Demon Wolf

Marie frowned, pricking up her ears.

The rustle is growing louder. Something is coming.

She was about to raise her clenched fist and call for a stop, when Josephine beat her to it. The burly woman signaled, and the trailing disciples froze.

I should’ve called it, but she was quicker. Marie bit her lip, resenting not her own lacking ability, but the competent warrior towering over her.

Unfortunately, she had bigger things to worry about than her pettiness.

“Danger,” Josephine whispered for the sake of those before them, and extended her index finger for the Brilliant Gate’s disciples to summon their weapons. Meanwhile, the rustle kept growing louder and louder, with no monster appearing.

The susurration of blood buzzed in Marie’s ears. Her heart pounded, and her head grew light from the anticipation and the rising fear at the sounds the unknown behemoth had made while trampling its way towards them.

Suddenly, after what felt like hours of stewing had passed, the behemoth revealed itself twenty meters ahead. The emerging giant stood taller than an elephant. A mass of white tendrils exited its toothless mouth, squirming and collecting blood seeping from its ruined eye.

The pattern of white fur on its forehead was torn and bled, just like the maimed eyeball, but its remnants were enough for Marie to shudder.

Eight flames? Nine? The realization caused her instincts to scream at her to run, but Marie’s rationality kept her firmly locked in place, while her fear aided it, freezing her legs.

“S-shoot!” Someone shouted, then Marie realized it was her own mouth screaming the order.

Her bellow snapped the stunned disciples. Unfortunately, they were too slow.

The gargantuan, six-legged Monster Beast swung its front paw, smashing Lina, Florentine, and Desiree to minced meat.

The monster’s remaining compound eye burned with rage and bloodlust, yet the beast made no sound. Just as it swiped its other claw at Francine, who insisted on joining the unfortunate vanguard, a hundred arrows screamed through the air, glowing faint yellow in the gray, dusky world of Corpsewood.

The brown, bearlike monstrosity shone deep sanguine as it mobilized its Qi to guard against the hail of needles flying towards it.

The missiles burst on contact, energy infused in them weakening the luminous barrier, however, the monster paid them no heed.

Whiteflame’s other paw landed, obliterating the unfortunate, petite blonde, disregarding her Qi shield, which she had kept up with religious zeal, even during her final moments.

A small part of Marie’s mind savored the sight of the idiotic troublemaker turned into a blood patty, but the rest of it focused on the immediate issue. How do we handle this?

A peak Blood Saturating realm expert can annihilate five hundred first stage Blood Saturating realm cultivators before collapsing from exhaustion. To safely hunt a Monster Beast you need three to five people in the same realm.

Marie ran the numbers in an instant, realizing this Whiteflame Honeyeater might eradicate her group.

“Archers! Aim for its eye,” Josephine bellowed, her voice booming above the screams of panic and the snapping of branches and bones as she rushed towards the towering hulk.

Marie swallowed a lump, watching her bodyguard dash through the waist-high ferns.

In the few short seconds since it had appeared, the Whiteflame devastated the vanguard’s morale, sending the surviving women into a panicked, screaming rout.

Josephine ran against the tide. She drew to ten meters away from the monster and flung a liter-sized green jug straight towards the giant’s toothless mouth. In perfect coordination, arrows began exploding right in front of the Whiteflame’s eyes, the bright flashes blinding the beast.

The ceramic shattered on contact with the blood-red screen, releasing a lime-colored cloud of vile gas.

As the Whiteflame shrieked, Marie stared at the scene, transfixed. The Honeyeater slammed its head into the ground, trying to rid itself of the obnoxious stench which had infiltrated its nose and stalks. The beast hissed and rolled in the mud, revealing gruesome injuries to its flank. For a moment, Marie expected Josephine would jump onto it and deliver the finishing blow by exploiting the existing wounds.

The experienced woman, however, stopped. She turned around, retreating towards the group. “Retreat! Stop shooting and retreat!”

The shout stunned Marie. But, you incapacitated it. Shouldn’t we finish it off?

The strategist opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but she could not find the words, leaving her mouth hanging loose.

