Bruce glanced over at the ordinary people, gritted his teeth, and shouted to those on the trees, "Don't worry about them, take down the three big ones first, or everyone will die!"
The arrows, already sparse, instantly stopped after Bruce's shout.
Only after more than ten breaths did the five on the trees seem to come to their senses, quickly turning their arrows toward the Frost Wolves near Bruce and fiercely shooting.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh...
Before the arrows even got there, Bruce had already switched the Frostfire Saber to his left hand.
Taking advantage of the gap when the Frost Wolf lunged at him, he wrapped his right arm around its abdomen, planting both feet firmly, pinning it down to prevent it from moving.
Splat...
After three arrows went astray, one finally pierced into the Frost Wolf's ear.
Seizing the opportunity, Bruce abruptly released his right hand, switched to gripping the saber with both hands, and, with a twist of his waist, forcefully cleaved at the Frost Wolf's neck.
The spikes on the Frost Wolf's neck that hadn't been severed before because of its nimbleness to deflect Bruce's force put up no such resistance this time, as the arrow piercing its eardrum caused it pain, staggering it, matching the impeccable timing Bruce grasped.
Crunch…
Several spikes on the Frost Wolf's neck were severed by Bruce's slash.
The Frostfire Saber even cut three or four centimeters into its neck.
Yet, despite this, the Frost Wolf struggled on the ground for a brief moment before swiftly rising as if unscathed.
But judging by its cautious gaze and hesitant steps, it was clear the blow from Bruce had given it quite the scare.
"Help, help…"
"Run, they're catching up."
"Run, run."
"Don't block me, you at the front, run!"
The commotion from the north made Bruce grow even more anxious.
Although telling the five archers on the trees to ignore the ordinary people seemed cruel, it was undoubtedly the best choice under the current circumstances.
Bruce experimentally shifted a step sideways to the left, noticing the Frost Wolf immediately followed suit.
With a quick thought, he lunged forward with his saber raised in a feint, causing the Frost Wolf to stagger back frantically in fright.
Indeed, the Frost Wolf was scared!
Keeping his wits about him, Bruce turned to rescue Tony, who was knocked over.
But turning around, he discovered Tony was already on his feet.
Not only that, but the Frost Wolf that had just knocked him down also had one blind eye, oozing green blood.
Bruce was taken aback, then quickly noticed Charlie next to Tony, holding a small knife in his left hand, and a hint of excitement on his face, understanding instantly.
Well done, kid!
Courageous!
Not daring to delay, Bruce glanced northward, seeing the ordinary people at the end were in utter chaos, with the four Frost Wolves still slaughtering.
So, he immediately turned and shouted to everyone.
"Don't get bogged down here, catch up with the main group. Just block the Frost Wolves from killing anyone, and move quickly!"
Charlie, Tony, and the others who had broken free quickly followed the command, and Celeb and the other five archers on the trees swiftly came down, moving towards the ordinary people to drive away the four Frost Wolves, stopping them from further killing.
After driving away the four Frost Wolves behind, Celeb and the other five didn't continue to escape but stopped to constantly shoot arrows, disrupting the Frost Wolves, creating opportunities for the other Axeheart Realm members to withdraw from the battle.
Once all the Axeheart Realm members had more or less withdrawn, Bruce, George, and Jaden took advantage of Celeb's arrows disruption to pull back and quickly catch up with the main group.
Seeing the dozens of mutilated corpses on the ground, Bruce's face turned exceedingly grim.
In a matter of just about a hundred breaths, those four Frost Wolves managed to kill so many people.
Any slower, and it could have been much worse.
Bruce looked up at the fifteen Frost Wolves that had regrouped, realizing that despite his anger, he had to accept reality.
"Do not retreat, stand firm and block them. Just don't let them charge forward!"
Bruce and the four Earthripper Realm members, including George, stood on either side, with everyone generally in the middle.
All of them remained in place, their eyes locked onto the wolf pack.
The fifteen Frost Wolves, seeing the group not moving, advanced cautiously but with ever slowing steps and diminished movements.
There was a noticeable increase in fear in their eyes.
Especially the one Bruce injured earlier, with its hesitant steps lagging behind the other two robust Frost Wolves by a position.
"Huff....."
Seeing the Frost Wolves not daring to charge immediately, Bruce relaxed slightly.
With high intelligence comes such overthinking.
To be honest, with just these few people, it was impossible to block these fifteen Frost Wolves while protecting the camp's ordinary people.
Even in a life-and-death struggle, victory was uncertain.
To survive, they had to achieve victory through unexpected tactics.
"Leader George, Leader Bruce, we are here to help!"
Suddenly, two voices called out from the rear of the crowd.
Bruce and George turned their heads, their faces instantly lighting up with joy.
The newcomers were Sam and Ben.
Moreover, each of them had three people with them.
It turned out that as they retreated northward, unknowingly, they had reached the middle ground between Samsung and Banana Camp.
Although it was unclear how Sam and Ben appeared at the same time, with the urgency of the situation, Bruce didn't have the time to ask questions.
"Slaughter these beasts!"
As the eight approached, Bruce immediately drew his broadsword and shouted angrily, charging first towards the Frost Wolf pack.
The others were a bit taken aback but quickly followed behind Bruce, while Celeb and four others released the few remaining arrows directly at the wolf pack.
Seeing the group's morale like a rainbow, all the Frost Wolves crouched low, baring their teeth, poised with their front legs and ready to leap at any moment.
