Demon Wolf

“Hello!” Wolf grinned, greeting a pair of young women wearing maroon robes he found familiar from somewhere.

They are the same uniforms as those two girls and their guardians in Whitesheep wore. What was their sect called? Ah, yes…

The youths, whose age Wolf estimated at seventeen, jumped, startled by the man calling them from the bushes they had just passed.

They spun around, pointing their swords at Wolf, who raised his hands. “I mean you no harm.”

Instead of doing what Wolf expected all sapient lifeforms would do and lowering their weapons, the girls lunged towards him.

Huh? Wolf awakened his senses, confused by the murderous intent the duo before him oozed. They can’t tell whether I have any treasures, and I’ve never seen them before. Yet they wish to kill me. Why?

In the dilated flow of time, the swords stabbed at Wolf at snail’s pace, however, they remained sharp and confident. These girls have proper combat experience. Still, they are just children compared to me.

Wolf pivoted to the left, dodging one blow. He caught the other girl’s wrist and twisted. She screamed as Wolf clenched his hand into a fist and crushed her arm. Then he snatched her weapon and rammed it in the back of her friend’s head with another simple spin.

The shocked girl was still shrieking when Wolf snatched her by the throat, choking her pained screech.

“Hello,” he said, his expression no less friendly than a moment ago. However, the rest of Wolf’s planned lines underwent a radical change. “I don’t believe we have met before. Could you tell me why you wanted me dead? Does it have to do with the arrangement between the five sects?”

‘Yes,’ the terrified brunette mouthed while struggling to nod.

She deserves some credit. She’s not trying to bite or wrestle free. However, her good hand is moving as if she’s grasping a weapon.

Wolf darted his free left forward, clasping the Brilliant Gate’s disciple’s uninjured wrist and squeezed it into splinters just as a dagger materialized in her hand.

“Can we please not play childish games?” Wolf continued in the same sincere tone in which he opened the conversation. “I need information. If you can satisfy my thirst for knowledge, I don’t mind leaving you alive after robbing you. Who knows; if your luck is good, you might encounter some fellow disciples, and they will heal and rearm you.”

Wolf paused for a moment considering the terrible pun he had just made. He gazed into the woman’s panicked, agonized eyes.

“What do you say?”

The purple-faced woman said nothing, but her head moved with even more vigor than when she answered the previous question.

“Good.” Wolf also nodded and loosened his grip. “Please don’t struggle to escape, or I will feel forced to kill you.”

The girl gasped and her face regained the semblance of healthy color.

“Were you ordered by your sect’s elders to attack the members of opposing factions?” Wolf inquired without giving his captive enough time to gather her bearings.

“Yes,” she said in an overly dramatic raspy voice, since Wolf still held her throat.

Well, I guess that’s the normal state of affairs. Elder Dreadingham only mentioned we should prioritize our safety, but staying safe against attackers means killing them. In the end, we would eliminate other forces’ disciples in self-defense.

“You’re making a weird face; this isn’t all you know.” Wolf read nothing from the girl’s expression.

It was odd due to the receding blueish-purple hue of near-suffocation, and that single piece of information certainly was not the only thing she knew. However, his bluff was enough to make the horrified woman spill everything she knew regarding the plot against the Earth Pavilion’s disciples.

“Soaring Dragon Peak, Myriad Flowers’ Spring and Brilliant Gate have joined hands against Earth Pavilion and Quickdraw Gate. Sect master told us to eliminate you as soon as we believe we can do so safely. Please, spare me.” The haughty, murderous young woman turned into a snot-nosed child, begging through her tears.

Wolf ignored the pathetic behavior. He was certain the girl was not acting, but her miserable state did not negate her identity as a heartless murderer.

Your wretched display is only making you more disgusting. Wolf sighed through his nose.

“I don’t mind sparing your life. However, I want more useful information. Has anyone from your sect found anything precious or any treasures?”

The girl’s chin quivered, but she said everything and anything that came to her mind. She revealed all calls for reinforcement, how her fellow apprentice sisters handled the situations, and what benefits they claimed to have reaped.

Yet, despite running her mouth, she said nothing useful.

