David Brooks wiped the saliva from his face and sneered, "Stubborn, very good. Brothers, get him!"

The three of them hunched over like vicious dogs, darting over hills and through valleys. Ethan Hill truly began to panic. The skeleton ants were seventh-rank wild insects, but in reality, even most eighth-rank creatures would rather avoid them. These ferocious, pitch-black ants could number in the tens of billions!

Once they latched onto you, it was a fight to the death—no matter how powerful you were, you would eventually be worn down.

And just as David Brooks had said, these ants were very frugal with their food and would not eat it all at once...

He began to shout and curse loudly, hoping to attract a fierce beast to end his misery quickly. But the giant beasts that had been so hard to avoid earlier were now nowhere to be seen.

He cursed for half an hour until his mouth was dry, but only managed to attract a swarm of ordinary mosquitoes.

Suddenly, he sensed something was wrong. From the darkness came a low, dense rustling sound, at first from only one direction, but soon from all around!

"Damn you, David Brooks! I swear, if I survive this, I'll make you regret ever being born!" he roared, looking around in panic. At last, the inevitable happened: the ground was covered in a dense layer of black, countless skeleton ants seemingly having "scented" food, charging at him madly.

They moved incredibly fast and in perfect order. The leading skeleton ants quickly reached the base of the cross, climbing up the thick wooden stake. The dense gnawing sounds began, and Ethan Hill felt a strange trembling at the soles of his boots—soon, he sensed something had already reached the arch of his foot!

Even after all he had endured in the Wolf Soldier Camp, he couldn't help but scream in terror: "Ah—"

Whoosh!

A crossbow bolt shot through the air, thudding into the wooden stake beneath his feet. The skeleton ants seemed startled, tumbling down in a flurry.

Then, as if they had encountered something they especially hated, they retreated rapidly in all directions like receding black water.

Ethan Hill was stunned for a moment, his feet icy cold—he had been just a hair's breadth from losing them.

He saw the crossbow bolt and was overjoyed: "Emily Scott, good girl, Miss Emily, save me—ahhh!"

Emily Scott, leaning on a wooden staff, walked out together with Brian Cooper. Ethan Hill finally breathed a sigh of relief. The three of them seemed to be carrying something that made the ferocious skeleton ants scurry away from them as fast as possible, avoiding them like the plague.

The three approached Ethan Hill. Eric King grinned and joked, "Old Hill, did you get caught cheating again?"

"Nonsense! It was that bastard David Brooks and his gang!"

Brian Cooper set him down, his face grim. "They set you up?"

Ethan Hill gave a rough account of what had happened. Brian Cooper nodded, making a mental note. "As long as we make it back, we'll be sure to settle this score with them!"

The restriction on Ethan Hill was also lifted. He quickly tore off the ropes and tossed them aside, asking casually, "Do you guys have insect-repelling pills? Those skeleton ants run away as soon as they see you."

Brian Cooper pulled out the crossbow bolt, which had a grass-green pill tied to it, and tossed it to Ethan Hill. "Keep it on you. With this, you don't have to worry about skeleton ants."

These insect-repelling pills were expensive—Brian Cooper had only bought five in total. Large-scale, colony-dwelling wild insects like skeleton ants hated the smell.

Eric King looked even more surprised. "You really came prepared."

Brian Cooper was about to say something when the skeleton ants, which had been frantically retreating, collided heavily with their kin outside, like two opposing black waves crashing into each other.

Crash...

The black skeleton ants tumbled everywhere. Suddenly, a strange wind sounded overhead. Before the four could react, with a thud, a giant beast as massive as a mountain landed heavily beside them. The ground shook violently, bouncing the four of them half a man's height into the air. The giant beast, however, stood firm on its thick, powerful limbs, lowered its head, and thrust forward. The slender scales on its body bristled and shot toward the four of them with a whoosh!

Then, it opened its huge mouth, and with a roar, spat out nine long tongues dripping with flames and magma, sweeping up swathes of skeleton ants into its mouth.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The slender, sharp scales shot out like short flying swords. Caught off guard, the four were struck instantly, falling to the ground with cries of pain, each with several scales embedded in their bodies. Ethan Hill had as many as seven, Brian Cooper had four.

The whole squad was nearly wiped out!

"It's a Magmaflame Pangolin!"

"A seventh-rank wild beast!"

It was the nemesis of all ant-type wild insects. Though of the same rank, it could instantly kill skeleton ants. The skeleton ants on the outskirts had already detected the Magmaflame Pangolin and were fleeing in panic, crashing into their kin at the front, which gave the Magmaflame Pangolin its chance.

Chapter 0016: Wolf Riders of the Demon Clan (Part 1)

Brian Cooper fell to the ground, coughing up blood. The wound on his shoulder, which had just healed, tore open again, and the pain throughout his body nearly made him pass out. He was still clutching the rope tied with scale fragments. "This thing is useless now."

Ethan Hill shouted, "Run!"