The Divine Wolf... or?

After giving Ark a bear hug and saying his goodbyes, Thufrat left to look for Alenia decisively. Although Ark would miss him, he respected his decision. Besides, they would meet again in the future, Ark would make sure of that. After parting ways with Thufrat, Ark had to think for a little bit before he could come to a decision on what they should do in their current situation.

Ark had no doubt that the current situation was a precursor to the calamity that he had seen in his dreams.

Since that was the case, the most urgent thing of all was to get stronger. Although his training camp plan had most certainly failed, even training for just a day had still allowed him to get more used to his new abilities. The next step was to train them in actual combat and level up as much as he could.

Considering the fact that his strength currently far exceeded his level, Ark knew that if he really tried to, he would level up unimaginably fast.

After making up his mind, Ark decided to head for the Moonlit Caves to set up camp. There were still a few higher levelled caves that they had yet to explore, and if he tried his hardest, Ark felt like it should be a good spot to get stronger fast.

One of the reasons he felt like it was so good, was because Atar and Ephine could go into an easier cave, and still grow stronger, whilst he headed into one of the harder ones.

Before leaving, he told Atar and Ephine his plan, and they had no objections, especially not Atar. Atar had been itching for a fight for a while now, and going into a dungeon was the perfect opportunity for him to fight as much as he wanted. Ephine could see Atar's excitement and could only sigh ruefully. How had she given birth to such a battle maniac?

She also stole a glance at Ark and felt a little worried. He had that expression on his face again. It was like something was chasing him. She had seen him with that expression plenty of times, and she always felt worried.

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After packing up all of their stuff, they left the forest decisively and headed for the Moonlit Caves. The dark night sky was beautiful, but as they travelled, Ark could feel all kinds of chaotic mana in the direction of Moonhill, it seemed like the battle was growing more and more intense. After they had travelled for a while, Ark suddenly stopped in his tracks.

A thick smell of blood assaulted his sensitive sense of smell, and he turned his head to look into a part of the forest that was adjacent to the road.

The scene he saw could only be described as carnage. Limbs and body parts were strewn all over the place, and the blood of what seemed to be at least 20 people all gathered in small streams that ran into the forest. After taking a closer look, Ark realised that these people were just regular commoners. They had probably tried to escape during the battle, but had been hunted down and then disposed of.

Ephine and Atar also walked over and were disgusted by the sight. Atar didn't really understand the implications behind it, but Ephine did, and a frown couldn't help but appear on her face. Ark could feel the rage building up inside of him. He didn't like humans as a species that much, but most of his disgust and hatred had always been directed at the people in power.

The common people were mostly innocent, albeit ignorant.

They could still do harm, but not in the same way. No matter what, not many people deserved to suffer such a tragic fate, especially not some normal people who had just tried to escape from a battle. Maybe he was still a little naive, but Ark had never seen an all-out war before, and he didn't think that either side would go this far.

To resort to such despicable acts, Ark was disappointed and disgusted. He felt a great urge to do something, but before he did something rash, he hesitated. He had already said that he wouldn't get involved, and his first priority was to protect Ephine and Atar. Before he could think too much, Ephine embraced him from behind.

"You should go."

After turning around and looking into her eyes for a second, Ark smiled and gave her a pat on the head, before his expression turned serious, and he disappeared into the night. Ephine and Atar were left at the scene of carnage, and with the help of the elements, Ephine tried her best to give these poor souls a burial place.

When travellers passed by in the future, they would see a small tombstone in this little clearing, upon which the words "Here rest the souls of the innocent" could be read.

Not far away, a small family were quickly hurrying on their way, as if they were being chased by something. The family consisted of a father, a mother as well as a young son and a daughter. Although they ran as fast as they could, they were only normal people, and their speed was incomparable to whoever was chasing them. Whatever it was that was chasing them was drawing closer and closer.

The young son that was being carried on his father's back couldn't help but sob quietly, trying his hardest not to make any sounds. The daughter, presumably a few years older, was better at holding back her tears, and would occasionally try her hardest to comfort her younger brother without making any sounds.

The parents were heartbroken at their cute and sad antics, but they could do nothing to comfort them, they could only run with all their might.

Eventually, their escape came to a halt as they saw two silhouettes appear in front of them just as they had almost reached the road. Stopping dead in their tracks, the parents looked at each other, unsure of what to do.

Just as they stopped, the sound of footsteps approaching could be heard behind them, and as they turned around, their faces were filled with despair at the sight of the few demons that had suddenly appeared.

It seemed like they had finally been caught up.

"It seems like you guys have finally accepted your fates. Thanks for making this a little easier for us."

The demon in the lead spoke with an eerie smile on his face, considering that there was still some blood dripping from his sword, presumably from someone he had slain earlier.

The parents didn't say anything, but simply let their children off their backs, and before the young boy could protest, his sister broke into a full sprint and dragged him with her. Her parents had told her that if they were caught, she and her brother had to run no matter what. Even though the tears in her eyes clouded her vision, and she was short of breath, she knew that she had to run.

She knew that she needed to get her brother to safety, that was her responsibility as his elder sister!