Chapter 18 : The Strongest Party, Someday! (3)

“Fill it!”

My voice shouting the final incantation was trembling terribly.

Please, please let it work.

Let it at least blind those wolves, even for a moment.

I reached out with all my heart, desperately squeezing out every bit of mana I could feel within me.

It was at that moment.

Flash!

Even though my eyes were closed, a searing white light burned through my eyelids!

It was a pure, explosive brilliance unlike anything I had ever produced before—far beyond the firefly-like glow I’d managed in the past.

It erupted from my fingertips and surged toward them.

It wasn’t as grand as the magic I’d seen the evil dragon use in the cave, but it was more than enough to light up the dark forest, where even sunlight could barely reach, as if it were broad daylight!

Yelp!

The moment the light burst out, all the surrounding wolves howled in pain.

Blinded and disoriented by the sudden flash, they stumbled about, crashing into each other and banging into trees.

One of them even rubbed its eyes with its paws, whimpering.

I was so shocked by my own magic that I could barely breathe.

“Lisette! That was amazing!”

“Haa… Haaa…”

I… I actually did this? My magic worked?!

The fact that the offensive magic I learned from the Sage had succeeded gave me a thrilling sense of accomplishment.

But Grey Fang was still fine.

That huge alpha wolf had flinched at the sudden flash and growled lowly, but unlike the others, he wasn’t completely incapacitated.

The moment I cast the spell, he quickly turned his head to avoid the light and now stared at us with narrowed eyes.

His gaze burned with annoyance and fury.

My brief awe was immediately replaced by terror as I witnessed what happened next.

“Magic… that was great… but it’s not over. If we’re going to finish this, now’s the time.”

She had hesitated for a moment at the light I’d created, but since her back was to it, she made a quick decision.

Sori didn’t hesitate for even a second.

As if she’d been waiting for this, she dashed through the confused wolves like a gale!

Thwack! Crack! Ugh!

With the light at her back, Sori’s shadow moved at an incredible speed.

Heavy thuds and short wolf cries rang out one after another.

She swung a stone in her hand to strike a staggering wolf in the head, then swiftly turned to kick another in the leg, breaking it.

For those that fell, she showed no mercy, stomping or kicking their necks.

Her movements were fast, precise, and without hesitation—like a seasoned fighter.

No, maybe even more than that.

Like a furious little beast, Sori ruthlessly subdued the fallen wolves.

All I could do was stand there, mouth agape, watching.

No matter how I looked at it, it was hard to believe someone my age, another young girl, was dealing with the wolves so efficiently.

Any pride or relief I’d felt earlier had completely vanished, replaced by a chilling feeling creeping down my spine.

It was a mix of awe and an unexplainable fear.

It happened in an instant.

Before the light I released had even fully faded, Sori had taken down all the nearby wolves.

Some were completely unconscious, collapsed on the ground.

Others had broken legs or serious injuries and were trying to crawl away, whimpering.

Sori didn’t bother chasing those who fled.

Silence returned to the forest.

A much heavier, more deadly silence than before.

Now, all that remained at the center of it were me, Sori, and…

Grey Fang.

The alpha wolf glanced coldly at his fallen underlings.

There was no sign of sympathy in his eyes.

Then, he slowly turned his head toward us.

His gaze first settled on Sori.

Evaluating her, the worthy opponent who had just crushed his subordinates.

Then his eyes shifted to me.

There was fury in his glare—for I had disrupted his plans with that sudden burst of light.

“Grrrr…”

“Eek!”

He’s angrier at me than at Sori, isn’t he?!

I had no doubt—I wouldn’t die an ordinary death if he got to me.

Grey Fang let out a low growl and took a step forward with his front paw.

The air around him stirred ominously.

He wasn’t just approaching; he was slowly circling us.

“Lisette, can you still use magic?”

In the middle of that standoff, Sori asked in a trembling voice.

She too seemed to be shaking, perhaps from having used all her strength earlier.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry… I don’t think I can use any more…”

I don’t think I can use magic anymore—what should we do?

Using that miracle-like spell again was impossible.

“Then Lisette, you run. He’s focused on me.”

“No!”

“Run to the Dragon Lord’s cave! He won’t follow you there!”

“I said no!”

She urged me desperately to flee, but looking at her, I remembered something my mother once said.

“How could I run and leave you behind?”

A noble must be the first to sacrifice and lead.

Even though… even if! I’m just a bastard child, I still carry that proud blue blood, so I couldn’t abandon Sori.

Just as she said, the wolf’s eyes were clearly locked onto her.

Specifically, on her arm, where a wolf had clawed her earlier and blood was still trickling.

‘No…!’

I screamed internally—Sori was a wounded patient.

Fine then, if I, whose body was still intact, became the bait, maybe Sori could finish him off.

“Lisette?!”

Just moments ago, I had felt utterly drained from casting the spell—but once I resolved to be the bait, a strange strength welled up, and I moved to stand beside Sori.

