Inside the cabin, Hope slowly woke up because of the loud sounds of wolves howling and screaming in pain. She quickly stood up and closed in on a window. She gently pulled the curtain up and peeked outside. The moment she saw the outside, her eyes widened.
The ground was dyed scarlet red by blood, with countless wolf corpses around him. His clothes were blood-red,d and he continued to fight relentlessly.
Hope bit her lip and grabbed her bag with the cat inside and ran towards another window. She opened the window and jumped outside, landing on her feet.
She glanced around and saw wolves noticing her. She sighed and ran towards the Peak of Mount Lorebale. The wolves rushed at her, their eyes bloodshot, their bodies emitting a dense smell of blood.
As one of the wolves closed in, she stepped to the side and dodged, and immediately dashed forward when a wolf pounced from behind. She dodged and ran with all her might. Beads of sweat poured from her forehead and fell on the blood-covered ground, mixing.
Time passed, but it almost felt like an eternity. The wolves never stopped, as if they had no other goal in mind.
They must have lost their minds!! How could they still be rushing at me?! It's already half an hour. Hope bit her lip and continued to run,n but her legs started trembling, her body slowly running out of strength.
Just as she thought of this, the sight of the withering tree at the Peak woke her up. Her eyes lit up, jumping up and dodging a wolf that had just lunged forward. She stomped her foot and used the wolf's head as a foothold and dashed forward.
The tree withered completely, turning grey and turning to dust. Not even a second later, a small bud bloomed underneath and slowly grew, reaching the sky and becoming a new tree. The cycle of Mount Lorebale's life essence.
She looked at her bag, but the cat was still soundly asleep, leaving her no choice but to stall for time.
When she landed on the ground, she saw a wolf pouncing at her from the corner of her eye. She stepped to the side, dodging, but just as she did, several wolves lunged at her from all directions.
Her grip on the cat tightened, and she bit her lips. She crouched down, curling up into a ball. The wolves moved through the air but hit each other. Hope rolled on the ground and moved aside.
The wolves fell on the ground and howled at her, their bodies bulging and their fur turning into a deep shade of red.
She opened her bag and grabbed a sharp kitchen knife. She unsheathed it and pointed it at the angry wolves. Hope placed the cat back inside her bag and held it tightly.
A few wolves lunged at her, but Hope's eyes shone. She flicked her wrist, slicing the incoming wolves. Due to the speed at which they moved, the wolves were unable to avoid the knife mid-air and were cut apart into ugly pieces of meat.
The remaining wolves howled and rushed at her without a second thought. A drop of cold sweat dripped down Hope's chin at the sight. Her eyes unconsciously shifted to the cycles of Mount Lorebale.
The moment seemed to have lasted more than it should have, but it felt like time started to slow down. The tree's withering halted alongside the wolves.
Hope's mind rumbled when an idea flashed through her mind. Once the idea vanished, time started to move again. The tree started to wither, and the wolves moved relentlessly.
I got it! She shouted internally, changed directions, and headed down Mount Lorebale.
Down on Mount Lorebale's second layer, Schizel had been fighting the Wolf Lord for several hours. However, no matter how long they fought, no reinforcements came. Schizel had long expected this, but he still clicked his tongue, jumping over the incoming paws of the Wolf Lord.
His vision was suddenly engulfed by grey fur. The grey fur moved close, whipping him and sending him crashing into the trees.
He coughed up a mouthful of blood and gritted his teeth. The trees were smashed, shattering on impact, and when he fell, he landed on the hard ground. The impact kicked up a dust cloud, shrouding the area in a thin layer of mystery.
He stood up and rushed towards the nearby wolves, crushing their skulls and smashing the corpses in his hand towards the other wolves.
The Wolf Lord blew, as wind smashed against the dust cloud and caused it to scatter, fading away. The Wolf Lord scanned its clear surroundings but found nothing but wolf corpses. Right at this moment, it felt a sudden itch on its back.
Without a moment's hesitation, it slammed its back towards the ground, kicking up another dust cloud. When the itch returned, it smashed against the nearby trees, but the itch returned.
