Fenril
"Are you really going to do this?"
"Kng..."
Aurell looked at me with uneasy eyes.
Hwanggu seemed to share her feelings, because he kept whimpering beside her.
"Stay here."
"But... that's way too dangerous..."
I nodded.
I knew that much. It was a very dangerous idea.
Who in their right mind would look at Fenril in Seoul Station and decide to drag him over here to try him out on these two?
From here to Seoul Station wasn't actually that far.
If I sprinted at full speed, I could probably get there in under five minutes.
I was curious. Just how strong was Fenril, really, if every user had given up on clearing him and settled for this half-living existence instead?
Fenril was the boss of Episode 1.
If I killed him, maybe something would change.
Wasn't this world already turning into a game, anyway?
So I decided to move in order to satisfy my curiosity.
I didn't need any special preparation.
All I had to do was take a runner's stance and spread my wings behind me.
Flap-!
Maybe it was because I had completely absorbed Daltokki.
My body felt alive with energy, and the wings spread behind my back were larger than usual.
"Hide well."
After giving Hwanggu and Aurell a last word of warning, I broke into a run.
I kicked off the ground and flew forward on the wind.
Fwoosh-!
Pressure burst behind me.
Every time I beat my wings, my body accelerated.
A headlong rush riding the air.
With that rapid advance, I reached the area near Seoul Station before long.
From far away, a massive beast came into view.
It was a creature far larger than an ordinary werewolf.
Fenril.
He didn't seem to be moving at all.
He just stood there, staring straight ahead with a vacant look.
Seen like this, he didn't look all that powerful.
Thinking that, I took a step toward him.
Step-
At the same time, Fenril moved.
His head, which had been fixed on the space ahead, snapped around to look at me.
His eyes, cold as ice, began to burn from within, turning bright red.
[KRRRRAAAAH!]
A great roar burst from deep inside him.
The strange, horrifying cry shook the air itself.
"Tch..."
A groan slipped out of me without thinking.
Cold sweat prickled down my back.
I hadn't realized it from a distance, but now that I was facing him directly, I could understand why the other users had given up on fighting Fenril.
Then, all at once—
Crash-!
Fenril kicked off the ground and charged.
The fused entities around him moved with him the moment he did.
The pressure of those massive muscles and that row of savage teeth was no joke.
I swallowed hard, twisted my body, and ran.
Bang-!
The ruined city flashed past as I sprinted, with Fenril racing hard after me.
Unlike me, leaping between collapsed buildings and using them as stepping stones through the air, Fenril used his enormous body to smash through anything that blocked his path.
Boom-!
Boom-!
Boom-!
Buildings began to topple one after another.
A huge commercial building that had already been half-collapsed finally gave way completely. From within the rubble, Fenril burst out and leaped into the air after me.
Crash-!
The distance between us closed in an instant.
At that moment, my evil eye relayed his attack range to me.
Red markers appeared over my thigh and chest.
I immediately beat my wings and changed direction.
At the same time, Fenril's razor-sharp claws sliced through empty air.
Shhhk-!
The frightening sound of air being cleaved apart.
Failing to land the attack, Fenril sprang forward again.
I didn't even have time to catch my breath.
I evaded Fenril's attacks and kept running at full speed.
If I hadn't had wings, my body would have been torn to pieces by his claws for sure.
How long had I been running like that? It wasn't even that far, but being chased by Fenril made every second drain my stamina.
I gasped for breath and shot up into the sky.
Fwoosh-!
A leap toward the pale moon.
Once I reached a high enough point, I used that brief hang time to locate the human users.
In that instant, my gaze met that of a human user standing at a distance.
He looked startled, then quickly drew a gun from behind him.
A precise aim trained on me.
Red markers appeared over my chest again.
If I didn't dodge, I would be hit.
I moved my wings and changed direction in midair.
Flap-!
Bang-!
A great gunshot rang out as a white flash streaked toward the sky.
At that exact moment, Fenril's gaze swung to the side.
He reacted strongly to the sound of the gunfire.
If the human user had seen both me and Fenril at once, he would never have fired.
But from where he stood, Fenril wasn't visible.
Unaware of Fenril's presence, the human user prepared his next shot.
At me.
The red marker appeared again.
I shifted my posture with another beat of my wings.
Right after that, another huge gunshot exploded.
Bang-!
The moment the shot rang out, Fenril moved.
His aggro had switched completely.
As Fenril's attention shifted, the fused entities following him switched targets as well.
I flapped my wings and slowly landed on top of a tall building.
"Aaaagh!"
The price for pulling Fenril's aggro was steep.
A desperate scream rang out from beyond the city.
