Chapter 243: Without Any Cost (7)

Srrrk.

Slashed by the werewolf's claw, a tree swayed, toppling to the side with the wind. The cut surface was frighteningly clean, as if sliced with an aura-infused blade. The section hadn't even been touched directly. The gray energy swirling around his foreleg bothered me even more.

Crack.

With the force of a storm, the werewolf launched himself at me. The massive tree beneath his step groaned and splintered. I quickly stepped aside to dodge.

Crash!

Two trees behind me snapped. As I moved, I swept the broken sword outward.

Grrrr!

However, the beast grabbed the aura-infused blade with his bare hand. Then, with a twist of strength, he yanked me toward him, spreading his jaw open to pounce. As the strike descended overhead, I released the sword and bent backward. Letting the attack past, I slid beneath him.

Mid-motion, I drew the second longsword at my waist, swinging it at the wolf's chest. I aimed for the heart.

Fwip!

The moment his strike missed, the wolf kicked off the ground. He soared into the air faster than I'd expected. Scarlet blood scattered from a gash on his leg, but it was shallow—hardly a price to pay for losing a sword.

Despite the significant bleeding, I didn't feel the blade had struck cleanly. I'd grown too accustomed to the greatsword from Grassmere. The change was negligible when fighting against the clearly inferior human soldiers, but I had to recalibrate my reach and timing when fighting against such a fast enemy.

Focus...

The bleeding beast disappeared into the thick forest. When I thought I had to cut him down, the trees I'd otherwise overlooked suddenly felt unbearably dense.

Tracking.

Even inside the forest, his position shifted constantly. His injury didn't seem to affect his speed at all. In fact, it felt like my clumsy attack had only sharpened his instincts. I couldn't even tell if he was above or below. The Forest Adaptation skill I'd absorbed from a dark elf only served as a warning that this forest belonged to him.

Gripping my sword, I stared quietly into the woods.

Without rushing in, I called out toward the trees, "Why didn't you come with your allies?"

Had he come with them—formidable as he was—I would've truly been in danger.

"Was there a problem?"

The werewolf, hiding among the dense trees, gave no answer. It felt like he was shrouded in thick fog. I stood in the clearing made by our battle, whereas he stayed hidden in the overgrown forest. Nevertheless, I couldn't shake the feeling that the moonlight shone on him alone. Blood trailed into the forest, giving no sense of pressure.

Whooosh...

A damp wind passed through. As I adjusted my stance, the wolf burst from behind me. I spun and slashed my sword.

CRACK!

His claw collided with the blade, and a strange explosion echoed out.

BOOM!

The gray, aura-infused claws clashed against the aura-charged sword once more. Instinctively, I checked his leg. Not only was it no longer bleeding, the injury had healed completely. His regeneration rivaled the Trolls of the snowfields, but that was it. His speed and power were nowhere near them.

SLAM!

Even though his claws were breaking apart and cracking, he struck my sword three times in a row without hesitation. If he could heal, then I'd just have to burn it away.

Acid.

SSSSHHH!

Facing him head-on, I swept forward, my sword oozing green toxic aura. The werewolf vanished into the dense woods again. It went on like this. I'd flared my acid blade five times, yet he was still feigning combat before retreating into the woods.

SSSSHHH!

At last, his intention dawned on me. The sword, after repeated bursts of acidic aura, was slowly corroding.

"..."

I looked down at the weapon I'd picked up on the battlefield. The fine blade, formerly belonging to an imperial cavalry commander, was worthy of being called a masterwork. Regardless, if I kept summoning aura every time the wolf pounced, it wouldn't last.

Yet I couldn't afford to hold back. If the blade snapped in a single clash, it'd be over. No words could describe how much I missed the greatsword that vanished inside the barrier.

Clack.

I tore off the rest of my armor—it was just a hindrance—and focused entirely on my sword. This wolf wasn't just fast or strong. He had impeccable combat sense, forcing the fight into situations favorable to him.

Whoosh!

I swung the sword in the empty air.

