Sweat beaded on Monica's brow, a chilling sensation creeping down her spine as William's words echoed in her mind.
The revelation she had just heard from William about Mystic hit her like a bolt of lightning, leaving her momentarily speechless.
"Well, you can go now, William." After a considerable effort, she ordered William.
"Roger."
After William had just finished his report, Monica stood there in awe as thick beads of sweat formed on her forehead.
Aside from Jeevak, no one else was with her in her tent.
After two long minutes of silence and deep thought, her eyes locked on Jeevak.
"What..." she began, her voice trembling slightly. "...What do you think about all this?"
Jeevak shrugged. "Hard to say. But I wouldn't underestimate her. Mystic's... different." Jeevak also mumbled, wearing the same expression as Monica whose eyes widened in disbelief, her jaw dropping slightly.
'If even he is shocked, then I am not exaggerating. That expression he has on his face, do I have the same one now?' She couldn't help but smile wryly as she thought.
"It seems the patriarch gave up too soon, ... poor girl." She said those words with a smile that Jeevak didn't see often despite being almost constantly with her.
"Perhaps he saw something we didn't," Jeevak said thoughtfully.
At Jeevak's words, Monica leaned back in her chair, thoughtfully.
'What to do? This news will delight the patriarch more than anyone else, but I... is this the right thing to do?' Thinking about how Mystic would feel, she began to reconsider her intentions before acting hastily.
However, no matter what her plans are, some harm will always be done.
"What am I supposed to do with this information now? You think she's aware of her heritage?" Feeling torn between these two options, she asked her subordinate's opinion.
As if the latter could know what she was feeling, he spoke without hesitation.
"For my part, I think it would be better to give her time to digest this. Currently, even Captain William who doesn't know the parents of this girl suspects one of them to be a non-human. So the girl must have found out by now."
Monica frowned, her brow furrowed. "Huh? I don't understand. Explain yourself," she urged, leaning forward intently.
Following her order and persistence, Jeevak continued. "Giving her more time and freedom may be more beneficial than sending her directly under surveillance. She has undergone more training than any other member of the clan due to her differences.
A little freedom wouldn't hurt her. Besides, there is... nothing forcing you to rush things. As her instructor, your role is not limited to just training her to fight." Jeevak expressed his whole thoughts without hiding anything.
Monica smiled after hearing him say what was on his mind.
She steepled her fingers, her gaze fixed on the tent wall. 'This changes everything. But is this a good thing to let her grow herself?'
After a while, she looks up at Jeevak with clear eyes and a brilliant face as if she just made her decision.
"I just wanted you to share your thoughts with me, not lecture me on how I should raise our little wolf cub." She then said with a hint of humor in her tone.
"..."
At Jeevak's silence, she smiled with fun. It wasn't every day that she saw Jeevak in this state. However, these last few days, Jeevak seemed to be another person.
"Anyway, still no news about the Berserkers Wolves' squad?" She changed the subject by referring to the mission her brother was carrying out in secret.
"No, still not." Jeevak shook his head, his eyes painted with unease.
"I don't understand, they should have reached their destinations by this morning, what's taking them so long to give us their reports? All this doesn't ring a bell."
--
Deep in the Jolon Forest, a place that Monica and her troops on the front lines have not even dreamed of reaching, the elites of the Shadow Clan, composed solely of Bererkers Wolves members were.
Danzel Cer Shadow Forest and his troops were currently facing a dilemma.
Even after two days of relentless travel, they still have not reached their destination unlike what Monica thought.
Currently, the bloody mist hanging over the forest, which grew thicker the deeper one ventured, had become so thick that moving required superhuman effort.
Not to mention seeing a meter around them, Danzel and his henchmen struggled to see beyond the tip of their noses.
In addition, the mist had become something material, like a barrier that thickened the further they advanced.
And finally, even breathing had become a challenge in itself that they had to face.
The only good news is that they did not encounter any mutant beasts in this area.
The beasts seemed to flee this place as if their lives could be snatched away from them at any moment.
"Sir, my shadow wolves always alert me of the scavengers on our tail." A girl with a stunning voice mumbled these words next to Danzel.
To avoid suffocation, Danzel and the other members of his squad wore wolf masks on their faces.
Apart from the scratch marks above their masks, they had no difference between them.
Danzel's mask had one scratched vertical line, while the girl's had two, and so on.
The higher the rank of a member, the fewer scratches he had on his mask, and vice versa.
Without sparing her a glance, Danzel waves his hand in front of his face. "Let them do what they want. Until we reach our destination, there's no point wasting our energy on them."
"...Wouldn't it be better to deal with them now? Given their stubbornness, I doubt they'll leave us alone after so much effort of tracking us." The girl made this suggestion after two seconds of silence.
"Don't argue."
"Roger!" Her breath ragged as she saw the latter's tone change slightly.
Despite his intrepid air, Danzel couldn't help but think more about it after hearing his subordinate's suggestion.
'As long as they're after us, we won't be able to focus entirely on the mission.
Forget it, they'll serve as cannonballs in case of crisis. It's better to have pawns to sacrifice if we encounter a danger than to have nothing at hand.'
