Chapter 133
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 133
The Combat Team 2 Leader stiffly turned his head toward the darkness creeping up behind him and stealthily dropped his cigarette. He ground it out under his boot, making sure not a single wisp of smoke escaped. The moment he crushed it, Oscar stepped out from the shadows.
The wolf he held by the scruff of the neck whimpered.
The Combat Team 2 Leader immediately bowed to Oscar. The pale-faced combat wolves around him quickly threw away their own cigarettes and bowed, but there was no way to make the thick smoke already hanging in the air vanish instantly. Fortunately for them, there was something far more pressing than cigarettes.
Oscar strode through the bowing wolves. The man he dragged by the scruff struggled, followed closely by Simon and his own Wolves.
“That dumbass fighting dog finally went and caused trouble.”
The bowing members of Combat Team 2 couldn’t bring themselves to protest Simon’s remark.
As Oscar effortlessly dragged the man of massive build, his gaze was fixed solely on the woman’s face, which was so pale it looked almost blue.
Seo-ah felt her breath catch under his piercing stare. Unlike when they had departed, his hair was slightly disheveled, and even from a distance, she could tell his breathing was heavier than usual.
He… seemed to have run all the way here.
As he approached with the setting sun at his back, Seo-ah found herself strangely unable to look away. The sight of him stole her breath and made her want to hide, yet she couldn’t avert her eyes. The cold scent of the forest he carried with him enveloped her.
In a world turned crimson by the sunset, Oscar looked down at Seo-ah and placed a hand on her forehead. The moment his cold skin met hers, a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding burst from her lips.
“Haa, haa…”
Her chest heaved with ragged breaths that caught in her throat. It felt as though all her tension was releasing at once.
Oscar watched her panting for a quiet moment before slowly turning his head toward Thebes.
“…”
“…”
Combat Teams 3 and 4, along with the Backup Team, silently took a step back, as if to say, We have absolutely nothing to do with this.
Simon shot a silent, mocking sneer at Thebes.
You brainless fighting dog. You’re dead meat. You’re so fucking dead.
Oscar had already been displeased by the cigarette smoke wafting from the mountain entrance. Simon had seen it clearly—the exact moment a dagger, thrown with all the mana a wolf in the trees could muster, had flown straight for the target. Oscar, who had been running like a madman, had frozen as if he’d slammed into an invisible wall. No matter how powerful he was, there was no way he could have stopped a blade already in flight from that distance.
It was only after Thebes blocked the dagger that Oscar, who had been stock-still, moved again.
Clang!
To Simon, the ear-splitting screech of metal had sounded like Thebes drawing his last breath.
Wow, of all the ways to dig your own grave, he had to choose this one.
Sure enough, Oscar had leaped with explosive force, scaling the tree in a few bounds before kicking the wolf who threw the dagger, sending him crashing to the ground. As Oscar mercilessly trampled the fallen wolf, his face had burned with a molten rage.
Though it made no sense, it was clear that the target’s existence had already become more important to Oscar than his business. The Pelfe Bank vault—perhaps that didn’t even matter anymore. Maybe he no longer thought of the woman as a ‘target’ or a ‘key.’
“Y-Your Excellency!”
The brainless fighting dog only now hid the gleaming blade behind his back.
Oh, you idiot… Do you really think that hides it?
Seeing this, Oscar looked up at the sky and let out a dry chuckle. Then, turning back to Seo-ah, he said, “Go inside.”
His tone was calm, laced with his usual coldness, but something was different. Was Oscar the kind of person who would say such a thing to anyone?
Thebes also seemed to sense that things had gone terribly, terribly wrong.
“I knew that idiot would cause a disaster like this sooner or later,” Simon muttered to himself.
Feeling his recent, sky-high stress vanish in a single stroke, Simon smiled with an incredibly refreshed expression. He then gestured for the attending physician to take Seo-ah away.
“Young Lady, please go inside.”
The physician, twice as polite as usual, guided her away while trembling. As the surrounding wolves watched her with anxious expressions, Seo-ah walked toward the mountain cabin as if being pushed.
Meanwhile, at the sight of his master approaching with a terrifying aura, the once-majestic Thebes began to slowly back away.
“Your Excellency, what happened was… I-I will explain… I’m sorry, Your Excellency!”
“…”
“I’m sorry, Your Excellency! I was short-sighted!”
As the massive man bellowed, the red-eyed devil cackled.
“To have short-sighted thoughts, you’d need a brain in the first place, you dumbass. And to think someone like that is the Combat Team 1 Leader.”
