Tenebrous Wolf
Chapter 76: The Wind, The Fallen, The Demoness and The Soulless

Chapter 76: The Wind, The Fallen, The Demoness and The Soulless

Looking puzzled, Klaus began to question his eyes. In the field of his vision, two silhouettes were standing before the slain Scavenger.

One was tall and lithe, with short, bob-styled white hair and silver, expressionless eyes. She was dressed in a black, form-fitting advanced suit, though on closer inspection, its defensive system had been compromised, with multiple cuts and tears marring the suit.

Beside her stood a boy with handsome features and a lean, muscular frame. His dirty-blond hair was slightly tousled, and his clear turquoise eyes held a sharp glint. His advanced suit was in a similar state of disrepair; both arm pieces were completely missing, leaving the upper suit resembling a sleeveless shirt.

He blinked.

What a bloody coincidence this was! Of course, he had expected them to be somewhere within the vast Sunless Void, but he never imagined they would be together, let alone this close to him! Thinking back, that orange flare from the mysterious hill Briar mentioned was most likely their doing!

In such a situation, if he teamed up with them, his chances of survival would skyrocket!

However,

’What should I do? Would it be okay to approach them like this?’

Instead of stepping out from his hiding spot, he remained still, weighing his options. There was no doubt that his chances of survival would skyrocket if he joined them. But what about Briar? The demoness would either have to remain inside his Soul World or activate her human [Disguise] to blend in with them.

Yes, those were her only two choices in this situation and the latter was far more beneficial. She needed to stay in the physical world to command her tamed Awakened Ghoul. Moreover, at some point, the succubus had to increase her interactions with humans.

Wasn’t this the perfect opportunity for that?

"Hey, what’s going on? There are other humans? More than that, they also killed our lunch. Tch!"

Apparently, the succubus in question didn’t share his concerns. At some point, she had climbed down from the tamed Awakened Ghoul and moved close.

Seeing the scavenger they had set their sights on slain by another party, Briar frowned and clicked her tongue in displeasure.

Glancing at the irritated demoness, Klaus raised a question.

"What should we do now? Should we approach or leave?"

Briar looked at him.

"Ugh. What kind of question is that? Naturally, the logical approach here would be to team up with others, but I’m not too sure about that. And judging by your reaction earlier, it seems like you know those people, yes?"

Klaus nodded.

"That’s right. Well, in a way. The white-haired girl is Seraphim, and the boy is Adrian. I’m not sure if you know this, but Adrian is the one who stayed in the room opposite ours back at the academy."

"Ah... So he’s that guy. I remember you mentioning his name a few times." Briar folded her arms, then tilted her head slightly. "Can we trust them?"

"That’s a tricky question. I’m sure about Adrian, but the problem is Seraphim," saying so, the young Strider narrowed his eyes back at the scene. "Though I don’t know much about her, I believe she’s a logical individual. Even if her personality might be difficult, we can trust her instinct to survive."

The demoness smiled knowingly.

"She sounds like a great person."

"I won’t comment on that since I don’t know Seraphim that well. Basically, we’re still strangers. So, are you coming or not? If you are, then listen closely, here’s what you need to do."

With that, Klaus began explaining the plan for their next course of action. Briar listened attentively, nodding in understanding before activating her [Disguise].

Immediately, her demonic features faded. Her pink-lavender skin turned fair, her bat-like horns and small wings vanished, and her midnight-purple hair shifted to brunette with her eyes turning green. It was as if her demonic nature had never existed in the first place.

Even though he had witnessed this transformation before, Klaus couldn’t help but marvel at the [Disguise] trait once again. While it wasn’t true shapeshifting, certain aspects remained unchanged, it was still an impressive ability.

Noticing his intense stare, Briar turned to him with a questioning look.

"What?"

"Ah, sorry. It’s nothing."

"Pervert."

Klaus had no counter to that. Instead of arguing, he cleared his throat and shifted the topic.

"Alright. Since you’re ready, let’s go say hey."

As he spoke, his gaze landed on the Blackmane Stalker, standing still as if awaiting its next command. He hesitated before pointing at the humanoid creature.

"You’re not bringing that thing, right?"

Briar tilted her head. "Why not?"

"Because we’re trying to work with them, not scare them senseless!"

"That makes no sense. If anything, seeing that I tamed this monstrosity should prove our worth."

Klaus opened his mouth, ready to refute her logic, but no words came out. He shut it just as quickly, realizing — against his will — that she had a point.

With a heavy sigh, he resigned himself to his fate.

Without another word, the two began moving toward the clearing where the Awakened Ghoul lay. Meanwhile, Adrian and Seraphim, unaware of their approach, continued with their so-called individual activities.

Glancing up, Seraphim stared absentmindedly at the gray sky.

"Hey, is something the matter?"

Seeing this, Adrian paused and raised the question, whereupon Seraphim replied in a flat voice:

"We should go. It will rain soon."

Adrian blinked, confused.

"Huh? How did you come to that conclusion?"

"It looks like it would rain."

"I really wonder how you could say that when it hasn’t rained since we got here. By the way, what should we do with this monster then?"

Seraphim lowered her head and cleared her throat.

"Leave it."

Adrian furrowed his brows but didn’t argue further. He glanced at the slain Scavenger, then back at Seraphim, who remained unfazed. The way she dismissed the creature so easily gave him a strange feeling, but he shook it off and let out a sigh.

"Fine. No point dragging it around, anyway."

"Indeed, it would be difficult to carry that slain beast around. How about I suggest a better alternative?"

Hearing the friendly voice, both Adrian and Seraphim snapped to attention, weapons raised as they searched for the source. At that moment, Klaus and Briar approached slowly and carefully, mindful not to startle them.