“May I leave?” Seeing that pleading face Wolf was about to nod, when he recalled a passage from The Ruler’s Way; He who pardons the wicked harms the righteous.

“Be on your way.” The girl grinned and vigorously nodded, rising to her feet as Wolf waved her to go.

Book appeared in his hand and pierced her brain before she knew what had happened. “I wish you a good reincarnation.”

Wolf wiped his treasured sword, then his lips twisted in an ugly grimace.

“I should stop pulling out Book by habit,” he reprimanded himself aloud, hoping it would help him remember next time. “I might break it on a stronger Monster Beast.”

Wolf summoned his callingjade and checked it. All three names remained gray and he clicked his tongue. Jake, I hope you watch your ass.

He replaced the white jade into his pocket, giving Jakob the chance to find him. Then, with the proficiency of an experienced looter, Wolf rummaged through the nameless girl’s belongings and through those of her friend.

They killed at least two Quickdraw Gate’s disciples so far. Camille and Amelie, based on these callingjades. Hmmm… There’s two extra holdingrings…

Wolf kept all the belongings, but left the bodies for the Monster Beasts to eat. I could bait more Brilliant Gate’s disciples with these two callingjades, or I could answer their requests for reinforcements and fish for benefits.

Wolf advanced with a light step, lacking a specific goal. For the time being, he decided to trust his luck and only hunt enemies which appear before him.

I couldn’t see any distinct features from the treetops, but I’m guessing lakes and streams must exist somewhere. Once I find a body of water, Monster Beasts should frequent it and some amphibians might even have colonies in sufficiently large lakes…

While Wolf cheerfully strolled through the deadly forest, disciples of other forces slaughtered each other over treasures or old enmities between their forces.

Marie Grundhoffer led a group of seven Brilliant Gate’s disciples, hounding a lone Earth Pavilion disciple, unfortunate enough to be in the general area which she had designated for her camp. The fleeing young man was like a cornered rabbit. Wherever he ran, he sprang Marie’s ambushers and eventually, they captured him alive.

“You know, our sect master only requested these little badges,” Marie smiled, hiding her buck teeth as she took the youth’s inner disciple insignia, ripping his robe and revealing pale flesh beneath.

She caressed the panicking young man’s cheek and winked. “Don’t worry. I won’t kill you, assuming you can satisfy two small requests I have.”

The youth gulped. His reason did not believe his captor’s words, but he dearly hoped she was speaking the truth.

“How can I help you?” he stuttered and Marie’s smile widened, accidentally revealing the slightly oversized incisors.

“Are there any dangerous disciples your Earth Pavilion sent here? What do they look like?” Marie let go of her quarry’s cheek and took a step back, giving him enough safe space while folding her arms.

“There are several. Senior Apprentice Sister Chloe Blanc, she never lost a match in the dueling ring; then there’s Senior Apprentice Sister Anais Lambert…” While he listed the names and gave a brief introduction on why those disciples were extraordinary, Marie took mental notes. “Finally, a new core disciple joined the pavilion several weeks ago. His name is Senior Apprentice Brother Wolf Hillman. It’s an odd name, but he comes from the savage wastes…”

Marie’s face twitched when she heard the core disciple’s name, coupled with his origin, she recalled a particular person.

“Wait,” she stopped her victim. “Wolf Hillman, he’s about this tall. He’s tanned, has mesmerizing eyes, and slightly pointed ears?” 

“You know Senior Apprentice Brother Hillman?” the youth said, his voice laden with fake enthusiasm. “We’re good friends. Could you let me go for his sake?”

Marie nodded, licking her lips. “Strip. We can discuss everything later.”

The youth’s eyes went wide. He was about to scream when Marie’s flunkeys descended upon him, grabbing him, sealing his mouth and tearing his clothes like a shoal of piranha tearing flesh.

“I’m going first. Don’t worry; I won’t drain him of all his Qi. There will be enough for you after I’m done,” she assured her lackeys, who grinned with a wicked, hungry glint in their eyes.

As for the young man lying nude and pressed against the ground, he screamed into a Brilliant Gate’s disciple’s palm, begging for mercy.