The Greatest Sinner

Evan practically climbed the hill, and at that moment, he remembered that he had a chance to look at the valley from above. There was no need to explore everything by himself.

"Reykar!" Pronounced the young man, and the next moment a one-eyed raven appeared on his shoulder.

"Would you be so kind as to fly around the area and try to find something that looks like ruins? A monster of the third rank guards them, be careful."

Caw!

Hearing Evan's request, the raven flapped its wings and flew up.  Evan hoped the raven could quickly find the right place.

<Well, I should also look at this place from above>.

Evan thought, and after a few minutes, he was on top of the highest hill. Evan had taken a long time to climb it, but now the "Hills of Bloody Falls" was at his fingertips.

Evan looked around, he peered into the farthest corners of this valley, but unfortunately, he couldn't see anything.

<Darn it, I doubt these ruins are on the outskirts of the "Hills of Bloody Falls." They're definitely around here, but they're too well hidden. Perhaps, they are beyond those hills over there...>.

Evan thought, looking at the two hills in the distance. They were more significant than the other ones, and there was a very dense forest in front of them. The ruins could definitely be in such a place, and Evan had no other variants.

Sure, the ruins could be hidden by some kind of spell or illusion, but Evan knew that as long as a monster of the third rank guarded them, it was not worth even considering those options.

Evan decided not to waste time and headed towards this forest.

At the same time, a group of one of the five strongest organizations in Inlas was approaching. In about two more hours, they would reach Evan. 

Evan moved carefully, trying not to put himself in danger. He didn't want to encounter any second-ranked monsters that inhabited this forest. But, a group of five elite magicians was moving at full speed, they had no one to fear. There were several third-rank monsters in this area, but each of them spent most of the time in their lair.

For the same reason, one such monster guarded the ancient ruins, it simply chose it as its lair. And it could not allow outsiders to invade and destroy it.

When Evan reached the forest, Reykar returned. Unfortunately, he didn't see anything that looked like ruins. That could only mean one thing - the ruins were well hidden. They could not be seen from above, which meant they were either under dense tree crowns or in some kind of cave.

Evan hadn't seen any other such dense forests in the area, so he felt he was headed in the right direction.

<Members of the "Demonic Tree" could be in this forest right now. Although they might still be in town and preparing to kill the third-rank monster, I can't know that for sure.>

The informant hadn't lied to Evan.  He wasn't sure what the members of the "Demonic Tree" were doing then. Evan found no hidden details in his memories.

At this point, everything depended on luck. If they were still in town, Evan could wait for them, but his only lead was lost if they had already gone.

To be safer, Evan decided to climb a tree and move on the treetops.  After casting the "Ghost Step," he was able to take very long and high jumps.

If he was below, he might accidentally stumble upon these ruins and encounter a monster of the third rank. Being in a tall tree, he would be safe, at least until someone noticed him.

...

Evan jumped to the next tree and held his breath. Through the foliage of the trees, he could clearly see the outline of the very ruins he had been trying to find for so long. They were indeed in this forest. Evan acted very carefully, trying not to make noise, for the very monster of the third rank was also there.

The ruins were a half-destroyed stone structure going deep underground. A huge wolf with three tails and three eyes slept just in front of the entrance. His fur was turquoise, and from time to time, a lightning bolt passed through it.

<Hmm, based on the informant's memories, this monster must possess extremely strong venom, but it didn't seem to. Perhaps its fangs or claws are poisonous?>

The wolf's body was electrified, clearly indicating its ability to harness the power of lightning. But, there was nothing to indicate that this monster had venom. This confused Evan a bit.

Unfortunately, Evan could not know the exact power of this monster, the "Eye of Truth" could not show the "Pillar of Soul" of a creature that surpassed the magician by more than one level.

The members of the 'Demonic Tree" hadn't come here yet, so Evan decided to prepare for a possible battle. He cut himself and drew two demon sigils on his palms. The monster was quite far away, so it paid no attention to the faint smell of blood.

Evan's spatial ring glowed, he decided to hide the sigils with gloves and his face with a black and white mask. Until he joined the "Demonic Tree", Evan wasn't going to reveal his identity.

< I'll have to wait for them, there are no other options>, Evan thought, looking at the monster sleeping in the distance.

It would be about an hour before a group of assassins from Inlas would arrive. Evan didn't still know he had been tracked.

...

He was sitting high up in a tree waiting for the members of the "Demonic Tree" to show up, and then about fifty minutes later, he heard some rustling in the woods.

"Finally," Evan muttered quietly. Evan had waited a long time for this, but at last, he saw members of the most dangerous organization.

He saw three men in the red mantles approaching the monster. They acted very carefully so that the monster would not notice them before their time. There was an image of black wood at their mantles, and their faces were hidden with demons` masks. Evan couldn't make out which one was male and which one was female.

<Why aren't they separated? Shouldn't they set up some kind of formation to kill or immobilize this monster?>

The Lightning Wolf was an incredibly formidable opponent. Its aura was very powerful, most magicians at the -"Three-Pointed Star" stage wouldn't handle it. Evan didn't understand why the members of the "Demonic Tree" weren't preparing the formation. But, after a minute, it was obvious that they had already prepared everything a long time ago.

One of them pulled a spell scroll from his spatial ring. He placed it on the ground and began to infuse mana. The point was that they had placed pillars in the right places beforehand. They camouflaged them well, so the formation remained invisible and could be activated at any moment.

The last missing piece was the spell scroll that a "Demonic Tree" member had pulled out.. Once he filled the formation with mana and activated it, the battle would begin.