Chapter 785: Going Viral

Chapter 785: Going Viral

When Howl roared, everyone went stiff.

"W-what in the world was that?!" Virat, who had come to his sister’s lab to handle the delicate potions, trembled.

Thud!

"Veronica!" Virat shouted in panic as Veronica collapsed to the ground.

Her legs gave out at the low roar.

And she wasn’t alone. Every territory member ranked 1-star or lower had already collapsed, including all the maids, a few elves, the people from Kendru, the women from the feather shop, and even Sera. Fortunately, James caught her before she could fall.

RRRoooooaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr....

As if lazily yawning, Howl’s next low roar reverberated throughout the forest, scaring every living being within 1 kilometre.

The small Low 1-star birds, insects, and animals all froze in place, trembling with fear.

Grrrrrr.... grumble!!

With all 6 of his pillar-like legs straightening, Howl’s height increased by another 400 metres.

But he was still sleepy, and his joints felt stiff, so Howl simply stood there, waiting for his blood circulation to return to normal and his legs to function properly.

"Tsk." Lily clicked her tongue when she saw the dirt around Howl’s eyes.

After fighting the Oreback Behemoth, she knew that Ancient Savage Beasts maintained very little hygiene.

"Keep them open!" she scolded, then sprayed lukewarm water to thoroughly clean his eyes.

Huuuuuuu!

Howl let out a relieved breath, relaxing after his eyes were cleaned, and mentally thanked Lily.

Lily sat on Howl’s head with a huff, wanting to experience what it felt like to sit on the head of an Ancient Savage Beast who was practically her own.

Leo had already made Brok and his beast land softly as he relayed everything to the others through the mental link.

No one could believe a thing.

They had actually been living on the back of an Ancient Savage Beast all this time?!

Leo also revealed another shocking fact.

"The 5-metre golem sitting there without responding is the avatar of the Cragveil Colossus. I think that tells you he’s not a bad guy. Also, all the earth-element defences that had been active in the territory were created by him."

"What?!"

Everybody was shocked as they collectively huddled around the golem, which Howl activated once again while waiting for his main body to fully awaken.

As they talked, they also understood why the ground shook regularly, and the area expanded. It was because the beast beneath their feet was continuously ranking up!

"Alright! Everybody, pay attention."

Leo descended from the sky to instruct the others about what would happen next.

"It’s a long way before we reach our destination!" he announced.

"From today onward, we’re going to travel more than 9,000 kilometres before we even reach the starting point of our real journey. Along the way, Howl might be attacked or approached by many beings. I want everybody to remain vigilant during this period to keep things safe!"

Everyone sucked in a breath at the distance Leo mentioned. It would take months, if not years!

With their limited knowledge, everyone knew travelling on foot would take more than a few years, and that was considering if there was a strong party of men.

Even with strong beast mounts maintaining a demanding pace, they would still need at least a year once food requirements and rest were taken into account.

Then there was the Ancient Savage Beast. Everyone knew about their enormous energy requirements. In the worst-case scenario, travelling with it could take even longer than travelling on beast mounts.

Leo flicked his fingers, and 4 sturdy earthen towers appeared in the 4 cardinal directions.

"Along the way, we’ll encounter many wild beasts that we’ll capture for domestication, much like the Bisons." Leo looked towards the elf.

"I want at least 1 strong archer stationed in each tower at all times to keep watch."

Sylrael nodded.

"That will be done."

She was mentally prepared for things since she came to know about Howl’s existence; this allowed her to collect herself quicker.

Leo looked towards Aeila.

"Report your findings to Aeila, and then Aeila will report them to Niri. After that, Howl will manage the rest."

"My lord, Howl...?" Sylrael asked for confirmation, even though she already had an inkling.

"It’s the name of the Ancient Savage Beast we’re riding on."

Everybody nodded, their feet still shaky.

They knew Leo was overwhelmingly strong, but they had never realised that he could even tame an Ancient Savage Beast.

Some elves finally understood what Leo and Lily meant when they randomly mentioned the word ’Howl’ and said he would manage things.

People also realised that without people like Leo, Lily, and Kaelion—the territory’s powerful figures—they were never actually defenceless.

This also meant that Leo willingly gave up a considerable amount of his personal strength every time he went on important missions for the sake of the territory, which made them respect him even more.

Then Leo looked toward a few people.

The 3 blue-haired girls, Brok, and the 3 women from the feather shop.

