At the edge of the deep pit, Draven reached out and plucked the Eyebrow-Patterned King Serpent from the Nightmare Horse's head. He didn't say much—just casually tossed it to Thalia.

  "Let it protect you," he instructed simply.

  Surprisingly, the serpent seemed to take the order quite seriously. With a smooth slither, it darted straight into Thalia's collar, poking out just a little bit of its head and resting squarely in the center of her chest.

  Draven's gaze shifted slightly, glancing at where the snake's head emerged, a trace of inexplicable envy flickering in his eyes.

  Thalia's face flushed with a rosy tint. She tugged awkwardly at her clothes but was helpless against the clingy snake. With her mother's whereabouts still unknown, she didn't have the heart to argue with the Eyebrow-Patterned King Serpent.

  Draven turned his attention to the Nightmare Horse and gave a brief command:"Stay up here and be ready to support us at any time."

  The next moment, Draven threw on his Magisaur Cloak. His presence instantly vanished, as though he had evaporated into thin air—completely disappearing from their sight.

  "Head straight down. Don't hide your aura. I'll stay with you the whole time," Draven's voice echoed in their ears.

  Hearing this, Thalia finally felt a bit reassured. She nodded at Thorin, then leapt down into the pit without hesitation.

  Thorin sighed and followed right after her. His respect for Draven's abilities grew even deeper. Just because he couldn't see the man didn't mean he wasn't there—this kind of invisible pressure weighed heavily on him.

  Meanwhile, Draven was using his Floating Shadow Step skill, descending silently while cloaked. He landed steadily about 30 meters from the bottom of the pit.

  Before him lay a shadowy forest, the tall trees packed densely together, barely letting any sunlight through. Draven frowned—not because of the danger, but due to a strange, instinctive discomfort.

  Thorin hadn't been exaggerating—this forest radiated an aura of hostility. It wasn't easy to explain, but anyone with wilderness experience would understand the feeling of being rejected by nature.

  After landing, Thorin's face turned visibly grim. He pointed toward the woods ahead, voice low and tense."They've reverted… everything's back to how it was."

  Draven didn't respond, only grunted in acknowledgment and gestured for him to release his aura and take the lead.

  It was Thorin's third descent into the pit, and this time he didn't dare be careless. He immediately transformed into his black tiger form. His massive body straightened, radiating a powerful high-tier chieftain aura—like a slumbering beast awakened.

  It was the first time Draven had seen Thorin's beast form in person. He silently admitted the guy's transformation was visually even more intimidating than that of a werewolf.

  But what made him frown was that Thorin still wasn't using any bloodline weapons—just relying on brute strength to crush his enemies.

  Thalia wielded a long spear, thick as an adult's calf. In her three-to-four-meter-tall beast form, it looked perfectly proportioned and intimidating.

  The Eyebrow-Patterned King Serpent, apparently dissatisfied with its current spot, slithered from her chest to coil itself between her hair and ear. It clearly missed the comfort of the chest, but now wasn't the time to prioritize comfort.

  Thorin led the way, guiding them back to the area where Thalia had vanished last time. The forest was deathly still, with no signs of any battle.

  "This is the place," Thalia said with a frown.

  The black tiger man nodded and pointed at a seemingly ordinary tree."She disappeared right here. I swear I destroyed this tree."

  As he finished speaking, he clenched his paw into a fist and slammed it into the tree trunk.

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  Chieftain-level strength was no joke. With a loud crack, the thick trunk snapped cleanly, crashing to the ground and sending splinters flying everywhere.

  Though Draven remained hidden, his senses constantly swept the area. His gaze was sharp and focused on the falling tree, trying to detect even the slightest anomaly.

  But even with the tree down, nothing stirred around them.

  Was the enemy lying in wait? Or had they not done enough damage yet?

  Draven thought quickly and made a decision. Time was tight—Elira couldn't afford for them to slowly investigate.

  "No more playing nice. Tear it all apart. I want full destruction."

  As soon as Draven gave the order, Thorin let out a sky-shaking tiger's roar. The soundwaves blasted through the forest, leaves swirling violently.

  The black tiger man charged into the woods like a berserk beast, wreaking havoc wherever he went. Massive trees fell like dominoes, each impact echoing like thunder through the dead silence.

