“Alright, since we have no enmity between us, there is no point in fighting. So I am leaving,” Sylas said and once again turned to leave.

The fox raised its head and looked at Sylas’ back. Then it also followed after Sylas.

When Sylas turned his back towards the fox to leave, he had already sensed the commotion on the highway. He was worried that they wouldn’t be able to deal with a high-level mutated animal.

He sensed the fox following after him. When he sensed the commotion on the highway intensified, he immediately sped up, but the fox, seeing Sylas disappearing into the distance, immediately ran after him, and in a few seconds, the fox stood in front of him, its huge tails swaying in the air, blocking Sylas’s path.

Sylas immediately stopped and was surprised at the fox’s speed.

‘Such speed…’ Sylas thought with a shocked expression.

The fox silently stood in front of him, not letting him leave.

“Oh, come on… what do you want?” Sylas said, looking straight into the fox’s eyes.

The fox tilted its head with its fluffy tail swaying in the air.

Ah…!

Sylas was frustrated at the moment. This strange creature was giving him more headaches than fighting a high-level creature.

Ah…!

Sylas dragged his hand down his face.

He could already feel the distant shockwaves from the highway. The ground trembled faintly under his feet from time to time. Flames flared. Earth energy surged. The clash was intense.

And yet this fox… this ridiculous, arrogant, beautiful fox was standing here, blocking his way like a spoiled noble.

“Move,” Sylas said flatly.

The fox’s ears twitched.

It didn’t move.

Instead, it lifted one paw slightly and placed it down again as if testing the ground. Its twin tails swayed lazily behind it, soft and slow, almost hypnotic.

Sylas narrowed his eyes.

“I don’t have time to play with you.”

He took a step to the left. The fox moved left. He stepped to the right. The fox shifted right.

Its movements were light and effortless. There was no tension in its posture, no aggression, and no intent to attack.

It simply wouldn’t let him pass.

Sylas exhaled slowly.

“Are you guarding something?” he muttered.

The fox blinked, and then it disappeared.

‘So fast!’ Sylas thought.

Sylas’ pupils contracted instantly, and he didn’t hesitate to raise a space barrier around his body.

Bang!

Something soft yet overwhelming slammed against the barrier from behind. The impact shook his entire body. His arms trembled. Sylas twisted around immediately.

The fox was behind him.

Its two enormous tails were pressed gently against the barrier, almost affectionately.

“Don’t play tricks with me,” Sylas said coldly.

The fox’s tails retracted lightly.

It stepped back two steps and sat down again. As if nothing had happened.

Sylas stared at it. This creature was even more troublesome than he initially thought.

Another tremor came from the highway, and it was stronger this time. Sylas’ jaw tightened. He couldn’t waste time.

Without another word, he condensed several compressed spatial blades silently around his fingertips. He didn’t throw them.

He let them hover, invisible.

“If you block me again, I won’t hold back,” he said calmly.

The fox looked at him. Then it did something that made Sylas nearly choke.

It yawned.

It actually yawned.

Its small pink tongue flicked out briefly before it closed its mouth and lazily blinked at him.

“…You’re looking down on me?” Sylas asked in disbelief.

The fox stood up gracefully. It didn’t attack. Instead, it began walking toward him slowly. One step… another step. Unhurried and unbothered.

Sylas didn’t retreat this time. He stood there and watched carefully. When the fox was only three meters away, it stopped. Then, it lowered its head slightly and sniffed.

Sylas stiffened.

It sniffed around his shoulder, chest, and his hands. It even lifted its nose slightly toward his face.

“What are you smelling?” Sylas asked, annoyed but alert.

The fox paused. Its red gemstone-like eyes flickered slightly, and then it leaned closer. So close that Sylas could feel the faint warmth from its breath. For a moment, they simply stared at each other.

Then… the fox gently touched its forehead against his shoulder.

Sylas froze.

His mind went blank.

“…What?”

It wasn’t an attack. There was no force. It was just a soft press.

Almost…

Affectionate?

Sylas immediately stepped back. The fox lifted its head and looked at him calmly. The twin tails swayed once.

Slowly.

Almost smugly.

