156 Chapter 156: Strike the Blood Vessel

Just as we suspected, it didn't take long before the Silver Skeletal Wolf approached our position. Had we been one of the other groups instead of the vanguard team, we would surely be in trouble even if we had received the warning. There was no other way except to lay low, hide and pray that the Silver Skeletal Wolf didn't find them.

They would be out of luck, however. The Silver Skeletal Wolf was known for its keen sense of smell and could probably sniff out human prey once it was close enough. I had heard that dogs could pick up the scents of everything up to twenty-five meters away, and follow trails up to 130 miles away. So once the Silver Skeletal Wolf got within perhaps thirty meters or so within us, it would definitely sniff us out.

As the vanguard squad, we were supposed to clear out any monsters in the vicinity anyway, so we might as well do our job. Of course, there was the alternative of locating another safe route that would take us away from the Silver Skeletal Wolf, but if we leave it be, there was no telling it would move its location and stumble upon that new route eventually. And with fifty-odd groups following after us, the chances of that happening were high.

Honestly, though, I was sure that Craig and the others just wanted to test their skills against a rank B monster and obtain fame and glory. They were still smarting from that defeat against the Crastrate so long ago, and wanted to see if their training had paid off and how much stronger they had become. For my part, I was less enthusiastic precisely because of the thrashing I received before I finally nuked it, but admittedly I did want to see how far I had progressed and if I could finally fight on par with a rank B monster.

With a group of reliable allies, this was the best chance to grab that achievement without always relying on spells of mass destruction.

The Silver Skeletal Wolf suddenly stood up rigidly, its glowing red eyes shifting to stare at the buildings we were hiding in. It had clearly picked up our scent and was tracking our locations. There was no longer any point staying concealed.

"Go, go, go! Fire at will!"

Teacher Fielding barked out the order, and we sprang into action. Theodore Hammond, the closest mage, leaped forward and smashed his Thunder Hammer into the gut of the Silver Skeletal Wolf, eliciting an enraged howl. The Silver Skeletal Wolf swiped at him, but he ducked and rolled out of the way before those terrifying claws cloud tear him apart. While it was distracted, Alicia fired a few shots that smacked into its head, causing it to stagger.

Then Dong Fang Yue Chu and Jin Hao launched two torrents of fire that bathed the screeching Silver Skeletal Wolf. The monster bellowed and cut both streams of flames apart with its bone-like claws. The moment it did, a lightning bolt descended and struck it from head to toe, courtesy of Bu Fan, who had spent the time preparing his large-scale spell.

Despite the devastating spell capable of demolishing an entire building, the Silver Skeletal Wolf emerged from the destructive electricity with little more than a few scorches. Snarling, it fired a volley of bone spikes that forced all of us to jump back. Lily managed to get in front of Dong Fang Yue Chu and Jin Hao, using her shield to deflect the bones, but she was pushed back and fell right into Yue Chu's waiting arms. On the other side, Sheila covered Alicia and Bu Fan by deflecting the bone spikes with her twirling spear.

As soon as the bombardment of bones stopped, Mizuno Aoi darted forward and slammed both hands on the ground. Ice expanded outward and trapped the Silver Skeletal Wolf, encasing its legs. Growling, the gargantuan monster broke free of the ice, sending sharp fragments raining down on the concrete.

She bought enough time for both Theodore and Harrison to launch their attacks. The former slammed his heavy hammer against the gigantic wolf's knee, while the latter kicked its other leg behind the knee. The monster shrieked as it toppled over, forced to throw up of its arms to stop itself from burying its face into the rubble.

While the Silver Skeletal Wolf was down and helpless, Aoi quickly froze and encased its four limbs with its ice spell to delay its movements and reflexes. The monster tried to shift, but before it could, Craig launched his attack. Diving from one of the taller buildings, he descended and lashed out with his crimson spear.

The attack struck true.

Like a missile homing in on its target, the crimson spear slid between bony plates of armor and slit the relatively soft and vulnerable flesh of the Silver Skeletal Wolf's throat. Blood spurted out like a fountain as Craig cut open its carotid artery, bathing the entire area in a shower of red. The Silver Skeletal Wolf clutched at its throat as it howled, staggering backward and whining in pain and shock.

