Chapter 16: The Fate of Chichi

An aura of death emanated from between the sharp teeth of the zombie wolf.

Terrified, Jis clenched his eyes shut, the sound of his heart thumping resonating in his ears.

'Is the wolf right in front of me now?'

He thought, as fear and curiosity vied for dominance in his mind.

Curiosity crept in, tipping the scales. Just then, he caught a glimpse of the wolf's fangs, dripping with saliva, through his half-opened eye."

PIT-A-PAT~ PIT-A-PAT~ PIT-A-PAT~

In that tense moment, his friends Longlong and Rylie appeared, sprinting towards the danger. Longlong, with his swift reflexes, grabbed Rylie's hand. Surprisingly, he tossed her towards the menacing wolf.

"Long~ long~ long~!"

"Fly~! Super punch~!"

Rylie, donning a powerful gauntlet, thrust her fists forward and launched herself at the wolf.

THUD—

Caught off guard by the sudden appearance of reinforcements, the black wolf turned its head. In that instant, Rylie's fist, powered by the mithril gauntlet, struck the wolf's side.

The gauntlet's enhanced power and speed turned Rylie's punch into a devastating force. With a single blow, she bent the wolf's waist at a 90-degree angle, sending it flying.

"Jis, are you okay?"

"Uh… Thank you, Rylie… And well done, Longlong. I thought I was a goner."

Crrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr—

The wolf, knocked back by Rylie's blow and crashing into the canyon wall, struggled to rise. Its broken spine protruded grotesquely.

Rylie's punch, empowered by the gauntlet, had shattered its ribs and spine.

"Grimbald is coming out~!"

At that moment, Grimbald, perched atop the canyon, heaved a massive rock and hurled it downwards.

THUMP—

The rock plummeted, but the injured wolf, twisting its upper body, narrowly evaded. It then enveloped itself in a dark red energy, miraculously healing its broken spine.

"I won't miss this chance. You're finished! Bahahaha~ Fireball!"

A Blackbee wizard, concealed behind a canyon rock, suddenly emerged and launched a fireball at the canyon wall above the black wolf.

As a result, large and small chunks of stone began to rain down upon the wolf.

Chichi, peeking out from Jis' leather vest pocket, called out with urgency.

"You can't trap a black wolf so easily. We need to outmaneuver it!"

ROAR—

Dodging the falling stones, the black wolf charged at Jis.

Jis, donning a wind cape, swiftly sidestepped and circled the zombie wolf.

The air was thick with dust as more stones cascaded down, triggered by fireballs at regular intervals.

The zombie wolf, instinctively avoiding the stones without looking up, raised its sharp claws towards Jis.

SLASH—

In that moment, Tyria, hidden in Jis' shadow, leaped out and sliced off the black wolf's hind legs.

ROAR— GRRR—

"Long long long~!"

Longlong, drawing the black wolf's attention, sprinted towards it, giving Tyria the chance to swiftly retreat back into the shadows.

Agile as a swimmer, Longlong dodged both the falling rocks and the zombie wolf's attacks, moving with incredible fluidity.

"Look, there's even a Grimbald-style catapult here!"

Above them, Grimbald hurled a barrage of rocks of varying sizes.

The zombie wolf's footing became precarious as the rocks, aimed with precision, rained down.

GRRR—

Then, a large stone ensnared the black wolf's hind legs!

As the black wolf, sensing danger, conjured a dark red energy to shatter the rock, Chichi yelled out.

"Magician, now's your chance!"

"Got it! Bahahaha~!"

Seizing the moment, the Blackbee wizard unleashed a flurry of fireballs at the canyon wall.

POP— POP— POP— POP— POP—

Dodging the onslaught of stones, the black wolf, empowered with dark red energy, struggled to free its hind legs.

Just then, a massive rock hurled by Grimbald plummeted towards the frenzied zombie wolf, which could no longer muster its dark red energy.

THUMP—

"… It's trapped… We did it!"

Jis cheered, looking down at the black wolf, now buried under the debris, with only its head peeking out.

* * *

A zombie wolf was trapped amidst rubble, resembling a prisoner in a narrow cell.

However, Grimbald hurled down another stone as large as his head from atop the canyon, descending afterward as if to confirm a kill.

THUMP—

The stone impacted a black wolf's head directly, crushing it so severely that it sunk in completely.

GRR... GRRR—

The dark red fog, which had been swirling around the zombie wolf, began to dissipate as if its energy was depleting.

Yet, the black wolf, driven by its undead nature, continued to flail, even with its head crushed.

Jis frowned at the grisly sight of the zombie wolf's eyeballs protruding and dangling from its face after being struck by the rock.

"I heard this one was once a comrade of Chichi..."

While drawing his mithril sword to finish off the zombie wolf, Jis murmured to himself.

Just then, General Gareth, followed by about 23 soldiers, charged into the gorge.

"At last, the zombie beast is cornered! We've been relying on you, noble heroes! Ha. Ha. Ha!" he exclaimed, his face marked by the strains of battle but smiling broadly.

"This monster has cost many of our soldiers their lives. We must decapitate it swiftly."

Jis, pausing in thought, peered into his leather vest's pocket and spoke as if querying someone.

