Reta’s warning about the third-evolution populations was a blessing. In one fell swoop, Aiden would build his army—and so would I. With every beast that didn’t submit, I would obtain soul meat and cores for my army—and I’d get a new soldier for my soul army. I had spent years building my core, but my soul army had barely increased to ten. I could likely obtain another twenty third evolution spirits—and then I would have a real army to work with.

  It was a boon.

  That’s why Tyler and I both had something to look forward to that summer.

  I didn’t discount springtime. It was the one time of year when I enjoyed my life fully, so I took a break and went on daily hikes, and worked with Kai and Jaylin on improving seeds. Our crops now had soul seeds that could be fertilized with soul beasts, and now, every meal built up our forces. Dissatisfaction had waned—but it still wasn’t enough. I needed to level up hundreds of people to the third evolution to guard Tyler’s fort. Then, I’d need to level up hundreds more for Wraithwood.

  The auction loomed over us like a guillotine—and no amount of time was enough to prepare. So we kept pushing forward.

  We left for Rall’s Fort a month before the end of spring, as summer was a training period. With that in mind, I needed to settle them in and bring my teleportation arrays to check in twice a day. So I grabbed them and hit the road with Tyler, Malo, Kai, Aiden, the excavation team, and cooks to process the meat.

  It was a longer journey with the team, but before long, our boat was passing the fort, and Kai and Aiden were staring at Rall’s Fort apprehensively.

  “Well, at least it has character,” Kai said.

  “You treat it like a bad thing,” Aiden replied. “I think it’s charming.”

  “Your false positivity is showing,” I said.

  “False?” Aiden grinned. “What are you talking about? I’m one month away from throwing a party here.”

  “Have you even been to a party? Outside of Claustra events?”

  “No. But that’s more reason to do it.”

  “Then, it’s a thing,” Tyler said. “The second it’s functional, you’re throwing the party.”

  “I’m surprised that you guys can be so calm,” Darna, the head of the excavation team, said. “The second I step foot on shore, I’m going to piss myself.”

  “Very lady-like,” Mort, her second in command, said.

  “If you’re concerned about standards, why don’t you lead the way?” she posed. “Walk in alone, and I’ll curtsy.”

  “On second thought, feel free to spit and curse,” he said with a nervous grin, and the team laughed.

  I liked the new group. I also felt bad for them—things were about to get rough.

  I navigated the ship to shore and stretched my legs in the tall grass as I stared at the abandoned fort.

  “So?” Kai asked grimly. “How are we going to do this?”

  Aiden walked beside me and waited for my answer.

  “We’re all moving together,” I replied. “Tyler and Malo are in charge of protecting the team with the ward. Aiden will attempt to bring third-evs to our side. If they don’t bite, we’ll kill ‘em.”

  “And me?” Kai asked.

  “I’ll let you help if you can hang. If you can’t, you’ll switch places with Malo.”

  “What about me?” Tyler asked. “Will you give me a chance?”

  “You’re not even a second ev yet,” I said dryly. “Evolve and work on your magic. Once you’re ready, I’ll take you out, I promise. Till then…”

  Tyler nodded without wincing. “I understand.” I was impressed by his answer. In just a few years, he had matured well, especially after getting married. He was turning out to be a strong young man.

  “Alright,” I said to the archaeologists and engineers. “Keep close to Tyler and Malo—and keep your cool. This area’s filled with third evolution beasts, and we’ll need to clear them out before we can make camp.”

  Mort’s face paled to a remarkable shade of polished porcelain. “Third evs? Multiple?”

  “Hundreds,” I said dryly, shocking everyone.

  “I don’t know about this,” Darna said. “We signed up to explore ruins and restore technology—not fight freakish creatures.” Her team agreed.

  I rolled my eyes. “You’re in Areswood Forest—a forest that has killed almost every human that’s entered it for the last two hundred thousand years. If you signed up for anything less, you’re an idiot.”

  “I get what you’re saying, but there’s a big difference between second evolution beasts and third,” Mort said, “and from the sounds of things, only a couple of you can handle one. So how are you going to handle hundreds?”

  “Overwhelming force,” I said. I rummaged through my bag and pulled out a jar of blue cores and passed it to him. “I hunt third evolution beasts exclusively.”

