I Became A Zompirewolf

Meanwhile, on the ground, the battle raged on and on, with no one able to come out on top. At the beginning of this war, this land was lush and green. But not anymore. Since the land was now littered with corpses. The greenery of the forest had been long since replaced by a mixture of distinct coloured blood types.

No one would have expected a loving and peaceful place to turn into the twisted image of its former glory. The garden of Eden had been turned into an avenue straight out of hell.

In certain places, the land had been scorched with fire, in others the many battles have turned the grass to a dark brown with mud being sloshed about in some places, creating a sticky mud in others, along with gruesome sludge from the blood of the fallen.

But that wasn't all. In some areas, the mud has been scorched from the large numbers of soldiers who have been hit by fire spells of the gryphons. Over time, the trees got destroyed, with branches filled with arrows or long spears or just hacked down by plasma swords.

Numerous trees simply broke under the weight of the fighting and fell over, crushing the participants along the way. The death toll was at an all-time high.

The air had become thick with smoke rising from the ground and up into the skies, while also ascending from the burning corpses. The sky was grey and dark with smoke, and at times the wind will change and the smoke will blow over the fighting, causing the eyes of the survivors to burn and tear up as they tried to flee from the danger, with some even passing out from the overwhelming smell of smoke.

The fields were filled with cries of pain. It was pandemonium. A dozen or so people calling out in pain, people shouting back and forth to check on their comrades and whatnot. Yet none of them could find solace as things rapidly went from bad to worse.

But the gryphons did not stop. They decimated anything and everything that caught their eyes. The participants were helpless against the monsters.

"Damn it! None of our attacks even work on them!" A Cynthilan* warrior yelled at the top of his lungs, "No matter how much we stab and shoot them, nothing can stop these bastards!"

The group of young wannabe mercenaries, entered the trial thinking it would be a piece of cake for them. After all, one of them had the Tamer class. They could easily tame four pegasuses and be done with the trials.

Once they received the proof of clearing the trials, no one would be able to take them lightly in their field. Sadly, their dreams came to a halt, because instead of finding young and docile pegasuses, they end up discovering deathly Gryphons.

But where everyone saw a disaster, the four of them saw an opportunity like no other. If they could somehow conquer the dungeon, they would gain recognition from the Monarchs and would most likely earn a place amongst the guards.

Their plans, however, crumbled when they were put in their place by a single gryphon. Out of the four friends, one had to sacrifice himself to give the others a chance to escape. The incident had a profound impact on their confidence.

"Keep it low, Chakas! We survive thanks to Lurrew giving up his life! Do you want to throw that chance away so recklessly!?"

The remaining Cynthilans held on to their breaths as if the moment they breathed out, they would be killed. For people who wanted to become famous mercenaries, they did not have any talent or the composure expected from them. Especially during times like these.

"Don't you think I know that?" Chakas growled in a low voice, "We belong to a race of prideful warriors and yet we are hiding like cowards! If only I could get close to one of them... I just might be able to tame them-"

The man was mid-sentence when something huge fell out of the sky right in front of him. He and his friends immediately pulled their weapons out. Their worst fears had come true. A gryphon was right in front of them.

"Damn you Chakas! they found us thanks to your whining... Fuck! Run!"

Their fight or flight instinct kicked in and they decided to flee from the spot. But before they could take another step away from the fallen Gryphon, another one fell out of the sky not far away from them... only this one was covered in blood.

"Wait... is it dead?" Chakas mumbled as he slowly kicked the gryphon to get some reaction out of him. But there wasn't any, the creature was indeed dead, "Is that a bite mark around his chest?"

Chakas, looked up only to see a lone man fighting against the gryphons. No... it wasn't a fight, but a one-sided massacre. Through his sharp sight, Chakas could see a flying humanoid creature jumping from one gryphon to another, killing them like it was some child's play.

"What is going on up there..."

"Who gives a fuck? Since the Gryphons are focused on him, let's get the hell out of here!"

"Y-Yeah..." Chakas ran away but not before taking a last look at their flying messiah.

***

[Alright, that's numero 57. Good job so far.]

Ashton did not reply as he was preoccupied with trying to catch his breath. He had managed to kill a little over half of the gryphons and he was already out of breath. Continous use of [Irrevance] skill was slowly tiring him out.

He only realised it now, why Atlas' [Divinity] skill consumed absorbed stamina from the enemies in place of HP. Rapidly gaining and losing HP can cause a lot of strain on one's body, Ashton was learning that through firsthand experience. Thankfully, the gryphons seemed to have learned their lesson and did not dare to attack him anymore.

"They seem to be communicating amongst themselves..." Ashton said followed by an awkward pause.

[What? You expect me to know their language?]

Ashton shrugged his shoulders in reply.

[You racist bastard! Just because I'm an alien, it doesn't mean I can understand every random creature's language.]

"So you don't know?"

[... I never said that.]

"..."

[They are discussing whether they should retreat and bid some time or go all-out and die.]

Ashton did not have to wait for a second more as the Gryphons had made their decision. All of the remaining creatures headed back inside the portal, leaving Ashton confused but at the same time relieved.

"We'll get them next time..." Ashton mumbled and began casually descending, "In the meantime, let's see what Anna found about those radical shits."

***

Author's note: For more information on Cynthila species, visit chapter 241.