..."In my memory, Kanna-chan was a bit mischievous..." Blue Poison racked her brain, but the mischievous, always sneaking into the dining hall to steal food, hungry dragon in her memory didn't quite match the Kanna-chan in front of her.
"But this is good. With the strength Kanna-chan and Nian have shown, our squad is quite safe." Seeing Blue Poison still somewhat conflicted, Anto patted her on the back and walked towards the others who were preparing food.
Meanwhile, by the other convoy, Folinic and Misha had already directed the other team members to light a fire, preparing to set up camp on the spot.
Yuki, Rope, and Mousse went to the edge of the nearby forest to gather branches, while Surtur sat on top of the large vehicle as the team's lookout, vigilantly observing the surroundings and picking off any Originium Bugs that appeared.
"Mousse, don't get too close to the forest. We learned before that forests have many obstacles and are prone to ambushes by wild beasts, so unless it's an emergency, try to avoid entering them." Seeing Mousse walk too close to the forest to pick up branches, Yuki nervously stopped her.
"Yes, it's only early spring, and many beasts that slept through winter are now hunting..." Rope's ears suddenly twitched. She immediately raised her grappling hook gun, aiming it at the forest, on alert.
Mousse, who was about to reassure her companions, turned to see Rope's highly vigilant stance and the way she drew her weapon, and realized something was wrong.
She agilely jumped next to Rope and Yuki, looking cautiously ahead.
Accompanied by faint rustling sounds, dozens of wolves emerged from the bushes at the forest's edge. Their sharp fangs and predatory gazes sent a chill down the trio's spines.
"Don't turn around, retreat slowly. Rope, fire the flare." Mousse called out to Rope and Yuki, who were about to run backward. Her hands transformed into large claws, which she held in front of her chest, pointing the sharp claws at the wolf pack, signaling that she was not to be trifled with, while slowly retreating towards the convoy.
Rope, who was a bit flustered on her first mission, quickly pulled out her flare gun from her waist after hearing Mousse's words.
"Chirp~~~~~!" With the flare gun's discharge, an extremely sharp and piercing sound, accompanied by bright light, flew into the sky.
The wolf pack, hearing the sound, first recoiled, then, realizing their prey wasn't attacking, charged forward in a fit of rage.
"Run!" Seeing the wolf pack no longer slowly approaching but starting to accelerate, accompanied by Mousse's shout, the three unhesitatingly turned and ran desperately towards the convoy.
Back at the convoy, Blue Poison, who was helping with cooking, immediately leaped onto the roof of the vehicle after seeing the flare. Before Surtur, who was on lookout duty, could even react, Blue Poison had already drawn her hand crossbow and aimed it in the direction of the flare.
"What's going on? Who fired the flare!"
At the same time, with a flash of lightning, Kanna arrived on the roof of the vehicle.
Hearing Kanna's words, Surtur immediately replied, "It's Yuki and them; there aren't many branches for burning nearby, so they decided to go a bit further to gather more."
"Already spotted. Confirmed to be Yuki, Rope, and Mousse. They are fleeing, with a pack of wolves behind them! Position is about 200 meters, and they will exit the forest in three seconds," Blue Poison, holding infrared binoculars, reported the trio's whereabouts.
"All ranged operators, listen to Blue Poison's command and prepare to provide suppressing fire towards the forest. Nian, go rescue them, and you protect the convoy." After applying Thunder Punishment Evil Star Eye to everyone in the convoy, Kanna dashed towards the three who had called for help.
"Alright!" Nian jumped to another vantage point and vigilantly surveyed the surroundings.
Just as they emerged from behind the trees, they saw a streak of lightning flash across their eyes, and then Kanna appeared before them.
"Leave this to me; you all retreat towards the convoy."
Hearing Kanna's voice, the three of them felt incredibly relieved, and at that moment, ranged fire support followed closely behind Kanna.
The pack of wolves that had just charged out was met with a barrage of arrows and spells descending from the sky.
Blue Poison's command was very precise; she knew that even if they ran out of the forest edge, the wolves wouldn't stop, so she directed the team to aim at the base of the foremost tree.
Just as the wolf pack charged out of the forest, losing its cover, arrows rained down on them.
Instantly, the front-row wolves fell to the ground after a series of whimpers, but what Blue Poison didn't expect was that the wolves in the rear, seeing the heavy casualties in front, were not afraid but instead had their bloodlust ignited.
Accompanied by a chorus of wolf howls, the entire forest's bird population took flight.
"Damn it, this isn't a small wolf pack; they're calling for reinforcements," Anto, as the vice-captain, exclaimed in disbelief after observing the flock of birds flying up from deep within the forest.
"What's there to be afraid of? Kanna and I are here! The team should condense; the vehicles outside, people inside. It's just a small wolf pack, we'll just take them down," Nian also noticed the immense size of the wolf pack, but with her superior skills and courage, she showed no fear at all. After all, a group of unintelligent beasts couldn't pose any threat to her.
Seeing that these wild wolves not only didn't retreat after suffering heavy losses but charged even faster, Kanna finally made her move.
She merely waved her sword hilt, and the greatsword in her hand transformed into Popukar's signature chainsaw sword. With the enhancement of magic, the chainsaw sword spun at an incredibly high speed.
Wielding the chainsaw sword, Kanna was like an ace lumberjack, except what she was cutting down was not wood, but the wolf pack.
Every strike caused a bloodbath.
She quickly annihilated this "vanguard" at full speed on the boundary between the forest and the plains.
By the time Kanna finished, Yuki and the other two had also breathlessly run back to the convoy.
"It's good that you're safe. Grab your weapons and prepare for battle!" Seeing them all return safely, Anto patted Yuki's back, who was trembling from nervousness.
"Yuki, Rope, you two go to the roof to assist Gloria, Blue Poison and Surtur, form a firepower defense line, Weedy, disrupt the wolf pack's formation, don't let their charge be so comfortable, everyone else, prepare for melee combat under the vehicles." Anto, as an experienced veteran who had participated in many field missions, quickly arranged the team.
"It's finally my turn! What was that Kanna said earlier… Oh, right, 'Steady as a Rock'!"
Looking at the surrounding wolf pack, Nian waved her small hand, and a bright protective shield appeared around the convoy. However, whether intentionally or by chance, Kanna was just outside the shield.
"…I'm not some sour eggplant, why do I have to be left out when you put up a shield?!" Looking at Nian, who wore a mischievous smile, Kanna was sure this was intentional; she absolutely didn't believe it was bad luck that such a thing could happen.
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