Hal turned around and gazed dumbfoundedly at the Southern Sea, then to Loki, then to the jungle in front of them.

For a moment, he didn't know what to do.

Did he trigger some defensive mechanism that transported him out of the Temple of Chaos?

Hal broke into a cold sweat.

'D-Damn it…how can I show my face to them like this?!' he cursed inwardly, getting the urge to just drown himself in the sea behind him.

They traveled for weeks, only for his journey inside the temple to end in less than an hour?!

But then, he realized that something was off.

They were certainly back to Tiki Island—in the exact location his master's portal opened.

The distant view of the Great Carralis Canyonlands was an undeniable proof of this.

But where were the totems?

Also, while he wasn't too sure, it seemed that the trees and shrubbery were younger.

There were no oaks with such a small trunk as the one in front of him.

None he could remember, at least…

Hal frowned, now certain that something was wrong.

'What the hell is going on?' he wondered.

Locking eyes with his equally confused wolf companion for a moment, he reminded:

"Loki, keep your senses on high. Let's try to return to the entrance of the temple first…"

The pup nodded, and the two of them proceeded forward.

Hal didn't dare advance complacently.

He quickly summoned his [Spirit Sparrow], faded to invisibility, and sent the tiny avian to scout ahead.

All he could see were trees and shrubbery.

'Tch…where's that dirt path we used? If I can at least locate it…'

Unfortunately, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find the path, and so he tried willing his sparrow to fly higher.

But the moment it rose higher than a majority of the trees…

Hal sensed something swooping from behind, thanking the gods for guiding him to select [Alert] as the second attribute of this specific summon.

He quickly controlled the sparrow to momentarily dive down and perform a nimble vertical loop, dodging the ambusher's attack and allowing Hal to see what the creature was.

It had wings and a beak, alright, but it would be a stretch to call the thing a bird.

The beast had long, thin, featherless, burning wings that ended in sharp claws, and like its flyers, the creature's talons were also ablaze.

Hal gulped.

How could such a massive beast be so fast?!

But then, his hair stood on end as he looked ahead through the sparrow's vision.

The sky was filled with whatever the flying horror was!

Hal quickly dismissed the [Spirit Sparrow], as it would be outright dumb not to.

Only then did his breathing ease a little.

This, however, posed a new problem, since he wouldn't be able to rely on his trusty sparrow.

'This should do for now…' Hal thought inwardly as he summoned his [Spirit Wolf].

While the critter summon didn't have any special vision except for being able to see in the dark, it was fast and had the ability to turn invisible.

He could use the [Unique]-tier spell, [Mana Pulse], to ensure he would be safe from ambushes, but it only had limited charges, and the situation wasn't that dangerous.

Using his max-level [Spirit Wolf] for reconnaissance was the better decision.

He rarely used this specific spell card, so he was surprised to find how pleasant it was to use the max-level and extremely realistic-looking summon.

The spirit creature was extremely fast, nimble, and could jump high.

Extremely satisfied, Hal scouted the path ahead, noting to himself to use the summon more in the future, especially in situations where it would be too risky for the [Spirit Sparrow].

The latter didn't have any combat capability, after all.

He made decent progress and had certainly advanced closer to the temple, even if he still wasn't sure where the entrance was.

'Yeah…there's definitely something wrong…' he mused.

There was no way there were still no signs of the tribefolk when it seemed like they were the dominant force in Tiki Island earlier.

In any case, locating the entrance of the Temple of Chaos should give him answers.

Things, unfortunately, wouldn't be so peaceful.

The distant shrubbery to his left suddenly rustled.

Without hesitation, Hal controlled his [Spirit Wolf] to return, making it sprint at full speed.

He didn't want to dismiss the spirit creature if possible, as he would have to wait ten minutes before he could summon it again if he did.

His summon was fast, turning into a blur as it made a mad dash back to its master, jumping occasionally to evade obstacles.

But to his horror, the creature chasing the [Spirit Wolf] was faster.

It was closing in.

'Damn it, at this rate…' Hal cursed inwardly, gritting his teeth.

It was then that Loki suddenly rushed in the direction of the summon.

"Loki!" he exclaimed in worry. "Tch!"

Soon, Hal saw his wolf companion through the eyes of his summon, pouncing to engage the enemy.

He momentarily willed the [Spirit Wolf] to turn.

What he saw eased the worries in his heart a little.

Loki successfully ripped apart one of the clawed arms of the three-meter-tall lizard that was running like the more agile, slim, and physically enhanced version of a chicken.

The dark aura dancing around it was certainly a cause for concern, and Hal was unwilling to allow his wolf companion to engage the beast in a duel for long, fearing the next thing he would see was his lifeless pup.

He would never allow such a thing to happen.

Since his spirit summon was more or less safe, as the featherless, chicken-lizard beast's attention was fully on Loki, Hal quickly rushed to the scene.

He even activated [Tailwind] to arrive faster, catching up around ten seconds later.

To his bewilderment…

In front of him was the chicken-lizard of darkness, twitching while vomiting black blood from its mouth.

Loki had managed to capture its throat, effectively ending its life within mere seconds.

Perhaps it was because of his love and worry for his wolf companion, but clearly, he had been underestimating his now-matured Devourer Nyxwolf.