Even a Scoundrel Gets Tired

38 – Midterm Evaluation (13)

Currently, nestled deep within the forest,

the Black Wolf, Birang, was in a state of great contentment.

She didn’t know why she was here,

but the land teemed with lesser monsters,

and mana was plentiful.

And, for some reason, so many pure mana children are here.

It was, in essence, his own dining table.

And afterward, of course, a meal of utter sweetness would commence,

allowing him to satiate his starving belly.

Thus, now, reigning over countless fiends,

and basking in the mood of a king, something was sensed.

Five auras of mana, oh so delectable,

and five more, not quite on par, yet tempting nonetheless.

It felt as if no meal prior could compare,

and saliva began to pool in his mouth unbidden.

Reaching that point, he could no longer endure.

Already, his mind’s eye painted a picture of himself, rifling through their brains, coveting their mana,

devouring their flesh with ravenous abandon.

The wolf, snapping back to awareness, had already commanded his subordinates to capture them,

leaving him only with the task of

pondering the most exquisite way to consume them.

*

“Are…are too many coming?”

“Irrelevant. Just do as instructed.”

Alberte coldly crushed Lianna’s worried words,

acting as if it was of no consequence, but her anxiety wasn’t unwarranted.

Because even now, fiends overflowed before my very eyes.

Tentacles, insects, birds, mammals – fiends of every imaginable shape.

“Run!!”

Shaking off the ominous energy that crawled over my skin just from looking,

we began to flee from them.

Pushing aside small fiends that erupted from every corner of the forest,

evading the medium-sized creatures that pursued us from behind,

struggling to keep our footing as we nearly stumbled, we continued to run.

It was true that we entered this forest to lure the fiends,

but we hadn’t anticipated such an enthusiastic response.

Whatever had transpired, if we could simply lure them,

we would have a reasonable chance of victory.

“Couldn’t we just conceal ourselves?”

“Then the number of fiends will diminish.”

“Just running is no fun…”

How long had we run like that?

Finally, the scene we desired began to appear.

A hill came into view, and the ground started to slope upward,

and above, we saw our companions, waving to us.

“Roll it all!!!!”

Albert’s booming voice spurred Brihen and Huvben to hurl their own bodies into the task, while Isabella and the Princess used their magic to shove logs and rocks.

Countless stones and tree trunks rained down, not just on the monsters chasing us, but on ourselves as well, though that wasn’t a concern.

*Thwack-*

*Crack-*

We had an impregnable shield before us.

The aura emanating from Albert deflected every falling object,

allowing those of us directly behind him to remain untouched.

Ordinarily, such logs and stones would be useless against

monsters whose bodies were composed of magical energy, but

‘Brihen, infuse the logs and rocks with your mana.’

‘…May I ask why?’

‘Anything containing mana will at least affect them.’

Because Brihen’s mana flowed through them, the logs and stones

no longer passed through bodies made of magic.

Instead, they struck with full force, sending the monsters sprawling.

The ceaseless barrage slowed their advance,

preventing them from easily reaching the top of the slope.

Conversely, we were able to press onward.

After what felt like an eternity, we finally reached the edge.

Our prepared supply of projectiles was exhausted.

And still, a horde of monsters scrambled up the incline.

“W-what do we do now…!”

“You’re Kaelin, yes? Halt those charging up ahead, even if it is just for a moment”

“Y-yes?”

“You also said you could use magic, so it should be within your abilities.”

“I..uh..I’ve never done anything like that before.”

“Do it, no, you must do it.”

As the words left his mouth, Kaelin’s eyes widened in determination and glowed a visible red.

Then the bodies of the monsters in the very front faltered.

They stopped completely.

As if unable to pass through what she was now emitting, the monsters collided with those charging behind them.

A barricade formed along the hill.

“I… I did it!!”

“Good. Jenison?”

“…Don’t rush me.”

Kaelin was overjoyed with her accomplishment,

but Albert turned his unwavering gaze upon me.

Ignoring that nagging gaze, I set about my task.

“Jennison, just one question.”

“…?”

“Could you, perhaps, conjure up some… explosives?”

The creation of makeshift bombs, you see.

A simple enough feat for someone who had already tried it on the Princess herself.

