Gara faced a tough choice. Pursue the fleeing Lesser Fiends, or retreat home. We stripped this town bare and gained an abundance of common resources. But I have a gut feeling they fled somewhere richer, and the legendary Storm Fiend still hasn’t arrived…

“Yuna, take one thousand of our weakest and return the bounty we harvested. Then send one thousand warriors from the garrison to reinforce us. Everyone else, rest up.” Gara made her choice. “If those weaklings retreated, that means there’s a larger settlement nearby.”

“Yes, warlord.” Yuna saluted, striking her chest with a fist.

She didn’t want to stay. A hundred years ago, her mighty Lion Tribe encountered the Storm Fiend in the Treasure World. The monster decimated their warriors, and only a handful returned, spreading legends of a giant lightning tree, laying waste to everything. After Lion Tribe lost their core strength, Bear Tribe absorbed them and Lion Tribe was no more.

Like Yuna, Gara had her own problems. This place is a wasteland. It’s been two days, but I still hadn’t recovered half the Qi I used on Sunder the Mountains.

Treasure World’s World Energy was scarce, and warriors wasted too much time recovering what little Qi they spent. Even Gara’s heart ached after executing a top tier Initiate grade strike. But hesitating and thinking of conservation in front of a Greater Fiend was impossible. In fact, thinking was impossible. She could only lunge at the enemy with everything she had.

But her loss wasn’t crippling. Warriors from the so-called Demon World, unlike Sword-Sages, were used to fighting until they spent half their Qi, so Gara still didn’t suffer from Internal Energy deficiency symptoms. However, if she executed Sunder the Mountains two more times in this state, her combat ability would drop.

Gara took out a spyglass and gazed into the distance, following the direction of the trampled snow, but saw nothing.

The next settlement is at least twenty-five kilometers away, or they don’t use fire for heating. The woman exhaled as greed and prudence battled within her heart.

***

“Stop the coach,” Wolf blurted.

Wayde pressed a button and the Ice-Elk started braking.

“Demons?” Wayde asked. Wolf nodded as the sled gradually slid to a halt.

“I’m going out, but don’t worry.” Wolf reassured his buddy. “There’s a bunch of fodder out there, and I sense nothing threatening. Don’t follow me. Not just because of the hatred; I’ll cast Call of the Netherworld, and that spell can’t distinguish friend from foe.”

Wolf left before Wayde acknowledged his words.

He rushed along the frozen ground, cloaked in Ghost Shroud. They are everywhere. Their signals piled together are above a Twentieth Order Demonic Beast. It’s no wonder a First Order True-Namer lost his mind and got himself killed fighting them. But why didn’t he run away?

Thinking about the fallen True-Namer, Wolf finished Subtle Swiftness and shot forward like a flash of lightning, casting Subtle Call of the Netherworld.

They don’t seem strong, but there are several directions which give off greater intensity. One spot in particular has a signature stronger than Demonic Converters. Did that Demon kill Lord of Vine?

Wolf blitzed towards the Demons and saw their forms. Just like the reports stated, most Demons were female. Following the direction of intense hatred, Wolf observed several women, concluding they were the group’s leaders.

Madly barreling forward, Wolf kicked up a cloud of ice and frozen soil behind him, and Gara noticed someone heading towards them.

She lifted her fist. “Halt!”

The four thousand warrior horde stopped their jog in two steps. Some muttered, while barbarians at the front saw a spray of snow ahead.

“Fiend?” they murmured in confusion. Legends said when Fiends appear, they steal your rational mind and you became a beast until you slew them. Being clear headed made them doubt the nature of the phenomenon they witnessed.

“Prepare for battle!” Gara ordered. She didn’t know what creature approached, but preparing for combat and coming to a peaceful resolution was better than fighting unprepared.

Even if it’s one of us, they aren’t from the Bear Tribe, and they could be an enemy. Gara took out a spyglass and saw a burly man wearing a crimson robe rushing towards them. He is alone? To move that fast, he must be in the Blood Saturating realm, too. A male in the Blood Saturating realm? Is he that fellow from the Lizard Tribe?

