Chapter 167: Lost

"Interesting," the little wolf-girl giggled. "Much better than me. I don't even know if I have parents."

She said it with a smile, though a crystalline gleam flickered faintly at the corners of her eyes. Vinigo pulled the little wolf-girl into his arms, embraced her tightly, and gently wiped the corners of her eyes.

"Later on, I was chosen by the Hellfire Brotherhood," Demis continued, looking thoughtfully at the little wolf-girl. "They gave me a silver cylinder and told me to stab it into my arm. After that, I gained a special life-saving ability, just like the one you saw."

"What is it?" Vinigo asked curiously.

"Judging by the situation, she has some similarities to me," Demis said gloomily. "Though I'm not sure how you found her, she must have some connection to that kind of silver cylinder from our Hellfire Brotherhood."

"I bet I know," Vinigo chuckled darkly. "Inside, it should be a golden-red, extremely viscous liquid, right? You inject that into your bodies; those with good luck gain power, and those with bad luck turn into monsters or even a pile of rotting flesh, right?"

"How do you know?!" Demis was shocked.

"That liquid is merely a tool. It channels another kind of power into the body. Of course, it is extremely aggressive in itself; if you cannot withstand its forcible intrusion, you will be completely assimilated by it. Only by resisting its invasion can you bear the power it bestows. Your power atomizes your blood to create explosions, Roin's power should be related to speed, and my Arcana infuses dragon blood into a werewolf's body, creating what is known as a Dragonblood Werewolf." Vinigo spoke eloquently, as if he had witnessed it firsthand.

Demis and Roin exchanged glances and fell silent.

"Given the chance, I will definitely slaughter you," Demis said suddenly.

"Eh? Don't be like that. It's rare for me to be so generous as to tell you this secret," Vinigo snapped his fingers. "Hmm, by the way, did you feel..."

Before he could finish his sentence, a massive monstrous bird lunged fiercely from the sky, its talons diving straight for Vinigo. Before Vinigo could move, the little wolf-girl had already darted out of his arms, executed a rapid direction change, and landed on the bird's back, stabbing her claws rapidly a few times to pierce a row of bloody holes in the creature in the blink of an eye.

However, relative to the monstrous bird's massive frame, these bloody holes were not fatal. The big fellow shook its feathers nonchalantly and continued its grab at Vinigo.

"Underrating me like this is not good," Vinigo complained.

Those talons had grasped a greatsword. The monstrous bird beat its wings violently; with its strength, even a calf could be hoisted up, but the greatsword remained completely motionless, as if cast in iron.

Vinigo raised a hand and gently uttered a soft "Bang."

Finger Gun: M1911!

The monstrous bird squawked, beat its wings once to release the greatsword, and tried to fly away. At that moment, the little wolf-girl had already lunged at the giant bird's neck, gripped its long neck tightly, and yanked it backward.

The little wolf-girl was not known for her strength, but that was compared to people like Sophie and Demis. Regardless, her explosive power was still enough to subject the giant bird's cervical vertebrae to brutal torture, producing a loud cracking sound.

Did it snap?

Even if it hadn't snapped, the giant bird wasn't going to survive. Sophie calmly raised her sword and thrust straight upward.

The wound pierced by the Blade of Arena almost ran through the entire giant bird. Under Sophie's advantage in strength, the unsharpened blade could tear open a wider wound than a sharp edge; this was the fatal blow.

The little wolf-girl giggled, forced the giant bird down from the air to the ground, and ended its struggle. She looked up at Vinigo, then began plucking the bird feathers to prepare the food.

Vinigo put away the giant bird feathers that the little wolf-girl had stripped off, watching as she skillfully gutted, skinned, cleaned the bird, and skewered it onto a wooden stick with the air of a picnic barbecue.

Sophie withdrew her sword and swung it horizontally. The sword light stretched like a massive crescent moon across the forest, shattering several surrounding trees with a deafening roar and clearing out an open space.

She swung her sword a few times, chopping the fallen trees into arm-thick logs. The little wolf-girl cheered, piled up the firewood, and began searching for materials to start a fire.

Vinigo fished a bullet from his waist pouch and tossed it to Sophie. Having cooperated with Vinigo for so long, Sophie understood his intent with a single glance. With a gentle squeeze, she actually crushed the brass bullet flat.

Vinigo poured the gunpowder from the bullet onto the collected withered branches, took out a flint, and struck it gently. Using the sparks, he ignited the gunpowder and dry branches, slowly setting the entire firewood pile ablaze.

While he was doing this, Demis and Roin had been observing them.

"Her swordsmanship is brilliant," Roin whispered to Demis. "It looks ordinary, but whether it's the force, the angle, or the grasp of timing, it can be called a master swordsman."

