Two of the four were large, bulky, and with a sword and a shield. Scars littered their heads like a messy drawing, leaving their faces disfigured and oddly shaped. The third was a spear-bearer, and though he was thin, his height and long arms gave him extra range. All of them were Wolves.

The fourth was a familiar swordsman with a bow strapped to his shoulder. A quiver with half a dozen arrows was loaded. It was Shon, the fire swordsman. He did not wear his black leather armor nor wielded his magical sword. Instead, he wore a white quilted jacket and had a plain, though finely made sword scabbard on his side.

“We’re supposed to believe you?” Moon said in a mocking tone, “With that bow strapped to your back? And without you being branded? Who the fuck ar-“

“Quiet!” the Lan hissed. “Ignoring his tone, the idiot does bring a good point. How can we trust you? Where did you come from?”

“You have no alternative,” Shon said, shrugging. “Be glad that you’re not worth the points as we recover our resources from the last fools.” He pointed at the corpses around him, as if the smell didn’t draw enough attention. “If you want to inconvenience us by running into your deaths, then go ahead. Be my guest. You’ll save me the STM of coming to get you.”

“Like hell we’ll-” Moon began, but was stifled with an elbow to the left by Lan.

Both Cijo and Gale were missing. Even with his injury, though, Nilbog trusted Cijo to survive one way or another.

“Fine,” the Lan said. He held his spear in one hand while the other grabbed Moon by the back of his shirt, dragging him along as they went towards a different direction.

From what Nilbog already knew about the Lan, retreating was what he would have done regardless. It seemed he wanted to put on face.

“Hold it,” Sai said, folding his arms. He tapped his foot against the ground as he shook his head.

“What is it?” the Lan replied, tensing.

“Won’t you take the sneak hiding behind the tree roots?” Sai said, looking in Nilbog’s direction.

Sentient Killer Activated.

The difference in Danger Ranks has increased Sentient Killer’s effects by 25%.

Nilbog’s legs and arms pushed up in a panic, but his upper body remained attached to the ground. Panic almost gave him a heart attack before he glanced around to find Iris standing behind him with one knee pressed against his shoulders and a hand against his mouth. Her face turned red as she muffled her giggles.

Iris The Furious: Wolf

She had a dagger against Nilbog’s neck, freezing him in place. It was an uncomfortably familiar series of events. “Quite,” she said, chuckling. “Let’s make a fool of the idiot.”

Well, when she put it that way…

“Nice try, but both of them have died,” he said, laughing as he walked away. They didn’t turn back as they walked out of the area.

Shon stood awkwardly, his mouth agape. He balled his hands into fists and shook them at Nilbog’s direction. “Iris! That was the cue to bring him out!” he yelled, his face red.

“Serves you right! Acting so haughty!” she said, finally letting the laughter explode. He felt it quiver through her body.

Nilbog couldn’t do anything. His arms could not reach around to knock her off, nor did he have the strength to even bulge. The best he could do was not provoke her.

“Fine. Do what you will with the kid and come along,” he said, stopping once he saw Nilbog. “On second thought, I’ll take care of this. You go ahead.”

Iris tilted her head. “Why?” she said, looking from Nilbog to Shon. “Do you know him?”

Nilbog flinched. Even the panic and dread he was feeling stopped to comprehend what he just heard. I mean, really? He didn’t expect her to remember his name, but was he not even worth a pause from her? Maybe a hey this individual looks familiar at the very least?

“Don’t worry about it, dear Iris. Time is ticking, points are running.”

“Alrighty,” she said, shrugging. She jumped over Nilbog and joined the rest of her teammates. They walked away, leaving Nilbog and Sai behind.