Her mind raced, but she couldn’t recognize Wolf. Finally, Gara lowered her spyglass.

“One male. He’s not of our tribe. Whoever subdues him can take him home as a husband or slave. Charge!” Gara shouted, then led the attack.

A Blood Saturating realm male is an excellent cultivation resource. If I enslave him and use him as a Qi supplement, I’ll grow strong enough to challenge the matriarch in no time.

Following Gara’s yell, her horde exploded in whistles and howls, surging towards Wolf in disorder.

They saw me. Wolf watched the Demons stop, then charge straight at him, instead of resuming their trot. That woman with a spyglass licked her lips when she locked her gaze on me.

Wolf smirked. I always had terrible luck with women.

A moment later, his smile froze and turned sour. I didn’t mean it like that. Sky is the biggest blessing of my life, and I love Mandy, and Anna is a good friend…

Aaaaand? Silver asked, tapping her clawed foot.

And there’s you, Silver. Wolf hurriedly added. You’re a wonderful companion, and I can’t describe how lucky I am to have you in my life.

After a moment, the egg nodded the front of her shell. Good.

“He is not a Fiend!” Wolf heard Gara shout. He saw the barbarian leader leer.

“Hey there! You’re ugly, but we could get to know each other better? How about you become Gara’s little toy?” she yelled and the horde behind her laughed and jeered.

Wolf winced at ‘little toy’, thinking it odd that women showed rude gestures, whistled and hollered, while men appeared timid or smiled awkwardly.

You have time to consider such things? Silver asked.

Well, it’s not like they pose a threat. Maybe their leader can withstand several blows, but the rest shouldn’t have bothered to come. Call of the Netherworld will kill almost all of them, if not all of them.

Book materialized in Wolf’s hand when he was twenty paces away from Gara. The woman grinned and swung her Qi covered ax. She hit air and stumbled.

“Bastard!” she shouted, but Wolf didn’t care.

He pivoted and dodged her attack at the last moment. Then he pierced towards the center of the Demon horde, swinging Book and sending showers of blood and limbs.

“Might—”

“Bull—”

“Bear’s—”

“Heavy—”

While hacking Demons apart, Wolf noticed them circulating Internal Energy in an attempt to execute Sword-Sage strikes, while shouting random words.

When fighting the strong, first cull the weak, lest they trip you. And I wonder what they are trying to shout?

Gara wanted to stop, but if she tried to brake while out of balance, she would tumble to the ground. Still, she was Gara the Grizzly, and Wolf wasn’t the first enemy to pull a fast one on her.

His speed doubled when I was about to strike him. He could’ve used the surprise and attacked, but I would sense my life in danger and block him. So, he decided to run and force me to chase after him while he slaughters my cohorts.

While thinking, Gara kicked off the ground and somersaulted, braking and regaining balance at once. She landed and turned around, but Wolf had already cut a bloody path through her followers.

“I’ll fuck you into a prune!” she roared and charged after Wolf, but it was no use. Even cutting through a screaming, living wall, he outpaced Gara. He even spun once and kicked a corpse at Gara, forcing the war-leader to swing her ax and hack her follower’s body in half.

“Viper’s Fangs!” someone shouted. Wolf caught a glimpse of that person. The man was beyond Book’s reach, throwing a pair of Internal Energy enhanced daggers at Wolf.

Ranged strike? Lonely Eagle’s memories have none of those. I didn’t cast Deflect Arrows. Would it stop them? I don’t think so. Wolf casually swung Book, parrying one throwing knife, while dodging the other. They really were like viper fangs, traitorous. You can’t dodge both. An interesting technique.

While Wolf graded Viper’s Fangs, the dagger he parried pierced into the skull of the woman in front of him.

I think this is far enough. Without stopping, he finished Call of the Netherworld. Wolf opened his mouth and unleashed a chorus of blood-curdling screams. The sound wave smashed into the surrounding Demons. It passed through them, dragging with it their flailing spectral forms as it cleaved soul from body.

Life extinguishing will assailed Gara’s mind. Threads of ice stabbed her soul as a ghostly net tried to rip it out of her body. No! I will live! Gara the Grizzly roared in her mind and the net snapped.