Edward investigated the spot where Florian, the missing guard, had been seen for the last time. He carefully checked the surroundings both visually and with his aura. I don’t see any blood stains. No signs of struggles either, that guard was right. Nothing was standing out, it was as if the guard had disappeared into thin air. It was even eerier knowing that there were other guards not far away that didn’t see nor hear anything.

On a hunch, Edward checked the ground for hidden tunnels. If he was a monster, tunneling unseen through the ground would be his best guest on how to make a person disappear while staying unseen. But even then, he didn’t notice anything abnormal. Edward frowned. How the heck did that monster proceed to make someone disappear without leaving a trace? He left the path to check the nearby forest. This time he went a bit farther inside, leaving the path behind him. Finally, five hundred meters from the path he found something.

The guard’s corpse, or what was left of it, was laying on the forest soil. The poor man had been eaten, only his scattered bones were left with shreds of flesh attached to them. Edward’s aura swelled, his presence increasing, flattening the surrounding plants to the ground, only he and the trees were left standing. Seeing the plants crushed all around him made him regain his bearing. He took back control of his aura, letting it return to its normal level.

Did I just do this? This is the first time that my aura is reacting to my subconscious thoughts. Now that it can affect the world physically, I’ll have to be careful. What if I was still in the camp? Would I have sent Agripin’s villagers to the ground? Damn it, that’s just another problem. I wanted powers that make me freer, not powers that turned me into something dangerous to everyone around me.

Edward let out a long breath. He was in control but still fuming, repressed anger boiling inside of him. I could have prevented this. This fucking monster managed to go past me one way or another and this is the result. I still have no idea how it did it. At this point, it could as well have been teleportation. Edward paused, processing the fact that he was indeed in a magical world. He could teleport and so could some monsters. Could that be it? But I should have been to sense it then. I’m able to sense when Teleportcrows are teleporting near me. But can I still sense it if I’m resting in overwatch meditation? Edward mused.

That’s it. No more resting. Tonight, I will be waiting for this fucker. If it comes back, it’s dead.

Edward stayed on the murder scene for a few more minutes, both to calm himself and to check if the monster had left a trail behind. But there wasn’t a clue apart from the guard’s corpse. I’m leaning more toward teleportation than camouflage then. Even if it was camouflage it would have to leave blood stains behind if it had killed the guard while it was at his post.

Also, I have to be careful with my aura. Letting my anger take control and making my aura flare won’t help me there. I don’t want to attract powerful monsters to me or the convoy.

Having calmed down, Edward ran back to the convoy to tell Caspian about his discoveries. The latter wasn’t pleased to learn that one monster could simply bypass its defenses and kill whomever it wanted. However, he agreed with Edward, that the worst of the monster was his capability to enter and leave the camp unnoticed with its prey. The monster in itself shouldn’t be too strong, otherwise, it would have chased after more than one prey. That’s why Caspian review the whole night watch planning. From now on the guards would be in groups of three, which would prevent the monsters from picking on them. However, that would also mean that there would be more space between the guards, weakening the monitoring of the civilians. Edward reassured Caspian, telling him he would be there too. He wouldn’t sleep until that monster was dead.

Learning that one of their comrades was dead and that the monster responsible for it was still alive and free, maybe even stalking them right at this moment, the mood was bleak. The guards were more attentive and the conversations were reduced to hush whispers. The civilians weren’t at peace either, if even a guard had managed to get killed, they could very well be the next on the list. to make it worse, the journey wasn’t as easy as the day before.

The number of wolves had increased, no longer was it the lone wolf here or there. Now small packs of wolves were following them from both sides. They didn’t dare attack the convoy and Edward took care of several of them as well. However, they learned quickly that he was dangerous. They didn’t engage him and flew away each time they saw him come near. Edward did pursue one pack, catching up to them and slaughtering them. But by the time he came back to the convoy they had to confront the attack of another wolf pack. There were no wounded but it had slowed down their advance, and the wolves had flown away as soon as they sensed Edward coming.

The wolves were using hit-and-run tactics. Edward couldn’t be everywhere at the same time. Luckily Agripin had enough awakens to fend off the wolves by themselves. For now, the wolves were only testing them, checking how strong their group was. However, the fact they continued to trail after the group even after learning of Edward was concerning. It meant they were confident enough to take care of him. Their level of coordination and their confidence meant only one thing to Edward. There must be another Regal wolf commanding them. They would have stopped following us otherwise, we are not prey they can deal with just by themselves.

