Others could sense the ominosity that lingered around this area.
Elder Tilrith, on the other hand, sensed something more tangible and certain—she could see the malignant intention, that was zooming inside the mist, around them, 'But it does not emit any killing intent, or at least not yet...'
She could feel and see its presence but there was no sense of danger coming from it.
It seemed to be watching them from beyond the mist.
'I've repaired a Werewolf's soul in the past, this could be an Inner Fang. But I've never sensed as threatening aura as this Inner Fang,' Elder Tilrith frowned, this could be very dangerous. 'If it was really, an Inner Fang, then it might have a physical influence, in this place. Meaning... it could hurt us'
Realizing the gravity of this situation, Elder Tilrith circulated her hell-void energy.
She should be ready in case the Inner Fang attacked.
Fixing her gaze on the item ahead, Elder Tilrith approached it to take a better look.
Upon nearing the item, she frowned when she realized that it was an item she didn't know.
"What is that?" She muttered softly.From behind, Kyran looked at the item and frowned, "A cabinet...?"
"What's a cabinet?" Elder Tilrith turned towards him questioningly, she had never heard of it.
Remembering that he was with supernaturals who didn't know the basics—Kyran explained, "It is a place for humans to place kitchen things, or hide the pipe under the sink. I don't even know why it was here. It's nothing special or magical"
It was a plain and old wooden cabinet, something that Kyran didn't expect to see here.
Elder Tilrith looked at the cabinet with an evident frown.
She tried to take another step closer but she heard something moving from the side.
Swoosh!
Almost instantly, Elder Tilrith snapped her head towards that direction—but found only the sway of mist. Something was really hiding in the mist—the trails as it tore through the mist were evident, it could be seen.
'Is the Inner Fang protecting this cabinet? Why?' She contemplated in utter confusion.
Glancing ahead, she saw the trench was near.
But the only way the group could reach there was through passing the cabinet.
"Just what's going on? Nothing here should be a threat to us, all of this is fabricated, merely manifestations of the Emperor's mind" Mavenna said, she was stressed, as the air here was somehow weighing down on her as if she could die here. "Am I wrong?"
Instead of answering, Elder Tilrith waved her hand dismissively, "Don't move and wait here"
Mavenna hasn't done something like this as frequently as Elder Tilrith.
She doesn't know that there were special cases, such as the case of a Werewolf's soul.
"If anything, I should be the one to do it!" Kyran intervened.
Hearing this, Elder Tilrith glanced at him sharply, "Yes, you will be the one to enter the trench—but this is not about the trench. Shut up and let me check" She said sternly. Then, her eyes turned ahead again. "Something is here with us and I'm going to find it"
Swoosh!
Upon saying that, Elder Tilrith sprouted her demonic wings and floated above the group.
One could see hell-void energy gathering on her wings as she folded them to her body.
Having the Second Breath descent upon the world, she could now freely replenish—and use hell-void energy. She was beginning to feel like herself again, the solid suppression from the world's awakening weakened her, and she didn't like it.
But not anymore.
It was only when her hell-void energy was ready did she spread her wings open forcefully.
"Dust of the Accursed!"
Swoosh!
As her demonic chant echoed, hell-void energy surged outward, transforming into a cascade of shimmering purple specks that drifted down like slow-falling embers. Iris, Mavenna, Kyran, and Rex watched the specks wove themselves—into a translucent barrier, enclosing them, in its eerie glow.
Elder Tilrith created a barrier that would protect them from whatever was here with them.
Once the barrier was established, she landed back down and straightened her back.
Looking around one last time, she gazed back at the cabinet and prepared to take a step.
She lifted her foot as her heart pounded in her chest.
Her guts told her that once she took a step, the Inner Fang would strike her.
It was the same as the others, they could sense that something was about to happen.
However, when her foot landed a step forward—nothing happened.
Exhaling lightly through her mouth—Elder Tilrith lifted her gaze and approached the cabinet, this time, with more confidence. As she got closer, her ears picked up the sound of crying, it was muffled and it certainly came from inside the cabinet.
Naturally, a frown crossed her face.
'An Inner Fang was supposed to be the manifestation of the berserk-form of the Werewolf—it was a gift, by the Great Luna. How come the Royal Black Prince's Inner Fang, is a young boy? It doesn't make sense' Elder Tilrith thought.
Knowing that it could've been an Inner Fang, she expected a menacing Werewolf.
A horrifying sight of Rex's rampage-self, she didn't expect it to be this.
Just then, she paused, 'Wait, the Inner Fang should be outside in the mist. Who's this...?'
Because of the tension, she forgot that there was something hiding inside the mist—that she reckoned to be the Inner Fang. So she was confused, as to who the little boy who was hiding inside this cabinet.
Despite her confusion, she approached the cabinet and squatted down.
However, as soon as she was about to reach for the handle, a shadow struck.
Swoosh!
Elder Tilrith used her wings to protect herself from the attack, she could feel a physical brunt from the attack—confirming that it was indeed the Inner Fang. She was flung to the side, but quickly recovered and lifted her hand instantly.
She signaled to the others that she was okay and they should stay inside the barrier.
Gazing ahead, a shadowy creature stood a few steps in front of her.
It was a Werewolf that was swallowed by its wrath.
Appearance-wise, it seemed to be plucked from the pages of an ancient Supernatural book.
A textbook specimen of its kind.
Its fur was a coarse—ink-black, gleaming faintly—and its lupine face bore a menacing snout, lined with razor-sharp fangs that were dripping with saliva. Muscles rippled beneath its hide, each twitch of its body was a display of raw physical prowess.
