#49 Advent of the Demon Wolf (4)
#49 Advent of the Demon Wolf (4)
A horn sprouted from the Mountain Goat's brow. The half-man, half-beast body of the biped twisted and contorted grotesquely before reshaping into an ominous quadrupedal form—unmistakably a Mountain Goat. Its brown fur faded to ash gray, and it bared vicious fangs ill-suited to its species as it exhaled thick, steaming breath. Its pupils turned black, and its frame, which had stood just under three meters, swelled steadily larger.
'...'
Descent—the now utterly transformed Mountain Goat slammed its hooves against the earth. It grew without limit, and the plaza floor, barely intact to begin with, shattered completely under the charge of a beast now massing dozens of tons. The ground-rumbling was nearly seismic. Slipping away into the shadows was impossible. The Wolf kicked off its foothold and leapt, clearing dozens of meters in a single bound, and the Mountain Goat surged upward right behind it. The Wolf spread its spiritual field, aiming to smother the Mountain Goat's face, but a vast surge of magical power erupted outward and swept the shadow aside. Just as it had tried to force its way into the creature's mouth, the Wolf used a gust of wind and Elasticity to twist itself free, leaping higher.
"...!"
The plummeting Mountain Goat threw up a colossal cloud of dust, and then its silhouette deepened. It was unmistakably springing upward again. The Wolf fired a volley of burning spikes, but they couldn't incinerate the enormous Mountain Goat. Its vast jaws gaped open, a swarm of corruption flew out, and a blood-red tongue flicked and writhed.
Spikes and swarm collided, falling as ash. The ashen Mountain Goat launched itself even higher than the Wolf and began its descent, its shadow falling over everything. Fog surged toward the beast as it stretched its head forward as if to swallow the Wolf whole, but even the Black Mist couldn't blanket a body that massive. Dodging wasn't the hard part—the Mountain Goat simply hurled itself back into the air in pursuit a moment later. To any onlooker it might have looked like light, nimble hopping, but the surroundings were being reduced to utter ruin.
'I need to put distance between us.'
Every time the Mountain Goat's hooves met the ground, the floor fractured, spraying debris like dozens of claymores detonating at once. Shrapnel that flew toward the hunters was swallowed by "something invisible." The Mountain Goat narrowed its eyes at that, but soon forgot it and leapt toward the Wolf again.
'...!'
Those black pupils reflected only the Wolf. I tried to pull as far away as possible to keep the hunters from getting caught up in it, but that wasn't easy. Just before those gaping jaws finally caught me, I unfurled my spiritual field.
Faster than the Mountain Goat could draw up its magical power, wind-wreathed fog pressed down and smothered the mana-storm. An instant before being devoured, I spread my spiritual field over the fog-suppressed space and blanketed it. The Mountain Goat, unable to swallow the Wolf that had vanished into the shadows, landed and shook its head in frustration. Before the wind could scatter the fog, the Wolf burst out first and raced across the Mountain Goat's head. The beast shook its head madly, trying to throw off the endlessly sprinting Wolf, but it wasn't going to be dislodged that easily.
The Wolf finally made it to the top of the head, its eyes blazing with intensity. Staring into those limitless black pupils, the Wolf loosed a low, rumbling growl.
"―――."
Realizing it couldn't shake the Wolf off, the Mountain Goat drove its head into the ground. But before it could, black fog bored into its pupils, tormenting it. Just before the beast's skull smashed into the floor, the Wolf landed lightly and opened a subspace with its Stowage skill.
—A long, wickedly sharp scythe. The Executioner's scythe, crafted as if modeled after a grim reaper's own, revealed itself.
The Mountain Goat had succeeded in throwing the Wolf off as it wanted, but the horn that had grown from its brow was now deeply embedded in the floor, and pulling its head free was no easy task. In that interval, the Wolf gripped the retrieved scythe tightly with multiple tentacles.
As the Mountain Goat thrashed blindly, its pupils gnawed away by the fog, gray magical power began to gather in the scythe the Wolf held. Snatch Predation—mana stolen when the Wolf had bitten into the nape of the Mountain Goat's neck as it had leapt into the air earlier.
The Executioner's scythe slashed down at its owner. Severing that massive neck—a thick column of dense, hardened muscle—in a single blow was too much to ask. But just as the Mountain Goat had done, the gray mana became a cutting stroke.
