The real world.
Shadow Wolf Ben happily ran through the Black Forest. It was a place void of perennial ice and snow, with only soft grass and fallen leaves underfoot. The branches were laden with sweet fruits, and the antelopes and three-horned sheep were as plump as balls, full of rich fats.
After leaving the ice land, it no longer had to fall into a periodic sleep and didn't need to target specific prey. Now it was full of strength, eating whatever it wanted and rolling wherever it liked.
Within just a few days, Ben realized it had grown plumper.
'This isn't good,' it thought solemnly.
It was a mighty shadow wolf and should pursue a higher quality of life instead of mimicking the lifestyle of pigs. Maybe it could catch some prey for that white-haired human. He could make them even more delicious.
So, it killed a three-horned sheep and gently held it in its mouth, running toward the edge of the forest.
The Black Forest was filled with a variety of scents, one of which was very familiar and grabbed its attention. Shadow Wolf Ben hesitated for only a half-second, quickly succumbing to curiosity. It made a sharp turn and ran in the direction of that familiar scent—
Officer Rosen was about to bite into a chicken leg when he was almost choked by the sudden appearance of a wolf's head.
"What?" He clutched the chicken leg bewilderingly, almost using it to target the shadow wolf.
"It's that shadow wolf." Dr. Zhu calmly threw wood into the fire. "I smelled it. I didn't expect it to arrive so fast… Miss Lynn, don't worry. This is Xu Yue's wolf."
Ben sat down, tilting its head in confusion, reflecting the images of six figures in its round red eyes—Elf Rosen and Wolfkin Julie, whose scents it recognized.
Next to Julie was a Puppet Witch that was squinting at it, her hands clutching a bizarre gun.
Clockwise, there was a Banshee with a giant Five-Eyed Crow on her shoulder, holding a small transparent ghost, watching Ben warily. The crow also spread its huge wings, trying to protect the person beside it.
Ah it's over. Too many people.
In Night of the Hunt, there were at most four Players. It could also count to four. Now, there were more than five living creatures with Players' auras! Terrible, really scary.
Ben dumbly opened its mouth, and the three-horned sheep crashed to the ground.
"Is Mr. Xu sending us food?" The Banshee asked nervously.
Rosen looked at the stiff shadow wolf. It was terrifying as an enemy, but as a companion, it seemed foolishly distressing.
"I guess not. Xu Yue asked everyone to wait in Red Mist Valley. He didn't say he would send the shadow wolf for support," Rosen said.
"But we've been waiting for days," the Banshee said nervously. "Is that Xu Yue really reliable? Did something happen to him on the way? Should we contact him? Didn't Sister Lynn say she has a way?"
Wolfkin Julie said gently, "Miss Qian, Xu Yue said he'd be at most two weeks late. Contacting him rashly might cause him trouble… You're safe with us."
It took a while for the Banshee to respond with a worried "mm".
The Banshee, shrouded in a gray cloak, looked slim.
At first glance, the cloak seemed to be dirty linen, but upon closer inspection, it seemed to be something grown from her skin, similar to hair. The Banshee's pale face and bloodshot red eyes peeked from the "cloak", somewhat frightening.
"Lynn is constantly watching the surroundings," the giant crow comforted. "Sisi, don't be afraid."
"I'm not afraid. I'm worried about our child. You, as the father, should be more mindful. The baby is scared to death," the Banshee said, holding the ghost tighter.
Her arms futilely passed through the pearly white ghost, and the little girl's ghost made a pose of being held tightly, clinging to her mother. The appearance of the shadow wolf did scare the little girl. She almost crawled into the Banshee's body.
The shadow wolf kept staring at them, and they didn't know what it was thinking. Witch Lynn couldn't sit still any longer. She changed her position to block the shadow wolf's view.
"Since they're letting this guy run around, Xu Yue and his group are probably in a quite troublesome dungeon." Rosen finally bit into a chicken leg, chewing and mumbling, "This thing is stupid but powerful in a fight. They won't easily give it up."
"Agreed." Lynn glanced at the giant black wolf.
After parting with Nol and the others, she had been heading towards various major cities. When she received Nol's invitation, she was considering going around Grape Collar, so she met up with Officer Luo and the others.
During this time, Lynn had done one thing—she hid her dolls at every transport hub near several major cities.
Through the eyes of the dolls, she tried her best to observe everything.
Even if the neighbors were thrown into this messy world and turned into monsters, they would still instinctively approach and seek help from humans… But the humans here may not necessarily be friendly. She must find the "abnormally behaving" monsters before the Temple did.
Along the way, Lynn hadn't been able to find any traces of her sister. But near Grape Collar, she discovered a family of three wandering around in the same area but never recognizing each other.
The Banshee mother, the giant Five-Eyed Crow Father, and the Ghost Daughter.
Three standard monsters, and also the family living in Unit 302, Building 8, Joy Garden.
When Witch Lynn found them, the family was severely shocked, almost on the verge of a mental breakdown. The Crow Father had been shot in the wing by a native. If it weren't for encountering Rosen, who knew healing magic, he might have been disabled.
Fortunately, Luo and Zhu had dealings with this family. Having acquaintances around, the family's spirits lifted quite a bit.
