Dog Fight

'Y-you? Didn't Minerva kill you like some days ago?'

All the wolves growled when I asked that question. The wolf claiming to be the king looked at me quizzically, then the wolf I had a fight with roared in anger.

'Do not talk about our father like that! Do you wish to die!? Then again, you wouldn't have come here unless that was what you wanted. Come! Let me rip out your heart and lay bare your organs. I shan't even feast on your corpse as it is too-!'

'Enough!'

The 'Timber Wolf King' cut him off as he threatened me. I felt like crying at the thought of my heart being ripped out. I shuddered thinking of what would happen to me if he killed me.

'And you.'

The white wolf focused its powerful gaze on me.

'No. Your ally killed my father, the previous Wolf King. The night he died, I was made into the Wolf King.'

Made into one? So the Timber wolves just replaced their Kings as soon as they died? Or was there some special reason to it?

'Leave here immediately! I do not have any wish to prey on you or it will bring about the extinction of my clan at the hands of that monster."

'Was this what Minerva meant by saying that you're a coward like me?'

'A coward? Me?!'

She raged and her aura just blew out of proportion. Her hairs stood on ends and her eyes glowed. All the timber wolves went slack and were now whimpering before her.

This was bad. I had just angered their king and if we didn't get her help, we were as good as dead meat on the day of the invasion. I tried to think of various things I could say to convince the wolf.

Maybe an offering of sorts would appease her? A sacrifice?

I looked at my escort with eyes asking for help, then she stepped forward.

"Oh mighty king of wolves, may we call for a Dog Fight?"

I didn't know why, but when she said that all the wolves stopped growling. They looked at her for a while, then the scarred wolf lashed out at us.

'Kukukuhahahaha! I knew it! You couldn't resist as well! The urge to finish our battle!'

The black wolf said something I couldn't really argue with.

'I can see you really wish to die at our hands-'

'Brother!'

'Sister, I can't take any more of this! They are underestimating us too much just because of that witch!'

The white wolf tried to calm him down, however he didn't listen to her. He turned to me and bared his fangs.

'You wished for a Dog Fight? I shall give it to you.'

'Are you sure?'

The white wolf asked him, calming down her aura. He responded with a nod. However, standing still, completely confused, was little old me, trying to understand everything.

'Dog fight? What's that supposed to mean?'

The sprite answered immediately.

'A Dog fight is a tradition among the timber wolves, in which two timber wolves fight to show their superiority over the other. It is usually held once every month, but can also be done by individual wolves who want to prove their superiority.'

'Ok, ok, I get that, but I'm not a timber wolf.'

'There have been incidents where races who wish to speak with the clan head need to participate in dog fights. They always had to fight with a warrior of the heads' choosing or the heads themselves, in order to be acknowledged by them.'

'You want me to fight against them!?'

I looked at the wolf who was glaring at me. I could feel his killing intent like thunder.

'You don't actually expect me to fight them, do you?'

'I believe that if it is Hinotori everything should be alright.'

'Saying that won't make everything magically fine!'

'Hinotori is ready for the fight, will he be your representative?'

She asked the white wolf while pointing to the scarred wolf.

'Oi!'

'Very well! Since my younger brother is eager for this, I shall allow it!'

They completely ignored my wishes. I looked at the dryad who did the same with me. She had a serene smile and thumbs up.

Uwa, this girl and Diane were too scary!

The wolves had cleared out, and only I and my opponent remained. They said, the howl was the cue for the fight to begin, so for the moment, we were just sizing each other. I remembered his stats from the last time. In the case he hadn't gotten any stronger in the past 4 days, I was just a little bit weaker than him now.

I had been scrolling through my skills, searching for something that could cause some serious harm to him. From our fight the last time, most of my skills were ineffective, so he had the upper hand. However, now that I was closer to his stats was it going to be the same story?

Walking around in a circle was getting boring so I decided to initiate a conversation with him.

'Hey listen. I'm sorry about your eye and all, but the East is about to-'

'Don't waste your time! If you want me to listen to you, defeat me!'

I was hoping that I might have been able to convince him without actually having to fight. It seems I was too naïve.

It didn't take long for the howl signaling the start of the fight to go off. Without wasting a second, the wolf pounced on me, but I jumped back, barely avoiding the hit. It didn't stop there, bouncing off the ground towards me as if it had already anticipated me dodging it.

I shot off a ball of fire at it and wolf just passed through it, assuming that nothing would happen. This time though, it could feel the flames and it roared in pain. I then cast poisoned black threads around the wolf then trapped it mid-air, taking the chance to fly it to above the ground. I simply flung it into the ground from the air then covered myself with [White Viper Scales], and went with my Tori-original [Poison Maelstrom] drilling it into the ground.

It was one of the shortest and easiest fights I had ever participated in with me completely overwhelming my opponent. I let out a victorious cry and all the wolves just stared at me.

To be honest, with [Hunter], this timber wolf had no chance from the very beginning. All monsters were beneath me with this skill. In fact, I was starting to think that its previous owner was just a dumbass.

"Very well then, I shall listen to what you have to say."

The wolf king said.

'Have you heard about the invasion from the East?'

I went straight to the point. I didn't want an incident in which I would need to fight because I didn't say what I needed to.

'Invasion? From the East?'

'Oh? So you haven't heard? War Monger Krull has announced that he will be invading the West by the next full moon.'

She looked at my dryad escort for confirmation.

"It is as she says. War monger Krull has decided to invade the West."

She proceeded to inform the wolf king about the message and the meeting between the leaders and how we had decided to ask the kings for help.

'Hmmm. Indeed. This is bad. So that means you want my help in the creation of a self-defense force?'

'That is exactly what we are saying.'

My companion responded

'So will you help us?'

I asked. She looked at her fellow wolves, then at her fallen brother, then back at me. She sat up, then said,

'We the wolves refuse to participate in this matter.'

'B-but, didn't you promise to help us if I won!?'

'Please do not misinterpret my words. I told you I would listen to you on the matter. I do not recall ever saying that I would help you.'

'Don't you also live in the West? You won't be spared from the Tyrant's wrath, you know.'

'The wolves shall cater for our own. You can leave now.'

AH! What the hell is with these guys? First Minerva now the Timber Wolf King? Didn't they realise the gravity of this situation?

I looked at the sprite who had been quiet the entire time. She simply shook her head with a sad smile.

The wolf king howled and all the timber wolves slowly left the area, leaving me alone with the sprite