89. Familiar Faces (III)

Blue charged out, just like the time they came out of the monolith. This time, Blue carried a wriggling rainbow fish in its claws. They flew swiftly and reached the pond in a few moments.

Blue let go and Dream dropped into the water with a plop. It circled a few times, glad to have returned to its natural environment. But soon, it felt a surge of Eternum as it attracted a fearsome predator.

The wild alligator went crazy as soon as it sensed Dream. It directly broke through the blockade of the mantis, suffering two additional slashes in the process. It didn’t care and charged at Dream.

Dream took off like a dart. Its survival instincts were excellent. Its speed in the water was unmatched. The stream flashed with all the colors of the rainbow as it fled.

“What happened?”

“The crocodile went crazy?”

“Don’t let it escape!” Casimir shouted, “Brutus, chase after it!”

The iron fur gorilla let out a howl and disengaged from the fray. It broke into a sprint and chased after the alligator which was chasing Dream. All three were heading in Zachary’s general direction.

“Everyone, stay quiet!” Zachary said as he watched.

The stream flowed away from the pond and into the jungle forest. Dream drew a large distance from the pursuing beasts and disappeared from view. Zachary focused his senses on the swift water and found Dream approaching. Dream also sensed his proximity and slowed down. A ray of light later and Dream returned to its soul orb.

Zachary retreated into the underbrush with Onkie and Archer beside him. Soon, the ground rumbled as a large alligator rushed past, half swimming and half running. The ground rumbled again as an iron fur gorilla chased after it. A few moments later, Casimir rushed by riding a tall stag with magnificent antlers.

Zachary watched him go with narrowed eyes. He felt a sharp pang of jealousy. This Casimir had had really strong lineup. It was good to be the leader of a gang.

By now, the situation was just right for Zachary to intervene. Blue had returned safely. The danger to Heather had lessened greatly due to its fog screen. Also, the battle had entered a lull due to Casimir pursuing the alligator.

“Let’s go!” He patted Onkie on the butt.

The furry pig let out a snort and charged out. Zachary was close behind, followed by Archer.

After exiting from cover, a few people noticed and looked in their direction in surprise. Both sides didn’t know if he was with the other group. Zachary made that clear quickly.

“Archer, target the closest porcupine. Don’t hold back, fire!”

“Shee hee!”

Archer fired its leaf arrows wildly. Its aim was bad, as expected. But the target wasn’t too far away. It was soon covered by sharp leaves.

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“Fuck! You’ll pay for that,” One of the Dark Star Gang members shouted, “Strela, kill them!”

The wounded porcupine squeaked and its spikes bristled toward Zachary. A barrage of black spikes shot out, forming a slight arc in the air as they rapidly approached.

Ding! Ding!

Ding!

A wide green shield materialized in front of Zachary, completely covering him, Onkie, and Arrow. The black spikes bounced harmlessly off this glowing barrier without a single dent. Wander’s ability was far stronger than such an attack, even from a beast at the adept rank.

“Archer, return fire, aim at that summoner behind the porcupine too!”

“Shee!”

Zachary moved the shield away and Archer launched another barrage of sharp leaves. Half of the leaves that covered its body were spent but the effect was also good. That gang member suffered several cuts before ducking behind a tree.

“Keep going!” Zachary commanded.

He looked in front and approached the messy melee of summons. Some were fighting one versus one while others were trying to gang up on weakened opponents. He noticed a rhinoceros beetle from Heather’s gang wrestling with a giant red crab from the Dark Star Gang. The crab’s claws were firmly clamped on the beetle’s large horn as the two pushed against each other. Another summon from the Dark Star Gang, a gray wolf, was trying to bite at the beetle’s less-protected legs.

“Elmont, Doro, your turn!” Zachary shouted as he jogged past the battling beasts.

Two rays of light landed on the ground next to the beetle and its two opponents. Elmone groaned as it appeared. It shook the leaves on its head and looked around. Doro roared and swung its heavy arms.

“Elmont, grab that wolf! Doro, beat it up!"

Elmont moved, reaching out its branching arms and dexterous vines. It caught the wolf as it was coming around for another attack and wrapped several vines around its hind legs.

“Awoo! Awoo!” The wolf yelped and thrashed about trying to escape.

It was strong and it quickly broke several of Elmont’s vines. But just as quickly, Elmont produced more and held on firmly.

The wolf wanted to turn around and bite Elmont’s branches. But before it could do so, Doro’s fist arrived and collided with its jaw, sending the beast sprawling with a pained whimper.

“Bandit, noo! Get up!” Someone from the Dark Star Gang shouted.

Zachary felt that person’s furious gaze but ignored it. The gray wolf wasn’t that strong without its pack. It also might have recently advanced to the adept rank. He was confident Elmont and Doro could handle it.

The situation had improved but he had yet to meet the critical juncture. He looked ahead, at the row of trees that protected Heather and her group.

“Stop! Who are you?” A stocky man with balding brown hair shouted at him, “Don’t come any closer!”

The two other women in their group also peeked at him. Their expressions were not as unfriendly as the man’s but they were still wary.

Seeing that there was a chance, Zachary waved to them, “I’m Zachary Zhang, I know Heather. I want to help you guys.”

“You… want to help?”

“You know Heather?”

“Look, we don’t have a lot of time. It will be troublesome when Casimir gets back. We should retreat. The alligator is gone so there is no point sticking around.” Zachary said.

“Watch out!” One of the women shouted.

Zachary saw out of the corner of his eye that another barrage of black spikes was aimed in his direction. He casually extended a hand, forming a green shield. He stood there calmly like carrying an umbrella under a spring drizzle.

“Archer, return fire.”

“Shee!”

Archer fired wildly. They were further away from their opponents but at least it made them duck for cover.

“Suhua… help me up…” A weak voice spoke from behind them.

It was Heather.

The one named Suhua, a younger woman with long black hair, helped Heather sit up so that she could look at Zachary.

“It’s you.” She said as she recognized his familiar face.

“Long time.” He replied. “I saw you were in a bit of trouble.”

She studied him for a moment and then glanced at the battle. Their side was still being pushed back but with the addition of Zachary’s summons, they were holding on.

She turned back to him and nodded. “He’s good. We’ll retreat together!”

“Yes, boss!”