The Thunder God's Hammer in the Alpha Male's Hands
The instant I charged the beast, I knew.
As I was now, there was no way I could win.
Its sheer size rivaled the mythical wolf Fenrir itself. And it was not merely large. Speed, strength, mana, defense—in every respect it towered over me by an impossible margin.
But that did not matter.
No—if anything, that only made it better.
Who was I, after all?
The alpha male among alpha males. In my past life I had been the berserker of the northern seas, a name that struck terror across all of Europe. An impossible victory simply needed to be made possible. If I could not beat an enemy, then I would make myself able to beat it.
The Wolf King's crimson eyes flared with a murderous light.
In the next breath its form vanished from my sight.
No—it had not vanished. It was simply too fast to follow. A speed that body of that bulk should never have been capable of producing.
KWAANG!
The ground exploded. The Black Bone Wolf King's enormous fangs tore through the air like a thunderbolt and gaped wide for my throat. Those massive canines could snap my neck—and the entire upper half of my body—clean off if they closed on me.
Han Yujin's cry ripped through the air behind me.
"Dodge!"
I snapped my upper body backward.
KWADEUK!
The fangs skimmed past the tip of my nose by a hair's breadth. I spun with the motion, the axe in my right hand tracing a crimson arc that smashed squarely into the beast's nape.
KAAAAANG!
The ring of steel on steel pealed out. The impact against something harder than the axe blade itself sent a numb jolt racing up my wrist.
Absurd defense.
Not so much as a scratch marked the monster's neck.
It bared its gleaming fangs and lunged again. I rolled across the ground, used the rebound to spring upright—and the creature's tail, thick as a siege spear, whipped toward me at a speed beyond imagination.
Too late to dodge. I braced the axe haft and blade to meet it.
KWANG!
The spear-like tail and the axe collided; the shockwave raised a dust cloud thirty meters across. The force slammed up my arms into my shoulders, and my body was launched skyward.
KWANG!
I slammed back-first onto a wrecked car. The chassis folded in half like scrap paper under the impact. A coppery taste of blood filled my mouth.
You have taken a heavy impact.
Minor rib fractures sustained.
Indomitable Will
Attack power and critical damage increase in proportion to the user's injuries.
The more I got hit, the stronger I became.
Was this not the power of a berserker itself?
I shoved the wreckage aside and rose. For a blow that heavy to leave only minor fractures—my body was tougher than I had thought.
A grim smile cut across my face as I stood.
"Good! This is excellent!"
Han Yujin stared at me in horror.
"G-good? What's good about this?!"
I wiped the blood from my chin with the back of my hand.
"Can't you see? I'm getting stronger by the second."
"You're not getting stronger—your bones are breaking!"
"Don't make a fuss over a few hairline fractures."
"A fracture is still a fracture!"
She dropped into a combat crouch, sword ready to charge in at any moment. I raised a hand and stopped her.
"Not yet."
"That thing isn't something you can take alone!"
"I know."
"Then why do you keep throwing yourself at it?!"
I tightened my grip on the axe, eyes burning brighter.
"Don't worry. I will win."
Han Yujin looked as though she had lost the power of speech entirely.
I knew the truth just as well as she did. The gap in raw power was absolute. If I kept trading blows head-on, the odds of defeat approached one hundred percent.
But battle was never decided by strength alone. Against a superior foe, you coldly dissected its patterns, found the opening, and exploited it. I had done the same in my past life. Enemies larger than me, faster warriors, monsters that seemed torn straight from myth—I had slaughtered countless of them.
The strong always developed habits born of trusting their own power. Those habits created gaps. I would aim for exactly that.
Meanwhile, for all its overwhelming superiority, the beast did not finish me at once. It lowered its massive frame and began to circle me in careful observation.
Cautious even as the stronger one.
It was clearly hunting for an opening of its own. Quite different from the other powerhouses I had faced until now.
"Clever."
Han Yujin's voice trembled as she spoke, having noticed the same thing.
"That wolf right now…"
"Yes. Exactly. It's carefully watching for my weakness."
Just as I expected. The Wolf King gradually closed the distance. The moment I entered its range, the spines along its back all rose as one.
Han Yujin shouted.
"Spikes—incoming!!"
KWAGWAGWAGWAGWA!
Dozens of black spines hurtled toward me. No room to dodge. I swept the axe as fast as I could and knocked them aside.
KAKAKAKAKANG!
I managed to bat away every spine coming from the front. The ones from the flanks and rear were another matter.
Puk!
One spike punched clean through my left arm.
Puk!
