Logan lifted his gaze to the teleportation array in the middle of the desert.
High above, a portal quietly opened, and inside it the faint outline of a huge monster began to appear.
Right after Lilith finished absorbing the life force of the three wolf monsters, the shadow forming in midair flickered.
Clearly, what Lilith did just now slowed its arrival.
Roar!
The fierce roar shook the land, and it set all the Twin-Headed Wolf monsters across the desert howling.
Howl!
Killing intent and rage spread with the roar. Some weaker creatures were scared to death on the spot.
Even Yelena and Sawako, two elite 1-star familiar tamers, were hit by the roar. They grabbed their ears, shock on their faces.
"What is that sound? It's terrifying!" Sawako felt a danger she had never felt before. Her familiar tamer's sixth sense told her that if she met the thing behind the portal, she would die for sure."
"I'm afraid the Blood Cultivation Realm is really in trouble," Yelena said, frowning, her face serious. "The military and the city lord's office won't allow something this out of control inside the Blood Cultivation Realm."
Logan nodded and said: "So a third force has stepped into this Blood Cultivation Realm and set up this summoning on purpose."
"If I'm right, they need to sacrifice enough life energy to call that thing." He let out a quiet sigh. "Yelena, Sawako, go back along the forest the way we came, to the grassland. It should be safe there. Find a place to hide and wait for rescue."
"What about you?" Yelena blurted, shocked. "Even if you're stronger than me and Sawako, you're still just an elite 1-star familiar tamer. If you stay, you'll only get yourself killed."
Sawako came to her senses and joined in, advising: "Right. The thing behind that portal is definitely stronger than elite level. I've felt that kind of terror before—from the Yamata no Orochi our old master controls."
With no time to explain, Logan turned, mounted the Twin-Headed Wolf beast, and rode off.
Only after Logan and Lilith vanished from their sight did his voice echo back.
"My life and death are mine to decide! No matter how strong that monster in the sky is, before it kills me, I'll tear a piece of flesh from it!"
Logan's words landed like a heavy blow on Yelena and Sawako.
In that moment, both of them were shaken by Logan's fierce spirit and courage, frozen where they stood.
Only when the Centaur and the Icebound Phoenix rushed into the oasis and stopped in front of them did Yelena and Sawako snap back to their senses, both letting out a long breath.
"Sawako, I think we need to do something too!" Yelena said, her voice firm.
She jumped onto the Icebound Phoenix's back and flew after Logan.
"Wait for me, I'm coming too! If we die, we die together!" Sawako shouted.
Before Yelena and the Icebound Phoenix could get far, Sawako was already riding the Centaur after them.
Along the way, Logan swept through one oasis after another.
Every time Lilith used the skill [Life Drain], a roar came from the portal in the center of the desert, angrier each time.
Finally, when Lilith cleared the sixth oasis, her stage went up.
[Familiar: Lilith (Infernal Lord Form, 10% unsealed)]
[Race: Succubus (Infernal Lord Hybrid)]
[Attribute: Darkness]
[Rank: A-level 1 star]
[Stage: elite 3 star → elite 4 star]
[Talents: Natural Charisma, Expert in Passion]
[Skills: Weaken Will, Life Drain, Enslave Mind (controlled 4/4), Mind Lash, Infernal Lord Form, Demon Lord Blade Wings]
[Stats: Power 85→101, Stamina 94→113, Mind 179→208, Agility 111→130]
...
Seeing all four of Lilith's stats break into triple digits, Logan finally relaxed a bit.
He still didn't know how strong the monster behind the portal was, but he was sure of one thing: even among elite 5-star familiars, Lilith's stats were top-tier.
With Lilith's new skill [Demon Lord Blade Wings], she finally made up for her lack of real close-combat options.
Roar!
Another furious roar rang out.
Logan could clearly feel it—this time, the thing was much angrier.
But just as he was about to hurry up and keep grabbing more monsters, something sudden happened.
In an instant, cries and wails rose across the whole Blood Cultivation Realm.
Everywhere, Twin-Headed Wolves were whimpering and howling.
As the sounds grew weaker, a terrifying aura appeared at the center of the desert and kept getting stronger.
Seeing this, Logan looked up toward the sky over the sand. The once hazy portal had become sharp and clear.
"Damn it!" Shocked and angry, Logan rushed to another oasis.
But what he saw was nothing but a bleak, lifeless scene.
The Twin-Headed Wolves that should have kept rampaging had, as if by agreement, all killed themselves here.
"So ruthless! They'd rather hurt themselves than let me benefit?" Logan gritted his teeth at the sight. "Can't play fair, so they're flipping the table?"
He knew the monster beyond the portal had done this.
It was fighting him for life energy, even if it meant wasting a huge amount.
Thinking it through, Logan judged the monster in the center: its strength must be close to Lilith's. Otherwise it wouldn't do something so self-defeating.
With that, Logan turned and headed with Lilith toward the heart of the desert.
At the same time, outside the summoning circle in the center:
A massive, pitch-black hound with three heads stepped out of the portal.
It lifted one head and sniffed the air hard, then charged off in Logan's direction.
Shortly after it left, a black-robed man rose from the ground in front of the portal, eyes burning with anger. "Damn it. The life energy is not enough. The Church's control over Kerparos has weakened."
...
Across the endless desert, Logan rode the Twin-Headed Wolf at full speed.
Suddenly, Lilith sensed a terrible aura rushing in.
"Move, now!" she cried, forcing the Twin-Headed Wolf to dodge at top speed.
They had just split apart when a raging wind swept toward them, packed with ice blades and lightning.
Where the raging wind passed, the ground looked freshly turned, leaving deep pits behind.
Following the wind's path, Logan looked up and saw a figure as tall as a two-story building slowly approaching—a huge wolf beast with three heads.
[Name: Kerparos (severely weakened)]
[Race: Three-Headed Hell Wolf]
[Elements: Darkness, Storm, Ice, Lightning]
[Rank: A-level 3 star]
[Stage: elite, 5 star]
[Talents: Iron Hide, Super Hearing, Super Smell]
[Skills: Blizzard, Fire Tornado, Chain Lightning, Howl of Terror, Soul-Hooking Chains, Soul Tracking]
[Stats: Power 155, Stamina 147, Mind 153, Agility 185]
[Training tip: Feed the familiar with Hundred-Year Ice Marrow, Abyss Grass Fruit, and Lightning-Struck Peachwood for 10 days to bring Kerparos out of its severe weakness and restore it to Master-tier strength.]
...
"Damn, this mutated mutt actually has four elements!"
After seeing its elements clearly, Logan instantly recalled Lilith and ordered the four Twin-Headed Wolves to surround Kerparos.
This thing's stats were too high. Even if Lilith went head-to-head, she wouldn't gain anything.
"Lilith, activate Infernal Lord Form!"
At his command, Lilith transformed at once.
Elite 4 star versus elite 5 star—if it were a normal monster, Lilith could still crush it easily.
But facing Kerparos, whose rank was two stars higher than hers, both Logan and Lilith felt the pressure.
By now, the four Twin-Headed Wolves had formed a fan shape and boxed Kerparos in.
As they rushed in to attack, Lilith moved.
"Weaken Will!"
"Mind Lash!"
"Enslave Mind!"
Three mental attacks hit Kerparos in a row, leaving it dazed for a moment.
She didn't manage to enslave the hellhound, but those mind hits opened a window for their Twin-Headed Wolves to strike.
With blasts of Inferno breath, claws, and bites, the four Twin-Headed Wolves went wild on Kerparos.
But to Logan's surprise, their attacks didn't even leave a scratch.
They couldn't break its defense at all!
...