Wolf-7 pulled his fist out of the hole he had made in the chest of the abomination, letting its lifeless body fall onto the ground. This was the third abomination he had encountered today, and the first he had killed. The other two were too experienced and powerful to put down without a lengthy pursuit.

He didn't have time for such trifling cleanups. He had been entrusted with the job of retrieving the sacred artifact. And the chances of accomplishing the task were diminishing with each news he received from the early birds sent by the master.

The two boys were more resourceful than they had expected. Someone in the shadows was helping them, and the current suspect could only be the Church.

However, if the Church knew what they were after, why would they let the boys leave with the treasure?

This had led them all to believe that the Church didn't exactly understand the power hidden inside the sacred artifact. They assumed that the Ravensworth family was overreacting, or pursuing a grudge. Which was why they hadn't kept the diary locked up inside their treasury somewhere.

One thing the scout teams had managed to accomplish was to find the direct trace of the treasure on the older boy. This had prompted the master to send in the rest of the trackers...the real hunters.

Of course, it would be impossible for them to directly enter the sacred ground through the gateway station. The Church would be informed immediately. Had the boys entered any of the remaining five sacred grounds around the city, the Ravensworth family could've found a way to let them enter through the gateway stations anonymously. But these troublesome lads had had the foresight to understand that, or at least, someone guiding them had that foresight.

Now, he, along with his fellow experienced trackers had to sneak into the sacred ground through the uninhabitable ruins, maintaining a long distance from the gateway station and the city.

Wolf-7 had chosen to enter through the West side of the sacred ground, cutting through the wastelands where powerful abominations roamed freely.

Eagle-3 was on the direct opposite side, entering the sacred ground through the Eastern borders where the numerous migratory birds would hide his tracks.

Rhino-9 was already inside the sacred ground, waiting for the preys to delve deeper towards the central regions. All the scout team needed to do now was to drive the boys further inside, where too many dangers lay waiting. Once they got in, there would be no getting out.

His communicator vibrated as he was about to summon one of his companion creatures to devour the body of the abomination.

Wolf-7 checked what new messages the scout team had sent.

"Sir, we have managed to track the location of the communicator device stolen by the younger boy. It's moving Northeast, pretty fast too. I've already informed Sir Rhino. The carrier might reach him by tomorrow if he maintains the current speed."

Wolf-7 nodded in satisfaction. The scout team hadn't been successful in their attempt at capturing the boys, but they were efficient trackers.

"Well done. You haven't harmed the girl from the Rolande Family while trying to get the permission to track her communicator, right?" He typed back hastily.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

The Rolande Family was allied with the Ravensworth Family when it came to some major interests inside the Circle of Commonwealth. Killing or maiming one of the daughters of the Rolande would do them little good.

"No sir. She was quite cooperative, actually. She says there's confidential info in her device that shouldn't fall into the public's hands. She was here to run some banned experiments, apparently. Those boys had not only ruined her experiments, they took away a significant portion of the digital data about it too by stealing the device. She has even offered us a reward if we can hand it back to her family without any leaks."

The reply made Wolf-7 pause.

Banned experiments? In a Code-Green sacred ground?

Tsss...the appetite of the Rolande family was growing as big as theirs, it seemed. But the Ravensworth would ultimately profit from it if the device fell into the hand of the master!

"The goddess is helping us, it seems. Move out and chase after the device. And tell Rhino to move towards its position as well. Since someone allied with our preys can control a Purplevein Queen Bee, it won't be easy for your team to suppress them."

Sending the last message, Wolf-7 turned the communicator off and put it inside his jacket.

A moment later, a wolf appeared behind him and lunged at the corpse of the abomination, swallowing the swollen limbs bite by bite.

"Hurry up," he ordered the wolf before transforming into a Shadowbolt Snake. Like a silent arrow, he shot towards the distant borders of the sacred ground, his thin body barely more than a dull silhouette that no unsuspecting observer would recognize.

............................

Creature: Glutton Boa

Mutation: grade- 1

Evolution Potential: grade- 3

Soulslot Consumption: 3 units

Affinity: Spatial

Danger Rating: Above Average In the mutant class

Mutation Details: This serpent has the incredibly rare affinity to space itself due to its mutation. Normal grade- 1 mutants use their spatial manipulation ability to store a large amount of food inside their stomach. The conversion rate of the space inside its stomach to the space outside tends to be around (2-3) : 1, statistically. Among grade- 1 Glutton Boas, however, exist some special deviant mutants which can extend their spatial manipulation ability outside their bodies, managing to shorten the distance between them and their target while hunting, or traversing much further than their usual speed allows them to in a second. This ability is limited by cooldown periods after each execution, although some special boas can use it twice or thrice in a row. Grade- 2 boas can use this ability many times in a row, which makes them extremely dangerous in the mutant class.

The one picture Mir had snapped through his communicator's camera provided enough information to make him quite unwilling to follow Murray into the pool at the bottom of the valley.

The boa lying 30 meters away on a high branch of a huge tree seemed to be peacefully asleep, its midsection horrendously bloated. But who could say it wouldn't jump down on their heads the moment they entered its range of teleportation ability?

Looking at the swarm of Purplevein Bees surrounding them, Mir felt a sense of bravado. Although many of the bees had used up their reserve of poison in the rescue mission to save him, there was a significant number of them who still could shoot the poisonous icicles. Unless the Glutton Boas became suicidal, they'd not attack.

Their descent down the valley was slow. As both of his feet had been stung by the icicles a couple of hours ago, Murray often staggered and lost his balance.

"Murray, are you sure you don't need to get those injuries checked? I suggest looking for some antidote, just to be safe."

"There isn't a Data tower nearby to do that. I've looked up some herbs that can help. Since people don't usually approach the bottom of the valley, some of the herbs are usually available here," Murray replied. The answer relieved Mir immensely.

But right then, Murray crouched down at lightning speed, prompting Mir to do the same.

The two brothers crawled over behind a wide mound and peeked at the threat that had made them hide.

A large snakehead pushed its way out of the dark pool that lay a hundred meters below them, its movements so silent and steady that the water barely rippled. It was the largest snakehead Mir had ever seen in his life. At least two meters wide, and more than three meters in length, this triangular draconic head alone was enough to freeze Mir's blood.

If the head was so large, what about the rest of the body? This thing could digest entire elephants casually!

"The Grade- 3 female Glutton Boa!" Murray hissed.