Is this really a Game?!

The arrow whizzed through the air with incredible speed, its trajectory unerring. Beast had poured an immense amount of mana into the shot, knowing that this would be their best chance to bring down the Alpha. The arrow struck the Alpha directly in the chest, embedding itself deep within the creature's flesh.

For a moment, the wolf let out a pained growl, its body convulsing as the arrow penetrated deep inside its body, causing immense damage as the wind imbued into the arrow exploded, cutting apart the wolf both from the inside and out.

"Nice shot!" Shadow shouted, his voice tinged with urgency as he repositioned himself to strike again.

But the Alpha wasn't finished. It let out a deafening roar, shaking the very ground beneath them as a surge of dark energy erupted from its body. The shadowy mist thickened, becoming almost tangible as it wrapped around the Alpha, forming an impenetrable shield. The arrow in its chest disintegrated, and the magic that Beast had imbued it with dissipated into the air.

"That's not good," Reign muttered, his eyes narrowing as he tried to assess the situation. "It's using some kind of defensive aura. We need to break through that shield."

Everyone nodded, falling into formation. The pack of wolves surrounding the Alpha had regrouped, growling menacingly as they prepared to defend their leader. But Reign and his team were already in motion.

Mia conjured a storm of ice and wind, directing it toward the Alpha in an attempt to weaken its shadowy barrier. The cold gusts collided with the dark energy, causing it to flicker and waver, though not fully dissipate. At the same time, Laura unleashed another powerful spell, a torrent of black lightning crackling from her fingertips and slamming into the shield.

That was the fourth spell she had learned from the Tome, and unlike the others, Laura could cast it whenever she wanted. The longer the casting time and the longer she poured her demonic energy and the surrounding mana into the spell, the more powerful it would be, but there was no minimum the spell had to reach to be cast like the others.

The Alpha growled in frustration, clearly affected by the magical onslaught but still standing strong.

"Now!" Reign shouted, charging forward with his swords raised. Tank followed closely behind, his shield raised as he prepared to absorb any counterattacks.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The two of them reached the Alpha at the same time. Tank slammed his shield into the creature's side, creating an opening for Reign to strike. His swords cut through the air in a blur, aimed at the Alpha's vulnerable spots. He managed to land a few blows, but the shadowy shield absorbed most of the impact.

"It's too strong!" Tank grunted, bracing himself as the Alpha retaliated with a powerful swipe of its claws. The force of the blow sent him skidding back, though his shield absorbed the worst of it.

"Keep hitting it!" Reign urged, refusing to back down. "We're wearing it down!"

Meanwhile, Shadow and Wolf had taken up positions on either side of the Alpha, their movements swift and coordinated. Shadow's daggers flashed as he darted in and out of the Alpha's range, aiming for its legs to keep it off balance. Wolf, with his chaos flames burning brighter than ever, launched a barrage of fiery punches, each one leaving scorch marks on the Alpha's thick fur.

Despite their best efforts, the Alpha was still proving to be an overwhelming force. It lashed out with incredible speed, forcing them to stay on the defensive. The wolves surrounding the Alpha began to close in, their snarls growing louder as they prepared to overwhelm the group.

"We need to finish this quickly!" Reign called out as Greenie jumped in front of the wolves, slamming his hammer down in order to stop them from attacking the others while Jin punched forward, creating an explosion in the middle of the wolf pack.

The explosion proved effective at scattering the wolves, making it easier for Greenie to go up against them, but there were still too many for him to stop by himself.

That was why Aelrinder joined him right after the explosion, ardiving from above, impaling his spear through a wolf and nailing it down to the ground beofre stomping on its neck.

"As I thought, I'm still not as familiar with these beasts as you are."

Compared to Mia and Jin, Aelrinder had been with the group longer, and thus, he knew more about their weird connection and familiarity with wolves, thus their previous reaction was nothing weird for him.

Even in the face of this massive, shadowy Alpha wolf, they fought with precision, as if their bodies remembered every trick and tactic to bring these creatures down.

Aelrinder stood back-to-back with Greenie, his spear dripping with the blood of the wolf he had just impaled. "No matter how many times I see it, you guys really know your wolves."

Greenie grunted in agreement as he swung his hammer in a wide arc, sending several wolves flying through the air. "It's just instinct at this point."

Reign, standing at the forefront, gritted his teeth as he exchanged blows with the Alpha. The shield of shadow that the Alpha had conjured was proving to be a formidable defense, absorbing most of their strikes and making it hard to land a killing blow. Despite their best efforts, the barrier had yet to fully crack.

"We're not making enough of a dent in that shield," Reign muttered, frustration lacing his voice. "But it's weakening. We just need one good hit to break through."

"Any bright ideas?" Wolf asked, chaos flames swirling around his fists as he dodged another swipe from the Alpha. The wolf's eyes glowed with an eerie, malevolent light as it surveyed its prey, clearly unafraid.

"I would suggest using our marks, but I don't think this is all the system will throw at us, so we should try to attack it from three sides at the same time, you use the flame sword, I'll go with the lance, and Shadow can use the gravity ball."

"Stop calling it a gravity ball," Shadow said with a disgruntled expression as Reign smirked.

"Tank, you and Beast draw its attention, keep it in place for a couple of seconds."

Tank and Beast nodded in unison, preparing to draw the Alpha's attention as Reign, Wolf, and Shadow got into position. The three of them exchanged quick glances, knowing that they had only one shot to make this work. The Alpha's shadowy shield was weakening, but they needed to hit it simultaneously with all of their power to break through.

"Ready when you are," Beast called out, drawing his bow and notching an arrow imbued with wind energy. He aimed for the Alpha's legs, hoping to slow it down. Tank, standing beside him, gripped his shield tightly and braced himself for impact. His body glowed with a faint aura of energy, reinforcing his defensive capabilities.

"Go!" Reign shouted.

Tank charged forward, slamming his shield into the Alpha's side with full force. The creature let out a furious snarl, turning its head toward him with a snap of its jaws, only to be met with Tank's shield.

Tank didn't stop there, however, as he clenched his axe and slashed down at the head of the wolf. The axe was covered in mana, but it was still just a regular attack, thus it did very little damage to the massive wolf, it only made it angrier.

But before it could retaliate, Beast's arrow whistled through the air, striking one of its hind legs and causing the creature to stagger.

The momentary distraction was all they needed.

The trio immediately acted. Wolf charged forward, a massive flame erupting around his sword before growing more dense, forming a massive sword of flames. He jumped, aiming to slash from above.

Reign moved from the back, a lance of black lightning forming around his entire arm. He appeared like a bolt of lightning zooming through the area.

The wolf noticed Wolf and was about to attack him before he could slash down, but that was when Shadow stepped out of its shadow, throwing a ball of darkness right underneath it, hitting its stomach.

The ball imploded, creating a black hole that started drawing in the skin, flesh, and bones of the wolf, or, it would have, had it not been for the shadowy shield around it.

Still, the black home was taking the shield away, making it thinner, and still damaging the body of the wolf, causing it ti freeze for an instant.

That was when Reign arrived, stabbing his lance forward, aiming at a peculiar spot at the wolf's behind, a spot that should never be targeted, a place where the sun never shone.

The wolf felt it immediately as even with the shield, the power behind Reign's attack allowed it to slowly penetrate, stabbing it and causing immense panic and pain to the wolf.

And then came the killing blow, then came Wolf, slashing from above with full force.