Chapter One Hundred: Wolf Pack and Outsider

It all started a month ago.

The Mountain Wolf clan is a relatively large branch among the Magical Wolves, with over a hundred thousand of them spread throughout the Mountains of Ten Thousand Demons. The place where Savor resides is merely one of the smaller sub-groups split off from this larger clan.

Unlike most magical beasts, Mountain Wolves like to migrate, running all over the place. Many Mountain Wolves choose to leave their clans after reaching adulthood, going off to find mates and new homes.

As a result, while Mountain Wolves are widespread in the Mountains of Ten Thousand Demons, each clan is typically not very large. The number of individuals in a single group generally remains below a thousand, and Savor’s group is no exception.

The core of their clan consists of a dozen adult Mountain Wolves that migrated here around fifty years ago and have evolved into Magical Generals. Apart from them, most of the clan comprises their descendants or scattered Mountain Wolves that have settled here and formed mates. Altogether, there are about two hundred individuals.

Savor is the child of the leader. Being the descendant of the strongest member in the clan, although he hasn’t reached adulthood yet, he has already surpassed his peers, showing the potential to become a Magical General himself, even earning praise from his father that he might one day exceed him and become a true Great Magical General.

Of course, as a Mountain Wolf, Savor wouldn’t stay forever within the clan’s territory. Once he reaches adulthood, he will inevitably leave home, training in battle and blood, seeking new territories and suitable mates.

Savor has always believed this firmly.

However, before he could achieve such grand ambitions, reality played a cruel joke on him.

More than a month ago, a strange group composed entirely of Magical Generals suddenly visited Savor’s Mountain Wolf clan. Their members were incredibly chaotic, mixed with at least seven or eight different magical beast species, and it was unclear how they had come together.

But there was no doubt they were strong; the fact that all members were Magical Generals was evidence enough.

Their leader was a masked man with long hair, giving off an especially strange aura. Savor couldn’t determine what kind of magical beast he was, but he definitely wasn’t a real human.

This group of outsiders stayed in their territory for a while under the pretense of needing lodging. Due to their immense strength, the Mountain Wolves didn’t dare to provoke them and could only let it slide.

During this time, the gray-haired young leader would visit Savor’s father, the clan chief and a four-tier Magical General, to discuss certain matters.

Savor didn’t know what they were talking about, but just a few days after the group had settled in, Savor’s father suddenly approached him, revealing the decision to lead the clan’s elite, a batch of powerful Magical General-level Mountain Wolves that had migrated with him, away from their territory to embark on some “great mission” with the masked leader.

After a brief explanation and passing the responsibility of the clan to Savor, the chief left without hesitation, not even leaving time for Savor to ask questions or express doubts.

If it had ended there, it might have still seemed normal; travel and migration were instinctual behaviors for Mountain Wolves. Although his father’s actions were quite irresponsible, it was his own legs that carried him away, and Savor couldn’t stop him even if he wanted to.

As long as they kept a low profile for a while and waited for the new generation led by Savor to grow and for a few more Magical Generals to arise, they could quickly stabilize the clan and continue to survive in this territory. It would just mean Savor wouldn’t be able to travel outside temporarily.

However, just a few days after the chief left with those fellows, invaders suddenly appeared in their territory.

It was a giant snake, or rather, a snake-like magical beast.

Magical beasts find it hard to compare to magical beings in terms of intelligence, but in pure fighting power, there’s no apparent difference between the two, depending only on bloodline strength and innate quality.

This snake possessed terrifying power at the peak of the fourth tier, slightly surpassing Savor’s father, the previous clan chief. If the latter had still been around, with the other Magical General strongholds, they could have faced the giant snake without fear.

But now, the clan was in an unprecedented state of emptiness, with ordinary Mountain Wolves mostly at the third tier, and the talented pups, including Savor, still too young to contend with it.

They fought desperately to protect their territory, but in less than a month, dozens of Mountain Wolves had already perished in the snake’s belly, most of which were adult wolves that still held some power. The weaker pups and mother wolves had no choice but to hide under Savor’s leadership, living in constant fear.

Fortunately, the snake seemed to have poor eyesight, relying solely on its keen sense of smell to identify targets. Savor and the others managed to cover the entrance of the cave with plants that had strong scents, allowing them to survive from the giant snake’s hunt for the time being.

“So that explains why we haven’t seen a single wolf carcass in the mountains, they were all swallowed whole…”

After Savor explained the events leading up to their situation, Miss Vilyric understood.

She scanned the hundreds of Mountain Wolves crouching in the cave’s corners, confirming what the priestess had noted: they were mostly juvenile wolves or relatively frail females. Among them, Savor was considered one of the larger ones.

How tragic, the law of the jungle, where the weak are devoured by the strong.

A few burning campfires cast a warm orange glow, but the shadows of the giant wolves huddled nearby reflected a gloomy and despairing expression.

“If I had ten more years, I could definitely bite that stinky snake to death with everyone’s help. But as it stands, it’s still too much. If it weren’t for that glimmer of hope, and the fact that everyone is tired and hungry and unable to move far, I would have considered leading the clan away to find a new place to live.”

“Is that so…”

Vilyric glanced back at Leila, Renée, Edwina, and Tilysha, who were working together to provide urgent care for some injured Mountain Wolves and distributing some preserved meat from their storage tools to the hungry wolf pack. After all, they lacked translation tools and couldn’t understand the wolves’ howls, so it was better to try to do something meaningful.

Little Dragon Daughter was sitting on the ground next to Vilyric, while on her right side, Aiste frowned as she circled the campfire, and finally, the priestess turned her gaze back to the giant wolf in front of her.

“I know the snake you’re talking about; I can help you deal with this difficulty. But before that, I have some questions first.”

Savor heavily nodded his despondent wolf head.

“Fine… Given the current situation, there’s no other choice but to trust you all. Please go ahead and ask.”

“First of all, how do you know that snake was sent by the masked man who previously visited the territory and not just passing by by chance?”

“The answer to that is quite simple.”

The giant wolf exhaled two jets of air from its nostrils, speaking without hesitation.

“Smell. Mountain Wolves are very sensitive to scents. That masked guy has an indescribably strange odor on him, and so do the Magical Generals accompanying him. Even my father had that peculiar smell on him before he left.”

“And that giant snake attacking us also carries that smell. I’ve battled with it a few times; there’s no way I could be mistaken. You all, especially you, have a very strange scent too. That’s why I initially judged you to be with him.”

“Huh?! Is there something weird about my smell?”

The priestess panickedly raised her hands to sniff around, but she couldn’t detect anything.

“Well, never mind. Maybe it’s different because of the structure of my nose… I have one more question. Since you’re all in such dire straits, why not seek help from those stronger races and ask the Alliance of Magical Beasts for assistance?”

   

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