The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 172: Team Battle

The one leading the charge was a young and strongly-built slaughterer. The ‘lizardman’ was over two meters tall.

As soon as its feet hit the ground, its strong, thick thighs bent quickly before springing up with great explosive power, charging straight at Gao Yang.

“Grrr!”

A beast just as big tackled the slaughterer from the side, intercepting it. They slammed into the ground and started to wrestle each other.

It was Gray Bear with Beastly activated.

The man and monster rolled twice before Gray Bear gained the upper hand. Pinning the slaughterer to the ground, Gray Bear kept the monster’s right arm under control with a knee and gripped its head with both hands, slamming it to the floor violently.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

The concrete floor cracked, and broken pieces splattered.

The slaughterer cried out in pain as it struggled, stabbing at Gray Bear’s abdomen with the sharp claws of its left hand. But Lithe Snake was already there. His honed shortsword pierced through the slaughterer’s left palm with great precision, pinning it to the floor.

“Ahhhhh!”

Veins popped up from Gray Bear’s temples as he continued to exert greater force with his hands.

In a few seconds, he managed to crush the slaughterer’s head with bare hands, sending blood and brain matter flying everywhere.

Gao Yang didn’t have the luxury to enjoy his teammates’ display of courage and ruthlessness. More monsters were already rushing toward them, and chaos ensued.

“Cover each other! Don’t leave any blindspots!”

With that yell, Gao Yang opened his hands and shot a torrent of flames each to the left and the right, driving away the berserking wanderers lunging at Xiran and Ronnie.

Xiran and Ronnie quickly drew their guns and fired recklessly at the burning monsters. They collapsed without making a sound.

“Where’s Can?” Gao Yang realized it was a silly question the moment he asked it. The girl would’ve gone invisible the first moment danger struck.

“You three, protect yourselves!”

Both Xiran and Ronnie had Support-type Talents that didn’t differentiate between friends and foes, which were ineffective in a chaotic group fight with so many monsters. After they ran out of bullets, they would be as good as useless.

At that moment, a small dog-like monster leapt toward him.

Gao Yang quickly ducked down and shifted to the side, letting the dog monster fly over his head. At the same time, he grabbed the dog monster’s hindleg and yanked, slamming it to the ground.

“Fire!”

Energy burst out from Gao Yang’s palm. Amplified by the glove, fire flowed smoothly out of him and enveloped the monster’s hindleg in an instant. Whining, the dog monster rolled around amid the blazing flames, unable to endure the pain. It ended up charging around aimlessly once it crawled to its feet, and Gray Bear grabbed and hurled it out of the window with one hand.

Gao Yang scanned his surroundings. Flashes of light lit up the auditorium intermittently. Amid the gunshots, the clangs of blades, and the growls, humans and monsters ran amok.

The fourth team was right in the fray as well. So far, there hadn’t been any casualties.

“Cover me, Gray Bear!” Gao Yang called out.

“Will do!”

Gray Bear rushed toward Gao Yang, toppling all the monsters going after Gao Yang on the way.

Gao Yang yanked off two old curtains and draped them on the abandoned wooden chairs in the corner.

“Fire!”

Flames licked through the curtains in an instant, scattering dust everywhere. A moldy smell permeated the air.

In only a few seconds, the chairs and curtains turned into a large bonfire. Awash in the golden light, the entire auditorium was bright like it was daytime.

Clear vision allowed one to control the tides of the battle, and their battle power would thus jump exponentially.

Mid-fight, Nine Frost turned to look at the bonfire, throwing Gao Yang an approving look.

Gao Yang rushed back to the main battlefield just in time to see a shadow fall down from above, pouncing on Nine Frost’s back.

“Watch...”

Nine Frost reacted before Gao Yang’s voice reached him.

With a sidestep, he dodged the monster’s sneak attack, and just when the monster was going to leap up again, one of its hands was already pinned to the ground by Nine Frost’s heel.

Eyes glinting coldly, Nine Frost swung his right fist at the monster’s face.

Pop, pop, pop. He went for quick jabs over heavy punches, and in less than a second, he had made three attacks.

Gao Yang realized immediately that it was to trigger Weak Points.

Hit in the face, the monster went still for half a second. It might be thinking with its small brain that the human was weak, that the three punches didn’t hurt at all.

But that wasn’t how it went.

If Nine Frost’s quick jab generated 80 pounds of force, his third jab would’ve reached a staggering 2000 pounds.

Bam!

As expected, after a short delay, Weak Points triggered, and the monster’s face caved in like a squashed ball, the entire body flying away, dragged along by the force applied to the head.

What a terrifying Talent.

If Gao Yang’s heart was hit with three jabs or even three heavy punches, not even God would be able to save him.

The thought flashed through his mind in a split second. All the while, Gao Yang hadn’t stopped what he was doing. With his gun drawn, he approached Nine Frost’s fourth team along with Gray Bear, taking out the wanderers with lower offensive and defensive power.

There were many monsters, and they had to conserve stamina. That was a practical tip he had learned from War Tiger.

Soon, Gao Yang ran out of bullets, but he had also reached the fourth team.

He and Gray Bear made a defensive circle with members of the fourth team, their backs pressed together, waiting for the short lull of the battle to pass.

There were at least thirty monsters here.

Lithe Snake was dangling from the dim ceiling like a gecko, waiting to make a critical strike.

Can, Xiran, and Ronnie were nowhere to be seen. Most likely, they had gone invisible while huddling together.

“Ha, we’re lucky that this happened in a place like this, and there weren’t a lot of monsters around,” Gray Bear said with a bitter smile while wiping blood off his face.

Gao Yang didn’t say anything, but inside, he was also relieved that the school had been abandoned, and there weren’t many residents in the neighborhood. Only a few dozen monsters had been summoned.

Had they been in the downtown area, a summoner would’ve gathered thousands of monsters with a howl.

The thirty something monsters circled them. The stalemate lasted for tens of seconds.

Which was unbelievable to Gao Yang. How were the monsters able to control their urges and hold back from attacking the awakeners?

A thought struck him. He looked up at the figure on the stage, Niu Xuan.

Niu Xuan was still standing before the podium with a microphone in his hand. “Do you like the gift, Gao Yang? Don’t awakeners love killing monsters? Then I’ll let you kill monsters to your hearts’ content.”

His lips curved into a strange smile, his eyes filled with hatred, fury, and sorrow. Without a target to go to, however, the emotions translated into a self-destructive madness.

Gao Yang didn’t have the time to care about Niu Xuan’s feelings. What he cared about was how Niu Xuan was able to control the monsters, or why the monsters listened to Niu Xuan.

“I’ll take care of it,” Nine Frost said in a low voice. He had obviously realized that Niu Xuan was their leader, and taking out the leader was the most efficient way of taking out an army.

Niu Xuan saw through his plan immediately. Without giving Nine Frost a chance to get close, he raised his right hand with a smile. “Here and now, the graduation ceremony officially commences!”

He made a clear snap with his fingers.

Growling, the monsters lunged at them with reckless abandon.