The Divine Wolf... or?

Chapter 232: Entering the Moonlit Caves Once More.

After staying up a little longer, Ark, Ephine and Atar all turned back into their wolf forms, cuddled up together, and then went to sleep. Since it had been a long day, they all fell asleep instantly. Even Ark who usually had trouble falling asleep managed to fall asleep without a hitch. Seeing him fall asleep quickly, Ephine could also sleep with some reassurance.

The night was short since they had stayed up fairly late, and soon, the sun rose back into the sky. Even though that was the case, everyone slept for a while longer, they really needed the rest after all. As opposed to the parents, the children were excited to wake up and play, but they still slept a while longer to respect their parents who were exhausted.

After a while when everyone had woken up, Ark made a simple breakfast for everyone, and they ate together. After eating, the children went off to play with each other, whilst Edward, Sharon, Ephine and Ark stayed back to talk. Ark told them about his plan to establish some kind of shelter, maybe a village where people that were tired of the war could go, and both Edward and Sharon were surprised.

To think a monster would care more for them than their fellow humans, felt a bit ironic somehow.

Seeing their children running around and having fun with Atar, both Edward and Sharon were on board with the idea. They were tired of living in fear, and if they could establish a shelter where their children could leave freely, then what was not to like?

Sure, they might have to live a little nomadic compared to living in a large city, but they had originally been from a small farming village, and they were used to such a lifestyle. If anything, they missed the peaceful and boring countryside.

Ark was naturally happy to have them on board since Edward had experience with both carpentry and city planning, something Ark would have need of in the future. However, they still needed some materials as well as people if they wanted to make this plan work, and to do that, Ark asked if Ephine could go with them to the city, to see if they could find some like-minded people.

They needed some seeds so that they could farm, and tools to go along with them.

Ark also needed some special materials so that he could set up a few large magic circles that could cover the village. These magic circles would be good for keeping the safety and order of the settlement. Edward and Sharon naturally had no problem with going into the city, they both knew friends and capable people that would probably want to tag along with them.

The only problem was that someone had to keep watch over the children, and after talking it over between themselves, Sharon decided to stay behind.

Ark was getting ready to head into the Moonlit Caves again, so he wouldn't be around to keep watch over them. Now that he knew that one of the parents was going to stay behind, he had one less thing to think about. Ephine and Edward soon left for Moonhill, and Ark was left with Sharon and the children.

Ark told Sharon that he was going to head into the Moonlit Caves to train, and she couldn't help but feel a little worried.

Although Atar was more than strong enough to protect them if anything came up, Ark could understand her worries as a parent. To make things a little easier for her, Ark created a large magic circle formation that would keep them safe as long as they stayed within its boundaries.

He also left them with some food and other necessities they might need since he was going to be away for a few hours at the very least.

After telling Atar to take care of them if anything happened, Ark walked over to the last cave of the Moonlit Caves, which was simply called Inferno. The name was simple, but Ark didn't dare to underestimate it. Even if he was already a Sovereign, there was no guarantee that he wouldn't find something that could threaten him in a dungeon.

However, he was at least sure that he wouldn't encounter any other sovereigns in a dungeon, since they would've probably broken out by now if that was the case.

As Ark entered the cave, he soon encountered the large door to the dungeon. Without wasting any time, he simply infused his mana into it, but to his surprise, the door didn't open. It seemed like the magic circle deemed that his strength wasn't enough to enter the final level of the dungeon. After pondering for a bit, Ark went forward again, but this time, he activated his [Chaos Soul].

When his mana was combined with his soul power, the door finally reacted and opened, allowing Ark to step inside.

With nimble steps, Ark entered the final level, and he was greeted by a world of endless fire. The surging heat would've probably killed any normal adventurer already, but Ark didn't have any problems, it was simply heat, nothing more. The endless sea of fire stretched as far as the eye could see, and Ark could see countless creatures swimming around in it.

He could tell why this place was simply named Inferno, it certainly lived up to the name.

In a way, it was similar to the fifth level, the Hellfire Ruins. They were both fire-themed, the only difference was the vast level difference between them. An adventurer that was able to enter the Hellfire Ruins would probably have to retreat before they could even fight a monster in here unless they wanted to burn to death.

If Ark wasn't impervious to hot and cold, then he would've probably struggled a little with the heat, even with his absolute fire affinity.

As Ark was getting ready to fight and explore the endless sea of fire in Inferno, Ephine and Edward had almost arrived at Moonhill. Since she couldn't enter the city as a wolf, she had to do it in her human form. After being interviewed at the city gates, they were allowed to enter, but Ephine noticed quickly that no one was allowed to leave the city.

If she had been a normal person, she would've been trapped in the city, and she felt that the guards at the city gates were a little despicable.

They had seen her adventurer level and convinced her to enter the city and that there was no problem, but now that she was inside, she wasn't allowed to leave. They basically just wanted her combat strength in the battles to come. Luckily, Ephine could easily sneak a few people out of the city, so she wasn't worried about it.

Edward, however, was scared silly at the thought of not being able to return to his family, so she had to comfort him a little and assure him that she could get them out without problems.

As they walked the streets of Moonhill, she couldn't help but think to herself that humans were really a troublesome species.