It continued to attack its back by slamming down or smashing against the surroundings, but the feeling never disappeared. The Wolf Lord's eyes turned bloodshot, its breathing becoming ragged as it stood and raised its head, staring straight at the sky.
It drew a deep breath and, a second later, let out a ferocious screech. The sound penetrated Schizel's eardrums, causing them to rupture, but not before making his mind blank for a few seconds. His grip loosened, and he nearly fell, but he was suddenly awoken by the sharp, stinging pain of his eardrums popping, as blood flowed out.
Unfortunately, his body had already weakened,d and he plopped to the ground. The Wolf Lord sensed the change and found him. It opened its maw and tried to devour him out of anger.
Howl!
The sudden sound alerted the Wolf Lord, causing it to calm down a bit. It threw a glance back,ck and its eyes widened.
Several wolves were constantly pouncing and lunging forward towards a young girl with long red hair. This person held her brown bag tightly and was running at full speed.
The berserk wolves following her had long lost their sanity and attacked with no end in sight.
The Wolf Lord was frozen from shock, and it suddenly remembered that it had let some wolves follow her before. However, right at this moment, Hope rolled underneath the large beast and grabbed Schizel and dashed forward.
Just as she did, the berserk wolves lunged at the Wolf Lord, attacking with all their might. The Wolf Lord howled and attacked, having no other choice but to defend.
Schizel noticed Hope and immediately ran beside her, raising his hand and wiping the sweat off his chin.
Hope gave him a thorough look and asked in a hurry, "Why are you here?"
But what answered her was his silence, a response that she already expected.
Oh well, that's his personality; what did I even expect? Hope sighed internally; however, she didn't know that Schizel had just lost his eardrums, since his hair happened to cover his ears.
While they ran, Hope scanned her surroundings, searching for the transfer formation to Fang Hau's Chamber. But as she continued to search, she only found wolf corpses lying on the ground. She bit her lip, and instead of looking at the ground, she chose to observe the trees, looking for any familiar ones.
Based on how she's acting, she's probably onto something. It's best to follow her for now. Schizel calmly made a decision and protected Hope from any dangers.
"Why are you carrying such burdens?" He glanced at her bag, trying to probe. Fortunately, he learnt how to lip-read; otherwise, he would have just kept quiet the entire way.
Hope paused for a second before continuing her search. She spoke solemnly, "It's an emergency."
"Is the situation at hand not an emergency?" He inquired, his expression still like water.
Hope shook her head with a light smile and pointed at his chest, which he had wrapped a cloth over while they were running. "It is, but the injuries have already been mostly taken care of. It's best to find shelter."
"Then… what's with the knife?" After he spoke, the silence between them stretched on, as if he hadn't spoken at all.
He was about to withdraw his gaze, but she suddenly answered, "I live alone for the most part, so I cook for myself. Of course I'll have more experience with a kitchen knife than any weapon."
Schizel lost interest and followed after her,r but not even a second later, a loud howl echoed across the surroundings. Without needing to look back, both of them muttered.
"Wolf Lord."
"Wolf Lord!"
They quickened their pace as packs of wolves rushed at them from behind. However, they suddenly fell into chaos, knocking into one another and missing their aim.
"It's going berserk. Hurry, run." Schizel shouted, dashing forward and grabbing Hope and dragging her along.
Hope's pupils shrank at the thought. Her body trembled, but her legs never gave in. Having been left with no other choice, she had to run. Sweat poured down her head as adrenaline rushed through her veins, empowering her.
"Don't resist." Hope muttered, and Schizel loosened his grip, letting go. Hope grabbed him immediately and dashed to the right. She leaped forward and Schizel followed suit.
They moved in a curved line in the air,r and half a meter in, Hope shouted, "Fang Hau!"
Suddenly, light erupted from underneath her and flashed, temporarily blinding the nearby wolves. The Wolf Lord's gaze turned ferocious, and when the light vanished, Hope and Schizel both disappeared.
They entered Fang Hau's Chamber!