The howls echoed through the valley. Some were filled with rage, others with pain, but each carried the same dreadful message. Lican's expression changed as he turned, intending to activate the Windstride Seal on Wailing Bone and escape before the pack arrived.
Then something strange happened.
The wolf he had just killed began to shrivel before his eyes. Its massive body contracted at a visible speed, its green scales losing their lustre as the flesh beneath them withered. Wisps of crimson blood essence seeped from its corpse, rising into the air like thin, writhing streams. They twisted toward Wailing Bone, drawn by an invisible force, until the last traces of vitality were sucked from the beast's desiccated remains.
The pale bone beads trembled.
A powerful suction erupted from the bracelet, swallowing the crimson essence in a single, greedy pull. The floating blood vanished between the beads, leaving nothing behind but a dried husk lying among the broken vegetation. Then, as though satisfied with its meal, Wailing Bone fell silent and returned to its dormant state.
Lican's face paled.
He had endured enough of this accursed bracelet. It had already done too many inexplicable things, and each new incident only made him more uneasy. He couldn't even tell whether it was helping him or simply taking whatever it wanted whenever the opportunity arose.
Awooooo!
A piercing, bloodcurdling howl erupted from the depths of the valley, vibrating through the ground and into the marrow of his bones. Birds burst from the canopy in a frantic flurry of wings, while smaller beasts fled through the undergrowth, trampling ferns and snapping brittle branches in their haste to escape.
Then the forest answered.
One pair of crimson eyes opened in the darkness. Then another. Dozens became hundreds, scattered throughout the brush and beneath the ancient trees. Green-scaled wolves emerged from the shadows, their enormous bodies moving between the trunks as their eyes fixed on the direction of the dead beast.
At the head of the pack, a goldengreen-furred wolf stood upon a distant ridge. Its massive frame towered above the surrounding vegetation, and its gaze remained fixed on the bloodied clearing below. It did not howl again. It simply watched.
That silence was somehow worse.
Before the previous howl had faded, the vanguard charged.
The earth trembled beneath hundreds of pounding paws. Ancient branches shook as the wolves tore through the undergrowth, their steel-like fur scraping against tree trunks and shredding the vegetation in their path. A collective Beast Aura surged from the advancing pack, merging into an invisible pressure that rolled through the valley like a suffocating tide. The air grew heavy, the leaves sagged beneath its weight, and the smaller trees bent as though an unseen hand were pressing down upon the entire forest.
Facing this army head-on was suicide.
"Tsk! I need to leave. Now!"
Lican immediately tried to activate Wailing Bone, but the bracelet remained unresponsive. Having just devoured the dead wolf's blood essence, it seemed reluctant to answer his call.
Behind him, the thunder of hundreds of claws grew louder.
"Shit!"
He abandoned the attempt and bolted through the forest, weaving between ancient ironwood trees. When the ground rose before him, he planted a foot against a protruding root and launched himself onto a low branch. He pushed off it, caught the next tree with one hand, and swung his body around the trunk before kicking away again. Each movement carried him farther through the forest, his body twisting through gaps in the canopy as he used the trees to build momentum.
But the pack remained on his heels.
Green-scaled wolves poured between the trunks below, their bodies surging over roots and fallen logs without slowing. Others bounded onto the branches, their claws sinking into the bark as they pursued him through the canopy. Wherever Lican turned, he caught glimpses of green scales and glowing crimson eyes.
He gritted his teeth and repeatedly tried to activate Wailing Bone. Runes flickered around his wrist, hovering above his palm as he attempted to draw upon the Windstride Seal. He had no intention of fighting this horde. He only needed enough speed to escape.
Unfortunately, the Pack Leader was far more perceptive than he had expected.
The moment it sensed the fluctuation of energy around Lican's wrist, its eyes narrowed. It raised its head and released a sharp, piercing screech.
The wolves scattered throughout the canopy responded immediately.
A dozen green-scaled beasts opened their jaws and unleashed their Beast Aura in unison. The pressure converged above Lican before crashing down upon the forest.
BOOM!
The invisible force descended like a colossal hammer. Ancient ironwood trees groaned, their thick trunks splintering under the pressure before bursting into showers of wood fragments. Branches snapped like dry bones, and entire sections of the canopy collapsed beneath the overwhelming weight.
Lican's path vanished beneath the destruction.
The air pressed against his body from every direction. His fingers froze in mid-motion as the pressure crushed his hands toward his chest, disrupting the flow of energy through the runes hovering above his wrist. Even breathing became difficult. His lungs strained against the invisible weight, and his knees bent as the shattered branches beneath his feet began to give way.
Then three massive wolves lunged from his blind spots.
One burst through the collapsing canopy to his left, another sprang from a branch behind him, and the third came straight through the shattered vegetation ahead. Their jaws gaped wide, exposing rows of sharp fangs aimed at his arms and throat. They had timed their attacks perfectly, forcing him to defend himself before he could finish activating his inscription.
"Scram!" Lican roared.
With no time to dodge, he forced the remaining strength in his body into his jade pin and spun it in a defensive circle. The residual blood aura clinging to the weapon erupted outward, spreading into a crimson barrier around him.
