Rex was greeted with a welcoming party as soon as he separated from the others.
He went deeper into the forest and was surprised by what he found.
A welcoming party hosted by the inhabitants of the forest themselves—trying to kill him.
He was aiming to catch the Werewolf who dominated Jessica who should still be nearby as it hadn't been that long, since she met with him. But instead of finding the supposed Werewolf, he was attacked by mutated animals of all kinds.
It started at three of them at first, but now, the mutated animals chasing him had increased.
Glancing over his shoulders, he saw that there were at least seven of them right now.
All of them had a lethal glint in their eyes.
Some were relentlessly attacking him—as a servant of their animalistic instincts while others, slithered on his sides and back, awaiting the perfect opportunity to strike him down. To think that the mutated animals inside the forest had gotten this strong is baffling.
Now, with their spike in power, only a few people under him could traverse the forest safely.
Only those who were in the ninth-rank realm could step into this changed forest.
Rex raised his gaze and saw a pond on his front that made his senses tingle, and without the need to think twice, he made a sharp right, to avoid the pond. As he did that, his ears perked up when he heard a whistling sound coming from his right.
It was an attack coming straight at him, a wind blast of some sort.
Moreover, a mutated snake also came from the opposite side, baring its venomous fangs.
Keeping his composure, he expanded his senses.
Relying on his agility—Rex stepped on the ground and maneuvered left and right nimbly.
He dodged numerous attacks that were aimed at his vital points.
As he did that—he saw three mutated animals blocking his way, a mutated mountain lion and two mutated bats. Not even slowing his speed, he leaped forward, and twisted his body mid-air in a spiral, going through the cracks to pass them.
Had it been any other time, he would gladly take them on.
But right now, he focuses on avoiding fights as he has to move quickly before it is too late.
Putting his agility to full use, he easily passed the mutated animals.
I cast the Primordial Step skill two times, my stamina is running low. I can't keep this up.
Making a roll on the ground, Rex cursed under his breath.
He was exhausted from the earlier fight.
Despite knowing that the Primordial Step skill would use a lot of his stamina, he didn't realize that he would be exhausted to this extent. Even with his superior Werewolf physique, he was completely drained.
As he sprinted onward, he could feel his legs were on the brink of giving up.
At this point, he didn't know if he could reach the edge or even find the culprit before running on empty, in his stamina tank. Not to mention, he would also need to go back the exact same way—being chased by these mutated animals.
Just as he was indecisive on whether to keep going or turn around, he raised an eyebrow.
"Hmm...?" Rex was abruptly stopped in his tracks.
Looking down, he found that the tree to his side wrapped its roots around his ankle.
Scanning the tree, turns out it was a mutated tree, and it was in the eighth-rank realm.
Splash!
Having been on edge throughout this sprint, Rex quickly channeled his red force to his ankle, sensing a threat coming from the roots. As expected—thorns suddenly came out of the thick roots, aiming to incapacitate him with poison.
However, fortunately, the red force blocked the thorns perfectly.
Making a move at the opportune moment, a mutated lizard ambushed him from above.
It opened its maw and bared its sharp teeth.
Rex who was annoyed by the constant barrage of attacks, having enough of being an animal activist—grabbed ahold of the mutated lizard's maw, that wanted to chomp on his. He didn't mind the fact that his hands were grazing against its razor-sharp teeth.
Catching the maw with both hands, he ruthlessly broke the maw by spreading it apart.
Arcs of crimson flew across his vision as he split the mutated lizard in half.
<Killed an eighth-rank realm mutated animal, obtained 1 billion exp>
In quick succession—Rex used his black lightning to free his ankle and continued on.
One black lightning tentacle managed to hit the tree the figure was on, toppling it over.
Upon seeing this, the figure smacked her lips in displeasure, and leaped away—finding these black lightning tentacles a hassle. Landing on another tree branch nearby, the figure focused back on Rex again but was stunned the second she did that.
Regardless of her power to mask her presence, the figure gasped at the sight of Rex.
He slowly turned his head in the figure's direction.
It spooked the figure as she didn't expect Rex to find her position this quickly.
'No, he must only catch a glimpse of me. He shouldn't find me that quick,' the figure thought.
But the figure instantly changed her mind when Rex suddenly disappeared from his position, turning into a blur and vanishing from his spot. Only then that the figure was certain that Rex had already found her, as surprising as that sounds.
Just before the figure could move, her ears turned to the back, hearing a sway of leaves.
Swoosh!
Activating her moonlight energy which is yellow in color—the figure leaped and made a clean somersault back—as what seemed to be a Werewolf with four azure eyes swiped its claws at her from behind.
She landed gracefully on the ground, her hand making sure her cloak was down.
Obviously, she prioritizes keeping her identity a secret.
Just then, beyond the grasp of her senses—something struck her from the side.
An invisible attack that sent her flying to the right—still holding onto her cloak before swiftly recovering. A frown appeared on her face, as she didn't sense what hit her. Initially, she was expecting it to be Rex, but there was no sign of him.
Only the four-eyed Werewolf was nearby.
Suddenly, with a light exhale, the moonlight energy that cloaked her form expanded.
It was inches thicker than before, and her aura also surged.
Only then that she turn her focus back to the four-eyed Werewolf, who is surely Kyran.
Kyran was scouting the area—avoiding the mutated animals that were ridiculously stronger.
But then he sensed a foreign figure that possessed moonlight energy.
Even though the presence was extremely light, it couldn't escape Kyran's senses.
"I must admit, you have quite a terrifying sense for a Beta," the figure said—praising Kyran.
Upon hearing this—Kyran jumped down from the tree, and landed a distance away from her with his senses put on maximum alert. His senses are extremely keen—the sharpest among the entire pack, so he knows that this figure is strong.
Energy-wise, this figure is stronger than Kyran by a notch, and that's not good.
"A bad choice, Werewolf—any trespassers would be punishable by death," Kyran replied.
Regardless of who the figure was, she must not have a good intention.
If she had one then she would not be sneaking around.
"Aggressive—just like a real Werewolf," the figure commented. "However, that supposed rule, only bears weight if you can catch me, beta, which I highly doubt" She added, the evident air of confidence was thick around her.
Just from her way of talking, she's extremely confident in her ability to flee.
A Werewolf that Kyran had never seen before.
Usually—a Werewolf would pride themselves in being stronger, but this Werewolf, seemed to take pride in her ability to survive. Flunra also has a terrifying ability to survive—but he never boasts like this Werewolf did.
Suddenly, as the two were on a stand-off, a voice interrupted them.
"Are you also confident that me, the Alpha, could not catch you...?" A daunting voice echoed.
Rex was sitting on a tree branch on the tree directly behind the figure.
Rotating her neck to look at him, the figure frowned before she then realized an odd sense of energy coating Rex's form right now. It was not moonlight energy or even mana, it was utterly different, another form of energy.
It took a moment before the figure realized what it was.
Recognizing the energy she swiftly drew blood from her hand and created a pentagram mark on her forehead. She then turned to Kyran, and could now see that there was Rex's copy that lingers in the cursed realm.
He was the one who landed the invisible attack earlier that caught the figure off guard.
At the sight of this, the figure moved to the side.
She puts Rex and Kyran before her so she won't get pinched from the front and the back.
"Not only are you an Awakened, but you are also a Witch" the figure muttered—there was a hint of marvel in her tone. However, despite knowing that, she didn't seem to be troubled at all. "And to answer your question, yes, even you could not catch me, Your Highness..."