"No problem... But who are you to Araz?" Davis asked the female wolf who was brave enough to sacrifice her soul for the King.
"I’m-"
"Hehehe..." Suddenly, a frail male voice echoed.
A ten-meter tall Twin-Tailed Dusk Wolf abruptly appeared by the side. There were many Twin-Tailed Dusk Wolves behind him, but to Davis’s surprise, they were all High-Level Lord Beast Stage Twin-Tailed Dusk Wolves.
"Madam Araz, there’s no need to lay down your precious life when it’s this old wolf who should lay down his life in response to the countless gratitude he received from the King! This old wolf is nearing the end of his lifespan, and he must repay his several debts to the King before his puny existence disappears from this world!"
"I just hope that the King will take care of my younglings who are not only brash but mischievous..."
"Kraal..." The female wolf muttered as her eyes turned moist.
"Hahaha!" The old wolf laughed like a human before it transformed into a wizened old man with a black beard, dressed in dark black robes with the symbol of a dark wolf over his chest.
"Human, my name is Kraal, and I’ll be the sacrifice you human need to make our King recover."
"No! I’ll be the one!
"No! It’s me who will serve the King!"
"You all step back! It’s me who will lay down his life for the King!"
Numerous echoes could be heard behind as the High-Level Lord Beast Stage Twin-Tailed Dusk Wolves transformed into humans. They all looked different, but most importantly, they had their own stories to support the King’s recovery by laying down their lives.
Davis’s eyes twitched as he saw the response... This almost made him think that he should’ve asked for more sacrifices, but he felt that it would be too despicable and lowly.
Nevertheless, he could see that the alpha is almost treated as a god-like existence in this Magical Beast Clan.
"Human!" The old man named Kraal bellowed, "How can we believe that you had a convenient secret technique like that when you just tried to kill our King with a light attributed technique!?"
"You think you have a choice? Davis scoffed before he shrugged.
"Either agree or watch your King get weaker and weaker before he loses this clan or his life! It all rests in your choice!"
The old man became taken aback before he ground his old teeth in anger. However, before he could retort, he was interrupted by the same unconcerned voice.
"Besides, do you truly think I will even deign to harm your King when I can massacre your entire clan!?"
"You!!!" Kraal’s expression became ugly.
Davis simply stated the fact, but when he neared the end of his words, he became slightly angry. He was offering a road to salvation for them instead of just leaving them behind to rot from the attacks of the sea magical beasts, but they couldn’t understand?
Kraal couldn’t help but glance at their unofficial Queen, but seeing that she did not react to the human’s statement, he sighed.
Truly, they had no choice but to accept.
"Alright, use my soul... This old wolf just wanted to make sure..."
Davis extended his hand and gestured for Kraal to come closer.
Kraal took in a deep breath before he moved forwards and stood in front of the human. At that moment, he couldn’t help but feel a vague pressure that suppressed his soul.
Davis abruptly opened his mouth, "Also, we’ll be visiting the murals inscribed in this clan. You people owe this to my Magical Beast Mount since you wolves chased her all the way to her home and bullied her in the past..."
"So, that’s why..."
The old man widened his eyes as he looked at Nadia, but he didn’t dare look too long, feeling his own bloodline suppress him. He was not part of the hunting force; neither did he hunt for Nadia, so he didn’t know what had happened, or something like this even happened in the first place.
After all, they had miraculously gotten a Queen, but then the Queen turned hostile to them because of their actions. He couldn’t help but sigh at this fact and felt that it was well-deserved.
"No problem, this can be fulfilled. Isn’t that right, everyone?" Kraal asked.
*Awoo!~~*
*Awoooo!~~*
Echoes and howls of agreement reverberated around the area.
Looking around in satisfaction that no one messed up, Kraal became heartened to know that the human had another condition. This meant that what the human said should be true. Otherwise, there is no need for the human to ask all this and could just do as he pleases.
After all, they were weak and defeated.
Besides, in front of Nadia, they couldn’t even escape properly as their own bloodlines would suppress them. The old man knew that the Queen didn’t consciously suppress them because he actually knew what it is like to be suppressed actively under that kingly aura.
"Good..." Davis just nodded his head, and the old man who smiled in response suddenly stiffened. His yellowish eyes lost its color and became dull, and just before he could fall, two hands caught his shoulders.
Davis held the old man with his hands before he laid him down. The next moment, the old man returned to his ten-meter tall Magical Beast form and laid there not twitching, or even moving.
Gasps and whimpers from the Twin-Tailed Dusk Wolves started to echo around the sparse mountain forest while Davis collected the High-Level Lord Beast Stage Soul Essence. He pursed his lips and looked around and saw that the Twin-Tailed Dusk Wolves were mourning for the abrupt loss.
Some were even in disbelief that the human managed to kill Kraal in a single move. They didn’t even seem to have seen a glimpse of how the human did it.
At that point, their opinion of the human strongly changed!
Davis mused as he inwardly laughed at himself as he saw their stunned and fearful faces, ’It’s like... I’m the villain now...’
Recently, he noticed that his actions were more and more ruthless, his thought seamlessly capable of targeting existences who had nothing much to do with him. Whether it was magical beasts or humans, he enslaved or killed them with the slightest offense, which is a thought process bordering on the edge of depravity to him.
Whether it was the Imperial Protectors whom he tried to enslave on the ongoing battle with the plant lifeform or the thought to kill the High-Level Twin-Tailed Dusk Wolves for their soul essences when they have not even offended him yet... It was all bordering on the edge of corruption already.
And this was just a few of his thoughts that bordered on the edge.
’What was I thinking?’ Davis furrowed his brows.
He had once sworn not to fall into the path of depravity, but with growing power, he increasingly became overbearing. There was something inside his head that annoyed him to get stronger. Whether it was his own instincts or something else, it caused him to be avaricious about soul essences.
’... Am I afraid of losing what I have gathered and built up to now...?’
Davis mused as he sat by the old wolf’s carcass. Many faces flashed past his eyes, and he could vaguely feel that he was becoming restless. He inclined his head and saw the moon, but that wasn’t on his attention.
It was on the dark speck of light in the skies.