NOVEL NEXT Chapter 298 Planning To Go In
Maxwell raised an eyebrow, giving the goods in front of him a quick glance before smirking. He could tell that while Addison claimed they would be feeding the locust swarm, she wasn't about to waste anything valuable.
Instead, she'd gathered only rotting vegetables and straw—things that can only be treated as little more than animal feed or fertilizer. He chuckled softly, then reached out to ruffle her hair.
"Good thinking…" he murmured.
Without another word, he pulled out the magic bag strapped to his waist and began storing as much as he could inside. Once he shifted back into his wolf form, the bag would resize to fit neatly around his neck, making it easy for him to toss the contents out, or he could also let Elric handle it. That way, he could stay focused on running while Addison and Elric took care of dumping the rotten vegetables and straw.
After Maxwell made his move, Zion and Levi followed suit, storing as much as they could in their own magic bags. Elric, of course, had his own and quickly filled it as well, while Addison gathered the remaining scraps into hers.
Once they were finished, Levi, Zion, and Maxwell exchanged a quick glance before handing their magic bags to Addison, trusting her to toss out the contents while Elric focused only on his own.
This way, Elric could concentrate on both defending them from the swarm and maintaining his incantations, while Addison managed the dumping of the rest.
With their tasks divided, the three men shifted back into their wolf forms. Maxwell crouched low, his massive frame lowering to make it easier for Addison to climb onto his back. She did so without hesitation, while Zion lingered behind to watch their rear.
Shura gave a soft whine but obediently crouched as well, allowing Elric to mount. Unfortunately, climbing onto such a large wolf was no easy task for a human, especially one of Elric's age and condition. Struggling to pull himself up, he finally accepted Levi's assistance. Only once Elric was secure did Levi shifted into his wolf form, ready to run with the rest.
After glancing back and confirming that Zion, Elric, and Levi were all ready, Maxwell, leading at the front, snorted, a puff of steam escaping his wolf's nose before he burst into a sprint. The others quickly followed close behind.
As they ran, Addison reached out to Lance through the mindlink. "Lance, we're moving in. Please start the plan as soon as possible. I left some rotten vegetables at the back, maybe you can wave them in front of the locust swarm and see if they'll bite."
Her tone was half-joking, but the idea wasn't entirely useless. If the locusts were truly starving, food could easily divert their attention, and once their focus shifted, it might just buy the group the opening they needed.
Before leaving, Elric was forced to recall even those disciples who had already been carried off to the tents after vomiting blood. Though injured and drained of mana, he had no choice but to make them push themselves a little longer.
He had been covering for too many of them already, and without his support, the barrier would surely collapse. So he sent them back to their positions; this time, they would surely be relying solely on mana stones to sustain themselves.
It wasn't ideal, but it bought him the chance to focus on what he needed to do. If Addison's plan succeeded, then at least he could rotate them properly, allowing the most exhausted to finally rest while those with energy left continued holding the line as he worked on stabilizing and reinforcing the barrier.
As Maxwell sprinted, he didn't follow the barrier's edge but veered left, slipping into the cover of the forest. Though once lush, the woods were now nothing more than skeletal trees and scattered boulders, with hardly a blade of grass in sight.
They needed to stay hidden until they reached the spot Zion had scouted earlier, an area with fewer locusts, the only opening that might let them slip inside the barrier. To succeed, they had to move carefully, avoiding the swarm's notice and trailing behind its movements.
That was why they waited for Lance to fully draw the locusts toward the front lines, where the main group was. Only then could Maxwell, Zion, Levi, Addison, and Elric make their move toward the far side of the barrier—a desolate stretch so barren that not even a withered tree or patch of grass remained.
Before reaching their destination, they had to hide as much as possible. Earlier, when Zion, Maxwell, and Levi scouted along the barrier for an opening, they noticed a portion of the locust swarm tailing them like a cloud of bees.
Now that they were preparing to slip inside, stealth was critical; if even a handful of locusts broke free of the barrier because of them, the entire plan would fall apart.
As Maxwell veered left, the group moved farther from the barrier, circling toward the rear. After some time running, Addison finally witnessed the full extent of the devastation the swarm had left behind.
The skeletal trees were almost gnawed down to their cores, their surfaces chipped and scarred, while the animals that once lived here had long since fled. The land was stripped bare, but in this desolation lay an advantage—the uneven terrain and scattered boulders offered them just enough cover to remain hidden.
They pushed themselves in a full sprint for another twenty minutes before finally coming to a halt. Pressing low behind a massive boulder about a kilometer from the barrier, they then caught their breath in silence.
To get any closer, they would need to crawl through the rocky terrain, shaving the distance down to five hundred meters, close enough to gain a clear view of the barrier, but that would be far more dangerous.
Zion, Maxwell, and Levi shifted back to their human forms as Zion spoke in a low voice. "Addie, this spot has the fewest locust… but it's also the most exposed. If we move too close, we'll be easy to spot. And once they notice us, they'll be on us in seconds."
Zion ducked back behind the boulder, stealing a cautious glance toward the barrier before retreating again.
"Then how tightly are the locusts swarming this place? Did they react when you got near the barrier earlier?" Addison asked. She tilted her head, trying to peer at the faint outline of the barrier. But even with her werewolf senses, the distance was too great; she could barely make out anything.
"Earlier, when I pushed closer, about fifty meters away, the swarm stirred." Zion's voice was low, serious. "They rushed to the barrier like a hive of angry bees, wings buzzing like thunder. Looked to me like they were guarding something." He gave a small shrug, but his eyes remained sharp.
"They're that aggressive?" Addison's brows knit together. A chill ran down her spine as her thoughts raced. "Then… could it be they're protecting something inside?"
"I didn't get the chance to find out," Zion admitted. "The longer I lingered, the more of them gathered. I had to pull back and lead the swarm away just to keep this spot from becoming as heavily guarded as the rest of the barrier."