The Forbidden Forest was a place full of life, home to countless magical creatures as well as ordinary animals.
They lived in harmony with the forest not because they were stronger than wizards, but because they had long since adapted to the dangers lurking there and learned what could hurt them.
A squirrel was rummaging through the fallen leaves for food. Late autumn was almost here, so it had to prepare early for hibernation and gather enough to survive the winter.
Just as it finally dug out a plump pinecone, its ears suddenly shot upright, terror filling its eyes.
Strong claws tore through the carpet of leaves, and the heavy pounding of footsteps came crashing in like a wave.
The hunters of the forest had arrived.
The squirrel immediately abandoned the hard-won food and darted up a tree. Its little body trembled, yet it still dared to poke its head out to look in the direction of the hunters.
Then a flash of cold light swept past.
The squirrel clinging to the tree was brutally torn apart. Its flesh had not even hit the ground before it was already devoured clean.
All that remained on the trunk were a few streaks of blood and three claw marks gouged deep into the wood.
Scenes like this kept playing out throughout the forest.
Between the trees, swift black shadows darted forward, racing toward the botanical garden.
In the dim light of the Forbidden Forest, pairs of ghostly green eyes burned in the darkness, leaving streaks of afterimages as they moved through the woods.
At last, the shadows reached the outer edge of the botanical garden and stopped beside the wall of thorns surrounding it.
The tall figure leading them slowly approached and looked at the thorn-covered barrier, its ghostly green eyes full of caution.
...
Midgard stood up and twitched her nose, her expression turning serious.
At that point, she had finally caught the scent of the uninvited guests Leonard and Claudia had mentioned. Mixed in with the wild animal smell drifting through the forest was a noticeable trace of blood.
Whoever had come, they clearly meant trouble.
"You two stay here. I'll go out and take a look," Midgard said as she rose to her feet.
"Wait. What exactly are you planning to do?" Leonard stopped her, his expression a little strange.
"They're just a bunch of beasts. I'll drive them off." Midgard gave Leonard a puzzled look. "Is there a problem with that?"
"Yes, there is. Of course there is." Leonard rubbed his chin. "I really didn't expect to see them..."
"You know them?" Midgard asked, looking at Leonard's green-lit eyes.
She knew a little about Leonard's abilities. She envied his power to extend his vision through plants.
For example, right now, Midgard only knew that something was approaching. She had no idea how many there were or what kind of creatures they were. Leonard, on the other hand, probably knew the situation clearly enough to guess what they wanted too.
"No, I don't know them. This is my first time seeing them too. But I realized a long time ago that a group like this existed." Leonard stood up. "Let's go out and have a look together. You might even have some connection to them."
"A connection to me?" Midgard froze for a moment, then followed Leonard toward the edge of the botanical garden with Claudia.
Very soon, Midgard saw the beasts gathered outside the garden.
"These are..." She stared strangely at the beasts beyond the wall of thorns. "Wolves?"
And they really were wolves.
More than a dozen giant wolves with black fur were gathered outside the thorn wall, each at least two meters long. The leader was even bigger, a full three meters from end to end.
"They are wolves, yes, but to be more precise, they're descendants of werewolves." Leonard stroked his chin as he sized up the giant wolf at the front. "I remember reading in a book from the Restricted Section that a group of werewolf descendants lives in the Forbidden Forest."
These wolves were very different from ordinary wolves. They had the shape of canines, yes, but each of them carried a special magical fluctuation, something similar to a werewolf's aura, only calmer and more balanced.
The descendants of werewolves were not the children born normally to werewolf wizards.
They were the offspring that could sometimes be produced when werewolves who had fully given themselves over to transformation gathered together and indulged their instincts.
Such offspring could only be born from werewolf wizards who willingly sank into corruption and never restrained their own werewolf transformations.
Fenrir Greyback, for example.
But nothing like that had ever happened with someone like Midgard. In fact, she had not even known such a branch existed among werewolves.
These descendants had completely lost their human form and taken on the shape of wolves, yet somehow they had also miraculously gained reason.
Unlike their forebears, they had not fallen into corruption despite remaining in wolf form forever. Instead, they deliberately avoided wizards and lived on their own. So it was no surprise Midgard had never encountered them before.
After all, she was still an untouched maiden.
"Descendants of werewolves?" The moment she heard the term, Midgard became wary. In her eyes, the offspring of chaotic and fallen werewolves could not possibly be anything normal.
So she fixed her gaze on the lead wolf, not bothering to hide the hostility in her eyes.
Midgard's hostility immediately drew the lead wolf's attention. It bared its sharp fangs at her, its limbs tensing slightly as though ready to spring at any moment.
Leonard frowned faintly. Even he was not entirely sure what was going on.
In theory, the descendants of werewolves living in the Forbidden Forest were supposed to be a friendly race that did not want to harm humans. But they had always avoided contact with people, so no one knew what purpose had brought them here so suddenly.
He moved Claudia behind him and pinched a Bitterthorn seed between his fingers.
There might have been a lot of wolves on the other side, but in front of the Thornpiercer, they had no room to act arrogant. If any of them made the slightest move, he would strike at once. Forget five hundred axemen. The moment the Thornpiercer came out, every last one of them would end up skewered like meat on a stick.
The atmosphere suddenly turned tense.
Led by the three-meter giant wolf, the werewolf descendants silently spread out into a semicircle, as if preparing to surround Leonard and the other two.
Meanwhile, Midgard bared her teeth. Pale purple crystal vines twisted and spread at her side like serpents, while her body rapidly swelled and fur began to grow. She looked ready to transform into a werewolf and tear through the whole pack.
Just then, Claudia, who had been hiding behind Leonard, tugged lightly on his sleeve.
"Leonard, they don't seem to have any ill intentions," Claudia said softly.
"No ill intentions? Their drool's practically about to drown us. Don't be scared, Claudia. I've got this."
Leonard assumed Claudia was frightened and reassured her casually.
Claudia pressed her lips together, then stepped out from behind him.
"Let me talk to them," Claudia said.