Chapter 523: The Hour of the Dog and Wolf - 11
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 523: The Hour of the Dog and Wolf - 11
Fenrir and Azzy fought as they always had. They used their forelegs and claws to pin each other down, vying for a better position before baring their teeth. Though their forms were human, their essence was that of a dog. To truly end an opponent’s life, one had to use their fangs.
A brown furball and a gray furball trampled the ground, each stalking the other. They moved at a speed the eye couldn't follow. While the two Beast Kings waged their battle of the century, my eyes could only spin in their sockets.
Is this the helplessness of an ordinary human facing their destiny? I couldn't keep up with their strength, their speed, or even their senses. The moment I felt the wind blow, Azzy and Fenrir had already shot past me.
If I could read her thoughts, I could at least sync up with Azzy and provide support, but unfortunately, Azzy was a dog. The best I could do was use her and Jizan as a shield to stay out of Fenrir’s line of fire.
What good was collecting the Divine if my base stats were so lacking?
Perhaps he heard me click my tongue. For a split second, my eyes met Fenrir’s. Just as he bared his teeth, a glint in his eyes shot toward me like a meteor. Despite being about fifty meters away, Fenrir closed the distance with terrifying speed, aiming for my neck.
Azzy was too far. The only thing that could protect me now was Jizan. Before my mind could even process it, my body had already moved, grabbing my lifeline, Jizan.
Fenrir’s paw struck Jizan. A beat later, the shockwave slammed into my entire body. The dizzying sensation was brief; Jizan deflected Fenrir’s paw with only slight resistance. It seemed that even a Beast King could not overcome the Divine.
However, even with the same Divine, the outcome depends on the user's skill. Unlike me, who was staggering from a mere shockwave, Fenrir kicked off the ground again and leaped at me. I had no strength left to block. Even with a weapon like Jizan, I could only withstand a single clash.
“Woof! That’s cheating! Fight fair and square!”
But I wasn't alone. The moment I endured that one clash, a brown bullet slammed into Fenrir’s side. Azzy and Fenrir’s specs were nearly identical. When Azzy rammed him with her whole body, Fenrir’s form crumpled as he was sent flying into the distance.
I steadied my trembling body and made a cold calculation. This was my limit. With my own power, I could only take a single hit. Azzy could use that opening to land a blow on Fenrir, but… for a tightrope walk with my life on the line, the payoff was pathetic.
“Woof! You’re in the way!”
“That’s harsh. I’m trying to help.”
“Know your place!”
Even Azzy didn't seem too pleased. How ungrateful.
What could I use? The Divine? Even they were useless against such overwhelming power. Aside from Jizan, which was a relic of the Divine itself, the others were purely for support.
I have to get stronger. There’s no other way. For someone like me who couldn't even learn Qi Art, how could I possibly get stronger? It was impossible, but…
There was one thing. I took out a card I had been saving all this time.
The Hearts. Elixirs that brought about changes in the body.
After Qi Art became the main force in history, elixirs became obsolete. Qi Art, which completely separates the self from the world to be further honed, either doesn't receive the effects of elixirs or suffers adverse reactions. Thus, at some point, the term "elixir" came to mean a tonic that devoured one's Qi.
But the elixirs of old were different.
The strength of a bear, the senses of a hawk, unending courage, tireless persistence. The stamina to get back up even when injured. The original purpose of an elixir was to consume my future self to empower my present self.
I took out the Heart cards I had stored and drew them.
The Ace of Hearts was a potion to replenish blood, but I didn't have it now. I’d have to make do with Bloodcraft.
The Two of Hearts, Potion of Short Breath.
The Three of Hearts, Bear Tendon Potion.
The Four and Five, which eliminated pain and heightened focus, were gone, used last time.
The Six of Hearts, Sealing Potion.
I took out the 2, 3, and 6 and poured them into the Jack of Hearts.
Individually, they weren't very impressive potions. The Two of Hearts merely made the heart beat faster, and the Three of Hearts only released the limits that kept muscles from being damaged. The Six was a potion that temporarily healed internal injuries.
Even taking one of these trivial potions would leave me sick for days with side effects; taking three at once could be fatal. To minimize the side effects, I poured them into the Jack of Hearts for delicate adjustment.
The red potions seeped into the card, which depicted the portrait of a knight. As the three types of potions mixed, filling the card from bottom to top, color returned to the knight's body. I folded the now-vibrant card and poured the concoction into my mouth.
It was bitter, astringent, and painful. My tongue sent a series of warnings. It urged me to spit out what was entering my body immediately, telling me it would endanger me.
But I ignored it and swallowed the potion. My throat felt like it was on fire as the liquid went down.
After drinking it all, I threw the empty card. Thwack. It embedded itself halfway into a rock.
“Hah. Hah.”
My heart was pounding. Unlike the excitement before a battle, this was a distinctly artificial rhythm. Just taking a breath made my chest ache as if it would burst.
“Ah.”
A sharp pain shot through my palm. I looked down to see that I had clenched my fist so tightly that my nails had dug in, drawing blood. I wiped the blood away, smearing it, and muttered.
“I’m going to regret this tomorrow.”
My breathing was rapid, making my speech faster than usual. A throbbing ache rose from my joints. This must be the price my body was paying for breaking its limits without any Qi Art.
But tomorrow is a privilege for those who survive today. What matters is now.
I gripped Jizan tightly. I hadn't even used much force, yet my hand was white, drained of all blood.
I was still far from matching the power of Azzy and Fenrir… but this was the absolute limit my body could reach right now.
