Ariel glanced down at me lazily.

"You didn’t ask."

"I didn’t—"

I stopped myself halfway through the argument.

Honestly, there was no point.

We’d just waste time going back and forth over something stupid while standing outside a dangerous cave in the middle of the night.

So instead, I exhaled and shook my head.

"Let’s just get this over with."

I stepped forward and started walking toward the cave entrance.

But after only a few steps, I suddenly slowed.

Then stopped completely.

Something about the surroundings felt wrong.

My eyes moved across the dark forest surrounding the cave, taking in the towering pine trees stretching upward into the night sky. The deeper shadows between them looked unnaturally thick, almost too dark even for nighttime, while the cold air carried a faint scent of ash and burnt wood despite there being no visible fire nearby.

Even the silence felt strange.

There were no insects. No distant creature sounds. Nothing. Just stillness.

And for some reason, the deeper I looked into the forest surrounding the cave, the more the atmosphere started feeling oppressive.

Like something dangerous had marked this entire territory as its own.

I frowned slightly.

"What’s wrong?" Ariel asked from my shoulder. "Why did you stop?"

"We’re surrounded," I responded quietly.

The moment those words left my mouth, Ariel’s entire demeanor changed.

Her aura flared instinctively as she leaped down from my shoulder and began scanning the surrounding forest sharply, all traces of laziness gone from her expression.

A few seconds later, she sensed them too.

Her eyes narrowed.

"I can’t believe I didn’t notice them earlier," Ariel muttered, sounding genuinely irritated with herself. "They couldn’t do this when I fought them before."

"Obviously," I replied while slowly drawing my blade. "It’s because it’s nighttime."

The darkness around us wasn’t ordinary darkness anymore.

Now that I focused properly, I could feel movement hidden within the forest surrounding the cave. Multiple presences were circling us silently between the trees, using the shadows themselves to mask their positions.

Too coordinated to be random beasts.

"Did you say these creatures were wolves?" I asked.

Ariel nodded once.

I slowly lifted my gaze upward toward the moon overhead.

Despite shining brightly, most of its light barely reached the forest floor because of the dense canopy above us. Combined with the unnatural shadows surrounding the cave, the entire area felt eerily dim for a full moon night.

Then my eyes lowered again toward the darkness between the trees.

"...Then these wolves are probably stronger than usual right now."

Ariel frowned slightly.

"Because it’s dark?"

I shook my head.

"No."

My grip around the sword tightened slightly.

"Because it’s a full moon."

It was common knowledge that wolves tended to become more dangerous under a full moon. At least... that was how they were usually portrayed across countless fictional stories back on Earth.

And the moon in this world was enormous. Far larger and brighter than the one I remembered, hanging over the forest like some massive celestial eye watching everything below. Combined with the unnatural atmosphere surrounding this place, there was no doubt these creatures were going to be far stronger than Ariel originally encountered.

A low howl suddenly echoed through the forest. Then another answered it from somewhere deeper in the darkness.

Soon, the sound spread everywhere around us.

The pack was communicating. And more importantly... Closing in.

"Get ready," I said quietly.

I pulled out Gravefang, though not for the reason Ariel probably expected. Without hesitation, I dragged the blade across my own wrist.

Blood spilled immediately.

I unsummoned Gravefang. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Using the flowing blood, I shaped another weapon using [Blood Forge], compressing and hardening it into the form of a crimson sword. The blade shimmered faintly under the moonlight as the blood stabilized into a far denser state.

I tested the weapon with a few swings. It was surprisingly sturdy. Then it happened.

A blazing sphere of fire suddenly shot through the darkness straight toward me. Fast. Far faster than an ordinary projectile.

It exploded the moment it reached my position, flames erupting violently across the area and kicking up smoke and ash everywhere.

*

Ariel instantly leaped backward, her tails flaring out as she stared toward the explosion cautiously. But through the smoke, she saw nothing. Then suddenly, an animal shriek echoed ahead.

Ariel’s eyes snapped forward. There, partially illuminated by moonlight between the trees, stood Eli with his blade buried deep inside the body of a massive wolf.

*

I stared at the corpse of the creature hanging from my blade and activated [Analyze].

A system screen immediately flashed into existence before me.

[Flame Fang Wolf] [Level 35]

The creature was massive up close.

Its body was covered in charred black fur streaked with glowing molten veins that pulsed faintly beneath the skin like flowing lava trapped inside flesh. Thin trails of smoke escaped continuously from its half-open jaws, and even in death, heat still radiated from the wolf strongly enough to warm the cold night air around it.

But what truly caught my attention wasn’t the body. It was the crystal embedded deep inside its chest.

A crimson shard roughly the size of my palm rested near the creature’s burned ribs, glowing faintly beneath the moonlight like trapped hellfire.

I narrowed my eyes slightly while staring at it.

"So this is the crystal they were talking about..."

Before I could inspect it further, low growls suddenly echoed from the surrounding darkness. Then they appeared.

One after another, massive wolves began emerging silently from between the trees surrounding the cave, their molten eyes glowing ominously beneath the moonlight. Flames flickered faintly from their mouths as smoke drifted from their fur while they slowly circled us from every direction.

The rest of the Flame Fang Wolves had arrived.

And judging from the hostility pouring out of them...

Killing one of their own had instantly turned us into prey.

Another notification suddenly appeared before me, and this one wasn’t triggered by [Analyze].

[The creature you slew was affiliated with a pack]

[Nearby pack members are aware of this death]

[Hostility within the surrounding territory has increased]

I lowered my blade slightly, allowing the wolf’s corpse to slide off and hit the ground heavily.

The notification wasn’t surprising.

Of course, the rest of the pack would react aggressively after one of their own was killed. Wolves usually operated with strong pack instincts, so killing one of them in the middle of their territory was basically the same as provoking the entire group.

That said, whether they could...