Sovereign

Chapter 6

Relying on my senses, I spotted as many as eight wolves surrounding me. When they were sure that they had blocked all possible escape routes, they finally stopped hiding and appeared in front of me, coming out of the thick conifers.

The first thing I noticed was that they were bigger than normal wolves and that they radiated strange energy that was enough to make other animals and weaker people obey without thinking. They had thick gray fur except for one that stood out from the rest of the pack. He was as black as the darkest of nights and bigger than the rest — a pack leader, I guessed. His snout was already soaked in the blood of the previous victim, still fresh and brightly crimson, showing everyone his cruelty and cold-blooded nature.

He began howling at his companions, giving them a signal to attack and, along the way, revealing his sharp fangs ready to tear apart the next prey. The four wolves quickly reduced the distance between us using the claws and teeth as a weapon.

In such a cramped space, surrounded by bloodthirsty enemies, I knew that my sword would be a shortcut to death. While I would swing it in one direction, the others would have enough time to use the exposed part of the body and tear me apart. So I immediately disposed of it, throwing it at one of the wolves. However, before the blade took his life, he managed to dodge and pass with a minor leg injury. I didn't waste another second. Instead of waiting for the other three to come to me, I ran to meet the two, leaving one behind. I quickly pulled my daggers out of the interspatial ring and swung at them.

The two wolves, not expecting me to show any resistance, let alone move towards them, were completely exposed, allowing me to slit their throats without any difficulty. They let out a cry of pain before falling to the ground with their blood dying the grass beneath them red.

As I dealt with monsters in front of me, the one behind had already come very close and opened his jaw as far as he could in hopes of being able to bite my neck. I turned and defended myself in time with a dagger. The blade was in his mouth, cutting his tongue. I took advantage of that moment and swung the other with all my might, driving it straight into his head. Then I pulled out both weapons, and his body joined the dead comrades on the ground.

The leader of the pack became furious and started howling, informing the survivors of the new plan.

I ran to the others before they regrouped. With quick and confident moves, I got rid of the other four, coming face to face with the black monster.

He had expected me to attack him as the previous victims, so he immediately withdrew. I grinned as that was what I wanted. As I was dealing with the others, I took advantage of a moment of his carelessness to pick up the sword in the interspatial ring, and now I took it out, returning the daggers to their original place. I swung my sword, cutting off his head in one stroke.

However, the work was not yet complete. I thrust my sword deep into its chest, cutting the space around the heart until I came across a crystal. As soon as I took it in my hands, I could feel the ki radiating from it. I cleaned it, but its color was still the same as the bright red color of blood that had been surrounding it until a moment ago. As I took the other crystals, I could see that each had ki in it only in different amounts.

I already had a couple of theories about them and the reason for the appearance of monsters in this world, but I refrained from concluding prematurely. Only when I have all the information will I know a complete truth.

I continued at the same pace. I took breaks more often, but I didn't fight unless the monsters took the initiative to attack me.

By the time I finally got to my destination, I already had 19 crystals.

Stepping into the center of the forest, I noticed a significant change in the atmosphere. There was silence all around - unnatural silence. There were no sounds of insects, birds, or rodents, and the energy flowing through the space made breathing difficult. As the living conditions of the original inhabitants of the forest were impossible, I could say with certainty that they all either fled or perished.