"I guess this is what we have to do..." Tyrant said with a bitter smile. Even if one of their underlings got the City Lord, at least it would still be theirs, which was better than losing outright to the enemy.
Of course, what he said and what he meant were different. Even in the crucial moment, he still could control the situation. After all, those who want to enter the final area must hold the shards. Who gets the shards is up to him.
In fact, he wasn’t selfless. After all the hard work he had done for the City of Eternal Night, he wouldn’t do it just to benefit others. Even if he found himself in a desperate situation, forced to let someone else claim the City Lord, he would prioritize someone loyal to him.
As expected, a burst of raucous howling erupted from the walkie-talkie after his command was heard.
Whoever reaches first, gets the City Lord!
Upon hearing this promise, the werewolves erupted in excitement, abandoning any previous formation and bolting towards the front line with no regard for anyone else.
The lure of the City Lord was too great. The speed of the wolf pack surged as they chased Lin Xue and his companions.
The nine of them swiftly readied their weapons, prepared for a tough battle ahead.
However, the werewolves didn’t even bother with them. They boldly bypassed them and continued to race forward.
"What’s going on? They’re not even attacking us?" a few of them wondered in surprise.
"The next step...go left..." the cicada communicated leisurely, but was cut off by Lin Xue.
"No need for that. Just follow them at full speed!" Lin Xue had guessed the opponent’s strategy from their sudden change of plan.
The enemy team had abandoned everything to claim the City Lord!
If they kept slowing down by flipping coins, they could never catch up to an enemy on four feet.
The group urgently altered their strategy, trailing behind the wolf pack. Meanwhile, Lin Xue informed Mu You of the situation via the walkie-talkie.
"So it’s come to this..."
Mu You sighed. Even without Lin Xue’s update, he already knew their opponents had changed strategy. The werewolves pursuing them from the rear had suddenly stopped their chase, rapidly surpassing the three of them.
What Mu You dreaded the most had finally occurred; a gamble of speed. Their advantage of superior strength became irrelevant as they were forced into a race with the enemy.
"Damn it, these werewolves are fighting dirty! They are using their four legs to bully our two legs, right?" Lion grumbled after understanding the situation and turned to Mu You. "What now, Boss?"
In this ghost town where flying was forbidden and no mounts were allowed, they were limited to traversing the terrain on foot. Naturally, having only two legs was a disadvantage in comparison to the four-legged creatures.
"We have no choice but to chase them!"
Mu You shook his head. The three of them decisively abandoned their roundabout pathing, joining the chase behind the wolf pack.
"They’re catching up again!" someone in the wolf pack reported.
The werewolves groaned in aggravation, the roles of the hunters becoming the hunted had changed too quickly.
"Ignore them, just keep moving at full speed!" Tyrant commanded with stern authority.
He finally understood their present situation and regretted his earlier decisions of wavering between options.
If they had received information about all the possible routes from the beginning, upon entering the city, he should have fully utilized their advantage in numbers. If they had raced at full speed from the start, even if their opponents were formidable, could they stop all the werewolves? As long as one werewolf reached the finish line first, they would claim victory!
Thankfully, it wasn’t too late to realize this.
Tyrant took a deep breath and sprinted forward at full speed, with the other werewolves silently trailing behind.
The Caucasian youth glanced back, pondered a bit, then looked at the young man behind him: "Little Five, why don’t you try to lead them away?"
The young werewolf shuddered in disbelief at the suggestion. He already had a psychological fear of their opponents, and stayed hidden amongst the pack, not daring to transform for fear that his conspicuous red color would give away his position again. Now, were they asking him to voluntarily go and practically get himself killed?
"This could test whether they’re really targeting you on purpose," the Caucasian youth said.
Upon hearing this, the young man froze, hesitated for a moment, but then clenched his teeth: "Alright, I’ll go all out!"
"Little Five, are you sure?" Tyrant frowned, looking back at both of them.
"Yes! Mr. President, let me go. If I have to die, I’d rather know why!" Little Five said with resolute eyes.
A few seconds later, Mu You and his two comrades saw a striking red figure suddenly jump out from the wolf pack. It immediately separated from the group and ran in a different direction.
Mu You hesitated, then quickly changed his direction: "Wait, let’s finish off this guy first!"
"Huh? Wouldn’t we get left behind?" Lion was puzzled. In this critical situation, to divert their attention to kill an adversary would most likely give the werewolves up ahead the chance to pull away.
"Don’t worry; sharpening the blade won’t interrupt the chopping of wood." Mu You reassured.
This was just the second area; they still had several hours to go. It wouldn’t hurt to delay for a minute or two. Besides, it was the City Lord that Lin Xue needed to catch in the end. The ones who truly needed to race were Lin Xue and his team.