The neck was nearly halfway severed when the thrashing Mountain Goat ripped its horn free from the floor, raised its head, and broke into a frantic sprint. No amount of Regeneration could easily restore a wound like this—especially not now, with black fog burrowing into it. The Mountain Goat opened its mouth and spewed out every last bit of its swarm of corruption, and soon the writhing things spilled endlessly alongside its saliva, crawling across the floor.
False Immortality. That was the only skill the Mountain Goat had left to believe in. But faster than the Mountain Goat—which had sensed the nearest monster and brightened—could react, a shadow covered the monster and erased it. The enraged Mountain Goat stomped its feet, leaving deep, distinct hoof-prints behind.
Just one. If it could devour just one, it would work. The Mountain Goat's head swiveled, but it belatedly realized it couldn't see. The few remaining monsters had long since been caught up in the Mountain Goat's own movements, killed by flying debris, and swallowed by the Wolf. —And so, the Mountain Goat began eating the floor itself.
"...?!"
—The corrupt swarm it had spewed earlier. The Mountain Goat devoured it all, as if chewing its own cud, and False Immortality began reversing its wounds.
'What the...'
The swarm of corruption the Mountain Goat commanded—the snakes and insects—were undeniably living creatures. Thinking back, there was no reason why False Immortality wouldn't trigger, but the Wolf let out a flabbergasted chuff of laughter anyway. Wasn't it outright cheating that False Immortality could activate just by eating the snakes and insects it had been commanding inside its own body? When the Wolf checked with Clairvoyance, it was at least reassuring to see there didn't appear to be any more commanded swarms inside it.
Its wounds fully restored, the Mountain Goat roared. Then its bulk began to shrink. It had voluntarily abandoned Descent and returned to its half-man, half-beast form. It had judged that fighting the Wolf in its giant Descent state was disadvantageous. In response, the Wolf brandished the scythe, as if to say: go ahead and try to take it back if you want. The Mountain Goat glared with blazing eyes.
'That should do it.'
The far side of the plaza. They were now a considerable distance from the place where the hunters were fighting the White Lion. Just then, a fine, powdery snow began to fall, and before anyone knew it, magical power had taken form in the upper air, shaping itself into a snow flower.
As if refusing to give the Wolf time to be distracted, the Mountain Goat charged. It reached out with both hands as if to seize and twist the Wolf apart. The Wolf used Stowage to slip the scythe back into the subspace. Better than having that unfamiliar weapon snatched away by the Mountain Goat. Baring its teeth, the Wolf immediately used Elasticity. Still, shaking off the Mountain Goat was impossible. The distance steadily closed, and in an instant, the Wolf burst a gust of wind at it. The Mountain Goat shut its eyes. Shadow surged high and smothered the Mountain Goat, and by the time it detonated its magical power, the shadow had already ravaged its entire body.
Blood welled up everywhere, and the Mountain Goat roared in fury, using its magic to rush forward in a storming charge. The Wolf dodged once, but it couldn't keep running forever from a Mountain Goat that bounded around in relentless pursuit. Just as it tried to blanket the Mountain Goat with rising shadow again, the beast finally caught the Wolf, the corners of its mouth curling upward. An immeasurable grip strength clamped around the Wolf's ankle. The Wolf bit into the Mountain Goat's hand at once. Using Evil Predation, it tore through the Mountain Goat's wrist and severed it—while simultaneously, the Mountain Goat ripped the Wolf's ankle off with brute, mindless force.
Detached body parts. In a bizarre tableau, the Mountain Goat's severed hand still clutched the Wolf's torn ankle. The two beasts snarled at each other, and shadow consumed the fallen pieces. It was unlikely it could use False Immortality with just one ankle... but you never knew.
"Grrrrr—"
As the two beasts snarled at each other, the Mountain Goat furrowed its brow. For some reason, the Regeneration of its wound was slow... In that instant, something flickered in the Mountain Goat's vision.
It couldn't see it. But it could feel that something was undeniably there. Something that shimmered like a heat haze. As a creeping black fog covered it with an inscrutable, concealing air, the Wolf lunged. Unlike the Wolf, whose ankle had already finished Regeneration, the Mountain Goat hadn't even regenerated its palm. The Mountain Goat raised its reverse-jointed leg high to kick the Wolf away, but the Wolf stopped just out of reach. Fierce wind ruffled the Wolf's fur, but the hoof never made contact.
That's how it was supposed to be.
