NOVEL WEB Chapter 18
After dozens of exchanges of attacks, every time the creature’s jaw opened, I had to back off, and when its bloodied front paw swung around, I needed to keep my distance. I was way too inadequate to exchange blows up close with it. I was only managing to bridge the gap with my skills.
It was like trying to match a lumbering beast while I was still reeling from being pierced by thorns – a huge gap between us.
First and foremost, my attacks were just bouncing off. If it stood still, sure, I might get something in, but that’s about as likely as a cat behaving like a dog. In all that motion, I had no chance to focus my power. One misstep, and I’d be torn apart in an instant.
So, I had to target the bare skin, the places not covered by skin or teeth.
“……!”
And that goes for the exposed wounds too. As I persistently tried to probe for weaknesses, the creature shot me a fierce gaze. Half-success. I hit it, but in doing so, it became more alert. I figured that if I just dug into the wound like with the black wolf, it would be curtains. But somehow, it felt like the effect of my gluttony was waning.
…Why? I couldn’t tell. This was not shaping up like last time.
Is help on the way?
As I briefly pulled back, I sensed my surroundings, but there was nothing. Aside from Euna, it was eerily quiet. Wasn’t someone supposed to come to help? Didn’t they say seven minutes? Wasn’t that the estimate for support? While I thought about it, the creature’s wounds were healing slowly. As I’d seen before, it definitely had a regeneration skill.
‘Wasn’t it like this when I fought the eel?’
I had to strike first. Feeling an incoming counterattack, I instinctively dodged.
Combining its wounds with my abilities— agility, elasticity, instinct, and discernment— created a balanced fight. In other words, one more skill on my end would tilt the odds in my favor. And I had one skill left. Charging in, the beast let out a low growl.
‘Charge.’
A skill that activates when rushing at an enemy. With my speed increased, its timing got messed up.
“―――!”
I saw an opening and dove in to bite while immediately activating my gluttony, but the sensation was still faint. Why wasn’t gluttony working on it? I recalled its past behaviors. There were clues. And that’s when it clicked.
It had devoured countless creatures, and if it had predation, or rather, gluttony, then that explained it.
Gluttony activates its effect the moment you make contact. So when I used gluttony on it, it was using gluttony on me too. We both tried to devour, but since my gluttony level was a bit higher, at least I managed to gulp some of it.
Even if the effect was feeble, I could definitely consume it. It was a silver lining, at least that meant its gluttony wouldn’t work on me.
“――!”
Charging at it again. Dodging another series of its fierce attacks, I burrowed through, making the creature back down for the first time.
But it didn’t mean much. I hadn’t really landed any serious blows; just a scratch here and there. It was clear that my attacks were ineffective.
In fact, with each encounter, my reputation took a hit. The beast crouched down, preparing to leap, but there was no backing down for me. If I retreated now, Euna would be the target.
The fierce exchanges continued. I didn’t give an inch. I had to keep charging in. Even if I gained the upper hand in hundreds of exchanges, a single slip could deal a blow more severe than all my attacks combined.
As if reminiscent of an absurd shooting game.
‘…….’
Me, barely hanging on to life, and the creature slowly recovering with regeneration. The gap between us was glaring. Where did it all go wrong? My teeth clashed.
“Aowww!”
Feeling confident in its victory, the creature raised its head and howled. If I had been more careful, if I hadn’t backed down, we could have brought it down together with Euna.
“――♪”
Suddenly, a melody floated in from somewhere. An incongruous sound for the situation. Was it Euna? But she was unconscious. Thanks to that mysterious humming, my thoughts snapped back to reality. The monstrous wolf, saliva dripping from its maw, was eyeing not me, but Euna.
“……?”
It stumbled as if its legs gave out, then resumed walking as if nothing had happened. For a moment, I wondered if I had seen it wrong, but the prints it left were unmistakable. I stood there, blankly listening to the distant, emotional humming and took a breath.
And then, a thought struck me. Had I fought well up to now?
I thought I had done decently.
The eel and the black wolf were no pushovers. Every time I had a chance to win, it was always because I had a new perspective. And the determination to push forward. Against the eel, I used transformation, and with the black wolf, it was instinct and discernment.
So, was I really fighting well?
…I couldn’t say. I was trying my best, but I didn’t know if I was handling it properly.
What did I have at my disposal?
Many skills to bridge my lack of status. The intellect of a human to wield those skills.
I asked myself again. Was I using them right?
The answer that came back was still the same. I didn’t know. If I knew, I would have fixed it a long time ago.
When I asked if there was anything else, an answer came back to me.
…Right. I had magic power. An unknown force that I had never used even once and had no clue how to bring out.
How did it use that?
It lifted rocks. A simple and crude method, but I couldn’t even do that now.
Then how did Euna use it?
A mesh like a spider’s web. Distortion of space. Countless thorns. Massive points. Even though we shared the same magic, the results of our powers were on entirely different levels.