"Should I...?"

But the pocket appeared empty, with no sign of Chichi. Jis thought that her mind must be in turmoil.

Then, accompanied by a fluttering sound, the subdued voice of Chichi reached Jis's ear, sounding weak.

"The black wolf... No, the Silver wolf, once led a pack of grey wolves nobly. It's time to grant him peace."

Acknowledging this, the black wolf, formerly known as Silver wolf, lowered its head, finally ceasing its struggle.

AWOOOOO—

As Jis raised his sword to strike the black wolf's neck, the zombie wolf tilted its head as if accepting its fate and let out a long, mournful howl.

WHOOSH—

In response to this cry, a small meteor streaked across the distant sky.

"Woo— Woo— Look—over there! Something's flying! It's like a fireball..." Grimbald, recognizing its nature, shouted as the meteor approached Jis's group.

"No, it's a mass of dark red mist!"

At that moment, a surge of dark red energy descended from the sky, striking the black wolf's head with precision, causing a minor explosion.

POP—

GRRR—

The wolf, now infused with this dark red energy, seemed to regain its strength. The energy swirled around its growling form, intensifying in hue.

Suddenly, the wolf bared its teeth and roared. The dark red aura enveloping it exploded, instantly scattering the debris that had pinned it down.

"Ugh— The zombie creature is alive!" the soldiers nearby exclaimed in shock, retreating in fear.

The boy standing closest to the wolf was also startled. He stumbled backward and fell, landing awkwardly on his hip.

The transformed appearance of the wolf, now enveloped in an even darker red energy, cast a shadow of fear and despair on everyone's faces.

"Hold your ground! Protect your hero!"

THUD—

General Gareth, moving to shield Jis, was struck by the zombie wolf's powerful paw and hurled into the air.

As Gareth was flung through the air, his blood sprayed across Jis's face, presenting a grim spectacle.

In the chaos, a nearby soldier dashed forward to intervene. But he met a gruesome end in the jaws of the wolf, torn apart by its sharp teeth and the force of its dark-red energy, his body gruesomely bisected.

"Argh— H, Hero... flee..." were his last words as life faded from his eyes, the lower half of his torso severed.

Witnessing this horror, the boy's teeth chattered in fear.

Meanwhile, the zombie wolf, emotionless and relentless, approached with its gaping maw.

"Fly again~ Super punch~!"

Rylie shouted, lunging with both fists to save the boy in peril.

BANG—

But she too was repelled by the wolf's dark red energy, sent flying through the air.

"Flee, Jis~!"

She cried out, even as she was propelled away, her strength as the original monster evident even in her retreat.

The zombie wolf, who swallowed the soldier's flesh in his mouth, approached the boy again.

When General Gareth and Rylie flew to the front foot attack by the black wolf, the terrified soldiers became solidified.

With no more resistance, a zombie wolf loitering over. Then he raised his front foot toward Jis.

At the very moment when the black wolf's front foot fell, Tyria popped up from the shadow of Jis and put out a ninja sword.

Her sudden attack penetrated the direction of wolf's jaw. However, the zombie wolf, which did not feel pain, just turned its front foot as if it were annoying to attack.

"Woo— Woo— No~!"

Then Grimbald, who was standing near Tyria, stretched out his long arm and quickly pulled her waist.

"What are you doing, meow! Let go of this, meow!"

Tyria, whose eyes turned with anger, bit Grimbald's thick arm.

"Woo— Woo— Woo— I can't let you die like this~!"

However, Grimbald, with his thick lips firmly pressed, held Tyria tightly and ran out of the gorge without hesitation.

Black wolf, who paused for a while at the appearance of Tyria and Grimbald, gathered dark red energy on his front feet again.

'C, Chichi...?'

Jis, upon a fleeting glance, realized he was seeing something unreal.

The reason was that Chichi, who always became translucent and disappeared first when a battle broke out, had now appeared right in front of the boy's nose.

Jis was speechless, his shock rendering him mute. Yet, inside his head, his thoughts screamed in disbelief.

"Jeez! Can't anything go right without me—"

Before Chichi, wearing a mischievous scowl, could finish her words, the zombie wolf's front paw, charged with dark red energy, viciously struck and tore her apart.

In that moment, time seemed to slow, the scene stretching out like an elongated tape. Golden fairy dust burst forth from Chichi's shattered form.

"Chichi… no—!"

Jis's voice finally broke through, his cry sounding like a pained scream.

THUD—

Strangely, the dark red energy had vanished from the wolf's paw that struck Chichi.

This saved Jis from severe harm when he was hit by the wolf's paw, sending him flying with lesser injuries.

As he remembered, Chichi had smiled faintly, her figure disintegrating like a torn leaf.

The Mithril armor meant to protect the fairy queen lay in ruins, failing to fully shield against the dark red energy.

But even without the energy, the wolf's strike was forceful. Jis, slammed against the canyon cliff, coughed up blood.

"It's my fault... my hesitation..."

He muttered, lying crumpled on the ground, surrounded by a dark red mist.

GRRR—

And as if lured by the mist, the zombie wolf slowly approached, drooling as if savoring the taste, moving closer with evident anticipation.