Laksia’s outstretched arm trembled, and she shook all over, unable to let out a scream. Crunch! Cruuunch! Chap, chap… There were chewing and gulping noises. Though her body shook harder as the chilling sounds continued, her arm eventually calmed. Simultaneously, her shoulders, forearms, and wrists disappeared in that order inside the king’s wide-opened mouth. Lakshasha stared at the macabre scene like he couldn’t believe it.

“Oh king!” Lakshasha wailed hearing his sister getting eaten. “You promised! That you will let her live and let her go!”

Ignoring Lakshasha’s pleas, the king took a big bite of Laksia’s body after devouring her head and arm. Lakshasha cried out even louder.

“Hey, you bastard! Laksiaaaaaa!” His cries grew even more anguished after her death, but they didn’t last. The king reached out to pull Lakshasha in after finishing Laksia’s bones. Immediately, he punched Lakshasha in the temple and made a hole. Lakshasha’s head dangled sideways with an open mouth. It was a miserable end for someone who had thrown away everything he had stacked up until now.

“Noisy guy,” The king grumbled while licking the substances sticking to the back of his hand. “Talks so much for someone who played his cards all over the place…gulp.” The king gulped down the hot substance flowing out of the hole in Lakshasha’s head and resumed his meal.

On the other side, another figure watched as the king ate his freshly caught meals. She stood emotionlessly, and the king purposefully ate and chewed on his meals so thoroughly that he didn’t even leave a single fingernail.

“Haa—” The king closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh. His body trembled slightly, and he stretched out his hands after opening his eyes again. Seeing the ends of his fingers turn into feathers, the king scowled.

“It’s a trash-like ability.” Though their bodies weren’t of much help to his evolution, they still had nutritional value, and it was a sufficient amount to heal his injuries. Furthermore, meals of this quality were hard to come by in the Hala Forest beside the other king candidates. The king clenched and unclenched his fist repeatedly, looking satisfied. His injuries had healed, and he seemed to have fully recovered. It really was a phenomenal healing ability, which was also thanks to the arm he had consumed from the human male he met before.

“Seems like you are done.” Then the figure who had been quietly waiting and watching him eat spoke up. “Can you fight now?”

The king looked taken aback and quickly cleared his throat.

“Hm! Though I’ve become considerably better, it’s still not perfect. If you can find me two more nutritious ones—”

“Don’t lie.” The figure’s voice instantly turned cold. The reason why she had shown so much grace to the Sun King was for herself in the end, and she wasn’t stupid enough to be played by him.

“Are you not going to fight?” She was telling the Sun King to stop playing games since she knew he had fully recovered. She seemed intent on killing him the moment he tried to pull a trick on her. The king clicked his tongue and kicked off the ground. He got up confidently and laughed at his opponent inside his mind. Had their situation been reversed, he would’ve killed her instantly with no regard for her circumstances. He was able to gain an opportunity thanks to his opponent’s arrogance.

Though the king admitted that this wasn’t an opponent he really wanted to fight, it would be different now. It was he who had achieved the most evolution among the five; he proved this by beating one of the king candidates, Water. Furthermore, he had a comparative advantage over this opponent when comparing their origins. Of course, doing so after they had evolved to this level seemed meaningless, but that was still within common sense; if his opponent also evolved through the same irregular path of evolution as him, the king was certain that he would have the advantages.

However, knowing that he couldn’t be assured of his victory, he didn’t let down his guard. Unlike the time he first played around with the expedition team, the king started with all his might from the beginning.

“I’m sure one of us will become king,” the king smirked, and bright yellow streams of light flowed out of his body. “It seems a bit early, but…that’s not necessarily bad.” He flew into the air, and the light around him became so brilliant that it covered his body. Then he shouted, “Good! You’re fit to be my rival!” The last one standing would be the sun.

The king became wrapped in a light so dazzling that he looked like the sun and lit up the surroundings. “Let’s fight for victory! For ownership over the Hala Forest!”

With this hearty cry, branches shot out from the queen’s back like angel wings.

***

After Evelyn backed away, the expedition team hurriedly took out healing potions, tended to the more urgent injuries, and chased after the white wolf. They left the role of the head to Hawa. With Lakshasha gone, she was the only one who could fulfill the role, and this wasn’t the time for them to be picky about trivial matters. They tracked down traces of the white wolf, and in the middle of their chase, they heard a loud bang.

It was too loud for the team to simply ignore it, and they stopped walking. It sounded as if dynamites were going off continuously, or missiles were striking the ground.

—What…

Philip shot up into the air and opened his mouth while looking at the scene from far away. He saw smoke in the shape of a mushroom and piles of thick trees collapsed to the ground. Even though he was looking from far away, he could clearly sense the intensity of the battle.

—It looks like we should move farther away from what’s happening over there first.

Philip told Chi-Woo, and Chi-Woo turned to the head. Hawa read his gaze and quickly ran in one direction after surveying her surroundings. A while later, the expedition team found themselves in an area a bit different from the rest of the Hala Forest. At the center of a steep rocky wall was a waterfall. Only this area was particularly covered in orangish-brown soil, and under the cliff, there were dozens of forked pathways.

Hawa looked at the ground intently and led the expedition team to a single path, and the team entered a sizable cave. Enormous explosions continued to rang from behind them, but they became faint the further they ventured into the cave. After going down endlessly for ten minutes, Hawa stopped walking. They saw a giant figure emitting silver light in the center, and there Evelyn was, murmuring something while kneeling on the ground.

“Ms. Evelyn?” Chi-Woo saw Evelyn press her forehead against the wolf, stunned.

