NOVEL NEXT Chapter 27
I found myself face to face with the Chief Wolf, standing off for a moment.
*Grrr…*
…This guy’s energy is no joke.
It reminds me of that Ogre I saw back in the Coliseum.
At least upper-tier, maybe even higher.
“Huu…”
The fact that he’s leading a pack of wolves already makes him suspicious.
Looks like I’ve run into another strong opponent.
I gripped my sword, focusing my aura into my eyes.
When he first appeared earlier, if it weren’t for my instincts, I would’ve been caught off guard by his speed.
So, I prepared to use Track and kept my eyes on him.
But…
He just stood there, not making the first move.
Curious, I took a closer look and noticed the white fur on his abdomen was stained red.
…Is he injured?
That might make him easier to handle.
Still, since he’s stronger than I expected, I stayed tense and circulated my aura.
And so, the tense standoff between me and the Chief Wolf continued.
*Click.*
The wolf, acting uncharacteristically, raised a finger and pointed at me.
And then…
*ROAR!! GRAHH!!*
The Werewolves around us immediately charged at me.
…Trying to wear me down, huh?
Smarter than I thought.
*Slash.*
As I beheaded the first Werewolf to reach me, I kept a close eye on the Chief Wolf’s movements.
He’s fast, so I need to be careful not to get caught off guard.
But…
*Slash—Thud!*
*GRRR!*
Even as I kept taking down his underlings, he didn’t budge.
Hmm, still just watching?
Maybe his injury is worse than I thought.
If that’s the case…
I decided to play around with the Werewolves a bit longer while focusing my aura.
If he won’t come to me, I’ll go to him.
I channeled my aura into my sword.
‘Rush.’
*Whoosh!*
With a light swing, I unleashed it, and the Werewolves charging at me hesitated.
Taking advantage of the opening…
*Swish.*
I pretended to sheathe my sword, focusing all my aura.
In that brief moment of retreat, I gathered my aura to its limit.
When I opened my eyes again, I saw the slowed movements of the Werewolves charging at me and the Chief Wolf watching me from afar.
Then…
*Swoosh—*
A faint red trail appeared between me and the Chief Wolf.
Immediately after, as I drew my sword from the air, my body shot forward.
Even while using Track, I felt the scenery blur past me.
At this speed, I kept an eye on the Chief Wolf, who was trying to swing his arms in a bipedal stance.
But…
Unfortunately, it wasn’t a regular Fleet.
*Splat!*
Right after, blood splattered from my sword as it grazed him.
…That was shallow.
Just as my sword was about to slice his neck, he twisted his body dramatically.
He shouldn’t have been able to react, but it felt like he dodged on pure instinct.
*Grrr…!*
But before I could even think about that, I heard the angry howl of a wolf behind me.
*BAM!!*
I quickly turned to block the attack.
“Huu…”
I hurriedly raised my sword to block the massive claw coming down at me.
Up close, this guy’s even bigger.
Is he twice my size?
With a wolf this big slamming down on me, it feels like being crushed under a building.
And on top of that…
*Grrr.*
I can feel some strange energy coming from him.
At first, I thought it might be aura, but it feels more raw than that.
Still, one thing’s clear—it’s a similar type of power.
That’s why, even with my aura, I’m being pushed back like this.
“Ugh.”
I gritted my teeth, trying to push the claw away, but it’s not easy.
As I was thinking about how to escape this pressure…
*Whoosh—*
The wolf lifted his other paw and swung it toward my exposed side.
So, since he can walk on two legs, he can use both front paws like arms!
*BAM!!*
I quickly put up a Guard on the impact point, but a massive shock hit my side.
“Ugh!”
Immediately, I felt my body lift off the ground, and my vision spun.
*Roll, roll, roll—*
My body tumbled down the slope several times before…
*Thud!*
“Ugh!”
…I slammed into a tree.
“Cough! Hack!”
The internal damage was severe.
If it weren’t for the buff coat I received as a gift, my side would’ve been torn open.
What kind of monster is this?
I’d rather fight two Ogres at this point.
*ROAR!!*
My whole body ached from the impact, and blood kept rising in my throat, but I turned my head toward the wolf, who was about to deliver the next blow.
He’s coming right at me.
With full intent to kill.
Just as he was almost upon me…
*Flick!*
I threw a handful of dirt I’d grabbed from the ground.
*ROAR!!*
But, as if it was nothing, he shook his head and opened his massive maw toward me.
Looking at that huge mouth, big enough to swallow my head whole, I immediately pushed off the ground with my legs.
Then, focusing as much aura as I could into my legs…
*Crack!*
I drove my knee into his jaw.
*Thud!*
Even a rotten fish has its pride—this was a full-powered attack from an aura user.
The impact shook his head, and the wolf paused for a moment.
I quickly looked around for my sword.
The sword I’d dropped when I was sent flying… Yeah, it’s over there in the corner.
Sigh, I need that to deal with him.
I don’t trust my bare hands to pierce his thick hide.
I immediately pushed off the ground and ran toward the sword.
I staggered a bit from the earlier attack, but I gritted my teeth and lunged for the sword.
And right after…
*Zap—*
A sense of danger shot through my head—no, my whole body—so I rolled to the side.
*BAM!!*
Just like before, the wolf’s claw slammed into the spot where I’d been.
…Look at the size of that claw.
It could tear me apart in one swipe.
The proof is in the torn-up leather where I was hit earlier.
This thing was expensive, and it’s already ripped.
I wonder if it can even be repaired.
Well…
*Whoosh—BAM!!*
I need to survive first before worrying about repairs.
