Chapter 81: Expansion of Bloodshed

Yes, our old friend, the Bloodthirsty Wolf Demon, has arrived!

And when Feld saw those packs of wolf demons, he knew that there was a savage one nearby.

This heavily wounded mercenary must have taken on a reconnaissance mission, delving deep into the forest, only to run into a hunting party of wolf demons.

He probably wasn't alone, but now he was likely the only survivor.

Perhaps he had some means of survival, or perhaps the wolf demons were playing with their prey, not in a hurry, allowing him to hold on until now and escape to this place.

The wolf demons behind him were here to hunt him down.

So Feld had to ensure he stayed alive so he could learn from him where they encountered the wolf demons, narrowing down the search area.

With this in mind, Feld instructed Ki-Ki to step back and approached the wolf demons with his hammer.

He had to resolve this fight quickly.

If wolf demons appeared here, they could be elsewhere too, and it was possible that Hilda hadn't returned because she encountered them. He needed to find her.

"Come on, little doggies, I'm in a hurry, so let's get this over with!" Feld said as he approached the heavily wounded mercenary, tossing him a bottle of medium-grade healing potion to prevent him from bleeding out, then headed towards the wolf demons.

There were a total of four wolf demons.

No savage wolf demon was in sight, which meant that these few wolf demons were separated from the main wolf pack.

This golden-ranked mercenary didn't need the intervention of a savage wolf demon.

This was good; four golden-ranked wolf demons wouldn't take much effort.

Sensing Feld's provocation, the four wolf demons immediately pounced, ignoring their companion who had just been sent flying by Feld's hammer.

Indeed, they were vile creatures!

Feld's expression twisted, showing no mercy as he dispatched one of the charging wolf demons with a single swing of his hammer.

Seeing their companion fall, the other three wolf demons scattered, unwilling to face Feld head-on and instead attempting to surround him, hoping to launch a sneak attack from behind while he dealt with their frontal assault.

But Feld's speed was beyond theirs.

Moments later, accompanied by the trembling of the ground, Feld smashed the last remaining wolf demon.

"Hey, are you still alive?" Feld looked at the heavily wounded mercenary.

He had consumed a medium-grade healing potion and had stabilized somewhat, but his broken leg still wouldn't budge.

"Th-thank you…" he said weakly, his face pale, then leaned against a tree to bandage his wounds and stop the bleeding, his survival instinct kicking in.

Feld approached him and asked, "Where did you encounter the wolf demons?"

At these words, fear flashed in the mercenary's eyes as he stammered, "O-our entire squad is gone... I'm the only one left... they're like devils, they... "

"Snap!" A crisp sound rang out as Feld slapped him across the face, causing the mercenary to flinch and then hold his cheek, staring blankly at Feld.

Giving him a slap, Feld continued, "Are you awake now?"

The mercenary nodded.

"Then tell me straight, where did you encounter them, and did you find any bloodlands? I don't have time to listen to your stories!" Feld said sternly.

The mercenary nodded again.

"Th-they were in the large... large ravine area, no bloodlands found, but there were bloodfish nearby…" he replied.

Feld nodded. Bloodfish were relatively low-level bloodthirsty creatures and couldn't stray too far from the bloodlands, so if everything went as expected, the bloodlands should be in the large ravine area.

With this confirmed, Feld immediately turned and headed towards the direction Hilda had left.

The mercenary hesitated for a moment, then panicked, shouting, "Don't leave me, I'll give you money, take me out with you!"

"Please, I'll give you all the money and equipment I have!"

"Don't leave me here!"

But Feld just waved his hand dismissively. "Not interested."

With that, he left without looking back.

The mercenary cursed loudly, cursing Feld, the wolf demons, and himself.

He shouldn't have come here!

After Feld left, the surroundings fell silent once again.

The mercenary looked around fearfully, as if a wolf demon would leap out of the darkness at any moment and tear him apart.

Fear enveloped him, fueling his will to survive. He gritted his teeth, propped himself up, and began to crawl, dragging his broken leg slowly towards the edge of the forest.

