Hunter of the Evernight
Chapter 260: Call to Combat

Chapter 260: Call to Combat

It was quite strange... Elena thought as she ran, her chest heaving.

How did a city with so many inhabitants become so empty?

It made no sense.

But that was precisely the case as she ran, her legs moving faster than she could imagine.

Behind her, excited growls could be heard as the large wolves chased after her, regarding her as prey.

She didn’t dare to look back after the first time, instead keeping her gaze on the path ahead.

Currently, the murmurs seemed to serve as a boon instead of a drawback as they led her somewhere.

She didn’t know where but she didn’t dare to go elsewhere, after all, it was getting harder to run as it was.

Elena had no idea why but the voices never told her to enter a building.

It was almost like if she tried it, that would be the end but then it did cause her to question where she was ultimately going to end up.

She was tempted to question those chasing her but even that didn’t seem to have a good ending.

So with no other choice, she ran and indeed, she ran quite well but then faced against the wolves, Elena soon came to understand the limits of the human physique as it became harder to breathe and her legs began to give way.

’Just a little more.’ She thought as she turned a corner and tried to move before ultimately tripping over herself.

A dull thud echoed as Elena groaned softly, her entire body aching from the unfortunate debacle.

However, she got no chance to recover as the wolves soon arrived, their mouths curled in strange amusement.

She slowly backed away, unwilling to know what they intended to do to her.

But then again, where could she go?

So she decided to beg. "Please..."

Unfortunately, the wolves weren’t willing to listen as they lunged at her.

Elena closed her eyes, expecting the pain before death but it never came.

When she opened her eyes, she found that the wolves were frozen in a thin layer of ice.

She blinked in confusion before realizing that someone was carrying her.

"Are you okay, Ms?"

She glanced at the origin to find that it was Douglas, his peculiar green irises regarding her with interest.

"You..."

"Please, hold on tight. We have to take our leave now."

Before Elena could offer a response, Douglas turned and without hesitation, took off.

Unlike Elena, Douglas had no problems with fatigue and so charged forward like a raging bull, the sounds of the wind accompanying his footsteps.

Elena was forced to close her eyes, terrified at the strange occurrence though glad that she had escaped the wolves.

Unfortunately, her relief was short-lived as a series of howls permeated the entirety of the city.

Douglas’s expression turned sour as he muttered. "It would seem I was too hasty."

"What’s going on?" Elena couldn’t help but ask.

Douglas replied. "We are in big trouble, Ms."

Almost like it was a response to his words, a brown wolf emerged and began chasing after them.

Another arrived and yet another, until they were being chased from all sides.

Douglas gritted his teeth as he ran as fast as he could.

He tried teleporting out of the city and into Evernight only to realize that the entirety of Thebes was currently under an enchantment that sealed space.

There was a means to get through but he had to get close enough to the barrier to utilize it.

Alas, it seemed the wolves knew his plans and weren’t about to let him succeed.

The earth beneath Douglas’s feet suddenly shifted causing him to immediately leap into the air but this was a bad move as a wolf lunged at him immediately.

Douglas glanced at the attacker and exerted his will as quickly as he could, a thin wall of ice appearing between them.

At the same time, he tried to create ice blocks to facilitate an escape but had hardly begun when he was slammed by a powerful force that sent him flying.

Using the best of his abilities, Douglas ensured Elena’s safety as he crashed to the ground.

A sizzling sound erupted from his skin as he shrugged off the pain he felt to check on Elena.

He let out a relieved sigh at the discovery that she was unconscious.

"You must have a lot of guts, stranger. Tell me, who sent you?"

Douglas rose to his feet to face the one that spoke, a familiar face quickly coming into view.

As expected, it was the large BeastMan from earlier, though his appearance was slightly different as he donned a strange red armor with symbols etched into it and wielded a red spear with similar symbols.

"I am Carlos Tevez, son of Fernando Tevez, Alpha of Stormfront pack. Who are you?" The man spoke in raspy Razan as he stepped forward.

Judging from the flow of aether about him, Douglas picked him out to be the one that had attacked him.

Seeing as Douglas didn’t respond, Carlos spoke again, this time in broken Enochic.

Douglas took a deep breath as he replied in Enochic. "I am Lupus."

"A strange name," Carlos muttered back as he scrutinized Douglas.

"..."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Hmm?"

"Why are you protecting that woman?" Carlos inquired.

Douglas glanced at Elena behind him before replying. "There is no reason."

"Is that so?"

"Let me go and I will cause you no trouble."

Before Carlos could speak, one of the other wolves disparaged Douglas in Razan. "Who do you think you are to make demands?... You’d best step out of the way or be ripped apart."

"I declare a Call to Combat." Douglas suddenly said, drawing frowns from a few of those present who were proficient in Enochic.

Carlos however remained calm as he replied. "You know our custom?"

"..."

"Alright then. Since you do not wish to answer, it’s fine. But your Call to Combat, though brave, is illegitimate so we will not allow you to pick your opponent. Instead, we shall decide for you."

"... I accept."

"Then let us begin." Carlos gestured to someone behind before one of the wolves came forward with a helmet in its maw.

Extricating it from the wolf, Carlos donned the helmet before turning to Douglas.

"Whenever you are ready."