CH 62

Episode 62 – A Breathtaking Exchange of Offense and Defense 

TL Note: I am aware of the issues with the chapters not updating on NovelUpdates. The NU bot has not been properly detecting when I was releasing chapters and thus hadn’t been adding them to the list of chapters on the page. It has been really buggy lately across the board and there were numerous errors for other Foxaholic TLers… I reached out to them yesterday and they finally fixed it. Much thanks to those who notified me of this error. Double release today, enjoy the action 

“I’ve never heard of anyone getting attacked by an Angry Wolf on an escort request to Mount Cornello!” (Byrne)

“After hearing their roars and howls from behind us, I was wondering if it was an Angry Wolf… but it really turned out to be one after all…” (Porta)

“I thought they completely scattered after we escaped, but one actually followed us all the way out here… But there are no signs of any other Angry Wolves in the vicinity. If it’s just a lone Angry Wolf, I think we can somehow deal with it.” (Lyra)

As the three of them spoke, they got into battle positions. I was at the rear of the formation directly next to Porta. With a hand on the vial of poisonous Slime liquid, I was prepared to throw it at a moment’s notice.

“This is way too strange. Since the Anchor Bears and Angry Wolves are always fighting over territory with one another at the summit of the mountain, it should be pretty much impossible for an Angry Wolf to chase us all the way to the foot of the mountain… Perhaps something occurred that disrupted their ecological balance?” Nina murmured from beside me, holding her staff at the ready.

If I remembered correctly, the people of [White Feiler] said something along the same lines before. The Angry Wolves territory was at the summit of the mountain, so it was strange for them to be down here, something like that.

Hm? Fighting over territory with the Anchor Bear? Could it be that it was the Anchor Bear that Ahmed hunted the other time…? Now that I thought about it, Dion had mentioned to me at the time that the Anchor Bear that Ahmed hunted was a lot bigger than normal.

“Focus up! Here it comes! Lyra and I will hold it back! Porta, back us up. Nina, attack and heal as you see fit!” (Byrne)

From the vanguard, Byrne gave a set of swift instructions, and immediately moved to block the path of the Angry Wolf that was tearing towards my position. It lunged without regard towards Byrne, who started the battle with a downwards slash.

“[Slash]! Porta, hit it with a [Slow]!” (Byrne)

“[Slow], [Bravery]!” (Porta)

After the Angry Wolf evaded Byrne’s [Slash], as if they had planned it beforehand, he took a quick backstep and tagged out with Lyra, who was flying in with an attack of her own.

“[Rock Crushing Fist]!” (Lyra)

The Angry Wolf was a quadruped and had a stance that was already considerably low to the ground, but Lyra was launching an attack from an even lower position. Lyra’s fist was about to crash into its torso, but the Angry Wolf was one step ahead. It jumped into the air to avoid her fist and swiftly counterattacked with a swipe of its sharp claws.

“[Anti-Heal].” (Nina)

Lyra was about to get hit by the counterattack!

When I thought that, Nina, who was standing beside me the entire time, promptly released an orb of [Anti-Heal]. The orb spun with incredible velocity as it soared towards the point directly between Lyra and the Angry Wolf’s claws. In order to avoid the orb of [Anti-Heal], the Angry Wolf immediately reacted by cancelling its downward swipe on Lyra and did a half-turn dodge midair. The moment it landed back on the ground, it jumped backwards and made some distance.

“Thanks, Nina! You saved me there!” (Lyra)

After the Angry Wolf retreated momentarily, Lyra regained her footing, regrouping with Byrne as she thanked Nina.

…What an amazing exchange of offense and defense. The battle flowed back and forth with no wasted movements as they traded deadly attacks, each side trying their best to deny the other’s initiative. It was a battle of such fierce intensity that it made me forget to breathe.

“Oi oi, what the hell is up with this monster? It’s not even funny… [Slow] did hit it straight on, didn’t it?” (Byrne)

“Yes. It did hit, but… it didn’t feel like its movements dulled one bit. It must have had some sort of resistance to [Slow].” (Porta)

“Man… it was only by a bit, but its movements did slow just a little. If Porta’s [Slow] didn’t hit, I think I would have already gotten hit before Nina’s [Anti-Heal] even reached me.” (Lyra)

“….Since a little while ago, this Angry Wolf… is it just my imagination or hasn’t it been staring at Lewin this whole time?” (Nina)

“No, I don’t think it’s your imagination. It probably is aiming for me.” (Lewin)

It seemed that Nina also noticed the Angry Wolf’s target. It was kind of obvious by this point that it was aiming for me. Maybe… the Angry Wolf that I killed earlier was its family or something?

I hadn’t really heard stories of monsters having parent-child relationships, but no matter how I looked at it, this Angry Wolf seemed to be here for revenge. But if that’s what it was, I did feel a little sorry about it, but at that time, we both fought for our lives… and I ended up winning.

This time, it would be the same. In order to protect my promise with Ahmed, I had to kill this Angry Wolf right here and now. Steeling my resolve, I pulled out the Magical Grass and flint and steel from my belt holder and prepared for a fight.