Chapter 524: The Time of the Dog and Wolf - 12
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 524: The Time of the Dog and Wolf - 12
My strongest card was Jizan. Not even the Wolf King could overcome this club, imbued with the power of the Divine. I had to stop the formidable Fenrir with Jizan alone.
How? Dammit. If I knew how, I’d be the Regressor in this story.
There was only one thing I could do. I twisted Jizan diagonally, creating a wall that spanned from the wolf’s shoulder to its flank—a barrier he couldn’t pass without shifting his center of gravity.
This left Fenrir with two choices: either bypass Jizan to attack, or crash into it and attack me anyway.
I would have been in trouble if he’d chosen the former. Even strengthened by the elixir, I’d be dead if I had to trade more than a blow or two with such an overwhelmingly powerful foe. It might be a different story if Azzy or another powerhouse arrived in time to help, but that was out of my hands.
But I was banking on the wolf’s savagery.
“Keng…!”
He slammed into Jizan without slowing in the slightest. The tremendous velocity transformed into a momentary shock that rattled Fenrir’s body.
At the same time, a violent shock coursed through my own body. Fenrir’s foreleg, extending past Jizan, struck my shoulder. The image was seared onto my retinas, and then my vision went black for a moment.
Pain erupted as if my back and waist had been bludgeoned. My bones must have pierced my lungs, because my body started convulsing. When I came to, I was lying upside down, a good distance from where I’d been standing.
I had anticipated it, more or less, and reacted accordingly. I had won the psychological battle I’d waged with Jizan.
But the stakes were far too lopsided. The single blow Fenrir had delivered, accepting only a scratch in return, had wrecked my body. My side screamed in agony as if it had burst open, and I couldn’t feel my left arm at all.
I was lucky to still be holding Jizan, but if Fenrir decided to press his advantage… my life would be forfeit, win or lose.
“Woof! Woof woof!”
Azzy lunged, barking furiously. She stuck to Fenrir, giving him no room to shake her off as she attacked relentlessly.
“Fight me!”
But Fenrir was cunning. He began to use me. Seizing a moment when he’d created some distance from Azzy, he charged toward me. Startled, Azzy scrambled to intercept him to protect me, but it was a feint. Fenrir instantly whipped his head around and pinned the off-balance Azzy to the ground.
“I have no need for you, dog. Without your savagery, you’re just a nuisance.”
“Woof woof! Don’t run away!”
If she let him go, I would die. Realizing this, Azzy dug her claws into Fenrir even as she was pinned down. But holding on meant she couldn’t counterattack. As if he’d been waiting for it, the moment her claws sank in, Fenrir smashed his forepaw into Azzy’s face.
CRASH. Azzy’s body sank a few inches into the ground. Still pinning her, Fenrir spoke.
“Humans try to turn everything into a tool. That is their savagery. They try to make me a dog, to tame and use me.”
“Woof! Woof! Whine…!”
“If you wish to make a tool of me, you must first overcome my savagery.”
Thud, thud, thud. The ground shook with every blow from his paw. Even as she was driven deeper into the earth, Azzy refused to retract her claws. Because if she let go, I would die.
Knowing this, Fenrir struck her again and again.
“Awoooo! Savagery is not for humans alone!”
Blood trickled from the corner of Azzy’s mouth. Despite her wretched state, Fenrir raised his paw to strike again without hesitation.
Just then, Jizan came spinning through the air. It wasn’t a threatening throw, but it couldn’t be ignored. As Fenrir ducked to avoid it, Azzy shoved him hard and scrambled free.
Though he’d lost his advantage, Fenrir instantly knew where Jizan had come from. And he also knew that I now had nothing left to protect myself.
His eyes met mine as I panted, having thrown my only weapon. There was nothing between me and Fenrir now. He barked as if to devour me and leaped forward.
“Yes. This is a fight for survival.”
And then, a shadow, faint as a ghost, suddenly appeared. Two blades like fangs clamped down from above Fenrir’s head and below his jaw.
Sensing danger, Fenrir’s tail shot straight up. He twisted his body in mid-air to evade the blades. But Grul’s daggers elongated like snakes, scoring wounds across Fenrir’s body. Two sprays of blood scattered in the air.
“Grrrrr!”
Fenrir bared his teeth, glaring at the interloper. His surprise attack having failed, Grul simply grinned and shouted.
“This kind of fight suits my style much better than all that political and diplomatic nonsense! Fighting to survive. How simple and clear!”
Grul of the Beast Faction. I had no idea what took him so long, but the man who had reached the Axiom had finally joined the fight. Though I had to wonder what his deal was, shouting so triumphantly despite being late.
“You’re late…”
“You held out just fine, didn’t you? You’re alive, that’s what matters.”
As he replied nonchalantly, Fenrir charged him. His speed was immense, befitting the Beast King. It was a velocity that simple Qi Arts couldn’t even react to, but Grul flickered like an illusion and vanished from before Fenrir.
“Against the Wolf King, even I am at risk if I don’t prepare the ground beforehand.”
To call it ‘fast’ felt wrong. No matter how agile one was, there should have been the motion of pushing off the ground and extending one’s legs. But Grul moved at a speed surpassing Fenrir’s by merely sliding his feet, without any visible steps or leg movements.
“While you and the Dog King were fighting, I prepared all the ground in this vicinity. In this domain, I am now faster than anyone.”
Grul moved his feet. As if the ground itself had propelled him, he vanished from sight in an instant and reappeared behind Fenrir. Fenrir twisted to defend himself, but Grul, as if expecting it, followed at an angle, slashing wildly with his daggers.
