Chapter 73 - 69

As far as I know, the monsters here shouldn’t have enough strength to beat a wolf in direct combat. And even though the feat wasn’t completely impossible, pulling it off would still be hard especially since the wolves’ hunts in groups. Furthermore, even when they were ambushed or isolated, the wolves had some keen senses so they wouldn’t necessarily go down without a fight. More than that, once they survived the ambush, they could just howl and call for their comrades putting time pressure on their enemies.

'If I’m in their position, I will make sure to damage the wolf’s throat in the ambush, thus making sure that he will not be able to call for a backup. But even then, there is no guarantee that the other wolves will not notice such disturbance.' The problem with this thought process was that it was doubtful whether a low-level monster could come up with that solution. And even if they did, putting that plan into practice still required some ability and strength to back it up. 'In other words, a normal monster from this forest cannot pull it off.'

With these facts in mind, I came up with two possibilities. 'So, it’s either an outsider monster that has somehow entered this forest or this monster is an abnormal existence that has managed to avoid the detection of the wolves until now. Well, I’m more inclined to believe that it is the latter.' I concluded in a flash.

Judging by the bones and skulls that were scattered all over, I estimated that some of these remains had already been here for quite a while. Because of that, I excluded the Gigarillon from my possible suspects since both of us had only been here for about two days. 'At least this will not complicate my relationship with Lightning Wolf, so it should not affect my plan.' I sighed in relief.

'Regardless, it seems like this is related to the disturbance that the Lightning Wolf has mentioned before.' Based on the behavior that these wolves were showcasing; it was pretty clear that they immediately realized this fact when they stumbled upon this place. But what I didn’t expect was the depth of their connection with this particular disturbance. I mean, I sure didn’t expect it to involve the death and murder of the wolves that were supposed to be the ruling species of this forest. 'So, that is why we encountered the Lightning Wolf at that time, huh?'

At some point, the other vanguard squad appeared to join us in this abrupt investigation. And according to my ability, it also seemed like the two rearguard squads had merged and were now hiding not too far from behind. With this, even if there was an emergency, we could at least expect a backup to aid us.

'Well, my ability isn’t sensing any presence inside, and even if there is something there, this den can only shelter three monsters at most so we should all be fine. Unless, of course, if there is a monster as strong as that Cerberus inside. But that is unlikely to happen since if there really is one, then there is no reason for him to hide and avoid being detected by those alphas.'

Once everyone was ready, the leaders of the two vanguard squads gestured to their subordinates to move and spread out. Seeing that, the wolves jumped out from their hiding spot and immediately surrounded the monster den. At the same time, I also noticed the rear guards spreading around the area whilst keeping a low profile.

After the formation had been complete, I emerged from my hiding spot and walked towards the entrance of the den. Following my lead, the two leaders walked on my left and right side as if trying to guard me against any possible attacks. And using this standard scouting formation, the three of us entered the monster den.

Besides remaining cautious against any possible attacks from the owner of the den, I also didn’t forget to keep my guard up against the two wolves on my side. After all, even though we have a cooperative relationship right now, I still wouldn’t consider them as comrades to whom I could entrust my back. And surely, these guys were probably thinking the same.

While maintaining a state of high alert, I swept my eyes around and scanned the interior of the monster den. And the moment that we were a few meters inside, we made a sudden stop to check if there was any monster inside. In that same instant, I compressed the radius of my radar-like ability to enhance its detection capability.

In the internal area of that monster den, there were piles upon piles of monster bones scattered all over. By my estimate, I assumed that the sheer volume of the bones far exceeded those that we found outside. And to be honest, I found the darkness of the area uncomfortably cold and eerie. It was a complete contrast to the shelter that the wolves were using. Because in those shelters, I felt as if the darkness was comfortable and peaceful. But for this den, the impression I got was that of an abandoned haunted house.

Of course, it might be possible that my judgment was simply influenced by those monster remains, and the thick scent of blood. But because of my rich experience and encounters up to now, I couldn’t help but compare the atmosphere of this den to some monsters that I encountered in other areas.

'This reminds me of the feeling that I got from that Cerberus and those Hellhounds.' Because of that possibility, multiple questions flashed in my mind. 'Is there some sort of connection? Or maybe there is a hellhound lurking in this forest? If so, how many?'

Amidst all of that, the three of us once again began moving farther inside. But for better or for worse, we didn’t find the owner of the den no matter how we searched inside. And judging by the state of the remains, I assumed that it had already been at least two days since the monster had abandoned this place. As for how long that monster stayed in this den, I guessed that it was only for about three to five days. So in conclusion, it could be said that the monster first used this den about five to seven days ago.

'That monster only stayed here for that long and yet he managed to hunt this much monster? More than that, its action also seemed like it had an actual motive for staying here. If not, then there should be no reason for that monster to abandon this place. In short, the monster left this den because it must have already completed its purpose.'

'In that case, that monster must have used the gap between his arrival and departure to hunt and stockpile some food.' With that thought in mind, I glanced at the remains scattered all around. 'So, that’s it, huh?'

To be honest, the behavior of the monster was quite familiar to me. In fact, I’ve even experienced all of it myself. 'There’s no doubt about it. That monster used this place to hide during its evolution.'

Since we didn’t find the monster inside, the three of us ultimately decided to come out. Once outside, the two leaders proceeded to command their subordinates to spread out and search the surrounding vicinity. But because the den had already been abandoned for days, the wolves didn’t find any traces of the monster. And so, the platoon decided to end the hunt and report what had happened to their alpha.

We reformed our hunting formation on our way back. Though, this time, the position of the vanguard and rear-guard squads had been reversed. If my guess was right, this probably was a common practice to lessen the load of the previews vanguard squads. This way, even if we were ambushed along the way, every member of the platoon would have sufficient energy to fight back.

But unlike when we were on an active hunt, the priority when going back was to avoid engaging in combat. After all, unlike before, the rear guards were now carrying some additional language, and that could hinder their ability to fight. And while there was a choice of temporarily leaving the harvest to fight back, there was still a huge chance that such action was actually what the enemy was aiming for. In fact, I would even bet that there were many cases like that.

Fortunately, we didn’t encounter any dangerous enemies on our way back. 'It’s finally done.' I sighed in relief as I stepped inside the Lightning Wolf’s lair, but at the same time, I couldn’t help but think about that newly evolved monster that was probably roaming this forest right at this moment. 'With that amount of consumption, I think that the monster must have also ascended into a ruling class. In other words, there are now six alpha class monsters in this forest, including that missing Gigarillon.'