Chapter 56: Another Pack Of Threat

Chapter 56: Chapter 56: Another Pack Of Threat

The man she had confidently promised yesterday that she would protect Mira in the Hunting Ground. Thinking about that promise now made her want to laugh at herself.

Who exactly is protecting whom?

Evelyn glanced at Mira and sighed.

"You really did marry an incredible man," she said.

Mira’s eyes immediately brightened.

"My husband is incredible," she said, without a trace of hesitation. "He’s the best husband in the world."

Evelyn’s expression twitched.

She knew very well that some of the resources responsible for Mira’s progress had actually passed through her own hands during her dealings with Xavier, but she was not going to mention that.

Not without his permission.

Instead, she simply looked toward the path ahead.

"You handled that one," she said. "Let me take the next."

Mira smiled.

"Deal," she agreed.

The Armored Crocodile Wolf itself was not particularly valuable, so after collecting what little could be used from its body, the four continued deeper into the secret realm.

About ten minutes later, they encountered another strange creature.

Its head resembled that of a crocodile, while its long body twisted like a serpent.

Mira had already learned that bizarre combinations like this were perfectly normal inside the Hunting Ground Secret Realm.

Evelyn stepped forward this time. Grant and Timothy remained behind with Mira, allowing her to handle the fight herself.

With a thought, Evelyn retrieved a crossbow from her spatial ring and drew back the string using spiritual energy.

Three condensed arrows shot forward almost simultaneously. The first struck the monster’s body but bounced away from its thick scales.

The second slammed into its head. The third pierced straight through one of its eyes.

The beast shrieked and charged. Evelyn did not panic.

She kept moving, maintaining her distance while firing whenever an opening appeared, and the monster could not get close enough to land a meaningful attack.

A few moments later, it collapsed.

Mira nodded appreciatively. Evelyn had not killed it with the same overwhelming force she had displayed against the previous monster, but her control over the fight had been excellent.

After collecting the useful materials, the group continued.

The monsters they encountered afterward varied greatly in appearance, but none posed much of a challenge.

Unless they ran into a particularly powerful 2nd-Tier beast, Grant and Timothy barely needed to interfere, since Mira and Evelyn were already strong enough to deal with most of the creatures inhabiting this outer region.

The strongest monsters they had encountered so far were around the middle stage of the 2nd Tier, roughly comparable to a human martial artist between the 4th and 6th Stars of Foundation Establishment.

Before they knew it, the sun had climbed high into the sky. It was noon, and the four stopped briefly to eat and recover.

They had barely settled down when Grant suddenly raised his head, his expression changing.

"Wait," he said.

Everyone immediately became alert. Grant listened carefully.

"There are a lot of them," he said, rising to his feet. "A whole pack is coming this way, and they’re moving fast. Get down and hide!"

No one questioned him. The four quickly slipped behind a low mound of earth.

A few seconds later, the sound reached them, a heavy thudding that made the ground seem to vibrate beneath their feet.

Mira cautiously raised her head. A pack of roughly twenty wolf-like creatures was charging across the grassland.

Grant’s expression became serious.

"Bloodthirsty Wolves," he said, his voice dropping.

"Middle-stage 2nd-Tier monsters. There are too many of them to underestimate."

Each wolf stood more than two meters tall. One alone would have been troublesome.

Twenty together were an entirely different matter. Grant slowly drew his long blade.

"We might have to fight," he murmured.

But then he stopped. Something was not right. The wolves were not slowing down.

They were not approaching the group. They were running past them.

Grant watched more carefully, his eyes narrowing.

"They’re fleeing," he said.

Mira looked at him.

"Fleeing?" she asked.

Grant’s expression became grim.

"And whatever they’re running from," he said, swallowing, "is worse than they are."

Before anyone could respond, a tremendous impact sounded from the distance. A gigantic creature burst into view.

It was a lion, though calling it a lion hardly seemed adequate. It was enormous, large enough to resemble a moving fortress rather than an ordinary beast. Its massive black mane shimmered beneath the sunlight like polished metal, while its body had the hard, bronze-like appearance of forged armor.

Every time its paws struck the ground, the earth shook, and every leap carried it dozens of meters forward.

The pressure radiating from its body made Grant’s face turn pale.