  “Yeah, but hundreds.”

  “Mort,” Darna said, cutting him off. “What’s done is done.”

  “What’s done is done? You can’t be serious?”

  “If you want to stay here, you’re more than welcome to,” I said. “But if you want to live, you’re gonna keep pace.”

  I put my fingers into the soil and activated Wood Wide Web. I obtained a topographical map of soul presences in a ten-mile radius. The scene was pretty terrifying—there were twenty just in that small patch of land. Still, we would be fine as long as everyone stuck to their roles.

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  I turned to Malo. “You ready?”

  He nodded. “Yes.”

  “Okay, let’s go.” Ignoring the protests from the team, I started to walk straight into the sprawling forest.

  The area wasn’t like Wraithwood—the trees were relatively dense, but paths had formed from where massive beasts had barreled through the forest, cracking trees in half. The inside of most were rotted, but there were fresh pawprints the size of beach balls and wet breaks. Just the sight made Tyler reconsider his enthusiasm for hunting.

  “You get that this was caused by a beast, right?” Mort asked a few miles in, looking at a broken tree.

  “Yes,” I said.

  “And you said there were hundreds? I’m not doubting your skill—”

  “You’re doubting her skill,” Kai interrupted.

  Mort winced. “But come on.”

  “Shut up,” Darna said. “You’re going to attract them.”

  “It’s fine,” I said. “I know where they are.” I put up my hand and pointed into the distance and turned to Aiden. “There’s a burly type that way. It’s slow, but it’s mid-strength. Do you think you can handle it?”

  “There’s only one way to find out.”

  “Okay. Well, do your best. There’s a den a couple miles away.”

  “A den?” Mort asked, looking between me, Aiden, and Darna.

  Kai took a deep breath, turned to him and the other chatty engineers, and said, “You get that we’re hunting dangerous beasts, right?” He looked at Darna. “Keep your group in check or....” He glanced at me, and I shot her a confirming glare.

  Darna swallowed and turned to her team. “Nothing you say will change anything—so keep quiet so we don’t—”

  An ear-shattering roar cut her off, and the whole team jumped when a crack of a tree punctuated the war cry. Mort shook as a beast that looked like a furry stegosaurus barreled toward us.

  Aiden smiled nervously. “This one isn’t in the mood for talking.”

  Tyler watched the creature fly through the pathways so fast that it would’ve looked like it was teleporting to a normal human. “You call this slow?” he cried.

  “Comparatively,” I said as Kai unsheathed his sword. I had yet to see him use it, and I knew why as soon as he unsheathed it. It radiated a sinister amount of power as the arrays on it lit up, sucking mana from the atmosphere in torrents. It was so intense that the barreling beast slowed down apprehensively, stopping a hundred yards away from us.

  I turned to him. “You think you can handle this?”

  “I should,” Kai said, and I believed him. Threading was his full-time job for over a year, so he was nearing the breakthrough point of the second evolution. Combined with Vengeance, he had the raw power to fight multiple third-evolution beasts at once—they all did. Everyone had feasted on third evolution meat and threaded the corresponding cores for years. They were all far stronger than I was when I started killing third evolution beasts—they just lacked experience. This was their moment.

  Kai walked forward, but Aiden stopped him. “Give me a shot first. This gal isn’t diplomatic, but she will respond to power.”

  Kai furrowed his brow and checked Aiden’s core to ensure that he wasn’t missing anything, but said nothing. That was the right call. The next moment, a torrent of terrifying power shot out of Aiden’s body when he activated Dominion. It was incomparable to when I met him—the soul scars from dozens of third evolution beasts he and Kael had hunted clung to our skin like leeches. My arm hairs bristled from the feeling; the archaeologists and engineers froze or hit the ground. Mort’s pants darkened when his bladder broke. It was terrible—but that was the point.

  The beast took two steps back, roaring in warning while its eyes flitted around. Its desire to fight had been broken; it seemed like it would listen. Unfortunately, that wasn’t in the cards. Dozens of beasts that felt the terrible aura started howling, screeching, and bellowing through the forest.

  Mort started crying. “I-I told you.”

  I ignored them and watched through Wood Wide Web as dozens of beasts approached us cautiously.