"Do you always fight like this? You're more rat than wolf."

Shhhhh...

No answer. He didn't bite at clumsy provocations. I let one arm hang limply and opened up a vulnerable-looking stance in his direction. Still, he didn't show himself. Maybe he was off sharpening his broken claw, preparing to return at full strength. Well, there was no way someone who'd been tailing me silently from the very edge of my Detection range would fall for such a childish taunt.

Thud.

I leaned against a tree. My posture left a glaring opening risky enough to invite attack. However, perhaps because he had seen through my intent to end the fight in one blow, there was no response. If anything, he seemed to be creating even more distance. As I leaned into the tree, the slow-rising moon came into view. Maybe it'd be full in two days...

Hurry.

Suddenly, I remembered Isaac glancing up at the sky and muttering that word. Could that be what he meant? On the night of the full moon, a wolf could distort the world with violence. In exchange for losing control, they gained at least twice their power. Now that I thought about it, the wolf I first met at the altar in Purson had seemed stronger than this. That night, too, the moon had been full.

Even Aezar and the others had feared what he'd become under that red moon. Could it be that he had been waiting for that one perfect night to unleash his full power? Maybe the only reason he jumped out now was because I had approached too quickly. If I hadn't been actively using Detection in search of Mudcash, I wouldn't even have realized he was here until it was too late. All that wandering around making goblin sounds hadn't been a complete waste after all.

Either way, if this dragged on, I'd be at a disadvantage. Now that I understood his plan, there was no reason to play along.

Tracking. Sprint.

I activated both skills at full power and dashed into the forest. A reckless charge, resulting in an inevitable ambush.

Above. The three-meter wolf dropped from over ten meters high. I swung the sword up to meet him, without any intention of clashing head-on like before. I wrapped the blade with just enough aura to prevent it from snapping.

Suction.

Clack!

As his claw collided with the blade, I triggered the skill. His gray aura-laced talons were pulled into the sword as if being sucked in. The werewolf's red eyes flickered in surprise. Realizing something was different, he tried to hurl me off and escape. As we locked eyes, I activated the follow-up skill.

Fear.

He flinched, even if only for a semisecond. A far shorter reaction than what I got from the Wraith of the swamp. Still, it was enough. I yanked him in and kicked his chin upward with my boot.

CRACK!

A brutal impact rang out as the werewolf's massive head jerked back. His neck muscles were unbelievably strong. If he were human, his head would've snapped clean off and crashed through several trees.

He staggered from the hit, stumbling back and trying to flee again. I stepped on his leg, driving the blade toward his chest. Just then, he unleashed his pinned leg's strength, flinging me backward. Regaining his strength, he kicked me off, throwing me backward.

Thud!

My back slammed into a thick tree, and I slid down to the ground. Despite me being the pursuer, he was far heavier than me. I probably wouldn't lose if I could hold him in one place. However, my sword had been reduced to shambles. I had a fat chance of finding another weapon in such a dense, deserted forest. And if it came down to fighting barehanded...

Clack.

My odds of winning were steadily dwindling. Maybe I'd grazed him just a little. As I flicked off the wolf's blood clinging to my blade, Isaac landed nearby.

Fwip!

"Are you seriously sparring with that thing or something?"

His tone was biting and sarcastic.

"Sparring?"

"What then, teasing him for fun?"

"Teasing? I've never done that."

Isaac stared at me like I'd lost my mind.

"You joking right now? It's not even a full moon and you're just standing there taking hits?"

"I mean, it's just that..."

"I gave you such a favorable contract, yet you crashed head-on into Purson's blessing with your bare body?! What happened to Malphas's power?! Did you sell it off?!"

I knew exactly what he was getting at.

The crow's power...

I couldn't deny it. Unconsciously, I had probably been enjoying the thrill of the fight. After being trapped inside the barrier for two years, this was the first battlefield I stepped into. And yet, none of the three thousand soldiers had survived two of my strikes.

