Chapter 34: Ugo is gone.

"Behind me," Chika said. His voice was low, ragged. "Don’t stop."

Ugo tensed up.

A strange beast was crawling on the stone wall. Moon could see it, but he didn’t know what it was.

"These are wastrel leeches. They usually muddle in the sludge," Nox said.

Moon looked at the big leech, about two feet long and fat. His stomach churned in disgust. But then he remembered he had seen this leech in the Exotic Plants & Herbs guide.

"Wait," he raised his head. "Collect this body."

"What? They are poisonous," Ugo said.

"I know, just collect them," Moon said as he finally tabled his inner turmoil and sat straight. Axe also sat properly and took his paddle. He shoved his hand under the raft.

After searching for a moment, he took out a spear and stood on guard. His legs took a posture to balance the raft.

"Nox, your turn," he said, and turned to Moon. "You can still go on, right?"

Moon nodded as he shifted to the side to seal Nox’s mark.

As Nox put down his paddle and sat before Moon, his cheeks blushed despite the rough situation.

"What are you blushing for? Be quick," Moon scolded as he started to tug at Nox’s tunic.

He didn’t take much time this time since he knew how to do it. He grabbed Nox’s shoulder and went closer. Unlike Axe, he didn’t let Nox rest on his lap; instead, he himself sat on Nox and pushed him onto the plank to make it easier.

"Brace yourself and don’t jump up if anything tries to throw you out of your body," he said.

He meant it for the soul. He was afraid the mark may attack the soul.

And after that, he leaned in and bit down.

Nox grunted but stayed still, his arms wrapped around Moon’s waist.

Axe was busy hacking at the leeches that wanted to crawl on the raft, while Chika helped to collect them on the raft.

Ugo sat cradling his pups’ brother and sighed.

He wanted to help, but Leo and Rio still hadn’t turned back to normal. He didn’t know if they would be alright or go back to normal at all.

The tunnel slowly became denser and denser, and the water here churned more violently.

When the tunnel took another turn, suddenly they heard a sharp thud with the sound of earth and stone breaking.

Moon had just finished sending his essence and lifted his mouth when the tunnel became bright ahead.

"Fuck!" Axe cursed under his breath. The Alpha must have gotten their trace, and directly broke in from above.

They hacked the spear into the ground and took a sharp turn.

It was not easy going up and against the water stream.

Ugo quickly threw the pups in Moon’s lap and stood up. Nox also ignored his pain and held his paddle. The four men pulled with all their strength to move back to a three-way turn before the people could break a path and enter.

When they found the turn and shoved their raft into another tunnel, Moon set another barrier around them. Yet the people behind them were relentless.

They heard splashing and paddling sounds going around and around.

Then one of the voices cut in, "They went over there."

And with that, a heavy, narrow boat started at a speed twice theirs.

"Damn it, they took the military windboat with them. Does the Alpha have to kill us?"

Axe swore.

Moon was also shocked. It was one thing to kill him, but how could the Alpha kill his own flesh and blood?

He couldn’t guess the Alpha’s mind at all. His mind spiraled.

He suddenly pulled Ugo down.

"We are not going against the water anymore. And we already have been spotted, so just do it now. Or if we manage to flee, they will again find out when sealing your mark."

He did not wait for Ugo to open his clothes or for him to sit still. He pulled down the collar and directly bit down, sending his essence at a speed he himself felt was impossible.

In a few seconds, he collapsed with Ugo.

Their raft drifted to another joint. Without even thinking, Axe turned to the narrower one.

The boat behind them was approaching so fast they could now see them clearly.

Just as before they entered the narrow tunnel, the three men dropped to their knees to clear the low stone ceiling. Suddenly a man from the boat raised his hand and waved it in the air.

With a swing, five needles flew out from his fingertips.

Moon shouted out the moment he saw the man’s hand move, "Down your body!"

But he was still too late.

The needles pierced directly into the three men kneeling on the raft to paddle it.

