NOVEL'S EXTRA: I Will Die at the Peak-Chapter 68: Angry wolves

As they moved deeper into the forest, the surroundings gradually grew silent. The birds had gone quiet. The wind wasn’t blowing. Even the leaves weren’t moving.

While riding, Ravien scanned the clearing ahead with his eyes. When a black pillar of energy rose toward the sky through the trees, the horse suddenly slowed.

Ravien pulled the reins and stopped. Narrowing his eyes, he looked in that direction without saying a word.

"What’s happening inside the forest?"

Asogi, sitting behind him, slightly raised his head and fixed his eyes on the energy pillar. His face grew serious. He broke the silence:

"That’s his energy. You can recognize it even from here."

Ravien glanced back briefly at Asogi upon hearing those words.

"Is that Juuhra’s energy?"

Asogi slowly nodded.

"Yes, Father."

Without hesitation, Ravien pulled the reins again. This time, the horse leapt forward more fiercely. Ravien spoke without taking his eyes off the pillar:

"Whatever’s happening there isn’t ordinary. We can’t be late."

The horse galloped into the depths of the forest, heading straight for the dark energy.

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On the meadow side, the wolves were alert. All of them were waiting for the Alpha to return.

As the wait continued, a black pillar of energy rose toward the sky from the direction he had gone. All the wolves raised their heads and locked their eyes onto the strange sight.

One female wolf stared at the pillar and spoke in a trembling voice. The energy was so intense, even her voice was affected:

"That... that’s the direction Alpha went."

The other wolves shivered at the same time. Their fur stood on end. They didn’t know exactly what was happening, but it was clear that the pillar was the cause.

One elite wolf stepped forward and slowly began to walk in that direction:

"Alpha might be in danger. We should go to him."

But another elite responded cautiously:

"Alpha told us to stay here until he returns."

The first elite hesitated for a moment, then turned back and growled with his teeth bared:

"Are you telling us to just sit here knowing Alpha might be in danger? Hrrrrrr..."

The female closest to the Alpha stepped forward and spoke in a firm voice:

"There’s no point in arguing now. Don’t you feel that energy? We can’t waste time. We must go now."

Most of the pack agreed with him. Without further argument, they all started running toward the direction where the energy was rising.

At that moment, the black pillar of light stretching into the sky slowly began to fade. In its place was left a wide, utterly dark area, completely devoid of life.

Not a single tree or blade of grass remained. Even the soil had lost its color, turning into a flat, empty wasteland.

Near the center of this desolate space, Alpha stood on his feet. His body was almost unrecognizable. All of his fur had burned away, leaving only black, smooth skin behind.

To survive, he had used most of his energy to reinforce his body. He had managed to resist for just a few seconds, but even that had taken a heavy toll on him.

The wolves behind him hadn’t been as resilient; under the influence of the black light, they had been completely erased.

Alpha struggled to breathe deeply. Suddenly, he coughed—fine black dust fell from his mouth.

"Ho... hoh..."

Above him, Juuhra was still floating in the sky. He too had been under the influence of the dark light, but his body seemed to show immunity to the attack. He looked down at Alpha, who was still standing.

"I guess I went a bit too far," he murmured to himself. "Using sixty percent instead of seventy would’ve been enough. Oh well... My body’s still intact. No real problem."

Juuhra began to descend slowly. A few moments later, he landed on the ground. As his feet touched the blackened earth, light particles of dust scattered into the air. With silent steps, he walked up to stand before Alpha.

Alpha slowly opened his eyes. He stared at Juuhra, who stood motionless and expressionless before him. For a moment, he tried to move his body, as if he wanted to strike. But his strength was gone. His entire body was aching from top to bottom.

Barely, he managed to utter a single sentence:

"I... will... kill you."

Juuhra remained unmoved by the words. He replied calmly:

"You can still talk—impressive. Even after I used most of my capacity, you’re still alive. Perhaps you’re the third strongest person I’ve ever met."

Juuhra slowly raised his hand. With black, spiraling claws extending from his fingers, he gently touched Alpha’s head.

"Let’s see what you’re carrying. Maybe there’s some useful information in there."

