Maybe even more than I first thought.
They filled the valley like a living tide—green skin, steel, and hunger all moving in grim unison.
Yet even as I studied them, as I felt the faint pulses of their aura brushing against mine, I could tell none of them came close to my level.
And that realization left me disappointed.
I had hoped for something more—a challenge worthy of the blood that was about to be spilled.
But if there was any comfort in it, it was that none of them was the chief.
For now, that was enough to ease a small part of my mind.
He was the one I was looking forward to facing the most.
"So many of them," Ariel murmured beside me, her voice steady. Not a hint of fear. Her flames, faintly flickering at her paws, made her look almost regal in the sunlight.
"Yeah," I said quietly.
I hadn't expected the numbers to be this high, but in truth, it didn't change anything. Quantity was meaningless against intent.