Demis nodded; they were speaking of Sophie. Demis had crossed swords with Sophie and experienced her unadorned yet formidable swordsmanship firsthand. When Roin saw Sophie felling trees with the Twenty-Third Form: Sickle Moon, she recognized Sophie's immense threat.

Such a sensation was a rare sight even for members of the Hellfire Brotherhood, who stood at the pinnacle of the kingdom's might.

By this time, the little wolf-girl was happily roasting meat.

The meat of the giant bird was coarse, but after being treated with Vinigo's special seasonings, it was still palatable. Of course, the little wolf-girl didn't mind the meat being coarse; she ate the vast majority of the bird meat all by herself. As for Vinigo and the others, they merely sorted out some tender cuts and internal organs to eat.

Demis and Roin considered themselves proud and aloof, unwilling to share the prey with Vinigo, so they headed into the forest on their own. Before long, Demis dragged out a massive wild boar.

While he and Roin were cooking, Vinigo's group had already ventured deep into the forest to explore. By the time Demis and Roin realized they were lost, they could no longer find the four of them.

Where was Vinigo?

Before they had gone far, the little wolf-girl spotted a magic wolf flash through the woods and vanish. She excitedly gave chase, and Vinigo had no choice but to follow her direction, but they hadn't run far before the little wolf-girl completely disappeared from view.

Not only that, the little vampire Suna also seemed to have discovered something during the pursuit and vanished into the mist. When Vinigo stopped, the only one by his side was Sophie.

Sophie had been closely following Vinigo, never leaving his side by even an inch. No matter what abnormalities she saw, she had no intention of leaving Vinigo, simply guarding him steadfastly.

"Something feels wrong," Vinigo suddenly realized. "Are they going to divide and conquer us? Hidden enemies within the woods..."

Sophie said nothing, merely tightening her grip on the sword hilt.

"Wind?" Vinigo suddenly turned around, gazing to their right. There, a breeze blew in, rapidly swelling into a terrifying gale.

Sophie's face flushed slightly as she nailed her feet firmly to the ground. With her right hand, she thrust her greatsword deep into the earth, while her left hand grabbed Vinigo tightly to keep him from being blown away by the fierce wind.

"A gale?" Vinigo sneered and snapped his fingers. "Ramen!"

A colossal Void-Sea Whale materialized before Vinigo. Sensing the gale, it turned its head and emitted a low, rumbling roar toward the direction from which the wind came.

Ramen's deep roar seemed to cause the air throughout the entire forest to vibrate at the same frequency, robbing the gale of its source and making it vanish into thin air instantly. Ramen wriggled its body and gently flicked its fin toward the direction the wind had blown from.

The next second, a golden-red long whisker lashed out from the tip of Ramen's fin, flew across dozens of meters, and plunged into the woods. Before long, it dragged a struggling giant lizard out of the forest.

This lizard was barely two meters long, yet it possessed a wingspan of nearly four meters. Clearly, such massive wings could not be flapped by its chest muscles alone and must be driven by magic.

"A Storm Lizard. It uses its wings to drive gales, excels at blowing away opponents, and launches attacks from the air," Vinigo glanced at it and explained to Sophie. "Small fry, though a bit troublesome."

As he spoke, he slashed two wounds along the edge of the Storm Lizard's chest, reached inside, and fished out two bright yellow, amber-like gelatinous masses.

"With this, our trip wasn't in vain," Vinigo said. "Now, let's continue..."

Before he could finish his sentence, a giant claw suddenly thrust out from the woods, slashing directly toward Vinigo's neck.

The owner of the giant claw was a deformed magic wolf. Its front paws were unusually thick, and its eyes burned as if ablaze. However, its fur was not the usual grayish-blue, but a nearly pale hue.

Not a pure white, but an unholy paleness. Seeing it stirred an inexplicable sense of disgust from the depths of one's soul.

At the critical moment, it was still Sophie who stepped forward without a word, blocking in front of Vinigo and sending the magic wolf flying with a single slash of her sword.

The magic wolf rolled upon hitting the ground, stood back up despite its injuries, and opened its mouth to emit a roar. At that moment, another magic wolf lunged from a different direction, once again charging straight at Vinigo.

Vinigo sighed. "Do I look like such a soft persimmon?"

Pardon me, but compared to Sophie, you really are a genuine soft persimmon, aren't you?

Complaining, Vinigo dodged the second magic wolf's pounce, tore off his sleeve, and produced a hat and sunglasses to put on.

Character Build: King of Fighters System, Clark.

When the magic wolf turned its head and lunged again, Vinigo curled his lips into a smile at the beast. Standing his ground, he abruptly lifted his foot and kicked straight through the air.

The magic wolf shrieked as Vinigo's kick sent it spinning head over heels to crash onto the ground. Vinigo immediately leaned forward and smashed his elbow downward.