Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

After calming down, Aupin and Violette started discussing what to do next.

They were in a bad situation.

There was almost no food or water on them, and survival tools were also scarce in the forest. They were virtually unarmed, and Aupin could be said to be empty-handed.

Violette suggested returning to the other side of the river to look for the bodies of the guards who had just died. They had supplies, survival tools, and equipment on them.

Aupin immediately agreed with this good suggestion.

The two of them didn’t choose to climb the tree. It was too dangerous.

They walked along the river.

The river water gurgled and flowed. The two banks were lush with vegetation. There were obvious footprints on the grass by the riverside. These were left behind by the Silver-rank Direwolf that had just run over.

After the two of them walked for a while, the river gradually narrowed and the terrain slowly rose. Eventually, it formed two mounds that met each other across the river.

The two mounds were not far from each other. They were rooted on both sides of the river while extending out from both sides of the river. There was little vegetation on the mounds.

On the mound, the two found the traces left by the wolf claws again.

“Looks like that Direwolf crossed the river here.”

The two of them climbed up the mound.

The distance between the two mounds was very short, so they could easily jump over.

However, if they lost their footing and fell into the water, they would definitely be hunted by the Golden Vine in the river and die a horrible death.

“Look, what’s that?” Violette pointed down.

Aupin looked over and his pupils constricted.

He discovered the broken limbs of many River Vines scattered by the riverbank.

It was obvious that an intense battle had taken place on this river bank. It was very messy, and at the same time, it was covered in black soil, like solidified magma. It looked rather suspicious.

Aupin’s heart was heavy. The River Vine is a Gold-rank magic plant, but it is not an overlord. There was a battle here before and it lost. The one fighting it was at least a Gold-rank lifeform.

This island is really full of danger!

In such a short period of time, Aupin saw a Silver Direwolf, a Golden River Vine, and a mysterious supernatural being that was at least at the Gold rank.

I can’t utilize my battle aura. With my current strength, it is very difficult to deal with a Silver-rank magical beast. The chances of victory are very slim.

Previously, it was all thanks to luck that the Direwolf was dealt with.

At that time, the Direwolf was in the air and had no means of getting a foothold. My sudden awakening and attack caught it off guard. Failing to dodge, it was eventually sent into the river.

The terrifying green vines in the water immediately took the Direwolf’s life.

If it was a fair fight, I’m afraid I wouldn’t have been so lucky.

What should I do if I encounter such a ferocious beast again?

The two of them successfully jumped over the river and entered the rainforest.

The blue sky was gradually blotted out, and the air was extremely hot and humid.

The ground felt soft, a result of the rotten leaves that had accumulated over time.

Aupin had to look down at the ground from time to time, because the vines were entangled and the roots were exposed. If he was not careful, he would trip.

Violette paused and looked around. “It’s nearby.”

According to what Violette said, back when the Direwolf chased after them, the last three guards had stayed behind to stall it in a bid to give Violette and the unconscious Aupin a chance of survival.

After walking for a few dozen steps, they circled a thick tree and saw corpses.

In the bushes, the two corpses were more than ten steps apart, emitting a thick stench of blood.

Their eyes were wide with fear and anger.

Violette couldn’t help but hold her breath as she stood rooted to the spot. Aupin took a few steps forward and bent over to investigate.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, a thick black and red line shot out from the corpse like an arrow from a crossbow, aimed straight at Aupin’s face.

Aupin’s hair stood on end as his pupils shrunk to the size of a needle tip. He extended his hand.

Instantly, he grabbed the “thick black and red line”!

Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!

Aupin clasped the thick black and red line by the head with his fingers, and it was immediately clear as night and day—it was an extremely strange venomous snake!

The scales of the venomous snake were black while the head of the snake was bright red. It extended from the head of the snake, down its back, and to its tail, forming an obvious scarlet line.

On both sides of the venomous snake’s body were over 100 black centipede-like limbs.

“This is a Bronze-rank magical beast!” Aupin sensed the centipede-snake’s life force and showed a strained expression.

“Ah, be careful!” Everything happened too quickly. Only then did Violette react and cry out in alarm.

“This is a Blood Thread Centipede Snake. It’s highly venomous, and death happens seconds after being poisoned!” Violette hurriedly introduced. “Its centipede feet can even pierce through leather armor.”

The moment she finished speaking, the Blood Thread Centipede Snake had counterattacked.

Its body twisted, wrapping around Aupin’s arm. Almost all of the hundred centipede legs stabbed into the youth’s arm, and they drilled deeper and deeper.

Blood gushed out, the pain assailing Aupin’s senses.

At the same time, Aupin felt an enormous coiling force press down on his arm. His flesh and blood seemed to be squeezed into mud, and his arm bones were groaning.

He quickly exerted strength with his fingers, wanting to strangle the Blood Thread Centipede Snake to death, but its bones were very hard, and its scales were also very tough and slippery.

