Chapter 209: Trap, Slaughter, and Corpse-Looting (5K)

Sophia narrowed her eyes, staring intently into the depths of the dense forest.

"……"

Just now, she had clearly felt an unfamiliar force slowly intruding into her territory.

Those fellows first probed cautiously a few times, then, after confirming there was no threat, swaggered right in.

Arrogant!

Truly too arrogant!

Sophia's expression grew colder and colder, her lower body — as sturdy as a steed — planted firmly on the ground.

She did not act rashly, but pretended she had noticed nothing and continued to observe quietly.

Soon, her gaze pierced through the mist and landed on the figure gradually approaching in the distance.

Though she could not truly see the intruder's face, its aura stood out in her eyes like a torch held up in the dark of night.

It was a legendary magical beast!

Sophia had no impression of this aura whatsoever.

Was it a special magical beast that had just ascended to legendary?

Having just advanced to legendary, and already it dares come challenge me, a territorial lord?

Do they all think I'm easy to bully?

Heh!

After determining the enemy's approximate strength, Sophia showed a disdainful smile.

"Hmph, a bunch of idiots — even you dare provoke me!"

She raised her hand and made a grasping motion in the air, seizing a phantom spear out of nothingness.

Hum.

Sophia narrowed her eyes, confirmed the enemy's position once more, then hurled the spear — radiating a legendary aura — with all her might.

Whoosh—

The spear vanished the instant it left her hand, stirring no air at all, yet the next moment it materialized right before the intruder and slammed viciously into the earth!

And along with the spear came an icy warning.

"Get out!"

Though furious, Sophia did not strike directly.

This was merely a warning.

She was abiding by the rules of the Misty Mountains.

The magical beasts living in the Misty Mountains had always followed an ancient law.

When a magical beast's strength reached a new domain, it would do everything in its power to expand the range of its territory.

And once that expansion reached its limit, it would choose to invade another magical beast's territory and battle that territory's lord.

Through a brutal, bloody fight, a victor would at last be decided, and the winner would claim ownership of the territory.

Such battles were extremely savage, so under normal circumstances neither side wished for them to occur.

When outsiders strayed into one's territory, the territory's master would first issue a warning, declaring ownership over that land.

If the other party withdrew, the battle could still be avoided.

But if the other party remained obstinately blind to reason, then the battle would inevitably unfold.

And now, Sophia had already issued her warning, telling them to withdraw from her territory at once.

If they obeyed obediently, she could let bygones be bygones and act as though this had never happened.

But the response from the other side made Sophia's eyes narrow slightly, and she could not help but let out a cold laugh.

"Hehe…"

Upon realizing that Sophia had already detected its movements, the other party not only failed to retreat obediently, but simply dropped the act altogether.

Those fellows, after their initial panic, actually came charging in brazenly.

Sophia felt their provocation, and her smile grew even colder.

"Fine — you've brought this on yourselves!"

A low growl rose from the throat of the centaur warrioress, proclaiming her fury to the entire territory.

"I'll make you understand that you've set foot where you shouldn't have!"

"Every single one of you will pay… the price!"

At this point, she gave the enemy no more time to think. She suddenly exerted her strength, her hind legs kicked hard, her whole body leapt into the air, and she began to run through the sky itself.

She was going to teach those fools a painful lesson!

The centaur spirit vanished swiftly, her figure hidden within the mist as though she had never appeared at all.

And not long after Sophia departed, the surface of the previously still lake rippled in layer upon layer of waves, as if some creature were probing the outside world.

After a moment's hesitation, the lake did not continue advancing in its previous direction, but instead slowly began to move toward the direction Sophia had left.

……

Sophia ran through the high sky, her hooves treading the fog, and in the span of a breath she had crossed most of her territory and arrived at the enemy's location.

But just before striking, Sophia's eyes suddenly jolted.

"This is!!?"

She saw what the enemy looked like.

Mist Wraith Wolves.

But not the single one she had sensed.

Instead, it was a wolf pack that covered the hills!

