Chapter 9: Infiltrating the Forest — The One Who Might Get Surrounded Isn't Me, Right?
Ren took advantage of the remaining daylight and prepared to head back into the forest. Before leaving, he specifically told the mayor, "The Council's main force definitely won't make it in time, but they still need to know. There might be a small unit nearby on a mission that can come provide temporary support."
"Okay, okay. Is there anything else I can do?" The mayor was sweating nonstop. Even though Ren kept saying he could handle both the stampede and the dark guild, the man's sense of duty and conscience wouldn't let him sit still and do nothing.
"Alright." Ren thought for a moment, pulled out a kunai, handed it to the mayor, and said, "The town has signal flares or fireworks, right? Put this at the town entrance, then send people to patrol and watch the surroundings. The moment you see signs of the stampede attacking, fire a signal. I'll rush back."
"Understood." The mayor took the kunai and sprinted out, then suddenly stopped, turned back, and bowed deeply to Ren. "I'm leaving everything to you…"
Then he hurried away.
"This is getting kind of heroic." Ren smiled, then his expression turned sharp. He walked out of town with a serious face. "First, I need to confirm the dark guild's numbers. No stragglers."
With the familiar flash, Ren appeared at the forest edge again.
"Third time in one day. I guess this counts as three visits. Hope they'll show me some respect."
Ren didn't pause, heading straight into the forest to search for traces of the dark guild members.
"It should be the west side." Ren checked direction, pulled a kunai from his pouch, and threw it westward.
With repeated golden flashes, Ren's figure pushed deeper and deeper into the forest.
By the time the sky was fully dark, Ren had already reached the deeper parts. Looking at the endless, identical scenery, he clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"Damn. I still don't have a proper detection ability. How am I supposed to find them…"
Then he heard something faint.
"Wait… I think there's noise over there."
Ren bent his knees, charged his legs, and leapt, springing up onto the tallest nearby tree. Standing on an extended branch, he looked forward and saw faint cyan and purple light in the distance, along with muffled sounds of explosions.
"So I found them." Ren placed a hand over his chest. "For some reason, my blood's pumping. Maybe I'm the type who really enjoys fighting."
He calmed the impulse and moved quickly and carefully, sneaking toward the lights.
A few minutes later, Ren reached the edge of the battlefield. Using the trees as cover, he looked inside.
Besides the two standard villains he'd seen earlier—the ones with card-shark hair and over-the-top looks—there were more than a dozen others dressed similarly. They were surrounding a massive wolf and bombarding it with attacks.
"That must be the Wolf King. Pretty handsome." Ren watched the surrounded Wolf King.
It looked imposing, easily two to three meters tall. Ice crystals and cold wind wrapped around its body like ribbons. Its fur was mainly ice-blue and white, and its eyes glowed with a deep, eerie blue.
"Humans! What do you want?!" the Wolf King roared.
With the roar, freezing mist and howling wind surged outward, making the whole battlefield feel like an arctic hurricane.
"Shut up!" A tall figure holding a purple greatsword pointed off to the side and spoke ruthlessly. "You're just a beast, and you dare resist Smiling Coffin. If you keep resisting, I can't guarantee what happens to those wolf pups over there."
"As expected of our guild master, Lord Assassination Star Shuka!" The skinnier one from earlier spoke with admiration. "To think you'd kidnap the Wolf King's pup to threaten him—born a natural villain! Truly shameless!"
"If you can't talk properly, then don't talk." The man called Shuka grabbed the skinny one by the throat and said viciously.
"So Shuka is the leader. And it looks like everyone is here. They even took host—no, wolf hostages. Disgusting." Ren followed the direction Shuka had pointed and saw three small wolf pups tied up.
They looked basically like baby huskies—equally derpy and cute. Honestly, Ren kind of wanted to raise one, but thinking about his debt, he killed the thought immediately.
"But this Wolf King seems like it can communicate, and it's strong. Maybe I can turn it into an ally. The enemy of my enemy is my friend."
Ren made up his mind. He pulled out a Flying Thunder God kunai and fired it toward the ground in front of the three pups.
A golden flash.
Ren appeared directly in front of them, and instantly every eye on the field locked onto him.
"Who the hell are you?!"
"Damned bastard, stay away from those pups!"
"Move and I'll kill you!"
Listening to the dark wizards shouting, Ren raised his right hand and dug his pinky in his ear, looking at them like they were idiots.
"Can't you see the emblem on my hand? I'm a Fairy Tail wizard. I'm here to deal with you trash trying to destroy a town by creating a monster stampede."
"Fairy Tail? That legal guild!"
"I heard their master is one of the Ten Wizard Saints!"
"Really? I don't buy it."
"Shut up, big head. I've seen that emblem. He really is Fairy Tail!"
The crowd erupted into confusion.
"Quiet! Calm down!" Shuka shouted.
When everyone settled, he looked at Ren and spoke coldly.
"So you're a legal guild rat, and you dare show up right in front of us. There are sixteen of us, and only one of you. You're stupid enough to walk into being surrounded. Once we kill you, our plan still succeeds. I truly don't understand what you popped out for."
"Nope. First, I already notified the Council," Ren said, still casually picking at his nose like he had all the time in the world. He flicked his finger and continued.
"Second, not to brag, but I'm really strong. Who kills who isn't decided yet."
"And most importantly—"
Ren shoved both hands into his pouch and started pulling out kunai.
"It's not me getting surrounded by you. It's you who've already been surrounded by me. Surrender, you trash!"
Ren held three kunai in each hand, drew his arms back slightly, then fired them toward the dark wizards around him.