However, when the arrows reached them, with Bruce only two or three meters away,
The Frost Wolves swiftly rose and bolted away.
The others didn't know what to think, but Bruce maintained a fierce gaze at the fleeing wolves' backs without showing any expression.
It wasn't until he confirmed that the wolves had disappeared that Bruce quietly turned around to look at everyone else, exhaling loudly and relaxing his tense expression.
"Phew… that was close."
Everyone was perplexed; even with the help of these eight from Ben and Sam, they weren't confident about handling this pack of Frost Wolves.
Why did Bruce charge forward just now?
Seeing Bruce's current reaction, everyone understood that he was putting on a façade, but it indeed scared off the Frost Wolves…
At the moment, everyone looked at Bruce with admiration on their faces.
Especially Celeb, remembering Bruce's decisiveness when first encountering the Frost Wolf pack, followed by the clever scare tactics just now, his eyes flickered with a different light.
Bruce was oblivious to what everyone else was thinking, simply lowering his head to glance at the dozens of corpses on the ground, his expression turning grave.
"This place is not safe for long; we should head back and discuss it later!"
Worried about the return of the Frost Wolf pack, Bruce invited Sam and Ben and the others to head back to the valley together first.
Already filled with curiosity, the two naturally did not refuse and walked towards the valley, following the others.
"Leader George, are you planning to move everyone from Harper into Rogel Camp?"
Just as they set off, Sam couldn't help but ask.
To see so many from the Harper Camp heading towards Rogel Camp this late, only this explanation seemed plausible.
Reflecting on the previous confrontation with the Wood Puppet Monster, the strength the Harper Camp demonstrated would naturally attract Rogel Camp's interest in a merger, Sam and Ben thought.
"You misunderstand; it is Rogel Camp that will be merging into Harper. From now on, there will only be the Harper Camp around Redwood Ridge, no longer any Rogel Camp."
As George began to explain, the two were dumbfounded by the truth.
Rogel, merged into Harper?
How is that possible?
With George mentioning his intent to leave Redwood Ridge, the two understood the reason and looked enviously at Bruce.
No jealousy, just admiration.
After the Wood Puppet Monster incident, Bruce's power in the Redwood Ridge area was well recognized, especially as Sam had received favors from Bruce, he naturally held goodwill.
Knowing that Harper would eventually replace Rogel Camp, the two felt a twinge of envy, knowing that offering congratulations would be inappropriate at the moment, they nodded slightly towards Bruce.
"Leader Bruce, may I trouble you to look after the Banana Camp in the future."
"Leader Bruce saved my son last time; Ethan can't repay this favor. Although Harper is weak, as long as you need it in the future, I, Sam, will go through fire and water without hesitation."
Deep in thought, Bruce nodded upon hearing their words.
Suddenly remembering something, Bruce asked, "By the way, how did you two appear at the same time just now?"
The encounter happened between Dajia and Banana Camp, even if alarmed, it wouldn't explain their simultaneous arrival with so many people.
After hearing Bruce's inquiry, the two's expressions slightly stiffened.
Exchanging a glance, Sam saw Ben nod in indication, and then turned to Bruce with a somewhat bitter smile and said, "We won't hide it from you, Leader Bruce. The incident with the Wood Puppet Monster caused our camps to suffer severe losses in the Axeheart Realm.
Now both camps have only four left, making activities like picking Crystal Fruits challenging. Having no other choice, Ben and I decided to merge our Axeheart teams and eventually combine both camps when the opportunity arises.
Today was just our first outing to pick Crystal Fruits together, and unexpectedly, we bumped into you on the way back."
Listening to Sam's words, George showed a hint of guilt.
Had it not been for his insistence on cooperating with Matthew and Lex before, the two camps wouldn't have suffered so many casualties, ending up in their current predicament.
He obviously bore some of the blame.
"Leader George, there's no need for that. Ultimately, eliminating the Wood Puppet Monster benefits all of us, which is why we agreed. Living in the Ice Abyss means uncertainty every day. It's just a matter of sooner or later."
Seeing the remorse on George's face, Sam was the first to offer comfort.
However, his final self-deprecating remark carried a heavy sense of despair.
They had just endured a disaster where so many died, and everyone's spirits were low.
Hearing Sam's words only made their expressions gloomier.
Living in the Ice Abyss, uncertainty is the norm, just a matter of sooner or later.
This phrase aptly described the dozens who died earlier; when they left the Harper Camp at night, they likely envisioned a better life at Rogel Camp.
But they died before seeing Rogel Camp's valley.
Who would have thought that outside Redwood Ridge, a pack of well-organized Frost Wolves would appear?
Without Bruce's final bravado, neither ordinary people nor those in the Axeheart Realm would likely have survived.
"If you don't mind, bring everyone from your camp and merge directly into my Harper. We'll strive for survival together here in Redwood Ridge; how does that sound?"
After a long period of silence, Bruce suddenly inquired.
The group, originally heading towards the valley, immediately halted.
Everyone, including George, turned their heads, shocked, toward Bruce.
Sam and Ben were initially stunned, thinking they had misheard or that Bruce was joking.
Then seeing everyone stop, they looked back at Bruce and realized his expression was serious, not joking, leaving them both stunned on the spot.
"Leader Bruce, are you serious?"
Bruce didn't speak, simply nodding lightly at them.