The moment he touched him, Alpha’s entire life began flashing before Juuhra’s eyes—his birth, his growth, how he formed his own pack... All of it streamed into Juuhra’s mind, one memory at a time.

But what stood out the most was the legacy passed only to leaders: knowledge preserved through generations, known only to the chosen. The evolutionary past of the Ulfrans—knowledge of their transformation.

When Juuhra accessed that information, he thought to himself:

"Not useless after all. My father will want to know this."

The visions continued. Alpha’s progress, his hunts, the treaties he made with other species, his exploration of different parts of the forest... And at the very end, the place known as the "forest’s end"—a vast body of salty water.

In the final memories, a dark figure appeared.

One who came from the sea... The Empress.

With her arrival, life in the forest had started to vanish rapidly. The wolf clans, the other intelligent species... one by one, they were all erased.

Juuhra slowly withdrew his finger from Alpha’s forehead. He stood still for a moment, eyes never leaving him. Then he spoke—his voice as calm and measured as always:

"Should I leave him alive... or just take the body? My father wasn’t exactly clear."

Alpha still didn’t move. His breathing was so faint it was barely noticeable, his eyelids half-closed, his body completely unresponsive. For Juuhra, the decision wasn’t difficult.

"He’s in no condition to move. He won’t cause trouble."

He took a step forward and reached out toward Alpha’s arm. Just as his hand was about to make contact, the silence was shattered by howls echoing from the edge of the blackened field.

"Auuu... Auuuu... Auuuu..."

Juuhra slowly turned his gaze in that direction.

"So more of them came. I’m really getting tired of these wolves."

A group of wolves emerged from between the trees. At the front were six or seven elites, and behind them, over twenty regular wolves approached in silence.

They paused briefly at the boundary line, glancing around, then turned their eyes to Juuhra.

He stood motionless in the center of the blackened ground. His long white hair, falling to his shoulders, didn’t stir.

His body was covered in lines where white and black clashed; his skin was cracked, revealing deep, dark fissures.

Two thin horns curved back from the top of his head, and the wings on his back remained spread. His red eyes were fixed on them—expressionless, unwavering, and threatening.

One of the front-line elite wolves lowered his head slightly and muttered in a voice barely above a whisper:

"What is that? I’ve never seen anything like this..."

One of the younger wolves at the back pointed toward Alpha, who was burned and barely recognizable. His voice trembled:

"I... I can feel his energy. That’s... Alpha."

His words broke the silence for a brief moment. The wolves’ eyes slowly shifted to Alpha, lying still beside Juuhra. He wasn’t moving, but his energy was still radiating faintly through the air.

"He’s right," said another wolf, his voice more anxious. "I feel it too. That’s our leader."

The energy coming from the burned body was familiar. One of the wolves stepped forward cautiously, lowering his head and bringing his nose close to the ground.

The others stood behind him in silence. Within just a few breaths, they all sensed the same truth:

This was Alpha.

Their eyes widened, fur bristling all at once. As if something inside them had snapped, they suddenly bared their teeth. Some began to growl, others shifted forward, ready to pounce.

"Who did this to him?" asked one of the front elites, his voice cracking.

Another wolf couldn’t hold back any longer. He locked his eyes onto Juuhra and barked:

"Was it you? Tell us! Did you do this to Alpha?!"

All eyes turned to Juuhra at once. Dozens of stares fixed on a single point. Claws dug into the soil. Breaths grew heavy and rapid. It felt like the next moment, they would all leap at him.

But Juuhra didn’t move.

He simply looked at them.

No answer. Not even a blink.

The silence hit harder than any scream. There was no threat, no denial. And in that moment, they understood: This was the being who had brought Alpha to this state. He hadn’t answered—but that was the answer.

A short but crushing silence fell.

Then...

All the wolves howled at once. Their voices tore through the sky, echoing between the trees:

"Auuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!"

It was a furious, mournful, unified howl. Each voice cried out the same thing—loss, rage, and the will to fight.

Juuhra listened as the sound spread. He tilted his head slightly to the side, but his expression didn’t change. He didn’t back away, nor did he feel the need to advance.

Because he had already predicted exactly how they would respond.

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A mysterious voice: There are 1 day and 27 hours left until the Goat of God reaches the castle.

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