Every now and then, a stray monster would lunge at me, but

the lowest and lower-tier monsters were no match for Albert in his enhanced state

or the magic of the others.

“Are you not finished yet?!”

“Hurry it up!!”

“…”

And so, unhindered, I could

continue conjuring explosives,

taking each newly formed device and

hurling it at the monsters, setting it off.

*Boom*──

*Ka-boom*─

“Eek!”

“Hahaha! This is so refreshing!!”

One, two, escalating to dozens.

I squeezed out every last drop of mana until I could create no more,

and the explosions multiplied accordingly.

“Isabella!! Unleash every spell you can muster!!”

“Ugh… I’m trying!”

“..I will assist as well.”

Spears of flame, icy tempests, arrows of wind, and such –

every single one of them appearing capable of obliterating anything it touched.

And these were the spells of the Princess and Isabella, whose magical prowess rivaled

even seasoned mages.

With the addition of the explosives to the mages’ magic,

all that followed was explosions, explosions, and more explosions.

*Boom*──

*Krakakoom*─

*Kthoom*─

The smoke billowed incessantly, as though a wildfire raged,

and the monsters’ screams echoed towards the heavens, threatening to fill them.

Those monsters that survived the blasts and continued their advance were stopped by the barrier conjured by Lianna and

were finished off by the daggers of Albert and Sino.

And so, spell after spell rained down, relentlessly,

The fierce wind, born from somewhere unseen, whipped the smoke away in a dizzying swirl.

Where once a grassy ridge stood, now lay a gouged-out ruin,

the perimeter choked with shattered stones and fallen trees.

On the earth, a twitching, black residue lingered, terribly.

Magestones, left behind in the dying throes of monsters, littered the ground,

and those beasts still clinging to life were a wretched sight, broken and bleeding.

Of course, having spent all our mana, we weren’t exactly a picture of health ourselves.

Our clothes and hair were blackened by the blast,

and cuts and scrapes, both big and small, marred every inch of our bodies.

The vanguard who guarded our rear was in tatters, his gear utterly destroyed.

But that didn’t mean we couldn’t savor the taste of victory,

and it was Caelin who voiced it first, her cry cracking the silence.

“Haa…haa…wa…waaa!”

“Kkhahaha! We did it!”

“Hoo…to be honest, I didn’t think it would go this smoothly.”

“Definitely enough bonus points to shoot for a high score…”

Each of them shared their thoughts,

their voices ringing with elation and relief.

Even the cleric tending to our wounds wore a fleeting smile.

But Albert and I couldn’t manage even a grimace.

Nowhere, not amidst the wreckage, was there a trace of *that* monster.

“…Jenison.”

“…”

“Where do you think that thing is?”

“…”

Albert and I began searching for the creature, hoping to find him collapsed somewhere,

but the remnants of the explosion held no sign of him.

*Krrrr—*

It was a fleeting instant.

A sound, ominous and piercing, hammered into our minds,

and before we knew it, we were poised for battle once more.

“W-what… what *is* that…!”

“…Huh, that looks like it will be interesting to deal with.”

“…I have a really bad feeling about this.”

From the depths of the deep, dark forest, its form began to emerge, slowly,

and the faint of heart instinctively recoiled.

Just as Albert had described, its eyes burned with a crimson light,

and the way it strode forward, each foreleg placed with regal grace, was reminiscent of a true wolf king.

The swirling ebony fur that clung to it billowed like leaves scattering in the autumn wind.

It floated, drifting ethereally,

and with each small whimper it emitted, we were struck as if by infrasound,

our legs trembling uncontrollably.

The remaining demonic creatures around us, as if offering a salute,

gathered around it, bowing their heads,

then assembled behind the wolf like dolls,

standing perfectly still, unmoving.

Where the wolf had placed its paw, the earth seemed to sink slightly,

as if it had stomped with all its might,

and that alone allowed us to grasp the creature’s immense size.

The wolf, which had been approaching at a leisurely pace, abruptly halted,

and in an instant, it vanished from our sight.

“It’s gone!!”

“It’s coming! Brace for impact!!”

Remembering the image of the wolf, poised to pounce,

we hastily adopted defensive stances, but the expected onslaught never came.