The number is wrong!

Over a thousand Mist Ghost Wolves surged like a pale tide, their oily green eyes glinting with an eerie light that pierced the dim atmosphere with a chilling gleam.

They raised their heads in unison, fixing their gaze on the arriving Sophia, and bared a sinister grin.

Something's wrong.

It's a trap!

"……"

Sophia hovered in midair, narrowing her eyes as she looked toward the alpha wolf at the center of the pack.

The alpha wolf noticed Sophia's gaze. It slowly rose, standing out from the rest of the pack.

Its body was several times larger than an ordinary ghost wolf's, its pitch-black fur bristling like steel needles. Ghostly blue flames burned across its body, and its eyes were filled with viciousness and cunning.

This was a legendary-class Mist Ghost Wolf!

In a species whose common strength barely reached mid-rank, with only a rare few reaching high-rank, a king had been born—one that surpassed all its kin.

A legendary monster—the Mist Ghost Wolf King!

Sophia narrowed her eyes, looking down at the wolf pack beneath her from high above.

Although she didn't know how the Ghost Wolf King had managed to conceal the auras of these thousand-odd kin, these ghost wolves—whose strength only reached high-rank and mid-rank—posed no real threat to her.

Only this legendary Ghost Wolf King had the right to make her treat it with a measure of caution.

Sophia did not flee. Lowering her head, she looked down at the Ghost Wolf King beneath her with disdain and let out a contemptuous snicker.

"Heh!"

A fellow who has only just stepped into the legendary realm.

Though there is some threat, it's only a little.

In the distant past, when Sophia was still a Heroic Spirit, she had fought against countless even more fearsome beings.

When had she ever felt fear?

Never!

No matter how many times she died, she would always revive again in the realm of the gods.

Although the gods have now fallen, and she can no longer revive within Their embrace—to die now would be utter annihilation…

But Sophia would not fear death either.

A Heroic Spirit does not retreat.

She stared arrogantly at the Ghost Wolf King. As a lord, in the haughty tone of a superior, she questioned:

"So you're the one challenging me?"

The Ghost Wolf King looked at her without answering. Instead, it curled its lips into a mocking smile.

It was hard to imagine such a human-like expression on an animal's face.

Mockery.

It didn't answer, but in doing so, it had already said everything.

Why would you ask such a Bai Chi question?

If not to challenge you, did it come here to chat with you?

It raised its forepaw, then took a heavy step forward.

Thud!

Watching its movement, Sophia laughed. She drew the massive longbow slung across her back.

She drew the longbow to its full extent, aimed the ethereal arrowhead at the Ghost Wolf King's brow, and issued her final ultimatum.

"This is your last warning. Take your kin and get out of my territory!"

"Get out!!!"

Her furious roar was like thunder, echoing across this stretch of heaven and earth.

Her tall, lithe figure radiated the dangerous aura of a lord!

And in response to Sophia's final warning, the Ghost Wolf King gave its own answer.

"Aooo—"

The Ghost Wolf King raised its head and let out a low, rumbling roar, plunging the once-quiet wolf pack into utter frenzy as they howled along with it.

"Aooo!!!"

The howl of a single ghost wolf amounts to nothing.

Sophia didn't take it seriously at all—her eyes were only on the Ghost Wolf King.

But what about ten?

A hundred?

A thousand?

Under the violence of sheer numbers, quantitative change triggered qualitative change.

"Cough!!?"

Those thousand-odd wolf howls instantly overwhelmed Sophia's presence, causing her mind to waver for a moment. Her figure swayed—and she actually plummeted straight down from the high sky!

In her inescapable fall, Sophia's chaotic thoughts struggled to turn.

This!!?

It came prepared!

From luring her here at the start, concealing the auras of its kin, to deliberately targeting her afterward… all of this was calculated.

Then, who exactly was helping it?

She refused to believe that a ghost wolf that had only just advanced could know her weakness and lay out such a scheme on its own.

Behind the Ghost Wolf King… there was someone else's hand at work!