She can’t pierce its defenses. Marie realized a moment later, noting Josephine’s unwilling glare and clenched jaw.

“Retreat!” She confirmed Josephine’s order and turned around, fleeing from the sickening, ammonia fumes. “Don’t panic! It won’t follow us for now!”

Maybe we could set a Spell Formation trap and lure the Whiteflame into it? That’s a peak Blood Saturating nub, and it’s worth a bunch of Qi crystals.

Without her noticing, Marie had become one of the stragglers. With the vanguard broken, the secure ring she kept around herself at all times had fallen into a disarray during the retreat.

She heard a soft crack and something warm splashed against her nape. Marie turned in time to see Josephine fall, the top of her head separated from her body. She opened her mouth to scream, but a familiar, beautiful young man wearing a tattered, blood-soaked robe swiped a dark sword towards her, severing her neck.

***

Wolf took the opportunity the Whiteflame Honeyeater bought him the best he could. He skulked forward, creeping on the branches above the unsuspecting Brilliant Gate’s disciples.

When the monster finally appeared, he was directly above the middle of the group, but he used the distraction to move onto the lower branches, which granted him a clear view of the scene.

He expected a long, bloody battle, however, the gorilla-shaped woman guarding Marie, disabled the enemy and called for retreat, ruining his plan.

Just as he was about to curse Josephine, Wolf saw his situation was not bad. His chance still existed.

The vanguard had fled towards the center, leaving behind only Marie and her guardians. However, her protectors were also in disarray, and only five of twenty remained to watch Marie’s back.

I can handle this.

“It’s risky.”

Wolf nearly snorted at his cautious side. This is the best chance I’m getting, unless they do something stupid and create an opening for me. And based on what I’ve seen, that’s not happening.

He scaled down the massive trunk, then followed the retreating women. Fortunately, the Whiteflame still aided Wolf. As it smashed the surrounding trees and branches, it masked his approach.

Wolf drew a deep breath and awakened his senses. Start with the shorty on the left, then…

Before he exhaled he had a plan, and as he drew his next breath he sprang into motion. Eviltongue flashed, severing the unsuspecting shortie’s neck and in a single bound Wolf reached his next target and stabbed Book in the back of her head.

He let go of his old sword, leaving it in the collapsing victim’s skull as he danced forward, swinging with Eviltongue and reaping two more lives.

The gorilla must have heard or sensed something. Josephine turned around, and her eyes narrowed, rather than widened.

She’s a veteran. There’s no shock; just realization and struggle to stay alive. Still, Josephine’s disposition could not help her. She was mid run, off balance, and Wolf was already slashing towards her.

The seasoned warrior tried to duck under the strike, forming a Qi screen to shield her entire body. Unfortunately for her, Wolf was even more experienced. Her maneuver bought her a mere moment before Eviltongue pierced her barrier, and rather than severing her head cleanly at the neck, the blow caught her jaw.

Shit.

As expected, the disturbance drew Marie’s attention. However, the woman was not paranoid enough. Instead of infusing Qi into her legs and sprinting forward, she turned around to see what had happened.

That’s your last mistake. Wolf claimed her life with one clean blow and caught her airborne head. He waited a moment for the spark of life to leave the body before storing it.

The whole action took a dozen seconds, and no Brilliant Gate’s disciple looked back to check what was going on with their leader. Wolf retreated the way he came, storing Book and the still bleeding bodies into his holdingring.

Once up in the canopy, away from manlings, and safe from the berserk Honeyeater, Wolf checked his spoils.

The first thing he examined was Marie’s holdingring, which was full of nonsense. It had furniture, a tent, as well as some medicine prepared for emergency healing. He also found thirteen other holdingrings, filled with mundane items and callingjades stolen from her victims.

It’s not here? No, wait. She has a desk.

Wolf summoned the desk, holding it with one hand like a giant tray. With his free left, he opened the top drawer and found a stack of papers, quills, and bottled ink.

Finally!

sleepydad88

Random Roll -

Spoiler

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Whether Josephine would engage the bear.

Whether Wolf found his opportunity, or whether he would just kill several dozen regular disciples after losing patience.

Humble loot.

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