At the same time, the smell of blood began to rise on the wind.
Bang! Bang! Bang-bang-bang!
[KRAAAAH!]
Fenril's roar mixed with the gunfire and spread across the ruined city.
I didn't move from where I landed, just in case.
I stayed still, wondering if Fenril would come chasing after me, but thankfully, he never returned.
I didn't have time to waste. I flew back to the building where Hwanggu and Aurell were waiting.
Flap-!
"Charlotte-nim!"
"Charlotte-nim!"
After a few beats of my wings carrying me over the space between buildings, the two girls came running out from inside.
Seeing that they were both fine, I let out a breath of relief.
-S-save meeeeee!
-Don't stop!
-Aaaaaaagh!!!
-Holy shiiit!!!
From beyond the tall buildings, I could hear the frantic cries of human voices.
I exchanged a glance with the children and moved to a suitable spot.
It turned out to be the second floor of some building.
When I leaned out slightly and looked outside, I could see the battle between the human users and Fenril.
The two human users who had been on lookout duty earlier were lying on the ground, their upper and lower bodies split apart.
The eight people who had been inspecting the sewer below were still alive—for now.
Just then, Fenril took the barrage of bullets meant for him straight into his body and charged at one of the humans.
-N-no, AAAAAH! Don't come any closer!!!
A scream like a death cry.
The human user kept spraying bullets at Fenril until the very end, but he still couldn't stop the charge.
Boom!
With a violent impact, the human user was sent flying.
From the way he flew, I could tell his arms and legs had bent in grotesque directions.
Of course, that wasn't the end of Fenril's attack.
He started running after the man he had sent flying.
Reaching him faster than the human could fall, Fenril snapped him up out of the air with his jaws.
Crack-!
-Aaaagh!
A hideous sound of bones breaking mixed with the human user's scream.
Even so, bullets continued to pour over Fenril's body.
I could see through my evil eye that his health was dropping little by little, but he didn't seem to care at all.
The humans chose to flee only after one more victim was taken.
-Run!
-Move, move, move!
Fenril had taken out another one using the same method as before.
At the sight of blood dripping from his sharp teeth, the humans seemed to have finally broken.
They hurriedly turned and mounted the motorcycles they had ridden in on.
Of course, Fenril wasn't about to just watch that happen.
Vrrroooom-!
He charged at the human who had just started the engine and was reaching for the throttle.
The moment the motorcycle's wheel spun, Fenril's jaws flew open and he bit down on the human user's shoulder.
Crunch!
-Aaaagh!
A great scream and a jet of red blood burst out at the same time.
The human user, his shoulder clamped in Fenril's mouth, reached out toward his comrades.
But his hand never made it.
His comrades chose escape over rescue.
Vrrroooom-!
With a rough roar from their engines, the five human users shot forward.
And just like that, Fenril was left alone.
After devouring every last one of the humans he had hunted, Fenril began to look around him.
His bloodshot red eyes swept over the area for a long while.
Finally, seeing nothing else nearby, Fenril returned to where he had been.
"Phew..."
Only then did a relieved breath escape me.
Aurell and Hwanggu seemed to relax as well, because they slumped down beside me.
The skin touching mine felt wonderfully soft.
"Ahem..."
I cleared my throat and stood up.
My curiosity had been satisfied, and what I wanted was now left over there.
With Fenril gone from the area, it was time to collect the spoils.
Unfortunately, the human users hadn't left behind any items.
It looked like Fenril had eaten the bodies and swallowed the loot with them.
"Sniff...! Sniff...!"
Hwanggu seemed bothered by the scents left on the ground, because he flattened himself low and started sniffing around.
Leaving Hwanggu behind, I approached the large motorcycle.
The one parked in the corner looked perfectly fine.
There was a bit of blood splashed on the outside, but that could be wiped off easily enough.
"You're going to ride this?"
"Yeah."
I nodded at Aurell's question and climbed onto the motorcycle.
A light jump, then I was seated.
"My feet don't reach the ground..."
I frowned and stretched my short legs out as far as they would go.
But they still didn't touch the ground.
And it wasn't just my legs that were short.
Even sitting comfortably, I couldn't reach the handlebars.
"Ugh..."
I stretched my hands and feet as far as I could, but short things didn't magically get longer.
How was I supposed to ride a motorcycle like this?
I brooded over it with a grave expression for a long while.
In the end, I thought of one solution.
"Aurell. Hwanggu."
"Yes?"
"Kneee?"
"Come here."
The method for riding the motorcycle.
It was simple: the three of us would merge together.
If we combined forces, somehow we'd make it work.
I pushed Aurell and Hwanggu toward the footboard.