5. The Bloody Road Home

Whoosh!

The night wind blew hard in the Forbidden Forest. Flashes of shadows ran at high speed, Raven among them, sprinting towards the path home. Tree branches scratched his arms, but Raven ignored them and continued running as fast as he could to reach Silver Moon Pack.

The screen in front of him continued to flash, the red numbers ticking.

[Emergency Quest]

[Return To Silver Moon Pack

Remaining Time: 02:58:21]

Why is the emergency timer ticking? Why will someone die if I'm late? What's really happening? Raven's curiosity kept him running. Although the system didn't name anyone, a bad feeling lingered in his mind.

Martha! The only woman close to him in the Pack. No one cared about him, except Martha! For some reason, that old woman's name kept popping into his mind.

AAAAUUUUUUUUUU!!

A long howl echoed from behind. Raven ran and turned around, all of them relentlessly chasing him. Raven realized dozens of Shadow Wolves were following him. They were all running fast, grinning with their red eyes.

Damn it! They're not giving up on me!

The Shadow Wolf King caught up with his troops, destroying bushes and small trees. They were almost upon Raven. Their goal was clear: they didn't want to let Raven leave the Forbidden Forest alive.

"Why are they still chasing me?" Raven gritted his teeth. Don't they know I'm the weakest Omega! Why are they chasing me?

GRRRRAAAUUU!!

The Shadow Wolf King howled again. It was a kill order. A Shadow Wolf leaped from the side after passing through the trees and tried to pounce on Raven.

WHOOSH!

Raven reflexively crouched, his senses activated. The monster's sharp claws swept through the air just above his head. His heart pounded. He was so close to being caught. But before he could breathe a sigh of relief, two more Shadow Wolves lunged at him from the front.

"Shit!"

Raven jumped to the side.

CRASH!

Raven's body slammed into a tree trunk. Pain shot through his entire shoulder. The monsters didn't give him time to rest. They all surrounded him and charged at him together.

Clap!

[Tip for New Hosts]

[Activate First Alpha Blood]

The Shadow Wolves' attack was coming, and Raven didn't want to die.

"Activate!"

Clap!

[LEGACY OF THE FIRST ALPHA]

Host:

Raven Blackwood

Bloodline: 0.8%

Authority: 0

Dominance: 1

Pack Loyalty: 0

Moon Blessing: Locked

Evolution: Stage 1

Alpha Throne: Locked

Dominance: Activate!

BOOOM!

The silver wolf mark on Raven's chest lit up, exerting a powerful pressure that halted the Shadow Wolves' attacks. They all took a few steps back; even the Shadow Wolf King paused and took two steps back.

Now, Raven knew. Alpha Dominance didn't make the monsters submit, but only made them hesitate. Their killing intent suddenly diminished, as if halting their attacks for a moment.

[Legacy Notification]

“Bloodline alone cannot create a King. A true Alpha protects before he conquers.”

Raven frowned. Surrounded by the monsters, he looked at the message before him. It seemed like advice. Protect before conquer? However, before Raven could process the message, another large claw came from the Shadow Wolf King, who had attacked first. It seemed the dominance effect had ended.

Raven quickly retreated, and the claw shattered the ground.

BOOM!

The energy of the Shadow Wolf King's attack was still felt, sending Raven flying backward and standing back up. The monster growled lowly. Its eyes remained fixed on the symbol on Raven's chest. It seemed to hate the presence of the bloodline inherited from it.

However, the monster didn't continue its attack.

Raven frowned again, "What are you waiting for?"

The answer came a few seconds later. The Shadow Wolf King stepped back. Then he growled loudly. Another order to his troops. Dozens of Shadow Wolves opened their mouths and prepared to attack Raven. Raven thought the King didn't want to dirty his hands and ordered his troops to kill him. Raven gritted his teeth.

Should he fight? He picked up a broken piece of wood. A weapon that didn't even deserve to be called a weapon. But it was all he had.

A Shadow Wolf leaped. Raven waited for the right moment and slammed the wood into the Shadow Wolf's stomach.

THUD!

The monster was knocked back. But the other two immediately attacked. Their sharp claws scratched Raven's shoulder. Blood dripped; Raven winced. But he kept moving. In his mind, there was only one goal: Return to the Silver Moon Pack. Protect before conquer, that message now rang in his mind.

Suddenly, the system turned on again.

[Authority]

[Gained through protecting others.

Cannot be obtained through slaughter]

Authority is not the reward for killing enemies, but for protecting? This system... damn it! So I can only run! Raven didn't care; now he was running, and the further away he got from the pack of monsters, the closer he got to the Silver Moon Pack. The monsters continued to chase, but Raven didn't care and accelerated. The trees were thinning, and the air was getting warmer after several hours of running from the Shadow Wolves.

Raven saw torches in the distance. Silver Moon Pack, finally... Relief appeared on his face. But only for a moment. Black smoke billowed into the sky.

Fire?

Screams!

The sound of weapons clashing. His village was under attack!

Ding.

The system beeped again. A red screen filled her vision.

[Emergency Legacy Mission]

Return to Silver Moon Pack.

Time Remaining: 00:53:41

Failure: Death of an Important Person. Save: Pack!

Raven's breath caught. His vision was immediately filled with images of Martha. The old woman who always fed him and was always kind, even though the entire pack insulted him.

"Don't let it..."

Without thinking, Raven resumed running. But before leaving the boundaries of the Forbidden Forest... He turned around once more. The Shadow Wolf King and his army remained standing at a distance. The monster didn't pursue Raven after she reached the edge of the forest.

The Shadow Wolf King stared at Raven from a distance. It was an inexplicable gaze. A strange look, like he was waiting for something? Raven didn't understand. However, he didn't have time to think about it.

He ran towards the Silver Moon Pack. He had to save Martha, no matter what!

***

Meanwhile...

In a wooden house engulfed in flames... Martha sat weakly, blood streaming from her forehead. Before her stood three men in black robes.

One of them held a crescent-shaped pendant.

"We finally found you."

The man smiled faintly. "Where is the legacy of the First Alpha, Martha?"

The old woman shook her head slowly.

"I... will never tell you..."

Slap!

A hard slap knocked Martha to the ground. The black-robed man chuckled.

"You're still the same as you were twenty years ago. Preferring to be branded a traitor rather than open your mouth."

The man raised his sword slowly.

"It doesn't matter. If you die... We'll find the heir ourselves."

The sword began to rise, Martha's death only a matter of seconds away. Meanwhile, far outside the village, Raven ran with all his might, unaware that the person he wanted to save most was now just a step away from death.