Chapter 14: The Harvest

“The devil destroys all normal life, leaving the world desolate and silent. As a shaman, I will do everything in my power to stop its dark ambitions.” After learning the truth, despite his heavy heart, a sense of mission arose in him. Neo always felt that he had to do something in this life, not just for himself.

Expressing his feelings could be seen as a farewell. From this incident, Neo had already gained the incredible treasure of the Sacred Tree, and his initial intention to form a pact with the Spirit of Bitter Thorn had faded significantly.

Upon reflection, the Spirit of Bitter Thorn had only sought help and made no promises. Rather than demanding anything later, Neo preferred things to develop naturally.

“Dealing with spirits is like interacting with people—there may be instant bonds or lifelong commitments, but most of the time, it’s better to maintain a gentle relationship and let things take their course. Let’s put a small end to this.” With that thought, Neo said to the Spirit of Thorn Vine, “I’m glad I could help you. I think it’s time to say goodbye.”

“Hmm… can I become your companion?” The little one blinked at Neo with hope in her eyes.

This was a surprise to Neo. A shaman’s spirit companion was usually a pact spirit or guardian spirit that granted the shaman certain active or passive abilities. Due to special circumstances, his initial setup as a shaman was quite grand, with many spirit residences available. Having a powerful spirit like the Spirit of Thorn Vine as a companion was something he greatly desired.

Still, Neo asked, “Is it as a reward for my help?”

The little one shook her head. “I’ve been by the Sacred Tree for ten thousand years. This new union is also due to the seal. Following the ‘Seal Key’ is the meaning of my existence.”

Neo was stunned. He hadn’t expected the reason to be such a profound concept. “The Seal Key!” he couldn’t help but utter the phrase. In that moment, he faintly sensed a bond beyond ordinary forces. Gaining the Sacred Tree, a seed of divine power, was clearly not as simple as it seemed. If “the opening of the Gate of Hell” was an event with far-reaching consequences for the entire world, then from the moment he accepted the Sacred Tree, he had already been drawn into the vortex of this massive event. Even if he did nothing, troubles would likely find him—though not just troubles.

“The meaning… the meaning of the Seal Key is to reseal the western pentagram of the Hell Pentagram.” Neo gazed in the direction of Sol’s City, murmuring to himself, “The other four heirs of the seeds of divine power of the western pentagram are currently scattered, waiting to reunite someday…”

“It’s an honor to become your companion. Allow me to introduce myself—I’m Neo Daknis, a Dark Werewolf and a Level 1 Shaman.” Neo formally introduced himself to the Spirit of Thorn Vine.

“I’m willing to be your companion. My name is Thorn. ‘Never abandon willingly’—that’s my oath.”

“Never abandon willingly!” Neo repeated. Thus, the pact was formed, and Thorn became Neo’s first pact spirit.

The entire area covered by the root vines converges its energy toward the strange tree at the center of the giant pit, eventually giving birth to a slender new branch with the appearance of lichen, the bark texture of wild willows, and the thorns of bitter thistles. Yet its true significance lies in a mass of energy—a spiritual source, the concentrated life force of the willow vines, which is also the foundation of “Thorns.”

In Neo’s conscious world, a relatively small mountain with steep slopes on all sides rises adjacent to the Summit of Elements. On the flat top of this mountain, the spiritual source of the willow vines transforms into a new tree, unfurling its branches—resembling exactly the strange tree at the center of the giant pit in the real world. However, this tree emits a brilliant glow, with wisps of light rising from it and lingering continuously.

Of course, this mountain and the new branch, like the Summit of Elements, are, in a sense, products of ideology—a spiritual contract. They represent connection and a nexus, signifying that “Thorns” can receive long-term assistance from Neo, while in return, Thorns will offer something to Neo, usually in the form of active or passive spells. Strengthening this bond through cultivation is more beneficial for both parties. It’s not that Thorns needs to reside inside Neo’s body.

Maintaining an energy state for long periods is an unnecessary drain for a spirit. It usually chooses a physical form as its dwelling place. Thorns’ dwelling place is that slender new branch, which eventually becomes Neo’s necklace. A partnership like Thorns’, where its spiritual source is entrusted to Neo’s body and its “home” is built on Neo’s skin, is quite close—almost like entrusting one’s life and fortune to someone else.

