“What do we do? Is there even any doubt about that? We have to run from here, while we make our way toward the main region,” Alec declared, his golems looking quite surprised, with a flicker of déjà vu crossing their faces.

There were times when they still used to enter the second dimension, and they knew all too well how often their master had been on the run in such situations.

But that was the second dimension, never had they had to flee like this in the beast forest, on the contrary, it was always a fight to the death here.

But now that Alec had baggage to protect, he knew this wasn’t the time to act like a mad fighter, but a sensible one.

“Oni, Hunter, Saint, Magnito, you four take the rear and clear out the Tier 6 demonic beasts holding us up. Butcher, you’ll be responsible for using your mental powers to guide the evolution light housing both Legion and Titan.”

“Under no circumstances should any harm come to them under your care, do you understand?” Alec commanded, staring intently at Butcher, acting undeterred by the weight of both the Shadow Wolf Alpha and the Grimfang Wargs Alpha gaze bearing down on him.

After issuing his orders to the five golems, who had only a few minions left alive, he then turned toward the Hive Queen, who had been waiting patiently.

“When was the last time we fought side by side like this?” Alec asked, feigning sentimentality.

“Quite a long time...” Just as the Hive Queen began to reminisce, when Alec lightly tapped one of her spider legs. Clearly, he wasn’t interested in strolling down memory lane, he knew it had been ages since they’d fought together properly.

In fact, the only time he could recall doing so was against a group of Tier 1 mages from the Fridall clan, when they’d made an attempt on his life, and that felt like a lifetime ago.

“Well, let’s just do it like old times now, we’re the vanguard—so shall we?” Alec asked with a small, knowing smile, directing the question at his golem which had been born at the Tier 2 realm.

Hive Queen was the product of everything he’d learned from the Fifth Elder, the old man had always told him to make her a priority, as her potential ran deeper than the rest due to her starting line(the realm she was in when created) but Alec had never been the type to play favorites.

Still, when it came to upgrades, Titan and Legion usually came first, which showed some type of partial bias, yet one truth had never changed was the fact that in chaotic battles, Hive Queen thrived more than anyone.

Alec turned to face the two pack alphas, behind them, were a few of their pack members snarling and growling, irritation simmering like they’d been insulted just by him ignoring their presence.

They’d come to answer the howl, which seemed to challenge their pack, the Alpha that dared announce itself near their territory, but on arrival they found no rival pack... only a human, and a cluster of strange magical constructs standing around him.

And yet two things kept them rooted in place.

First was the scent, not the stink of a wolf-killer, but the unmistakable mark of kin—wolf-kin.

Worse, an alpha’s scent that clung to Alec like a mantle, unsettling their instincts and twisting their pride into confusion, no matter how they tried to understand it, they couldn’t, as they kept asking themselves why would a human carry the aura of a wolf?

The second was the evolution light.

The two figures behind Alec were wrapped in it, radiating a tempting, concentrated energy. The alphas didn’t understand the process, but they understood the hunger they were feeling at the moment for the light in the air, and they could feel it clearly, as if they could devour that energy, they would make progress.

Maybe even enough to break through a minor realm.

And unlike the Tier 6 beasts prowling near the Dark forest bridge, these packs weren’t rowdy, they were disciplined. Controlled. Predatory.

“Get them!” the Shadow Wolf Alpha growled.

The Grimfang Warg Alpha on the side also didn’t hesitate, as he gave out his own command too at the same time, and both packs wolves surged forward from left and right .

With the wolves already rushing them down, Alec gave the order to retreat, his golems immediately moved toward the bridge, as the first four in the rear slipped onto the bridge first, while Butcher did his job, of guiding the evolution light and moving the bodies with care as nothing should even affect.

At Alec’s side, The Hive Queen stepped in behind him.

She towered slightly over him, with her upper body still holding that alluring humanoid form—sharp, sensual eight eyes and a poised elegance, but her lower half, supported by eight spider legs, was something else entirely... alien, dangerous, and looking like it was built for slaughter.

The markings beneath her abdomen began to glow, as a summoning rune flared under her, and her minions/her kids started to appear one after another until all fifteen were formed.

Five attack-type Arachne.

Five defensive-type Arachne.

Four hunter-type Arachne.

And one mutated Arachne—carrying two bloodline mutations.

By the time her summoning finished, the packs had closed the gap and entered striking distance. The wolves lunged towards them as she retreated with the mutated Arachne standing guard around her.

And Alec, who had seemed to be simply observing everything at the forefront had his aura changing in an instant.

As his left hand, which had been resting casually on the Bone Katana, pressed the blade down slightly, as light-red tattoos crawled across his skin like tribal markings, blooming from his arm and spreading over his body looking like the infernal mantle set, in a traditional way as the tattoo overlapped with the beast tattoo around his body..

[> Mid Tier Skill — Iaido <]

Alec’s left hand blurred, as he drew in one clean motion, cut in the same breath, and returned the sword to its scabbard in a split second.

If anyone had been watching this and they took their eyes off for a second they wouldn’t even realize that something had happened.

Even the blood the Bone blade had gathered didn’t cling to it, his cutting speed had been so sharp it seemed to fling the droplets into the air and erase them mid-flight.

His face remained blank as the Shadow Wolf’s body, which was still carrying its forward momentum, split apart before his gaze, as the head slid off in a clean line, then the corpse collapsed in pieces at his feet.

Yet Alec barely noticed the kill, as he was busy staring at his own hands, stunned by what he’d just felt.

[> Intermediate Swordsmanship has evolved into Advanced Swordsmanship. <]

[> Intermediate Blade Techniques has evolved into Advanced Blade Techniques. <]