Chapter 285 - The Forbidden Zone

The quiet sounds of slow and heavy pants flowed through the cold chilly air, quickly leaving behind a small trail of moist snow in the process. 

Footsteps resounded on the dense and thick snow which melted by the second from his presence. 

A cold, spine-chilling howl could be heard as the full moon shone upon the snow-glazed trees. It was both dark and light at the same time. 

And as the darkness illuminated his back, for the first time since they began walking, he stopped. 

Confused, as to why and worried that she might have done something by accident, the girl nervously took a step back. And right after she did so, a loud growl could be heard coming from his stomach. 

*Growl~* 

Following that, he turned to the right with his dark wooden staff on his hand and stared at the dense trees beside them. 

The girl let out a slow sign of relief before quickly stiffening up as a loud monstrous roar along with wolf howl's came from around them 

The roar was so loud that it caused the surrounding trees to shake with haste as if fear was being forced into them. 

The girl felt a chill go down her spine as she seemed to recognise the roar. Dread slowly began to build up as she hesitantly turned her head to the right. The direction where the roar came from. 

Right as she did so, trembles could be felt in the ground as a cold sweat flowed down her face. Something was coming, and it was big. 

Trees were being broken down as the howl of wolves resounded once more throughout the forest. 

'I didn't see any warning so how...? How did we end up on the forbidden zone?' 

The forest they were in was a rather vast forest, it was split into zones. The safe zone, the marked zone and the forbidden zone. 

Adventurers along with carriages would usually pass through the forest, during their travels as it was much faster to go through it than around. 

The forest was also situated quite closely to one of the major cities of the nearest kingdom, making it rather common travel point for merchants. 

At least two hours had passed since they had started walking, yet during that time, not a single carriage could be seen. 

"...We've stepped into their territory... We need to get out of.." 

Completely ignoring her, without a single change in the young man's expression. He began heading in the direction where the trees were being taken down. 

She didn't know what to think, after all, there's no way he couldn't feel it. Just how dangerous that thing was. 

But as she looked at the unfazed expression on his face, she realised something. So far, everything they had said about the rumours were true. Abilities which defied common sense, a presence akin to that of an invisible leaf, a vibe cold and dark enough to send chills down ones spine. 

Now would be the best time to see what he see his abilities, if he was indeed the one she was looking for. She hadn't been able to properly see it before, it all happened in the flash. Even now, all she remembers is half of the leader's body disappearing. 

Or rather, that was what she remembered, but something was strange and off about that time. A lot of things, but she didn't know what it was. 

'I'll watch for now, if things get bad, I'll try to find a way for us to escape.' 

While keeping a moderate distance from behind she watched as the young man stood and waited in for the monster to come. 

The closer they got the more anxious she became, but right when they were only a few trees away. Everything stopped. A hollow silence followed right after. It was as if they were never there in the first place. 

"...What? Where did they-" 

Suddenly, she felt her heart sink as a trunk of tree flew right by her and with a sudden breeze, it crashed into the nearby tree, breaking it in half and causing it to fall over as it did so. 

As she saw this, she quickly leapt back, only to realise feel the little hair on her body rise up as she felt goosebumps go past. 

Subconsciously, she quickly turned back mid-air, only to see a wolf with it's mouth open flying straight towards her. 

There was no time to chant, she was heading straight to it's mouth. 

*Pierce* 

Blood spurted throughout the cold dense snow-filled ground as it was dyed in a blood red once again. 

The girl's eyes were open wide as she watched blood drip down from the wolf's snowy pelt. It was a large wolf with beautiful snowy pelt which could be sold for high prices on the market. A large jaw razor sharp canine. Many referred to it as the great wolf. 

But there it rested, on top of a large ice spike with blood dripping out of its mouth, in a single second. 

A loud howl resounded from around her as this happened, so without wasting any more time staring at the wolf, she quickly turned to the young man to see how he was holding up and as she did, she couldn't believe her eyes. 

He was surrounded by six great wolves, all charging in at him. There were also another two around her, keeping their distance. They seemed to be wary due to the recent death of the wolf in front of her. 

She used this opportunity, to start prepare a chant. And as it was being prepared, she made sure to keep her attention focused both on the wolves and the young man. 

Because of that, she got to observe something which shook her being to its very core. 

Icy crystals dyed in the colour of the wolves' blood, could be seen all around them. Once again, the peaceful sight of the snow, was replaced with the bone chilling sight of blood.