The Divine Wolf... or?

Chapter 130: Never bite the hand that feeds you... or you'll get slapped!

Barely any time had passed at all before Ark arrived where the mother and her cub were resting. When he was just about to walk out of the bushes, he stopped dead in his tracks. He was a little scared, what if they had already left? What if he had been gone for weeks already? How was he supposed to find them if they weren't there? Ark had no idea, and this was the sole reason he was hesitating.

This hesitation of his was going to get him nowhere, and Ark was beginning to calm down a little. He knew that he had probably just been gone for a little while, he wouldn't bet on it, but he felt like it would be a little too bizarre if he had truly been gone for days or weeks.

After heaving a large sigh, Ark managed to clear his mind, and he just walked straight into the clearing he had left them in.

The familiar sight of the barren fiery hills, as well as the destroyed landscape felt all too familiar to Ark. But what felt even more familiar, was the sight of two wolves, eagerly running around, seemingly playing tag with each other. The playful way they interacted with each other, as well as the fact that they seemed to be so happy, was enough to make Ark feel complete.

His worried heart was already at ease, just from seeing them like this, and he vowed to himself again. Under no circumstances, was he going to let these two suffer the pain and despair that he saw them feel in that vision!

He wasn't going to let them die just like that, no matter how far he needed to go, he would make sure that they were safe. Before he could get too absorbed into his thoughts, he also remembered Thufrat. The dwarf that had been with him through thick and thin, was still nowhere to be found. Well, it wasn't like Ark had made any active attempts at finding him, but he was sure that he was safe for now.

Thufrat was strong, not many people could mess with him. Not only that, but Ark had no idea how much stronger he had gotten since the last time they met.

Of course he wanted to meet Thufrat, they were friends after all, but it wasn't at the top of his list of priorities. Right now, he needed to get stronger. Not only that, but he didn't have the courage to leave the mother and her cub's side after seeing that vision, and he was going to make sure he protected them while he grew stronger.

When he was still in the middle of pondering to himself, Ark's train of thought was suddenly interrupted.

"Papa!"

The little cub had noticed him just standing around, and was eager to see him. As Ark saw him rushing toward him, he was surprised at the sheer speed the little cub was currently displaying! Even though Ark knew that they had essentially grown stronger, the difference was a little too big! The next second, the cub jumped straight into him, and tackled him down onto the ground.

"Wooosh!"

An arrow zoomed straight past Ark's scalp, fluttering his fur in the wind. Ark was almost a little ashamed of himself for not noticing the attack, but in his defence, he was distracted by a cute little cub running towards him. The psychological impact of the vision he had seen had yet to fade, and it seemed like it had almost cost him his life this time.

Luckily, the little cub was quick to save him, and he wasn't hit by the attack.

Even for Ark, an arrow to the back of the head was almost one hundred percent guaranteed to be lethal.

"Tsk!"

The sound of an upset man came from behind Ark. The man was actually just a regular hunter, well, except for the fact that his prey was usually magical beasts, nonetheless, he was still just a regular hunter in the end. Before he could get too annoyed though, the cub instantly attacked!

Even though his body had been enhanced considerably by Ark, his most convenient way of attacking was still his magic.

Before the hunter could get too much time to react, a disc of wind was sent at him, aiming for his neck. The hunter was fairly experienced and he managed to dodge out of the attack by only a hair, unfortunately for him, he was still a little too inexperienced. He may have dodged out of the way of the first wind disc, but to his dismay, he led his body straight into another one.

The jugular vein on his neck was sliced in an instant, and he slowly slumped over on the ground, his hands clutching his neck.

Disbelief was written all over his face, he never expected to die like this, as he took one of his hand off of his neck, he could clearly see the stream of blood flowing down his neck. Even though he should've felt mad, he felt oddly at peace, and he laughed a little at himself, it seemed it was his time to go.

This was the price he had to pay for his weakness, and he knew that it was his own fault, there was no one to blame but himself.

Not only that, but when he saw the ice cold gaze of the mother wolf who had taken his life, he let his consciousness quickly fade into nothingness. Ark was a little surprised by this quick turn of events, and even though someone just died in front of him, he didn't really feel anything special.

If anything, he felt glad that the cub and the mother cared for him, and he was happy to see that their strength had grown. After everything he had been through, he couldn't care too much about human lives.

If they were innocent, then of course he would care if he could help it, but if not, then it wasn't his biggest concern. As the cub stood in front of the hunter's body, Ark quickly walked up to him. He nuzzled his head against the little cub. "Thank you for the help buddy." His voice was serene, and his expression was gentle. He really liked this cub.

