Chapter 11: Heroes and Reinforcements Always Arrive at the Critical Moment!
"Hah, you've lost. Even if you capture us and send us to the Council, so what? The town is still finished!" Shuka looked toward the firework and at Ren's suddenly grim expression, as if he already knew what had happened.
"That Fusa! You sent him to attack the town!" Ren realized the key figure wasn't the dark guild's leader at all. Beating Shuka alone wouldn't stop the stampede. "But the Wolf King hasn't been taken down—so the wolf pack won't attack." Ren remembered that the wind wolves still listened to Andrius.
Shuka seemed to think the outcome was already decided and Ren couldn't turn it around, so he didn't bother hiding anything and openly explained.
"I don't know if you're truly stupid or just acting. This forest is huge—do you really think wind wolves are the only magical beasts here? Wind wolves are just one of the stronger packs in this forest, so we planned to kill the Wolf King and take control of them."
"Tch… miscalculated…" Ren grew irritated. He grabbed Shuka, sensed the kunai he'd given the mayor, and activated Flying Thunder God.
Shuka's vision flashed—and the scenery changed instantly from thick forest to a town at night.
The mayor was leading several able-bodied men, hurrying toward the town's edge. He jumped at the sudden golden flash. Then he saw Ren appear while carrying someone, and he deflated like a punctured balloon, nearly collapsing.
"You're finally back… Outside the town… outside the town, so many magical beasts appeared, so many… They're about to attack! P-please… please save this town!"
The able-bodied men understood from the mayor's reaction that this was the wizard sent to resolve the stampede, and they urgently begged for help too.
Ren didn't waste words. He tossed Shuka to the nearest man and grabbed the mayor, pulling him toward the town's edge.
"Talk while we move. That's the dark guild's leader—watch him and don't let him run. The beasts outside were brought here by the wizard who can control magical beasts. We'll check the situation first. If we can take down that wizard directly, the stampede might disperse immediately."
They quickly reached the outskirts. Hundreds of different magical beasts were advancing from the forest toward the town, and the nearest were less than a hundred meters away.
The good news was that because the Wolf King still existed, the wind wolves weren't in the horde. These were common low-level forest monsters: boar-types, rabbit-types, rat-types, and bird-types.
Seeing the horde closing in, Ren pulled out all of his Flying Thunder God kunai. But after the one he'd given the mayor, he only had twenty-nine left.
"Tch. Even if I recover them after the fight, twenty-something is still too few for moments like this… whatever. I'll make it work!"
Ren kept a few on himself and handed the rest to the men who came with him.
"In a moment, throw these toward the beasts. Spread them out as much as you can."
Everyone nodded. They didn't understand why, but there was no time to think. They immediately threw the kunai toward the oncoming horde.
Ren didn't explain further. Once most of the kunai had landed among the monsters, he activated Flying Thunder God.
The interception battle—one versus hundreds—began.
Golden flashes flickered nonstop within the stampede. Each flash was followed by a beast having its throat slit or its heart pierced, then collapsing and twitching weakly.
But there were still too many beasts, and Ren only had a bit over twenty kunai.
Soon, the remaining monsters noticed that if they stayed away from the places where the strange golden flashes happened, they were mostly safe.
Gradually, more than twenty empty gaps appeared in the stampede—holes centered around each kunai position. Ren clicked his tongue and returned to the mayor.
"Quick question. If it's to drive off the stampede, flipping this whole area over is fine, right?"
The mayor looked confused. "As long as the stampede is stopped, anything is fine, but… what do you mean, flip it over?"
"I mean…" Ren crouched slightly and charged his strength, then leapt and slammed down with a heavy downward kick.
"Heaven-Shattering Kick!"
A deafening impact rang out like a meteor striking the ground. With Ren's foot as the center, the earth cracked and collapsed under the pressure. Whole slabs of land were thrown upward. The once-solid ground was violently flipped over, and a wave of soil surged forward like a tsunami.
The stampede was stunned by the rising wall of earth. The beasts stopped advancing and grew restless, milling in place. As the dust settled, multiple fissures radiated outward from Ren's position like lightning.
"Huff… that took some effort. But this should hold them, right?" Ren rotated his ankle, easing the discomfort of using full-power monstrous strength.
The mayor and the men stared at him like they were seeing a god. No one knew what to say. The scene went eerily quiet.
Then a shout came from the forest direction.
"Scatter! Go around him and rush straight into the town!"
The beasts that had been afraid a moment ago suddenly looked crazed. They surged forward again—but this time, they didn't move as a pack. They broke apart and charged in waves.
Ren grit his teeth and was about to pull the mayor and the men back into town to use alley fighting to clean them up—
When a cold wind swept through.
A shockwave of mixed ice and wind slammed into the front of the stampede, forcibly stopping their advance again.
Ren turned.
Andrius was charging over, magic power roaring around him. Behind him ran a pack of hundreds of wind wolves, moving as one with their king.
"So it is reinforcements… Andrius. Perfect timing." Ren remembered Andrius's story and the promise they'd made.
"Wind Wolf King? Wizard, do you know that Wolf King? He's here to help you?" The mayor asked, seeing the situation come under control.
"Just met him. And he's probably not helping only me," Ren said. "I saved his pups earlier. And according to him, when he was young, people from this town rescued him and released him into the forest. That's why he restrains the pack from attacking the town."
The mayor's eyes widened. "You mean… he was released into the forest by our townspeople? Could he be… that pup from back then?"
"Oh? You know?" Ren asked.
"Back then, I bought an injured pup from a traveling circus. Blue and white, very pretty. But I didn't know how to take care of it, so I had no choice but to release it into the forest. So he's always believed he was rescued…" The mayor looked embarrassed, as if he'd done something wrong.
"The cause and details don't matter anymore. The result does," Ren said, comforting him. "Alright, I'm going back in. We'll talk later."
Ren rejoined the fight.
With Ren and Andrius working together, the stampede was successfully driven back. At the same time, the wolf pack surrounded the wizard named Fusa. With the Wolf King present, Fusa's magic couldn't command the wolves.
Andrius stepped up to Fusa, staring down at him. Freezing mist and howling wind wrapped around Andrius's body.
"It's you… the one who tried to control the pack and turn wolves into your tools…"
Andrius bared his fangs, looking like he was about to bite Fusa's head clean off.
"Wait, Andrius. Give him to me. I'll make sure he receives the punishment he deserves." Ren stared coldly at the dark wizard who had nearly ruined his mission.
"Since you say so, Ren, then I'll leave him to you. I'm taking them back now. If you have time, come to the forest. The pack will always welcome you."
"Sounds good." Ren patted Andrius's body.
Andrius howled to the sky, then led the pack back into the forest.
Ren turned back, grinding his teeth as he stepped toward Fusa.
"Now it's time to settle our账. Because of you, my mission almost got ruined!"
"Y-you… s-stay back… don't come closer… help… aaah—!"
A scream that chilled the blood echoed into the deepening night, like part of a twisted symphony.