Better to Be a Monster Than Human!

"My... my lord, aren't you a Soul Master?!"

Michael's words made the villagers' expressions change drastically. They could hardly believe it.

They had always thought Michael was a Soul Master, but from what he was saying, he was actually not a Soul Master at all, but a monster called a Wolf Oni!

How could that be possible?!

"When did I ever say I was a Soul Master? Did you see me summon a Martial Soul? I'm not a Soul Master. I am the Lord of the Wolf Ghouls, Michael Corvinus!"

Michael bared his blood-filled maw, packed with fangs. His scarlet beast eyes gleamed with cold mockery as he looked at the villagers before him.

"I was once human too. In consideration of what I once was, I saved you out of pity and am now willing to give you a chance. Will you continue living in such humiliation, or will you become my followers and embrace a new life?"

Faced with the choice Michael offered, the villagers were filled with pain and hesitation.

Of course, they wanted great power and wished to change their miserable fate, but if the price was becoming monsters, it was truly difficult to make such a decision right away.

However, when they thought of their precarious lives, some villagers quickly made their choice. One of them spoke with agitation and indignation.

"My lord, I choose to become a Wolf Oni. In this world, it's better to be a monster than a human. Rather than live humbly, never knowing when I might be killed, I'd rather become a monster. My lord, please grant me this!"

"Very good!"

Seeing that someone had finally made a decision, Michael grinned in satisfaction. His figure flashed, and he instantly appeared before the villager who had made his choice.

"Bear with it. What comes next will be painful, but pain will be followed by rebirth!"

As he spoke, Michael seized the villager's wrist with his Wolf Claw. His sharp talons pierced the skin, and blood immediately began to flow.

In the invisible microscopic world, the Wolf Ghoul Virus followed Michael's claws and entered the villager's body through his blood.

Very soon, the villager who had received the Wolf Ghoul Virus fell to the ground, howling in agony and rolling about without stop. The veins all over his body turned bluish-black and throbbed violently, making them extremely conspicuous.

Seeing the villager's miserable state, the other villagers were terrified and hurriedly backed away. They intended to let him test the waters first and see what becoming a monster called a Wolf Oni would actually be like.

Soon, under the transformation of the Wolf Ghoul Virus, the bones inside the howling villager's body began to crack continuously. His body grew taller at a visible rate, and his muscles swelled.

At the same time, countless gray hairs sprouted from his skin. His hands quickly turned into sharp wolf claws, while his head gradually distorted beneath everyone's watchful eyes, becoming a savage wolf's head. A pair of gray bat-like flesh wings unfurled from his back.

"Roar!"

Once the transformation was complete, the villager, now a gray-furred Wolf Oni, let out a violent roar. He quickly rose from the ground, followed the stirring in his bloodline, and knelt directly before Michael.

"Master!"

"Wang Dazhu, how do you feel?"

After the villager named Wang Dazhu became a Wolf Oni, someone among the surrounding onlookers cautiously asked him.

"I feel like my body is brimming with strength. Those bastards who used to bully me—I can send them flying with one slap now and crush them to death!"

Wang Dazhu bared his fang-filled maw and clenched his huge wolf claw fiercely. A cold glint flashed in his eyes as he thought of the days when he had been bullied, and he roared with savagery and ferocity in his voice.

The villagers discovered that Wang Dazhu had actually retained his consciousness after becoming a Wolf Oni.

Though he apparently could not turn back into a human, that was still better than being oppressed to death by the lord, never knowing when his family might be destroyed.

At least after becoming monsters, they would possess the power to protect themselves. No one would ever be able to casually humiliate them or their families again!

Thus, all the villagers knelt before Michael and begged to become powerful Wolf Oni like Wang Dazhu.

Michael naturally agreed without hesitation.

In merely a dozen or so minutes, the entire village of several hundred people underwent a complete transformation amid agonized howls, becoming savage and terrifying Wolf Oni.

Moreover, after becoming Wolf Oni, the villagers' Martial Souls seemed to have mutated as well. Almost every villager gained Soul Power and became a Soul Master!

"Well? Do you all feel that power? This is the power that will allow you to control your own destinies! After becoming Wolf Oni, you have already been reborn. But to completely sever yourselves from the past, you still need some sacrifices!"

Looking at the hundreds of Wolf Oni kneeling before him, Michael, as the Lord of the Wolf Ghouls, bared his maw and gave a vicious grin.

"Follow me!"

After saying that, Michael waved his hand, turned around, and took the lead in shooting out of the village as a silver afterimage.

Behind him, all the Wolf Oni followed Michael's command.

Led by Michael, the massive pack of Wolf Oni quickly followed the scent of the carriages that had previously come to Zijing Village and arrived at a castle several hundred li away.

This was the home of the young nobleman from before.

Inside the castle, the injured young nobleman had returned home and was pointing at his bruised and swollen face. With tears streaming down his cheeks, he bitterly told his father what had happened in Zijing Village, wanting to bring people back for revenge.

Just then, long, chilling wolf howls suddenly rang out from outside the castle.

They were followed by screams.

"What's going on?!"

Hearing the commotion, the young nobleman's father's expression changed. He hurriedly brought his son and prepared to go outside to investigate.

But just as the young nobleman's father led his son out of the room and down the stairs—

Bodies of servants came flying in from all directions, crashing onto the floor.

Amid the pungent stench of blood, savage Wolf Oni bared their maws full of sharp fangs and closed in on the young nobleman and his father.

"That's what that guy looked like after Martial Soul Possession! How can there be so many of them? What the hell is going on?!"

When the young nobleman saw the Wolf Oni before him, his expression changed drastically, and he cried out in alarm.

Upon seeing their enemy, the Wolf Oni transformed from the villagers of Zijing Village revealed intense hatred in their ghostly green and scarlet beast eyes.

Amid furious growls, the Wolf Oni pounced madly. More and more Wolf Oni continued to swarm in, intending to tear the young nobleman and his father to pieces.

Facing hundreds of Wolf Oni, each as powerful as a Soul Master or even a Soul Grandmaster, the young nobleman and his father were naturally no match. Before long, amid screams, they were torn to pieces by the enraged villagers.

Not long after, the entire castle was set ablaze, and thick smoke billowed into the sky.

After killing the Zijing Viscount's family, who had oppressed them for more than a decade, the villagers who had become monsters and transformed into Wolf Oni could no longer return to Zijing Village.

Under Michael's leadership, they returned to Zijing Village and gathered some useful belongings.

In the dark night, beneath the pale moonlight, accompanied by wolf howls, the vast pack of Wolf Oni filed into the dense forest and headed toward the deep mountains near Zijing Village.

After transforming the villagers of Zijing Village into Wolf Oni, Michael had gained his first batch of followers.

But this was far from over!

To become a true Lord of the Wolf Ghouls, capable of unleashing a wolf disaster across Douluo Continent as devastating as a natural calamity, Michael needed more Wolf Oni!

After Michael transformed all the villagers of Zijing Village into Wolf Oni and killed the Zijing Viscount's family.

Within a few days, news of the Zijing Viscount's entire family being slaughtered spread throughout the nearby noble circles.

Countless nobles were shocked and terrified.

Thus, the matter was quickly reported upward.