"Peak 2nd Tier," he breathed. How had a monster of this level appeared in the outer region?

Nobody had an answer. The four immediately stopped moving.

They lowered their breathing and remained completely still, hoping the creature would simply continue after the fleeing wolf pack.

For a moment, it seemed their luck had held. Then the lion abruptly slowed. Its enormous head turned, and its eyes swept across the surroundings.

Grant’s heart sank.

"It noticed us," he whispered.

The creature changed direction and charged straight toward their hiding place.

"Get ready!" Grant roared.

There was no longer any chance of escaping. The beast was simply too fast. A thunderous roar exploded across the grassland, and the sound shook the air.

The lion’s enormous eyes suddenly became bloodshot the moment it saw the four humans, as though their appearance had triggered some particularly unpleasant memories.

Evelyn froze for half a heartbeat. Then she looked up.

A gigantic shadow had already swallowed the sunlight above her. The lion had leaped into the air, intending to crush all of them beneath its enormous body.

"Mira!" she cried.

Mira reacted instantly. She grabbed Evelyn and dragged her out of the beast’s landing zone. Timothy had already retreated several meters away.

The lion crashed down, and the impact was like an explosive shell hitting the ground. Before anyone could recover, its enormous paw swept across the area.

Mira’s pupils contracted. There was nowhere left to dodge. She immediately released the power of her Frost Phoenix Bloodline, and a towering wall of ice erupted from the ground in front of her. It rose nearly two meters high, thick enough to withstand a tremendous impact.

Mira tightened her grip on her sword and prepared for the collision.

But the expected impact never came.

The giant lion suddenly stopped. Its massive body seemed to have been frozen in place.

Mira’s eyes narrowed. Someone was standing beside the enormous beast.

A young man. He looked unfamiliar. And yet there was something strangely familiar about him.

Mira stared at the man’s face, her heart suddenly beating faster. She could not explain why. She only knew that she had seen those eyes before.

The young man who appeared at the most critical moment was none other than Xavier Kane.

Since entering the Hunting Ground Secret Realm, Xavier had deliberately kept himself several steps behind Mira and the others.

He neither followed too closely nor allowed them to disappear from his sight. His purpose was simple. He wanted to protect his wife without letting her discover that he was there.

The moment he sensed the approaching wolf pack, however, something immediately felt wrong. Xavier increased his pace.

Then the enormous lion appeared. The sight of more than twenty Bloodthirsty Wolves fleeing for their lives was enough to tell him that the creature chasing them was anything but ordinary.

He immediately activated Phantom Step, accelerating toward Mira’s location.

He did not care whether the monster was strong. If there was even a chance that Mira could be in danger, he had to get there as quickly as possible.

Fortunately, he arrived just before the situation became irreversible. The moment the giant lion raised its paw toward Mira, Xavier drew his sword.

The blade left its sheath with a ringing clang, and a brilliant arc of sword light exploded through the air, wrapped in crackling streaks of lightning.

The slash stretched several meters across the battlefield, carrying an overwhelming destructive force.

It was the Wind and Thunder Sword Technique.

Xavier’s gaze hardened.

"Break!" he shouted. ℯℯ𝑙.

The sword intent erupted. Wind and lightning intertwined around the blade as the slash struck directly at the joint of the giant lion’s foreleg.

Xavier had expected the attack to force the beast back. Instead, the sword cut through its enormous forelimb as effortlessly as a knife through soft clay.

The limb was severed cleanly, and dark blood sprayed across the grass.

The giant lion released an earth-shaking roar and instinctively tried to retaliate. It never got the chance.

A strange invisible force suddenly swept across its body, and for a brief moment the enormous beast became completely rigid.

The effect would only last an instant, but an instant was more than enough.

A cold flash shot through the air. Xavier’s second strike arrived before the lion could recover.

The sword pierced straight through its skull, and the enormous creature collapsed heavily onto the ground, shaking the surrounding earth.

Silence followed. Something rolled out from the opening in its skull. Xavier glanced down. A milky white sphere roughly the size of a fist had fallen onto the grass, and his eyes brightened.

A demon core.

He bent down, picked it up, wiped away the dirt, and examined it briefly before turning toward Mira.