Chapter 485: The Wolfgrave Fortresses III

[Monster cores were absorbed.]

[The First Evolution saturation process has progressed.]

Another progress, but they were still far from complete, but it was not a problem, with the number of wolves he had seen so far, a lack of cores was the last thing they needed to worry about.

He did not forget to put the corpses into his storage space as well, they could be a delicious meal for the Devourer Egg.

They moved along the road for a few more minutes until the ground became higher.

Finally, Lian climbed over a half-collapsed wall, and there, for the first time, he saw all of the Wolfgrave Castles.

His eyes slowly moved across the scene, it was not one fortress, it was not even two or three fortresses and the old walls continued for kilometers through the mist.

Watchtowers stood at different points, some were half-destroyed, some had completely collapsed and some were still strangely intact.

Several smaller castles stood around the area and old roads connected them to the central area.

But all of them looked small compared to what stood in the middle of the whole area.

Wolfcrown Fortress.

Its huge stone walls were almost a hundred meters high even from this close distance.

Eight old towers stood around the central building.

And on the highest tower was the Crown.

Now that he was closer, Lian could clearly see that it was not a statue, it was a real structure.

It was made from a dark material between metal and bone and had several curved branches that pointed toward the sky like huge teeth.

Faint mana lines moved across its surface.

The Celestial Book of Treasure inside his storage space started to shake.

He took it out, and the book almost opened by itself. A purple light from the page pointed directly toward the Crown.

[Treasure confirmed.]

[Location: Crown of the Central Fortress.]

[Rank: Cannot be evaluated, touch it for final inspection.]

Lian stayed silent for a few seconds, reaching the place where the Crown was would not be easy and his eyes moved down.

Wolves.

Dozens.

Hundreds.

They were moving between the castles from different paths, some were carrying corpses and some were guarding the walls.

Some were simply sitting in the courtyards.

He could also sense several stronger presences, Level 35, 36 and maybe even 38.

For now, he did not plan to turn the entire area against himself, at least not yet, even though he suspected that such a thing might happen.

His eyes moved toward One.

A several-meter-tall giant ant, even with the best stealth skill in the world, was not a good choice for sneaking through hundreds of wolves.

He sent a command through the bond and One resisted for a moment.

"Just for now."

At the same moment, the giant ant turned into particles of light and disappeared.

[Special Member of the Colony — One.]

[Status: Inside the Colony House.]

Now he was alone and activated his new skill.

[Silent Hunt.]

The change was not instant, but when he took a step, it made no sound, the natural leak of his mana decreased and even his body smell and presence became much weaker.

It was almost impossible for ordinary monsters to detect him anymore.

Then he moved forward.

Lian did not use the main path, instead he moved across the walls.

He passed over the rooftops of broken buildings and used parts of the old architecture to move above several packs.

None of the wolves below noticed him and the closer he got to the center, the older and stranger the architecture became.

In the outer castles, there were more signs of the wolves.

Bones.

Fur.

Claw marks.

Crown symbols.

But near the central area, the past had not been completely erased yet and eight stone bridges led toward the main fortress.

Eight towers stood around the central square, eight paths from different directions ended at the same place.

On some walls, under the new scratches and marks, the old spiral could still be seen.

Divine of Chaos.

He took out World Memory, and the map shook for a moment.

Part of the information that had been damaged until now was restored again because he was getting closer to the main area.

[Historical structure identified.]

[Old Name: Shelter of Eight Paths.]

[Affiliation: Followers of Divine of Chaos.]

[The remaining information is damaged.]

He stopped for a moment and looked at the information.

Shelter of Eight Paths, so even the name "Wolfgrave Castles" was not the original name of this place.

The System had probably named it based on the current state of the area.

In the past, this place belonged to the followers of Divine of Chaos, this also confirmed that his guess was correct and now, however, no humans walked through its streets.

There were no priests beside the statues and the eight paths of change were buried under the packs’ paws.

His eyes moved toward the central Crown, and another question appeared in his mind.

Did the Crown also belong to the same civilization? Or was it something that was added to this place later, after their fall?

The Celestial Book only said that it was a treasure and did not give more information, but it could really be an amazing discovery if it belonged to an ancient civilization.

He moved again and about ten minutes later, he reached one of the courtyards near the central fortress.

He stood on top of a half-broken wall and below him was a huge number of wolves, several packs had gathered in a large courtyard and with only one look, he counted more than a hundred.

Gray Wolves.

Gravehowl Wolves.

Several larger types that had more bones growing on their bodies and even several almost three-meter-tall monsters stood at the back of the courtyard.

Some of the wolves were carrying corpses, some were sitting in silence and some were simply staring at the huge door of the central fortress.

....As if they were waiting for something.

Silent Hunt was still active and no one was looking up, so he did not need to worry about being discovered, after all, fighting this huge number of wolves, most of which were above Level 30, would not be easy even for him.

He slowly moved along the wall and the distance to one of the bridges leading to the main fortress was not far anymore, if he continued like this, he might even enter the central area without a fight.

But at that exact moment .....Boom!

A deep pulse came out from inside the fortress.

Lian stopped right there, what he felt was not a sound, it was more like a wave of mana that passed through the walls and went directly through his body.

Silent Hunt was still active, his mana leak was almost zero, his smell was impossible to track and he had made no sound.

Even so, something happened below and the black bone behind the neck of one of the Gravehowl Wolves lit up.

Then the second.

The third.

Ten.

Thirty.

Fifty.

And within a few seconds, almost all of the black bones inside the courtyard lit up at the same time with a faint light.

Lian frowned, he also did not know exactly what had happened, but his instinct told him that whatever had happened, it was not a good thing.

And just as he expected what had happened ... suddenly the first wolf raised its head and its dead blue eye locked directly onto him.

The second one also looked ...then the third and the movement spread through the pack like a wave.

Dozens of heads slowly turned upward and in less than five seconds, the entire courtyard became silent and more than a hundred pairs of blue, white and yellow eyes were fixed on the top of the wall.

At Lian.

He looked down at them without moving, the path behind him was still open and the central fortress was in front of him and below was a small army of wolf monsters.

And suddenly, a howl came from the depths of the central fortress.

This time, unlike the howls from the nearby forest, it was very close and the sound was so deep that even the stone under Lian’s feet shook a little.

The wolves in the courtyard showed their teeth one after another and growls filled the area.

Young Vorhelm looked at the scene below for a few seconds and then a very calm smile appeared on his face.

"Well... the stealth went well until now."