"We did it!" Sheila cheered when she saw her president succeed. Craig hit the ground and rolled to his feet, his spear still at the ready.

"Take that, you bastard!" he sneered.

"Watch out!"

"!!!"

The Silver Skeletal Wolf retaliated against its would-be killer with a swipe of its claws, a sudden surge of strength allowing it to break free of its frosty restraints. Craig was almost taken by surprise, but before he could defend himself, Teacher Fielding got between him and the wolf monster. Using his Armament Ba Qi, he deflected the claw to one side, and then punched the reeling, bleeding monster in the gut with such force the gargantuan creature was actually thrown off its feet and sent hurtling into a nearby building.

It vanished underneath falling rubble, a trail of blood from its ruptured carotid artery (or equivalent) leaving a fine spray in the air.

"Did we…do it?" Jin Hao asked.

"No!" Harvey called out from his perch, where he was supposed to observe the battle and warn us of unexpected developments (such as other monsters coming). "It's still alive!"

"But how?" Alicia asked, surprised. "We delivered a fatal blow, didn't we?"

No one had an answer. The Silver Skeletal Wolf rose unsteadily to its feet, debris raining down from its massive form. It clamped a claw over its bleeding neck and grunted. Right before our amazed eyes, it sealed the wound by generating a square-like clump of bone and adhering it to its throat. The blood slowed to a trickle before finally stopping.

"It can do that?!" Craig yelled angrily. "How?!"

"Does it matter?" Theodore replied calmly. "We just have to improvise our plan and find another way to kill it."

"Easier said than done," Dong Fang Yue Chu muttered. "We just hit it with everything we got and we barely left a scratch!"

"Should we retreat?" Bu Fan asked coldly, turning to stare at Teacher Fielding. He obviously thought this plan wasn't a good idea to begin with, and his expression was full of contempt. At least he didn't vocalize that in the middle of a battle, where emotions were running high and everyone was heated. As much as he annoyed me, I had to admit that he was intelligent.

Teacher Fielding considered for a moment, and then shook his head. "We won't be able to outrun a monster of that level. Besides, now that it has captured our scents, it will pursue us endlessly…all the way to the shelter. I don't know if the military has reached there yet…we might end up putting other refugees in danger."

"So we have no choice but to fight to the death, huh?" Bu Fan turned back to watch the approaching Silver Skeletal Wolf with a grim expression. Zhang Hou Zi swooped down beside him, generating wind currents in his hands.

"I'll stand with you, Brother Fan!"

The Silver Skeletal Wolf's movements were still sluggish because it had just sustained a fatal injury. Even so, it was sober enough to launch another volley of bones at us.

"Everyone! Behind me!"

At that moment, Black Tortoise came into being and covered everyone in a shimmering barrier. While the others were fighting, I had been casting my summoning spells. Actually, I had been casting them ever since I had gotten into position and awaited the arrival of the Silver Skeletal Wolf. The water sphere extended across the perimeter, changing into a ring-shaped torrent of water that enveloped every human in the vicinity. The bones struck the water, which folded and deformed slightly as it absorbed the impact, only to toss them away.

"Gr…"

The Silver Skeletal Wolf glared at us, revealing its sword-like teeth as it took another step forward. It turned toward Craig as he was the one who had dealt such a lethal strike, and it wasn't going to let its guard down again. Craig, for his part, grinned as he readied his spear with two hands and got ready to throw it.

"Bring it on!"

He then hurled his spear out of the water sphere, his weapon turning into a demonic red streak that sent a sonic boom as it hurtled across the air. The Silver Skeletal Wolf could only throw up its armored arms and crossed it in front of its chest before the spear slammed into it. Tearing through layers of armored bone, Craig's spear managed to pierce its chest. The barbed tip hit home, drilling through the wolf's reinforced skeleton in an attempt to destroy its heart.

Snarling, the Silver Skeletal Wolf grabbed Craig's spear and hurled it aside. Craig raised his hand, and his crimson weapon automatically returned to him.

"Damn, all that and I still couldn't finish it off?"

