Chapter 147: Now or Never
On top of that, because the Physical limit of <Momentum Shift> was 200 Physical, but he was only using 45, the usual consumption of 0.5 Aether Units per activation lessened considerably to barely above 0.2 Aether Units. In fact, Sylas felt that he could chain movements as the effect of the skill lingered.
If one sudden change in direction wasn't enough to kill the wolf, the second certainly was.
Sylas' three kunai moved through the skies with a swift indifference for life. Every time, it was just one slash, one attack, as though he couldn't be bothered to use a second, as though the wolves weren't worthy.
They fell in waves until a roar echoed from the distance, the ground shaking as though a small earthquake had been triggered.
Sylas' gaze sharpened as he pierced through a lane in the trees, finding a dire wolf looming at almost three meters tall, dashing toward them so quickly it was almost hard to spot.
It weaved in and out of the trees, its eyes flashing with hues of red as it saw its dead companions.
[Dire Wolf (FF+)]
[Level: 2]
[Physical: 70]
[Mental: 42]
[Will: 33]
Sylas would have really liked to see the breakdown of these stats, but he was trying not to use his Madness if he could help it. Although he had managed to learn to restrain it, who was to say what detection type abilities these people had?
'Speed and Dexterity should be its heavy emphasis.'
"This is a bit fucked!" Mark called out. "There are too many. If I block it, the others will run free!"
Despite the carnage Sylas and Bloom had unleashed, there still seemed to be endless waves of wolves. It made Sylas wonder just how many of them had just ended up rushing into the town.
'It's not just that, but Earth has no Aether... it's possible that they entered, realized that, and then returned. The portal has a great pull for them, but what's on the other side is meaningless. That should be why they're pooling around the portal like this, but most won't enter, and that should also be why the wave on the outside stabilized.'
It all clicked into place for Sylas.
"I have a binding Skill," Sylas called out. "But it will only hold for a fraction of a second. Can you kill it in a single blow, Bloom?"
Bloom blinked in surprise but nodded. A bind Skill was extremely rare, only the elite of the elites would have one.
Of course, Sylas was lying. With the gap between himself and this beast, he could hold it in place for almost 10 seconds with just one 0.5 Aether Unit cast of <Astral Bind>. But once again... they didn't need to know that.
The FF+ dire wolf suddenly launched itself into the air, soaring over its pack and lunging at Mark's head.
"Now or never!" Mark roared out.
Sylas' Aether circulated and <Astral Bind> activated.
Bloom shot out like an iron ball from a cannon, activating an acceleration-type skill that left a line in the snow.
The dire wolf froze, but its body continued to fall through the air. The sudden change made it overshoot its target as Mark ducked behind his shield.
The moment it was about to land, Bloom appeared with a sparkling stroke of her spear, piercing right through its frozen, open maw and into its brain.
Her knees bent beneath the weight of the creature as it collapsed overtop of her, but with a grunt, she pushed up with her legs and threw it off her spear.
She looked back at Sylas and flashed a deadpan thumbs up before launching herself back into the battle.
"Damn, there's not much time," Mark said between heaving breaths.
They had finally cleared enough of the wolves to get started on their tree-cutting task. But they didn't have an easy way to do that. None of them wanted to waste the durability on their weapons, and they didn't have any other tools either.
The environment of the Aether Plane was much sturdier than that of Earth. While everything looked normal, whether it was the ground, the plants, or the trees, they were all far sturdier.
The more you fought, the more important Durability became. Due to Basic Aetherflow, Sylas had run into that exact problem several times already, and it seemed he would be faced with it again.
Just as they were stressing over the matter, a jogger came forward from the distance and tossed the three of them a few hand chainsaws. They had the teeth of chainsaws, but rather than being connected to a rotating, electricity-powered mechanism, they instead had two handles. One was essentially meant to wrap around a tree then use a back and forth motion to slowly cut a tree down.
After completing their task, the jogger headed toward the next group.
Sylas caught the hand chainsaw with his telekinesis.
"Show off," Mark laughed. He had been the one to toss it over. Although Sylas seemed a bit eccentric to him, he had more than pulled his weight so there was no need to clash over such a meaningless thing.
Sylas smiled bitterly inwardly, but he didn't explain. If he really caught it with his hands, there was no telling if the Scorned Wraps beneath his gloves would register it as one or not.
It didn't seem like it should count as a weapon, but he had thought the same thing about the net treasure he took from Brant's partner. Yet, that had burnt to ash just the same.
The three got to work. There was no telling when the next wave of beasts would come, so they had to build up their defenses as quickly as possible.
Sylas controlled the handles of the hand chainsaw as though they were two different objects.
It took a bit to get the hang of it. While he was pulling with one, he couldn't exert the same amount of strength with the other. It was a novel feeling.