Karl flew over the city, attracting very little attention until everyone watching realized that he was headed for the Blackwoods Pack.

He could see the battle from here, with the Lycans gathered at the edge of the small cluster of houses that was their Pack compound. There were far more Lycans than he had expected from the number of houses, and they were all excellent fighters, holding a defensive barrier against the intruders, while two of their Elders fought the invading Clan’s Elders overhead.

It was the same sort of setup that the New Home had used, but on a much smaller scale.

The invaders barely looked up as Karl landed behind their lines.

Then, he called Oathbreaker and the Spirit Bear Tyrant. The unfamiliar summoned creatures caught their attention, and Karl laughed.

"Gentlemen. Greetings from the Darklight Host, allies of the Blackwoods Pack."

Then, he added [Undead Minions] and the [Undead Army], bringing Lich Lords and Spectral Knights to the battlefield.

The effect was instant and devastating.

A miasma of Death Energy spread through the attackers as the Spectral Knights charged. Then, Oathbreaker teleported into the middle of the group, attacking feverishly, knowing that the damage would spread through the entire group.

The Spirit Bear Tyrant shook his head for a second.

He didn’t actually need to be here at all.

However, there was someone attacking a small furry person who was rushing for the compound. He would go protect that person.

Karl looked down at the battlefield. Being a massive dragon had advantages.

Then, he sent a gout of dragon breath into the melee, causing the plants to grow and entangle the attackers, while corroding the equipment of anyone hostile to the Pack.

For a second, Karl considered going all out.

Then, he realized that the enemy force was already faltering, and even ones that weren’t in imminent danger were beginning to panic.

They had received the message from the members who were still at their home compound. The noncombat classes and weaker Immortals, who weren’t fit for an attack.

They outnumbered the Blackwoods Pack more than thirty to one, just counting the ones who had come to fight. But that no longer mattered. Their home compound had fallen, and the surviving members were fleeing, even as the Security Elders from the city had come to keep the chaos contained.

Rae was not happy.

As soon as they realized what was going on, the majority of the members had fled out into the city, and the humans who called themselves "Security Elders" wouldn’t let her hunt them in the streets.

How was she supposed to finish the fight if she couldn’t hunt the one who ran away?

They were flagged as valid targets by the System, so it should be fine, right?

What was this nonsense about civilian casualties and property damage? She would pay if she broke any buildings. They were entirely too restrictive about this whole thing.

So, instead of chasing the ones who got away, Rae began organizing a diorama in the Clan Compound with the ones who did not.

And the Elders immediately began to regret not letting her leave.

At the Pack compound, the Blackwoods warriors surged out into the battle, joining Karl’s team in combat. They would defeat this threat today, and if their ally was confident in not letting them exhaust themselves on the barrier first, that was fine as well.

Long-armed and larger than humans, the warriors of the pack had a distinct reach advantage in close combat, even when they weren’t using oversized two-handed weapons.

The Lycans were vicious in combat, but the barriers had failed, and the members who had realized that their Clan had been ambushed while they were here had been worked up into a frenzied rage.

Meteors began to crash down on the Pack village, chasing children out to the edge of town, where the Spirit Bear Tyrant was collecting them under his prodigious form.

He was immune to nearly everything that the Clan could throw at him, but after the first few, nobody was even trying to attack him. They were just letting him protect the children, so that the invincible bear didn’t get any notions about tearing into them when they already had enough problems.

The buildings were just wooden structures with thatch roofs, they didn’t last a single barrage, but they could be quickly rebuilt if the Pack wanted to after the battle.

Rae stopped her work as people entered the Clan compound.

Had someone come to fight?

No, it was just those assholes from the Security force who ruined her fun. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"{Give me a moment, I need to put the sign up.}" She shouted, still in spider form.

The Elders paused, unsure what she meant.

Rae [Shadow Stepped] to the front room, then dipped her finger in the closest pool of blood and began to write on the top of a broken table.

{Telheusto Haunted House

Limited Time Only

Enter at your own risk}

She took the table outside and propped it against the wall.

"Alright, now it’s all ready. Enjoy!"

The Elders stared at the sign, momentarily stunned beyond words. Then, they realized that the spider was gone. If she had gone to hunt in the city, the Clan Leaders were going to give them a serious headache at the next council meeting.

"She’s gone to the Blackwoods Pack. The patrols reported her arrival just a second ago.

The battle there is nearly over, so this Clan War is going to be resolved in a matter of minutes." The group’s Rogue informed them.

The Elder smiled. "I’m glad that they managed to work it out."

The Rogue went pale and shook his head. "Work it out? No, not at all. The Darklight Host simply rolled in and killed everyone. There’s some fuck off huge damned dragon there, breathing curses and summoning Undead, while a Spirit Bear Tyrant has our patrols scared stiff.

I don’t know how they got it out of the dungeon, but they’ve confirmed that it’s real, not an illusion."

"Who are these Darklight Host people? Is it some sort of elite enforcement team of a larger Clan? Every time we hear about them, they’re doing something insane."

The Rogue tilted his chin toward the house. "Like turning a Clan Compound into a haunted house, using the corpses of the residents?"

Yeah, they were going to have to clean that up. But they couldn’t just loot the place without triggering an addition to the Clan War. They had to wait for it to end, and the haunted house was attracting attention.