Possessing glowing red eyes, a dark aura, and claws that looked capable of rending steel.
However—despite its textbook perfection, the creature exuded nothing extraordinary.
No curving horns, no King Marks, and it was even hunched normally instead of upright.
Its one distinction lay in its size—slightly larger, its frame more muscular than normal.
Upon its shoulder, a glowing T-shaped family crest shimmered, etched into its flesh.
Despite how menacing it looks, Elder Tilrith doesn't see any resemblance of this Werewolf to the Royal Black Prince, "Who is he? It's not the prince, not even close. But since it could hurt me, it should be the Inner Fang"
Everything about this was weird, Elder Tilrith had never been in this kind of situation.
She reckoned this Werewolf as the Inner Fang as it could hurt her—but if this one is the Inner Fang then who is the one inside the cabinet? If this Werewolf is the Inner Fang, why did it not resemble Rex? More importantly, why is it protecting the cabinet?
A lot of questions appeared in Elder Tilrith's mind.
'But there's one thing for sure,' She fixed her gaze at the cabinet. 'I need to reach that'
On the other hand, Rex watched what was happening ahead in shock.
He observed the Werewolf and noticed the T-shaped rune on its shoulder.
A name crept into mind when he saw it, "Ruston...? W- What? How?"
Meanwhile, on the side, Kyran looked at Mavenna—his gaze prompted her to explain.
"I- I don't know," Mavenna shook her head. "I've heard of a Soul Guardian before, something that protects the soul. I have never cleaned a Werewolf's soul before, but this should be the Inner Fang that was protecting the Emperor's soul"
"Inner Fang...?" Kyran frowned before he quickly recovered. "Elder Tilrith will be fine, right?"
Upon hearing this, Mavenna shrugged—she also didn't know what would happen.
"It's the Inner Fang's territory..." She answered. "But she should be fine"
A battle in a space such as this was not exactly the same as a battle in the real world, there are a lot of variables and Elder Tilrith couldn't win easily. She needed to work for it, but with her experience, she should be fine.
Deciding to end it quickly, Elder Tilrith flapped her wings and spread them wide.
"Hellgate Ruination... Hell Shards of Tilrith!"
Swoosh!
Out of nowhere, a demonic tiara appeared above Elder Tilrith's head like a halo.
Following that, the demonic tiara shot a beam of hell-void energy, and drew a ring behind her that was akin to a circle of purple flame. Then, several blobs of energy—appeared on her two wings.
All of them turned into sharp purple shards the size of an arm.
Each one was not big but the amount of hell-void energy each one contained was immense.
One of these shards could kill three peak ninth-rank realm entities easily.
Seeing this, the Werewolf moved and stood in front of the cabinet—protecting it.
Elder Tilrith smirked—with a wave of her hand, the shards descended down like hellish rain.
Swoosh!
Boom!
Boom!
A sharp whistling sound was produced as the shards were fired towards the Werewolf and in the next second, once it struck, each shard exploded, into a torrent of hell-void energy—that shook the ground.
It was an unending barrage of shards.
One could see the Werewolf parrying and blocking the shards frantically, its reflex was out of this world. But, as Elder Tilrith channeled even more energy, into her fierce assault, the sheer intensity of the barrage overwhelmed the dark creature, burying it beneath the onslaught.
Realizing that using a Hellgate Ruination on the Werewolf might be too much, she stopped.
All that was left was smokey devastation.
She hovered above, waiting for the smoke to recede, and checked the cabinet.
However, she frowned when a pair of glowing eyes peered at her from inside the smoke.
Before Elder Tilrith could react, her face was yanked upward.
She blinked her eyes—as her pupils dilated, seeing that the Werewolf had managed to close, the distance and grabbed her by the face. Recovering from the initial shock, Elder Tilrith was furious.
Upon grabbing the Werewolf's arm, she was suddenly pulled and thrown into the ground.
Crash!
Elder Tilrith bounced and rolled but she quickly flapped her wings and recovered.
"How dare you..." She muttered hatefully.
Being thrown around like a ragdoll by a mere Werewolf was a humiliation she couldn't accept.
Elder Tilrith's glare bore into the Werewolf, now standing guard in front of the cabinet with unwavering resolve. Her eyes darkened, and a surge of hell-void energy erupted from her, radiating an ominous intensity.
Then, without warning, she smiled—a chilling expression that made the Werewolf frown.
Splash!
Out of nowhere, the Werewolf's body splashed with hell-void energy, stunning it in place.
A mark could be seen on its wrist, the symbol of lust.
Elder Tilrith had marked the Werewolf earlier before she was thrown like a ragdoll.
Once the Werewolf was stunned—Elder Tilrith, dashed ahead—her entire body turning into a demonic arrow—and she pierced through the Werewolf. A painful growl echoed but that was only music to Elder Tilrith's ears.
Unable to protect itself in time, a hole was torn into the Werewolf's chest.
Elder Tilrith reformed back into her regular form behind the Werewolf.
Summoning a purplish whip, she latched it onto the Werewolf's neck and flung it skyward.
"Graagh!" A battle cry exploded from Elder Tilrith's mouth.
She slammed the Werewolf back into the ground, repaying the humiliation she suffered.
All of that happened in the time it took for the others to blink their eyes.
By the time they regained their senses, Elder Tilrith had already planted her heel—firmly on the Werewolf's chest, pinning it to the ground. Though the Werewolf was beginning to heal, and recover, its regeneration was sluggish.
From the looks of it, Elder Tilrith had ample time to inspect the cabinet at her leisure.
"Now, let's see what you are protecting..."
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