One-Eyed Monster

"Quick, untie my ropes! This isn't like before!" Baharo frantically dodged the assault of the walking dead, screaming hysterically at Stan Sol.

"Untie my ropes too! I want to teach these dark-bound bastards a lesson!" Igor dodged left and right, yelling along. What was happening before his eyes tipped the scales in Igor's heart; he wouldn't feel right without a fight.

"Lord Witch, think of something! We can't just sit here and wait to die!" Musa, who had been silent all along, suddenly blurted out.

"I'm... thinking..." Witch Biggs was bewildered; she had never seen such a scene. Most of her life as a Wizard had been spent indoors with books. She could easily identify a plant or name a Spellcraft, but she had no ability to react to unexpected outdoor situations.

"Thank goodness for your Spirit Wall, or we'd all be done for," Axia sighed to Musa.

"His Spirit Wall can't hold for long, and this situation doesn't allow for sighs. We need to identify the enemy." Qi Liu remained calm, showing that the nature of a Politician was indeed different.

Only Kadi, blinking one eye, sighed as a myriad of emotions surged through him. Weren't these people of the same kind? Why the constant quarrels and fights? If he had so many of his own kind, he would be overjoyed, not constantly fighting and killing.

Vister and about twenty others had completely lost their original consciousness. Their eyes glowed red, and their teeth chattered. Their speed and strength had clearly increased manifold.

Furthermore, these twenty-odd people formed an irregular, neither round nor square, formation under a silent command. After each individual attack, they quickly returned to their positions, constantly maintaining the integrity of their ranks.

These individuals kept dashing about, their target consistent: Hustace, who was surrounded by flames.

But Hustace was an important asset to Stan Sol, and Sol would not give up his asset easily.

Close-range Spirit Arrows weren't very effective, and the opponents' formation was excellent. The irregular circle left few, if any, blind spots. For a moment, Stan Sol didn't know where to penetrate the Alchemy Array and could only passively defend against the "walking dead" leaping from it.

The movements of these walking dead couldn't be predicted by human standards. The sound of their bones CRACKING and snapping would have crippled a normal person, yet these corpses could not only stand but also jump. Their forearms could bend a full three hundred and sixty degrees, making it impossible to predict their next attacks.

While an expert like Stan Sol could elegantly defend against these strange assaults, the bound Baharo and Igor could only scramble to evade them.

But no matter how they dodged, the area on the mountainside was minuscule. Sooner or later, these "walking dead" would force them back to where they started.

In this situation, Musa, whose strength was not outstanding, resorted to the most rudimentary method of self-protection: creating a Spirit Wall that the "walking dead" couldn't penetrate quickly. Although this defensive Spellcraft consumed a terrifying amount of Spirit Power, he had no other choice. Among their group of four, it seemed only he possessed any combat ability. The others were individuals Leader Aliusan had specifically entrusted to his care, so he couldn't abandon them. Musa had just begun to overcome his feelings of worthlessness; if this mission failed, he truly wouldn't be able to face Leader Aliusan.

"I remember now! That big Booger Worm is called a Wire Puppet. It's a Contract Beast of Dark Wizards. These people must have been manipulated by Dark Wizards!" Axia, hiding behind Musa's Spirit Wall, started sharing his knowledge again.

"What's the point of saying that at a critical moment like this! Can it stop these freaks' attacks? We need to figure out how to break out now!" Musa, usually silent, was growing irritable and started to complain.

"If we don't even know what we're facing, how can we talk about breaking out?" Qi Liu suddenly interjected.

"What the heck is this Wire Puppet, this big Booger Worm thing?" Igor, despite jumping around chaotically, had surprisingly overheard Axia and the others. This astonished Kadi. Sometimes this guy acted like a fool, other times like a monster. To calmly join a conversation in this state was not something an ordinary person could do.

"Hey, Igor," Kadi said, dodging an incoming "walking dead" and prodding the fool beside him with his tail, "remember what I told you before?"

"What?" Igor still looked clueless.

"Stick close to me when we make a run for it later!"

"Why would we run?" Igor repeated his previous question.

"Er, just keep listening and watching," Kadi said.

The "walking dead" continued their relentless assault. Though imposing, their attacks weren't particularly effective. Each attacker would retreat into formation after a single strike. This pattern not only gave their targets a chance to breathe but also exposed slight vulnerabilities in their ranks…

Stan Sol noticed this gap. Just as he was preparing to exploit this weakness for a breakthrough, a particular detail made him furrow his brow.

The mouth of one of the "walking dead" suddenly gaped open. Its body swayed forward and backward, as if it were about to vomit something…

"Really, I can help…" Baharo didn't finish his sentence before he suddenly felt the restraints loosen. The Binding Beast Rope that had bound him ZIPPED back into Stan Sol's hand.

"Swords!" Sol tossed the twin swords to Baharo, returning them to their owner.

Baharo glanced at Stan Sol, then at the horde of "walking dead." Suddenly, he yelled at the top of his lungs, "This is bad! Run!"

"Huh?" Igor was baffled. He turned to look at Kadi, who appeared completely calm.

"I remember now! This Wire Puppet is a type of Parasite! It will turn on its host and completely replace it in a short time. Then, they'll continuously split from the original host's body. If you're unlucky enough to be bitten by one of their Split Entities, you'll be infested by them…" Axia said all this in one breath; it seemed he was recalling a lot just then.

"Battle Pet, protect!" Stan Sol commanded. He swirled his robe, and it instantaneously transformed into a writhing monster, dancing actively beside him, much like the cluster of flames.

"Withdraw!" Stan Sol commanded. The flames surrounding Hustace vanished with a WHOOSH. Then, the robe flew to Hustace, instantly wrapping him up like a mummy.

"Fuse!" Sol ordered again.

The extinguished flames suddenly flared up again. Along with the robe enveloping Hustace, they shot towards Stan Sol.

In that instant, Stan Sol was wreathed in fire, like a Soldier clad in Flame Armor. Hustace, enveloped in the robe, was safely shielded behind Stan Sol, surrounded by layers of flames and intense heat…

The spectacle made Igor's eyes light up with awe, but he had no time to ask why.

"Everyone, run! I'm drained and can't divide my attention!" Stan Sol unleashed a volley of Flame Arrows, piercing through a "walking dead's" abdomen. A gap appeared in their formation.

"Run!" One of Baharo's flying swords sliced off a "walking dead's" arm, and he then bolted down the mountain…

"Run for your lives!" Axia yelled, dragging Qi Liu as he turned to flee.

"But, Young Master…" Qi Liu was still worried about Hustace's safety.

"Let's escape this immediate danger first! We still have a chance!" This time, Musa seemed to have completely shed his former timidity, encouraging Qi Liu even as they fled.

"Wait for me!" Witch Biggs cried, scrambling after them. She had been hiding in the back from the start, utterly useless the entire time.

Igor scratched his head, not even realizing his hands were already free.

"Why is everyone running?"

"Follow me!" Kadi kicked Igor's backside. "Even Sol doesn't think he can protect us all! That shows how troublesome these Wire Puppets are. Hurry and run!"

"Uh, I…" Before Igor could finish, he saw a severed arm flying toward him from behind…