[4] Elite Wolf's Wrath

The bushes to my right rustled, and the familiar growls of a wolf reached my ears. So, the next fight was beginning.

The remaining five wolves that walked out of the bushes were larger than those I had fought before. These possessed a unique magical energy, unlike the previous wolves, who had been more like normal animals; they felt more like monsters than wolves.

The power of a monster varied from one to another, but for wolves, it showed in their size. The bigger and worse they were, the stronger and more efficient they manipulated their magic.

From the five, I easily spotted which of them was the elite.

The wolves barked and snarled, growing more ferocious when they saw the massacre that I had caused. I shrugged off their aggression, my focus honing in on the biggest wolf after I saw the odd color of its name. There was something off about it.

I gathered mana in my eyes like an unseen lens, allowing me to see a plane of existence only accessed by those blessed with mana. The wolf had a dark purple aura oozing off its skin, flickering and growing in waves the more it stared at me.

There was this thing about monsters that I realized: They are prideful creatures. They don't hide the strength that they possess, opting to release them to oppress the weaker ones with their stench or prove that they were indeed the strongest toward other competitors. While some hid their true potential, this wolf didn't look like it was trying to hide it; rather, it looked like it was trying to make itself bigger and more intimidating.

Yet, the energy this elite emitted wasn't on the level of the usual elites I fought. It was... weaker.

As shown in its name, it was grey and dull, unlike the striking yellow that usually indicated its status. I don't know if it's because I've grown stronger or if there's another reason; that doesn't change the fact that this wolf could easily kill me if I'm not being careful. Speculations can be made later.

I have a lot of mana left over, having not used too much from my previous battle. If I do everything correctly, it should last just in time to be able to kill all of them without getting hurt too seriously.

I took a deep breath. For every spell that I am still mastering, it took a deep breath to concentrate and cast.

The magic in my stomach circulated efficiently at my will. It ran through my nerves, rejuvenating my muscles and fortifying my bones. A small shine of gold encompassed me.

Although it worked as intended, there wasn't an indication from the system to tell me that the skill had been activated, meaning that I was still far from reaching my goal. This was the best I could do for now.

The wolves grew tired of my inaction. Unlike the fascinating tactic previous wolves tried with me, these four attacked simultaneously without an obvious formation in mind, the biggest one stalking around us without intervening.

'First come, first served' is what I could guess the four of them were probably thinking.

Four pairs of claws were already attacking on all sides. I couldn't easily back away due to the nature of their positioning with me in the middle. I needed to find a way to counter.

With the magic enhancing my body, I couldn't use my knives. They're cheap and could easily break under the pressure of my magic, rendering them useless. That means I will have to fight them the old-fashioned way.

I hopped toward one of the attacking wolves, bringing my arms to my head as I weaved and dodged its attacks. It managed to do a little more damage than expected; the pain was negligible when I saw an opening with how close I was to it.

I brought my fist to its jaw in an uppercut; the force of the hit was stronger than anything I could normally throw, bringing the wolf up in the air before landing on its back.

I didn't have time to recuperate; another wolf came down on my leg and bit down hard; I had to bite down my tongue to stop myself from screaming in pain. I elbowed it on the top of its head; it didn't work at freeing my leg, but the wolf looked dazed from the force.

I was about to perform another elbow to its head when another wolf bit my hand. This time, I did let out a scream. Instead of letting that prolong, I used the situation to my advantage.

Everyone has a fixed point in their body where their magic discharge is the strongest. Mine was in my hands; therefore, it wasn't hard to cast a fireball spell and let it explode inside the wolf's muzzle.

It released with a loud whine, crying and retreating to its other companion. I didn't stop there, elbowing the one still biting my leg and casting another fireball at its face as soon as it released its hold on me.

My left side had suffered two painful bites from the wolves. Those two fireballs had put my storage at half capacity; if I'm not careful, this second skin can dissipate, and I would have to rely on [perception] to win.

I prepared myself for another round of attacks.

Every time I punched, there was a force that followed it that was unseen to anyone but felt whenever it connected. It worked in a way that let the first physical hit take the wolf's breath away; the second hit that followed was made up of pure mana, which made sure it would be the last breath it took.

I moved calculatedly under the four wolves' pressure. The scratches and bites all over my body grew in number the longer the fight went on.

I didn't care. I didn't relent. It didn't take long before one of them finally fell.