Of course, from an objective perspective, this combination is actually safe due to their differing value orientations. The reason is simple: the spiritual source is of great significance to the spirit but is merely a repository for Neo, something he cannot directly utilize. Just as gold, silver, and jewels are very useful to Neo, throwing them directly to Thorns would only be seen as a burden.

After forming a partnership with Neo, the first thing Neo gains is a special summoning skill—“Death-Eating Vine.” This is the most direct reward Neo receives for helping Thorns and relieving the Earth’s suffering.

The Death-Eating Vine possesses the characteristics of the willow vines: tough vines, thorny bodies, and the ability to absorb energy powerfully. As for the Earth’s reward, it allows the vine to move freely in shallow soil layers (up to 10 meters). The Death-Eating Vine can absorb the energy from corpses for Neo’s use, eliminating the need for Neo to go through the tedious process of using “Life Siphon” on each corpse individually.

In the case of mages’ summoning magic, the most common method is to open a passage to another world and then bring the summoned being to the mage’s world in various ways to complete a task or achieve a goal. Shamans’ summoning, on the other hand, involves summoning beings that often arise under certain conditions. Regardless of their abilities, these beings are unique, and shamans must also provide a range of conditions, including care and shelter.

The Death Vine was exactly such a being—it was actually a product of thorns, the limited open technical support of the earth, combined with Neo’s own abilities. There might be beings in this world with similar abilities, but none could be exactly like the Death Vine. This vine was unique, existing between the tangible and the intangible, between energy and matter. After it appeared, a dark green vine ring with red spots appeared on Neo’s left wrist, like a bracelet but pressed tightly against his skin.

Neo finally began to understand why, in the clan’s legends, shamans were always depicted with fancy, jingling trinkets. It wasn’t for anything else—just wearing suchcontracts objects was enough to make one look like a brightly colored pheasant!

After picking up the twin swords and the bone bow, Neo took one last look before leaving. Whether there were thorns or not, the future of the Thorn Vine clearly suggested it had “emerged out of necessity.” Without the support of the Tree of Creation and the manipulation of evil thoughts, returning to a normal state would be a fairly good outcome; otherwise, destruction would follow. Its metabolic rate determined its lifespan, and before its unique mutations could bear fruit, it would wither and die—a rather common outcome.

White Socks, seeing Neo naked, commented, “I like you like this!”

After taking human form, Neo put on his leather jacket while saying, “Clothes aren’t just trivialities of civilization—they have great practical value, especially in bad weather like this.”

White Socks hummed a few times and changed the subject. “The scent of the wilderness on you has become stronger. Good.”

“Mm, I thought the same…” Neo vaguely realized this was a change brought about by the Tree of Creation. His affinity for plants, combined with the subtle emission of earth element power, gave him a wilderness-like aura. And those who loved the wilderness weren’t just plants.

By the time they returned to the camp, it was nearly 11 o’clock. The team members were surprised to see Neo leave in full gear and return naked. Neo neither covered himself nor explained in detail, simply saying he had gone to investigate the mutations in the bitter thorns, which were related to the devil’s invasion, resulting in the complete destruction of Wald Village.

The team had already witnessed the green light shockwave turn vast areas of bitter thorn forests into ice bars. Hearing about it now, they naturally connected the dots. Thanks to Neo’s subtle hints and slight misdirection, however, no overly bizarre theories arose—exactly what Neo wanted.

Although he slept for over an hour before lunch, his injuries hadn’t fully healed. The soreness throughout his body had disappeared, replaced by pain. The whole experience was like the symptoms of overexertion. As the saying goes, “Ha, you’ve built muscle!”

Such pain was entirely within Neo’s tolerance. Taking advantage of the gentle afternoon wind and clear weather, Neo led the team into the mountains to gather materials. One was tree sap and branches used to make rubber, which weren’t hard to find in the Annuel Mountains. The other material was resin, which could replace hot melt glue and was essential for making shoes.

The raw materials for work also include arborvitae and spine yellow, both of which are small shrubs. A mixture of these two plants can be used for degreasing. Combined with smoke water—produced by the complete fusion of smoke and water from burning coal and coke—bone glue can be refined.

In addition, edible materials such as snow mushrooms, cold grass thorns, pine needles, and underground root vegetables are also within the scope of collection. Traveling through the mountains is because the jungle is full of treasures that can help solve food shortages and diversify the diet, contributing to a balanced nutrition intake.

There are two additional edible mountain products: fragrant rock and snow ash root. The fragrant rock is boiled to extract juice, while the snow ash root is chopped and mashed to serve as a substitute for food spices.Neo led people to collect them in order to make blood sausages.