I aimed at a boulder and thrust Jizan forward. The blade sank into it as if cutting through tofu. When I lifted my arm, the boulder, skewered on Jizan, rose into the air. Dry gravel pattered onto the ground.
Lifting a boulder larger than a person was impossible even with my potion-enhanced strength, but with the recoilless sword Jizan, the impossible became reality. I used Earth Art to affix the boulder to Jizan and looked toward Azzy.
Azzy and Fenrir were still moving too fast to follow with my eyes. But the intervals at which I could see them had shortened. Observing their movements intently, I raised Jizan above my head.
The defining characteristic of humans is the use of tools. As the King of Humans, I can use any tool. The same applies to a relic of the Divine.
So, how does one use a tool? Naturally, a tool is used with the hands. And humans possess the physical abilities to use tools well with their hands. Or perhaps it was because they had such physical abilities that they used tools in the first place.
Grasping, throwing, swinging. Actions that beasts running on four legs cannot perform—the power of man as a beast.
I drew my entire body taut like a bowstring, then unleashed all my muscles at once, flinging Jizan. Wrist, arm, shoulder, waist, legs. Each part might be weak on its own, but their wide range of motion continuously added force. I extended my front leg and pulled my waist back. At the peak of acceleration, I snapped my wrist, and the boulder on Jizan shot forward, retaining all that speed.
A boulder launched from a catapult would naturally arc through the air. But the one I threw skimmed across the ground like a swallow. A stone thrown by a human enhanced by elixirs and aided by a tool flew with astonishing speed.
“Azzy! Get him!”
Fenrir’s ears twitched. Even a Beast King couldn't ignore a boulder dozens of times his own weight hurtling toward him. Just as Fenrir tried to dodge, Azzy grabbed hold of him.
She wagged her tail as if welcoming the incoming boulder.
“Woof!”
“Grrr! You…!”
How many times do you think Azzy has caught my throws? She knew what I was doing the moment I started preparing.
Azzy shoved Fenrir. Colliding with a boulder several times his size, Fenrir was sent tumbling into the distance.
A single effective hit is small but precious. Even a boulder thrown with all my might was nothing more than being hit by a rock to a Beast King. However, a boulder flying at him during a tense fight with an equal was an incredibly annoying distraction for Fenrir.
“Awoooo! Human!”
Fenrir, having lost his patience, charged at me. At that moment, Azzy shot out like an arrow and caught his ankle. Even if he had the upper hand, Azzy and Fenrir possessed nearly equal strength. He didn't have the luxury of shaking her off to attack me.
And another thing.
Crash, crash. Each time a boulder landed, an explosive sound erupted. Weight itself is a weapon. The Beast Kings, whose bodies were light despite their immense power, were swept back by the shattered debris.
I threw another boulder, aiming for the brief moment Azzy had Fenrir pinned. Fenrir, having finally shaken her off, shattered the rock with his paw. The boulder exploded into pieces in mid-air.
The attack was nullified, but in that opening, Azzy charged in again. Just robbing Fenrir of the chance to press his advantage against Azzy was a major success.
…Whether it could truly be called a success, I wasn't so sure.
“I’d appreciate it if you hurt as much as I do.”
I felt a pain in my limbs that shouldn't be there. I was trying my best to ignore it, but it felt like my right arm had gotten slightly longer than my left.
Throwing heavy objects puts a strain on the body even without elixirs. Pushing myself with strength beyond my limits was making my body scream.
“I need one more. Azzy and I aren't enough.”
As I drove Jizan into another boulder, the sound of rapid footsteps approached me. Two wolves leaped out and lunged at me.
“You want to play ball, too?”
Swinging it like before would be too slow. Instead, I smacked the side of the boulder hard with Jizan’s flat. Hundreds, thousands of stone fragments burst out like a bomb, embedding themselves in the wolves’ fur. They faltered from the impact for a moment, then let out a scream-like howl and leaped for my arms and legs.
“Tch.”
I twisted Jizan and plunged it into the ground like a key. My Earth Art could only push and pull the ground a little, but with Jizan, I could perform it on a much larger scale. At Jizan’s command, a horn of rock shot up from the ground and struck one wolf in the abdomen. Perhaps because it had never experienced this kind of attack, the wolf let out a pathetic cry and was thrown back.
The other wolf, which had managed to dodge, pounced on me. It planted its paws on my chest and shoulders and thrust its snout forward. I felt an impact like a gunshot, but before I could even register it, sharp fangs were closing in on my face.
Even as my body was pushed back, I planted my rear foot. I used the strength of my waist and legs to absorb the wolf’s charge—something I could only do now, strengthened by the elixir. The momentarily stunned wolf’s jaw was met with an uppercut from my palm.
I couldn't control my strength, and my left wrist sprained. The drooling snout narrowly missed me. Now it was my turn to counter. I gripped Jizan and swung it upward in a wide arc.
Jizan served its purpose as a club perfectly. The upward strike to the wolf’s underbelly sent it flying nearly thirty meters into the air. As I moved to finish off the flailing wolf, I suddenly sensed a murderous intent and slammed Jizan into the ground instead.
“Awooooooooo!”
The ground beneath me sank, and a wall of earth and rock rose to encircle me. Fenrir burst through the hastily made fortress, shattering it in an instant.
“Woof woof! Run!”
Azzy, who had followed him, screamed desperately, but now that I was face-to-face with Fenrir, it was practically checkmate. Fenrir charged, taking advantage of the opening the wolves had created. A mere graze would be a fatal blow. I tried to block, but Fenrir, having learned about Jizan, came at me with his entire body. Sharp attacks flew in from outside the area Jizan could defend.