“You’re not trying to fight at all… so what do you want?” Sylas uttered.

Another distant explosion sounded. Sylas could hear the faint fighting sounds, and he also felt a faint trembling of the ground.

His expression changed. He turned slightly toward the direction of the highway.

The fox immediately moved again and blocked him once more.

Its speed was absurd. Sylas didn’t even see the movement clearly. It was just suddenly there, standing tall, tails fanned out behind it like a wall.

“Enough,” Sylas said, irritation finally seeping into his tone. Space energy surged outward. The air around him distorted faintly.

The fox’s ears twitched.

Sylas raised his hand.

Several compressed spatial blades formed instantly. This time, he didn’t aim at its body. He aimed at the ground beneath its feet.

Whoosh!

The blades shot out, and the ground exploded into pieces. Dust and rocks scattered. But when the debris cleared…. the fox wasn’t there.

Sylas immediately looked up and saw the fox sitting on a tree branch above him.

Its tails hung down lazily from the branch, swaying.

“Seriously…” Sylas muttered, his tone laced with frustration.

The fox tilted its head upside down from the branch and stared at him.

Then, it jumped down, but instead of attacking, it landed lightly beside him, so close that their shoulders nearly touched.

Sylas immediately sidestepped. The fox followed. Not attacking. Just keeping pace.

“You’re unbelievable,” Sylas muttered.

He suddenly turned sharply and walked in the opposite direction of the highway, just to test it. The fox paused. It looked toward the highway, and then it looked at Sylas again.

Then… it followed him.

Sylas stopped again.

“You don’t care about the highway,” he said slowly.

The fox’s tails swayed once.

“So you’re not guarding territory.”

Sylas felt another tremor, and it was stronger than before. His eyes narrowed. He suddenly stepped forward rapidly toward the highway again.

The fox reacted instantly. It flashed in front of him. But this time, Sylas was ready. The moment it appeared, a reinforced space barrier expanded outward explosively from his body.

Bang!

The fox was pushed back several meters. It flipped gracefully in the air and landed without a sound.

Its eyes sharpened slightly.

Finally… a change.

Sylas stepped forward again. The fox moved to intercept.

Sylas shifted.

Space distorted.

He vanished from his spot and reappeared five meters behind the fox. His speed was so fast that it almost felt like he teleported.

He dashed forward. The fox’s ears flicked, and its body blurred.

In an instant, it appeared in front of him again, blocking him effortlessly.

Sylas stopped abruptly, and their eyes met again. This time, there was something different in the fox’s gaze. It was neither arrogance nor mockery… just focus.

“Why won’t you let me leave?” Sylas asked, his voice lower now.

The fox stepped closer again.

It lifted one paw and gently pressed it against his chest. Right where his heart was.

Sylas stiffened. Space energy instinctively surged. But the fox didn’t attack. It just held its paw there. Its red eyes seemed to deepen slightly in color. A strange sensation spread across Sylas’ chest.

It was not pain or pressure but something else. It felt warm and resonant.

Almost like… recognition.

Sylas frowned.

It was the strange energy coming from the fox. And that energy was very different from the high-level mutated animals. This time, Sylas was one hundred percent sure that the fox in front of him was not a mutated creature but something else entirely.

The fox’s paw remained on his chest. Then, it slowly retracted it. It circled around him once and stood in front again.

Tails raised high.

Blocking the path.

Sylas inhaled slowly.

“You don’t want me to go there,” he said quietly.

The fox blinked and didn’t make any movement.

Sylas clenched his jaw.

“They’re fighting a high-level mutated beast,” he said. “If I don’t go, they might die.”

The fox tilted its head again as if thinking of something and then once again stepped forward and pressed its paw against Sylas’s chest.

Then it sniffed at Sylas.

“Do you want to eat my heart?” Sylas asked, raising his brows.

“No… if you want to eat my heart, you would have already fought me. That means you don’t want to eat my heart, so…” Sylas muttered, looking at the fox.

The fox leaned closer to Sylas, pressing its whole body against him. It sniffed at Sylas, and its expression turned relaxed.

“What the…” Sylas staggered backward due to the fox’s weight.

Wait… Sylas immediately thought of something.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep