Thump!

Wheeze!

Arthur pushed his exhausted body beyond its limits, and ran through the forest at a frantic speed, dodging the obstacles in his path, while slamming into some of them with devastating force.

His senses worked at their maximum capacity, and he also examined his surroundings well with the "Evaluation skill," and this helped him avoid many of the Mawvine trees that were hiding among the ordinary trees.

Awoooooo!

Suddenly, he heard the loud howl again, and this time it was much closer than before. His instincts reacted, and informed him that the wolf chasing him outranked him.

"Damn, damn." He gritted his fangs, and tried to increase his speed, but he could not, he was far too exhausted, and the fact that he was still able to run at all was a miracle in itself.

But it was not enough, he needed more miracles to survive this desperate situation, and even though he did everything within his power to achieve even one small one, he did not succeed.

Unfortunately, the world did not work that way, and determination alone had never been enough.

Little by little, he burned the little strength he had previously regained, until he had nothing left, and at that point, his speed began to slow, he felt heaviness in his limbs, and stumbled several times.

"No." As though he had gone rabid, foam filled his mouth, and his eyes turned red, he forced himself to stay on his feet with great difficulty, and continued surging forward despite himself.

His HP bar dropped significantly, and because of that, his bloodline returned to work, and did everything it could to support his body.

Again, that thin red aura surrounded him, and wherever he placed his paws, life was drained from the grass and insects around him, and even the small rodents hiding in nearby places had their life force severely damaged.

A long trail of barren ground two meters wide formed in the place he had passed through, yellow spread across the leaves, and they began falling heavily behind him.

’This? What is my bloodline doing?’ Arthur was greatly surprised, for amid his intense desperation, he suddenly felt a little strength returning to fill his body, and this eased a little the pressure he was feeling.

But unfortunately, he did not find the time to feel relieved, for he heard that loud howl for the third time, and this time it was close, very close.

He stole a quick glance behind him, and even though dense trees filled the place, he managed to see some indistinct creatures chasing him, they were massive and very fast. They were approximately half a kilometer away, and little by little they were closing the gap between them.

’Damn, what will I do now, I am done for. I will truly die.’ Chaos overwhelmed his thoughts, and he was convinced of the bitter truth, he would not survive.

Once again, he found himself cornered, he could not fight, and fleeing was merely postponing the inevitable, as for hiding, well, no matter how stupid or desperate he was he would not think of doing that, for nothing escapes the wolves’ powerful senses, and he knew that well.

He was desperate, angry, sad, his emotions mixed to the point that he no longer knew exactly what he felt, for a moment he thought about stopping, but he did not, he had overcome his fear of death not long ago, yet this did not mean he would allow monsters to eat him without a final struggle.

His expression turned cold. All the chaos in his mind and emotions disappeared, and all that remained was a lethal clarity. He had made his decision, and it was not a good one.

’There is no other choice, I have no option but to gamble.’ He silently lamented his wretched fate, then suddenly changed his course.

Since his mad plan required him to run for a few more miles, he was in dire need of preventing the wolves from catching him before he reached his destination.

And for this reason, he had no choice but to push his body beyond its limits, and extract every last bit of energy within it, even his bloodline itself began to burn, providing him with strength that made him surge at greater speed.

A golden gleam appeared in his eyes. His ragged fur danced in the wind, and faint steam rose from all parts of his body.

Incredibly, he began widening the gap between himself and the wolves chasing him.

Behind him, all the wolves were greatly shocked, and could not comprehend how he was still able to run at this speed, or how he was still able to run at all.

The wolves looked at each other strangely, and after a brief moment of hesitation, they stopped restraining themselves, and surged at their full speed as well. They were all D-Rank wolves, and it was impossible for Arthur to outrun them.

In truth, had they not been moving with extreme caution, and going around the areas ruled by powerful monsters, they would have caught up with him several hours ago, and even now, they were still in a state of extreme tension, given that they were very far from their territory.

Their eyes filled with killing intent, and they decided to end the matter as quickly as possible.

Even though the white wolf had ordered them to bring the intruder alive, this did not necessarily mean it had to be in perfect health, losing a limb or two was not a big problem.

They bared their fangs, and growled all at the same time, their unified growl carried an extremely overwhelming aura that made Arthur tremble from his depths. His legs gave out for a moment, and he nearly fell, yet he did not slow his speed.

The wolves’ shock grew, for their growl was not merely a loud threatening cry, but a mental attack, used by high Rank wolves to impose their control over weaker wolves.

Arthur had high resistance to mental attacks, and even if he had not, he was currently in a strange mental state that made him think about one thing only, which was reaching his destination.

The wolves got closer to him, and to distract them, he ventured through an area full of Mawvine trees, the long vines attacked him from every direction, while several massive mouths opened in the trees around him.

He jumped over the vines that attacked from below, then bent sharply, dodging several vines that attacked from above. He tore some of them with his claws and bit others.