Limits

The Avian transported me back to the bottom of the cliff and flew off to join the swarm. 'I need to cause some chaos!' I thought. I went straight to the Entrance No. 1 and started killing the Corpse Dogs. I didn't even bother with arrows, I simply ran up to them and slaughtered anything, that was in my way. The reinforcements arrived shortly after and this time, the numbers were much more manageable. Around 200 of Corpse Dogs followed me, while I ran away.

I played hide and seek with that herd, until I completely killed them off. 'The leader of the Corpse Dogs, should figure out my strategy by now. It will probably refrain, from sending any reinforcements. If I were the leader, I would try to lure the attacker into the Den. My guess is, the Leader of the Corpse Dogs, will do the same' I thought and rested.

I myself, killed at least 400 of those Corpse Dogs. That didn't mean the Corpse Dogs suffer that many loses. 'I mostly killed normal Corpse Dogs. The more healthy Variants, only showed up in very few numbers so far. I don't believe, that they don't have more of them' I thought. My plan was to drive out more of those Variants. The normal Corpse Dogs, were disposable to the leader, it seemed. Although losing 1000 of them would be a blow, it wouldn't be as big as losing for instance 400 of the Variants, which were stronger.

The quality was always better than quantity. I myself, thanks to the strength I possessed, was able to kill so many of the normal Corpse Dogs. 'I need couple of more raids but this time, I will strike the Entrance No. 4. I need to vary my attacks, with enough deaths, the Leader will have to send in Variants or even appear by itself' I thought and prepared for the next assault.

The Entrance No. 4 was to the south, of the Vulture Cliffs. It didn't take long for me to get there. What I saw there, was clearly an improvement of troops. 'So the Leader of the Corpse Dogs, already strengthen the defences greatly. There are only Variants protecting the Entrance No. 4. Good, I can dispose some of the stronger opponents' I thought and took out my bow.

There were about 40 of the Variants guarding the Entrance No. 4. I drew my bow and started shooting. The Variants weren't as stupid as the normal Corpse Dogs. Their reactions and instincts, were much more advanced in comparison. I expected for the Variants to run at me but the complete opposite happened. They actually ran away and entered the Den.

'So you want me to follow eh? Sure, I can do that'. I wouldn't of course follow deep, but I wanted to go next to the entrance, and see whenever they come out. I also had to give way, if both me and the Corpse Dogs were constantly backing away, we could be playing that game till they really had enough numbers, to destroy the Avians.

I ran up to the entrance, but saw no movements. I entered inside and made some noise. What followed was movement, movement of many things rushing at me. 'So you had reinforcements waiting, at the so called gate. Makes my job simple' I thought and backed off. I was very close to the exit, so even if they managed to mobilise an army outside, I would be able to run away anyway.

The Variants and normal Corpse Dogs rushed outside together with me. With that much space, I started slaughtering them with my daggers. Although those creatures could be comparable to stuff like Black or Silver Wolves, I was stronger than Flaming Silver Wolf at this stage. If I were to fight in the tunnel, the problem was space as well as being surrounded from both sides. That was why, I sustained many injuries running away last time. Now with the open area, my speed and skills, I could hold on against such a group.

This didn't instantly mean, that I could stay there for long. I could kill loads of them but I would have to run away at some point. 'I can't get to tired, I need some strength just in case' I thought and slashed. My priority this time were Variants, but the Variants were not stupid. They mixed in pretty well with the whole herd and it was hard to spot them.

After a while of slashing and backing away. I managed to take down 14 Variants, as for how many normal Corpse Dogs? I lost count long ago. Then I heard a quiet "boom!" and felt something moving towards me. I quickly jumped to the side, and took a look at the thing just flew at me.

To my surprise, it was another Corpse Dog, but this one was different. It wasn't any more healthy than variants but it seemed to be at least 3 times stronger. 'Hmmm? Is this another Variant? Maybe it specialises in speed?' I thought and tried to go after that Variant, but I lost it.

I was stunned myself, I didn't believe that something like a Corpse Dog would be able to escape my eyes. 'This thing is not simple. Is that the Leader of Corpse Dogs?' I thought to myself. Then I heard another silent "boom!" and felt something coming towards me again. I threw some dagger in that direction, while jumping to the side.

'Let's see how you evade that!' I thought, as I landed. The same moment I landed, I heard a loud howl. The weird Corpse Dog, had its leg injured but it wasn't a very major injury. 'This thing is good, it can be the Leader of Corpse Dogs. With that kind of strength and skills, it's a strong possibility' I thought.

The weird Corpse Dog melded into the herd. I went to get my daggers back. I threw 3 of them and 1 was embedded inside the dog. There were other two, that I wanted back. The reason was simple, I didn't have many of them left. I slashed, killed and trampled my enemies, until I found those two daggers. The weird Corpse Dog didn't attack anymore.

I slaughtered about half of the Corpse Dogs that came out and decided to retreat. Some of them tried to follow me but then, I heard a howl. The howl made all the dogs chasing after me, stop. 'So, this guy there is the leader then. If that is true, then it's nothing special. It is as strong, as a Flaming Silver Wolf but instead of flames, it has great hiding abilities. This is even more of a chance, to study such creature and learn something new about stealth' I thought and left.

Now that they knew what they were up against, they would probably strengthen the defences. 'I guess, that they are going to stay inside now. With very little outside movements. Good, I can tell the Avians to prepare an attack on multiple entrances. I need them to harass them as much as possible. then I will get the Yellow Dust' I thought and traveled a bit further to have a proper rest.