  Following Draven's command, Thalia silently leapt onto a tall tree. The branches swayed gently beneath her feet.

  She focused all her attention on hiding her presence, waiting for the next instruction. Draven's plan was simple—recreate the previous scenario, set a trap, and lure out the mysterious attacker once again.

  He hid nearby, using the tree trunks and underbrush as cover while closely observing the surroundings.

  He had no intention of acting rashly. All he wanted was to confirm whether the enemy would strike again. If Thorin was right, and the attacker relied solely on some special form of concealment, then the moment they made a move, their position would inevitably be exposed.

  As long as the enemy wasn't of lord-tier strength, Draven was confident he could take them down in a single breath.

  But to their surprise, even as Thorin's destructive actions in the forest became increasingly intense, the ground showed no signs of anomaly. Not even the mudflow that had forced him back earlier reappeared.

  This prolonged silence made Thorin uneasy. He began to worry: if there was no response at all, wouldn't the chieftain think he was lying?

  He had only just submitted to the tribe, and now he was being questioned. Life would be hard going forward if this went south.

  Anxious, his strikes grew more violent. His massive tiger claws swept out, slicing through thick underbrush, splintering trunks, and sending clouds of dirt flying. He was nearly tearing the forest apart.

  Perhaps the destruction finally had an effect.

  As Thorin picked up the pace, the ground finally began to tremble again. Relief washed over him for a brief moment—then his vigilance instantly sharpened.

  He recognized this movement. It was the same tactic used last time. But this time, he was ready.

  With a thunderous roar, broken branches and leaves were swept into a frenzy by the force of his energy. Thorin used the momentum to leap into the air, his massive form darting through the canopy with surprising agility, eyes locked on the shifting ground below.

  Meanwhile, Draven sensed the disturbance as well. He didn't hesitate. Leaving Thalia's tree behind, he quietly rose into the air, hovering among the high branches of the forest. His killing blow was ready. All he needed was for the enemy to appear, and he would strike them down in one decisive move.

  But unexpectedly, the one under attack this time wasn't Thalia—it was Thorin!

  Just as Draven, Thalia, and the Eyebrow-Patterned King Serpent, coiled high in the treetops, all readied themselves to act, Thorin suddenly felt his vision blur. A powerful sense of danger exploded in his chest.

  He opened his mouth to roar a warning and prepared to counterattack with his claws, but before he could react, a dark figure lunged straight at him.

  Before the shadow could reach its target, a bolt of black lightning shot from the treetop—it was the Eyebrow-Patterned King Serpent! Since its evolution, its speed had become astonishing. The strike was nearly imperceptible, but in the next instant, it collided brutally with the shadow.

  With a deafening crash, the enemy was flung away. Draven followed in a flash, his blood-red spear carving a blazing arc through the air like fire. With a heavy thud, a yellowish-brown figure crashed to the ground.

  A blood-colored spear brimming with murderous energy pointed directly at its throat, while Thorin's massive tiger paw pinned its head to the dirt.

  It was a vaguely humanoid creature, its body appearing to be formed from sand and mud. It lay trembling on the ground, eyes filled with terror.

  Draven stared at the creature, thinking silently: Is this one of the legendary Mud People tribe?

  Thalia arrived just then, her spear pointed directly at the creature as she demanded coldly,"Where's my mother? Where did you take her?!"

  Draven noticed the Mud Person's right hand clutched a dull gray stone. It looked ordinary, but his instincts told him something was off.

  He lightly tapped it with his foot, intending to knock it away. But to his shock, the entire hand of the Mud Person exploded on contact!

  Draven froze for a moment. He hadn't even used much force—just a precise nudge. And yet it had completely shattered the creature's hand.

  What surprised him even more was that the Mud Person hadn't spoken a single word throughout the entire encounter. After its hand was destroyed, its body began to melt, softening like wet clay and slowly sinking into the ground.

  But Draven wouldn't let it escape.

  With a single thought, the Eyebrow-Patterned King Serpent opened its jaws wide. A black vortex burst forth, swallowing the creature along with the patch of ground beneath it.

  When the serpent closed its mouth, only a charred pit remained.

  Thalia instinctively took a step back—she had once been swallowed by that same serpent.

  Draven, however, remained calm. He opened his lizard-hide cloak and bent down to pick up the stone-like object.