopeful voice.

"That would be really lovely since we would be able to take it down by surprise when it would be busy eating..."

Shanks laughed with disappointment.

"But the thing is - neither angel-class nor true demon-class - or titan-class monsters for that matter - eat normal food. They live off of mana gathering in the air, and if that's not enough, they can just kill other monsters, or anyone from the intelligent races and get their mana that way. Though we can't be sure about the titan-class monsters actually, since Sophia never gave a normal answer to that question."

"...!"

His explanation caused a wave of shivers to travel through the group's spines.

"Still. It seems distracted... this might be our chance after all..."

Shanks furrowed his brows.

"Kids, keep the defensive formation but be ready to charge. Laris, Rotte, Uresha, keep close and be ready to either support the kids or run together with them."

He said in a commanding tone.

"Shadow fangs. You get the first shot. Angel's weakest point is its neck, so it should be right up your alley. Just remember to keep away from its hands, but stay close enough so that it won't decide to barrage you with the flaming..."

*ignite*

"...swords..."

Shanks flinched and shook his head in confusion, as the angel, still completely invisible for the naked eye because of the fog, activated the very skill that the rat-faced man was warning the wolves about.

"Impossible... there's no way that it could dete...!"

*rustle*

As the angel-class monster straightened it back and it spread its massive wings, revealing another, smaller pair just beneath the first one, the words got stuck in Shanks's throat.

Thankfully not for long.

"DEACTIVATE THE STEALTH SKILLS AND JUST CHARGE THAT THING! IT'S NOT A THRONE NOR A CHERUBIM! THAT'S A SYSTEM-DAMNED SERAPHIM!"

He roared, furious that a half-crazy monster managed to trick him and his unsealed skills.

*THUMP*

"...arf...!"

*WHOOOSH*

Before the meaning of his words reached anyone from his group, a massive blazing sword pierced through the fog and impaled the green-bellied wolf in the forefront of their group.

There was no explosion, no extreme heatwave...

But Avocado, the only shadow fang with healing abilities in existence, managed to let out only a short shocked yelp before turning into charcoal.

"If you want to live, CHARGE!"

The rat-faced man roared again and this time his body begun glowing with pale blue light.

Yet, the light of his skill didn't just brighten him up - instead, it started spreading until it engulfed all of the young Sloth soldiers.

*THUMP*

The next flaming sword dug into the ground, this one was unmistakably aimed at Shanks, but the man was no longer standing in the same place where he was just a second before.

"Close combat squad! Keep it busy! Aim for the legs, break his ankles if you can! Gunners, medium output! Aim at the wings! Those feathers are as strong as a dragon's hide! Shred them so it cannot fly! Support squad! Concentrate on speed buffs and use shield skills to throw that thing off balance after it'll swing at the close combat squad! I'll handle the stamina and mana regeneration so just focus on bringing it down!"

Shanks shouted commands, somehow keeping up with the young Sloth soldiers who despite the age difference should have ridiculously higher base stats than him.

"Sir! Yes, sir!"

The young soldiers shouted in unison - there was no hesitation no doubt for the commands they've received.

All of them disappeared into the mist, leaving the rest of the Dandelions and five wolves behind.

Soon, the sounds of a fierce battle filled the air.

"...what in the world was that...?!"

Rotte was the first person who regained their voice.

He was staring in disbelief at the burnt wolf.

The flaming sword went out as if it was never even there in the first place, leaving behind only a charred mass that used to be a shadow fang.

The Sloth soldiers had overwhelming stats, but even still, the six wolves were supposed to be the aces in the hole of the whole special quest.

They were supposed to be the ones to save the day if everything else failed.

Seeing one of them get killed in one shot even before an actual fight has broken out, was the morbid reminder of the reality they were in.

The three Dandelions huddled close together.

Rotte realized that his new armor is just a medium-class one just like his old one was, and therefore doesn't provide as much protection as the heavier counterparts, and he even though he is proficient with his evasion skills, using them would put his companions in a harm's way.

Uresha realized that the new tower shield made with sturdy materials from monsters she never even heard of, was still not enough to protect all her friends if a sudden attack came from the back, side, or above, and she didn't have any skills that could fill that gap.

Lairs couldn't even imagine how any of her protective spells could hold up against an instant death skill like the flame sword, even if she used the stack skill and put up multiple barriers at once. If the push came to shove and the powerful opponent aimed at her or her friends, there would be nothing that she could do.

It seemed like the only thing left for them to do, was to despair.

Similarly, the five remaining wolves appeared to be unable to comprehend what transpired.

They slowly approached the charred remains of their pack member, sniffing around it with their tails hidden between their legs.

"Ruff..."

"Raugh..."

"Rorf...!"

Some of them growled or barked at their dead companion as if they were expecting him to regenerate and stand back up at any moment.

But nothing like that happened.

One of the wolves inched closer and pushed his nose against the spot where the dead wolf's green stomach was as if it tried to make Avocado stand up.

*crack*

"Arf?!?!"

But that only resulted in the charred carcass breaking in half, showing completely dry, blackened insides, and the wolf jumping back with a yelp.

"Raa..."

The wolf with short jaws and long claws growled.

Her body began glowing with skills as she stood up on her hind legs like an eerily disproportionate werewolf.

"Raa...!"

Her growl was filled with fury, and it looked like mana begun to coil around her long claws, elongating it even more...

"Raugh!"

Other wolf barked and nodded in response, walking over to the huddled Dandelions.

The wolf then activated its skills and stood in front of the adventurers, clearly ready to protect them.

Three other wolves soon followed him and surrounded the Dandelions, creating a smaller version of the barrier they were keeping up before.

"Raa."

The long-clawed wolf growled in approval.

"RAAAAA!"

Then she snarled madly, and threw herself towards the sound of the battle, disappearing into the fog just as Shanks and the inexperienced Sloth soldiers.