No, the real question wasn’t about the monstrous wolf or Euna, but myself. How had I used it? That was the crux of the issue.
In that instant, something boiled up inside me.
Like water in a kettle reaching a boil, it was small but definitely bubbling. I closed my eyes and felt it.
No form. No color. No hue. No feeling. No sound. But at the same time, it contained everything. Like a demon whispering, it felt like I could attain anything I wished for. That was magic power.
[Transformation: Changing the properties or characteristics of an object]
Unlike transformation, which only alters appearances, this changes properties and qualities. The price for that power was magic power.
As the water in the kettle boiled and evaporated, I felt dizzy.
This was the first time experiencing such mental exhaustion.
I pulled the trigger on the magic power whose usage I didn’t even know, gradually drawing out a change. I envisioned and materialized it.
I needed an image of how to defeat it.
I couldn’t approach it as a wolf. It was a superior being, and I was merely mimicking a worg. I couldn’t gain the upper hand in a fight as a biological creature. I needed to take a different approach, not as a wolf, not as a slime, but in a much different way.
I needed to materialize that image.
***
The singing stopped. The girl stopped humming, as if she no longer needed to sing and gazed at the grounds. I couldn’t see her expression as she turned her back.
“Feel free to be happy. The child you were looking for is alive.”
But Woo Taek sensed something buoyant in the girl’s voice. Buoyant? Was there something worth celebrating for one like her? I gritted my teeth, summoning all the magic power I could muster to resist. Yet, all I could manage was to raise my upper body, and the girl looked back with surprise.
“Alive, you say?”
It was tough to get the words out. Just saying one sentence made me breathless and frustrated.
“Yes.”
The pressure lifted as if washed away. The team leader, barely holding on, staggered but still managed to ask.
“Why… why are you here?!”
“……”
“Please answer! Has the disease disappeared? Has the plague been defeated?!”
“No.”
A response so firm and resolute. I had expected that, but the team leader gritted his teeth.
“Then!”
“I just came to check.”
“Is that more important than stopping them?!”
As soon as the girl’s gaze met the team leader’s, his legs gave way.
Ten seconds, how arrogant was that? No one, not even anyone else, could guarantee anything to her. The gap felt painfully clear. Though I thought it was impossible, the team leader realized he could die here. Even though the girl’s gaze remained solely on the team leader, her eyes seemed to see someone far away.
“…For me, it is.”
Her voice, seemingly tinged with nostalgia. From it, one could feel a deep sorrow or regret that anyone could recognize.
“Go ahead. It’s already… over.”
What had been omitted? In an instant, the girl vanished, leaving Woo Taek and the team leader momentarily stunned as they exchanged glances and nodded. They rushed into the grounds and found Euna lying in the middle, fainted, drenched in blood. The team leader quickly pulled out a potion and fed it to her.
“Ah…”
A few minutes later, as some team members belatedly joined them, Euna let out a soft groan.
“Are you back to your senses?”
“…Sunbae? Team Leader?”
“Seriously, are you even aware? What were you thinking coming here? If you wanted to die, you could have at least done me the favor!”
“Woo Taek.”
“…I’m sorry.”
Seeing Euna sulking, Woo Taek barely held back his anger.
“…Let’s head down for now.”
“Right.”
The grounds were in ruins. Blood, now darkened, soaked the floor, and it was a wreck everywhere you looked. Clear signs of a battle. Even though the phenomena conjured by magic had disappeared, the echoes remained. The team leader frowned. There was no sight of the worg’s corpse. If the worg was alive, why was Euna too?
‘Why?’
I didn’t understand. Monster behavior was always incomprehensible, but the worg’s actions of ‘letting her go twice’ seemed especially puzzling.
‘What on Earth was that being thinking…’
Had it come to see Euna? It undoubtedly had talent and instinct. While it seemed refined, it lacked the training. Even if there were hints of high potential, it was still a rough gem. As the master of the square, she wouldn’t have made the trip to this mountain just to see some talent.
So what on Earth…?
“――Aowwwwwww!”
The howling echoed. The moment the team leader heard that, a shiver ran down his spine. Even while raising his guard and channeling his magic power, he felt nothing. It was a reverberating howl from somewhere far beyond his senses.
“T-Team Leader?”
The team members were trembling. They felt fear and dread as if they were prey before a predator.
“A… ah!”
Especially, Euna appeared terrified, as if she had ‘lost something’. The only ones remaining composed were Woo Taek and a few others, B-class and above hunters. Yet, they weren’t showing it outwardly; they too felt the same terror of being prey.
‘Just a worg?’
Just a worg. Just a big wolf. Even if labeled a special breed, it shouldn’t be so hard to take down. Finally, as my thoughts drifted toward predation, the team leader closed his eyes tightly.
It felt like the feared scenario was coming to pass. Without a doubt, a new tyrant was born on this mountain. That’s how I had to think.