𝓞𝓥xt.𝗇t

“We are almost out of the dangerous lands, Master. We just have to be careful for a few more hours, and we will be able to get to a neutral town,” Merina said with a hopeful smile as she wiped off the sweat trickling down her temples.

The hellish yet dark red sun was shining brightly in the skies as Asher, and his maid set out again in the morning to continue traveling back to the kingdom through the safest paths Merina could find.

Asher nodded as he took in a deep breath, “Good…I feel like I have been on a damn pilgrimage for the past few days. Who knows what is happening back in our kingdom after I am considered missing for days,” Asher was worried that certain people would take advantage of his disappearance. If he had a choice, he would have reached the kingdom earlier.

However, Merina was also equally eager to return since she was anxious and worried about seeing her children again. Those two must be really worried after not seeing her for these days.

…

Elsewhere, a red-skinned young man was busy comfortably sleeping in the royal consort’s bedroom. In the absence of the royal consort, who was going to care who slept in this room?

He continued to snore with his mouth wide open, drool dripping out as he dreamed about blossoming a peach.

…

“We have to be very careful when walking through this forest, Master. The muddy land is alive in some parts and may swallow us. This is why nobody lives in this forest, but we will be safe once we get past this place,” Merina said in a tone of caution.

Asher nodded and said, “I will be following your lead. Take your own time,” Asher wanted to get back as fast as he could, but he didn’t want to rush Merina and let her make mistakes because of that. He knew she wanted to get back desperately as well.

However, he took a good look at this deadly forest before him, which seemed like a place of treacherous beauty where the line between the living and the dead blurred.

The dense trees towered high, casting deep shadows that made the forest gloomy and deary despite not being night. The ground was soft and spongy with a thick layer of moss and fallen leaves, muffling the sound of footsteps.

As he carefully followed Merina, he noticed how the muddied land was not what it seemed, as certain sections of it appeared to be in constant motion, as if they were alive and possessed a malevolent will, just like Merina said.

As they ventured deeper into the forest, Asher came across patches of muddy earth that seemed to bubble and writhe, a sure sign that it was ready to swallow anything that stepped on it. Some of the patches were so well-hidden it was indiscernible to the naked eye.

The thick mist that clung to the forest floor made it even harder to see these patches or any other danger lurking in the forest. He could now see why nobody cared to occupy this place.

*Rustle*

Suddenly, Asher and Merina stopped walking upon hearing the subtle sound of something rustling in the shadows behind them.

*Rustle*

Asher narrowed his gaze and immediately took out his ring blade upon hearing the rustling sounds again but from a different direction.

The mist was so thick any other person wouldn’t even be able to see a few feet in front of him. However, Asher’s sharp, dark yellow eyes were able to perfectly see through the darkness and saw a silhouette of a massive figure breathing in the shadows, their eyes glimmering with darkness.

*Rustle*

He turned around and saw even more of such similar-looking silhouettes! His eyes scanned his surroundings completely, and he counted 10 such silhouettes! But the worst part was he was unable to see through them at all. Just the aura from one of them was enough to make him feel that they were too strong, let alone the collective strength of them all.

However, his lips curved as he let out a deep, guttural laugh, “Come out, little pups. Hiding in the shadows like cowards? I expected more from the supposed rulers of the shadows,” Saying so, Asher peeled off the mask from his face, revealing his true night elf appearance.

“I thought the rumors about you being a genius were just a farce meant to intimidate us. But you seem to have a keen sense for danger…even in this darkness, Consort of the Bloodburn Queen,” A deep, growling voice with a strong hint of menace echoed from behind as Asher turned around to see ten shifting shadows revealing themselves before him, walking on two legs with monstrous appearances.

The Darkmoon werewolves were a frightening sight to behold for any ordinary soul. Their fur was a deep, inky black that seemed to absorb all light, making them appear as shifting shadows within the forest.

Their eyes glowed an intense dark blue, and their sharp, jagged teeth seemed to glimmer even in the darkness.

Their massive 7 feet tall monstrous forms were covered in muscles, making them seem like living, breathing weapons. Each of them was wearing sets of armor that perfectly blended with their fur.

And as they slowly circled around Asher and Merina, their bodies shifted and contorted in ways that seemed unnatural, as if they were made of shadows themselves.

Asher felt that the werewolf who spoke seemed to be the leader of this pack of ferocious beasts. He subtly smiled and said, “I guess there is no point in asking how you tracked us.”

Even though he meant it, he also wanted to know how these beasts found them despite Merina taking so many careful measures.

The pack leader let out a menacing grunt as his dark blue eyes shifted toward Merina, “The stench of a traitor can never be erased, no matter the disguise. It appears even the Devils want you to pay for your sins towards your own people, Merina. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be coming upon each other after so many years.”

Merina stood frozen, fear clenching her heart as she looked around at these familiar faces that surrounded her and Asher.

She had hoped to never cross paths with her old clan again, but here they were, with piercing eyes that held nothing but malice towards them, especially her even after the passing of all these years.