With a low growl, Aupin pushed the snake’s head to the ground. With his other hand, he quickly pulled out his dagger, raised it high, and stabbed down.

The dagger seemed to pierce through a hard rock, pinning the snake’s head to the ground.

The snake counterattacked before it died, its centipede legs digging an inch deeper, causing Aupin’s arm to bleed even more.

However, after a few seconds, the snake’s body went limp.

Even though there was no longer any binding force, the hard centipede legs still pierced into the young man’s flesh.

Aupin gritted his teeth and retrieved his dagger before retreating quickly. After distancing himself from the corpse, he pulled out the centipede legs one by one.

Violette quickly took out some powder from her waist pouch and sprinkled a layer of it over Aupin’s wound. Then, she took out a white bandage and quickly bandaged his wound.

The wound was rather deep, but Aupin had a good physique and the medicine was effective. The bleeding stopped quickly.

Moreover, a cool and refreshing feeling mixed with a faint pain spread from the wound to Aupin’s heart.

“What medicine is this? Why is it so effective? Didn’t you say that magic and battle aura are forbidden on this island?” Aupin was curious about the immediate efficacy of the medicine.

“It’s a kind of herb that originated from the barbarian tribes of the Frost Continent. It’s not like Mana Potions. It’s simply the nature of the herb,” explained Violette.

Mana Potions were made by potioneers using magic ingredients. By mixing the raw ingredients and magic, potioneers formed a balanced and stable state. As such potions contained mana, their effects were usually fast and efficacious with outstanding effects.

Violette looked at Aupin’s wound, her eyes slightly red as she said with guilt and shame, “Thankfully the centipede feet lack venom! I am sorry, Sir. I brought you harm. I should have told you this information earlier.”

Seeing her like this, Aupin couldn’t help but feel pity for her. He shook his head and quickly consoled her, “This isn’t your fault.”

After crossing the river, they hurried through the forest and were very vigilant towards their surroundings. Their communications were limited as they tried to avoid having their attention diverted.

The speed at which this Blood Thread Centipede Snake crawled out of the corpse was too fast, exceeding Aupin’s expectations.

Even a snake on this island is so strange and dangerous… Aupin returned to the previous spot and used the front part of his dagger to cut open the snake’s head before slicing through its body.

If I could use my battle aura, I wouldn’t have been injured by it. Aupin sighed.

Regardless of whether his battle aura was at the Silver or Black Iron rank, as long as he used battle aura as a defense, it would be very difficult for the centipede feet to pierce through his arm.

Aupin observed the interior of the snake’s body. The snake’s stomach contained a large amount of undigested food.

The young knight’s eyes sparkled. It seems that this centipede snake likes to eat the organs of its prey and is thirsty for blood. No wonder it drilled out from the corpse.

Strange. After searching twice, Aupin felt puzzled. “Where is the magicite core in this magical beast’s body?”

Magical beasts could absorb natural elements and build up their own magic power. With the accumulation of magic power over time, this kind of magic power would crystallize—a magicite core!

Magical beasts that had just been born didn’t have magicite cores in their bodies. The magicite cores in the bodies of young magical beasts were very small, but all adult magical beasts had magicite cores.

This Blood Thread Centipede Snake wasn’t an infant at all, but a mature one; yet it didn’t have a magicite core. This left Aupin confused.

Violette explained in a timely manner, “There are a lot of strange magical beasts on this island. Their life force is very strong, but they don’t have magicite in their bodies. The rescue team killed some magical beasts before, but they didn’t find any magicite in their bodies either. But maybe it’s because of this that these magical beasts haven’t shown any magic.”

“I see.” Aupin came to a realization.

Although magicite cores were valuable, it would definitely be more beneficial than detrimental to Aupin and Violette if the lack of magicite ended up making these magical beasts incapable of using magic spells.

After dealing with the Blood Thread Centipede Snake, Aupin went to inspect the corpses.

The two guards on the ground were already dead.

One of them had a fatal wound on his throat. His entire neck had almost been bitten off, leaving only a sliver of flesh connected to the back of his neck. The other person was in a worse state—his entire head was severely deformed. Brain matter mixed with blood flowed all over the ground.

They had both suffered from fatal wounds.

Both of their stomachs were a mess, and these injuries were obviously caused by a venomous snake.

Aupin’s expression turned serious as he stood up and looked around.

He was careful to notice that the bushes around him were severely trampled.

In the eyes of ordinary people, this scene was chaotic and disorderly. However, Aupin realized that he could easily distinguish which was human made and which was the mark of the Direwolf.

In fact, according to these traces, a virtual route was mapped out in front of him.

The young man narrowed his eyes and looked at the route that appeared in his mind.

But soon the bushes and dense forest blocked his view.

Aupin took a dozen steps forward, passing through the shrubbery and turning around a large tree.

At this time, a rare clearing in the forest appeared before him.

Violette followed Aupin into the clearing.

Aupin looked down at his feet and saw remnant footprints in the clearing.