"Initially, I never planned to go that far, but now that things have changed, I’ll give you an opportunity. If you want to leave the territory, you can do so now."

Brok was the first to shake his head.

"I’m fine. I can always use the teleportation array to go to Aurelius Hall and earn my keep. It’s more beneficial for me to stay in the territory."

"Are you sure?" Leo asked.

"Because if things go according to my plan, we’ll leave the boundaries of Aurelius Beast Academy and start travelling through the desolate wilderness."

Brok’s pupils contracted.

Desolate Wilderness? The wastelands?!

He immediately realised what Leo meant.

He knew tremendous opportunities lay there, but the dangers were just as great, especially since the area lay outside the Academy and even the Empire’s boundaries.

That simply meant the Life Bracelets wouldn’t work after crossing the 1,000-kilometre mark into the Wastelands.

However, Leo reassured them that he had a way to ensure their safety, similar to the Life Bracelets.

"T-that’s fine, then..." Brok somehow agreed.

But he had his personal reasons, too...

He would never get this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hold the thighs of someone like Leo again!

Even if it was dangerous, he needed to grit his teeth and agree.

The three girls naturally agreed, and even though the 3 women from the feather shop wanted to disagree, they couldn’t. Their boss, Oman, had already ordered them to stick with Leo, even if the business wasn’t doing well.

Now, it was time for Howl to start moving.

"Hm?" At that moment, Leo sensed birds flying in from a distance.

---

"What happened to Sir Leo’s territory teleportation array?" a robustly built man asked as he leisurely sat on the back of a Skyrend Eagle.

Two more Skyrend Eagles flew nearby, carrying people from his territory.

That morning, when he asked about teleportation, the mage told him Leo’s territory teleportation array had been unavailable for the past 2 days. So, he had resorted to travelling by air.

The robust man was Jialou, the leader of a High Green-Tier Territory named Jialou Territory.

He was ranked 420th on the second-year student leaderboard.

"I don’t know. Maybe the array was damaged or its power supply was cut off after the terrain of the territory changed?" a petite, black-haired woman sitting beside him replied, her legs folded gracefully.

"Might be. That expansion caused quite a ruckus. I’ve never seen any territory expand like that."

Having been in the academy for 6 years, Jialou was very experienced and knew many things.

But one thing was even clearer to him: he needed to join Leo’s territory somehow, even if it meant putting aside his pride and accepting a subordinate’s status.

"Leader Jialou! I’ve heard that Sir Leo drove away all the students who came to join his territory 4 days ago!" one of his subordinates shouted from behind, raising his voice to be heard over the rushing wind.

"What if he drives us away, too?"

Jialou snorted.

"Of course, they’d be driven away! Sir Leo’s territory isn’t a fish market."

"There’s a certain etiquette that needs to be followed for every action. Otherwise, you’re no better than a wild beast! Heck, even beasts have some manners when they’re in front of someone strong. Isn’t that so?" Jialou asked the petite woman beside him.

She nodded.

They had prepared plenty of gifts and brought only their loyal, strong subordinates to join Leo’s territory, hoping to show him they had something worthwhile to offer and convince him to accept them.

Of course, simply making an acquaintance and leaving a good impression would be a great victory too. If they were rejected, they would still have a chance to approach him again in the future.

Until then, they could continue living in their own territory.

But Jialou knew one thing: unless a truly strong, influential person led a territory, it wouldn’t last long before it fell.

Unfortunately, Jialou met neither of those criteria.

Although he could certainly choose to join one of the powerful students in his year, he felt it was better to try his luck with Leo first. That way, by becoming one of the first strong residents in Leo’s territory, he could secure a high position early on and be important later.

Suddenly, the petite woman sitting beside him widened her eyes.

"J-Jialou, what is that?"

"Hm?" Jialou turned his head and froze.

At that moment, the Skyrend Eagles carrying them screeched and panicked. The riders struggled to maintain control as the eagles tried to force themselves around, veering off their flight path.

"Leader! My friend messaged me that Sir Leo has started migrating his terri—huh?!!!"

The subordinate was left speechless at the scene before him.

"ANCIENT SAVAGE BEAST!!!"

They saw Howl standing and couldn’t believe their eyes. Even more unbelievable were the small housing structures on its back, meaning someone was actually living on top of it!

"Fuck! Record it! I’ll make a fortune if this goes viral!" one person sitting on another Skyrend Eagle shouted.