Chapter 409

Chapter 331: Ambush

“White-skinned! The white-skinned intruders have invaded Wooden Hoof’s altar with many other spirits. Wooden Hoof is enraged and is battling those white-skinned intruders!”

“The white-skinned intruders…”

Upon hearing this response from the spirit, Kapak’s expression darkened instantly. He immediately rushed forward towards the direction of the forest altar. He ran swiftly through the woods, and as he got closer to the altar, the noises grew louder.

Finally, Kapak reached the edge of the forest altar. Instead of rushing straight in, he hid himself among the bushes and began observing the situation inside the altar. His eyes widened.

The forest altar, where he had just conducted a spirit ceremony, was now in complete chaos. Around the perimeter of the altar, there were figures dressed in black robes, their faces concealed, wielding long firearms. They faced the center of the altar where a massive creature stood.

This creature was about three to four meters tall, constructed from rocks, vines, fallen leaves, soil, and various other natural elements. It resembled a towering wild buffalo. In its eye sockets formed by the earth, soul flames flickered, and the rocky muscles were unusually large. Its horns, made of sturdy wood, were stained with bl**d. Around the ground, there were corpses with bloody remains.

Kapak could immediately recognize this as Wooden Hoof, the Wilderness Spirit Wooden Hoof. To counter the invaders, it had built a new colossal body using its surroundings. Around this natural form, numerous soul flame-like spirits hovered. Above the clearing, there were also many unfamiliar spirits that Kapak did not recognize.

These spirits existed not as soul flames but as manifest spirit bodies. Most wore clothes from the Main Continent, both male and female, with anguished expressions and fatal wounds on their bodies. Kapak could sense their suffering and the fact that they were being controlled by something.

‘Those spirits… Someone is enslaving those who are hostile to Wooden Hoof! And those black-robed people don’t seem right either…’

Observing the scene, Kapak thought to himself. At this moment, the natural form of Wooden Hoof let out a heavy roar and began charging through the altar at high speed. Its massive and sturdy body crashed through the small clearing, sending the black-robed people holding guns flying or crushing them. Meanwhile, the ghosts from the Main Continent descended in mournful cries, aiming to attack Wooden Hoof’s spirit body directly. The spirits surrounding Wooden Hoof retaliated, engaging in a fierce struggle with the ghosts.

The battle within the altar had erupted again. Within moments, several black-robed individuals were torn apart by Wooden Hoof’s immense power. Seeing their comrades fall, the remaining black-robed individuals did not show any fear. Instead, they aimed their rifles at the massive natural form before them and fired continuously. Gunshots echoed through the forest, bullets striking the rock, tree, and soil forming the body of Wooden Hoof, but without any effect except for raising dust.

The roaring continued as Wooden Hoof swept through the black-robed people. Countless black-robed individuals were easily crushed under its wild strength, while their guns seemed ineffective against Wooden Hoof. Despite this, these black-robed individuals showed no signs of retreating. They faced almost impossible odds with no fear, which puzzled Kapak watching from the sidelines.

‘These guys… They’re no match for Wooden Hoof. Are they not afraid of dying? Wait… That is…’

Kapak quickly realized something was amiss as he observed the battlefield. He noticed that there was no trace of bl**d flowing from the flattened black-robed remnants. Instead, these remnants were still moving!

In Kapak’s view, amidst the tattered black clothing, bleached bones were visible. Even if part of a body had been shattered, the other half continued to hold a g*n and sh**t at Wooden Hoof. The mask on the head had fallen off, revealing a horrifying skull.

‘These guys… They are reanimated bone puppets possessed by incomplete fragments of lost souls!’

Using his medium abilities to perceive, Kapak quickly understood the true nature of those black-robed individuals. He now realized what Wooden Hoof was facing.

‘Extraordinary Beings! Extraordinary beings from the Main Continent controlling the undead! There might be more than one of them, hiding in the shadows, manipulating their undead minions to attack Wooden Hoof!’

Kapak realized the current situation, and just then, the battlefield began to shift.

Within the altar, Wooden Hoof continuously shattered the attacking skeleton soldiers. On the surface, these puppets seemed powerless against Wooden Hoof. However, after Wooden Hoof crushed another skeleton soldier, an unexpected event occurred.

After having one leg broken, the immense pressure seemed to trigger some mechanism within the skeleton. Suddenly, the skeleton burst into a deafening explosion and flames, engulfing Wooden Hoaf’s leg. Kapak, startled, covered his ears and closed his eyes, falling to the ground.

When Kapak opened his eyes again, the situation in the altar had changed. Wooden Hoof’s natural form had lost its right front leg in the explosion. Its entire body nearly collapsed, but fortunately, a strange force gathered the scattered stones and leaves, quickly reforming a thinner leg for Wooden Hoof, allowing it to regain balance.

At this moment, more skeleton soldiers armed with guns and dressed in black robes entered the altar from the woods, facing Wooden Hoof.

‘This is… explosives… d*mn… No! Those guys not only have extraordinary abilities! They also have advanced weapons! If this continues, Wooden Hoof will be in danger!’

Covering his head, Kapak, who had just regained consciousness from the explosion, couldn’t help but think as he saw this scene. He immediately decided to help Wooden Hoof.

‘Wooden Hoof is our Wilderness Spirit. I must help it… Directly fighting those skeletons and ghosts won’t work. I need to find the ones controlling them!’

Formulating a strategy in his mind, Kapak prepared to act. He intended to find the extraordinary beings controlling the undead. Solving them would solve the problem with the undead.

Acting immediately, Kapak, who was hiding in the bushes around the altar, began searching. After a while, he indeed found a figure. However, when he was about to sneak up and ambush, he realized the figure looked familiar.

‘Banu…’

Yes, the figure Kapak found was not a stranger but Banu, the shaman apprentice from the neighboring tribe, who had come here with him. He was also hiding in the bushes, secretly observing the battle.

Seeing Banu, Kapak breathed a sigh of relief and lowered his guard, approaching slowly. He gently tapped Banu’s shoulder from behind and greeted him.

“Hey, Banu…”

“Oh! Oh! Oh… Hu… Ah, it’s Brother Kapak, you… why did you suddenly return?”

Banu was startled by the greeting from behind and looked terrified when he turned to see Kapak. He seemed to want to reach for something behind him but stopped immediately. He took two steps back, breathing heavily, and replied calmly.

“I’m sorry for startling you so much… I forgot my bone chips and came back for them. I didn’t expect to encounter this situation. Listen, Banu brother, Wooden Hoof is being attacked by extraordinary beings from the invaders. Those undead are their minions… We need to find and defeat those controllers! Otherwise, Wooden Hoof might be in danger.”

Looking at Banu, Kapak said seriously. After hearing Kapak, Banu paused for a moment and nodded earnestly.

“So it’s those White-skinned Demons causing trouble? Then we can’t let them get away. Let’s go, find where they are hiding! Lead the way, Brother Kapak!”

“Mm…”

Listening to Banu’s words, Kapak nodded seriously. Having a companion eased his worries. He turned to continue searching for the hidden controllers of the undead.

However, as Kapak took a few steps, he suddenly felt intense pain in the back of his head, followed by a strong dizziness clouding his mind.

“What is this…”

With a shocked expression, Kapak fell down. As he sank into unconsciousness, he struggled to turn over, only to see Banu holding a thick wooden stick, his face cold and emotionless.