Is this really a Game?!

With every single strike, every single dodge, block, and parry, Reign, Wolf, and Tank pushed themselves more and more, nearly reaching their limits as the nightmarish hybrids drove them near exhaustion. The lightning coating Reign's swords was no longer reinforced with light or darkness and had grown thinner and weaker compared to before, the strain slowly catching up to him.

Wolf, too, was near his breaking point, yet he continued swinging his sword and using his flames, which were no longer tainted with chaos as he simply didn't have enough mana to continue to use it. Each swing of his sword released a scorching hot arc of fire that was quite thin and lasted for only a moment.

It was enough for him to set the bodies of the hybrids ablaze and to easily cut them, but not enough to deal any lasting damage to a group of enemies. Tank, on the other hand, was breathing heavily, his shield was trembling as he barely had enough strength to hold it and block attacks, and yet he did exactly, no longer capable of wielding his axe in the other hand in order to retaliate.

He held the shield with both hands, doing what he could to defend and leave the killing to Reign and Wolf while Beast and the others faced the majority of the hybrids away from them. Beast was fighting like a man possessed, his mark still giving him power, allowing him to overwhelm the hybrids with sheer strength alone, but even then, he was slowly getting tired too, and his mark would not be active for much longer.

Aelrinder was stabbing and swinging his spear, decimating the hybrids as well. In fact, the two of them were dealing with half of the group that was attacking them, each of them taking on over 10 hybrids while Shadow, Jin, and the others dealt with the rest.

Still, even Aelrinder's power of the stars wouldn't last much longer. He was confident that they would kill the hybrids before it was gone, but he was worried about the same thing Reign was worried about, in fact, all of them were worried about the same thing.

What if they got attacked right after this battle, what would they do then?

Would they retreat, run away, and hope that they wouldn't be pursued to the ranch so that they could rest a bit and replenish their strength, or would they have no choice but to use their marks and fight until they somehow killed all the enemies present in the forest?

The hybrids' ferocity was still overwhelming, but as the chaotic energy binding them continued to unravel, they began showing signs of instability. Their forms wavered, bodies shuddering and dark energy dissipating in erratic bursts. The lack of the rider's control was beginning to take a toll on them, and their attacks became less coordinated, and more desperate.

The hybrids were strong, but they kept getting wilder and wilder, making mistakes and not fighting efficiently. Still, to the already tired Heaven's Hooligans, they were not easy opponents.

Reign parried a hybrid's frenzied claw strike, watching its wild eyes as it lunged forward. The beast's claws scraped against Reign's blade, and with a surge of energy, he pushed it back, delivering a clean slash across its torso. The hybrid stumbled, its form trembling before collapsing into a writhing mass of shadows that soon dissipated.

"Push forward!" Reign yelled, his voice hoarse but filled with determination. "They're destabilizing—if we can keep it up, we can end this!"

Nearby, Wolf was fending off a pair of hybrids, their jaws snapping at him with relentless fury. The chaos flames that had once roared around him were now mere embers, his mana nearly depleted. Despite his exhaustion, Wolf managed a swift feint, sidestepping their charge and countering with a low, sweeping slash. One hybrid was sliced across the legs, falling to the ground with a guttural snarl, while the other was struck by Tank, who managed a last, brutal shield bash that shattered its malformed skull.

"They're finally starting to slow," Wolf muttered, catching his breath as he wiped sweat and grime from his face.

Tank, holding his battered shield with both hands, could barely stand but met his friend's gaze with a faint smile. "Just…gotta hang in there a little longer."n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Across the battlefield, Beast and Aelrinder continued their assault on the remaining hybrids, each maneuver growing more desperate. Beast, his mark flickering as his power neared depletion, unleashed another powerful arrow imbued with a wind that cut through the darkness like a beacon. The arrow pierced through three hybrids at once, their forms contorting as they crumbled to ash in a final, shrieking hiss.

Aelrinder's spear, still infused with the last remnants of starlight, struck down any remaining creatures that dared approach, but the aura of celestial energy around him had begun to dim, the star-speckled light flickering as exhaustion claimed him.

"Beast…let's make this last push together," Aelrinder said, breathing heavily as he raised his spear. "We'll bring them down. All of them."

Beast nodded, his own expression steely as he nocked another arrow, the last of his reserves fueling this one final shot. He locked onto the largest hybrid in his sights and released the arrow. The projectile streaked through the air, colliding with the monster's chest, and the creature let out a deafening roar as it fell, limbs flailing as its dark essence disintegrated into the ground.

The remaining hybrids, weakened and unstable, showed signs of distress, their twisted forms shuddering as the dark energy within them finally failed to hold them together. Reign, sensing the end was near, shouted to his teammates, "This is it! Let's finish them off!"

Together, they moved in a coordinated onslaught, striking at the last hybrids with everything they had left. Each attack was measured, each blow calculated to land as effectively as possible given their waning strength. One by one, the hybrids fell, reduced to nothing more than piles of ash and dissipating shadows. Continue your adventure with empire

Finally, as the last hybrid collapsed, the battlefield fell silent. The oppressive darkness that had hung over the forest was gone, replaced by an almost eerie stillness. The shadows receded, leaving behind the broken bodies of hunters and wolves that hadn't managed to fuse. The team, bloody and exhausted, stood among the remnants of their foes, breathing heavily as the reality of their victory set in.

"Is…is it over?" Shadow asked, his voice barely a whisper as he looked around, his daggers at the ready.

"It should be, all of you gather nearby, the life force present here is quite overwhelming, I can do some quick healing, improving your states." Laura stated as the others all quickly came close to her. Her demonic energy was released from her body, quickly washing over Reign and the others, healing the small injuries they had received and replenishing a portion of their stamina and energy.

The soothing violet energy to them was akin to water reaching the lips of a man that had not drunk anything in over a day. Their bodies relaxed, screaming in pleasure as the fatigue started to lessen, but then it stopped.

After all, even with a lot of life force, replenishing the stamina and energy of a single powerful Tier VI combatant was not an easy feat, much less to do so for 9 of them. Laura was in the best state out of all of them thanks to her constant use of demonic energy and life force, but this one act made sweat appear on her body, droplets dripping down from her forehead.

"Sorry, this is all I can manage for now," Laura stated with a slightly guilty tone. During the battle, she was without a doubt the one who had done the least. They were fighting against plenty of enemies, thus she had no time to cast a powerful spell in order to help Reign fight against the rider.

Even the weaker ones, such as the Dark Fireball and the Spear of Annihilation were not used simply because Reign and the others told her not to use them and focus on defending herself against the hunters and wolves, which could attack from any direction.

She was their healer, they couldn't afford to have her get injured by an enemy while casting a spell, it was more important to them for Laura to be safe and ready to heal than to deal damage.

"This is already more than enough, even if we get attacked right now, we'll have enough energy to defend ourselves, which is a lot more than what we would have been capable of had it not been for you." Reign stated as he nodded at Laura with a smile.

He was well aware that Laura actually disliked being a healer as she felt as if she was doing nothing much while they were fighting and risking their lives, but they were all well aware just how important she was to the team, and that without her, many of their battles in the past would have been much more difficult.