Chapter 24 – The Knot and the Solution
Three eyes.. suddenly turned toward me. Three small wolves.. began to move slowly.
As I expected.. that male.. must have a kind of sense for power. He headed toward Lois as a greater threat than me.. and the females headed toward Suman.
Meanwhile.. they left a feast in the back for the young ones.
"My Lord, I am coming!" Suman shouted from 10 meters away.. but..
The five females suddenly blocked his path. He tried right and left.. but in the end... his way was cut off.
Lois, on the other hand, was less fortunate. The male wolf's strikes were intense, constantly pushing her into a corner. She was defending without any offensive reaction.
In front of these brave fighters, my heartbeats were racing before just 3 small wolves.
"How pathetic.. what weakness I am in," I whispered angrily at my foolish frailty.
Will I always rely on others? Damn it!
Suddenly...
The paws ran toward me quickly. The wolves' mouths were dripping with the desire for death... and I was nothing before them but an easy feast.
One of them.. leapt toward me quickly.
My eyes were tracking his movement. He was fast, indeed.. and yet.. I saw his movements toward me with precision. It seemed my eyes possessed the highest luck.
Suddenly.. I raised my hand and swung.
Swoosh..
A Wind Blade shot from my fingertips toward the fast wolf... it launched like a scythe toward him..
But.. it passed near his neck.. and didn't hit him.
His yellow eyes.. reflected their glint toward me.. and nothing separated us anymore.
His foul breath...
Aaaagh!
Aaaagh!
"My Lord..!" Suman's scream echoed from afar..
My eyes.. could barely see.
Pain.. a killing pain.. invaded my right side violently.
Blood was falling like a waterfall, mixing with the dust.
My mind was on the verge of fainting.. but the sound of the small wolf's footsteps alone toward me beat like drums.
Thump..
Thump..
Thump..
"You bastard.. your strikes are still heavy," Lois's voice was loud enough as she addressed the male wolf.
She wiped her sweat repeatedly.. and the wolf finally stopped his strikes. He had attacked again and again.. and each time Lois had barely countered his blows.
And yet... for some reason.. she was constantly smiling.
The male wolf leapt again.. with his large size and wide mouth.. he lunged once more at Lois.
BOOM... His landing was like an explosion.
He didn't attack this time with his steel tail.. but with his lethal jaw.
The explosion left a roaring sound.. even the busy Suman turned quickly.
"What is happening.." I whispered, lying on the ground, twisting in pain. My eyes caught what happened with difficulty.
The male wolf's jaw was clamped over the yellow glove.. pressing on it violently.
"Heh," a muffled laugh.. came from Lois's lips.. as if she were not in pain from that bite.
She extended her left hand to the side.. then tightened her grip....
BOOM...
"What in the hell is this!"
Despite the pain, my muffled cry came out.
Up there, near Lois.... fragments of the wolf's head flew like mash into the air.
One strike.. ended everything.
One strike.. was enough to take down that massive wolf.
"Is this the power of an Ancient weapon? What terrifying power.. it almost exceeds Jo's strike," I whispered to myself in surprise.
"I won't lose," a voice from the side.
I turned quickly.. and heard Suman's shout.
"I won't lose to you!"
It seemed the excitement of Lois's brilliant victory was a strong motivator for Suman.
Suddenly.. his movements became faster than before. And in an instant.. Suman raised from nowhere.. a long, double-headed spear.
He's using two weapons? My mind screamed.
"He is using two weapons??" Lois shouted from afar.
Her shout wasn't surprising. One of the most important conditions for using advanced weapons like Ancient weapons.. is that the weapon must be singular in the possession of its master... using another weapon was deemed impossible.
Perhaps until now.
"Hahaha.. are you surprised? Actually, I wanted to hide this until the day of the insect attack. But I must show what I have now in front of that strike from Lois."
Suman raised the spear high and manipulated it skillfully. In his hand, it was like a small stick.
Then.. from one of the spear's heads.. long red ribbons emerged.
The ribbons launched toward the females. The wolves tried to escape.. but the ribbons were faster. They encircled one of them and bound it completely.. then pulled it up from the ground and toward Suman.
Like a doll.. the bound wolf flew toward him. Suman moved his hands sequentially, manipulating the spear.. then..
Swoosh..
He stabbed the wolf cruelly.. and in one instant.. the female wolf died.
"He's amazing," I whispered to myself with enthusiasm and admiration.
"It's not over, My Lord.. let me show you what's next. This spear has two properties. The first is binding and attracting beasts.. as for the second property, it is.."
He fell silent suddenly and smiled.
