As soon as it entered the territory, the Level 5 Dark Demon Wolf locked its gaze straight onto the people it had picked out earlier. With a leap, it pounced toward them.
This time, there was no protective shield in front of them. The massive body of the Dark Demon Wolf landed, and its two front paws pinned down two people, biting through their necks without hesitation, then lowering its head to feed, bloodthirsty.
As it devoured, its blood bar rose, barely visibly.
Some people, seeing this for the first time, vomited outright on the spot.
But the Demon Beasts wouldn't give them a chance to react. The Dark Demon Wolves that came in behind the Level 5 one immediately started a massacre.
Fortunately, thanks to these past two days of hunting Demon Beasts, some people snapped out of it and quickly grouped up with weapons to fight back.
But not everyone had strong nerves. Faced with Demon Beasts breaking into the territory they'd thought safe, the only thought left in their minds was: run.
But Demon Wolves, by their nature, always went after runners first.
Several people who tried to escape were chased down by the Dark Demon Wolves almost the moment they turned, mauled to the ground. The air thickened with a dense, bloody stench, hell on earth.
This was the scene Zhou Bai and Li Xingteng returned to: faces grim, especially at the sight of that Level 5 Dark Demon Wolf, killing one and eating one, treating this place as its personal hunting ground. Its reckless killing threw more people into panic and chaos, everyone just wanting to get away. The situation was spiraling out of control.
If nobody intervened, things would only get worse!
It was at this moment that the system sent Zhou Bai a notification.
[Fence repaired. Real-time mode remains active.]
[Dear Host, your territory has been invaded by Demon Beasts. Please eliminate them as soon as possible.]
[Note: If no residents survive, the territory counts as destroyed and will disappear.]
Seeing the system's reminder, Zhou Bai killed a Dark Demon Wolf trying to lunge at him, then turned for a quick look.
He saw the fence really was fixed. Zhou Bai let out a small sigh of relief. With the outer fence intact, those Dark Demon Wolves outside would have a much harder time breaking in. So as long as they dealt with the ones already inside, the territory could survive this crisis.
The next moment, Zhou Bai shouted at the top of his lungs, "The territory fence is repaired! Everyone, focus on killing the Demon Beasts inside!"
As soon as he said that, everyone heard it. Instinctively, they checked outside and saw many Dark Demon Wolves blocked beyond the fence.
Li Xingteng understood what Zhou Bai meant and immediately shouted, "We have people at Level 5 who can handle that Level 5 Dark Demon Wolf. The rest of you just focus on the other Demon Beasts!"
Li Xingteng's words instantly set many who'd been afraid of the Level 5 wolf at ease, and they started to help direct some of the newer survivors.
"That's right! Don't run! And don't stand there! Grab your weapons and kill!"
"If you don't fight back, there's only one ending—death."
"Do you want to just die, or do you want to try to live?"
"Team up with the people around you, back to back! Point your weapons at the Demon Beasts!"
"..."
With more and more people directing, order slowly returned. Facing the ravenous Dark Demon Beasts, their counterattacks grew fiercer.
For a while, casualties started to drop.
Watching everyone slowly recover their rhythm, Zhou Bai focused all his attention on the Level 5 Dark Demon Beast.
After eating some people, the aura around the Level 5 Dark Demon Beast grew even stronger!
But with the other residents keeping it busy, Zhou Bai and his group finally managed to catch up to the Level 5 Demon Beast.
Once close enough, Zhou Bai charged forward with his iron axe. Each strike was faster and more vicious than the last, hitting once and darting away, entering harassment mode.
Right now, all she wanted was: to kill it, no matter what!
The Level 5 Dark Demon Wolf was clearly annoyed now. Dodging Zhou Bai's attacks, it focused all its aggression on her, raising a massive paw to slam down at her head.
Boom!
With a deafening crash, a paw-shaped crater appeared in the ground. Zhou Bai escaped.
But just looking at that crater, you could tell how deadly the Level 5 Dark Demon Wolf's attack was.
Its attacks came harder and faster, picking up more speed.
Making it so that even Li Xingteng and the others couldn't find a chance to jump in.
In this situation, Zhou Bai immediately shifted to defense, constantly drawing the Level 5 Demon Beast in circles, slowly luring it away from the crowd.
Watching them draw away, two Guard Team members next to Li Xingteng wanted to follow, but Li Xingteng stopped them.
"Let's finish off the other Dark Demon Wolves first, then go help her. We can't let them level up by feeding on people."
"But..."
"Trust her. And this is what she wants." Li Xingteng gritted his teeth, grabbed his weapon, and rushed at a Dark Demon Wolf attacking someone.
Still too useless—having to rely on a kid to lead the way, how shameful!
The others heard him, and could only follow.
So as Zhou Bai tangled with the Level 5 Dark Demon Wolf, the rest of the Dark Demon Wolves were picked off one by one.
The Level 5 one started to realize Zhou Bai's plan, trying to dodge around her and head another way. With just a bit more flesh and blood, he could get promotion, and after that, this "food" in front of him would no longer be a threat.
But having suffered once already, Zhou Bai would never let him out of her sight, even fighting wounded and watching her own Life Value drop rapidly just to block his path, keeping him away from the others.
Minute by minute went by. With every fresh scream and howl, the Dark Demon Wolves inside the territory were beaten down one after another as everyone joined forces.
Finally, nearly all the Dark Demon Wolves in the territory were dealt with.
Once this was confirmed, Zhou Zhengping and Li Xingteng in the crowd didn't hesitate and rushed toward Zhou Bai.
In just a moment, they reached Zhou Bai's location. When the Level 5 Dark Demon Beast attacked, they took the hit head-on—they were Level 5 too!
Soon, the others caught on as well. Everyone who still had strength joined in, more and more people piling on, axes and spears hacking and stabbing, their rage boiling over.
No matter how fast he was, two fists couldn't stand against dozens. The Level 5 Dark Demon Wolf's blood bar plummeted like it was jumping off a cliff.
At last, when its last sliver of blood was gone, the Level 5 Dark Demon Wolf fell. In its final moment, there was disbelief in its eyes.
With a loud "bang," its massive body crashed to the ground.
But the attacks didn't stop. Many kept hacking away madly, stabbing over and over, until its body dissolved into particles of light.
And right after it vanished, the Dark Demon Wolves outside the fence all howled in unison and prepared to retreat.
Their howls instantly drew a lot of attention.
A fierce light flashed in everyone's eyes.
"Charge! Don't let them get away!"
The blood-crazed residents weren't about to let them escape. Ignoring the lack of a protective shield outside, one after another they chased them down, ruthlessly finishing off the wounded and stragglers.
Before long, the area around the territory began to empty out.
When people realized this wave of attack was over, many's legs gave out and they collapsed to the ground.
"It's over!"
"We won!"
"Yeah! We won!"
"We… we really won!"
"..."
The crowd burst into laughter and tears.
Crying for the days of hardship.
Laughing because they had survived.
Zhou Bai, too, finally let out the breath she had been holding and sat straight down on the ground.
And just then, countless new notifications flooded Zhou Bai's control panel.
Seeing all the messages, Zhou Bai's lips twisted into a bitter smile.
So that's how it is!
This really is… such a cruel world!