Chapter 659: The Blue-Flame Howling Wolf
"Look! It’s the Nightmare Dragon Steed!"
Blackie carried Marcus through the sky, and the players below immediately erupted into excited exclamations. Wherever he passed, voices followed him, filled with curiosity and awe.
"He’s heading toward the Valley of Ten Thousand Wolves!"
"Must be some kind of quest."
By now, players had already spread across large portions of the Dreamland Continent. Traveling outside the major cities was no longer a matter of flying for hours without seeing another living soul. The route toward the Valley of Ten Thousand Wolves was especially busy, with groups of two or three players scattered along the road, some heading toward the valley while others stopped along the way to grind monsters.
"Keep up! Let’s follow him and see!"
"Boss, wait for me!"
"Bro, take me as your followers!"
Several players immediately summoned their mounts and tried to chase after Marcus, but the difference in speed was simply too great. Before long, they could only watch helplessly as Blackie carried him farther and farther into the distance, soaring effortlessly through the sky.
"Damn, even his silhouette looks cool."
A few female players watched the disappearing figure with stars in their eyes.
"He’s so stylish. If only I had a guy like that."
Marcus could hear some of the shouting from below, and a faint smile appeared on his face.
His reputation among the players was already quite solid. As a powerful knight possessing a Divine Mount, he naturally attracted attention wherever he went, while his mysterious identity only made the players more curious about him. Still, Marcus had no intention of deliberately showing off.
Keeping a low profile was better.
There was no reason to make himself the center of attention every time he went somewhere.
After roughly forty minutes of flight, the entrance to the Valley of Ten Thousand Wolves finally appeared ahead.
From the air, the entrance looked like the open jaws of an enormous wolf, with two towering mountain peaks forming its sides. The opening itself was surprisingly narrow, but once inside, the valley expanded into an enormous region stretching as far as the eye could see. Mountains, forests, plains, ravines, swamps, and countless other terrains could be found within it.
Near the entrance and along the outer edges, there were some Level 50 to Level 60 mountain wolves. But the deeper one ventured, the more frightening the monsters became, and most of the creatures in the inner regions were Level 80 or higher.
Nor were wolves the only creatures living there. Wolf-beasts, wolf-demons, and wolf-fiends were everywhere, while countless other powerful monsters had made the vast valley their home.
As for why the place was called the Valley of Ten Thousand Wolves, Marcus had already read about it in Silas the Wanderer’s records.
According to the legend, five thousand years ago, a Super Divine Beast known as the Gold-Silver Sun-Devouring Wolf had appeared in this valley. Countless wolf-type monsters had subsequently been born from its bloodline, and over time, the place became known as the Valley of Ten Thousand Wolves.
The legendary beast was said to walk upon golden clouds of auspicious light, its silver-white fur shimmering beneath a layer of golden radiance. It was an awe-inspiring creature, majestic enough that even those who had never seen it personally could feel the weight of its legend.
The Gold-Silver Sun-Devouring Wolf had once roamed the valley without restraint. Whenever it opened its enormous jaws, golden and silver light would pour across the heavens, nearly blotting out the sun itself. Even Divine Dragons would not casually provoke such an existence, and during that era, the Valley of Ten Thousand Wolves had become famous throughout the continent.
Then, three thousand years ago, everything changed.
One day, an enormous eruption of golden and silver light suddenly burst from the valley. The radiance covered the entire region, while thunderous wolf howls rolled across the mountains like earthquakes. When the phenomenon finally ended, the Gold-Silver Sun-Devouring Wolf had vanished without a trace.
No one knew what had happened.
There were countless theories. Some claimed that the Gold-Silver Sun-Devouring Wolf had successfully fused its golden and silver powers, evolved into an even higher existence known as the Chaos Sun-Devouring Wolf, and ascended into the heavens.
Others believed that the Ghost King, whose territory bordered the Valley of Ten Thousand Wolves, had coveted the beast’s immense power and joined forces with several powerful experts to subdue it.
There was even a theory that the Gold-Silver Sun-Devouring Wolf had encountered its natural enemy, the Five-Element Sun-Howling Hound, and that the two terrifying beasts had fought to the death, ultimately destroying one another.
There were plenty of other explanations as well.
Whatever the truth, the disappearance of the Super Divine Beast had not made the valley any safer.
Even three thousand years later, the valley continued to produce terrifying wolf-type creatures such as Flying Flame Wolves, Dragon-Winged Fury Wolves, and Ice-Fire Twin-Headed Wolves, all of which possessed Divine Beast-level bloodlines.
The Valley of Ten Thousand Wolves remained a place where only the strongest dared to venture.
It had become even more dangerous during the last thousand years.
According to some accounts, one of the Demon Lord’s Eight Guardians, the Bloodlust Wolf Demon known as the Dark Corpse-Render, had occasionally appeared in the valley while carrying his divine artifact, the Blood-Separation Blade. No one knew what he was searching for, but any unfortunate person who entered his path was slaughtered without mercy.
