Wolf came to certain conclusions while fleeing. Before he opened up a distance from the clearing, Wolf only needed to hide behind a tree for the Demonic Beasts to ignore him. Since he didn’t block their path, they weren’t antagonistic and rushed towards their goal.

However, the further Wolf got from the clearing, the more hostile the Demonic Beasts grew. At some point, hiding and orchestrating clashes between various Demonic Beasts stopped working. The tempting bait was too far, while the hated enemy was right there.

But even in this situation, Wolf wasn’t flustered. He slew monster after monster with spell and steel, ruining one weapon after another.

Blasting everything in your way feels so good, but I’m running out of spells. Wolf threw half a dozen blobs of lava bigger than a man’s fist towards a giant python’s head. Molten orbs pierced smoking holes in the giant serpent’s head. The Demonic Beast spasmed, then dropped dead.

Wolf usually focused on fighting with a physical weapon to practice his swordplay, to save Soul Force and because slashing weapons didn’t come with a finite number of swings. Or rather, that finite number was extremely large.

I should have stayed and cast Call of the Netherworld. Wolf regretted getting flustered and fleeing. If he had waited for Demonic Beasts to gather, their losses would’ve been terrifying, even if all tougher ones resisted the spell. I don’t have the time to cast it now. I need to chant the mantra and perform the mudras, and I can’t do it while evading attackers.

Wolf’s top priority was to run away and to not get bogged down.

I should’ve cast Greater Fleet of Foot, Wolf thought with regret as Subtle Swiftness expired.

As the net around Wolf loosened, he saw a looming gray Demonic Beast resembling a rhino lumbering towards him. Just as Wolf had picked up from the hatred he felt, this Demonic Beast was slow and didn’t seem very agile, the perfect candidate to waltz around.

Hmmm, grayish-green hide resembling a segmented plate armor, four horns, no eyes… Could this be a new species? Wolf had no idea what kind of Demonic Beast this was. He’d never seen it, nor read about it. Or to be more accurate, there were way too many horned, lumbering quadrupeds, but none of them quite fit the description. Judging by the strength the aura Wolf picked up, this Demonic Beast had reached the Sixth Order, maybe Seventh.

Wolf swiveled a little, giving the rhino a five meter wide berth. The youth believed himself safe. But at that moment, the hair on Wolf’s neck stood straight. With a wet sound, the Demonic Beast’s entire back split open and revealed a giant maw filled with wicked teeth.

Dozens of rope-like grayish-green tendrils erupted from the jaw and shot towards Wolf. The slimy tentacles lashed out like whips. As they tore through the air, leaves and branches stuck to them. A thick layer of adhesive goo covered the tentacles.

Disgusting. Wolf wrinkled his nose at the stench. He watched the sticky tendrils move like lightning, negating the bulky slowness of the main body. I’m too close.

A glass vial appeared in Wolf’s hand. He flicked it towards the oozing gray mass without breaking his stride. A tentacle smashed into the fragile vial, causing it to burst and unleash a blast wave rivaling a Third Order Mage’s Fireball.

The explosion turned several rubbery tentacles into meat chunks, blasting them back towards the shrieking monster. The inferno set half a dozen tendrils ablaze. In its panic, the rhino monster whipped the flaming tendrils through the air. The giant maw shrieked, but the monster’s struggle only resulted in more burning appendages.

These explosives I took from those two assassins years ago are really handy, even if they are expensive. Wolf smiled, taking note to stock up on these in the future.

The youth expected that the Demonic Beast would flee once injured. However, he had underestimated the driving effect of the bizarre hatred which permeated Demon Forest. Despite suffering heavy injuries, the rhino turned around lumberingly and gave chase.

Those tentacles could spell trouble if I get entangled by them. Wolf’s face turned serious. He analyzed his surroundings for a moment, then took a sharp turn. Luckily, it’s too slow and can’t catch up.

I was right. It was a group. Wolf smiled once again when he saw a pack of furious Ironback Razortusks. The sensation of hatred grew fuzzier the closer they got.

Even though he found a way to entangle the rhino, Wolf realized there was no obvious way to avoid the Razortusks. He awakened his senses and time slowed down.

No time to turn to the side, he concluded immediately. I can’t go under, they’d trample me. The only way left is up.

He glanced at the trees, but the layout of the branches wasn’t favorable. I guess I’ll take a slight risk then.

