Chapter 157 Huge Threat

Nikol stood frozen, his eyes widened in horror as the forest around him began to rumble, but what freaked him most was his sister's body. Suddenly, a voice with a tone akin to his inner voice echoed through his head, sending shivers down his spine.

"You seem frightened, boy," the voice said, amusement lacing its words like the true evil.

"But you should know that things are just getting started."

Nikol struggled to compose himself as he tried to locate the source of the voice coming from his head, and it felt really uncomfortable for him.

"What are you talking about?" he questioned, his voice shaking with fear, at this sudden development. He knew he couldn't trust this voice but, seeing something like this happening in real-time, felt surreal.

The voice chuckled.

"Just watch, Nikol. But if you want you can act independently, I would like to see how you deal with this. As for why I'm here... well, let's just say I enjoy this turn of events and expression of everyone."

Nikol's heart pounded in his chest as he tried to steady his breathing.

"What do you want from us?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

The voice let out a low, menacing laugh.

"Oh, Nikol. I don't want anything from you. But I do want to see how far I can push you and your little group of friends."

Suddenly, the ground beneath Nikol's feet shook violently, and the trees around him began to sway.

"What are you doing? What this sound?" he shouted, his fear turning to anger.

"Me? I'm not doing anything," the voice replied with a hint of amusement.

"But the forest, on the other hand, is just getting started."

Nikol gritted his teeth as he realized that the voice was right. This wasn't just some random earthquake. Something was causing the forest to tremble in fear, and it was all centred around him and he had to wonder where that rock came from, which crushed Leviathan's head.

"You think you can scare me?" Nikol shouted, his fear turning into anger. But still, he was conflicted, if this was a physical enemy he could have even fought for the win, but unluckily, he didn't even know to who this sound inside his mind belonged.

"I'll show you what I'm made of!"

The voice let out a low chuckle.

"I like your spirit, Nikol. Let's see how long you can keep it up, well considering we are the same, I have high expectations for you,"

And with that, the ground shook again, and the trees around Nikol began to twist and contort, their branches reaching out like grasping fingers. But Nikol stood his ground, his determination fueling him as he faced whatever was coming next and then he saw that.

He looked up, he saw something that made his blood run cold. A huge, dark purple wolf with fur that shone in the sunlight glistening like night sky was emerging from the rumbling forest, its eyes filled with anger and its teeth bared hatred.

Nikol could feel the fear grip him, paralyzing him as he watched the wolf approach. He wondered what he should do, but before he could make a decision, the fear overwhelmed him, and he fell to the ground, with his legs giving up before him since he was already exhausted from his previous fight.

Lydia, Eva, Alva, Emily, Zenda, and the other girls around them were also frozen in fear, unable to move or even scream. The wolf continued to advance, its steps thundering on the ground.

"What are we going to do? What the hell is that?" Lydia whispered, her voice shaking. Her mind was telling her to fight, but her whole body screamed in pain and fear, as soon as she saw this wolf.

"We have to fight!" Alva replied, gripping her weapon tightly.

"But how can we fight that, look even Nikol is afraid of that," Eva asked, her eyes fixed on the advancing wolf.

"We have to try!" Lydia shouted, her voice filled with determination.

Arti on the other hand was in pure shock, at this turn of events.

"Nooo! How can this be? This cannot exist, how is he here?" She questioned herself, but now her idea of leaving Nikol for these girls vanished as she knew his whole life is in danger.

Zenda or Leona wasn't any different from the other girls, who were frozen.

As the wolf drew closer, the girls readied themselves for battle, their weapons at the ready. But just as it seemed like the wolf was about to attack, something unexpected happened. The wolf suddenly stopped in its tracks, its eyes fixed on something in front of the girls. It genuinely looked uninterested in Nikol or Alliance group, but its eyes solely focus on the place where Arti was.

"Zenda, take Nikol back to your kingdom and run as fast you can to the wall, I won't come out of here alive, so you got to do it," Arti said as she felt this wolf's bloodlust was solely on her.

"Listen, you have to break his seal, believe me, it's a matter of time before he finds him," Arti decided to tell everything Zenda got to do, before sending her.

"Don't trust Leviathan, she's just blind, she doesn't believe in Nikol's power but I do,"

Zenda was ordered to go back, but she looked at Arti one last time.

"Do you really love him?"

"I do, more than anything..." But realizing her mistake, she just paused for a moment as she recorrected her sentiment.

"I love him, but there's someone I love even more," She said and asked her to leave the area to her, and Arti looked at beastkin army.

"Girls, this is not something you can beat, go back, don't worry, Nikol will do what he has to do, he will visit your queendom, but for now go back," Arti said looking at Leona, who looked equally terrified as Lydia's group.

But there was one individual who looked at this huge wolf with reverence.

'Myth was real, our ancestors were not wrong'

Cynthia thought as this looked exactly like what their ancestors worshipped in the past according to the story, and instead of fear Cynthia only felt reverence toward this huge creature in front of her.

While she was drowning in her own imagination, Leona looked conflicted as she didn't know what to do. She didn't want to leave this fairy, who had been nothing but kind to them, but at the same time as a queen, she valued the lives of her comrades, but in the end, being a race with the lowest faith toward goddess compared to others, she decided to pick her comrades over goddess

As soon as she took the decision Arti flew and stood in front of the wolf that was towering over her with bared teeth and a growl that echoed through the forest.

Nikol watched in horror as the scene unfolded before him and at the same time, he was conflicted.

He had never trusted Arti, not since the day she had betrayed him and their entire group. But even he couldn't deny the bravery she displayed as she stood before the monster, her hands raised in a defensive stance. But deep inside him, he felt like this whole incident is happening because of him and this ignited his curiosity to know the truth about himself.

"Arti, what are you doing? Retreat," He shouted, as he moved closer to her.

"Go back Nikol, this is my fight. I will not let this beast harm you," she replied, her eyes never leaving the creature's deadly gaze.

All this time Zenda tried to drag him out of the place, but she couldn't even move his hand, as he stayed glued to the place. Lydia and other girls also did the same thing but the result was the same.

"Nikol, let's go, we need to keep you safe," Alva and Emily shouted, pulling him by his hand,

"You're sacrificing yourself for me? don't joke with me," Nikol couldn't believe what he was hearing. After everything that had happened between them, he never thought Arti would willingly lay down her life for him.

"You're a traitor, don't try to act cool," Nikol shouted to which Arti just laughed.

"You might be right, darling, but I did everything for your sake, you will appreciate it when you know why I did it,"

"I owe you that much, Nikol. I know I have wronged you in the past, but this is my chance to make things right," she said, as she charged towards the wolf leaving Nikol to the girls.

"Stop, come back, I'm not finished with you, damn it," Nikol tried to get up, but he felt weak after facing Leviathan's attacks head-on.

Nikol looked at Leviathan's body since he thought of carrying her body back, but saw her head regenerating rather slowly which really caused his heart to get some satisfaction. Even though he wanted to beat Leviathan, he still considered her as his beloved sister and he wanted to confirm the authenticity of her words, so he didn't want to see her dying,