She looked at the pack leader with a quivering gaze, “Dreven…I never betrayed our clan. All I wanted was to protect my family from the injustice punishment the Moonbinder Clan tried to force on us.”

“Enough, Meirna! No amount of words from you will ever help us get back what our clan lost. Our alliance with the Moonbinder Clan is in tatters, the dignity and honor of our clan questioned by everyone…all because you, the daughter of our late clan leader, broke our laws. It doesn’t matter what the punishment was, you were supposed to accept it as your fate, especially since you married one of their men,” Dreven said in a deep growl, though if observed closely, one could sense the hint of bitterness and anger in his tone.

Before Merina got married, he and she were quite close. He wanted her as his woman and thought he could marry her by inviting her into his pack. But Merina chose to marry someone from the Moonbinder Clan in the name of helping her clan to grow stronger by strengthening the alliance through marriage rather than marrying someone within her own clan. And the reason she gave him was that she didn’t want to become a burden to the clan, including his pack.

This, coupled with the fact that she became a traitor to their clan, only left him with even more disgruntlement.

However, inwardly he was astonished that even after the passing of all these years, she only became even more beautiful with such a perfect supple body and child bearing hips. This only made him feel even more bitter about how she slipped off his hands.

Asher raised one of his brows as he only learned now her father was the leader of the Darkmoon Clan before he died. He also noticed how Dreven seemed to be quite passionate with his words towards Merina.

Merina lowered her gaze upon hearing his words. She found it hard to digest the fact that Dreven, who was like a friendly and kind old friend to her, was now speaking to her with such hostility.

She looked around and saw the once familiar faces now twisted into snarls, baring their sharp teeth, ready to tear her down.

The weight of the accusing gazes from her own people felt suffocating, making her feel small and vulnerable. She wanted to curl up into a cave and hide, to escape from the judgment and fear. She had some hope before but now she was crestfallen to see how her own people wouldn’t stand by her or believe her even after all these years.

However, suddenly she felt these gazes getting swallowed by the protection of a tall and muscular figure.

“The anger you all hold is barely understandable. However, she is not just a traitor to your clan anymore but my personal maid. And I am not particularly fond of anyone trying to take away what is mine,” Asher spoke in a voice that was calm but carried a hint of steel, his dark yellow eyes glowing with fierce determination.

Dreven’s expression momentarily became unsightly, while the rest of the werewolves didn’t know why they felt intimidated by the words coming from someone so weak. They were surprised that someone at his level of strength wasn’t even feeling nervous in their presence.

Even if someone weaker as him won’t be able to gauge their strength, the sheer aura of their superior strength should be enough to make even a ignorant fool feel their spine shiver.

Merina had a look of disbelief as she slowly looked up to see her Master standing resolutely in front of her in the presence of all these powerful people. She felt a sudden surge of emotion upon seeing him standing in front of her like an invincible shield.

She knew that her Master must already know by now that all these ten werewolves were stronger than him, and yet he didn’t seem to falter.

Despite knowing how much of a hopeless situation they were trapped in, Merina felt strangely comforted by the strength in his stance and the determination in his eyes. If her Master was prepared to even shield his slave, then the least she could do was face this head on.

She no longer felt like cowering under these gazes, and with a fierce light in her eyes, she was determined to stand by her Master’s side, no matter the outcome, since she was going to die anyway. She now only held hard feelings towards her own people for abandoning her while her Master was prepared to stand by her in such a situation.

Asher knew that even if all these ten monsters jumped on him at the same time, he would live by simply escaping into his Damned Dimension, though Merina would be stuck out here to face imminent death, not that it mattered to him much. The only trouble would be finding another maid as good as her.

But he also knew he couldn’t forever hide in the Damned Dimension and was worried if he could get out of this tight situation alive. These monsters won’t leave him alone until they shred him to pieces.

However, he wanted to test a few things and see if luck would be on his side, no matter how low the chances were. There couldn’t be a better opportunity than this.

And just like he expected, Dreven let out a deep laugh, breaking the silence, “Hahaha, look at you. I am not surprised. Sleeping for all these years, you must be too ignorant about the world outside your little kingdom. Take a good look around you and let the fact that you are no longer under your kingdom’s protection sink in. We rule these lands, and you have yet to see what we are going to do to you. I am sure the Bloodburn Queen would be interested to know that her consort with the supposed Immortal Bloodline is in our hands. And if, on the off chance, she tries to make a compromise, we will set up a trap and kill you anyway in a way you can’t even imagine,” As Dreven said this, his lips curved into a cold grin, his eyes glowing with a strong hint of hatred and anger.

Asher’s expression didn’t change as he waved with his hands, “Calm your balls. I know you are all stronger than me and that I am doomed. But I have always been curious to fight a werewolf and see if you all are as mighty and frightening as people say. So before I walk on the path of death, how about you allow me a chance to have a duel with one of you?”