Around 5 p.m., the collection work was completed, andNeo’s group returned, having also caught two snow chickens. Of course, two snow chickens were far too few for over 20 men, so they were chopped up to make chicken soup for a taste of the delicacy.

“Being the team leader is really unlucky—after death, nothing about the body, except the head, can’t be used! Bones are turned into glue, blood into sausages, and the oil is separated for eating, working, and medical use. It’s truly a life of drinking blood, eating flesh, and grinding bones to dust!”

“The head isn’t useful either, only because it can be used to earn merits. Otherwise, it might have already been dried and ground into powder, with the skull stripped of flesh and painted to serve as a container.”

“Hmm, that’s very likely…”

In the camp, the team members chatted while working. The rich aroma of the blood sausages being cooked in the pot had already spread. This food was quite unfamiliar to many of them, but they no longer minded trying it. In fact, since joining this team, everyone’s appetite had been greatly satisfied. Putting aside the concern about the dangerous nature of the food ingredients,Neo had indeed shown them many delicious dishes.

Blood sausages are actually a traditional food of the Kexi tribe, usually made from sheep’s blood or pig’s blood. Using human or animal blood was a first forNeo, but it was successful. The fried blood sausages were fragrant! This even attracted a mountain bear, which was eliminated byNeo’s team, adding another delicious dish that could last half a month’s worth of food.

Around 8 p.m., Bogleam and Mah returned with the cart. Instead of four weak horses, it was pulled by six seat wolves. These seat wolves were mainly captured during bandit incidents; they were tamed and relatively docile, but they still needed meat. The migration team decided that these meat-eaters should follow the Gale Team.

“The situation with the migration team isn’t good…” BeforeNeo could ask, Bogleam began to explain.

“Let’s rest for a while, drink some hot water, and let Hagen prepare something delicious for you two,”Neo reassured them. He then went to the former stable, now a wolf pen, with White Sock following him.

“Dude, is there any way to get these guys to perk up?”

White Sock grinned, “It’s hard. They’re too used to being soft-hearted.”

“Hmm, anyway, they’ll be under your control from now on. Aside from pulling the cart, we don’t use reins here.”

“No problem. These softies are easy to handle…”

The minor stir caused by the return of Mach and Boglem quickly subsided, and the team’s evening task remained making shoes. Overall, the team’s current goal was still to focus on self-improvement. In the bitter cold with damp snow, cotton clothing, hats, gloves, and shoes were essential basics. Only by having these ugly but warm boots and insulated clothing could they minimize non-combat injuries as much as possible—something that affected every aspect of life, work, and combat.

Nio, Mach, and Boglem were also working hard to get their own boots. Although they started later, their excellent foundational skills allowed them to catch up quickly, with Nio even surpassing the others. For him, threading a needle through thick soles was not difficult at all, and he did it with precision and speed.

“The main problem is the lack of cold-protecting items!” Boglem said while piercing holes with a awl, explaining the situation in the migration group to Nio and the others. “Tures is somewhat better off, but the people of Mathuya are poorly equipped. Many are forcing themselves through, resulting in various frostbites spreading throughout the group, greatly slowing down progress. There’s also the food issue—bread isn’t enough to stave off hunger. Without food in the stomach, it’s impossible to stay warm. Some even died suddenly from organ failure while traveling.”

Nio frowned. “With all that human and beast meat available, why isn’t it distributed as food?”

Boglem sighed. “I don’t know who spread the news about that meat, but it became widely known. In the migration group, there’s also a saying: ‘Man-eaters are no different from cannibals; they won’t be blessed by the gods…’ Before, everyone wanted to be materialists, but now they all think the gods are more reliable. Things have gotten quite serious—now there’s even a group calling themselves the Holy Ones, who call those who eat human and beast meat corpse-eaters. They demand that those who eat dead people continue to eat dead people, while they want to eat grain and go hunting.”

Actually, the issue of the Emira humans’ beliefs traces back to the birth of the devil. The Archangel, who once led countless angels, led them in rebelling against the gods and became the devil. Since then, a belief has spread: the gods have abandoned their followers, and the current belief system merely operates through a sophisticated mechanism.

As civilization developed, it evolved to today’s day, especially in the Frey faction, where the steam engine sparked a revolution that made magic accessible to commoners. Some even shouted, “The gods are dead! God is dead!”—showing just how severe the situation had become.

