Chapter 95: Chapter 94: The Lament of the Wolf Pack

Blanketed in wind and snow, the Shery Mountains were calm yet brimming with life.

Jon walked between withered trees and rocks, his boots sinking half a foot into the snow with a muffled crunch.

He followed a path from memory, heading toward the place Basque had called Vulture Ridge.

Trailing behind him were two peculiar mechanical bodies. They moved on four legs and had flat, round bodies, resembling spiders.

These were his "helpers."

——

[Walker V Type - Custom Modified (Excellent · Mechanical Body)]

[Durability: 150/150]

[Defense Value: 50]

[Equipped Modules: Crystal Energy Core x3, Steel Nail Ejector x3, Shield Generator (Crystal Energy) x1, Projectile Accelerator (Crystal Energy) x1]

[Steel Nail Ejector (Ordinary · Module): Fires steel nails at enemies within a certain range. Projection Power: 15. Range: 50 meters. Ammo Capacity: 300/300]

[Shield Generator (Crystal Energy) (Ordinary · Module): Generates a Crystal Energy Shield upon activation. Cannot be deactivated until its Crystal Energy is depleted.]

[Projectile Accelerator (Crystal Energy) (Excellent · Module): Consumes Crystal Energy to increase projectile speed and range by 50%.]

——

Efficiency was paramount when out in the wild.

Although these two Walkers were more refined than the primitive version he had helped Esra build, they still used the same basic framework: an automated walking structure combined with custom modules.

It was a conventional design, but one perfectly suited for mountainous and forested environments.

Since they ran on Crystal Energy, these two little guys didn’t need bulky power systems. This freed up significant space for weapons, so Jon had opted to equip each of them with three expanded-capacity "Steel Nail Ejectors."

They were simple in design, had decent power, and used easily sourced ammunition—more than enough to handle ordinary beasts.

As for the Shield Generators and Projectile Accelerators, those were for any powerful enemies he might encounter. Considering Basque’s intel about a potential "Wolf King," these preparations weren’t exactly overkill.

Of course, the drawback of his low-level Crystal Energy control technology remained. Once activated, these two devices would drain their Crystal Cores completely and couldn’t be shut off midway, making them incredibly expensive to use.

However, now that he was backed by the United Commerce Association, he could afford to burn through a few Crystal Cores.

What truly troubled him now wasn’t how to kill the wolves, but how to avoid getting lost in the mountain forest, where the snow made everything look the same.

The trees blocked some of the swirling snow, making the trek a little less difficult, but the uniform scenery made it that much easier to get lost.

’If only I had a mount... Then if I went the wrong way, I wouldn’t have to backtrack on foot...’

Jon trudged onward with the two Walkers in tow, reminiscing about his former collection of mounts while keeping a constant watch on the surrounding terrain.

The terrain was steadily rising, which meant he was heading in the right general direction. It was just a matter of when he would finally emerge from the woods.

Just as he was trying to recall whether his hundredth mount had been an Astral Drake Hatchling or a Molten Hound, a long, piercing wolf howl echoed from the distant mountain peaks.

"AWOOOOOOO—!!!"

The howl was incredibly piercing, carrying a heart-stopping sorrow.

’Hm? What’s going on?’

Jon raised an eyebrow and quickened his pace, the Walker V Types accelerating behind him.

"AWOOOO AWOOO—!!!"

That howl seemed to be only the beginning.

As if in response, a chorus of howls rose and fell, merging into an ocean of sorrow.

Neither the howling wind nor the swirling snow could drown out the mournful wails that filled the entire valley.

Jon had heard this sound before, though not here. It had been in the distant east, on the vast, boundless Hanakra Steppe.

Back then, the Wolf King of the Fakana Wolfman Tribe had been killed in a war against their sworn enemies, the Yade Lion People, and every wolf pack on the steppe had howled in grief.

The Wolf King had fallen, and the packs were in mourning.

The sound was almost identical to what he was hearing now.

’What gives? I’m not even there yet, and the Wolf King is already dead?’

He no longer hesitated, hurrying toward the direction where the wails were thickest.

After forcing his way through several layers of low-hanging, ice-laden pine branches, the view suddenly opened up before him.

At his feet was a steep cliff. Before him lay a chasm—a treacherous, V-shaped valley so deep it seemed bottomless, as if cleaved from the earth by the axe of a Giant God.

At the far end of the valley, connected to a spur of the Shery Mountains, rose the main peak—Vulture Ridge.

At that moment, the steep ridges on both sides of the valley were densely packed with all sorts of wolves—black wolves, gray wolves, short-tailed wolves... They clearly came from different packs.

But now, they stood like statues at the cliff’s edge, heads held high, howling a deafening, unified lament toward the chasm below, as if that dark abyss were the source of all their sorrow.

Jon crouched low, narrowing his ice-blue eyes as he tried to see through the snow to the valley floor.

However, all he could see was a churning curtain of white.

’Something’s wrong...’

His mind raced.

’If the Wolf King had truly met his end, the packs would try to rescue him or get revenge before they completely scattered.’

’Yet here they are, still in their packs, gathered to mourn rather than scattering...’

A story he had once read on the "Oddities and Anecdotes" board of a player forum flashed through his mind.

’So that’s it...’

A knowing, slightly excited smile touched the outlander’s lips.

’If that’s really the case... things are about to get interesting.’

Instead of alerting the wolf packs on the ridge and starting a fight, he cautiously stuck to the cliff’s edge, using his hands and feet to descend via a gentler slope off to the side.

However, in a place where so many wolves had gathered, the appearance of any stranger was bound to set their frayed nerves on edge!

On the ridge, countless pairs of eerie green and crimson bestial eyes snapped to Jon’s moving form.

The sorrowful howling abruptly changed pitch, transforming into a volley of roars filled with warning and fury!

Vicious wolves of all kinds leaped from the clifftop. Their agile bodies bounded and slid down the steep rock face, rushing toward him like a gray tide!

But Jon was faster.

He knew the terrain of this area like the back of his hand.

Relying on the "memory" he’d accumulated from countless map runs back in his player days, he weaved between the rugged rocks with the agility of a monkey, slipping into the relatively sheltered valley floor just before the wolf pack could surround him.

As expected, the wind and snow were much lighter on the valley floor.

What he saw next only strengthened his suspicion.

The ground was covered in enormous, shocking claw marks, deep impact craters, and large swaths of frozen earth and shattered rock that had been violently torn asunder. It was as if some frenzied, colossal beast had gone on a rampage.

Clumps of coarse, gray-black wolf fur lay scattered everywhere, many stained with dark red blood that stood out starkly against the snow.

The deeper he walked into the valley, the more dense and brutal the signs of this frenzy became.

’Just as I thought... The Wolf King’s ascension failed...’

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