Chapter 97: Hidden Mission

"Tsk tsk, such a weak body! Can you even be eligible to know something so serious? What’s the use of knowing?" he scoffed and combed his beard.

"Um, just say it- what you found, Master?" Moon’s voice slurred with some difficulty.

"Not much. They are all Shadow Guards of the Vesper pack."

Hearing the "Shadow Guards," Axe and Nox, who had just come to hear the news, stiffened at once.

"That’s weird. Shadow Guards are a very secret and important part of the pack. They should not be going around with some young prince. And six of them," Nox muttered.

Lupine smirked at his words. "Such things are called important? I can just lift my finger, and all will be dead."

Axe sat beside Moon and scoffed. "They are Shadow Guards, but not all are the main part. I bet they are just apprentices."

Hearing this, Lupine cackled hard. "Good, you get one point. They are indeed trainees, and they are not just for guarding that Vesper boy. They have another mission."

"Fuck! They have a mission yet came to fight us without doing their work. Such lazy asses," Axe cursed.

"You are also part of their mission," Lupine said.

"Just tell us, Master, don’t play with them," Moon said, rubbing his temple.

"Okay, okay, they were from the Vesper clan."

"You already said so," Nox grumbled.

"You shut up. So, they were from the Vesper clan..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Lupine looked at the three statue-like faces and coughed.

"Okay, they are... Vesper Shadow Guards. They didn’t come specifically for you.

But what was their last memory of being in a place where a few pack leaders were gathering?

It was somewhere called the southern ring crossing of the Black Sea Gorge. But they weren’t really searching for you."

Lupine’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"They were looking for a node. A flash of energy had appeared a few days ago on the Black Sea, and Alpha Vaelis’ guards found out about the strange anomaly first.

The Black Sea, which usually turned silver under the moonlight, was emitting something more glorious. And the water current also changed direction."

He paused. Then he started again, looking at all the serious faces.

"Since all the people thought Alpha Vaelis was looking for his sons, he took this chance to spread more rumors and highlight that his people here are roaming to find them.

In reality, they were searching for a hidden treasure or a hidden realm inside the sea. And Alpha Vaelis was the one who invited Lyra and the Vesper clan."

Moon was surprised. "There should not be another hidden realm, right?" he asked.

Lupine let out a loud, heartfelt laugh.

"Ho ho ho, no, there is not any. So, to be precise, they were looking for my vault. It’s under the sea."

"What!"

"What!"

"What!"

Three of them shouted out at once.

"Wait, don’t jump up yet. In fact, this whole Lost Realm is under the sea. And since you triggered it repeatedly, and the node inside the sea vanished after you entered there the first time, the formation underneath changed," Lupine continued.

"Because of some spiritual fluctuations, several ancient sea beasts that usually roamed the bottom trenches have suddenly surfaced. Dozens of scavengers and foragers have been slaughtered—their mangled bodies left floating until the entire gorge basin turned red."

Moon’s face darkened. "This is going to be a huge problem. Those scavengers were killed by them too."

Lupine nodded. "The high priests and elders are all panicking about who gets the first share. They suspect that around the shore, another ancient, lost secret realm is preparing to surface from the bedrock of the world."

Lupine stopped, and then sneered,

"What a pipe dream to find and take this realm. They have a death wish!"

"But what if they find out?" Moon asked. It’s not a rare thing to happen.

"Actually, they can. This Lost Realm is already very fragile at this point."

"Fuck!" Axe cursed.

Nox gasped, and Moon became thoughtful.

"So, Alpha Vaelis is not chasing us anymore? That’s good news," he asked.

"Not entirely, but his attention, along with some other allies, is mainly focused on finding the node. And searching for you is just an addition. Maybe he plans to deal with you after all things are settled."

This news made Moon relax and worry the most. "So, will they find out about the node soon? It will be a headache if they can open any other remaining path."

"Then you should just claim the full one."

"Can I?"

"No."

"..."

"Ahem, don’t look at me like this. Such a big realm; you can’t contract it on your own."

"I can take a part, then?"

"Hmm... let’s abandon some parts and keep the other half full of treasure to yourself. Make it a death maze and make them enter and be chased by sea beasts. Suffer a little. That will be fun."

Moon’s lips twitched upon hearing this.

’No wonder every hidden realm’s history is more dangerous than the last one. These ancient beings really like to play dangerous.’ He thought.

"So that’s it," Moon nodded.

"Master, can you show me how to go out of here to the Lost Realm?" Moon changed the topic.

With this, Axe and Nox’s mouths widened in pure shock.

"What?"

"What?"

"We can go to the Lost Realm?"

"Through this?"

Lupine cackled at their stunned expressions.

"Of course you can, you ignorant boy! Didn’t we go out before just like that?"

He scoffed and said again, "The extra node under the Stardust lake has already shifted its place because Mooney kept messing with the spatial cores and bonded with one. Then this one..."

Moon didn’t waste another moment bickering with this master.

He bent down and picked up the two small wolf pups, clutching Leo and Rio against his ribs.

The pups let out collective whines, their tiny claws digging into the cloak.

"You two stay here, and try to hurry up." Moon turned his attention to the two. "I will be busy for a while."

"How long?" Nox asked.

"Not long," Moon said calmly.

He didn’t know how much time will take to learn basic pill formation.