With that thought the youth sent a surge of Internal Energy into his legs. His speed picked up and after two steps he leaped into the air. The Razortusk pack leader didn’t have the time to realize what was going on before a tiny manling’s foot smashed onto the top of its snout.

Wolf’s foot twisted. He hastily stepped forward, his other foot landing on the back of the boar’s neck. Wolf quickly bent his knee and shifted his weight, saving himself a sprained ankle before jumping up into the air again, this time reaching for a thick branch.

The pack leader turned its bristled head, trying to see where the object of his hatred disappeared to. Its fury soared as it tottered, barely keeping its balance. It was about to break and turn around to give chase, when a burning springy tentacle smacked its face.

Wolf swung off the branch and let go, jumping over the charging boar-pack. Squeals of pain and rage filled Wolf’s ears as Razortusks clashed with the abominable rhino.

The youth ignored their battle and kept fleeing. He cleared his path with Subtle Volcanic Blasts and by sacrificing junk weapons from his Ring of Holding.

Finally, twenty minutes later, Wolf was out of the encirclement.

I’ve wasted so much Soul Force, Wolf thought, sending his half-awakened senses into their normal, dormant state.

I’d better open up more distance. Even though Wolf no longer sensed the immobile beacon of hatred from the tree, he wanted to make sure. After covering two more kilometers, he climbed a tree and opened a folded space to rest and refresh his spells.

Wolf sat down and prepared food while thinking about what just happened.

It was a mistake not to prepare Greater Fleet of Foot. That was the first thing he realized. I should have one, and two Swiftnesses as backup. Merge With Wind would be better for escaping, but if I get hit by a jet of poison or some elemental attack, I’d be toast. Besides, its Order is too high and offensive spells outperform it.

Should I prepare a Subtle Call of the Netherworld? Since it’s related to my True Name, I can cast it as a Ninth Order spell, while the Subtle one will be Tenth Order.

Wolf focused on making plans. Meanwhile, his hands moved on their own as he prepared a simple stew for himself. If South were around, he’d curse his absentminded little brother for ruining the meal by leaving out the most important ingredient.

And what was that rhino? Wolf wondered while stirring the bubbling pot. Its mouth and tentacles are characteristic to the Devourer family of Monster Beasts. But they are barely mobile plants, and their tendrils are much, much longer. They resembled crawling, retractable spiderwebs more than whips.

Wolf finished his meal while entertaining various thoughts. Some related to his situation here, others to happenings in Silver City.

The young Mage drank two cups of wine, then closed his eyes and continued carving the tenth column of his first Mind Hall. As soon as Wolf’s Mental Aspect touched the column, he felt Archibald’s last thoughts, his love and the exaggerated will to sacrifice himself for Wolf.

The youth’s heart shook with every stroke as he watched white chips fall down and dissipate. This column was different. It couldn’t enthrall Wolf. He was completely lucid as he refined it, putting in conscious effort all the while feeling his father’s strength and faith.

Four hours later, Wolf opened his eyes. He refreshed the folded space less than a minute before it collapsed and threw him into the outside world. Wolf then prepared his next batch of spells and used the remaining duration of the folded space to meditate and refine his Mind Hall.

Before moving out, Wolf handled the last outstanding item on his list. The Chimera’s corpse appeared in the folded space. He first checked the cheetah skull, but found no Monster Core. This didn’t surprise Wolf. He opened up the Chimera’s chest and found what he was looking for embedded into its sternum.

Dammit. It’s at the peak of Seventh Order. Wolf’s lips twisted as he stashed yet another high grade Seventh Order Monster Core into his Ring of Holding. These Monster Cores couldn’t be used to advance Wolf’s Sword-Sage Order. However, he could exchange them for gold, or embed them into Spell Formations.

With the gory work done, Wolf dumped the corpse and skulked back towards the demonic apple. The tree didn’t seem to be anything special. The only thing it could do was summon surrounding Demonic Beasts by baiting them with its apple-like fruit. This was hardly the only Monster Beast bribing or enslaving others into guarding it.

Wolf knew plenty of others with this characteristic. The textbook way to handle such creatures was to assassinate them and then run away, letting their minions either scatter or kill each other once the compulsion ended. However, for something as sturdy as a giant tree this didn’t seem feasible.

Wolf took his time, carefully advancing towards the tree. Along the way he found a mass of corpses, some gnawed at, while others weren’t. But every one of them had their Monster Core torn out and consumed, likely by other Demonic Beasts attempting to increase their Order.