The Mountain Goat lowered its leg and staggered. Its balance, its elevation—something was wrong. Lowering its head with an expressionless stare, the Mountain Goat registered that something had eaten its hoof. It looked at the Wolf as if it couldn't comprehend. Both of them had clearly been staring at each other, but the Wolf's focus was off. As if it was looking at something other than the Mountain Goat.
'... I get it now.'
I hadn't known how to use it until now. I'd only dimly draped it over shadows. And then, what—used it to erase flying debris?
'That's not it.'
This power wasn't meant for something so trivial. I understood now. How to use it. What kind of ability it truly was. When the Wolf fixed its mind on a certain thought with conviction, the power finally began to reveal its true nature.
"―――!"
A howl. The Wolf's howl rang out, striking the plaza walls and echoing back endlessly.
'—I erase it.'
Watching the approaching Mountain Goat, the Wolf's eyes scattered dark light. The Mountain Goat, which had been charging at the Wolf, cocked its head. Because its wrist, which had clearly been regenerated, was gone. No—was in the process of vanishing. The Mountain Goat hastily retreated, putting distance between them, and focused magical power into its eyes. Only then could it see it.
The thing that had been hiding itself in the black fog was devouring space itself, beginning to encroach upon the entire area. The Wolf's jaws slowly parted as it scattered a blood-red glare from its eyes.
'I devour...!'
The Devourer. The thing that spread from the Wolf once it recognized itself raised a shimmering heat-haze with its boundless greed.
***
The Snowell raid proceeded smoothly. One reason was that the creature had blocked the maze passage and wasn't making any large moves, but Kang Tae-jun joining the fight was also a major factor. Kang Tae-ho and Kang Tae-jun. The twin chariots leading Dawn. The two brothers ravaged the White Lion with their half-shattered swords.
"―――!"
But bringing it down wouldn't be easy. The White Lion's B-rank skill, Rock Skin, wasn't something even the two brothers could pierce easily. What was certain was that the wounds were steadily multiplying. The titles Sword Saint and Swordmaster weren't given for nothing. Though wounded and leading exhausted bodies, they steadily overwhelmed Snowell. But they couldn't land the finishing blow—and then, at last.
"Îngheață într-un viscol, ―Zero Absolut!"
—The Grand Magic was complete. As beautiful snow flowers descended, Snowell—which had stood firm until then—had no choice left. In the end, Snowell rose from the maze boundary. In that instant, Baek Gun-tae shouted.
"A path has opened! Prepare to enter!"
Hunters scattered away from the charging White Lion. If the Grand Magic hit, surely even Snowell would fall. But there was something to resolve first. They had to save the mage Hayeon—the origin point of the magic—from the White Lion that was charging straight at her.
"―――――!"
Hayeon caught her breath toward the charging monster and, without waiting, dropped the snow flower above her own head. Falling snow flower. The approaching White Lion. As a splitting headache forced Hayeon to clutch her temples and stagger, Eun Ja-rim rushed in like a bolt of lightning and wrapped her arms around her.
'Too late...!'
Running from the White Lion was pointless. They'd be caught in moments. On top of that, they had to escape the Grand Magic's area of effect. After a desperate sprint, the White Lion caught up to the pair and raised a massive paw to crush them—and at the moment they thought they couldn't dodge, both of them vanished. Still running on its own momentum, the White Lion couldn't control its force and slammed into the plaza wall. With an enormous crash, the wall collapsed and buried the White Lion.
"Hooooo..."
Having narrowly escaped disaster, the two let out relieved sighs. Thick, steaming breath flowed out with them. Even without being caught in the magic, their hands and feet felt cold, as if they'd been frostbitten. Despite Hayeon's blue-tinged, pallid complexion and her stumbling as if about to collapse at any second, a sprinkle of light powder made her feel considerably better.
"Kyu-kyu!"
At the sight of the creature looking triumphant as if demanding thanks, both of them gave a weary chuckle. —The realization that the battle was over settled in.
"...Let's go."
Now all they had to do was escape the dungeon. Just as Hayeon, supported by Eun Ja-rim and pallid as a ghost, was walking toward the maze boundary,
"...?"
Rustle. Shaking off the fragments of the collapsed wall as if it was nothing at all, the White Lion rose again.
"...!"
And simultaneously, the plaza began to tremble. —The collapse of the Supreme Malice dungeon, Neverland. The dungeon was closing.