And just as Sophia realized this, all the Ghost Wolves that had finished howling vanished into thin air.

They burrowed straight into the Spirit Realm.

Heroic Spirits are themselves a kind of spirit-body creature, and these half-spirit-body Ghost Wolves just happened to have a way to deal with them.

Countless grotesque wolf maws poked out from around her, viciously biting at her body, tearing at her soul…

"Hmph! Get away from me—"

Sophia tried to struggle, but the wolves only grew more numerous, piling up into a small hill that buried her beneath them.

And while Sophia was painfully resisting the wolves' tearing bites, the Wolf King, who had waited long enough, revealed a cruel smile.

It felt the moment had finally ripened, and suddenly charged straight at her.

The timing was ripe; it was time to reap the harvest!

Kill her!

Devour her soul!

I can grow even stronger!

I can become even— what!?

Whoosh!

Just as the Ghost Wolf King began to run, an arrow appeared soundlessly before its brow.

Only a palm's width away!

!!?

Not good!

The Ghost Wolf King realized something was wrong and tried to slam on the brakes to dodge, but the arrow moved along with it, as if it had eyes of its own.

Hiss—

The arrow pierced flesh and blood, driving straight through its brow.

"Awoo!?"

The Wolf King let out a pained howl, its whole body rearing up high before crashing down heavily, stamping the ground with force.

Boom!

At the same moment, the wolves piled on Sophia were blasted apart, revealing the contemptuous face of the centaur Heroic Spirit.

"Fool."

Though her body bore wounds from being gnawed, those injuries were also healing rapidly, hardly affecting her aura at all.

In that scene just now, the Ghost Wolf King was performing, and Sophia was putting on an act as well.

She had indeed been affected by the howl, but far less exaggeratedly than she had shown.

Sophia turned the tables, using the chance of being surrounded to keep building up power, and finally loosed the soul-arrow she had fully charged, successfully grievously wounding the Ghost Wolf King!

But… had it really been grievously wounded?

Just as Sophia thought the situation was settled, the Ghost Wolf King made a move she hadn't anticipated.

The heavily wounded Wolf King bit down on a companion beside it in one snap, and after biting its body clean through, swallowed it whole!

Crack.

And after the Ghost Wolf was devoured, the wounds on the Wolf King's body visibly began to change.

Its injuries were healing rapidly!

And that wasn't all.

After swallowing one companion, the Wolf King didn't stop at all, and immediately began its own gluttonous feast.

"Awoo, awoo—"

And the Ghost Wolves that had been targeted howled and whimpered, tails tucked, trembling, but not daring to flee or resist, allowing the Wolf King to swallow them whole.

During this process, the Wolf King's originally weakened aura rapidly climbed, with a faint trend of continuing to surge upward.

For the Ghost Wolf King, these companions were not just its subordinates, but its power packs, medical packs, experience packs!

The situation had grown worse.

Realizing this, Sophia of course could not continue to let the Wolf King devour and grow stronger.

"Die!"

She struck first, charging at the Wolf King like a gust of swift wind, her spear viciously thrusting toward its eye.

But the Wolf King was prepared for this too; the instant Sophia moved, it dropped its kin, let out a furious roar, swiped its massive claw at her spear, and at the same time used its jaws to gnaw at her horse-body.

Sophia nimbly dodged, using her speed advantage to quickly adjust her position, and once again raised her spear to thrust at the Wolf King's flank.

Clang—

Spear and claw collided, producing a jarring sound.

As the two crossed paths, Sophia said in a low voice: "I don't care who's behind you, and I don't care what he's trying to do."

"I will make all of you pay the price!"

And just as the centaur Heroic Spirit made this declaration, the remaining wolves finally came to their senses.

"Awoo!!!"

They roared and threw themselves at Sophia without a care for their lives.

Using fangs to bite, claws to scratch, their own bodies to try to block her.

They cared nothing for their own lives; as long as they could make her pause for an instant, it was already a victory.

In the depths of the unknown fog, the frenzied battle continued without end.

