The dark luminous wolves growled in anger after Solordo's intimidation. One of the elites launched a dark beam to show this stupid human who was boss.
"Everyone, dodge!", Jinmu shouted. The beam hit a tree behind them, tearing it into two. However, their formation was destroyed.
The pack of wolves took advantage of this and assaulted the five students. Jinmu saw through this and activated the traps he had set up.
"Go!"
Water erupted everywhere, pummeling the weaker wolves or washing them away from the area.
"Olivia!", Jinmu ordered.
Olivia gritted her teeth. Lightning was still making her feel pain even though it was her main affinity.
Lightning cracks gathered between her hands, channeling it to a great extent before launching her spell.
"Lightning Strike!"
She struck the group of wolves drenched wet by Jinmu's magic traps, electrifying them to their deaths. Those who survived were slowed down due to an ice effect that surfaced after Olivia casted her magic spell.
Jinmu quickly replaced the traps that were set off, "Solordo, get their attention, please!"
Solordo whacked a wolf's head, catching their attention before running away while launching a magic spell from a distance.
"Rargh!", the wolf roared, gathering the others nearby in pursuit of Solordo.
Lucan observed the wolves in pursuit, "Fireball, fireball, fireball…"
As he casted more and more, the newer fireballs became larger and stronger. Once he casted 10 of them, his mana ran out and he knelt in exhaustion.
"Better be any time now!", Solordo reminded Lucan. The number of pursuing wolves was starting to terrify him.
"Rain of Fire!"
Lucan dragged his weary mind and pushed himself to the limit, barely hurling the fireballs on time before Solordo could be overrun.
Boom! Boom!
Loud explosions rang on their ears as the dark luminous wolves fell one by one.
"Emi, cover him!", Jinmu ordered again, "The elites are about to make their move."
The elite dark luminous wolves only stood in the far distance, observing the five students with great interest. They then howled simultaneously which made the students shiver in fear.
"Oh no, they're gathering more wolves here!", Lucan shouted.
Jinmu didn't waste time and messaged Eluard to teleport them out of the area. However, the reply he received made him faint in place.
[ Special Task: Survive ]
[ Academy master has tasked you to resist the wave of demon beasts until he arrives in your location. ]
[ Rewards: Blue magic crystals x10 ]
[ Failure: Death ]
The new task made them curse Solordo so much for stubbornly dragging them in his selfish desire to finish all the optional requirements for their hunting party special task.
Academy master was now making them suffer the consequences of their actions. If they want to prove that they were still competent, they would have to survive the incoming onslaught.
Jinmu snapped out of his hatred and immediately went back to commanding the team, "Everyone back in formation! Lucan, how much can you recover in this time?"
"About half! But I don't know if my mind can handle another mana depletion!", Lucan panted.
"That's more than enough. Emi, can you create some barriers on these sides?", Jinmu pointed to their east and western sides.
He wanted to limit the number of entrances the wolves would have so that they would group up in one particular area then utilize Emi, Lucan, and Olivia's burst of magic spells.
That way, Solordo would only have to worry about the entire front while he would defend the rear part with his magic traps.
Emi's mana pool was still small. If she was a trainee mage like Olivia, they might have an easier time with the barriers she could generate.
"Yes, senior brother Jinmu! Although… my earthen walls wouldn't last that long…", she scratched her head in embarrassment.
Jinmu shook his head and held Emi's shoulders, "Emi, as long as you could do it, that would greatly help us your senior brothers and sister, okay?"
Emi nodded. She gathered her mana and created a 2.5-meter-high earthen wall on their left and right.
Although it was less than he expected, Jinmu could only bear to accept the results. He planted several magic traps on the front and behind the walls. Then quickly laid out more magic traps on all the entrances and the rear formation.
The ground suddenly trembled, alerting everyone. All their ears could only hear was the incessant howling of wolves in every direction.
