The Divine Wolf... or?
Chapter 123: Cruel

Even though they knew that Ark was there, they didn't immediately attack him or anything, they just stared at him wickedly for a while. Ark did the same, he just stared at them, some residual anger shone in his eyes as he watched them, but he didn't do anything rash.

Ark had nothing against killing other animals for survivals, but exterminating races just for the fun of it, that was actually messed up. Just a single race going extinct in his old world could seriously affect the ecosystem, even more so in a world like this.

The demons were a little surprised when they saw that Ark wasn't provoked by their behaviour, and the leader of them only flashed a cruel smile. The leader of the demons was an unusual kind of demon. With striking blue skin and only a single horn that was centred on his forehead, he looked quite different to most demons that Ark had seen up until now.

As Ark was staring at the demons' leader, he responded by pulling out a spear from behind his back, before Ark could get much of a chance to react, the spear was already zooming through the air, heading straight for him.

When Ark was just about to dodge the incoming spear, like always, he remembered something crucial. Behind him, the cub was shaking fiercely, almost on the verge of collapsing just because of the immense pressure from the attack. The mother was faring much better than the cub, but Ark could still feel her struggling.

Since there was nothing else he could do, Ark decided to take the attack head-on, he had the power to do so after all. Even if he had planned to surprise them with his strength later on, it seemed like that wasn't the best idea right now.

If he still insisted on pretending to be a pig to eat a tiger, then it would have dire consequences. Ark could feel immense strength imbued into the spear, but it seemed like it was only a casual attack to the demon! Since that was the case, then Ark was going to keep hiding his magic for a little longer.

He was sure that the demon would let its guard down a little if it saw him taking the attack seriously using just his physical strength since that would have no meaning if he could use such advanced magic as Ark.

Putting massive amounts of strength into his hind legs, Ark himself propelled through the air like a spear! Though he was heading for it head first, it wasn't like he was planning on headbutting it away. As the spear was about to hit him, Ark twisted his body a little and attacked the spear from beneath with his claws.

Ark had still underestimated the power behind the attack a little, and he didn't manage to stop it fully like he had intended to, but the spear changed course and flew straight through a thick lava tree in the distance.

The demon was a little surprised that the wolf managed to receive its attack, and it started to grin even wider, it seemed like it had managed to replace another plaything in this little forest. The spear that had embedded itself somewhere in the ground far away, was suddenly shaken by a weird force of attraction before it flew back the exact way it came.

Ark didn't know why the demon was grinning so widely, it was kind of creeping him out if he was to be completely honest. As the spear was just about to hit his head, Ark moved his head out of the way slightly, still staring straight at the demon.

This was just to show his stance, that he wasn't afraid to fight. He didn't know if he managed to convey his message well enough, but he could see that the demon was a little disappointed when he dodged the spear the second time, which was enough for Ark to gloat a little. Did this demon seriously think that he was that stupid?

If Ark couldn't sense an attack of that level approach rapidly from behind, then he would probably already be dead by now.

Before Ark did anything rash, he communicated a little with the cub's mother behind him. [Do you think you can take care of the other demons for a while? You know, keep them busy?] When he looked behind him, he could see her nod her head with determination, which was enough for Ark to feel at ease, it was time to go nuts!

The demons had no idea about Ark's plan, as they couldn't understand a thing that was said between them, which was to be expected.

With determination in his eyes, Ark started to slowly walk forward toward the demons. Even though he didn't use any mana, some of the weaker demons still felt suppressed by him, just because of his physical strength and his bearing alone. The leader of the demons naturally took a step forward and brandished the spear that had already returned to his grasp.

Even though the demon knew Ark was going to attack him seriously, he couldn't be bothered, he just wanted to have some fun.

As Ark approached closer and closer, the demon suddenly thrust out with his spear. The spear travelled at an unbelievable speed, and it bent weirdly as well. The attack that was originally headed straight for Ark's head was suddenly about to pierce through his front left leg.

Ark thought that the attack resembled a snake a little, and he used a lot of effort just to barely dodge it by jumping slightly up into the air.

The demon sneered when it saw Ark up in the air. Since the wolf had taken the chance to immobilise itself for him, the demon wouldn't be polite. As he brandished his spear and struck out with even more force, Ark seemed doomed from an outsiders point of view, though that was far from the case.

As Ark was just about to be struck again, a wall conjured out of ice appeared just where the spear was about to hit. Not only that, but Ark also used some wind magic to reposition himself in the air.

"Crash"

The ice broke almost immediately, but it bought enough time for Ark to be able to reposition himself outside of the spear's attack range. The demon quickly realised his mistake, but it was already too late.

The other demons wanted to jump in and help their leader when they realised that something was wrong, but they were oppressed by a thick wave of water magic that kept them in their place, even though it would be pretty easy to break through the water with their numbers, they didn't have enough time on their hands.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

The sound of something being pierced through broke the temporary silence, followed by a horrifying scream. Ark felt a little cruel after his attack, but who knew how many people this demon had tormented? It probably got its just desserts. That being said, the glorious leader of the demons was now lying down and squirming on the ground in front of him, both of his hands clutching his behind.

With blood flowing between the cracks of his fingers, the demon kept roaring at the top of his lungs, like it was going to help him ease the pain.

Where he had just been standing, a long spike made out of the earth was standing upright, with some blood flowing from its tip. That was right, Ark had used some earth magic in the fight just then to penetrate the demons sacred place, a place no man should ever penetrate! At least that's what Ark had heard from some religious people from his past world.

He could only pray for the demon's wellbeing as it kept roaring in pain.

As Ark was about to make his next move, another demon came running into the large clearing. This demon was different from the demon group's leader and had flaming red skin instead of blue. He was also really short, standing at just 1,5 meters tall. The small demon frantically ran around, until it spotted the crowd of demons standing around near one of the hills.

Changing its course, the small demon quickly arrived in the blink of an eye.

"Captain! The humans are pushing us back, we need your squad to help us!"

Just when the demon forced his way through the crowd of demons, he saw the captain lying on the ground, roaring in pain. Since he had never met this captain before, the small demon had just assumed that it was a magical beast or monster that was roaring, not the captain of a demon squad... not only that, what was up with that injury?

When the small demon was about to ask about what was going on, he was shut up by the furious stare of the captain lying on the ground. He had stopped his incessant roaring now, but he didn't even get the chance to stand up before trouble came his way again.

The rumbling of footsteps started to shake the surrounding trees a little bit, and Ark instinctively retreated for a couple of meters before he finally stopped, he felt that something big was about to go down.

His instincts proved to be correct, as over 30 demons covered in battle injuries and wound came running into the large clearing. Behind them, about 60 humans were tight on their heels, with their weapons hung high. Battlecries and roars of pain started to erupt from the once peaceful clearing, and Ark couldn't help but feel bad.

What was once such a peaceful clearing, home to an almost extinct race was now just a battlefield, and home to a massacre.

The demons that had been busy surrounding their captain had to join the fray when they saw their fellow comrades being mercilessly slaughtered by the neverending swarm of humans that followed them. Though the captain was left behind by himself on the ground, any human that came close to him was instantly murdered.

He had started to recover a little by now, and he could make some simple movements, although it was still hard for him to stand up.

Ark took the bloodshed as his cue to leave, and he retreated back a little bit until he managed to bump into someone...