Having made his decision, he ventured deeper into the black mist with only the map Nicolas had given him as a guide.
Although they were in a real hurry, they couldn't afford to run recklessly, thus their slow pace. Anyway, just after ten minutes of slow walking, the small group of ten people arrived in front of a bloody red wall that didn't show anything from the outside.
Moreover, the wall was like a viscous material similar to rubber.
After giving a sign to stop, Danzel touches the conical but massive barrier to the point that no one could able to guess its density or exact size, nor the area it covers for that matter.
He then frowns after a brief inspection.
'This wall, ...it's like a living organism, perhaps a beast domain?'
The wall shimmered, pulsating with an eerie inner light. It felt warm to the touch, almost alive.
"Behind this organic barrier, is probably the core of the bloody mist that envelops the entire forest." He mumbles to all the members of his squad.
"An organic wall? Is it even possible?" One of his men dressed in a wolf mask with six claw scratches mumbles these words with a puzzled face.
To clear his doubts, he also touches the crimson-red barrier with the others.
His pupils tremble under his mask after having the same impression.
"Is this an artificially created domain by a beast?" He mumbles as well.
"Or by those fucking Mystics." The second highest ranking, the woman with a bell voice mumbles her point of view as well.
Danzel listens to each of their assumptions in silence as he continues his inspection.
He then extends his palm, using a power similar to what Devon is used to using.
But unlike the latter's, it is not his spiritual energy that he transformed into a two-meter black scythe, but his shadow which flickered under his feet before condensing in his palm.
His skill was of a mind-boggling level to the point of giving the impression that the weapon he manifested was with him from the start.
Following its appearance, he orders his subordinates to back off.
At the same time, the nerves on his arm swell as guides all his strength in his arms.
The air around him became as if freezing under the effect of his spiritual energy that went so far as to disrupt the natural energy flows.
He then slashed the barrier with his scythe, creating a huge tear in it.
Despite his strength, the gigantic barrier did not collapse, instead, the passage he created began to close visibly.
At this sight, He jumped inside followed by the other members of his squad.
Suddenly, a rustle in the undergrowth. Shadows emerged from the swirling mist, figures clad in black, their faces obscured by hoods. They wore black clothes and all had gold-rank grimoires!
They did not speak to each other but gestured with their fingers to maintain their stealth.
At the leader's gestures, also with a hooded face, one of his companions calls upon a black two-headed snake similar to the one Devon had fought earlier.
But its size and the energy it gave off were miles more intimidating than the last one.
Not to mention its body which seems spectral than physical.
When it appeared, it merged with its master's body, more precisely his right arm which turned into a miniature two-headed snake.
He points his snaked hand which spits a corrosive black venom on the wall, creating a hole by disintegration.
But, like with Danzel's attack, the wall began to self-heal instantly.
But before it finished closing the hole, the twenty spies passed through it.
After a while, another group arrived on the scene. They also use their tricks to follow Danzel's tracks.
In total, four groups that arrived in waves followed the footsteps of Danzel and his men.
Their goals were the same, to get their hands on the seed of evolution, the object that made the three major clans what they are today.
Although Danzel was aware of being targeted by spies from other clans, and each of them was also aware that they were not the only ones who wanted to snatch the loot, none of them seemed ready to act first.
They were all waiting for the right moment to act.
Deep in the forest, two kilometers ahead of Danzel and his team, a creature strangely resembling an elf, with sharp ears, immaculate silver hair, and exotic lines, was hiking aimlessly around a giant tree whose branches overhung all the trees within a radius of five hundred meters.
Her silhouette seemed strange to the point of confusing her gender. However, the scarlet red dress she wore, and the golden necklaces around her ankles and neck, made her look like a princess captive by the titanic creature lazily lying a little further away from her.
The thick scales of this latter and the shape of its body, not to mention its wings and the two huge thick horns on its head, its nature could be identified by anyone.
-A princess captive by a legendary beast?
Anyone would come to that conclusion upon seeing their current situation.
After going around the tree which took her about a minute, the girl arrived at her starting point
She looks at the titanic beast lazily lying a little further away from her and frowns.
Then, instantly, she appears out of nowhere above the calamitous beast's head as if she had teleported due to her speed.
The beast opens its eyes, looking at the small creature standing between its horns.
"Master, do you want me to get rid of the vermins that dared to defile your domain with their abject presence?"
She smiled innocently as she stroked one of the beast's two horns with her tiny hands.
"My faithful servant, it's been decades since we've had guests, so don't spoil my fun, will you~?"
The monster's pupils flickered slightly after seeing the innocent smile on the girl's lips.
"I humbly ask for your forgiveness, Master, for my disrespectful behavior."
The woman ignored its words as she sniffed the air around her, her eyes closed.
After five seconds; she opened her eyes again, smiling in the most beautiful way she could.
"Ah~, this fresh and rich smell, it brings back old memories; don't you?"
"Indeed, it's been several years since I last tasted fresh human flesh. I hope that her supremacy will be charitable enough to leave some for me."
"Huhu~, don't worry, Kurukunda, there are enough of them for me to give you some. They come here to devour me, but they still don't know that it's them, who are going to be devoured."