Chapter 1361: Toyed
Chapter 1361: Toyed
Kyran crawled to the side, he was complaining and ranting inside his head in annoyance.
He was the one who dealt the last blow so he should be getting the reward.
But that isn’t how it works in the Werewolf world.
Anything that the pack successfully hunted or gained would be nit-picked by the Alpha first, and once he was done, it would be the Betas’ turn. Since he was the Beta—he could go only when Rex had already taken what he wanted.
And it was clear he would take the Elemental Order.
On the side, Kyran waited patiently, moving back and forth impatiently.
Seeing movements from Rex, he was excited thinking that it would be his turn, but Kyran was greeted by the sight of the Elemental Order slipping from Rex’s hand, and falling to the earth, it prompted him to frown.
Checking on him, Kyran sniffed before he saw Rex’s muscles flexing hard.
It looked painful—the way Rex’s muscles bulged that is.
Unknown to him, Rex was enduring a sudden excruciating pain that assaulted his spirit core.
He read the notification from the System—for the second time to make sure.
Even at the second read, the notification didn’t change, it was still the same.
<Warning: the user’s spirit, Devo is in trouble!>
Rex had sent Devo to observe, and check the condition inside the Spirit Realm, he wanted to meet with the Spirit Emperor so timing is the most important factor. But now, it seemed Devo had gotten into some trouble on the other side.
System, what happened exactly?!
Using what little sanity he had left as the pain was amplifying his berserk, Rex forced out a question from his mouth. He needed to know what was going on—it felt as if his spirit core was dipped into a pool of needles and stabbed from all directions.
Blood forced its way out of his mouth as he struggled to stand.
<Devo is being extracted from the user>
<Calculating the time until the extraction process is finished...>
<Failed! Unable to calculate the process time>
<Notice: the user wouldn’t be able to use the user’s spirit core for the time being>
Extracted? What happens if Devo is really extracted from me?
<In the case of Devo being successfully extracted, the user’s spirit core, along with all media that are connected to it would be shattered. Meaning—the user’s Awakened power would be reset back to the first-rank realm again>
What? I still have Amanir, how is that possible?!
<All of the user’s media are connected to the user with all spirits. If the medias are destroyed—Amanir would also be separated from the user, causing the user to start all over again, with different spirits>
Upon reading this, Rex gritted his teeth.
He couldn’t afford to let Devo be extracted from him, it would end in a catastrophic result.
"Are you hurt?" Kyran asked, his voice was now rough in his Werewolf form.
Rex shook his head and straightened his back, "It’s getting better but we need to move," Continue reading on empire
"No Knight-class Order Beasts here. If we stayed here for too long, while the Demon Moon is up, we might end up attacking—the Dark Elf Kingdom. Let’s hunt the last Order Beast, it was running towards that direction the last time I saw it"
Kyran nodded his head as he darted in the pointed direction.
He was slightly wounded but it would close up soon enough.
Once Rex wanted to follow him from behind, he stopped mid-track, grabbing his head.
It was the pain from earlier, it influenced his state of mind.
<Warning: the user’s sanity stat is at a critical level!>
As soon as that notification appeared, Rex pivoted to the side and bared his fangs, growling.
His crimson eyes were fixed on the army of Ashen Assassins watching over him.
Seeing this, Iris sucked in a cold breath, "Oh, no..."
...
Meanwhile, the Elven Kingdom.
As the night became older, the Demon Moon also increased in strength.
Oblivious to what was happening to Rex and the peril he faced, the army of Werewolves and Dark Elves, traversed through the Verdantveil Forest, with extreme care. From the scent, the Order Beast guarding this dominion should be close.
Mavok led at the very front, sprinting and leaping over obstacles of nature.
Several meters behind were Fenrik and Valkis.
"It’s near, we should be near to the heart of this place!" Valkis commented.
Out of the three, he had the sharpest nose.
Considering the scent was moving even though it reeks of corpses—or decaying flesh, Valkis could tell that this was definitely Shadow. Mavok nodded, "Remember, we can’t afford to lose too much or the other Alpha Primes on the princess’ side would notice"
As he said that, he checked the army behind him before nodding.
"Fenrik, come with me," Mavok instructed. "Valkis, stay here. We’re going to scout ahead"
Since Flunra told them to not attack, until they regrouped, Mavok decided that he would find Shadow first and pinpoint its location—so that wouldn’t need to find it for the second time. It would be convenient if they could tell where Shadow resides.
Other than it being a strong Knight-class Order Beast, it took the shape of a lioness.
But its exact appearance was still unknown, nobody had seen it.
Just like that, Mavok and Fenrik continued on ahead.
About five minutes later.
"We’re near, a little bit more!"
"Yes, I can sense it too>
Another five minutes later.
"I think it’s running away from us but we could catch up to it"
"..."
Despite sprinting with all their might on all fours, the scent was still about two minutes away.
"Our aura couldn’t be suppressed properly with the full moon, I think it sensed us"
"No..."
"What do you mean, no? We should’ve caught up to it by now"
"I mean I think we’re sprinting in place..."
Upon hearing this, Fenrik’s eyes widened—that could be the case too.
Both of them came to a gradual stop before they looked around, to see where they were.
