Beyond the Bloodline-Chapter 259: Frozen Pursuit II

"Nice one!"

David shouted out but Wanette didn’t spare a second to think about his praise. Her brain was more focused on concocting a plan to get out of this chase.

"We-!"

Wanette’s voice was cut off by a loud horn that suddenly echoed through the air, reverberating through the forest.

The group didn’t stop running, but the wolves chasing them suddenly froze.

The injured alpha growled, its glowing eye fixed on the group, but it hesitated. Beside it, the uninjured alpha growled in response, before howling out loud—a signal for the pack to retreat.

The wolves turned one by one, vanishing into the trees as quickly as they had appeared. The injured alpha lingered, its single glowing eye filled with rage, but even it finally relented, following its pack.

With the wolves gone, the group finally had the chance to catch their breath.

"Why—why did they stop?"

An adventurer asked, collapsing to their knees and David leaned on his spear, sweat dripping from his brow as he responded.

"The horn. It’s the second time we’ve heard it... the first time was before they attacked."

That was something that everyone else had noticed as well. Wanette glanced in the direction the wolves retreated to, her Farsight rune allowing her to see their backs as she muttered.

"The horn controls them. Whoever’s behind it..."

If the horn had summoned the wolves and commanded them to retreat, it could only mean one thing—someone was orchestrating the hunt.

Considering their circumstances over the past few hours, it was rather obvious who was responsible.

"The ice elves."

◇　◇　◇

The group trudged toward the base of the mountain, their breaths visible in the crisp, cold air.

Each step felt heavier than the last, the exhaustion from their earlier battles against the level 450-500 elves and the frantic chase by the Level 550 wolves pressing down on them like lead.

The setting sun painted the icy peaks in shades of gold and crimson, but none of them had the energy to admire the view.

Wanette stopped at the entrance of one of the larger caves, her eyes glowing faintly as she scanned it with her rune magic. She frowned briefly but then shook her head.

"It’s clear. Nothing’s in there now—just signs that something might have lived here before. We’ll take it."

The group filed into the cave, its natural contours offering some protection from the biting wind.

Snow crunched underfoot as they set their gear down and began to arrange a makeshift camp. David summoned a controlled flame to warm the area while Wanette placed some runic wards to alert them in case anything came.

For now, Rest was paramount. The energy and stamina they had expended since getting here was too much. They even had wounded as well.

This was why Wanette had said to run the moment she detected the wolves. She knew they couldn’t fight back without sustaining casualties.

As the group settled, they took stock of their supplies and discussed the watch schedule.

"I’ll take the first shift."

Wanette offered but Davina forced her to sit back down and countered.

"No, you’ve been burning through too much energy with those runes. I’ll go first. David can take the second shift."

She turned to the rest of the adventurers, narrowing her eyes at them as she continued.

"You guys would pick up after me."

No one had any objections.

Just as they finally managed to iron that out, Jamie’s voice suddenly rang out in the flame-lit cave.

"So, you guys evaded the hunt, huh?"

Heads whipped around to see Jamie casually leaning against the cave wall, spinning his phone on his finger as he infused magic power in to charge it.

"Where the hell did you disappear to?"

David asked with a raised brow, and Jamie shrugged a response.

"Was caught up in the new drama I started. Movies evolved a lot while I was asleep."

He then headed deeper into the cave, inspecting it with an appraising look as he continued.

"There were some things in there when I scanned it earlier, so be careful

The real owners of this cave might decide to come back."

With that, Jamie turned around and headed towards the cave’s exit, as if he hadn’t just dropped an ominous warning, leaving the others staring after him in a mix of irritation and unease.

One of the adventurers had his brows twitch and finally, he had enough.

His frustration boiled over as he glared at Jamie, who had once again drifted into his usual nonchalant demeanour.

"Oi, you."

The man got up and growled while pointing a finger at Jamie.

"Are you just going to sit back and watch us struggle? Some of us are starting to think you’ve got a way out of this mess and just aren’t sharing!"

Several of the others muttered in agreement, nodding along with the man’s outburst. Jamie, however, only turned around, and looked the man from head to toe, before ignoring him entirely.

His gaze turned to Wanette and he was about to speak when the ground beneath them trembled violently.

The forest outside the cave seemed to shake as if reacting to some invisible force, and a surge of cosmic energy poured into the cave, making the air grow heavier.

Then, the space directly behind Jamie split open, jagged lines forming like shattered glass.

"What the—?!"

Someone gasped, eyes widening as two pale hands emerged from the rift.

"Behind...you!"

Wanette shouted, her voice strained under the cosmic energy pressure, but Jamie didn’t so much as twitch.

He silently let the two hands wrap around his upper body and pull him backwards.

The others forced themselves to their feet, grabbing their weapons as they wondered whether to attack or retreat—if they could even do any of them.

Then, from the fractured space, the owner of the arms wrapped around Jamie used him as an anchor to pull themselves into the area.

Seeing the flowing purple-silver hair that crowned the head of the heterochromatic-eyed woman, David, Davina and Wanette had their eyes widen in both shock and recognition.

’That...Odd-Eyed Wolf goddess!’

Unsurprisingly, the new entrant was Miranda.

Ignoring the rest of the people present like they didn’t exist, Miranda rested her chin on Jamie’s shoulder and rubbed her cheeks with his.

Jamie, unbothered and unsurprised by her sudden appearance, simply ran a hand through her hair with the same ease one might pet a particularly affectionate cat.

"How are you?"

He asked casually, as if the moment were nothing out of the ordinary and Miranda responded in the same manner.

"Was feeling lonely. Just cracked open the Perileos Galaxy but watching the fight was boring.

Then I thought about you, and..."

She leaned closer, brushing her lips against his cheek as she continued.

"Well, I felt like kissing you."

And she did just that. She tilted his head and kissed him in front of the stunned group who could do little more than gawk.

When Miranda finally pulled back, she glanced over Jamie’s shoulder at the bewildered spectators, her gaze lingering on David and Davina as a spark of recognition lit her eyes.

"Huh? Aren’t those Seren’s grandkids? What are they doing here?"

Jamie explained Seren’s request to take them along with him and hearing it, Miranda raised an eyebrow but nodded.

"Hmm. Oh well, as long as they don’t mess with your business in Pinecone, it’s no skin off my back."

And just like that, her interest in them had gone from 1, back to 0. Turning towards Jamie, she kissed him once more before speaking.

"I’m heading back. Let me know when you get to Pinecone."

Jamie nodded, patting her hair once more.

"Alright, have fun."

With that, Miranda pulled her body back into the spatial rift, and the cracks in the air sealed themselves shut behind her.

Silence fell in the cave as all eyes turned to Jamie, who seemed entirely unbothered by the spectacle.

Meeting their incredulous stares, he merely raised an eyebrow in question.

"What? You don’t have lovers who cross galaxies just to see you?"

He asked with a deadpan gaze, a question no one here could respond to.

He also didn’t bother waiting for a response, and pulled out his phone, opening his streaming app to continue watching the shoujo drama he had started earlier as he disappeared.

Left behind, the group was dumbfounded. A mixture of confusion, envy, and irritation swirled among them at Jamie’s indifference.