After such a dull massacre, the moonlit duel against that werewolf stirred something inside me. Chasing and being chased. A free fight where neither of us had anything to protect. If anything, I was probably the one who wanted to prolong this fight more than he did.

To be honest, I also felt some resistance toward using Malphas's power. It was too sweet, too seductive—and above all, I was painfully aware of the one watching me. There were even skills I still hadn't used.

A part of me believed I could win without relying on the Demon King's strength. Nevertheless, at this very moment, Rubia was still locked away, suffering as an experimental subject. Isaac was right. This wasn't the time to play around.

Darkness.

[Attack Power increased by 25%.]

[Defense increased by 40%.]

[Wings of the Crow: Movement Speed increased by 15%.]

Dark aura surged around me, bursting forth and engulfing my blade.

Slash.

Without a hint of preparation, I swung my sword forward. As the jet-black power surrounded me and my blade, the usual motions—turning my hips or twisting my torso—felt completely unnecessary.

Srrrrk.

Eight trees in front of me fell at once, sliced cleanly and soundlessly. My senses expanded. Feeling light as air, I darted into the forest. Activating the power of darkness by will alone was truly astonishing.

Shnk!

The werewolf lunged again, putting his entire weight into the strike. Earlier, I would've been sent flying, smashing through trees and tumbling across the ground. But this time, I stood my ground.

Force Shield.

Just before impact, a translucent shield shimmered to life around me. I'd absorbed the skill from Alohis, the mage who transported Lurium. This version felt wider, stronger, likely strengthened by Malphas's power. It even encompassed the werewolf within its protective boundary.

BOOM!

Both of us were trapped in the shield and slammed into the ground.

"

Grrr...

?"

"Now you're not going anywhere."

CRACK!

I drove my knee into his face and stabbed the sword into his arm.

Zzzzap! Crackle!

As electricity surged into him, I grabbed his other arm and snapped it. Then, I poured my weight into the shield, pressing it down onto his abdomen. He squirmed in agony, completely immobilized. The weight Force Shield could exert scaled with my Wisdom stat. I made the right call investing in it.

"

Grrr...

!" the werewolf growled, blood trickling from his mouth. "I've lost... Just kill me already."

He didn't even glance at the blade pressed to his throat. It'd dawned on him that he stood no chance against my sudden burst of power.

Instead, with a vacant gaze, he looked up at the blue moon and muttered softly, "Sierra... I'm sorry... I couldn't keep my promise to the end... Brody... Valdorf will... return to the moon..."

Training my blade at his neck, I quietly stared down at him. There was another reason I hadn't killed him yet.

"

Hm...

"

Brody Valdorf. While I was unsure how common that surname was, I remembered a wolf with that name.

"Do you... happen to know a Lumen Valdorf?"

I met a boy at the capital's gate. Intrigued by me, he boldly demanded I hand over Isaac. Since he mentioned Gith-Za-Rai, I figured out he was a Red Flake. He'd attacked me outright, and I'd barely gotten out of it by offering up Gith-Za-Rai and the Starlight Fox. Perhaps I could get information about him here.

Brody Valdorf's eyes flew open. "What did you say?!"

The werewolf who'd fully resigned himself to death was now overflowing with raw energy and desperate emotion.

"How... how do you know that name?!"

"

Huh

?"

"Where... where did you hear it?! At least let me know before I die!"

"Well..."

If I were going to finish him off anyway, maybe that was the least I could do. Maybe I could even tell him about Red Flake. Just as I was about to open my mouth...

"Hey, stop!"

"..."

"Don't say a word!"

"Lumen Valdorf... Wasn't he that guy we saw at the capital gate two years ago?"

"Yeah. Must be his son or something, right?"

"His son...?"

"It's a little different from other species. Female werewolves are extremely rare. Usually, about seven or eight males form a pack around a single female. If you think of them as her children... it fits. Their numbers are so precious that they cherish their offspring to an extreme degree. So..."

"So?"

"Grrrk..."

The werewolf, still crushed under the weight of the Force Shield, writhed in pain.

Isaac glanced at him and said,

"So use that against him!"