“Ah.” Evelyn opened her eyes and turned around. The white wolf also looked toward them. The wolf bared her teeth and growled when seeing the expedition team. It sounded like the wolf was telling the team to not approach.

“It’s okay. These are my friends. Perhaps they can help you,” Evelyn quickly calmed the wolf and got up. It looked like there were a lot of things she wanted to say. It was the same for Chi-Woo.

“Is it really…?” Chi-Woo asked.

“Yes, it is.” Evelyn nodded. “Hurodvitniru.” After Evelyn looked warily at the expedition team, she looked toward the crouching, white wolf.

“The last surviving…Moon’s Canine that guards the fenrirs.”

The expedition team looked back and forth between Chi-Woo and Evelyn and gulped. Taking one’s full strength into consideration, the fenrirs could rival the Last Dragon. Yet they were now a bygone clan, annihilated by the Demon Empire. Well, at least that was what they had heard, but it appeared not all of them had been wiped out since there was a surviving fenrir in front of them. The evidence was right there.

“How…?”

“I was also really shocked,” Evelyn said as Chi-Woo was unable to hide his surprise. And thus, she explained how she tried to find ways to overturn the situation when the expedition team was fighting the Sun King. Seeing the way the battle was progressing, it was clear that the team would have difficulty ensuring victory against the Sun King. Even if both sides took out their secret weapons, there would be great losses. They couldn’t gamble like that when there were still three king candidates left. Thus, there was only one thing left to do; it was to get help from an existence who could chase away the king. Thus, she called the fenrir who had been hiding somewhere in the Hala Forest by spreading her holy energy explosively.

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“Of course, I knew there was a chance the attempt would fail, but I was pretty sure. There was no way Goddess La Bella would make you do something you can’t do.”

It was then Chi-Woo realized what she was saying. One of the materials that La Bella requested for reliquia was the Canine of the Mad Moon. The fenrir was a moon clan, and there was no way La Bella would be so out of her mind that she asked for something from a species that was completely extinct.

‘Now that I think about it, the holy energy Lady Evelyn currently possesses is…’ It was the core he took when battling against the fenrir’s god that the Sernitas created. Though she was serving the White Horse General now, there were still remnants of that inside her. And it was inevitable that a fenrir would come running in surprise sensing the energy of the god they once served. In the end, everything Evelyn predicted fell into place perfectly.

‘I see…that’s why…’ After organizing his thoughts, Chi-Woo suddenly faltered. There were more things he wanted to ask, but he was worried how the wolf would react to him foremost. Even though he couldn’t help it, it was he who had extinguished the fenrir’s god after all, and Hurodvitniru might think of him as the enemy.

“I was already explaining that part. Can you wait?” Evelyn read the expression on Chi-Woo’s face and made a bitter smile. Then she sat back down again, pressing her and the fenrir’s foreheads together while Chi-Woo waited quietly.

Sometime later, Evelyn sighed and said, “…She says she already knows about that. She seems to be grateful to you, actually, saying that you erased their humiliation for them…”

Chi-Woo let out a sigh of relief.

“But there’s something I’m curious about.” Emmanuel raised his hand. “If you really are a fenrir, why are you still staying in this place?”

Chi-Woo also wondered why she wasn’t returning to the Cassiubia League. Was she perhaps hiding here because the Hala Forest had been their territory in the past? However, after the war in Shalyh, the Demon Empire had backed away considerably, and there should’ve been an opportunity for her to escape then. Why was she still here?

“She has her reasons,” Evelyn said. “There’s only one thing that Hurodvitniru wants. It is to revive the fenrirs who are in danger of going extinct.”

“Sorry?” Chi-Woo thought he misheard. The Fenrirs didn’t even have a god anymore. Knowing how big a difference having a god made, it was hard for Chi-Woo to believe the explanation.

“It’s possible. She is bearing a cub.”

Chi-Woo looked surprised. ‘She was bearing…what?’ Evelyn extended her hand and very carefully stroked Hurodvitniru’s body. Hurodvitniru was heaving hard even when she was crouching on the ground, and Evelyn’s hand softly moved to the wolf’s belly. Though Chi-Woo hadn’t realized it because of how chaotic the situation had been, Hurodvitniru’s lower belly was slightly protruding compared to the rest of her slim body. Seeing the clear curve of her belly, the expedition team looked astonished. They had been wondering why she looked tired even when she first appeared.

“Pregnant…” Apoline murmured blankly.

“That’s all the more reason—!” Emmanuel was about to shout that she should have gone to the Cassiubia League to give birth in a safer environment.

“She isn’t simply giving birth with the intention to proliferate her species.” Evelyn shook her head and slowly dropped her hand. “Hurodvitniru is bearing the fenrir’s future and hopes that she can revive her species.” In other words, there was an existence that could become the fenrir’s new god inside Hurodvitniru’s belly. That was why she couldn’t follow a normal path, and why she chose to remain in the Hala Forest rather than being forced to.

The expedition team became speechless, shocked by hearing something unimaginable. Among them, Chi-Woo was less surprised because he had considerable knowledge on shamanism and knew how Hurodvitniru’s decision to remain was connected to her goals.

Booom! Suddenly, enormous sounds began to shake the area. The sounds were piercing, and the area began to shake maddeningly. Some fell as the ground shook, and dust scattered from the top of the cavern. At first, Chi-Woo thought there was an earthquake, or else there would be no way shockwaves would reach an area they had walked ten minutes to reach. But that wasn’t the case. Hot steam soon poured in. Chi-Woo didn’t know what was happening, but it was clear something great and immense was taking place over the surface. Then, after a great uproar, the disturbance gradually settled down.

“…It became quiet…” A sudden silence settled as Hawa said. It was like the calm before a storm.