Meanwhile, Feld and Ki-Ki were swiftly traversing through the forest.

With the night darkening, finding Hilda's trail in such conditions was challenging.

But thankfully, Hilda had indeed listened to his words and left marks on the trees, which made it easier for Feld to follow her trail.

Before long, Feld found himself circling around and heading deeper into the Norvakra forest, likely because Hilda was conducting reconnaissance around the Mirrorwater Lake.

However, soon they arrived at a river valley, and Feld discovered several wolf demon corpses there, immediately realizing it wasn't good.

Inspecting the bodies, Feld could tell from the wounds that they were inflicted by Hilda's sword!

Feld cursed inwardly.

Why didn't Hilda return immediately when she encountered danger?

But he knew she must have moved during the pursuit or battle and then gotten lost again.

Thankfully, although there were no active marks left, the traces of the battle were very clear, and Feld continued to follow.

"Hilda, please don't be in trouble..." Feld murmured, picking up his pace.

...

"Die!" A sharp shout, and the head of the savage wolf demon flew into the air.

Hilda landed on the ground, then staggered for a moment, panting heavily.

Twelve wolf demons, including a savage one, all slain!

She did it!

She had indeed grown stronger!

Although she was a bit disheveled, a smile still appeared on her face.

But soon, her smile faded.

Steadying herself, she looked around.

She had lost her bearings; it was pitch black, with no prominent landmarks in sight. Even with a map, she wouldn't know where she was.

Indeed, she had gotten lost again.

She felt a bit disheartened. "Feld must be worried sick..."

Then she slapped her cheeks, as if to pep herself up. "Pull yourself together, stay calm, and figure out a way to meet up with Feld!"

Her magical power was almost depleted, but luckily she had brought more potions this time.

After drinking a bottle of magic potion and stamina potion to recover, she cautiously began to search through the forest.

The place where she had fought was definitely not safe to stay. The corpses of the wolf demons were likely to attract more bloodthirsty creatures.

But she hadn't ventured too far, leaving marks all along the way. Finally, she found a secluded large tree and hid herself in the canopy.

Hilda was quite clever; she believed Feld would come looking for her, so she couldn't just run around aimlessly.

Feld was very capable; she was sure he could find her based on the marks she left and the traces of the battle. All she

 had to do was wait for him to come.

Most importantly, she could smell the faint scent of blood in the air. Although subtle, it matched the descriptions in the books.

Near bloodlands, there would always be a bloody scent. The closer you got, the stronger it became.

She knew she was terrible with directions. If she ran around and accidentally stumbled into the bloodlands, she wouldn't just be facing a dozen wolf demons; it would be thousands of bloodthirsty creatures. So she couldn't panic, she couldn't act rashly.

Waiting here for Feld was the best option.

They were friends; he would definitely find her.

She believed it!

So she waited and waited, but even at the deepest part of midnight, Feld still hadn't arrived.

Could it be that Feld hadn't come looking for her?

No, that couldn't be it. Feld must have been delayed by something...

Hilda couldn't help but bite her thumb nail, lost in thought.

Bloodthirsty creatures were more active at night. She had encountered them earlier probably because the bloodlands had expanded, allowing the creatures to roam further, and she just happened to run into them during her reconnaissance.

If she encountered them, it was very likely that Feld would too.

Feld must have been delayed by an attack from the bloodthirsty creatures, which was why he hadn't come looking for her.

He must have run into trouble on his way to find her!

Thinking of this, Hilda couldn't help but feel anxious. She was worried about Feld and Ki-Ki.

Although Feld was stronger than her, there were still reasons to worry.

She hesitated whether she should go find Feld.

But she was terrible with directions. What if she got lost again if Feld hadn't found her?

At this moment, a loud noise came from the distance, accompanied by a roar.

Hilda's eyes lit up.

Although she was bad with directions, as long as she had a definite direction, she could find her way!

With this in mind, she stopped hesitating and immediately ran towards the source of the commotion.