I punched it square in the mouth, breaking its teeth as my fist continued until it reached the back of its throat. I grabbed its uvula and pulled at it hard while pulling out before casting a large shock of electricity that traveled up until it reached its brain, killing it.

The wolves didn't stop to mourn the death of their kin, growing faster and stronger the more that I killed them. I didn't care; I acted accordingly and fought with everything I had.

Another one went down when I crushed and twisted its neck in a headlock. Then another one as I slammed into its body, breaking its spine before curve-stomping at its head until it turned to mush.

The last one didn't even stand a chance, with nothing backing it up. It took three jabs and a powerful right hook before it went down, dizzied, and confused. I didn't relent with my assault, standing over the wolf and caving its head in with two of my hands in a fist.

My whole body was tingly, its temperature unregulated.

Breathing felt wrong; every inhale lined nails down my throat while my exhales left my lungs burning with the lack of oxygen. The tremble in my hands doesn't listen even when I order it to stop.

My muscles felt sore from the overuse of mana. The skin acted like a weighted vest at that moment. Everything was heavy; my vision was swimming in my sweat.

I look up to where the elite was looking over the corpses of its pack.

"Hey," I gasped out. I should be running by now; my body was swaying more than it should despite the solid plant of my feet. Yet I still took a stance, "Look at me, you damned mutt."

The wolf turned to me. I should have killed it while it wasn't looking; then I would have already been done. If I had already killed it, I would have finished butchering them and gotten back to King sooner, but I didn't. Something in me can't kill it without letting it grieve; whether or not they deserved it, I let it grieve even for a moment.

"Yeah, that's it. I killed them. I killed all of them. What are you going to do about it, huh?!"

Its name started changing colors. It morphed from gray to a bright yellow.

I start advancing at the same time it did, the wolf following suit with the most terrifying growl I've heard from an animal.

The wolf was so consumed by wrath that its eyes formed an opaque red mask. Its magic spiked considerably in the short time it took to charge at one another. But it was so angry that it didn't even notice that I had dodged its attack; it didn't become aware of the golden glow of my body receding, focusing at one point on my uninjured arm.

The glow on my arm went white before shadows consumed them, wrapping around my arms, crawling and writhing disgustingly as if having a mind of their own. The shadows worked together under my command, gathering at my palm and striking out in a sharp spike at the wolf's temple, killing it in one blow.

It went limp before it could even land its attack, hanging only by the spike going through its brain.

———

[QUEST COMPLETE: Revenge for the Lost Boy XXII]

Objectives: Kill those who harmed him.

Wolves: 19/19

Elite Wolf: 1/1

Rewards: [1 Uncommon Knife] [3 Common Short Sword] [5 Gold]

———

For a moment all I could hear was my breathing, two bright holograms in front of me automatically fading away when I refused to look at them; I could always check them out later.

My loud breathing was followed by the fast drumming of my heart in my ears.

I looked down at my arm, still covered in shadows that continued to move and crawl of their volition. I glared at it; the longer I held my gaze, the more it seemed to tremble.

The color of it brought me back to that stupid nightmare.

I started mumbling nonsense. The scenes play out brokenly, everything disjointed and out of place. The mumbling slowly got louder.

"...out! Get the fuck OFF OF ME!" I screamed, thrashing my arm everywhere as if that would work to throw the nuisance off of me. "GET OFF!"

It didn't work. No matter how much I screamed at it, it didn't work. It remained there, writhing and crawling up my arm until it reached my face, wiping away tears that I didn't know were falling.

"I don't need you. I don't need your comfort. I told you to stay away. I told you to leave me alone!"

All I could see was the earth's soil soaked and sullied with the reddest of blood; I saw the faces of dead civilians. The face of the old man's disappointed stare. A blurred face of a woman I couldn't remember no matter how hard I tried.

I shut my eyes as tightly as I can manage. That's when I realized how cold I felt, the brain finally deciding what temperature I needed to be.

I find my head in my hands, slowly rocking back and forth as I feel the shadows grow from the small portion and move all around me. The familiar sounds of the system activating are drowned out by the cries of a distant memory.

"Go away, go away, go away," I repeated those words like a prayer.

Was I crying? Was I trembling? I didn't know anymore. Everything was overwhelming when I felt numb all over.

I didn't open my eyes until I felt the sunshine on my face, the corpses all around me had disappeared, leaving only bones piled neatly in front of me. An apology that I didn't accept. An apology that I couldn't abide by.

I ran away before I started going even crazier than I already was.