Chika groaned and slid down.

Axe swayed a bit but didn’t instantly fall.

He leaned over and grabbed Chika’s shirt before he merged into the water.

It took a little effort to pull him onto their raft.

Nox was groaning, clutching his arm where the needle had pierced.

Black blood was oozing already from there.

The needles missed moon as he was down instantly.

Still Moon felt like his heart was being pierced.

Ugo scrambled forward. "Let me paddle. You all hold tight to each other. The tunnel in front is broken."

As his words fell, Moon heard a roaring sound ahead, like countless mountains were crashing on a sea. The deafening sound of water slamming down was getting closer and closer.

He looked behind them.

Nobody was following them now.

Ugo spoke up, "They will not follow. This tunnel leads to the Black Sea Gorge, and our raft will fall in a minute." His voice was surprisingly calm in this situation.

Axe huddled closer, his arm was getting numb from the poison needle.

Moon’s heart thumped, but he still had some rationality.

And with a thought, he pulled all the things on the raft inside his magic satchel, preparing for the worse.

Ugo remained on his knees, leaning his weight forward over the edge as he held the long spear in hand and hacked it into the ground under the water.

The iron head cried out in protest.

Its screeching sound was muffled in the water.

Moon tightly clutched the pups to his chest, while Axe and Nox held him and Chika.

But he knew huddling together will not help anything other than becoming meat paste together.

Yet he didn’t find anything else.

Just as he was contemplating if the Moon Goddess would help if he begged hard—she seemed to care a lot about these five men—he heard a twang.

Ugo’s eyes glinted. He threw an emerald-green stone to Moon’s lap.

Moon’s core suddenly spun inside his dantian. His entire being shook with excitement.

It’s a spirit stone!

His pupils shrank.

He didn’t think.

He couldn’t afford to think about how a spirit stone could be here in Ugo’s hand.

He directly spread his divine consciousness and absorbed the power inside it.

And just at that moment, the spear hilt broke in the middle.

Time seemed to slow down.

Axe’s numb hand shot out at Ugo, but it stilled in the middle.

Ugo’s body was already falling backward from the sudden water force.

At the same time, the world became bright orange in the last evening light.

The raft shot out from the tunnel mouth into a vast nothingness.

It stalled in the air just for a breath, then started to fall.

A green shield wrapped around the raft from Moon’s fingertip.

But it was still too late.

The green shield failed to wrap Ugo’s body, which vanished inside the dark water.

Moon’s eyes became stone-still.

As the tunnel mouth became further and further above their heads, Moon’s entire being wanted to jump and scream.

Yet he forgot to utter a sound.

He just helplessly looked at the dark water stream.

The fall under the gorge became slower than it would have been without the shield, leaving a chance to survive.

But inside the shield was a deathly silence.

There was no excitement for having another chance to survive.

.

.

.

.

.

Far away from them, on the fortress of the Vailis pack, the Alpha’s roar reverberated through the entire grand hall.

"You useless pieces of shit! Get lost!" he roared.

"Alpha! They... they took the Black Sea Gorge’s tunnel. No one can live after the fall. We can’t go inside." The guard’s knees and calves buckled in fear.

"Get lost. Owen, give all of these shits fifty lashes," he ordered, then sat on the dais.

The Luna came behind him, massaging his temples. "My Alpha! Don’t worry, we still have their mother in our hands. Even if they survive, they will not dare to go against you."

The Alpha lifted his head. His jaw clenched at the mention of their mother.

Emma, the second Nova, his second mistress, who is also the mother of these five defectives, was also a headache for him.

He had been avoiding her ever since she gave birth to five pups that caused him countless troubles every now and then.

He gritted his teeth and summoned his Gamma, Rivik Vailis. "Go to the cold fortress of the 6th garrison. Keep an eye on Emma."

As he spoke, he stood up, shifted into a big wolf, and rushed out through the open porch of the hall.

He needed to check it out for himself, whether they were alive or not.