He hurled mockery at the back of Thebes, who was now being half-dragged away by Oscar while repeatedly apologizing.
“That guy needs to die. It’s the only way the Combat Team will run properly.”
A moment later, all the Combat Team Wolves, except for Combat Teams 3 and 4, disappeared into the forest. From the darkened woods, the sound of flesh tearing from a brutal beating echoed continuously, along with endless, suppressed groans.
“Your Excellency, I’m sorry. Your Excellency…!”
“I was wrong!”
That scene of violence engraved a vivid realization into the minds of the Wolves gathered around the cabin.
The target is no longer just a target.
Amidst the eerie screams and groans, the Backup Team Leader approached Abel, who was staring only at the cabin.
“Abel, are you really joining our team? Are you serious?”
“How many times do I have to tell you?”
The Backup Team Leader parted his lips, then whispered in a voice much quieter than usual.
“The target is the target. Keep it at that.”
At that, Abel, who had been as silent and motionless as a mountain shadow, let out a dry laugh.
“Ah, what are you talking about?”
“…”
“I just want to join the Backup Team because it looks like the easiest job. I’m planning on taking it easy from now on.”
Beneath the blonde hair falling over his forehead, his playful eyes were no different than usual. However, the Backup Team Leader, who would normally have snapped back, merely remained silent.
Since arriving here, Abel Sting’s gaze had not wavered from the target for a single moment. Whether she was asleep or awake, Abel stared unblinkingly at that one spot.
*
“Now, let’s see. Is your heart beating too fast? Do you feel dizzy, or are you short of breath? Or, on the contrary, do you feel lethargic?” the elderly attending physician asked, examining Seo-ah’s face the moment they entered the cabin.
Seeing the desperate concern etched on his face—a clear sign of the stress he’d been under—Seo-ah quickly shook her head.
“I’m fine.”
Despite her words, he continued to examine her with an anxious expression.
“Those terrifying bastards! Who on earth would have thought a dagger would come flying from there, huh?”
Just then, a scream echoed from afar.
“Aaargh!”
At the booming cry, both Seo-ah and the physician flinched.
The owner of that scream was undoubtedly Thebes. He was clearly undergoing a brutal punishment. What could possibly make a giant of a man scream like that?
The pale-faced physician swallowed hard and spoke in an earnest tone.
“Listen carefully, Young Lady. You must not get sick.”
“Thank you for your concern.”
“No, this isn’t for your sake… Anyway, absolutely! You must absolutely not get sick, or even get a single scratch on your finger. Understood?”
“I’ll… I’ll try.”
“Could you please just lie down?”
He paced anxiously around the room, eventually making Seo-ah sit on the bed. After repeatedly urging her to get absolute rest, he glanced at the wooden table and chair piled with medicinal herbs. Looking out the darkened window, the physician shuddered, sensing a shadow moving in the distance.
“And Young Lady, please do me one favor.”
“Please, tell me.”
“Please make sure His Excellency sleeps tonight. You must.”
Seo-ah didn’t understand.
“…Make His Excellency sleep? What do you mean by that?”
But the words that followed were even harder to comprehend.
“Since you lost consciousness, he hasn’t slept for a single moment. Let alone sleep, he hasn’t even had a proper meal.”
“…”
“No matter how much he replenishes his stamina with mana or trains to surpass human limits, eating and sleeping are fundamental for all living things.”
“Are you saying he hasn’t eaten or slept?”
“Not since the day you lost consciousness.”
“I heard it’s been about two weeks…”
“Exactly.”
“…”
“He’s going to die, is what I’m saying.”
If he were a normal person, he would have died a long time ago.
The physician took a step back as he saw a shadow gradually approaching outside the window. The mere sight of it gave him goosebumps, making him wonder what a wolf who was losing his sanity might do.
“A-Anyway, please make sure you listen to me…”
The physician turned and hurried away from Seo-ah as if fleeing. Just as he raised his hand to open the door, it swung wide open.
“!”
A ghost would have been less terrifying. A thick stench of blood wafted from the black-clad wolf, who was overflowing with a wild, manic energy.
“Y-Your Excellency.”
His expressionless face, splattered with blood, was terror itself. The attending physician shrank back. He felt as if he might collapse on the spot, but fortunately, Oscar didn’t even glance at him. Oscar, who seemed about to stride right past the transparent screen separating them, stopped for some reason.
Staring past the screen with an unreadable expression, he soon turned and walked up the stairs.
Creak, creak.
Only after the sound of the creaking stairs faded did strength return to the physician’s legs. He retreated, trembling.
Slam.