  I turned to Kline, who walked forward in his house cat form. “Don’t. If you do it, it’ll attract the whole forest.”

  Kline looked up at me with a pleading frown. He had invested one of his epic rewards in Dominion—but unlike Aiden, he had over a thousand kills, with at least two hundred third-evolution beasts. With that much dread, he could make a dozen beasts docile—but there were hundreds in the area, and we couldn’t handle that many.

  “Don’t give me that look,” I said. “Save it for a fourth ev.”

  “D-Did you just say fourth ev?” Mort cried, detached from reality. “We’re going to die!”

  Malo turned to me. “How many are coming?”

  I closed my eyes. “Two dozen. Aiden attempt a contract and do it fast. If it refuses—we’ll make an example of it.”

  The furry stegosaurus heard me, and it looked around, ears twitching. It heard the beasts approaching and stood its ground.

  Aiden sighed. “Seems she’s feeling confident.”

  I turned to Kai. “Do it.”

  Kai complied instantaneously, shooting across the forest with intense agility. His sword lit up with demonic crimson light as he swung it, leaving after-trails. The beast dodged, lifting its legs and slamming the forest floor. The ground didn’t just buckle—it sent rock spikes jutting through the soil. Kai dodged them, but they kept coming. He weaved through them with impressive dexterity.

  Darna was in awe over the scene. She was a second evolution entity, but her purity was low. So she just watched in the protection of a bubble barrier, trying to keep up—but failing.

  Tyler would normally comment, but he was focused on the sound of beasts charging toward the area.

  “Hurry up,” I said to Kai. If he heard me, he didn’t reply. He just zipped around at high speed, running circles around the creature while slashing at it. Massive gashes formed all around the beast’s iron body, and it started bleeding. It turned to us, saw us watching calmly, and tried to run. Kai wouldn’t let it. The second it tried to flee, Kai sliced off its hind legs with one swing. It had shot out a wind blade, so blood mist shot through the forest at high speed. It was impressive.

  The beast bellowed a death cry as its family and other related parties showed up, surrounding us.

  Malo’s expression turned grave as he stared at them with Eyes of Life. He could tell that some of them were speed types, and others were objectively stronger than the one Kai just fought. In fact, the one that arrived was among the weakest, and the ones that showed up were the alphas who came to protect their families and homes. “Please say that you held back fighting against me.”

  I smiled grimly and scanned my surroundings.

  2.

  Five minutes ago, Darna watched the most remarkable fight of her life. Despite being a second evolution entity, she couldn’t even see what was happening. Kai’s sword just flashed with light, leaving aftertrails that looked beautiful and chaotic. It was a visual masterpiece—but the context was clear—these beasts were so fast that she couldn’t even see the fight. And when it ended, she watched blood mist fly fifty meters through the forest, showcasing the raw force necessary to fight even a single one of the creatures.

  Now there were eight surrounding them—and more were arriving every minute. All of them were huge and exuded terrifying auras that made it difficult to breathe.

  No matter how strong Mira was, Darna couldn’t conceive of a world where Mira would be much stronger than Kai—she didn’t think anyone could be. He moved too fast. He defied physics. So even if Mira was stronger, it couldn’t be by much, and she needed to be vastly more powerful—considering that they were surrounded on all sides.

  “Hello friends,” Aiden said nervously, lacking confidence like the rest of them. “Believe it or not—we come in peace.”

  A mutated bear with viney fur snarled at him and glanced at the moaning, legless creature.

  “Yeah, it certainly does seem that way, doesn’t it?” Aiden laughed. He looked at Mira. “I know I shouldn’t show weakness, but… these beauties are strong.”

  “You think you can make a contract with any of them?”

  “Not under these circumstances. Plus, these’re alphas—they’re here to protect their homes.”

  “That’s tragic.”

  Darna heard Mira’s words, but didn’t understand what she meant. Mira didn’t look as confident as she normally did—but she wasn’t terrified either. Then, her next words shocked Darna to the core.

  “Malo—Kai. If they attack—don’t hold back. If there’s trouble, Kline will step in—so go wild and make it bloody.” She looked into the distance. “If we don’t break their will to fight, we’ll be doing this all day.”