Chapter 206: Shadow in the Fissure

"Misty!" Bighorn exclaimed, rushing to prop her up with his body as Daisy hurried over to lick her wounds. "What happened to you?! Why are you injured?!"

Kellar stepped up immediately and placed his hand on the beast’s flank, activating [Healing] to seal the gashes before she lost any more strength.

"Leader... the herd is in chaos," said Misty, her voice strained as the pain began to fade. "The moment you vanished, the shadow wolves attacked the valley. It’s been a slaughter... it has been weeks since you left us."

"Weeks?!" Bighorn exclaimed, staring at the female in disbelief. "That’s impossible! Barely a few minutes have passed for me since I crossed the portal!"

"Misty is right, Bighorn," interjected Daisy, her gaze grim as she nuzzled her companion. "When I heard your call and jumped into the portal, five whole days had already passed since your disappearance."

Kellar, listening to the mental link, froze in place.

Weeks? Five days? thought Kellar, analyzing the beasts’ words with focus.

For Bighorn, barely a couple of minutes had passed; for Daisy, five days; and for Misty, several weeks. Kellar realized immediately that time flowed differently in these beasts’ domain of origin. Were these scrolls not just connecting to distant lands, but to different worlds with their own temporal flow? Or was there an even deeper secret behind the system’s summoning magic?

"Tell us what is happening up there," demanded Bighorn, his body taut and his horns tilted toward the dirt.

"It’s a slaughter, Leader..." whimpered Misty, her voice trembling with panic. "The moment you crossed the fissure, the herd was left lost. The shadow wolves descended from the frozen crests in endless packs. They sealed off the valley entrance, cornering the young and the mothers. The snow is red... there’s nowhere left to hide. The few bulls that tried to make a stand were torn apart in minutes."

Bighorn’s eyes widened in horror, taking a clumsy step back as Misty’s words hit him. The vision of his home valley being decimated shattered his composure. Desperate, he turned toward Kellar and dropped to his front knees, slamming his snout against the ground.

"My Lord, I beg of you!" bellowed Bighorn through the mental link, his tone thick with agony. "Open another portal! Allow me to save at least one more of my women! Do not let my entire lineage be wiped out in the dark!"

Kellar took in the great bull’s desperation and didn’t hesitate. He pulled the fourth and final summoning scroll from his inventory, tearing it down the middle with a sharp snap.

The magical light flared once more over the earth, tearing open a dimensional rift wider and darker than the previous ones. Bighorn drew a breath to throw out his guiding bellow, but before a sound could escape his throat, a guttural growl echoed from the depths of the portal.

What burst from the magic circle wasn’t another cow from the herd, but an imposing silhouette that leaped out onto the surface with agility.

It was a gargantuan shadow wolf. Standing three meters tall at the shoulders and nearly five meters in length, its fur was so dark it seemed to swallow the surrounding light. Its eyes burned like red embers amidst the evening twilight.

The beast landed on the grass baring a row of fangs sharp as scimatars, dripping with fresh blood that was not its own. However, the moment its claws gripped the realm’s soil and its crimson eyes locked onto Bighorn’s colossal frame—now fully healed, fed, and brimming with power—the shadow wolf skidded to a halt, taking a cautious step back on its hind legs.

Bighorn let out a roar of fury upon seeing the executioner of his herd. Without giving it a second of respite, the massive bull charged with the full weight of his body, slamming into the shadow wolf with raw power. The impact echoed across the field. Bighorn’s horns drove deep into the beast’s flank, lifting it into the air before slamming it against the dirt.

Bighorn continued his enraged assault, goring and trampling the predator over and over, intent on tearing it apart until nothing remained. The three-meter beast lay sprawled on the ground, bloodied and half-dead, letting out muffled groans as it tried to protect itself.

Just as Bighorn raised his hooves to deliver the final blow and crush its skull, Kellar stepped in with a firm voice.

"Stop, Bighorn," ordered Kellar.

Kellar was a pragmatic man. Despite sympathizing with the bull’s grief, his eyes recognized the strategic value of a high-level shadow beast.

"Enough, you’ve vented your rage! It’s time to stop," continued Kellar, placing himself between the bull and the dying beast.

"Kill him, Bighorn! Tear that wretched monster apart!" shrieked Daisy, her voice choked with tears as she stepped forward, her eyes burning with hatred while the snow stained crimson with the predator’s blood.

"That bastard devoured our sisters! Rip his head off! Avenge our people!" pleaded Misty, leaning heavily on her injured leg as tears streamed down her snout. "Don’t let him breathe another second!"

Bighorn began to plead, shouting in desperation as he fought the urge to push past and finish off his species’ hunter. The bull’s bellows tore through the air, demanding vengeance for his decimated valley and his fallen kin.

"I beg you, Great Shaman!" bellowed Bighorn, his eyes bloodshot and his massive chest heaving. "This beast slaughtered my herd! He tore calves from their mothers’ breasts! Let me crush him! Let me avenge the souls of my brothers!"

Kellar locked eyes with him, letting the heavy pressure of his aura settle over the bull.

"Know your place," said Kellar coldly. "I’ve been patient with you. Remember that you and your herd belong to us now. I saved two of your women; slaughtering this wolf won’t bring back the lives of those you lost, and I need it alive."

"But my Lord! He is a demon! He deserves no mercy!" wailed Daisy, tearing up the dirt with her hooves.

"Silence," cut her off Kellar, his voice low and calculating, freezing all three beasts in place. "A ten-foot shadow wolf is an invaluable military asset. I will not waste a beast of this caliber to satisfy your thirst for vengeance. If you want blood, serve the tribe and tear apart the enemies marching toward our borders. Your fate is under my command, and this wolf is now under it as well."