Where there are demons, there are gods; where there is darkness, there is light. The demons’ invasion of the Erdrit territory this time served as a unforgettable lesson for humanity. As a result, some decided to reclaim their faith, seeking forgiveness and salvation from the gods—a sentiment Nio could fully understand. But the timing was… unfortunate.

Man-eaters are no different from cannibals. This statement couldn’t be refuted, as the teachings of the Holy Church contained similar principles—originally stating that all intelligent beings have equal rights to survive… But from that equality, such a conclusion arose. In times like these, some people insisted on upholding their principles: refusing to use frostbalm made from human or beast oil, refusing to eat human or beast meat, and refusing to wear products made from human or beast skin.

“Rather die than do it. Can these Puritans be that fanatical?” Nio asked.
“No, they blame the lord, thinking his governance is flawed. As free people, they demand the supplies and food that rightfully belong to them, wanting to form their own group to migrate eastward—without associating with the corpse-eaters.”
Vitz sneered, “Then let them form their own group. Maybe they should take a look at what happened to those who migrated east from Sol’s City. I saw it myself—everyone carried only valuable items, little clothing, and not much food, hoping to buy provisions from villages along the way, talking nonsense about traveling lightly. You can easily imagine what’s happening to them now—rotting flesh on their heels!”
Nio remained silent for a long time before saying, “We can’t say those who stick to their beliefs are wrong. We can only say those who instill, promote, and incite such ideas among the people are likely to have ulterior motives.”
Vitz chuckled, “I used to be a bandit. There are rules in that business too—robbing for money means nothing more than that, no killing, no raping women. Some say, ‘Damn it, if you’re already doing it, why bother with rules? Kill if you want, rape if you want.’ A few even think that way—what good are bandits anyway? If caught, they all end up suffering; it’s their choice.”
The tent fell quiet for a moment. Vitz’s words were crude, but his point wasn’t stupid—everyone understood it boiled down to paying for one’s own choices. Applied to Biel and the others, if it weren’t for Nio, the most likely outcomes would be either becoming food for the Blue Ghosts or dying of cold on the eastward journey. For the migration group, it came down to four words: “Blame yourself.”
Nio slowly said, “If it’s a partnership and there are disagreements, they can part ways and go their own routes. But this isn’t that situation. A leader’s role is to guide and provide direction—that’s what he’s good at. At least in attitude, he should strive to find solutions rather than shirk responsibility. It’s like a shoemaker saying to a customer, ‘You do it yourself!’ just because he can’t make a certain type of shoe!”
Mach interjected, “If that’s the case, Lord Manmoris and Miss Srod have rather ordinary skills. They can’t handle this technical task, so they’re arguing with the Puritans, causing chaos. As a result, people in the Puritan group are dying, and the blame falls on the lord.”
“Fine if it works, fine if it doesn’t—what’s the point of dragging it out? Really!” Vitz snapped.
This time, Nio remained silent. He could somewhat guess where the problem lay—supplies and food.
Even with the provisions brought by Mathuya, the migration group was stretched thin. With the Puritans splitting apart, they must have created a list of supplies and food needed.
Nio guessed the list wasn’t exorbitant, but reasonable yet unreasonable. Xavier and Valentina would never agree to it, unless they wanted to push the remaining people to desperation.

The difficulty of running low on supplies couldn’t be easily disclosed—once it was mentioned, everyone would panic, and Mathuya’s followers might demand, “Our food was just enough to get by; we want it back.” The situation would then become even more complicated.

At that moment, Boglem took out a thick letter from his pocket and handed it to Neo. “Young Master Dev asked me to deliver it personally.”

Neo took the letter and put it away, then signaled Boglem and Mah to continue explaining the situation with the migration group.

For various reasons, the migration group was actually less than 20 kilometers away from here, rather than 30 kilometers as Neo had estimated. Over these seven days, they had been lucky enough not to encounter any humans or beasts, but they had fought another battle against the Dark Claws. This time, the Dark Claws attacked the migration group’s temporary camp, causing heavy losses in terms of personnel and supplies—this was also a key factor in the emergence of the Holy Sect.

“17 dead, over 131 injured. More than half of them were injured in the chaos, and 3 are missing. There’s also a severe loss of draft animals—nearly 31 horses are either injured or dead…”

The series of figures reported by Boglem made Neo frown. Horses were essential for mobility, while the injured were a burden. With fewer horses and more injured people, the migration group’s progress speed would likely drop by more than one-third, making the shortage of food and supplies even more critical.

