Chapter 1561 Last Hour
With less than half of the time remaining, the audience could witness the sight of the middle layer of the Silvermane Sacred Ground being completely flooded by hundreds of mid-tier wolf packs participating for the sole purpose of gaining the recognition that came with qualifying for the Hound category.
In the meantime, the top pack of wolf half-bloods who still had their eyes on the top 20 were left alone. They swiftly advanced through the sea of ??hunters, heading straight for the inner layer of the island.
After coming to a unanimous decision, it took about 15 minutes before the Twilight Fang encountered their first [Wailing Treant].
The smallest known specimen of this plant creature was around three meters tall. In addition to its innate ability to camouflage and swirl among the trees with utmost ease, the Wailing Treant also possessed a powerful defense ability, namely spirit attacks in the form of shrill screams capable of seriously injuring even magus-level beings if caught unprepared.
For this reason, most of the non-magus did not dare to directly join the fight against the creature.
The same was true for Emery's Twilight Fang, which made them split their group into two to tackle this dilemma: Morgana, Andrei and Yoro in one, while Emery alongside Beowulf and Tatyana formed another.
With this setup, each group had a scout role, a support role and a primary attacker that was in charge of engaging the creature, which in their case would be Emery and Morgana.
Both groups made sure they didn't go hunting more than 5 miles from each other. This way, they would be able to reinforce the other in less than a minute if there was a problem.
While using this steady and safe approach, the Twilight Fang managed to find and kill several legendary creatures without taking much of a toll, which added even more points to their standing.
[Time remaining: 44 minutes 20 seconds]
[Rank 1 - Twilight Fang - 151 creatures - 732 points]
[Rank 2 - Corvin One - 93 creatures - 648 points]
[Rank 3 - Wolf of Karst - 71 creatures - 596 points] 𝗯𝗲𝐝𝐧𝗼𝐯𝗲𝐥.𝗻𝗲𝐭
[Rank 4 - Locarios Mechanicus - 60 creatures - 588 points]
[Rank 5 - Corvin Two - 82 creatures - 575 points]
[Rank 6 - Blue Warhound - 99 creatures - 562 points]
[Rank 7 - Locarios Angels - 88 creatures - 555 points]
[Rank 8 - Knight of Karst - 78 creatures - 546 points]
[Rank 9 - Sacred Rose - 99 creatures - 515 points]
[Rank 10 - Bone Coyotes - 107 creatures - 506 points]
As the end of the event drew near, the wolf packs of the various top factions that were expected to rank in the top 5 succeeded in doing so one by one. Jason Corvin's team especially worked very hard trying to catch up and snatch the number one ranking.
However, it was during this crucial moment that Emery and the others started to encounter the corpses of wolf half-bloods on their way, who had died either from reckless actions or were harmed by other hunters.
"Stay alert!' Emery said, reminding his pack members that safety came first of all.
Even though managing to become number one in this event would certainly bring them untold prestige, in Emery's eyes such a superficial thing was not worth losing a single person from his pack.
A few minutes later, Emery and the others heard a commotion in the distance. Approaching stealthily, they could see a massive fight involving dozens of people. It seemed to be a conflict between several wolf packs.
Interfering in this battle would only mean unnecessary trouble, so Emery was planning to turn around and avoid them when he suddenly recognized some familiar spirit energy signatures from those in the battle.
Turning his head again, Emery focused his eyes and was startled to see who those people were. Those familiar spirit energy signatures were being emitted by Doppa and company, who were currently battling wolf packs that seemed from major factions alongside other packs.
Intrigued, Emery decided to get close enough to identify the two opposing sides.
Doppa and his companions belonged to the side with over fifty wolves, they seemed to be helping the rebels' group led by Frostmind's associate, Jester. Freaki of the Bone Coyotes was also there, fighting alongside them.
"Let us through, you bastards!" Freaki shouted, irritated for being stopped despite being in the top 10.
On the other side, stood Five packs, totaling twenty-five magus, they came from each of the top factions: Corvin, Karst and Locarios. Emery recognized these people as their third layer group.
While the first and second pack of their respective factions continued to raise their points, the third group were here to block the way for other groups to enter the innermost part of the island where most of the Wailing Treants gathered.
As for the other 10 magus, they were bearing the unforgettable emblem of the Ironcrest. Apart from the middle-aged man, who appeared to be the leader of the group, it was clear from the conspicuous tattoos on their necks, the other nine were magus slaves.
Seeing the Ironcrest among them made Emery very interested in joining the fight. However, his logic told him to stay away from this mass of chaos, but when he decided to turn around and bring his pack through a different path, the old chief surprisingly advised him otherwise.
"It might be a good idea for us to join in helping them, we might need to gain favor for the final hunt."
Such words immediately gave Emery a smile, this would ensure that the final round not to be dominated by the pack from three major factions.
Emery now had a good reason to take action, but he didn't act recklessly. Before he joined in the fray, he looked at his pack members and said, "This might be dangerous, so it might be better if we split up here."
Emery suggested his members return to the middle layer and hunt the creatures there instead. Even though it might not be efficient due to a large number of people present, the danger was also lower with their strength. Meanwhile, he would help this bunch of hunters and make allies in the process.
However, Morgana was the first one to voice disagreement, with the others quickly following suit. The old chief was the last one, with a smile on his face he said, "You are the Alpha, you choose, but… maybe I think, it's better if we stick together."
Seeing all the members of his group willing to face danger with him boosted Emery's confidence to lead. Nodding his head, he spoke with a broad smile.
"Alright then. Here is the plan."