บท 34: Wraithpaw

A team of soldiers began unloading from an armored truck.

This was the location from which they had received the distress signal. However, upon their arrival, all they found were ruins. The roads were destroyed, filled with wrecked cars, and the pathways were strewn with corpses.

There was no sign of life left here...

"Let's head back, guys…" the captain instructed his team, covering his mouth in an attempt to stop himself from vomiting.

The soldiers started moving back towards the truck. Suddenly, a bike came flying in their direction.

"Whoa.. What the fuck.."

They couldn't see it coming as it was thrown from an area that was fully covered in smoke from all the fire that was going on. They managed to dodge the bike, which then crashed into the truck.

Now that they had an idea of where the bike had come from, they all turned their attention to the smoke. From within it, a humanoid monster was approaching them, chewing on something that looked like a hand. The monster tossed the half-eaten hand aside and got into a running stance.

"Be prepared. Something is approaching us," the captain ordered, drawing his gun at the same time.

As soon as the monster emerged from the veil of smoke, a storm of gunshots was unleashed upon it.

The monster withstood several shots, but then a bullet from the sniper's rifle struck it directly in the skull, killing it just a few meters away from the soldiers.

Staring at the lifeless monster, and now that they could examine it up close, they realized it resembled a bear. A grin spread across the sniper's face, having earned experience points from the kill.

"Sam, what was the name… of this monster, and how many coins had it provided?" The captain asked the sniper for all the information.

The captain hadn't asked for the information out of his own curiosity—even though he was somewhat curious. No, he had asked because the headquarters had demanded they send as many details about the monster as they could the moment they killed anything.

"Gladly captain, the name of the bear is 'Wraithpaw' and the amount of coin I have received is…"

But before he could even finish the sentence, he noticed there were dozens more Wraithpaws in the smoke from where this has come on...

"...C..captain there are… more of t..them," he whispers toward his captain.

"More of what?!!"

"...there are more… b..ears coming our way..."

Noticing the difference in his way of speaking, the captain once again turned around, now directly looking at smoke. The sight he witnessed within the smoke sent a shiver down his spine.

There were at least 20 bears coming toward them… Just looking at them made him break out in a nervous sweat. Despite his nervousness, he quickly connected to the headquarters.

"Captain Vid speaking.. We encountered a pack of bear monsters whose name seemed to be 'Wraithpaw' according to the cosmos. From the looks of it we can't deal with them. So, please send the reinforcement as soon as possible.

And what should I do in the meantime, Should we engage or should we retreat? For the supply, we have the same amount of ammunition that was given to us, minus a few magazines. In our team, there are thirty-nine gunmen with sufficient hand-to-hand training and one sniper with no melee training." The captain explains his situation.

"How many monsters are there, and how many are you..?" the question from the headquarters came.

"There are 20 Wraithpaw, and we are twice as many as them," he hurriedly replies.

"According to your information, the monster you saw is 'Wraithpaw' so you shouldn't waste any time thinking you can retreat... not when the road is this bad, at least... you have supply and men for you to last long enough for the reinforcement to arrive. So, fight and do your best to survive for as long as possible.."

And with that, the connection had been cut.

"Shit… shit!!!" He wanted to kick something so bad but somehow managed to control the urge to do so.

"Let's prepare ourselves, everyone. We have to hold on until the reinforcements arrive. Sam, take your position. You need to eliminate as many of them as possible before they get to us," the captain ordered.

Sam was on the verge of interjecting, wanting to express that it would be difficult to defeat them while they were on the run. But just before he could say it, the captain spoke up…

"…No!! Forget about killing them, you try to injure them as much as you can."

"As you comma...."

Before they could even finish the sentences, the Wraithpaws began to run in their direction—not at their full speed yet.

All the soldiers began to aim their guns at them and began firing nonstop… The sound of the gunshots started erupting throughout the streets, but it still wasn't loud enough to suppress the sound of the rumbles that were created by the massive paws of the monster.

Among the soldiers stood a lone figure, a sniper with eyes that held the weight of countless lives. Positioned strategically, he hid behind rubble and debris, its keen gaze sweeping the street. With calculated precision, the sniper's finger gently squeezed the trigger, sending a bullet straight through the chest of a bear.

"Crack… Booooom!!"

The sharp report of the rifle echoed through the desolation as the first of the Wraithpaw crumpled to the ground, life extinguished by a well-aimed shot. Two, three more followed suit, their thunderous roars silenced forever by the deadly accuracy of the sniper's bullets.

Yet the bears were relentless. With thick hides that offered a formidable defense against the soldiers' gunfire, they lumbered forward undeterred. The earth seemed to quake beneath their massive paws as they closed the distance, a foreboding storm of fur and muscle. The soldiers continued to claim lives.

But the hundred-meter gap between the two forces shrank with every passing moment, and soon the confrontation would devolve into a melee.

The bulletproof armor of the soldier provided some safety against the sharp claws of the monsters, but they knew that soon enough even the armor would be torn apart. Leaving their soft skin at the mercy of their hard claws.

As time passed, the battle escalated, and lives began to be lost in a gruesome ballet of violence. One by one, soldiers fell, their valor not enough to withstand the relentless fury of the Wraithpaw. Likewise, the bears weren't unscathed, with a few succumbing to wounds inflicted by brave soldiers.

However, the monsters were still ahead. Only thirteen Wraithpaws remained from the original twenty. But this was a much better situation than having only two soldiers left out of the original forty. Only the captain and the sniper survived. The captain's advanced combat skills and high-level stats contributed to his survival, while the sniper's proficiency at firing from a distance kept the bears from approaching his direction.

Breathing heavily, the captain and the sniper locked eyes, a silent understanding passing between them. The air crackled with tension as the remaining bears circled, their growls reverberating in the stillness.

And in that heart-stopping moment, the captain and the sniper were preparing to make their final stand, when something changed…

The Warithpaws in front of them began to catch fire all of a sudden. This sudden change of events made him question his sanity. The sight in front of them was as reliving as it was terrifying.

'Did another monster intercept in the fight?' the captain thought. Trying to justify the event.

Before he could prepare for the unknown enemy, a group of five humans appeared in front of him…

"Let us handle it from here on out," one of the members said.

For a second, he couldn't even take them seriously, as they were dressed like some actor who had just gotten out of the set. Two of them looked like swordsmen, one was holding an axe, another was dressed like a mage, and the last one was covered head to toe in heavy metal armor.

But before he could even say anything, the swordsmen got in front of the monster and when the monster tried to attack him... His head rolled on the ground.

'...WHAT JUST HAPPENED..?'

And just like that, the fight ends before it can even start.