"Solordo, I'm going to beat your ass up once we get over this!", Olivia swore in her heart. Hearing her threat made everyone more afraid of her than the dark luminous wolves.
The leaves were unsettled as the wolves darted to their position like hungry predators.
Fortunately, Jinmu cleverly placed all of his magic traps to where the dark luminous wolves would step over once they arrived. It thinned out their numbers but they continued to be indifferent to the death of others.
Solordo did all he could to gather as many wolves as possible, slashing and thrusting now and then. Lucan would support him and blasted off those who planned to sneakily attack Solordo.
Olivia and Emi targeted the rest. Because of how taxing the lightning affinity was, Olivia chose to utilize her ice and water affinity instead.
"Glacial Floor!"
She covered one of the entrances with a thin yet slippery ice blanket that made the wolves lose their sense of balance and fall. Moreover, the wolves would feel a tingly sensation on their feet, making them move their feet around to scratch off the annoying feeling.
This made them slip even more and lose focus.
Emi was then instructed by Olivia to puncture those wolves that slipped out with her earthen and wooden spikes.
Jinmu marveled at this sight but he was still worried, 'It's working but for how long? I don't think Lucan could recover any time soon, and the wolves around Solordo might overrun him too.'
'Olivia and Emi aren't in the best condition either. That lightning has drained most of Olivia's mental and physical health and Emi isn't experienced in this sort of thing.'
Jinmu was quickly running out of options. Despite how calm his mind was, all he could think of was to hope that this would last long enough for their academy master to rescue them from this hopeless situation.
"Ah!", a heart-breaking shout made Jinmu lose hope even more.
Solordo was thrown into the air by an elite dark luminous wolf. Its wide smirk was directed at Solordo, implying how weak and arrogant he was to taunt them like that.
"Jinmu, I can't hold on for too long!", Lucan reminded him.
"Me too! Jinmu, we need to do something new now! Fast!", Olivia bellowed at him. She didn't want to die in this mountain for no good reason at all.
The stress was now invading Jinmu's mind. At that moment, he saw a glimpse of an elite wolf charging for a dark beam targeted at Lucan.
"Idiot, watch out!", Jinmu immediately activated a magic trap near Lucan. It spewed out a large amount of water that pushed Lucan away before the darkness beam could hit him.
This, however, gave way for a wolf to bite Jinmu's right shoulder. He groaned as blood poured out, activating the wind magic trap to slice off the wolf's head.
"Senior brother Jinmu!", Emi worried, wanting to go over and check Jinmu's condition.
Things turned for the worse as an elite dark luminous wolf sneakily attacked Emi and Olivia and threw them in Jinmu's direction.
Lucan stared at the despairing situation they put themselves into.
'Were we too naïve even until now?', he thought while panting heavily. His mind was about to break because of the numerous times he had his mana depleted.
The head of a dark luminous wolf appeared in front of him. Just as the wolf bit his head, it was suddenly blown to the sides by a powerful force.
[ Special Task: Survived Completed ]
[ Received: Blue Magic Crystals x5 ]
Lucan was bewildered, "What?!"
"Rain of Fire.", a cold voice resounded.
Eluard had finally arrived.
Boom!
The area became chaotic as fireballs rained on their position. They were so big that at least three dark luminous wolves were hit by a single blast.
"Grr!", the elite wolves tried to fight back but suddenly found themselves thrown into the air by the enormous torrents.
When they landed back on the ground, they were greeted by deep burrows with sharp earthen spikes below. Their bodies were lodged fatally into the spikes, breaking their bones or piercing their vital organs.
Only 10 seconds have passed and the pack of dark luminous wolves was ultimately obliterated by Eluard, 'This staff sure does bring wonders.'
"A-academy master!", Lucan cried out for help. Tears welled up in his eyes now that Eluard has finally arrived.
Eluard glanced at their injured bodies and said in a disappointing tone, "I hope this will serve as a punishment for your impulsiveness, students. You may have escaped today's deathly summon, but luck will never be always on your side."
