Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest

Wolves are not scary.

Nor are demon beasts of the wolf kind.

But a pack of demon beast wolves is terrifying indeed.

Thus, Roman's face changed.

Shasta's face changed as well.

She grabbed the terrified Gwivelle and turned to leave.

"Do you think you can just leave?" Roman stepped out from behind Aaron's shield, his expression cold.

Shasta stared right back at Roman, "If you keep me here now, you will lose your entire army."

She alone might not be able to wipe out all of Roman's followers, but with the wolf pack, she definitely could.

Roman lifted his chin, and then his words came out sharp as a cold blade, "If you dare leave, I will kill Gwivelle!"

Shasta and Gwivelle might indeed manage to escape, but he and his guards certainly would not.

That would mean using his troops to stall the ferocious wolf pack.

But Roman would not allow such a thing to happen.

Killing Shasta might be difficult, his Riptide Large Bow could not ensure a definite hit on Shasta—the witch who could use smoke was a strong counter to his archery, and considering her speed in singling out demon beasts, she likely had physical abilities no weaker than a Third Rank Conquest Knight.

But Gwivelle was a different story.

If Shasta dared to walk away with Gwivelle, he wouldn't aim at Shasta, but at Gwivelle instead, and he would have all the hunters shoot their arrows at her.

Roman said, "Either we both suffer, or you stay and we kill this wolf pack together!"

Shasta, trembling all over, clenched her silver teeth and agreed.

"Aaron, you take Gwivelle and stand at the very back, and if anyone dares to turn and run, you kill her right away!"

Facing the crisis with fearlessness, Roman commanded and arranged the hunters to spread out for free shooting, with the shield-bearing guards at the front to disrupt the wolf pack and prevent being overrun.

"The wolf pack is here, no one can escape, we have no way out, we must fight to the death!" Roman gave a brief speech. While he felt despair about the combat effectiveness of the guards due to an earlier incident involving a wild bear attack, he still said what needed to be said.

But before getting far into his speech, a blast of evil wind surged forth.

The wolf pack, navigating through the complex terrain, suddenly appeared in the dense forest.

They were tall, their bodies covered in thick, tough grey fur, approximately two meters in length, more than one meter tall at the shoulder, and weighed close to 200 kilograms each.

But these were only the measurements of the adult wolves; among the dozen or so mountain wolves, not all were this robust—only five or six were fully grown males. Many were either female, old, or juvenile wolves, relatively weaker.

In an instant, Roman keenly observed the wavering morale among the guards, and even the hunters started to become nervous, as this was their first direct confrontation with these fierce creatures.

He roared, "Do not retreat! Those who retreat shall die! Kill this pack of beasts!"

The wolves moved rapidly like the wind, seeing the confronting guards but not attacking head-on, they relied on their agility and mobility to strike from the left and right flanks.

The mountainous terrain was complex, making it difficult for humans to navigate, but it did not impede the wolves' movement.

"Support from both sides!"

Roman drew his Riptide Great Bow, having been aiming since they appeared.

With a thud, an arrow shot forth, aiming for the body but hitting the wolf's hind leg instead.

The powerful force instantly penetrated its hind leg, knocking it down immediately. Its body, propelled by inertia, lunged forward two or three meters and disappeared into the bushes—right after, the shrubbery began to tremble violently and emitted a heart-wrenchingly pitiful howl.

The strongest wolf lunged from the right.

Shasta leapt into the air, his kick, wrapped in black mist, struck the target squarely, halting the fiercest wild wolf's pounce.

Shasta and the wolf both heavily fell onto the mountainous ground.

Shasta sprang up like a carp while the wolf also quickly scrambled up, and an intense fight ensued between them.

Roman was attacked as well. He flipped his Crack Armor Great Bow, swinging it and sending a prime-aged wolf flying.

The heavy bow gracefully rotated in Roman's hands. He used the bow as a shield, holding it horizontally in front of him to block another wolf's attack—the wolf's head fitting right between the bowstring and the bow's body, biting down on Roman's ribs but, unfortunately, it couldn't pierce the thick clothes of a noble worn for hunting—essentially qualifying as soft armor.

Roman, expressionless, twisted the bow with brute force using the strong bowstring to brutally cut through the wolf's throat and sever all the wolf's skin around its neck, sending hot blood gushing out, staining half of his body red.

As Roman dropped the wolf corpse trapped under his arm and looked elsewhere, he noticed Shasta engaged in a fierce battle with two wolves, while his guards and hunters had already been dispersed by the wolf pack.

Despite numerous arrows sticking out of every wolf, none were fatal. The pain clearly triggered their ferocious nature, whereas the guards obviously lacked such ruthlessness; five or six men had already fallen.

At this rate, this group of guards would be annihilated.

The injured wolf pack fought more fiercely, while the injured humans were hopelessly overwhelmed.

A bunch of useless creatures!

Even if they could kill the pack, few of these men would likely survive until the end. Damn, he should have never let Green and Dota chase after the bandit Bo Ge.

At that moment, Roman heard a long wolf howl coming from a distance, and the wolf pack nearby responded with howls.

A surge of panic hit Roman, realizing there was a lead wolf yet to appear.

This was bad!

Aaron smashed a heavy shield onto a wild wolf, pinning its movements. Startled by the noise, he quickly prepared to escort Roman out.

It was then that the lead wolf's pained cries echoed from afar.

Had Green and Dota returned?

Realizing the lead wolf was under attack and noting the wolf pack's signs of retreat, Roman's spirit was significantly lifted.

"Block these beasts!" Roman picked up a spear from the ground and hurled it forcefully, yet the spear didn't pierce the body of a wild wolf. It was more like a long stick hitting the waist of a wolf, causing no apparent injury but making it stagger.

As the wolves retreated, a figure suddenly burst forth.

The man swung his long sword, effortlessly killing the first wolf to retreat, then grabbed another stumbling wolf and quickly killed it too.

After Shasta had also killed two wolves, and Roman had smashed two more wolves with his great bow, the battle swiftly concluded.

Roman gasped for air; though the skirmish was short, lasting only two or three minutes, it had greatly taxed his stamina. Fortunately, they had won.

The mysterious reinforcements also approached.

Roman noted that this person's style of wielding a sword was distinctly not Green's, nor was Green this vigorous.

Soon, Roman saw the man's face.

"Dick Uncle!"

The Witch of Calamity, Gwivelle, frightened by the sudden turn of events, ran over.

Hearing the name, Roman stared intently at the straggly-haired, stubbly, seemingly destitute, yet handsome and rugged middle-aged man in front of him.

The traitorous Knight, Dick.