Chapter 173: The Wolf’s Bloody Trail

Two full days had passed since the beast woman had shamelessly entered the carriage.

They were now traveling through a much more lively area; at the very least, they passed through cities and towns far more frequently.

Thalassa gazed at the enormous city visible ahead, her expression one of pure delight. Although the vehicle they were using had every comfort imaginable, someone like her—who was accustomed to the water—found it far more comfortable to sleep on solid ground, even if just for a little while.

However, her anxiety grew as they drew closer to their destination.

She began biting her nails.

"And what if..." she murmured. "What if they’re all dead?" she whispered in fear.

Meanwhile, not far from the carriage, another woman was moving much more slowly than before.

Sounds of heavy, labored breathing escaped her mouth, and her clothes, which had gradually torn from the effort, left a trail behind her as she advanced.

Whatever had covered her feet was gone; if anyone got close enough to look, they would see how badly injured they were.

Xana’s chest rose and fell rapidly. "Xana won’t give up! Xana wants to know! Xana wants to fight!" But her steps told a different story—she was on the verge of complete collapse.

Unlike those traveling comfortably in a vehicle, where they could sleep or rest whenever they wanted, she had been following them without stopping for two full nights.

Suddenly, her ears perked up.

Ahead of her, she saw that the carriage was finally coming to a stop.

She flexed her battered legs once more, which were on the brink of giving out, and tried to reach it again.

On the other hand, entering the city required a brief stop.

Cassian and Thalassa had no idea where they were, but a guard quickly approached them with a paper in hand.

He glanced inside the carriage without much interest and said in a flat voice:

"Reason for visiting Frein?"

"A stop to rest, nothing more."

"Aren’t you going to buy anything at the market?" the guard raised an eyebrow, skeptical. He knew that was usually the case.

Thalassa’s eyes widened in surprise, and she quickly replied, "No, no. Just to sleep."

Though for the monster traveling with her, that probably wasn’t even necessary, she thought. She still didn’t understand how he always managed to pull restaurant-quality food out of nowhere whenever he got hungry. But she wasn’t going to complain; the chances of him telling her to go hunt her own food were far from zero.

A helpless sigh escaped her—one that the guard only met with confusion.

"Frein is currently undergoing some changes. Is this your first time here?" the guard asked, breaking the silence.

"Mmm, yes, it is."

The guard frowned. "The entrance fee to the city is two gold coins, and expect higher prices for foreigners inside."

Thalassa was about to protest, but Elizabeth had given her plenty of money, so it was better not to argue over something like this.

Cassian, however, opened one eye at that moment and looked at the guard with amusement.

He could tell the man was clearly trying to scam them, but he simply closed his eye again and ignored the situation. If an ant wanted to fight for its tiny bit of food, who was he to take it away?

Though the real reason he didn’t react was because he noticed the guard’s face when Thalassa showed doubt—the man was already turning around, feeling guilty and about to lower the price.

The gates opened, and the "changes" the guard had mentioned should have been explained in a bit more detail.

The city didn’t look like a prosperous commercial hub, but rather a place destroyed and in the middle of reconstruction. The faces of the people living there showed they hadn’t had good nights of sleep, yet they continued working.

Thalassa looked outside in disbelief.

They had passed through several towns and cities before, but this was the largest one they had seen—and yet it looked like the poorest of all.

"War?" she whispered.

"I don’t think it was that," he spoke for the first time that day.

The woman frowned and asked, "Then what was it?"

Cassian looked at the streets stained black and the torn posters lying on the sides, ripped in half and marked with claw scratches. "Doesn’t it look familiar?"

Thalassa looked again and swallowed hard, finally understanding. "It seems we’re not the only ones."

"Well, Demor wouldn’t be in much better shape... Though this might actually be good news for you."

"Do you think so? That they didn’t reach Azure?"

"I don’t think so—I know it," he replied. "When I searched for Margery, I checked every corner of this world. Your people didn’t seem to be in immediate danger, Thalassa."

A sigh of relief escaped her. She then looked at him with a smile and whispered, "Thank you."

Cassian opened his eyes to look at her for a moment, but then one of them drifted toward the window, as if something else had caught his attention. "Looks like we have a nuisance following us. I hope you take care of it this time." With those words, his eyes closed again and he didn’t speak further.

"Nuisance?"

Thalassa wouldn’t take long to find out what that nuisance was. When they stopped and got out to see where they would be staying, the figure became visible almost immediately.

"Xana caught up!" came the excited voice of the wolf woman—an excitement that completely clashed with the wary looks the locals were giving her.

And behind her, the entrance guards came running, shouting: "Criminal! Invader!"

...

Galaxies away—distances that seemed to be shrinking with the passage of time—Nyx Aeterna was relaxing. Surrounded by the remains of those she had mercilessly massacred, with a smile on her face, she watched one of her subordinates entertaining her.

"And so, the great Nyx Aeterna ruled the entire universe and became its mistress alongside her one and only husband, who followed her with absolute devotion!"

A portrait of Hunyuan appeared then.

The woman’s eyes sparkled with delight and she let out a laugh—however, it was abruptly interrupted by one of her informants.

"My Lady, Liwei and Luowei from the Primordial Essence Sect have moved again."

"Oh? Those troublemakers left their sacred place beside their master again?"

"Mmmm."

"What is it this time? Did someone else dare touch a place he’s been? Though that woman knows exactly what she’s doing..." she whispered with displeasure.

"No, it doesn’t seem to be that. The reason I came to inform you is because they’re heading in a very similar direction to ours, though they’re clearly in much more of a hurry than we are."

"World 237?" she asked, confused.

"Yes..."

Nyx narrowed her heterochromatic eyes and began playing with one hand, adopting a thoughtful posture. When she finished, she showed a confident smile again—one that bordered on madness.

The laugh that followed echoed across the entire planet they were using as a ship. "Now I want to get there more than ever! What could possibly be there that interests them so much? It’s not like they know what I know, right?"

She raised her eyebrows in amusement as her legs moved restlessly, showing her excitement. "It never gets boring. That place always brings me the best news."

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Author’s Note

Hello everyone!

Wolfgirl time!

If you want to see what Xana looks like, her character look is available on my Patreon, along with 50+ advanced Chapters and some exclusive extra content.

Thank you for reading! Have a great weekend, and see you on Monday!