Cr-r-runch─

Gulp─ Smack─

Instead, the sound of something being chewed and torn emanated from a spot a little ways off,

the place where a lifeless demonic creature lay.

The wolf was devouring the corpses of its fallen kin,

and with each mouthful, its enormous frame seemed to grow larger, its crimson eyes burning even brighter.

We were momentarily stunned, watching the wolf devour its own kind with such ravenous hunger.

Realizing that our current condition made it impossible to fight,

we slowly retreated, deciding to tend to our wounds first.

Just when we thought we were a safe distance away,

it vanished again.

The only difference this time was that it came straight for us.

“Watch out…!”

“Gah…!”

*Thump*─*Wham*─

The massive, crimson eyes appeared right before us,

and though Albert reacted swiftly, issuing a warning,

Brihen, unable to dodge in time, was struck by a forepaw and sent flying.

“Healing, please!! Saintess!”

“O-okay!”

“We’ll hold it off, even if just for a moment!!”

The Saintess rushed to his side, immediately unleashing her divine power,

Albert and the others lunged to intercept the wolf.

If only the wolf hadn’t vanished once more.

In an instant, a dark shape hurtled forward.

A red point connected, then dissolved.

It truly took no time at all for the darkness to reach the Saintess,

and soon, white fangs were poised to tear at her throat.

*Crackle–*

“Krr…uh?”

“…Huh?”

Except it wasn’t the Saintess’s neck that was bitten.

Because I hadn’t rushed out.

Because what mattered more to me was the Saintess’s safety, not Brihun’s.

And because, as if it had been watching us,

this beast appeared at precisely the right moment.

The instant I saw that wolf, I’d assumed it possessed intelligence akin to a human’s,

and I was already contemplating its next move after witnessing the Saintess’s power,

which is why I didn’t leave her side.

A mere sliver of time.

I managed to jam my right shoulder into the maw rushing for her throat,

and my shoulder bloomed crimson, like red autumn leaves.

“..Eh.. Eh?!”

“..Quick, flee before you die.”

The instant this beast realized it had bitten me instead of the Saintess,

and loosened its grip on my jaw,

I pressed its upper and lower jaws together with my hands,

forcing its teeth to sink even deeper into my shoulder.

*Crunch–*

*Shhht–*

The teeth pierced and splintered my shoulder blade,

and it felt like all the blood in my body was gushing out, drawn toward my shoulder.

It felt as though my entire shoulder was being torn away.

It felt like iron bars were being hammered, one by one, into my body.

Like the rack was being turned on my shoulder, the iron bars shifted

and dug in even deeper.

My shoulder dangled so loosely it felt as though it would come off if pulled with even a little force, exposing the white bone beneath,

and despite the blood spraying and clouding my vision,

the beast’s gaze remained fixed, not on me, but on the Saintess.

I didn’t much care for that.

I released his jaw with my left hand, forming a dagger

and plunged it into the brute’s right eye, still fixed on the Saintess.

“KuwaaaH!!!”

“…Finally, some pain it seems.”

I dug around a few times, eliciting convulsions of agony

and he hurled me bodily against the earth.

*THWACK*

“Keuh..”

My body bounced once, twice against the ground, the impact jarring,

and only when I’d completely stopped moving could I assess the damage.

My shoulder, once attached, now hung loose,

and the blood pouring out of me soaked the surrounding grass,

but the blood leaking from his ruined right eye was no different.

Now blind in one eye, he finally acknowledged me.

A palpable malice radiated from him as he bared his fangs.

I dared to hope for help from those rushing up behind me,

but they were blocked by the lower demons, who chose this moment to rampage.

From my perspective, it didn’t matter so long as the Saintess was safe,

but the problem lay with this beast before me.

He was the first to realize that the Saintess must die,

and would vanish in an instant if I lost focus.

And in this very moment, he ground his teeth once more,

and charged towards me.

He craved the Saintess, the divine proxy, and sought to nullify my deepest wish.

A vestige of mana, a primal distortion, the King of Wolves.

“…Never faced a beast before, not personally.”

I recalled a past self, from long ago, the moon of an empire,

and charged once more at the wolf who sought to devour the moon.