"Papa, food!"

The cub wasn't fazed by killing the hunter at all with his mother, and was just hungry. Ark felt like laughing, but since the little fellow was hungry, he was going to make sure he got some really nutritious meat as a thanks for saving his life. "What about you?" He turned around to face the mother, and asked with concern.

"I feel pretty hungry after gaining this new strength."

"Well, if that's the case, then let's get some food!"

Before they could go anywhere, the sound of footsteps quickly came from the forest around them. From behind the hunter, a number of humans quickly emerged, all shocked at the sight of the three wolves, as well as their comrade lying on the ground, his body lifeless. The humans stopped in their tracks, all sad at the sight of one of their most brilliant friends and warriors lying dead on the ground.

From behind them, a boy around ten years old shoved people out of his way as he made his way forward quickly.

When he stepped in front of the other humans, he saw the body of a man lying on the ground. Unlike the others, the boy didn't just stand still and watch the body. Instead, he quickly ran up to the boy, and got on his knees. As he shook the body fervently, tears started to roll down his cheeks. "Please, dad, wake up!" Seeing no response, the boy slumped over his father, and cried his eyes out.

Even though it was a soft whisper, Ark had excellent hearing, and he was able to make out what the boy was saying. "Please don't leave me behind…"

The boy tried to get his act together, and he slowly stood up. With a murderous look in his eyes, the boy stared at Ark, before letting his eyes wander to the cub and the mother. The rest of the humans also regained their senses upon seeing the young boy mourn his father, and they all drew their weapons.

"Mitaru, take a step back, we'll handle this!" As one of the hunters said this, the young boy's eyes flashed with a weird white light, before going back to normal.

As the other hunters took a couple of steps back, Ark did the same. He positioned himself in front of the cub and the mother, and told them to stay behind him. The hunters were not stupid, and they knew that he was trying to protect his family, and this could give them a big advantage. No one here cared for this wolf, they just wanted revenge for their fallen comrade, and get justice for Mitaru.

Ark was able to see that some of the hunters were focusing on the mother and the cub instead of him, and naturally, he wouldn't just let them do that. His once neutral look quickly transformed into something completely different, and so did his aura. When he saw some hunters point their bows at the mother and the cub, his killing intent spiked.

The hunters were naturally taken aback, as Ark's killing intent was overwhelming, and some of them even had some trouble just breathing as they looked at him.

The sinister look in his eyes, his muscular physique that was imbued with mana, Ark looked menacing, and none of the hunters had the courage to make the first move. One of the hunters looked into Ark's eyes, and all he could see was an abyss, and abyss of darkness. Startled, the hunter took a step backwards, and stepped on a dry twig. Ark used this moment to make his move.

Even if he was angry, he didn't want to just kill them all, as it was completely unnecessary bloodshed. All they wanted was revenge for their comrade, Ark would feel the same if he was in their shoes. Therefore, he started with a warning, before he did anything else. He imbued his vocal cords with mana on the cellular level, and he howled.

This howl was enough to send some of the hunters flying, while the others used their strength to just barely stand straight.

The howl was shocking to say the least, but none of the hunters would give up from just that. This wold had killed one of their own, if it thought that it could escape with just a warning, then it was completely wrong! Arrows came whistling through the air, and Ark was a little disappointed.

He had given them a chance to run, a chance to live, a chance to go back home to their families, to live another day, but instead, they'd rather die for no reason.

Even though he thought it was pitiful, Ark would do what needed to be done to protect his loved ones, and no human or demon would ever be able to stop him. Ark didn't hold anything back and he used his skill once more. Before any of the humans could even begin to react, all of the arrows whistling through the air were smashed to pieces, and so were the humans.

Their heads popped like zits, and blood sprayed everywhere. The boy that had stayed back wasn't spared, and he was killed as well. Just a couple of seconds after the hunters released their arrows, they had all been wiped out. The screams of the hunters reverberated through Ark's head, but he wasn't too disturbed, instead, he calmly turned around, and looked at the mother and her cub.

"You guys still want to eat?"

The three of them quickly headed out, and not even half an hour later, a loud roar shook the forest. The mother and the cub were watching with earnest as Ark dealt the killing blow to a large frost lion, sending it straight to the afterlife.

The large frost lion was about level 80, not far from Ark's own level, but it would make for a very nutritious meal for the mother and her cub, especially the cub that was still actively growing, the quality of his meals would affect his strength a lot.