“And moreover, after this battle, Lord didn’t follow the compensation standards set by Young Master Dev last time,” Mah added pointedly.

“Inconsistent policies, changing orders every day!” Neo sighed inwardly. He had struggled greatly when deciding to save Xavier, and one of the reasons for his concern was exactly this kind of situation. And now…

After listening to Boglem and Mah’s account, everyone’s mood was low, especially the members from Mathuya. Many of their family members were part of the migration group. Although Boglem had specifically checked on them and confirmed they were safe, such a major dispute within the group inevitably affected them, leaving the members uneasy.

“The situation is indeed not good,” Neo admitted first, acknowledging the difficulties—and they weren’t minor. He continued, “But this isn’t a reason to despair, because that would only please our enemies. If your opponent slaps you and says, ‘Cry,’ will you cry?”

The members laughed.

“That’s right. We should laugh. Crying would fulfill our opponent’s wish. Can we let them get what they want?”

“No!”

“Yes, we can’t. The Dark Claws, barbaric aliens, traitors… many people want to see us fail. They hope we keep fighting among ourselves so they can take their time to plan and further harm us. So at this moment, we must stay strong, work together, and overcome these difficulties. This isn’t just a slogan—it starts with small actions, right here in our team.”

The members nodded in agreement. “We support you!” several of them said.

Neo smiled and said to those members, “I thank you first for your unconditional trust. But I still need to make things clear. If there are problems, let’s solve them face to face.”

Neo continued, “Many of you might still not understand why we formed this squad and risked our lives for it. I leave it to you to find the answer on your own. What I want to say is that our squad is not for show. We are like hammers—capable of hitting enemies, but also of striking those among us.”
Some members exchanged glances. Striking those among them? What did that even mean? Using force against the people? Brutal control?
At that moment, Vitz slapped his thigh and said, “I fully agree! Those who are picky and nitpicky deserve to be punished with whips!”
Neo glared at Vitz and said to the group, “We are not overseers, and the people are not slaves. What we need to do is not wave whips.”
“Hehe!” Vitz rubbed the back of his neck and laughed dryly a few times before falling silent.
Several members breathed a sigh of relief.
Neo continued, “Are we man-eating beasts? That question can be discussed further in Asia, and it can go on forever. We are not soldiers; we don’t deal with philosophical or political issues. Our task is to get the migration group moving eastward at full speed. We can’t get stuck here over one issue and wait for disaster to strike. If anyone disagrees with this and needs me to persuade them, raise your hand now.”
Looking around, Neo scanned everyone’s faces. “Is there anyone?”
No one spoke.
“Good. I’ll assign new tasks later. Everyone, go to bed 2 hours later tonight…”
Sleeping 2 hours later meant that some tasks that were originally scheduled to be done step by step were completed ahead of time. Four sets of full-body rubber armor, with metal plates embedded in certain areas. With over 20 people working together and the materials already available, the finished products were produced quickly.
Neo selected four people to wear them: Barret, Vitz, Mah, and the tall Arno. All four were tall and strong, with similar weights and builds. Wearing these armors, they looked extremely neat and imposing. Especially with rugged bone bows on their backs and their newly crafted weapons, as Boglem put it, “They look really good.”
He fetched a piece of dark blue cloth, ripped off a strip, and went over to wrap it around Vitz’s face, who was fully armored. With the helmet and scarf covering his face, only his eyes and a small part of his nose were visible—his eyebrows were barely discernible. Even for acquaintances, it would take a while to recognize him.
Leaning back, Neo examined them carefully from side to side before nodding. He thought, “With this level of disguise, it’s almost enough. As long as they act cold and silent, they can barely pass off as elites of the Storm Squad…”
Clothes make the man, and armor makes the horse. But this time it wasn’t about showing off wealth—it was about displaying power, so naturally, the mounts needed impressive armor as well. With the same rubber armor, as soon as the wolves put it on, the effect was immediate.
“Hmm, not bad!” Neo said in satisfaction upon seeing the fully equipped people and their mounts. “Barret, find a few people to mix some silver paint from Ratno. Paint these four sets of armor overnight.”
“Understood.”

Just looking intimidating isn’t enough to scare people; some real action is needed. Neo already had a plan in mind—he intended to stage a show for the migration group the next day, titled “The Boy Who Cried Wolf”…