New York, with the main trio
As the trio ran through the forest, they eventually reached the remaining wolves. One High Tier, two Mid Tiers, and seven Low Tiers stood in a field of tall grass. The High Tier was relaxed, resting on a mound, its minions all alert and standing.
One of the Low Tiers noticed the trio arriving shortly after, howling and warning the rest of the group.
The leader then rose from its place on the mound and barked, and four of the Low Tiers attacked the trio immediately after. Kimsung gritted his teeth, a bit disappointed they were able to get closer to the High Tier, and now they'd have to deal with the Low Tiers first at a disadvantageous distance. There had to be at least a hundred meters between them and the High Tier, which Kimsung intended to cut down by at least a third, had they not been noticed.
"Hey, I'll deal with them, just stay back, alright?" He says, unsheathing his sword and taking the lead. The wolves quickly surrounded him, and Kimsung began his assault, attacking the wolf on the far left with an upward swing to the right, blocking the middle left wolf from pouncing on him.
[You've slain an F-rank Mutated Wolf, you've gained +1 EXP]
He quickly turned his foot and blocked the wolf on the far right, using his future sight to also evade the now middle wolf and backing away. The wolf on the left went on the offensive, pouncing at his arm, leaving its stomach wide open for Kimsung to slash it cleanly.
He took the offered chance, stabbing its stomach and slicing it open, letting it fall to the ground as blood, and its organs fell out.
[You've slain an F-rank Mutated Wolf, you've gained +1 EXP]
With the last two wolves, they attacked impatiently only to be met with his blade slicing their jaws, the one on the left dying first, and the one on the right was killed after a second slash to its neck.
[You've slain an F-rank Mutated Wolf, you've gained +1 EXP]
[You've slain an F-rank Mutated Wolf, you've gained +1 EXP]
Kimsung let out a deep breath. He was finally regaining his edge, and with it, he could finally focus on learning the next ability of his skill, but that would have to wait until they left.
Keido wouldn't call the fight easy, as any misstep would've made any of Kimsung's strikes miss or not have enough force behind them. He reminded himself that Kimsung was Unranked, and this was quite impressive for someone without a rank, able to fight monsters a rank about him with ease.
Then, he felt it before seeing it. The sky above cracked, as if it were breaking. Keido, Kimsung, and Heidi knew what it meant. They couldn't clear the dungeon in time, but it was also good. That meant the distance between the High Tier and its remaining forces would be brought closer to Kimsung once the dungeon broke down.
Kimsung quickly retreated, knowing how disorienting a dungeon break would be on his body, and especially on the monsters.
"Let's wait it out. The higher the rank, the longer the monster would be disoriented." He spoke quickly as the miniature world around them crumbled. It was exactly a week after the dungeon had opened, and the sun was still shining in the sky as it would for a couple more hours. They were back in the real world, right at the entrance of the museum.
The wolves were transported onto the street, and one of the Mid Tiers smelled the survivors inside the museum, drawn to them as potential meals, quickly jumping up and scaling the walls.
"Shit!" Kimsung cursed. He didn't anticipate that one would break off and head for the civilians first, but his attention was focused mainly on the High Tier leader, the second Mid Tier, and the remaining seven Low Tiers.
"Keido, Heidi! Deal with that Mid Tier now before it kills anyone! There are too many places for it to go in the museum! I'll deal with the rest of them." He told them, and the siblings went inside wordlessly, weapons drawn as they searched for the Mid Tier, leaving Kimsung at the doors of the museum to defend against the rest.
'Nine Wolves. Eight F-ranks and one E-rank. It'd be better if that High Tier used the Low Tiers as fodder, like before." Kimsung wasn't confident in his ability to kill an E-rank, especially as an Unranked. Not to mention, he had less than half the amount required to rank up.
As the Mid Tier prowled on the roof, the survivors inside panicked, looking up at it as it wandered over the sky lights and running to safety. Keido and Heidi were in a passive position at the moment, where they had to wait for the wolf to choose a target before it attacked. If it continued to wait up there, it also had the option of helping its pack to deal with Kimsung, since he posed a threat to them.
The wolf chose its target and broke through the sky light of the weapons exhibit, falling from a tall height and crashing on the ground with a yelp, the floor cracking from the force of its drop.
As it got up, it sniffed the air before heading to the European art, where the majority of the humans there were hiding. Keido felt nervous, but also curious. If the people here were in such danger, why didn't they already leave the museum and settle in a better place, like inside the apartment buildings nearby? There had to be an abundance of spaces for them to all live in, so why were they still stuck here?
He felt a bit tired for a second, shaking it off and focusing on the Mid Tier as it prowled closer.
He heard the wolf howl as it ran through the museum, the tile floors cracking. Keido felt scared and quickly sent the Worm of Doubt before the wolf reached them. When it entered the room, the Worm had already entered its body, and Keido activated the Worm's ability, making the wolf doubt if it should attack.
But what he didn't expect was the wolf to shake off the effects and howl angrily before charging forward. The Low Tier wolves were the size of normal wolves, the Mid Tier wolf was about the size of a bear, and the High Tier was near the size of a garbage truck. It would honestly be stupid to fight either of them, given how small a human was in comparison, but here he was, fighting a Mid Tier F-rank.
The wolf's speed was faster than he could react, jumping over him and targeting the civilians hiding, quickly killing many of them in seconds with its jaws, claws, and sheer weight, crushing a few people's rib cages by stepping on them. Heidi was the first to react, trying to run after it, but the wolf was faster, turning and opening its jaw wide, about to kill her, when it was blasted in the face by a ball of fire.
A man stood by a wall, his hand open and aiming at the wolf. But his success was short-lived, as it quickly crossed the large room and killed him as well.
Panic spread throughout the room as everyone else began to run out, some trampled by others, an unlucky few trampled to death by the commotion like a certain buffalo stampede.