Chapter 107: Paving the Road to Victory with Death!
The Shadow Wolf King looked down at his kin converging toward him, his eyes flashing with dangerous light.
From a common Shadow Wolf, it had grown to where it was today because of its ability to make decisive choices at critical moments.
It bared its teeth, emitting wisps of black fog through the gaps, which spread out and touched the Golden Trees, causing them to wither instantaneously, transforming their shimmering golden leaves into a decayed hue.
Beside it, the Shadow Wolf Guards lay prone, emitting whimpers of fear from their throats.
If someone were standing here now, they would notice a dirty gemstone embedded in the flesh beneath the white fur on the Shadow Wolf King's cheeks.
It was a gift left by the former Shadow Wolf King, and also a curse.
The world of the Shadow Wolf King was dominated by a myriad of beast Totems and their tribes in the Beast World.
The Totems waged a war against each other for tens of thousands of years for more power and dominance over more tribes.
Of course, all of this was what the Senior Wolf King told it.
When it was born, their world was already torn and shattered due to the long wars among the Totems.
In the end, for reasons unknown, one day the continent began to collapse, the sky ripped open with innumerable dark fissures, and the forests rang with the mournful howling of various beasts.
By the time the creatures of the Twisted Jungle came to their senses, they saw a cracked earth and endless cold winds sweeping the edge of the forest.
The light of the sky was gradually dissipating, and this continued for over a thousand days and nights.
It was born amidst such circumstances.
The Totem that Shadow Wolves believed in had already decayed, and before the world was destroyed, although their species' overall strength could be considered strong, they ultimately couldn't match those tribes backed by Totems.
Moreover, as the Totem vanished, the wolf pack discovered in horror that more and more of the newly born no longer retained their original Spiritual Wisdom.
They appeared to be more like the wild beasts before the Totems appeared.
This fearful mood persisted for a very long time, until one day, at the barely discernible glimmer in the Twisted Jungle, a pair of terrifying hands suddenly tore it open.
Those hands passed over the sky, and the sky was stitched back together, a fierce sun quietly arising.
Those hands touched the earth, and the cracked land was filled once more, with vegetation regaining vitality.
It seemed as if everything was going to improve...
Until on the other side of the forest, the last remaining Totem in this shattered world attacked those hands.
It was the Moon Howling Lion Group's Totem, which for some reason turned into a mad lion covering the sky, fought with those hands, and then... was shattered by a single finger from those hands, turning into a cascade of light.
That terrifying power was reflected in the eyes of the then-young Shadow Wolf King, becoming an unfathomable fear.
While they were still hesitating, raining blood trickled from the sky, and a massive piece of flesh, embedded with a strange gemstone, fell from the heavens, crashing onto the wolf pack's territory.
It was half the head of the Moon Howling Lion Totem, its eyes filled with disbelief and the fear of Death, as its presence slowly faded.
At that moment, the Senior Wolf King made a decision, committing an act of great defiance...
It devoured the flesh of the Moon Howling Lion Totem, then immediately led the wolf pack to flee far away.
The decision proved to be exceedingly wise.
Although the Senior Wolf King had not integrated the power of the Moon Howling Totem very well, with the help of its flesh and blood, after some time, he finally managed to utilize the Totem's power to begin enlightening the simple-minded tribespeople with Spiritual Wisdom.
But... the good times did not last long. The flesh and blood of the Totem, along with the malice that had not yet entirely dissipated within it, constantly eroded the Senior Wolf King.
It became increasingly powerful, and just as increasingly tyrannical.
Under its leadership, the Shadow Wolf tribe successfully developed from a small group of merely a few hundred individuals on the brink of extinction to once again flourish.
They even successfully hunted a large number of other tribes that still survived within the Twisted Jungle, acquiring a vast amount of territory and gradually ascending to the top of the Twisted Jungle's food chain.
However, as the Totem's flesh and blood influenced the Senior Wolf King more noticeably, his body began to mutate, and his actions became abnormal.
With the power elicited by the Totem's flesh and blood in his body, he repeatedly subjected the pregnant she-wolves to the Totem's power, ultimately giving birth to a litter of bizarre double-headed wolves.
Even more so, he began attacking his own trusted aides who tried to refute him.
As the internal environment of the tribe became increasingly tense, the entirety of the Shadow Wolf tribe vaguely showed signs of disintegrating, with the more intelligent Shadow Wolves below growing increasingly dissatisfied with the Wolf King.
Those who were still bereft of intelligence, along with the Two-headed Shadow Wolves, were completely dominated by the Senior Wolf King.
Until it successfully "defeated" the Senior Wolf King.
Or rather... the Senior Wolf King realized that he, in his old age, could no longer suppress the corrupt Totem Power within him, and in his last lucid moment, chose to bet everything on a new era.
Thus, after a night of rain, when he emerged victorious and blood-drenched from the battle and consumed the Senior Wolf King, he was the king of the wolf pack!
But, it was not enough!
"Wolf cubs, it is not enough! We are outsiders; the world beyond the door has no place for us to live. If we want to earn respect and fear from the world beyond the door, we need war!"
The wolf pack roared!
The Totem Power on the Wolf King's body spread continually, with sullied traces of spells flickering over the wolves that cowered at his feet.
Although very rudimentary, it was plentiful and more than enough!
The Shadow Wolf King knew that if it wanted to have a say in that world, it would need a gratifying victory, or to put it another way...
Death!!!
With the deaths of countless living beings, he would pave a blood-drenched throne for his tribe!
And now, the time had come!
During this time, by controlling the poorly rational Two-headed Shadow Wolves with that unclean power and infiltrating them into the territory beyond, he had essentially mastered the state of that land.
Every Two-headed Shadow Wolf was an embodiment of his will, spying on the movements of the strangely-furred upright apes beyond the door.
Tsk, a weak race, not even comparable to the group of red-beaked geese that he had eradicated in his earlier years.
Although there were also troublesome opponents who could wield meager Totem Power (spells), he felt he could teach them a lesson in blood.
So amidst the rising and falling roars, more than three hundred intelligent Shadow Wolves slowly advanced, followed by thousands of ordinary Shadow Wolves who had not awakened to Spiritual Wisdom but could follow the pack's commands.
Further back, drooling unintelligently but still mightily powerful were the Two-headed Shadow Wolves.
In the distance, in the Twisted Jungle, were the last three adversaries he still dared not guarantee to defeat.