The three wolves struck.
CRASH!
The collision shook the surrounding trees. The defensive dome bulged inward as the wolves' combined force slammed into it, its crimson surface rippling like a membrane stretched to its limit. For an instant, the barrier held.
Then it shattered.
Crimson fragments scattered through the air, dissolving into wisps of blood-coloured energy. The impact drove the wolves backward, but the backlash struck Lican with equal brutality. Energy surged through his arms and slammed into his chest.
He coughed up a mouthful of warm, crimson blood.
His feet scraped across the fractured earth as he struggled to keep his balance. Pain spread through his chest, and his vision blurred for an instant. More blood spilled from his mouth, splashing across his chin before drifting toward Wailing Bone.
The moment the blood touched the bracelet, the bone beads trembled.
WAAAAAAAH!
A series of shrill, mournful screams erupted from Wailing Bone.
The sound tore through the forest, rising and falling in an unnatural rhythm. It was not merely a noise; the screams carried a terrifying vibration that distorted the air around Lican. Nearby branches shook violently, and leaves tore free from their stems as the sound waves swept through the canopy.
The wolves recoiled.
Some stumbled in mid-leap, their claws scraping helplessly against the branches. Others twisted their bodies in the air, whining and shaking their heads as though trying to escape the sound. Even the beasts charging from below faltered, their coordinated advance breaking apart beneath the relentless wailing.
Lican didn't waste the opportunity.
He forced his will through the pain and finally activated the Windstride Seal alongside his concealment inscription.
Red mist exploded from his body.
It spread so violently that, from a distance, it looked as though Lican himself had burst apart into a cloud of blood. The crimson fog surged between the trees, swallowing broken branches, fallen leaves, and shattered trunks until the entire battlefield disappeared behind a shifting veil of red.
Then the faces emerged.
Distorted human faces twisted within the mist, their mouths stretched open in soundless agony before their screams joined the wailing of Wailing Bone. Some faces were barely more than shadows, while others possessed grotesque, blood-soaked features that seemed to press against the very surface of the fog.
Crimson hands reached out from the mist.
They clawed at the wolves' faces, seized their legs, and dragged their fingers across their steel-like fur. More hands emerged wherever the beasts tried to flee, grasping at their bodies before dissolving into the blood-red haze. Every movement left the mist churning behind it, forming fresh grimacing faces that screamed at the trapped pack.
The wolves panicked.
They snapped at the hands, tore through the fog, and crashed into one another as they desperately searched for an escape. Their roars mixed with the shrieks of the mist, creating a horrifying cacophony that echoed between the ancient trees.
The weaker beasts couldn't endure it.
Their bodies began to swell as the crimson mist seeped through their scales, drawing out their blood essence. One wolf staggered, its legs buckling beneath it, before its entire body burst apart in a spray of blood. Another followed moments later. Then another.
Blood splattered across the shattered vegetation, only to rise almost immediately into the air. The crimson mist absorbed it greedily, growing thicker and darker with every beast that fell. The faces became more defined, their mouths opening wider as the screams grew louder.
The more the wolves struggled, the more the mist seemed to writhe around them.
It was as though the entire forest had been swallowed by a living nightmare.
ROOOOAAAR!
The Pack Leader finally moved.
Its goldengreen fur bristled as it slammed one massive paw against the ground. The impact sent a tremor through the valley, scattering stones and shaking the roots of the surrounding trees.
BOOM!
Green veins burst from the earth.
They spread through the fractured ground like enormous roots, racing beneath the blood mist before erupting around the surviving wolves. Thick tendrils coiled around their limbs and torsos, binding them in place. Then the veins began to contract, pulling the struggling beasts away from the crimson fog and toward the Pack Leader.
The mist writhed in response. Crimson hands stretched after the retreating wolves, their fingers clawing at empty air as the green tendrils dragged their prey beyond reach. Grimacing faces twisted along the fog's surface, their mouths widening as another wave of screams tore through the forest.
But the green veins continued to pull.
Shush!
A figure flashed through the trees and landed on a distant branch, roughly a hundred feet from the battlefield.
Lican.
His chest rose and fell as he struggled to catch his breath. Blood still stained the corners of his mouth, and his face had grown frighteningly pale. He tightened his grip on the jade pin while staring at the scene unfolding before him.
Even after activating the newly formed Blackmist Seal, he had barely managed to escape the Pack Leader's reach. The concealment and the crimson mist had bought him a moment, but the creature had answered with a power that could seize control of the ground itself.
Lican's gaze settled on the goldengreen wolf.
The Beast Aura radiating from its body was far heavier than that of the other wolves. It stood unmoved amid the chaos, its eyes fixed on the mist as though the grotesque faces and bloodcurdling screams posed no real threat to it.
The Pack Leader had already reached the Beginning Stage of Qi Condensation.
Lican's fingers tightened around the jade pin.
For the first time since the battle began, he felt genuine fear.
Wailing Bone was terrifying. The mist was terrifying. But that wolf had forced the entire situation to change with a single strike of its paw.
And Lican had no idea whether his bracelet could protect him if the creature decided to come after him next.