Ch.55Wolf Blood (2)

A moment later.

After moving from the interior of the forest where potential threats might lurk, they arrived at the outskirts where the forest met the plains….

In a place where the fiercest beasts would be nothing more than wild boars or wolves, they were about to begin what could be called a dominance battle (tentative name) to determine the leader of the pack.

‘I’m… so nervous…!!’

In this situation, Hannah Wolfblood, a pureblooded werewolf, was beaming with a bright smile as she realized her body was trembling with excitement for the upcoming battle.

Desire for the position of leader? Her parents who sacrificed themselves to save her and her sister? The villagers who believed in and followed her, and her excessively timid sister Gretel who lacked self-esteem?

Of course, those things were quite important, but they had long since become utterly useless to her at this moment.

The only thing that took priority in Hannah Wolfblood’s entire value system was struggle. The only thing that mattered was a bloody battle with a worthy opponent strong enough to make her heart pound wildly.

Her innate disposition was extreme even among werewolves who enjoyed rather than rejected conflict, as if she had absorbed all of her twin sister’s fighting spirit as well… she was the personification of the word “battle maniac.”

Until now, she had merely been restrained by very urgent and precarious situations and the social skills that her kind parents had patiently taught her.

Now that all those constraints and suppressions had disappeared.

Placed in an environment where no one else would intervene to hold her reins, Hannah Wolfblood was looking at the male human before her with a smile so wide that the corners of her mouth reached her cheekbones.

Though outwardly she appeared almost indifferent rather than excited about combat, her beast’s senses as a werewolf told her that he was a starving predator with such powerful killing intent and fighting spirit hidden within that it made her lower abdomen tingle.

“Haaah─ Hahahahahahaha!!!”

Unable to contain her excitement for this battle, Hannah exhaled a breath tinged with ecstasy, and finally, unable to suppress her excitement any longer, she burst into maniacal laughter and lunged at the formidable opponent (male) before her.

Of course, separate from this intense excitement for battle, the beast known as Hannah intended to approach combat with a considerably calm and rational mindset.

Hannah’s fighting style was unique, like other werewolves, combining bare-handed combat that utilized her innate physical strength with the transformation abilities of a werewolf.

While an ordinary werewolf might limit themselves to merely sharpening their claws, Hannah was by no means such an ‘ordinary’ werewolf.

Where a normal werewolf would take at least 5 seconds to change their form, such limitations were completely ignored by Hannah, who had mastered the technique of rapid transformation.

To close distance, she would transform into wolf form to reduce her target area and increase her sprinting speed, and once the distance was sufficiently reduced, she would transform into werewolf form to unleash the tremendous strength from her large frame.

Using her special technique of rapidly transforming into specific forms depending on the situation to fully utilize the advantages of each form, she instantly approached and then transformed into werewolf form, swinging her claws at the knight named Camille─

─CLANG!!

With that powerful attack being blocked by a sword, the knight and the beast began an intense exchange, swinging their aura-infused sword and claws at each other.

The overall dynamic was the beast advancing and pushing forward, while the knight retreated and blocked those attacks.

Amid the sounds of metal clashing violently in all directions, the beast (Hannah) assessed the battle situation through what little rationality remained in her state of frenzied pleasure.

“─Hahahahaha!!!”

Apart from the situation where dopamine was pickling her brain with joy just from the fact that she could fight such a powerful opponent, the beast felt that the impact transmitted through her arm was by no means at a level that could be taken lightly.

‘So heavy…!! To think this is human strength!!’

Clearly, in terms of physique and species, it would be natural for Hannah the werewolf to have greater strength than a human warrior, but as she fought him weapon to weapon, Hannah sensed through her wild instinct that her strength was actually lower than his.

Despite striking his sword with her claws, the sensation she felt was similar to pounding on a massive boulder.

Just from him swinging his sword to easily deflect her attacks, strain was gradually building in Hannah’s arms.

“Hahaha!! Fight, fight, FIGHT─!!!”

Of course, Hannah’s mind was practically rejoicing in ecstasy at being able to recognize her opponent’s strength, but while Hannah was a battle maniac who found meaning in combat itself, she was by no means a fool.

