Another one with an animal companion was Thor, one of the electric elementalists, and they were positioned at the direct opposite side of where Mauru and the others were.

His partner? It was none other than the big puppy, Boop.

He had gotten a bit smaller since the last time, but he was still bigger than a person standing up. His strength came from the new muscles and mass, but otherwise, he was not very strong. His force value was akin to a giant piece of dead chicken being thrown around.

There were side effects, of course. How could there not be? Fortunately, it wasn’t lethal. It was more like his ’growth energy’ was consumed in advance. After he returned to his normal size, he’d take longer than others to grow.

Perhaps he’d be a puppy for years longer than his siblings.

This was something to worry about later. Right now, he was very busy being a hero!

Woof!

Smash!

Their team, which was quite large, was set up in another park about two hundred meters away from the bunker gates. If one looked at the aerial map of Alterra, this sector blocked the straight line path from the breached wall to the bunker.

Most of their forces were focused on the walls, a small portion was going around, cleaning leaks, and another portion was protecting the sensitive areas, including where the Ministers were.

There was another layer of protection around the bunker area, and Thor’s team was assigned here. Rightfully so, because now they were dealing with another two or three dozen enemies who had managed to get past the guards handling the breach.

"Block them, Baby Boop!" Thor, who was sitting on his back, yelled. The pupper, despite his stupid look, was very obedient and followed his orders.

The sudden appearance of the big creature caught the enemies off guard, and some of them stepped back and chose other paths. This was fine. One of their goals was to separate the enemies so they were easier to mob.

Boop was useless against the powerhouses, but he can provide sufficient mobility and distraction for the average fighter.

An enemy found the giant puppy a major eyesore, especially when he realized that several of his teammates had left because of it. Teaming up with another strongman, they rushed over the dog-and-man, and Thor was forced to drop.

The enemy was about to slice him as he fell, but fortunately, a whip of water appeared and wrapped around Thor’s foot, pulling him back just before he got skewered.

Thor reacted fast. While he was being pulled, he immediately threw out an electric ball.

"AHHH!"

And this was followed by a swordsman teammate appearing behind the electrocuted bastard, finished off after several hacks.

The other hateful man, on the other hand, focused on Boop. He raised his hand, an element forming on his fist, targeting the giant puppy.

However, before he could finish the attack, a flash of white appeared at his side, biting the side of his stomach!

ROAARR!

"AH!" he screamed. His armor had been broken when he crossed the threshold, having to deal with a rain of attacks as soon as he entered the breach. Now, his armor completely broke, and he could feel the sharp canine teeth actually penetrating into his skin!

Boop saw the rescuer, and his tail wagged quickly.

Woof!

This was none other than Snow, the pupper’s mum. Snow might be Garan’s beast pet, but she moved very independently. Garan wasn’t the kind to have a pet following him around, anyway.

Snow was quick and agile. Considering who her master was, she was also very experienced in combat. A wide level gap was much smaller when it came to her.

"LET GO!" the enemy screamed, raising his element-coated hand to hit the beast smack on the head. However, Snow let go just in time, imbalancing the bastard. This gave a chance to the rest of the team to stab him to death.

At the same time, the few remaining men, distracted and forced to stop their tracks, became easy targets for the attacks. Even those who hid in the allleys might not be able to do so for long.

Some archers had found them and started shooting from the roof areas. Many archers, especially those with wind elements, jumped from roof to roof, looking for the areas with enemies to shoot in.

This was the case for both the assigned archers to the areas, as well as the roaming archers (those who jump from place to place, heading to where the excitement was).

Several of the enemies hiding in alleys had nowhere to run, and several of them were even forced out in the open, with arrows embedded in their backs.

Many of these people weren’t able to react fast enough when water splashed over them, and this was followed by a strong, electrifying force that paralyzed them.

Crackle

"Nice, Foxii!" Thor smiled, high-fiving his lover, Faye.

It was their favorite combos. It helped a lot that they were lovers, and a lot of their moves didn’t even have to be communicated. They just knew where to hit next, so even if their levels were lacking, there were plenty of times that they reacted faster than the enemies.

The other beast pets, contracted or not, were also in this area. This would allow them to be more organized, and the forest areas and the parks were places where they had some advantages.

The rhinos, the tigers, and several others were like this. While it could get dangerous when they were against people 10 to 20 levels higher than them, they were at least agile enough—their instincts and reflexes active enough—to avoid the lethal shots.

"AHHHH!"

"WHAT!"

Crunch!

With the assistance of the human partners, the beasts could get a lot more chances to attack the enemy, possibly taking a bit of flesh or an appendage.

Screams abound in the territory. It was as if a beast mob managed to enter, except the animals were much cuter and more obedient.

There were also a few who had, despite being new Alterrans, managed to receive a battle pet, which was Galleon, a.k.a. Survivor #1.

His son had also bonded with his dog, and somehow, he also got a pet of his own.

It was just that Galleon’s pet was...a hippopotamus. It was named Jones.

The name was just inspired by an old colleague—bless his dead soul (died of a heart attack) —who was a well-known foodie in the regiment.

Though Jones, the aborigine from Twinwave Town, found it fun and even sponsored some meals for the animal who shared his name.

This was good because Jones, the Hippo, really ate a lot.

It was so fat that the enemy even mocked him when they saw him.

"It’s so fat, what are they thinking?"

"It’s so ugly!"

"It looks delicious, too! I wonder how it tastes!"

All these were great insults. Galleon was about to blink to give them a kick when the hippo started moving straight at the enemies!

"What!"

"Who said it was slow!?"

Its speed and its mass actually made it very strong for its level rank, and it surprised the enemies.

Even if this only lasted for a few seconds, because Alterrans were so fight-hungry and had cooperated well over the past years, they were quick to take advantage!

Of course, Galleon made sure that whoever insulted Jones had the worst time!