As a result, the Valley of Ten Thousand Wolves had gradually become a forbidden region in the eyes of ordinary experts.
And among the many terrifying creatures that inhabited the valley, there was one particularly unusual existence.
The Blue-Flame Howling Wolf.
According to legend, it was born from the union of a Divine Beast, the Ice-Fire Twin-Headed Wolf, and a Level 90 Howling Wolf King. It had inherited the Howling Wolf King’s terrifying close-combat abilities while also inheriting the Ice-Fire Twin-Headed Wolf’s talent for ice magic.
That unusual combination had given birth to the Blue-Flame Howling Wolf.
Its talent was extraordinary, and it had eventually reached the level of a Mythic Beast.
A hundred years ago, when the Blue-Flame Howling Wolf had just become a Mythic Beast, it was filled with youthful arrogance and confidence. Wanting to test its newfound strength, it left the valley and wandered into a nearby human settlement, where it proceeded to slaughter the villagers simply for the thrill of the hunt.
Unfortunately for it, five experts from Beastmaster Manor of Ironstone Citadel happened to be passing through the area.
The five experts had originally been on their way to the Valley of Ten Thousand Wolves to capture a Level 90 Gold-tier boss, the Blazing Flame Wolf King. They intended to present the beast as a coming-of-age gift to their young lord.
Instead, they encountered something far more valuable. The Mythic Beast Blue-Flame Howling Wolf.
"Attack!"
The five experts immediately recognized the opportunity heaven had placed directly in their path.
They attacked without hesitation.
The ensuing battle lasted an entire day and night. In the end, the five experts succeeded in subduing the Blue-Flame Howling Wolf and brought it back to Beastmaster Manor, where they began carefully studying and training it.
Their research soon revealed something astonishing.
The Blue-Flame Howling Wolf genuinely possessed the bloodline of the Ice-Fire Twin-Headed Wolf. It had inherited the Divine Beast’s talent for ice magic, but hidden deep within its bloodline was another power that had not yet awakened.
Fire magic.
The first thought that came to the experts of Beastmaster Manor was almost unanimous.
A Divine Beast.
At that time, Beastmaster Manor was already in decline. Although the manor possessed three Mythic Beasts, it had never managed to produce a true Divine Beast.
The appearance of the Blue-Flame Howling Wolf gave them hope.
For the sake of obtaining a Divine Beast, Beastmaster Manor decided to take an enormous risk.
They brought the Blue-Flame Howling Wolf to the Magma Grove in the Valley of Ten Thousand Wolves. Deep within a magma cavern, they used the surrounding fire energy together with their unique beast-training techniques to establish the Celestial Star Fire Dragon Formation.
The formation sealed the entire cavern, trapping the Blue-Flame Howling Wolf within it.
According to the calculations of Beastmaster Manor’s experts, the constant bombardment of fire energy would gradually force the dormant power within the Blue-Flame Howling Wolf’s bloodline to awaken. The process would take roughly two hundred years, but once it was complete, the Blue-Flame Howling Wolf should have enough power to evolve into a Divine Beast.
If everything went according to plan, it might even evolve into an existence similar to the Ice-Fire Twin-Headed Wolf.
But something went wrong.
Last year, only a hundred and eight years after the formation had been established, the Blue-Flame Howling Wolf suddenly began to stir.
The seal showed clear signs of weakening.
Had the Blue-Flame Howling Wolf finally reached its limit under the constant assault of the fire energy? Had something gone wrong with its evolution? Or had the dormant fire power awakened in a way Beastmaster Manor had never anticipated?
The manor had no answer.
Unfortunately, that was also the year of Beastmaster Manor’s once-every-ten-years Beastmaster Festival.
According to the manor’s ancient rules, its most important members were required to spend three full days kneeling in worship at the forbidden grounds during the festival.
Ancestral traditions could not simply be ignored.
The manor’s key experts were therefore unable to leave.
In the end, Beastmaster Manor sent someone else.
Lady Silvia, the Hundred-Beast Maiden, was a once-in-a-millennium genius of Beastmaster Manor and the current bearer of the legendary Beastmaster Bloodline. She was accompanied by two experts, with the famous Roaring Tiger Squad assigned to escort them safely to the Magma Grove and investigate the situation.
Beastmaster Manor was confident in their decision.
With her innate Beastmaster Bloodline, the genius Lady Silvia should have been able to calm the Blue-Flame Howling Wolf, which was still considered the manor’s beast despite being sealed away for more than a century.
And if the situation proved worse than expected, Silvia could reinforce the Celestial Star Fire Dragon Formation and stabilize the seal.
That would buy them enough time.
Once the Beastmaster Festival was over, the manor’s experts could leave the forbidden grounds and personally deal with whatever had happened to the Blue-Flame Howling Wolf.