No one chose to flee, and there was no way to flee.

This battle, from the very start, could only have one victor.

Either live, or die.

There was no second choice!

Herbert had been wandering through the Misty Mountains the whole time, holding Fu Leimei in his arms.

It wasn't that he was deliberately taking detours — he wasn't a taxi driver, so the farther he walked, the more he wouldn't charge extra.

Nor was he lost; with the buff active on him, he wouldn't lose his sense of direction.

It was that damned Holy Grail that kept moving around!

One moment it was ten kilometres to the east, but a while later it would jump fifty kilometres to the south.

What was going on?

Teleportation ability?

But in Herbert's memory from last time, that lake water moved extremely slowly…

"Could it be… an underground water vein?"

Enter through one water vein, then quickly swim to another water vein and come out?

And the fact that it was running so fast — did it notice my presence?

That shouldn't be the case.

To avoid alerting the enemy, Herbert had Fu Leimei deliberately use a spell to conceal her own presence.

Then if it wasn't evading me… what was it fleeing from?

The thing that was agitating the forest?

And after Herbert had been following it diligently for a long while, that "Holy Grail" finally settled down, stopping in one place and no longer moving about.

What a coincidence — it was exactly at the spot where Herbert had encountered it last time.

"…Tch, is this guy picking a fight on purpose?"

Didn't I just run around for absolutely nothing!?

Although there were plenty of things he wanted to complain about, Herbert ultimately suppressed his feelings and quietly brought Fu Leimei to the Holy Grail's location.

They pushed through the mist, poked their heads out to look at the lake, and planned to observe the situation first.

Then the two of them were stunned.

"What… is going on?"

"A murder scene?"

By the lake, Herbert and Fu Leimei saw a shocking, gruesome scene!

The hills and plains were littered with the corpses of Mist Wolves; all manner of severed limbs and broken arms floated on the water's surface, and filthy fresh blood had turned the once-clear lake water crimson.

This tragic scene silently narrated what had happened before.

"Hm? That is… someone dumped a body?"

And in the centre of the lake, a wounded female centaur lay unconscious, drifting on the water's surface with a pained expression.

Her battle armour was already shattered, and only a scrap of clothing remained on her body to cover the vital areas.

The centaur's body was covered in savage wounds of all sizes, as if she had been gnawed on by hundreds of wild beasts.

And what the two of them were most curious about was the thing clenched tightly in the centaur's hand.

A massive wolf head, torn directly from a body.

"That… should be a Mist Wolf, right? Can they actually grow that big?"

As a self-proclaimed master of Mist Wolf research, Herbert had quite profound insight into the body sizes of the various power tiers of Mist Wolves.

For a head of that size, the creature's overall body would be at least several times that of an ordinary Mist Wolf — even high-tier Mist Wolves couldn't come close.

Then… a Legendary Mist Wolf?

Then just how powerful was this centaur?

Truly impressive!

To be able, under such circumstances, not only to kill so many Mist Wolves but also to perish together with a Legendary Mist Wolf…

【"Hm?"】

Nie Nasha's voice interrupted Herbert's sighing, quipping: 【"What are you thinking? She's not dead, you know."】

"Hm?"

Herbert was taken aback by her words, took a careful look, shook his head, and said: "Don't try to fool me — she's not even breathing!"

I may not be well-read, but don't try to trick me!

To prove his own view was correct, he furrowed his brow tightly, stared intently at the centaur's chest, hoping to see it rise and fall.

And then… his eyes were covered.

???

Why is there no light in my world?

Then, Herbert heard Fu Leimei ask with a forced smile: "Why are you staring at that spot?"

Herbert:?

"Ahem, stop it, I was just checking if she was still alive… really, can you let go of me?"

"Hmph!"

And just as the two were flirting, they both stopped at the same time.

Because at that very moment… the aura of the entire lake changed.

"Retreat!"

A crimson tentacle suddenly shot out from the lake water, charging toward the spot where they had been!

Boom!!!

(End of chapter)