Another buried itself in my thigh. The rest raked mercilessly across arms and legs. Blood painted crimson lines over my entire body.
Han Yujin screamed.
"Kang Taegun!"
I did not stop. One step. Another. I advanced on the beast on a leg still impaled by a spine.
Severe pain detected.
Pain Suppression effect activated.
Passive: Indomitable Will effect further enhanced.
In the next instant the Black Wolf King charged me again. Black mana erupted from its colossal body. Its burning crimson eyes overflowed with naked killing intent.
Rage. Impatience. Fear.
It had landed several lethal blows, yet this clearly weaker opponent still burned with fighting spirit—something it had never once encountered before. The beast no longer saw me as mere prey. It recognized me as a true threat to its throne.
This time, its will to kill me was unmistakable.
Good. Anyone who stepped onto a battlefield needed at least that much resolve.
KRAAAAAAAH!
It roared and swung a massive foreleg.
KWAANG!
Speed that belied a body more than seven meters long. I raised the axe once more. My left arm barely moved. My ribs were broken; a black spine still jutted from my thigh. Every breath felt as though my chest would tear apart. Yet Indomitable Will still let me move as if nothing were wrong.
That was enough.
"Come at me all you like!"
Foreleg and axe met head-on.
KAANG!
Han Yujin's shrill scream rang out behind me. The Wolf King's other foreleg shot forward like lightning. I gripped the axe with both hands and blocked again.
KAAAAAANG!
Axe blade and claws clashed; sparks sprayed in every direction. The shock felt ready to split my palms open.
"Khuk!"
It was like being struck by a mountain. But I held.
When I refused to fall, the beast's crimson eyes wavered even more violently. It was rattled, true—but dragging this out only worked against me. Above all, the continuous bleeding was too severe.
Then an ominous black mana began to surge from the Wolf King's body. The dark energy poured into it; surrounding buildings trembled.
Han Yujin's face hardened.
"It's gathering all of its mana."
The horns crowning its head blazed more vividly. Crimson runes bloomed across its entire form.
A brutally simple description. Get bitten—you die. Get grazed—you die.
The moment I raised my axe, Han Yujin bolted forward.
"I'm fighting with you now!"
I thrust out a hand and stopped her.
"No!"
"If you take that head-on you'll really die!"
But the beast gave us no time for conversation. It simply charged. I shoved Han Yujin hard behind me. In the next heartbeat its instant-death attack came screaming in. I twisted my body just in time.
KWAANG!
The Wolf King dropped low again. This time it truly meant to end it. Murderous light flared in its eyes. A final charge using its entire body. The moment of impact—no, even a graze—would scatter me into pieces.
Yet I charged straight at its front.
User's fighting spirit has broken its limit.
You do not retreat even in the face of death.
You are certain of victory against an overwhelmingly superior foe.
That was the exact moment.
A status window bloomed before my eyes—not the usual blue, but a panel of dazzling gold. The gloomy ruins of the city were instantly bathed in golden light.
WOOOOOOOOONG!
The sky shuddered. Clouds split apart as a golden fissure tore open—as though a gate to the realm of the gods itself had been unsealed.
Temporary authority to wield mythic-grade weapons granted.
Duration: 30 seconds.
Two choices floated before my eyes.
Mythic-grade weapon that never fails to pierce its target once thrown.
Mythic-grade weapon that shatters mountains, commands lightning, and can be lifted only by the chosen.
A warrior's heart began to pound.
Gungnir. The great spear of Odin. A divine relic any fighter would yearn to hold at least once.
Yet my gaze locked on the other option.
Mjolnir. The massive hammer. A weapon that needed no fancy technique—only unwavering force to pulverize the enemy. A weapon worthy of an alpha male among alpha males.
Yes. This is what a true alpha male's weapon looks like.
Select mythic-grade weapon Mjolnir?
"Obviously!"
◈ Temporary summon complete
◈ Time remaining: 00:29
KWARRRRRRRUNG!
Golden lightning crashed down from the heavens. In the next instant something settled into my hand.
A short, thick haft. A square, massive hammer head. Ancient runes carved across its surface. Inside it, blue lightning raged without end.
The moment I gripped it, I knew. Its weight was such that no ordinary human could even lift it.
Han Yujin's jaw dropped.
"W-what in the world is that…?!"
"It's a hammer."
"A-anyone can see that isn't an ordinary hammer!"
I clenched Mjolnir in both hands.
KWAAAAAAAH!
A single bolt of lightning fell from the sky into the hammer; its head blazed with searing light. Uncontrollable terror flooded the Wolf King's crimson eyes.
There was no room left to flee.
"Wolf King! This ends now!"