But at least there’s one good thing.
*Drip, drip.*
The blood from his earlier wound is starting to flow more heavily.
I know that feeling all too well.
This guy’s the type who doesn’t hold back, just like me.
Feeling a sense of camaraderie, I bounced up from the ground.
And then…
I felt like I could use Fleet again soon, so I focused my aura.
When the massive paw swung toward me…
*Whoosh!*
I used Vision Fleet, which I’d grown accustomed to.
Looking down at the wolf’s back as he crushed my afterimage, I put all my weight into stabbing my sword.
*Thud—*
The blade barely missed his heart, piercing the side instead.
Did he twist his body at the last second?
Given his size, he couldn’t fully dodge, but if he were my size, he would’ve avoided it entirely.
…I’ve been feeling this for a while now.
He dodged my Vision Track-enhanced Fleet earlier, and now this—it’s like he has some kind of instinct.
*Zap.*
Yeah, just like my senses screaming at me.
*BAM!*
Since I’d already used Fleet, the wolf’s hind leg slammed into me, sending me flying.
Luckily, the sword stuck in him must’ve weakened the blow, so the impact wasn’t too severe.
*Thud, thud.*
I rolled a bit but managed to land properly.
But…
*Pant… pant…*
By the time I got back up, the wolf was just sitting there, panting heavily.
Well, the sword did go pretty deep.
Given its weight, the piercing power must’ve been significant.
Plus, he was already seriously injured, so that attack must’ve been the finishing blow.
So, time to wrap this up?
The mission condition was capture, but…
How am I supposed to capture something like that?
If I try anything fancy, I’ll just end up getting hurt.
It’s not even my mission anyway. The mercenaries will probably accept mission failure over death.
With that in mind…
I gathered my aura to finish him off cleanly.
But then…
*Thud!*
The wolf pushed off the ground and stood up.
Still got some fight left, huh?
Damn, if I could just pull out that sword, it’d be my win.
Since I just used Fleet, I’ll have to use Rush to create an opening.
So, tense and ready for whatever tricks he might have left, I approached.
*Thud! Thud!*
The wolf suddenly started running toward the forest.
“Hey! You bastard!”
Surprised, I immediately chased after him.
Forget letting prey escape—my damn sword is still stuck in him!
But the wolf, with some inexplicable strength, disappeared into the forest at an incredible speed.
“Ha, damn it.”
This is insane.
I took a quick look around.
The Werewolves were too scared to approach me.
From the sounds of it, the mercenaries over there had pretty much secured their victory.
In that case…
I should chase him before it gets any darker.
Sigh.
I can’t believe I have to do this again.
As the battle ended, I clutched my aching side and followed the direction the Chief Wolf had fled.
Even though I couldn’t see him anymore…
He had a sword stuck in his back and was running away in a panic.
Naturally…
*Rustle.*
…there were bloodstains and rough paw prints left on the ground.
Given his size, the amount of blood and the size of the prints were significant.
There’s no way I can’t follow this.
Even if the trail were fainter, I could’ve tracked him.
I left the mercenaries earlier to test their skills, but tracking was one of my specialties in my past life.
Anyway…
I started following the paw prints quickly.
I crossed through the underbrush, passed rocky slopes, and gradually climbed the mountain.
The further I went, the more blood I saw—his end must be near.
He’s probably collapsed somewhere by now.
The amount of blood loss is already excessive.
And so…
As I continued tracking, the trail became harder to see as it grew darker.
*Rustle.*
Following the trail, I found a cave bathed in moonlight.
A fairly large one, and…
“Hmm.”
The smell of blood is overwhelming.
No surprise, given the pile of monster corpses around the cave.
Why’d they stack the bodies like that?
There are mid-tier monsters and even high-tier ones here. It seems like he dragged them here from all over the mid to high-level areas.
Ah, so maybe…
The blood trail leads inside the cave, so I took a moment to inspect the corpses before entering.
On the side of the cave…
Among the larger corpses, I spotted a gray monster lying there.
“There you are.”
It’s my first time seeing one in person, but it matches the description perfectly.
It’s almost as big as the Chief Wolf, with skin cracked like stone, thick limbs, and broad hands and feet.
And…
Its mouth is tightly shut, but I can see the large tusks protruding.
This is lucky.
I immediately stepped on the Troll and pulled out both tusks.
It hasn’t been dead long, so these should still be fresh.
I stuffed them into my pocket and headed into the cave.
The cave was so dark that even the moonlight couldn’t penetrate, but…
In case the wolf was hiding to ambush me, I used Track to scan the area.
With Track, which can see through darkness, the inside looked surprisingly neat.
The floor was still marked by a trail of blood.
This guy’s really holding on.
*Step, step.*
I slowly made my way deeper into the cave.
Tense and ready for any ambush, I entered the inner chamber, but…
“What the…”
All that tension was for nothing.
In the center of the cavern, the Chief Wolf lay curled up, motionless.
…Is he dead?
I checked briefly—he wasn’t breathing.
Guess he wanted to die in his den.
*Thud—*
I pulled the sword from his back.
This thing caused me so much trouble.
If it hadn’t been stuck in him, I wouldn’t have chased him this far.
Well, he was a good opponent, I thought as I turned to leave.
But since I was still using Track…
I noticed something faintly moving inside the Chief Wolf’s curled-up body.
What’s that?
Is there something there?
I crouched down and lifted the blood-soaked fur.
And there…
*Squeak… squeak…*
Inside the Chief Wolf’s cooling body was a white-furred wolf pup, its eyes still closed.
“Damn it.”
I shouldn’t have looked.