When he’d finally arrived at the glade, Wolf saw two dozen fresh corpses littering the ground. Demonic Beasts’ bodies were beaten into a mush, soaking the hard-packed soil.

Wolf looked around, but found no sign of black apples. He knew Demonic Beasts had eaten them. Somehow, those apples were important enough for a horde of monsters to rush here and fight to the death over them.

The youth lifted his head. It’s still loaded with apples.

Suddenly, the leaves rustled violently. It was as if the tree was aware of Wolf’s critical gaze.

That rustle sounded menacing. Wolf felt as if the tree taunted him, saying ‘What? You came back for more, punk?’

The tree failed to intimidate Wolf with its brave front.

“I’m going to turn you into toilet paper for my big brother,” Wolf threatened back.

The tree didn’t seem to appreciate Wolf’s trash-talk. It once more rustled its leaves, then its branches shook violently in the forest’s calm air.

Unlike last time, all the tree’s apples came tumbling down. The thunderous noise echoed in Wolf’s ears, followed by ecstatic screams and roars of various Demonic Beasts. And, also unlike last time, Wolf didn’t escape. Instead, he walked towards the tree while casting Elemental Weapon on Van Dale’s sword.

The curved blade became a fiery sword as Wolf traced its edge with two fingers.

“That was a really neat trick you pulled on me yesterday. Unfortunately for you, relying on tricks only works once,” Wolf threatened while calculating when to cast Call of the Netherworld. “Now that I’m no longer surprised and have a plan in place, all you can do is watch me slaughter those beasts of yours. Then, I’ll chop you into pieces.”

If Wolf’s friends saw him right now, taunting a tree with a vicious smile, they would’ve thought that the stress of these last couple of weeks had finally caught up. However, he didn’t let himself get distracted. Wolf monitored the speed at which the distant signals approached.

If he slipped up and got trapped in the middle of multiple Ninth Order Demonic Beasts, he’d be in a tough spot. Even his life could be in danger.

Wolf ignored the snide rustle of leaves and focused on slowly chanting Call of the Netherworld in a drawn out manner. He stabbed the flaming sword into the ground with a cracking sizzle, then began performing the mudras. This way he could time the spell to decimate the first wave of Demonic Beasts. Then, depending on how things went, he could either cast another Call of the Netherworld, or flee.

Naturally, things didn't go as smoothly as Wolf expected.

One signal was much faster than the others, followed by another. It moved so quickly Wolf practically heard the air scream. A moment later, a Chimera dashed out into the clearing. Unexpectedly, instead of charging towards him, the Demonic Beast dashed towards the apples. Each head snatched as many apples as it could, before the Chimera turned around and fled.

It wasn’t the only one. Three more Chimeras, and half a dozen Manticores stuffed their faces with black fruit, then turned around and fled. The sounds of clashes and fighting grew louder and closer.

Suddenly, a Manticore with a mouth full of black fruit flew out of the forest, miserably flapping its wings. A roaring Crowned Silverback jumped after it. The giant ape tried to grab the Manticore, but without the hindrance of the forest's low-hanging branches, the creature flew freely and dodged the ape.

Wolf silently watched such scenes unfold all around him. Some newcomers came alone, others in packs. The weak ones snatched as many black apples as they could, then fled, while strong ones went to gather as many as possible. Some Demonic Beasts came pursued. After reaching the clearing the hunters attacked the hounded one last time, before focusing on demonic fruit which littered the ground.

The giant demonic tree rocked its branches and leaves while pandemonium unfolded in its shade. At first, the Demonic Beast stuffed their faces with unbelievably tough apples. But as the number of Demonic Beasts increased and the number of fallen fruit decreased, monsters fought each other.

Wolf couldn’t believe his luck. This way his Call of the Netherworld would wipe out most Demonic Beasts from this area. He stalled the casting as long as possible, but after a while Demonic Beasts started eyeing him, seeing another competitor.

It was the perfect moment to cast the spell. Wolf finished his chant and hand gestures. Soul Force flowed out of him, and as the soul-reaping howl was about to form the demonic tree’s leaves and branches froze.

The flow of Soul Force Wolf released went into chaos as an unknown external pressure interrupted his spell.

Counterspell? Wolf stared with wide eyes as a Crowned Silverback barged towards him. Am I dreaming?