"Sisi, didn't you always like the curtains at Mr. Xu's house? You always mention them every time we pass by."
The Crow Father tried to lighten the mood. "This time we might be able to catch them—you can ask him face-to-face where he bought them, and we will buy them when we go back, no matter the cost."
The Banshee paused, then lowered her head, gently patting the Ghost Daughter's head. "Mm, we'll buy them when we go back."
Lynn unconsciously raised the corner of her mouth, but the next second, the smile froze on her face. She cried out in pain, covering her left eye. "Investigation Knights!"
Her doll placed on the edge of the Black Forest had been discovered.
In the last vision of the doll, a young knight with a smile on his face ruthlessly stabbed it down. The backlash of magic pain was like a sharp tool, causing Lynn to almost scream.
Rosen immediately threw away the chicken bone in his hand, his face elongating as he recited a concealment spell. The air around started fluctuating, and the figures of six people evaporated and disappeared on the spot.
Julie stood up. Her fur bristled, and the bitter scent of a beast emanated from her, covering other scents.
[Mirage] [Territory Declaration]
The Banshee pursed her lips, and a subtle sense of rejection filled the surrounding space. Originally, approaching beasts turned around; birds perched on branches fluttered away.
The giant Crow's five eyes lit up in red. He stood on the Banshee's shoulder, vigilantly watching in a certain direction.
[Heart of Hate] [Ominous Warning]
When Lynn recovered, the neighbors' magic had already woven into an invisible protective fortress.
She whistled, and dolls made of mud and leaves crawled out, emitting an exceptionally weird and strong aura, running in all directions.
[Distraction Toys]
Finally, the Puppet Witch twitched the corners of her mouth. She took off the animal bone stuck with dragonfly wings from her belt and threw it to the shadow wolf.
"You run away too!" she said hoarsely.
The shadow wolf stopped watching and ran after the bone with its tongue out, leaving the fat three-horned sheep behind.
The sheep head was facing the direction of the six neighbors with its hollow eyes reflecting nothing.
The edge of the Black Forest.
"…Interesting." Eugene pulled out the sword embedded in the doll's skull. "This Puppet Witch is too smart."
"Captain?"
"Using the fewest dolls to monitor the largest area. You all have to learn from her arrangement method… This isn't the intelligence a normal monster should have." Eugene kicked the damaged doll.
They heard the news that Saint Anakin had been dispatched and came to inspect and support but didn't expect this surprise.
"It's likely an extraplanar monster." A young knight pondered. "Should we prioritize capturing it? I mean, before the Saints notice—"
"No, no. Its response was too perfect, and this forest is too big. We won't be able to capture it."
Eugene smiled. "…I am more worried about something else."
His metal boots pressed slightly, and with a crisp sound, the ceramic doll under his feet shattered. "The monsters' individual combat capability is stronger than humans, but they aren't a match for humans. Do you all know why?"
"Because 'monsters' only fight alone. Even if they act in groups, they will only be with their own kind. The weaknesses are easy to grasp?" The young knight answered actively.
"And humans know to let different professions cooperate and act in teams," the middle-aged knight who had been following Eugene added.
Eugene clapped his hands approvingly, the gauntlets making a crisp sound.
"Very good. Suppose a particularly intelligent leader appears among these extraplanar monsters, making these powerful monsters learn to cooperate… What would happen?"
"Impossible."
The middle-aged knight hesitated for a moment. "Captain, even the Saints know nothing about this world. These extraplanar monsters are randomly distributed. They probably don't even understand their own situation. How could they easily unite."
Eugene shrugged. "Who knows?"
"The Goddess arranged these messy 'extraplanar monsters'; it must be her intention—maybe she's trying to use this as bait to fish out the 'monster among monsters'."
....
[Sometimes I think you're even more abnormal than a 'monster' like me.]
When Teest said this, they were walking in circles in the Dream Forest. The fallen leaves were soft, but Nol was stepping on them very forcefully, as if they were his enemies from a previous life.
Teest was eating honey soft cakes from his waist bag while his thoughts were coming in like rapid fire. [Why are you so concerned about those succubi? Their queen deceives the group at will, and they are willing to deceive themselves. It's not your concern.]
This was sincere.
Teest originally thought that otherworldly people were somewhat naïve and liked to meddle in others' affairs. But through interactions along the way, he found that only Nol's "helping syndrome" was especially severe—most otherworldly people tend to avoid trouble to save their own lives.
Even for the sake of quest rewards, Nol was too serious.
[Honey, you might as well pay more attention to those two Players. I suspect they have received related quests.] Seeing Nol not responding, Teest continued to mumble.
Nol still didn't respond; he was obviously lost in thought, his feet still stepping hard on the leaves. Even Anakin and Solo noticed his abnormality and deliberately kept their distance.
[Alright, then pay more attention to me.]
Teest ate the last bit of the soft honey cake and wrapped his tail around Nol's wrist, rubbing gently. [Help your pitiful husband analyze the current situation, all-knowing Mr. Lich.]
Nol finally lightened his steps, shook his head, and finally came back to his senses.