That cunning wolf, however, had little interest in me, despite my resolve.

“Use me as bait and take him down!”

“Bait? What’s that?”

“It means ignore me and just focus on killing him!”

Unlike when I’d watched from behind, I now saw how massive this devious wolf truly was.

Sori was staring him down head-on, and yet she told me to run—her courage was incredible.

‘I want to be amazing too…!’

With that, I locked eyes with the beast.

Sure enough, Grey Fang’s gaze was still fixed on Sori’s bleeding arm.

He had realized she was injured and was deliberately stalling, waiting for her to bleed out and collapse!

If it turned into a battle of attrition, we would be at a disadvantage.

Red blood continued to seep through the torn fabric of Sori’s clothes.

If she passed out from blood loss… we’d be at the mercy of that monster.

We had to strike first if we wanted even a sliver of a chance to win.

“Huh?”

But… something was strange.

Steam was rising from Sori’s wound.

I blinked and rubbed my eyes in disbelief.

The blood that had been dripping just moments ago had stopped.

No, it hadn’t just stopped.

“Sori, your arm?!”

Sori was clutching her arm in pain, but the torn wound visible between her fingers was rapidly healing, as if a new piece of paper had been laid over it!

The red lines gradually faded, and fresh pink skin began to form.

In the blink of an eye, the wound vanished without a trace.

Was I hallucinating? No, I definitely saw it!

That… that wasn’t normal healing speed.

Suddenly, something clicked in my mind.

Yesterday, after I used magic and collapsed from exhaustion, I ate that strange meat the evil dragon cooked…and I felt energy surge through my body, and my mana recovered.

And now, Sori’s wound is healing at an unbelievable speed.

Could it be…?

That meat! The one the evil dragon brought back—it acted so strangely, hiding the corpse as it handed it over to us…!

That means… it wasn’t just ordinary meat?!

Come to think of it, even the vegetables weren’t normal—we should’ve noticed.

The vegetables the evil dragon brought were definitely mandrake.

I know mandrakes are cursed plants—eat them wrong and you go mad or die.

But we were still perfectly fine.

I thought it was just a trap to poison us, but when Sori ate them and was fine, I was shocked—and I ate too.

Now that I think about it, the way my terrible magic suddenly improved in a day or two to the point I could take down wolves… that was weird too.

‘That meal must have helped.’

In the end, it’s clear that food is giving us hope right now.

‘Did the dragon… know all along?’

Did he know everything and intentionally feed us that food?

While I was lost in confusion, Sori also seemed to notice something strange and stared down at her arm.

“My wound…? The bleeding stopped!”

Her eyes widened in shock as she confirmed the wound had completely disappeared.

And soon, that gaze transformed—from awe to a fierce confidence she’d never had before.

Sori glared once more at the Grey Fang.

There was no more fear or hesitation.

She clenched her fist and, as if reassuring herself—or maybe trying to encourage me—she shouted,

“I can do this!”

With that cry, Sori kicked off the ground and charged at Grey Fang!

Grrrr!

Caught off guard by the unexpected counterattack, Grey Fang quickly dodged and bared his sharp fangs.

But Sori was different now.

Perhaps it was the confidence from healing, but her movements were faster and bolder.

She slipped to Grey Fang’s side and struck his foreleg with a rock in her hand.

Crack!

‘Come to think of it, Sori’s strength is no joke!’

With a dull thud, Grey Fang let out a pained scream.

His bone was clearly broken, but the wolf who’d killed so many hunters wasn’t going down easily.

Despite the pain in his leg, he reflexively swung his massive paw and struck Sori!

Thud!

“Gah!”

Sori was thrown to the side.

Claw marks appeared on her cheek, and blood dripped down.

“Sori, are you okay?!”

Earlier, I couldn’t see clearly through her clothes, but now the wound on her face began to steam and heal almost immediately!

“This is insane…”

As expected, Sori quickly got back up.

The wound on her cheek was already fading.

She wiped the blood off her face and, despite surely feeling pain, charged at Grey Fang with even more ferocity.

What followed was a brutal brawl.

Sori used her small frame to slip into Grey Fang’s blind spot and unleashed a relentless barrage of attacks.

Striking with the rock, punching, kicking.

Even with his broken leg, Grey Fang fought back desperately, but against Sori’s abnormal endurance and her wounds healing in real time, his resistance slowly crumbled.

And finally—

She landed a hit!

Just as the exhausted wolf’s head dipped low, Sori swung her rock with all her strength and landed a direct hit to the top of his skull.

Crack!

With a final scream, the massive wolf collapsed sideways, lifeless.

Its body convulsed a few times, then lay still.

…Silence fell.

Only Sori’s ragged breathing echoed through the forest.

Covered in blood and sweat, she stood over the fallen Grey Fang, gasping for air.

With that small body, she had defeated the wolf known as the terror of the Black Mountains.

I collapsed to the ground, stunned by the unbelievable sight before me.

Sori… she did it.

“She did it!”

My friend Sori killed the Grey Fang!