Chapter 20

༺ The First Letter (20) ༻

In the glade, between the sparsely scattered trees, a human and a beast were drawing circles around each other. Their gazes clashed against each other, along with the frazzled silence.

The man was holding a sword, while the beast held nothing. There was no need, because his enormous body, which was more than 2m tall, was already a weapon in itself.

The man’s body, staring at the wolf without uttering a word, looked already battered.

He had mud and clotted blood all over his body, and the cotton bandage he wrapped around his forearm had long since become dirty. He would gasp for breath just by taking a step, and his eyes could only focus for a brief moment.

It wouldn’t be strange if he were to collapse right away. The beast was aiming for that moment.

He was a human with a strangely faint presence. He couldn’t hear his breathing or heartbeat for a while. If he hadn’t felt the harsh breathing and beating of his heart, He wouldn’t even know whether he was alive or not.

All the wolf’s subordinates were attacked by this man. They were defeated one by one, and even if two or three came together, they could not stand against this man.

He must have been one of the strongest among humans. Among the prey he had been hunting so far, he was the best.

It would be pretty refreshing to see his guts spill out and scatter on the ground.

The wolf, who inherited the artistic temperament of a demonic beast, felt quite pleased just at the thought of that. His breathing became a little shaky.

On the other hand, the man kept his composure all the time. At least on the surface, he seemed to have done so. In fact, his innards were so hot that he felt like he was about to get burned.Expplôre uptodate stories at no/vel//bin(.)com

I lost my temper for a while. The man, Ian Percus, thought so.

No matter how much he thought about it, his physical condition was not normal. his muscles, having already reached their limits, were screaming with all their might. His stiff movements were proof of this.

And the beast in front of him at least looked different from the enemies he had dealt with before. He must have been something like a pack leader, and not only his weight class but also his intelligence seemed to be superior.

I could only infer by how he was approaching me with caution. The beasts I had turned into corpses until now weren’t doing that.

They either charged at me with a flame of hostility burning in their eyes, or they died in a surprise attack without even noticing me.

If I make a mistake, I’ll die.

As if he was walking on thin ice, Ian’s gait became more cautious.

He was an opponent to whom I could die, even if I didn’t make a mistake. If I were to be careless even for a moment, I wouldn’t even notice how I died.

Emma’s aggressor was right in front of my eyes. As a friend, even if I couldn’t get revenge, I could at least share a gloomy reunion with her in the afterlife.

Ian’s golden eyes scanned the wolf’s movements.

It was to grasp the ‘feel’. He was walking at a leisurely pace now, but his opponent was a beast. No matter how patient he was, he would never completely overcome his wild nature.

He will soon reach the limit of his patience, and in that moment, his muscles’ movements would inevitably be different.

That momentary instant was my opportunity.

Regardless of his will, Ian’s body was not in a condition to endure a long-term fight. Somehow, he had to find a way to pierce his opponent’s opening and end him at once.

So, how long was the nerve war between Ian and the wolf going to last?

The wolf’s muscles twitched. A virtual trajectory was drawn in front of Ian’s eyes.

Now was the time.

–––

The moment Ian decided as such, he twisted his body.

A blunt shock transmitted throughout his body.

It felt like he had just been hit by a cannonball. An acceleration such that he wouldn’t even leave an afterimage coupled with his dreadful size, even being hit by an actual cannonball, wouldn’t be as painful.

“Aaarghhh......!”

His eyes widened spontaneously, and blood gushed out of his mouth. His body was blown away regardless of his will and was flung onto a tree that resembled a wooden .

Crash, the tree, hit by the mass of an adult male out of nowhere, shook violently. Along with that, the man’s vision trembled wildly as well.

Ugh, Ian instinctively crouched down while groaning. Every part of his body ached. He protected his body with his mana, but even that had a limit.

In the end, he couldn’t see it.

To be more precise, his afterimage was barely visible. That’s how Ian was able to even twist his body.

But that was the end. Ian’s body was too tired to avoid the beast’s charge.

His senses were now absurdly sharp. Ian felt like he had just learned how to perceive the world again. How can the world be so dense with information that I can grasp?

His senses were now sharp enough to be incomparable with how they were the last time he fought Seria. However, his exhausted body was unable to immediately carry out the commands of his brain.