Marking the inverted tree trunk with deep claw marks—Mavok and Fenrik galloped ahead, stopping again after another five minutes. Fenrik scanned the area and frowned, "No claw marks here, I don’t think we’re running in circles"
"No, we are..." Mavok sucked in a cold breath and pointed at Fenrik’s behind.
Pivoting around, Fenrik didn’t see the claw marks but Valkis and the army instead.
Mavok turned to the other side to check and finally found the claw marks.
"It seemed we were running in circles—but the direction we were coming from changed constantly,"
"Did we get influenced by an ability or a law of the dominion along the way?"
"Perhaps..."
Crouching to the ground, Mavok observed the vegetation—and located, multiple Death Order Stones scattered around. However, he noticed that the size varies depending on the area. On his right, the order stones were around knuckle-sized.
Glancing to the left, the order stones were around thumb-sized.
Noticing this difference, Mavok climbed back to his feet and moved more to the left.
He then turned to Fenrik, making a mark on the ground with his foot.
"Can you howl in that direction?" He asked, pointing north.
Although Fenrik didn’t know what Mavok was planning, he complied without making a fuss.
He went towards Mavok and stood at the mark.
Facing the direction Mavok was pointing at, Fenrik activated his Harvest Moon King Mark, a glowing green mark on his forehead. He sucked in a deep breath, puffing his chest before a torrent of soundwave exploded from his mouth as he howled.
It was disorienting even though Mavok didn’t get hit directly.
Once the soundwave disappeared into the distance, Mavok looked around and waited.
About two minutes later, the soundwave appeared a hundred meters to their right.
It almost struck the army but Mavok didn’t mind it.
"Again! Do it again"
"I don’t know where you’re going with this but alright"
Swoosh!
Fenrik shoots a soundwave again and after two minutes, the soundwave reappears about ten meters to their left. It rattled with chaotic screeches, but as it blew past, Mavok’s eyes shone with a peculiar light.
"We’re in its dominion but it’s incomplete," Mavok finally concluded.
Using the order stones littered on the ground, he could tell which section was complete.
Going through the completed section, would make them go around in circles, and they would always come out from the completed section. From the soundwave test earlier, he paid close attention to where the soundwave reappeared.
And he found that the soundwave always reappeared at the place where the order stones were big and filled with death mana, and from that he could deduce, that they could leave this part of the forest without heeding to the dominion’s rules.
All they needed to do was to follow the section where the order stones were small.
Once he figured it out, Mavok and Fenrik went back to the others.
"Come, we’re trapped in its dominion but I know how to get out," Mavok informed.
He reached out to grab Valkis’ shoulder, seeing that he was standing still, but was soon in for a surprise when his hand went through Valkis’ shoulder. Mavok frowned as Valkis—as well as the army disappeared.
"It’s onto us!" Mavok shouted as he instantly activated his King Mark.
Fenrik also reacted swiftly, the two placed their back against each other to cover all sides.
Roar!!
Just then, Mavok sensed something lunge at him, something that his eyes couldn’t see.
Sensing the attack way, before it reached him, Mavok clawed his chest, drawing a fine arc of blood before he swiped at the area where he sensed the danger was coming from. His blood acted as an enhancement, his coated claws became stronger.
But he swiped nothing but air, it was as if his senses were playing tricks on him.
Gritting his fangs, his eyes turned to the size and noticed the space beside him distorting.
Almost as if he was seeing through something.
"It has perfect invisibility!" He shouted before he was struck across his back.
Crash!
Mavok was hurled to the side, crashing through several trees, before being seized by dozens of spectral hands, hands that came from the underworld, erupted from a dark portal beneath him. Despite his best attempts, he couldn’t break free easily.
Not to mention, these grasps sapped his life force with alarming speed.
Although the Demon Moon made them stronger the more insane and hurt they became, that blessing would be farce if their life force was sapped. No matter how strong and robust their body is, losing life force is detrimental to keeping their lives.
Seeing this, Fenrik reacted and dashed in to help.
However, he ate a vicious swipe to the face, sending him screeching to the side.
Recovering to his feet, he lifted his gaze and was stunned at the sight of a pair of eyes.
For a fraction of a second, Fenrik saw Shadow’s face and it was smiling at him.
It was more monstrous than its minions, a black lioness of unfathomable monstrosity.
Before he could fully comprehend—what he was witnessing, Shadow vanished once more, right before his eyes. Glancing around—the dark forest now felt even more menacing. Now the oppressive silence became choking knowing that Shadow was on them right now.
It was stalking them at this very moment.
Swoosh!
Just then, a sharp, whistling sound rang in Fenrik’s left eardrum hard.
Following that, a death ray destroyed countless trees behind him.
Fenrik’s reflex came late as once he glanced over his shoulder, he saw the destroyed trees.
Swoosh!
Another sharp, whistling sound rang, this time struck his right eardrum.
Like before, the death ray tore a hole in the trees in a straight line before Fenrik could react.
Despite having immense senses as a Werewolf, an Alpha Prime at that—that was recognized by the Harvest Moon, he could not do anything. Shadow left no traces, no energy—no scent, no nothing.
Fenrik couldn’t see it and sense it much less reacting to it.
Seeing this from the side, Mavok climbed to his feet and grinds his teeth in anger.
’It’s toying with us?!’ He thundered inside his head.