Chapter 113: Eclipse-rank spirits!

That was why Moon’s divine sense had found nothing earlier.

Eclipse-rank spirits!

They could fold themselves into pure shadow and hide from almost any detection.

One of them stepped forward. The silver wolf crest of the Vaelis pack glinted on his collar.

"The Black Witch Moon," the Vaelis shadow said, voice calm and cold. "Alpha has been looking for you."

To his right stood a woman with the Lyris Ash Pack’s mark.

To his left stood a tall man wearing Vesper’s dark insignia. The remaining two carried the emblems of Blackthorn and Ironfang.

Five packs.

Axe’s hand slowly closed around the handle of his machete.

"Careful. They’re stronger than most pack Alphas," Axe’s voice transferred into Moon’s mind.

Nox’s fingers twitched, already gathering force. Ugo’s eyes narrowed, faint green light flickering in their depths.

Moon felt the temporary mark Lupine had left on them pulse once in warning.

"We can’t enter the Lupine Palace. They must never find out its existence," Moon warned the others through mind.

The Vaelis shadow smiled without warmth, watching their subtle shifting.

"You made such a ruckus that even the Black Sea turned over and spat out a secret realm. Very interesting."

The Lyris shadow lord sneered. "Alpha is certain of it. Hand over the realm entrance, and perhaps some of you will still have intact limbs when we deliver you."

The five Eclipse wolves took one step forward together.

None of them bothered asking how Moon and the others were standing on the water’s surface. They already knew Moon had that ability.

And they had come prepared.

Even without Stardust Lily, big packs had their own treasures.

Moon’s Tear—pearls pulled from the deepest trenches of the Black Sea—could still hold a measure of poison-dispelling power.

The secret realm was no small matter.

And this was the legendary Black Sea. Everyone believed the more dangerous the path, the greater the treasure waiting inside.

So they didn’t hesitate to take out the pearl and the shadow lord.

"Just take them down," the Ironfang shadow lord said impatiently.

His phantom wolf roared, the sound rumbling across the sloping cliffs. The armored spirit lunged straight across the water, jaws wide, aiming to swallow the entire group in one bite.

Moon’s fingers snapped twice.

All four of them sank deeper in an instant.

The iron-armored wolf slammed into the water after them—only for the rotten poison to force it back out with a furious howl.

"Fuck you! How dare you corrupt my wolf spirit!" the Ironfang shadow roared.

Moon didn’t answer. He was already moving.

"Scatter—use the scavenger bodies as cover! Get to the crack!"

The muddy shore was littered with the sleeping scavengers.

Moon shot toward the nearest cluster, spiritual force wrapping around Nox and yanking him sideways just as a black thorn whip from the Blackthorn shadow tore through the air where his head had been.

Nox flung both hands out.

Dozens of thin blue lines exploded outward.

The air churned as the void sliced through the phantom wolves—not to kill, but to force the Lyris and Vesper shadows to twist aside for half a breath.

That half-breath was enough.

Ugo’s vines erupted from the sludge, suddenly, wrapping around two of the sleeping scavengers and hurling the heavy bodies straight into the path of the charging Eclipse wolves.

Thud! Thud!

The impact slowed them for another precious second.

Axe’s new machete flashed.

He didn’t swing at the enemies. He slashed the mud itself, kicking up a thick spray of black sludge that blinded the Vaelis shadow’s vision for a moment.

"Move!" Moon hissed.

"Damn it, you scoundrel little shits, come out and fight squarely. Don’t play dirty tricks!" the Vesper lord roared.

Moon’s team was closer now. The thin crack in the cliff face was only twenty steps away, half-hidden behind a pile of collapsed scavenger bodies.

Fifteen steps.

The Lyris shadow woman vanished into pure darkness and reappeared right in front of them, her wolf spirit already lunging with jaws open.

Moon didn’t meet it head-on.

He wasn’t foolish enough to do it.

He slammed both palms down.

A thin layer of spiritual force spread under the rock like a mirror. The moment her wolf landed, the surface turned slick and inverted.

The spirit skidded sideways with a startled snarl, crashing into the Blackthorn shadow instead.

"You—!"

Axe used the opening.

He grabbed one of the bigger scavenger corpses by the hind leg and swung the whole heavy body like a club.

The carcass smashed into the Vesper lord’s shoulder with a wet crack, buying them three more steps.

Ten steps.

The Ironfang shadow recovered first.

His armored wolf charged again, claws tearing trenches in the muddy rock.

Ugo’s eyes flashed green.

Vines burst from under the sleeping scavengers, coiling around the iron wolf’s front legs and yanking hard. The spirit stumbled.

At the same moment, Nox flicked three blue air needles—not at the wolf, but at the rotting moss-covered rock directly in front of its face.

The needles exploded into a fine mist of spiritual shards that forced the beast to close its eyes for a fraction of a second.

That fraction was enough.

Moon grabbed Axe’s arm and pulled.

They slid under another scavenger body, using it as a moving shield while Ugo’s vines kept dragging obstacles into the enemies’ path.

Eight steps.

Seven.

The Vaelis shadow finally wiped the sludge from his eyes. His face was dark with fury.

"Enough games!"

His Eclipse wolf fully manifested—a massive silver-black beast whose presence alone made the air heavy.

It opened its jaws and released a condensed howl that turned into a shockwave.

Moon’s ears rang.

Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

Nox staggered.

Axe’s boots dug deep furrows as he tried to stay upright.

Moon clenched his crescent necklace.

As they were all overwhelmed by attacks and Moon felt all of them dropping energy, Moon muttered, "Pause!"

And just as Moon Goddess said it, the moment paused.

All around the action, the wolves’ spirits and people paused as they were.

Only Moon could move, so he shot a spiritual force toward the Axe Nox, and Ugo pushed them to the cliff crack­ the entrance of the cave.

But the moment was short.

Five steps. ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Moon’s heart hammered against his ribs.

Four.

The crack was right there—narrow, dark, half-buried under two scavenger bodies. If they could just—

Before he could reach, the air shifted.