The path of the Soul Emperor

Chapter 19

At that moment, Alex was petting a Dire Wolf, a massive creature around 2 meters tall, resembling a beast.

This wolf was one of those that the Orcs rode, but something had caught Alex's eye, so he decided to steal it.

He also made it sign a Soul Contract, binding it as a servant to him.

Alex continued to pet the wolf as Stella and Lisa stood behind him, along with Kevin, who was watching in excitement. But where were the others?

Well, Alex had told them he had other matters to handle in the Juran Forest and that they could keep the reward.

To Alex, the reward was meaningless—he could create anything from nothing, so a few gold coins were the least of his concerns.

As for Kevin, Alex was the one who had chosen him, and Jack had agreed without hesitation.

Kevin wondered why Alex had picked him, but he couldn't figure it out, so he just went along with it.

The Juran Forest was a week's journey at full speed, but with Kevin, it would take slightly longer—at most two weeks.

Fortunately, the Dire Wolf was already a C-ranked creature, which Kevin could use during their journey.

Over the course of the week, nothing particularly noteworthy happened.

Alex and Lisa were in a hurry, so they didn't stop at any nearby cities and just kept moving.

They entered the forest on the fifth day and made their way to where the sword was supposed to be.

They eventually reached an ancient tomb, thousands of years old, yet it looked like it wouldn't be falling down anytime soon.

The forest itself was home to several small monster clans, located in the outer layers.

The monsters weren't very powerful, according to Lisa, with the strongest being a C+ rank.

Deep within the forest, however, was said to reside the Evil Dragon, whose power surpassed even the SSS rank.

The Juran Forest was divided into several layers:

the Outer Layer,

the Inner Layer (where the strongest beings were A-ranked),

the Core Layer (where the highest rank was SS), and the Main Layer, where beings of SSS rank and higher lived.

The forest was vast, even larger than the surrounding empires combined. It had its own kingdoms and empires within the Core and Main layers.

Alex wasn't planning on venturing there anytime soon; he remembered how weak the

Hero had been when he entered, and he didn't want to make the same mistake.

This was the place where the Overlord first conquered before attempting to devour the entire continent.

Soon, this continent would be plunged into an endless war, with the other three continents joining the battle—except for one.

These three continents served as the only barrier preventing the Overlord from devouring the world, all orchestrated by a single organization.

Why? That would soon become clear.

Thinking about the future, Alex sighed. He was still uncertain when the story would truly begin.

But despite the uncertainty, he knew he had to keep moving forward.

As he looked back, he saw Kevin pouting because the Dire Wolf had just thrown him to the ground.

"Be nice," Alex said, directing his words at the girls.

Lisa didn't like Kevin; she saw him as a liability. Stella, on the other hand, didn't care. Even the Dire Wolf, whom Alex hadn't named yet, considered Kevin a liability.

Why did Alex choose this Dire Wolf? Well, that wasn't something for them to know, at least not yet. He smiled and said, "Lisa, Stella, and Wolf, can you please stay here?"

The Dire Wolf mentally sent a thought: Don't call me 'Wolf.'

"Sorry," Alex replied, "I'll let you choose a name when I'm back."

Lisa then said, "Take Kevin with you. I'd like to talk to Stella alone."

Alex stared into her eyes, wanting to ask why, but seeing that she didn't want to explain, he just shrugged.

He signaled for Kevin to follow and began walking toward the stairs.

Stella and Lisa only watched him walk before he reached and opened the large door to the tomb.

Lisa looked at Stella's bored expression and asked, "What's with the look?"

Stella met her gaze, as if saying, I know. "Do I need to explain? The answer is no," she replied, her eyes glowing a deep crimson, like blood.

Lisa frowned. "I'm doing this out of kindness, but if he wants me, why should I refuse?"

Stella's expression darkened, and the great sword she was holding began to emanate dark energy with a crimson allure. "Lisa, Alex is mine and mine alone. If you continue like this, I'll have no choice but to kill you myself."

Lisa chuckled. "Can you even do it?" The wind began to swirl around her, responding to her will.

"You two are idiots," the Dire Wolf said, lying on the ground.

Neither of them paid attention to the wolf.

"If you keep fighting like this, you'll both lose him," the Dire Wolf added.

Both girls immediately stopped and retracted their auras. Stella looked away, saying, "Even if we fight, Alex will stop us in an instant."

"You felt it too, huh?" the Dire Wolf said.

"No, not really. I've just been with him long enough that I feel like he has some kind of super vision," Stella added.

"What are you two talking about?" Lisa asked.

The Dire Wolf responded, "Alex is always watching us."

"Wow, seriously?" Lisa looked around, expanding her senses, but only felt the presence of the two girls beside her. "What are you talking about?"

Inside the tomb, Alex could clearly see his surroundings with one of his eyes, while the other observed what was happening with the girls.

How did he do this?

It was a skill he had—when he saw Stella injured, he wanted to always keep an eye on her.

With his sub-skill, Sky Eye, he could see everything within a 10-kilometer radius, and with enough arcane mana, he could extend his vision even further

{Author's Note}

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