Chapter 165: Good Dog, Bad Dog (2)

Wolves are an extremely common type of predator.

If an average adult man is equipped with a well-sharpened hand axe, he could take one down with enough effort.

There are also many subspecies.

In remote regions where people rarely travel, one can often find massive Dire Wolves or Winter Wolves that breathe frost.

But a wolf that doesn’t keep its feet on the ground and instead floats in the sky? And it’s so massive that it could trample over other fearsome beasts?

That’s an entirely different problem.

At the very least, none of the three people here had ever seen or even heard of such a monster.

No, to be exact, one of them had heard of it before—though only through a storybook.

“Spirit Wolf…”

The youngest guard swallowed hard and muttered. The other two turned their heads toward him at the same time.

“What? You know what that thing is?”

“Rather than knowing, I’ve read about a ‘wolf that can transform its body into a spirit form.’
I think it was in the principal’s memoirs…”

“What? The memoirs… You don’t mean from the days of Hero Lier, do you?”

“Yes.”

The senior guard, who had asked back in surprise, blinked.

If the monster appeared in the memoirs of a figure knowledgeable in mana but wasn’t widely known to the public, there was only one answer—it was one of the beasts that once inhabited the Demon Realm.

But they had all perished when the Demon Realm collapsed, crushed along with it. There was no way one could still be alive.

Then how in the world…?

—Damn it, no! Who cares how it got here?! What’s more important right now is figuring out how to survive!

“Hey, Johnny! How do we deal with that thing? I saw earlier that spears and swords didn’t work. Got any strategies?”

“To be precise, it’s not that they don’t work at all. It’s just…”

“Just…?”

“You can only hurt it if you have a magic sword or if you can infuse your weapon with aura…”

“……”

At those words, the three of them simultaneously looked at each other.

It was a desperate, grasping-for-straws kind of look, but the expressions on their faces already answered the question.

And honestly, it was obvious.

If they had a magic sword, they would have already sold it and lived as wealthy men.

And if they were skilled enough to imbue a blade with aura, they wouldn’t be rotting away as guards in some remote mountain village.

They’d at least be knights or maybe even swordsmanship instructors in Anatolia.

The fact that they were standing here as guards was the biggest proof that they weren’t that skilled.

In short, they had no means to harm the spectral wolf.

“Damn it. And with that speed, there’s no way we can even run.”

No matter the species, all canines are specialized in chasing down and killing fleeing prey.

Even if they tried to escape, they wouldn’t make it fifty steps before collapsing into corpses.

Fighting was impossible. Running was impossible.

So what other option was left…?

“…There is… one way…”

Just then, the middle-aged guard, the one whose right arm had been severed, panted as he spoke. The other two widened their eyes and turned to him.

“You have a way? What is it?”

“That thing… Just for a brief moment, right before it struck… it materialized.

It must be because while in spirit form, it can’t physically interact with the real world…

So we have to aim for that exact moment when it attacks and stab it! That’s our only chance!”

“What? Aiming for the moment it attacks? There’s no way that’s as easy as it sounds—”

“But we don’t have a choice, do we? Huh? Or do you want to just die here?”

“…….”

He was right. The harsh reality was that there was no other option.

If there was only one way out and every other choice led to death, then they had no choice but to fight their way through it, no matter how reckless or desperate.

But what the two younger men were worried about wasn’t just the difficulty of the plan.

Because this strategy—‘striking at the moment of attack’—assumed that someone would have to take the attack head-on as bait.

An attack with enough force to tear a human arm apart like paper.

Who would take on that role?

“I’ll do it.”

Despite his shoulder being completely torn apart, Parker stepped forward.

His two younger comrades looked at him in shock and asked hesitantly,

“Are you sure, Parker? In that condition…?”

“It’s because of this condition, you idiots. The two of you have to do the stabbing, and with my dominant arm gone, I can’t deliver a proper attack anyway.

It makes the most sense for me to take the hit, and for you two to use that opening to strike. That way, we all have a chance to survive.”

“……”

“Don’t worry. If we get to a priest in time, they can reattach my arm.
As long as I don’t bleed out first, that is.”

Saying this, Parker picked up his beloved halberd from where it lay on the ground, gripping it with his left hand.

Then, forcing himself to steady his trembling breath, he pointed it at the spectral wolf hovering in the distance.

“Come on, then! You drooling, mangy beast!
I’ll show you what it means to be a man of honor!”

[……]

Did the wolf understand his words?

Its brow twitched slightly in irritation. It spat out the severed arm it had been holding in its mouth and locked its gaze onto Parker.

A gaze filled with silent, merciless killing intent.

And then, a moment later—

“! It’s coming!!!”

At the same time as the young guard let out a scream, the wolf charged at Parker like a bolt of lightning.

In sync, the other two also drew their swords and rushed toward Parker.

Their goal: the moment Parker’s left arm was gone, they would pierce the wolf’s head. A strategy of literally sacrificing flesh to take the bone.

As the wolf closed in on him, Parker instinctively shut his eyes tightly. His grip on the halberd in his left hand tightened on its own.