"The succubi made it very clear. Find the bewilderment grass, and you can find the queen." He looked at Teest and repeated dryly, "So far, this is a game of hide-and-seek with hints, simpler than that Margret's quest."
The "heir selection" wasn't their actual quest. The difficulty of the quest was how to save the succubi tribe. Nol didn't think that "the Mad Monk becoming the heir" had any positive impact on this tribe.
All he was thinking about now was finding the culprit causing all this and grinding them into pieces.
The reason Nol was still looking for the runaway succubus queen was just to get information from her—
As a queen, even if she didn't know the reason for the succubi's disappearance, she should know why Queen Hyacinth committed suicide years ago. Nol intuitively felt that this matter was related to the current situation of the succubi, and he cared a lot about it.
Nol changed his mind. Even if he didn't make a big appearance in front of the Players, he must figure out what was going on in this ghost of a place.
"Can I, um, say something?" Solo, who was walking behind them, raised his hand. "About that mad queen, the succubi are hiding part of the truth, which I overheard outside the palace."
"Please tell me." Nol slowed down.
"Together with the queen who disappeared, there was also her female knight Malvina…" Solo took a breath and spoke slowly.
Nol listened attentively, his lips almost forming a line.
According to Succubus Doni, Queen Wilimina always had a tendency to be addicted to bewilderment grass.
Bewilderment grass was a special herb that grew near the succubi tribe, and they liked to use it to brew wine. The "Bewilderment Dew" in the quest reward was a very famous succubus specialty wine.
The bewilderment grass itself wasn't addictive, but if consumed directly, it could create almost real illusions, reflecting the deepest desires of the consumer. And after the effect wore off, it would cause extremely intense pain. Usually, succubi wouldn't choose to eat it directly.
Doni said Wilimina had been looking for bewilderment grass to consume to escape reality.
The bewilderment grass nearby was decreasing, which meant the queen was running further and further away—initially, she just slipped out for a few hours every few days. In the past two months, this queen began to stay out all night.
The magical protection of the succubus territory was still there, so the succubi were sure the queen was still alive.
But she indeed hadn't come back for two months, so they also believed the queen was completely mad. For this tribe, this didn't seem to be a rare occurrence.
They didn't mention the female knight Malvina at all.
"Perhaps the succubi aren't hiding it maliciously." At the end, Solo carefully observed Nol's face. "The queen and Malvina have been friends since childhood. Every time the queen disappeared before, it was Malvina who brought her back. This time… This time the queen has been missing for so long, they suspect Malvina is dead."
"Well, so we might have to bring back two people," Teest concluded. "Bewilderment grass is just their blind guess, and now the situation is even more uncertain."
"We're just scouting today. We'll go back later, and everyone will inquire more," Nol said.
Teest silently looked behind Nol. The fallen leaves were stepped on by Nol, leaving rows of small pits. They were truly "treading spots".
Recently, his Lich husband's temper had been unpredictable, becoming more and more like a real monster. Maybe tonight he should sacrifice his scalp again and let this guy touch it a bit?
…Actually, even though Nol was disorderly, his technique was quite good. He secretly enjoyed it and could also pretend to be doing him a favor.
The Mad Monk was planning cheerfully in his heart when suddenly a slight sound entered his ears.
That sound was very faint, like a gold wheel gently rolling over the fallen leaves.
Teest turned his head, and in the purple mist of the forest rolling in, he saw a glint of gold. A dirty gold wheel stood on a leaf that wasn't far from where Teest stood silently, as if it were quietly watching him.
"Honey." Teest's voice strained, and the tail wrapped around Nol's wrist tightened. "…Look over there."
Nol looked in the direction Teest was pointing, but he only saw the gently swaying mist.
"There is nothing." He asked vigilantly, "Did you see something?"
"Unfortunately, yes."
In Teest's eyes, the gold wheel gently bounced and rolled away. Seeing that Teest didn't immediately follow, it even stopped, as if waiting for him. Teest drew out his "Betrayer", and all the relaxation on his face disappeared.
"Don't act rashly." Nol immediately grabbed the tail on his wrist.
"Don't worry. I know." Teest turned around and smiled at Nol.
In these short seconds, the mist suddenly became extremely dense. Nol couldn't see Teest's face, even though they were only a step apart. Everything was becoming blurred. Teest's figure was quickly engulfed by the mist. Distance and direction distorted, and something was stirring behind his remaining silhouette—
Nol stepped forward without hesitation. He followed the succubus's tail and tightly hugged Teest's waist.
It was a foolish decision, he knew.
…But he didn't want to lose anything else while he could only watch.
The mist rolled endlessly and dissipated as quickly as it came. When that thick mist disappeared, only Anakin and Solo were left in the original position.
Teest and Nol had disappeared.
The author has something to say:
Nol: Try taking someone from me again! (Anger is about to be full again)
Teest: Actually, it feels quite comfortable when Nol touches my hair, but I won't say it. ^-^
…This time the succubus's tail has made a great contribution!
Opponents: Huh, how come these two people are linked together? What's their relationship?
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Shadow Wolf: So many people! (Stunned)
Poor wolf. Without five fingers, it can't even properly count…