The Silver Skeletal Wolf turned on him, but Vermillion Phoenix descended from the heavens with a screech. The great Celestial Guardian unleashed an inferno that turned the surroundings into hell, molten rubble and concrete flowing underneath the howling Silver Skeletal Wolf. Several bone spikes fired off into the air, forcing Vermillion Phoenix to dodge. Even as his fiery barrier melted some of the bones into slag, enough projectiles were able to pierce the veil of fire and almost turned him into a pincushion.

"Dong Fang Yue Chu! Jin Hao! Cooperate with me!"

While we were distracting the Silver Skeletal Wolf, with Teacher Fielding, Theodore, Harrison, Sheila and Lily joining Craig in attacking the scorched beast, Bu Fan issued an order to the two elemental mages.

"What?"

"Synchronize with me. We're going to throw a combined inferno spell at that bastard."

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Bu Fan had noticed the effects of my Vermillion Phoenix's flames on the Silver Skeletal Wolf, and he had thought of something. Dong Fang Yue Chu and Jin Hao exchanged glances, but they nodded and obeyed. The three of them gathered together and began coalescing their mana.

Teacher Fielding noticed what they were doing, and the moment their magic reached his peak, he threw out an order.

"Everyone, fall back! Now!"

Following his lead, Craig and the others immediately retreated. The Silver Skeletal Wolf growled at us, but hesitated because of our unexpected actions.

That hesitation proved to be fatal.

Bu Fan, Dong Fang Yue Chu and Jin Hao launched their combined fire spell, which engulfed the Silver Skeletal Wolf in hellish flames that burned a massive molten crater into the ground. The rank B monster itself was howling in agony as it was incinerated, but incredibly enough, it survived the blast. Fumes smoking from its now blackened bone armor, it snarled as it turned its glowing red eyes in Bu Fan's direction, hatred visible in its slit pupils.

"Even that couldn't kill it?" Bu Fan grumbled through gritted teeth. "Rank B monsters are not to be underestimated."

That was when I noticed the blood. It was dripping from underneath a scorched, almost melted bony plate that was hanging loosely at the side of the Silver Skeletal Wolf's throat.

An idea formed in my mind.

"Again! It's been severely weakened! If we can keep this up, we might be able to defeat it!"

Teacher Fielding was leading the charge again, Theodore, Craig, Sheila, Lily and Harrison following him. The Silver Skeletal Wolf swiped at him, forcing them to keep their distance. Even when so terribly wounded, the beast was still dangerous. A single attack would be enough to kill us. I could still remember the awful strength of the Crastrate. That Fiend was a lot faster than the Silver Skeletal Wolf, but the latter was a lot more powerful.

Fortunately, its slow and cumbersome attacks were easier to dodge. Thanks to that, nobody had sustained any casualties.

Yet.

The Silver Skeletal Wolf was buckling under the combined assault. With an experienced veteran like Teacher Fielding taking command, we weren't being annihilated as we were back during the campfire party, where a single Crastrate singlehandedly destroyed a hundred students. Admittedly, the twelve of us here were among the best of the best in our school, but having a competent commander taking the lead was allowing us to prevail.

For now.

"!!! Everyone get back!"

Teacher Fielding noticed something abnormal about the Silver Skeletal Wolf. It had hunkered down, almost as if curling into a ball. At first all of us thought it was merely protecting itself from our constant barrage of attacks. After all, in addition to the melee mages assaulting it in close combat, Alicia and Aoi were providing long-ranged fire with their projectile spells. Dong Fang Yue Chu, Jin Hao, Bu Fan and Zhang Hou Zi were also bombarding it with ranged spells whenever they saw an opening, to cover an ally from being struck by stray bones or claws.

It seemed our teamwork was paying off…until then.

"!?"

"Get back to Richard's barrier! Quickly!"

He was too late. The Silver Skeletal Wolf seemed to explode, lightning surging out of the points of its bony spikes and arcing across the entire area. The devastating electricity caught the unwary students by surprise, electrocuting them. Screams and smoke filled the air, shockwaves rippled across the entire space as people were sent flying.

By the time the fumes dissipated, we were greeted with a dreadful sight. Only Teacher Fielding remained standing, but the rest of our close combat mages were all down, their bodies convulsing as lethal electricity coursed through them.