Adrian’s eyes widened slightly, surprised by their appearance. Meanwhile, Seraphim remained cautious and studied them in silence.

Sensing the tense atmosphere, Klaus raised his hand in greeting:

"Yo. How are you doing?"

Adrian let out a short laugh.

"Well, I’ll be damned. What are the odds of meeting you here?"

His gaze drifted to Briar and lifted his brows in mild curiosity. Tilting his head, he soon asked:

"Who is this?"

"Ah, this is Morgan," Klaus introduced smoothly. "A reliable ally I picked up along the way."

"Picked up?"

"That’s right. It’s a long story. Hey, why don’t you say hi?"

With that, Klaus nudged Briar’s side with his elbow. The demoness in disguise shot him a brief glare before sighing and giving a nod.

"Nice to meet you, I guess."

So much for communication skills... Klaus thought wryly.

He had already expected her communication skills to be average at best, so he wasn’t too surprised. Though she tried to mask it, her posture betrayed a hint of tension. She looked like a quiet girl meeting new people for the first time.

A few seconds later, sensing the shift in atmosphere, Seraphim finally dismissed her silver sword and turned to Adrian with a question:

"Do you know him?"

Scratching his cheek, Adrian muttered hesitantly:

"I suppose you could say that. His name is Nikolaus. We’re sort of neighbors in the academy’s male dormitory, my room is opposite his. Thinking back, you faced him once during one of the combat class lessons."

"Ah..."

Seraphim’s expression shifted slightly, as though recalling a distant memory from the depths of the Memory Sea. Then, with a slight frown, she turned to Klaus and said curtly:

"Now I remember. He’s the same person who nearly cracked my skull and sent me to the infirmary. Even after that, he didn’t bother to visit when I regained consciousness or even offer an apology. So yes, I know him very well."

The smile immediately vanished from Klaus’s face.

’Hey, c’mon now! It’s not like I didn’t want to apologize, alright! Besides, the atmosphere wouldn’t have been good. I mean, wouldn’t the last person you want to see after waking up be the one who put you there in the first place?!’

He felt wronged somehow but her words weren’t unreasonable. In fact, if explained to another person, he would definitely be seen as the bad guy.

Certainly, it was painfully understandable for her to hold a grudge. But he couldn’t leave things as it was.

In an attempt to clear up the misunderstanding, he spoke hurriedly:

"I’m really sorry about that. I didn’t get the chance to apologize properly when you woke up. Well, you were discharged the next day, and talking to you at that point would have been... awkward."

Seraphim shook her head.

"Don’t worry. I already know you didn’t have any bad intentions. Someone told me you visited me every day in the medical ward while I was unconscious and brought me flowers. So you have my gratitude for that."

’If that was the case, then why did you bring it up like I was some heartless bastard?!’

Klaus held back the urge to say that aloud, instead forcing a wry smile.

She was probably messing with him. Thinking about it, the person she mentioned had to be Yuki, right? At first glance, the two seemed similar, but now he realized their similarities went beyond just appearance.

Both were quiet, observant, and, apparently, had a rather unique sense of humor.

Did it run in the blood?

Wait — if Yuki was Seraphim’s sister, didn’t that mean she was also from the Luminous Clan? And why was he only thinking about that now?

Shaking that thought away, he scratched the back of his head.

"Well, I’m glad we cleared that up. No hard feelings, right?"

Seraphim simply gave a small nod, then fell silent, as if she had nothing more to say. Klaus wasn’t sure how to continue the conversation either.

Fortunately, Adrian stepped in like a hero, clearing his throat before asking:

"So, what are you two doing here?"

Klaus gestured toward the slain Scavenger behind him.

"We were planning to hunt that until you guys got to it first."

"Ah, I see. Well, actually, we set up an ambush for that thing. Somehow, it managed to escape, and we tracked it here. You’d be surprised how persistent these bloody Hollows are."

"Don’t worry. I have my own experiences."

Adrian chuckled.

"Heh! I guess that can’t be helped. We’re all trapped in this damn place, after all. We don’t mind if you take some of the monster meat, we’ve already taken our share."

As he spoke, he gestured to his rucksack, which was stuffed with fresh monster meat. Klaus nodded in approval.

Chitinous Scavengers were classified as "monsters" despite being mere fiends. Their formidable physique and natural armor made them a challenge for any Strider, especially when they only possessed shrouded cores. For those at the very bottom of the ranking sequence, defeating one was no small feat.

But was it really that impressive?

That was the solitary thought belonginy to Klaus, who had slain several Plague Ravagers of the same Shrouded rank as though they were nothing.

Maybe he was simply different from other Striders. Thinking back, wasn’t his striking power ranked at [50], surpassing even Miguel, a Vestige, whose striking power was a staggering [25]?

And that was merely on the second day of the academy. With his [Adaptation], perhaps he had already grown even stronger.

Snapping out of his reverie, Klaus suddenly posed a question.

"Thanks, but do you really think that small bag will last you the whole day? Or even until tomorrow?"

The blonde stiffened.

"T-That... Obviously not. Of course, we know that, but it’s not like we can carry the whole thing."

Klaus smiled.

"Actually, I have a solution for that."

Adrian’s interest was piqued, and even Seraphim seemed curious.

"Wait, you do?"

Receiving their inquisitive gazes, Klaus nodded and swept his eyes toward Briar, now referred as Morgan, with a knowing look. The disguised demoness understood the silent message and mentally commanded the tamed ghoul to emerge from its hiding spot.

At that moment, the Blackmane Stalker crept out from the shadows where it had been lurking.

The instant the humanoid creature revealed itself, both Striders tensed in alarm. Their expressions twisted with terror as they instinctively took a stance, weapons drawn and ready to strike at the abomination.