A fight is most enjoyable when you win in the end. Just as she had fled when faced with a powerful enemy (basilisk) she couldn’t defeat, what little rationality Hannah had left commanded her to use different means instead of her usual methods.

That is, by maintaining werewolf form only in parts of her arms or legs while returning to humanoid form, she aimed for agility and reduced target area since she couldn’t win in terms of raw strength anyway.

And, at that very moment.

“Now it’s my turn.”

“Ha, hahahahaha─!!! Yes, let’s fight!!!”

─CLANG!!!

Swinging his longsword wrapped in shimmering purple aura, he charged in, advancing forcefully and bringing his fist down with all his might.

-Slash!

─CRASH!!!

As her aura-infused claws precisely grazed the gap in his armor, cutting into flesh, the man’s fist simultaneously drove straight into Hannah’s face.

With the force behind that punch—a strength impossible to believe was human—Hannah momentarily felt her consciousness waver and grow dizzy….

“Kuhfu, pft!!”

Spitting out the blood that began to pool in her mouth as her tongue was scraped by her teeth, Hannah somehow managed to drive away the dizziness by circulating her aura, and was just about to raise the corner of her mouth and regain her stance when─

“─?!!”

Avoiding a projectile that suddenly flew toward her with an acrobatic posture, she noticed that instead of the greatsword from before, he now held a dagger in each hand, which made her feel even more excited.

Yes. Judging by his stance, the knight would undoubtedly be more skilled with a greatsword, yet he had drawn daggers—weapons he was relatively less familiar with—to accommodate Hannah!

At that moment, Hannah could feel a sensation of her entire mind focusing completely on this man before her.

Joy, delight, happiness, pleasure. Hannah’s mind, dominated by the overwhelming euphoria of dopamine stimulating her brain, now began to feel another emotion in addition to these feelings.

And finally, she understood the identity of this emotion.

‘This feeling… this is true love!’

She had lost her heart to this knight’s overwhelming strength and skill, and she was certain that this feeling was undoubtedly love….

Though it might sound strange, from Hannah’s perspective, it was a kind of truth.

….In reality, it was the delusion of a being born with some issue in the central nervous system responsible for emotional control, but even if Hannah had known such medical facts, she would have deliberately ignored them.

─CLANG! THUD! THWACK! THUD, WHAM!

Hannah and the knight with their daggers exchanged blows, engaged in ultra-close combat reminiscent of knife fighting in a modern action movie….

‘….He’s tough!!’

Recognizing that impacts were hardly penetrating beyond his skin, Hannah now licked her lips with her tongue and moved her increasingly heated body more violently.

She wanted to possess him. She truly wanted to possess this man, this male.

Having gone from being insane with fighting and struggle to feeling such explicit desire for the first time, experiencing the urge of lust, Hannah’s eyes rolled back and following her instinct, she thrust her head forward, her muzzle with gleaming sharp fangs─

─WHAM!!!

The price for abandoning even the minimal rational thinking needed for battle, blinded by the intense desire she felt for the first time, was the knight’s gauntlet flying into her jaw.

Hitting, hitting, hitting in succession. With each of these attacks delivering powerful impacts that seemed to blow Hannah’s mind away, she felt extreme pain and her consciousness grew hazy, yet she was incredibly happy nonetheless.

Fun, fun, so much fun!!

Hannah, who perceived even the pain inflicted upon her as happiness, finally felt her muscles completely go lim─

“Um, big sister… are you awake?”

“….Ah.”

Along with the cute voice of her sister reaching her ears and the sweet potion entering her mouth. Feeling her battered body gradually recovering thanks to the potion made by her sister Gretel, Hannah barely opened her mouth.

“Gretel…. I think I’ve fallen in love.”

“What nonsense! Let’s focus on treatment first!!”

Even as she received a scolding from her sister, who was usually meek to the point of timidity but became particularly strong in times like these, Hannah thought to herself.

To think that a connection she thought would never come to her in her lifetime had now kindly approached her side.

Life is truly mysterious, and enjoyable precisely because it doesn’t go as planned.