As expected, the wolf passed through the halberd and lunged toward his left arm, and then—

—Whoosh!

“…Huh?”

It went straight through Parker’s left arm as well.

The sudden turn of events left not only Parker but also the other guards who were about to strike frozen in shock.

And the cunning wolf didn’t miss that opening.

Passing straight through the prepared bait, it dashed toward the two charging guards instead.

Then, it snapped its jaws toward the neck of the younger guard on the left.

“!? Aaaagh!?!?”

“Damn it, Johnny?!”

The senior guard instinctively shifted the trajectory of his sword. At the same time, the blade barely grazed the wolf’s white fur, momentarily leaving a visible mark.

One stroke of luck in all this was that the wolf had charged at the enemy on the right, from the guards’ perspective.

Thanks to that, the senior guard—who was right-handed—managed to adjust his strike just in time.

Although he hadn’t been able to pierce its head as originally planned, he had at least nicked the tip of its ear. But that alone was enough.

Because the sudden pain caused the wolf to miss its attack.

[Keuhargh!!!]

The wolf howled in pain and leaped into the air. Blood dripped from its right ear as it glared down at the three of them with hatred.

Meanwhile, Johnny, who had barely escaped death, sat on the ground in a cold sweat.

“Hah… Hah… W-What just… happened to me…?”

“Get a grip, idiot! Don’t just sit there—get up!”

The senior guard cursed and kicked him hard.

The impact jolted Johnny back to reality, making him realize the fight wasn’t over yet. He quickly scrambled to his feet.

Parker, biting his lip, muttered under his breath.

“Dammit… I didn’t expect it to be able to change its target on its own. For a beast, it’s pretty damn smart…”

“Agreed. We were lucky to survive that, but expecting the same luck twice is foolish. What do we do now…?”

“……..”

The three of them exchanged despairing glances.

Technically, their recent clash had ended in a draw, with neither side landing a decisive hit. But in reality, it was an overwhelming defeat for the guards.

Their only strategy—using bait to create an opening—had been completely exposed.

They had missed their only chance to kill the wolf.

There was no alternative strategy.

The wolf could only materialize for a fraction of a second—barely long enough for an attack to land—before turning back into an incorporeal spirit.

If it had been the legendary hero Lier, perhaps they would have stood a chance. But they were mere commoners. They had no such skills.

In other words, there was no way for them to leave this forest alive.

No matter what they did, they were doomed to be killed by this monstrous creature.

All that remained was to accept their fate—

“Where is it?! Over there?!”

“!?”

But just then, a voice filled with hope rang out behind them.

Turning around, they saw their swordsmanship instructor, Brad Alger, leading a group of reinforcements toward them.

Among them was none other than the famed hero herself.

The three guards’ expressions instantly brightened with joy.

“W-We’re saved!!! It’s reinforcements!!”

“Over here! A ghostly wolf is attacking from the sky!! We can’t handle it alone! Please, help us!!”

“There’s an injured man here too!! Please!!”

Hearing their desperate cries, Brad nodded.

“Over there, got it! Good work! We’re coming now!”

With that, Brad channeled mana into his legs and launched himself forward, leaping more than ten meters in a single bound before landing with a resounding boom.

Having arrived like a hero, he quickly scanned the surroundings before locking eyes on the wolf hovering in the sky.

He pointed his greatsword at it.

“So it’s you, huh? The bastard who dared put a scratch on Anatolia’s 500-year record of absolute safety.

I don’t know which filthy hole you crawled out of, but I’ll chop you up nice and fine and turn you into wolf stew—so get ready!”

[Grrrr…!]

The wolf bared its fangs in response to the provocation. The two—no, the man and the beast—locked eyes, standing off against each other.

Meanwhile, Sion, who had arrived with Brad, widened her eyes when she saw the injured guards.

She rushed over and cast what appeared to be healing magic as asked,

“What happened here? Who could have broken through the headmaster’s barrier and infiltrated the school…?”

“T-There! That thing in the sky! That bastard did this to Parker…!”

“…?”

Following Johnny’s pointing finger, Sion looked up.

At the same time, the wolf also shifted its gaze to Sion.

Their eyes met.

And then—

“Huh?”

A small, startled sound escaped Sion’s lips.

‘Wait… isn’t that No. 3?’

‘Why is it here? No, more importantly… it’s still alive?’

A flood of questions filled her mind.

But her confusion didn’t last long—because it was soon replaced by something even more pressing.

Just moments ago, the wolf had been growling with hostility.

But the instant it saw Sion, it completely changed. Its expression brightened with joy as it let out an excited howl.

[Woof! (Master!)]

“…Ah.”

The moment she heard that, Sion fully grasped the situation.

This was the ferocious intruder that had torn off a guard’s arm and nearly killed them all.

A mythical beast, known only in ancient legends.

And yet, it was now looking at her with joy—expressing affection.

As if recognizing its rightful master.

—Toward her, the one currently masquerading as a hero.

‘Shit. I’m screwed!!!!’

Sion screamed internally.