Even Ian couldn’t figure out why he was so good at throwing, since he had never practiced it in the first place.

The wolf didn’t give Ian a long time to strategize. He charged once again.

Ian’s body rolled to the ground. It was an inevitable choice. And while panting for breath, the moment when he showed a slight delay.

The wolf’s claws, which were approaching him, slammed into the ground. If Ian hadn’t rolled his body at the last moment, that claw would have pierced his body.

He tried to retaliate by raising his sword, but he couldn’t muster his strength while rolling on the ground. The wolf took a step backwards before the sword could even build aura properly.

Aura, I need time to swathe my sword in aura. Ian clenched his teeth and staggered up.

And as such, several clashes went on.

A few times, he rolled to the ground to avoid him, and a few times, he raised his sword and blocked his claws. The wolf was never in a hurry.

Just as a hunter drove his prey into a corner, the wolf drove Ian without mercy.

The more he did so, the more Ian’s breathing became rough.

Air didn’t reach his brain properly, so he was getting dizzy. His vision became blurry, and his eyes, which had always had a calm light on them, were now unfocused.

His body didn’t listen properly. His muscles were as hard as lead, and they couldn’t properly carry out the commands his instincts sent him. The wolf felt joy when he saw it.

The excitement of hunting possessed the beast’s brain. Pleasant substances were secreted, blood in his eyes, a rough breathing.

The beast noticed it intuitively. The moment he landed another blow, the life of that man would be over.

As it was an opponent who had wounded his body, the wolf felt fear for the first time in his life when the blade came through his gaping jaws. It stimulated the wolf’s excitement and alertness at the same time.

He wanted to quickly kill that person and prove his strength. The wolf’s instincts were screaming and fanning him to bite and kill that human at this moment.

But the wolf persevered. Because he believed that the results would soon be revealed.

It was soon revealed that the wolf was right.

He couldn’t escape the wolf’s charge, as the man was exhausted. With a thump, the man’s body flew through the sky. No.

Actually, the word ‘shot’ was more appropriate than ‘fly’. The moment the giant wolf’s body accelerated at that speed, his momentum was beyond imagination and he was hit directly by him.

With a thump, the body of the man, who had once more struck the wooden pole, slid. The sword’s hilt he held until the end looked miserable. The trees trembled at the shock wave as leaves began falling.

The man’s breath, which was faint, subsided. He couldn’t even feel his heart beating. A clear sign of death.

The wolf’s heart was racing. Did I finally win?

But the beast was cautious even to the last minute. As if fearing that it might be a trap, the beast circled around and crouched down.

Nevertheless, the man’s breath was not felt again. So was his heartbeat. Now the wolf’s patience had reached his limit.

The wolf strode over, admiring the corpse he had just made. It was beautiful.

The wolf, who was looking at Ian with ecstatic eyes, carefully pulled out its sharp claws. Like an artist who fears that his masterpiece would get damaged even a little.

If I cut his stomach with these claws, his guts will spill out.

The shock must have been accumulated, so he didn’t know if the man’s innards had exploded. It was a pity, but it was still the best loot the wolf had ever obtained from a fight.

The moment the wolf raised its claws and carefully brought it to the navel.

Swing-

He heard the sound of a sharp object cutting through something. I haven’t even touched him with my claws yet, so why?

The wolf’s puzzled gaze turned downward. There, a man with a wintry smile on his face entered his field of vision.

“... ... Voila.”

Suddenly, a sword imbued with a dense aura stabbed him in his throat.

The wolf’s movements ceased. He should have been dead. I checked his body over and over again. I couldn’t feel his breath or heartbeat at all. There wasn’t even a tremor.

But the burning pain he felt in his throat, the air that did not enter his lungs even while gasping for breath, and his body that gradually stopped listening to his commands.

All of this was telling him that what he was seeing now was real. The wolf’s black eyes blankly stared at the man and the blade that pierced his neck alternately.

With a smile on his face, the man clenched his teeth and firmed his grip around the sword’s hilt.

“I’m still alive, you bastard.”

And the blade dug into the wolf’s neck a little more.

Blood gushed out like a fountain. Then the beast howled belatedly. It was a voice that resonated through the forest, as great as his weight class.

It was the pitiful scream of a dying beast, of a prey being slaughtered by its hunter.