I don’t fear you. I have already dealt with a Regal wolf before, and now I know how to handle them. Just come if you dare, I’ll be waiting for you. Despite his inner monologue, Edward couldn’t help getting tense. Although he didn’t fear fighting the Regal wolf, it wasn’t a monster his friends could fight. If something went wrong people could die.

I knew it wouldn’t be easy but we are for a great start. We are on the second day and we already have some unknown monster able to get past our defenses somehow, and now we have another Regal wolf on our trail. Moreover, at the speed, we are moving it will definitely take four days to cross the forest.

The sour mood continued for the whole day. The presence of the wolves weighed on everybody’s mind. Being surrounded by monsters while being unable to do anything about it wasn’t a pleasant feeling. Edward didn’t bother chasing after the wolves’ packs seeing that the method was ineffective. Both sides were biding their time.

When night fell, and the wolves gathered to face the convoy, it was actually a relief to Edward. He was confident he could beat the Regal wolf, but he wasn’t sure how long he would have been able to deal with this hit-and-run tactic from the wolves. Right now, they weren’t able to threaten the group directly thanks to Edward, but their impact on the group’s mood was non-negligible and it was slowing them down. If the Vipin Forest was bigger, maybe needing a ten-day journey, Edward was sure some people in the group would have broken down under the mental pressure.

But with the forest’s actual size, the wolves couldn’t afford to wait, lest their prey left the forest. Already the convoy was midway through it.

The convoy prepared accordingly to the threat, the civilians gathering in the center while the guards formed an outer circle to protect them. Edward was facing the front path where the wolf’s density was the most important, Caspian and Balin weren’t far from him.

As Edward was expecting, as night fell the wolves cleared the way to let through a Regal wolf. The monster’s size was as impressive as the first time Edward saw one for the first time, it was towering above its congeners. Gasps of horrors and stupefactions could be heard among the villagers. I’ve only seen Regal wolves at night. The wolves must have been waiting for it the whole day. It’s interesting how the monster population change between day and night. It’s the same for the Teleportcrows I only ever saw them at night. Edward thought absentmindedly. He also noticed that number of wolves had greatly increased compared to the day.

“Leave the Regal wolf to me. It can use aura to cut through armor and prevent your wounds from healing. Also, it can turn into smoke to evade your attacks. Take care of the ordinary wolves. I will join you after I take care of this one.” Edward declared boldly, boosting his side’s morale.

This time Edward didn’t let the first move to the monster. He couldn’t let it slide past him, he was the only one able to confront such a monster.

“Rèng khwāmrĕw” he shouted, using his acceleration power. He rushed straight to the Regal wolf, daggers drawn, and shining with his aura. The monster had barely time to react, trusting its instinct to turn into smoke and evade the attack. However, Edward didn’t stop there. He immediately used his aura, making it burst around him, creating a blast of wind around him. Both the wolves and the guards were destabilized. What mattered is that the Regal wolf was forced to materialize again, his smoke form not strong enough to resist the blast of air.

Now that it was in physical form Edward could injure it. He didn’t waste the opportunity, swiftly cutting into the monster several times with his daggers. He didn’t have the time to properly elongate them with his aura, so it wasn’t enough to fell the beast. But already it was injured and on the back foot. It roared in defiance. The roar took the ordinary wolves out of their stupor, and the battle began for real.

The wolves charged at the convoy with angry snarls. The awaken guards were able to fend them off, especially Caspian who had taken his boosting form, his body bulging with muscles. When he wasn’t killing a wolf, he was knocking one away with one powerful strike.

However, no matter how competent the guards were, they were still outnumbered. They wouldn’t be able to stop the wolves for long. Before long, one would be able to sneak past them either to attack them from behind or to tear through the defenseless civilians.

Edward knew that, and his fight only rekindled in intensity. He was still in his accelerated state and the Regal wolf wasn’t able to counterattack. The monster was too slow compared to Edward and the most it could do was to delay as much as possible by entering his smoke form. However, that wasn’t enough to put it out of reach since Edward was immediately using his aura to force it back into his physical form.