On the ground.. the female's blood was spreading across the space.. then in a moment.. ripples occurred, surrounding it from every side.. then the female wolf turned into.. a mass of blood.
The fur, the skin, the bone, and the flesh.. they all turned into a large mass of blood.
And in a moment.. the mass of blood took the form of the female wolf and stood alive... or semi-alive.. like a zombie.
"What I kill with my spear.. I can summon as a blood spirit to fight by my side.." Suman said, then launched his spear again to attack.
My eyes.. turned toward Lois.. her lips were wide open.
In fact.. I cannot blame her. That ability Suman possessed.. it's like a combat hack.
I couldn't help but envy him.. I wished I had an ability like that.. but.. it seems..
I am not the hero even in my own story.
After a while.. Suman stood proudly.. near him five female wolves stood with vigor. Then they quickly turned into blood and the earth absorbed them again.
I wanted to ask him about them but..
At 3 meters away.. a wolf stood watching me with cruel yellow eyes. His two brothers stood several meters behind him.
They never attacked.. while the lone small wolf had stopped since he managed to wound me.
It seems he sees me as too insignificant to attack continuously.. or he is too young for combat.
"My Lord, let me handle them," Lois requested. Then Suman moved as well.
It seems the matter is over. They can eliminate the young ones with ease.
Although it was their first battle.. they were literally playing with the larger wolves.
What am I doing? What kind of Lord will I be? A Lord lying on the dust, wounded by the weakest of beasts.
"Wait," I whispered.
"It's okay, My Lord, we understand," Lois said, her eyes gleaming with calm.
My eyes met hers. At this moment.. what a disgrace.
Are you looking at me with those eyes? Pity?? Have I become pathetic now? Am I, the one who built that village, pathetic in this way?
These looks.. I.. will not accept them.
One step. Aaaah!
Then a roaring scream..
It's okay.. the pain must be here.. it's a fitting punishment.
Aaaah.. My hand is burning with pain.
Yellow eyes.. looking at me.
"Move back. Lois. Suman. This is MY battle."
They are expanding... the jaws of the small wolf are expanding sequentially. He is smiling. This bastard.
One step.. another.. and another.
I jumped back quickly. Two.. three.. four meters. Then 7.. and 10.
I widened the distance.. my right hand is like it's paralyzed. The pain is testing me cruelly. Regardless.. I don't want to stop.
I opened my right palm despite the pain. Then I opened my left palm. Finally...
The two wolves ran from back to front toward me. When they became near the lone wolf.. he moved as well...
Three wolves launched together to face me.
"COME TO MEEEEE!"
I shouted at the top of my voice... all my resolve gathered in a moment. I raised my right and left hands. I couldn't use my sword.. not with my right hand in that miserable state.
But.... I have....
(Wind Blade)
From the palm of my hand, one launched.
(Wind Blade)
Then from the other palm, another blade launched.
Once.. twice, and three times.
"Take this, you bastards!"
"Everyone.. is fighting.. I won't stand here!"
"Haaaa!"
10.. 20.. 30.. 40.. 50.. 60.
The sounds roared violently. The space began to shatter. I didn't stop shouting; instead, it began to escalate again and again.. backed by endless blades.
My hands became numb.. but the blades came out sequentially with cruelty.
{ Ability Accumulation = 100 }
{ Ability Accumulation = 90 }
{ Ability Accumulation = 80 }
{ Ability Accumulation = 70 }
{ Ability Accumulation = 60 }
{ Ability Accumulation = 50 }
"My Lord!" Suman shouted loudly.
I couldn't stop. The blades continued to launch.. and the accumulation decreased sequentially.
"Take that, you bastards!"
{ Ability Accumulation = 40 }
"Stop, you idiot!"
A strike from Lois's palm..
Aaaagh!
"What?" What is happening..
"They've become minced meat,"
Lois's voice rose near me.
What? I looked ahead.
Dozens of craters filled the space before me. In some of them.. half a small wolf's head, semi-smiling. In other places.. legs.. and cut meat.
Before me.. the three wolves..
had become meat.
"I defeated them?" I whispered in wonder.
"Why are you surprised?" Lois said. "You are much stronger than them. From the first blades you launched.. they were already defeated.."
"My Lord.. you are wonderful," Suman said.
"No.. you are the wonderful ones.. I just faced these little ones."
"No, My Lord.." Suman said firmly. "Those blades.. Lois and I cannot withstand that number.. they are like rain that cannot be blocked.."
I know for certain they are strengthening my resolve..
but...
"Thank you both.."
{ Ding .. ding .. ding }
{ Physical Power = +1 }
Haaaa.. finally, the power increased.