Ian and his men were completely surrounded by a dense swarm of hunters, with creepy hissing noises coming from all sides and a heavy scent of blood and decay in the air.
"We've been pushed to the brink." Ron clenched his teeth, the huge battle axe in his hand was already stained with blood, his eyes were filled with a desperate yet unwilling rage, "But we must fight until the last moment!"
Ian's heart beat violently, he knew that there was no way back.
"Back to back, stay in formation, never spread out!" Mark shouted with all his might, his voice hoarse.
The crowd immediately stood back to back, forming a defense circle. The hunters frantically pounced on them, their sharp claws flashing with a gloomy light in the dimness.
The battle suddenly erupted.
Ian held a long knife and swung precisely at the pouncing hunters, but the number was too great, and with every swing a new hunter made up for it, his arm gradually became heavy, and sweat mixed with blood flowed down.
Ron swung his battle axe with a roar, cutting the hunter's body in half again and again, blood splattered on his face, reflecting his grim visage. Each of his swings was as hard as he could, and his roar was filled with determination and fearlessness.
Alisa's figure was as swift as lightning, and her dagger kept stabbing into the hunter's fatal parts, but her shoulders and legs were already covered with wounds, and the blood kept pouring out, making her movements gradually slow down.
Mark's short blade had become dull and feeble, but he still refused to stop, using every last ounce of his strength to fend off the hunter's attacks. His body was riddled with wounds, his eyes red with blood, his vision fading.
Ian gasped for breath, feeling his stamina draining fast. His blade slashed into the hunter's torso again and again, but the fear and despair in his heart was constantly eating away at his will.
"How much longer can we hold out?" Alisa cried out weakly, her voice tinged with trembling.
"Until the very end!" Ron's reply was hoarse and firm, "We will never give up!"
Right at this moment, Ian suddenly felt a violent and hot energy surging within his body, and the mechanical and cold voice of the system rang in his ears.
[Host's life threat is critical, Gifted Marauder System Emergency Mode is activated, Marauding Reinforcement is on. Does it plunder immediately?"]
"Plunder!" Ian shouted inwardly. An invisible energy slowly floated up from the hunter's corpse and eventually converged on Ian's body.
In an instant, a fiery and raging power swept through his entire body, and his musculoskeletal bones ached violently as if they were being torn apart and reorganized, but what followed was unparalleled strength and agility.
[Looting Success: Hunter Instinct (Agility +30%, Strength +25%, Reaction Speed increased by 30%)]]
A sharp light instantly erupted from Ian's eyes as he violently swung his long blade, his speed and strength increasing several times, like a storm that quickly cleared a space.
Ron's eyes widened in surprise, but he quickly came back to his senses and shouted, "Seize the opportunity to counterattack!"
The crowd once again mustered their remaining strength and followed Ian in a Jedi counterattack.
Ian weaved through the hunter group like a ghost, each swing of his sword was precise and deadly. The hunters gradually felt his threat and began to focus on attacking him, but Ian moved swiftly, dodging each deadly attack with ease.
Infected by Ian's counterattacks, Alisa and Mark also rallied their last ounce of strength and clenched their teeth to continue fighting. Although their injuries were getting worse, the will to survive sustained them from collapsing.
But even so, the number of hunters still made them feel hopeless. For every one that was eliminated, two more made up for it. The edge of physical exhaustion was rapidly approaching.
Ron was violently tackled to the ground by one of the hunters, and his battle axe flew out of his hand, nearly tearing his throat out. He struggled and grabbed the hunter's neck in a death grip with both hands, yelling, "Kane, help me!"
Ian quickly rushed in and slashed off the hunter's head, pulling Ron to his feet, blood splattering all over both of them.
"Are we going to make it?" Ron's voice was weak, but he was still holding his body together.
"We have to hang on!" Ian yelled lowly.
Behind them, Mark finally succumbed and collapsed, his body was instantly torn apart by the hunters, but he still clutched his short blade, speaking of Mark's refusal to give up before he died. Alisa tried to rush up to rescue Mark, but the hunters also caught him and tore off one of his arms, and blood instantly flowed all over the ground.
Ian's eyes erupted with strong unwillingness, he clenched his teeth and charged again, the limits of his body made his consciousness gradually blur, but the strong will to survive in his heart became clearer and clearer.
As time passed, the number of hunters finally decreased significantly, the corpses piled up all over the ground, and the blood dyed the entire space red.
Finally, when the last hunter fell, an eerie silence fell within the air defense shelter.
Ron was seriously injured and unconscious, Ian checked that it was not life-threatening in the short term, Alisa lost an arm, Ian helped her with a simple blood bandage, and Mark and Bruno's corpses were already in a state of disrepair. It was a terrible price to pay for some food and water.
Ian and Alisa filled all the backpacks of several people with food and water, and took the unconscious Ron on the road back to the gathering place.