The Lycan King and his Dark Temptation novel Chapter 246

SILAS

I don’t know how long I’ve been walking—it feels like the entire day. I quenched my thirst with the cold underground streams I found along the way.

I wasn’t really hungry. Having consumed so much magic had replaced the nutrients my body needed.

I sat on the rocky ground, but only for a few seconds. I knew that if I were an ordinary elemental, I wouldn’t have been able to keep moving like this—especially not in this nearly oxygen-deprived, claustrophobic environment.

Sometimes, the tunnels descended deeper and deeper, where I encountered insects and strange creatures burrowing into the damp earth.

Then, they would rise, twisting into torturous paths, until at last, a faint current of air brushed against my face.

I followed it desperately, feeling pain stabbing through every muscle in my legs from walking nonstop… all day…

It was nearly nightfall when the narrow tunnel opened into a vast cave. The stench of some wild animal filled the air, with remnants of bones and dung scattered everywhere.

I had to get out of here!

I summoned my magic, which I was mastering with greater control each time. It scouted ahead for dangers while I followed swiftly, finally emerging into open space.

I ran a good distance, chasing my instincts. I was already far from that predator’s cave, convinced I was safe.

Panting, I bent down, bracing a knee against the ground, gasping for breath.

Then, something began to burn in the palm of my hand—a euphoric sensation, the curse devouring some kind of energy.

I lifted my gaze—and froze. I immediately backed away from the twisted, blackened, and rotting tree.

I looked around. No, no, why had this thing brought me here?

I felt it writhing inside me, excited.

Something within these trees was calling it—the dark energy of the corpses trapped inside them.

They had died with so much hatred, so much resentment in their hearts, so much pain… just as I would have, if Sigrid hadn’t appeared that night to save me.

I took a step back. I almost preferred leaving this dead place and retracing my path back toward the cave.

However, I caught the last glimmers of the sun setting between the withered branches of the trees.

I couldn’t waste any more time.

"I command you—follow my lady’s trail!" I ordered my black magic, which always sought out Sigrid’s.

But this time, it was scattered, untamed, excited by something—something hungry, a hollow space in my chest that demanded to be filled.

"NO! TAKE ME TO SIGRID OR I WILL STOP USING YOU!" I roared in my mind.

It was as if it had a will of its own, always like a monster living inside me.

At last, the dark mist slithered forward, heading in a direction I followed with weary steps—but determined.

Only the whisper of my footsteps echoed in my ears, along with other voices… wails I forced myself to block out.

I couldn’t do anything to avenge them. Then suddenly—I froze.

I thought I heard a baby crying. And voices—just ahead. I cloaked myself in shadows, melting into the darkness of the night.

Hiding behind a charred tree, I witnessed a horrifying scene.

There was an old well, a woman standing beside a servant holding a small bundle—one that sobbed weaker and weaker.

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