Due to the copious amounts of rotten leaves on the ground in the forest and the heavy rain, the rotten leaves were waterlogged.

Thus, the heavier a person was, the deeper the footprints would be, and there would often be water stains.

The footprints in the clearing were very far apart from each other. This meant that the owners of the footprints—the guards—were running.

Aupin was deep in thought as he deduced. These two guards chose this empty clearing because there’s no cover, providing a good field of view. It’s a great battlefield to deal with the Direwolf.

The scene replayed in his mind.

But when they were guarding this place, they suddenly realized that the Direwolf was running through the bushes, as if it wanted to bypass these guards to chase after Violette.

Thus, these two guards panicked and gave up on their advantageous terrain, taking the risk to charge into the bushes to pursue and obstruct the Direwolf.

In the bushes, the two guards moved in file, but the Direwolf was extremely fast. Suddenly, it turned around and counterattacked. With a leap, it directly bit through the head of one of the guards.

Then, it ran to the guard behind and bit through his throat!

Aupin made a series of guesses based on the corpses and various traces.

A chill spread from the bottom of his heart.

The blue-furred Direwolf had a violent and fierce nature, but it was also cunning. It seemed to be able to read minds, and used a combination of a bait and counterattack strategy. Moreover, the execution of the strategy was done cleanly, allowing it to quickly kill the two guards.

Throughout the entire process, it had made use of the terrain and the protective mentality of the two guards.

Even when it turned around to deliver the fatal blow, it had a strategy—

It bit off the head of the person without a helmet.

It bit the throat of the person with the helmet.

The strength of the two guards had not reached the Black Iron rank, but they were both at the Bronze-rank. They were no match for the Silver-rank magical beast, but they should have at least caused some injuries to the Direwolf.

Yet, when the guards finally sacrificed themselves, they did not make the Direwolf pay any price.

Aupin sighed to Violette behind him. “That blue-furred Direwolf is definitely a Silver rank!”

Battle traces were the best evidence. The Direwolf’s bite and jumping ability were clearly at the Silver rank.

Aupin sighed with emotion. “The most terrifying thing is that it has astonishing intelligence, which completely exceeds that of ordinary magical beasts. Especially in terms of combat strategy, it is almost comparable to a human!

“Generally speaking, wolves hunt in packs and will use group tactics. Lone wolves are often the losers that are expelled by the pack, or are old and weak.

“That’s why a tiger hides and lurks. Only after it slowly approaches its prey will it suddenly exert its strength and strive for a one-hit kill.

“The Direwolf that was chasing us earlier was clearly not ordinary. The tactics it used were even more sinister and ruthless than a tiger.

“We were lucky to be able to get rid of it previously!”

Violette nodded in agreement, and her face couldn’t help but turn pale. “I even suspect that the Direwolf has a human soul! The first time we came into contact with that Direwolf was when a member at the back of the team was ambushed by it.”

“It clearly has the ability to kill, but it only dragged that guard away, causing us to rush to his rescue.

“Our formation was thrown into chaos, giving it an opening.

“In the first battle, although we injured it heavily, it killed three guards.

“We were obviously angry with our severe losses… But the Direwolf was a Silver-ranked magical beast after all, and had long disappeared without a trace. After discussing, we decided to continue searching for you, and temporarily gave up on taking revenge on the Direwolf.

“Many of us believed that this severely injured Direwolf would be eaten by other ferocious beasts in the forest. Even if it were still alive, it wouldn’t dare provoke us anymore after suffering a beating.

“But what happened after told us that we were all wrong.

“Especially wrong!

“The second time the Direwolf appeared was six days later. Most of its injuries had healed, and it rushed to our campsite in the evening.

“It brought a beehive over and threw it into the camp before retreating.

“After that, a group of Fire Venom Bees attacked the camp. Those bees were unafraid of fire and possessed intense fire poison. It wasn’t easy for us to repel those bees, but four guards were stung. Their injuries were the most severe and they all fell unconscious.

“They burned up, and I tried everything I could think of, but I couldn’t bring down their temperatures. All of them died that night.

“After that, our team was attacked by the Direwolf time and time again. It became Death, a nightmare that we couldn’t get rid of…”

At this point, Violette crossed her arms as her body trembled slightly. There was still a lot of lingering fear in her heart.

Aupin looked at his fiancée who was about to cry. Ah, she is so helpless.

The young knight could not help but take a few steps forward. He extended his arm and took the initiative to pull Violette into his embrace.

The girl’s body trembled like a startled rabbit returning to its warm nest. Soon, she calmed down in Aupin’s embrace.

Aupin lightly patted the girl’s back and lowered his head to see her face gradually reveal a bashful expression.

“I can understand how you feel,” Aupin said gently. “Now that I’m with you, unless I fall, I’ll always protect you and stop any magical beasts from harming you.”

“Sir Aupin!” Violette’s eyes were filled with tenderness.