Logically, a mere human should stand no chance against the Beast King, but those who have reached the Axiom transcend logic. Wounds began to accumulate on Fenrir’s body, which had been barely scratched while fighting Azzy.
‘Even daggers wreathed in Qi aren’t cutting deep. If this were a real wolf, that attack would have severed its entire leg.’
Even as he pressed his assault, Grul didn’t let his guard down. A human opponent would have been decapitated ten times over by now, but Fenrir merely glared at Grul with blazing eyes, even as the daggers sliced into him.
‘He doesn’t even flinch from the pain or show any fear. This is troublesome.’
Seizing a brief lull in the attack, Fenrir lunged like a lightning bolt. Grul reflexively used Ground Shift to move. He reappeared about thirty meters away, staggering from a sudden impact. In that brief instant, Fenrir’s claws had grazed him.
‘A speed I can’t possibly match without Ground Shift. Anyone who hasn’t reached the Axiom would be nothing but a meat shield. And even this…’
“Awoooo!”
Ground Shift allowed for rapid movement over short distances, but it was unsuitable for long-range travel since the ground had to be prepared in advance. It couldn’t be explained with simple numbers, but the area Grul had prepared was roughly 500 meters wide. He had to settle this before he used it all up.
But the difference in raw power was substantial. Shrouding his entire body in Qi, he thrust his blades at the charging Fenrir. Fenrir instantly dropped low and closed the distance.
Grul tried to strike with his knee, then bring his blades down on Fenrir as he was knocked airborne. But Fenrir’s teeth were faster, sinking into the approaching knee. The power of a wolf’s jaws was common knowledge. Horrified, Grul blasted Fenrir away with Qi and used Ground Shift to create distance. A cold sweat ran down his back.
‘It’s just a brutish, artless charge, but it’s devastating on its own.’
…The moment he thought that, Fenrir whipped his head around and immediately gave chase. A chill ran down Grul’s spine.
He had seen Ground Shift three times now. In that short span, he had learned from it and figured out where Grul would escape. Just as Grul braced for impact…
“Woof woof woof!”
Azzy burst onto the scene, sinking her teeth into Fenrir. Fenrir immediately grabbed Azzy by the scruff of her neck and slammed her into the ground, but the momentary distraction allowed Grul to leap away, putting five or six steps between them.
‘This would have been a difficult fight without the Dog King. I’m starting to see why they’re so reluctant to fight without her.’
At least Grul was better off. He had the power to fight in this chaotic melee.
The warriors of the Beast Faction were fighting the wolves nearby. Baskerville and the priest had encountered the Regressor.
There would never be a better chance than now. I forced my trembling body to its feet. It hurt, and my head was spinning, but the elixir’s effects were potent, and my limbs moved with ease.
I’m really going to regret this tomorrow. Taking advantage of their fight, I retrieved Jizan and prepared one final trap to catch Fenrir.
The battle raged on. Grul, with his prepared ground, and Azzy, pushed Fenrir back. When Fenrir was focused on one, the other would leap in to strike at an opening. Under their combined assault, Fenrir was slowly taking damage.
But deep down, they all felt it.
‘We’re missing a decisive blow! The fight won’t end like this!’
I couldn’t read a beast’s thoughts, but Fenrir and Azzy were likely thinking the same thing. That must be why Fenrir used me as bait to catch Azzy earlier.
That’s right. We lacked a single, powerful blow that could tear through his hide and scramble his insides—one that would work even on the Beast King. We needed a powerful Axiom, a spell, or the power of a relic like Chun-aeng.
…And right now, Jizan was in my hands.
I had to be the one.
“Wolf. It’s time to admit defeat.”
You used me as bait to catch Azzy, didn’t you? Well, now it’s my turn.
I have to use myself as bait to lure Fenrir in.
“You are the Beast King, and you gained your power by representing the savagery of other animals… but you know the truth, don’t you, Wolf? The masters of this world are human.”
Fenrir’s ears twitched. The Beast King had taken human form to communicate with humans. I reminded him of that as I continued.
“A single pig beastkin who has reached the Axiom is fighting you on nearly equal terms. And it doesn’t have to be Qi Arts; we can create magic or devices that could kill you. The power of a single city is as strong as the pack you lead. If the king of a nation were to march, your pack of wolves would be annihilated in an instant.”
My words brought the fight to a brief standstill. Despite having a more threatening enemy right beside him, Fenrir glared at me with blazing eyes.
“If you can’t win, submission is an option. Azzy may look stupid, but she’s actually the wise one.”
“Woof? Stupid?”
“Yes. Your stupidity is what allowed you to become a friend to humans.”
As Azzy tilted her head, a question mark appearing above it after my surprise insult, Fenrir bared his teeth and roared.
“You tell me to run because I’m not strong enough? To hide my fangs instead of baring them? Human, is that what you would do? Will you submit? Will you kill your own savagery?”
“No. I don’t have to. I’m human, after all.”
If humanity was strong, then that strength was mine. And I was already submitting, to a degree. I couldn’t afford a pointless death.
“But you’re a wolf. You could die and be reborn a thousand times and never defeat humanity. Whether it’s savagery or something else, survival comes first. And to survive, isn’t it better to pull your fangs, clip your claws, and cast aside your savagery?”
“If you want to do that…!”
Fenrir kicked off the ground. He moved with such speed and agility that both Grul and Azzy lost him for a second as he charged, intent on killing me.
“Then do it! Pull my fangs, clip my claws! Grind away all my savagery and tame me! Break me with your savagery, and make me your dog!”