Souls Online: Mythic Ascension-Chapter 229: Charging in

The Southern Hunting Grounds stretched out before them in eerie silence.

The trees were denser now, their leaves filtering out much of the sunlight and casting everything in a patchwork of shadow and light.

Even the breeze felt heavier, like the air itself was bracing for something.

Penny walked near the middle of the group, dragging her feet a little with each step.

She still had one hand on her stomach, dramatically reminding everyone of her brush with ’death’.

Crystal didn’t turn around but spoke loud enough for her to hear.

"You know, most people wouldn’t have survived a puncture like that."

Penny gave a solemn nod. "I know."

Greg snorted. "Yeah, the humiliation alone would’ve taken out a weaker soul."

Penny scowled, though she didn’t deny it. "I’m a survivor. Bravest girl here."

Aria muttered, "You screamed."

"I tactically alerted the party to danger," Penny replied. "You’re welcome."

Crystal let out a breath that might have been a laugh if she wasn’t so focused on their surroundings.

Just stay behind me, hero."

"I plan to. Forever."

Leo raised a hand slightly as the path narrowed, signaling them to slow down.

The Southern Hunting Grounds no longer felt passive. The air had shifted.

Greg moved to the front of the party while Crystal took the right side and Leo the left. Aria brought up the rear with Penny in the middle.

Nobody had discussed this sort of formation but they fell into it as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

Leo’s ears pricked up at a noise coming from up ahead. It was as if something was charging toward them.

Branches snapped.

Undergrowth rustled in a heavy, rapid rhythm.

Then came the sound of paws hitting the ground in unison.

Not one. Not a beast.

Many.

Leo raised his hand sharply. "Incoming."

Crystal stepped forward without hesitation, her fingers curling briefly before resting on the hilt of the large, elegant longsword strapped across her back. Mana shimmered faintly along the blade as she drew it, the metal glinting with a pale, cold light.

Greg cracked his neck. "That’s a lot of movement."

Penny stopped walking. "Please let it be something small."

It wasn’t.

The trees ahead parted violently as twelve goblins on massive black wolves exploded into view.

They moved with brutal coordination, racing in a V-shaped formation. Their wolves were muscular and scarred, teeth bared and eyes locked. The goblins were armed with crude spears and jagged blades, some even wearing bone-masked helmets.

Crystal narrowed her eyes. "Wolf cavalry."

"They’re not just passing through," Aria said. "They’re hunting."

Greg stepped forward and rolled his shoulders. "Let’s show them they picked the wrong prey"

His body began to grow exponentially as he threw out a kick. The sudden change in size and reach of Greg caught the goblin rider in front off guard, Greg’s massive foot colliding with the Goblins face as if it had charged headfirst into a thick boulder.

[-270!]

[Critical Strike!]

A sickening crunch noise echoed in the forest as its face partially caved in and it fell off its wolf.

The wolf skidded sideways from the sudden loss of its rider, but Greg stepped forward again, pivoted, and drove a fist straight into its flank. The impact knocked the beast onto its side in a heap of fur and dirt.

[-141]

Crystal surged forward to intercept the next rider. Her longsword shimmered with pale frost as she swept it outward in a clean, arcing slash.

[-211]

The wolf she struck let out a gurgling yelp, half-frozen before it hit the ground. Its rider rolled, scrambled to stand, and got a boot of ice to the chest that launched him back into a tree.

[-74]

[-300!]

[Fatal Blow!]

Possibly due to the Goblin’s own bad luck, the tree that it was launched into had an exposed branch that was thick enough to not snap when the goblin hit it. When the goblin made contact, the branch pierced through its chest, skewering it to the tree as its feet dangled helplessly in the air.

Not missing a beat, Aria stepped up behind Crystal, her eyes locked on the riders swarming in. Her lips parted and she inhaled sharply.

Then came the sound.

A high-pitched vocal note, clear and haunting, rang through the air like the start of a song. It vibrated through the trees and echoed across the battlefield. For a moment, the wind itself seemed to pause.

Skill: Serenade of Wind is in Effect

Effect: Party Members +10% movement Speed, +5% Attack Speed. Enemy -10% Movement speed, -5% Attack Speed.

As Aria’s voice rippled through the clearing, the very air seemed to shimmer. Leaves quivered. Even the grass bent slightly with the pressure. The party moved faster, smoother, like their limbs were lighter and their thoughts sharper.

Crystal pressed the advantage immediately, darting to intercept another rider. Her blade danced with fluid grace, arcs of frost trailing behind each swing.

One goblin raised its spear to block but the weapon shattered from the force of her blow. The goblin didn’t even have time to scream before it was cleaved across the chest.

[-145]

[Bleeding]

Greg let out a low breath and lunged forward with a powerful punch. His massive fist collided with another wolf’s skull and the creature’s legs buckled on impact. It collapsed beneath its rider, who went tumbling through the underbrush.

[-160]

Penny ducked as another goblin rode past her, nearly clipping her with a blade. She let out a yelp and flung her sewing needle in a panic. It didn’t hit anything.

She retrieved it a second later and muttered, "I’m just moral support. Emotional backbone. Heart of the group."

Leo sprinted into the fray from the left, his claws tearing through the flesh of goblins and their wolves as he passed them by.

[-121]

[-98]

[-103]

[-114]

[-103]

[-141]

Greg let out a low whistle as he watched Leo tear through the goblins and their wolves. There was power in his strikes, sure, but there was more than that now.

Leo’s footwork was tight. His dodges were calculated. He moved with awareness, not just raw aggression. There was a rhythm to him, a control that hadn’t been there the day before when they first trained.

Greg’s eyes narrowed slightly. He had assumed Leo was just another instinct-driven brawler, someone who survived on gut feeling and reaction. But now, watching him weave through the chaos, timing his attacks between breaths and adjusting his angles to avoid counters, Greg saw something different.

He saw someone learning.

Someone thinking.

"...He’s already applying what I taught him," Greg murmured, almost to himself.

Crystal heard it and gave him a sidelong glance. "Hm?"

Greg didn’t look away from Leo. "I only started training him yesterday. But he’s already adjusted how he fights. He’s not just throwing hands anymore. He’s processing it all."

Leo ducked under a spear thrust and slammed a gauntleted fist into the goblin’s ribs. The impact cracked bone and sent the rider tumbling from his saddle. Without hesitation, Leo rolled with the momentum, planted a foot, and drove his claws into the side of the charging wolf before it could recover.

[-117]

[-103]

Penny peeked up from behind a rock and watched with wide eyes. "I thought Leo was just the calm type, not the scary type."

Crystal nodded once. "It seems he can be both."

When the battle finally came to an end, Leo’s arms were covered in blood but none of it was his own.

As he huffed for air, he couldn’t shake the feeling that was washing over him. The exhilaration of combat...

And boy did it feel damn good.

This content is taken from (f)reewe(b)novel.𝗰𝗼𝐦