Chapter 239
Chapter 239
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 239
Chapter Title: Disaster Wolf
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Before he could even realize its identity, Ramin's body reacted to the danger first.
Ramin's blade shot forward like a coiled spring releasing, slashing down at the werewolf's bowed nape.
But the blade was blocked with a sharp clang!.
The werewolf had already completed its transformation, shedding its human guise to reveal the form of a beast covered in stiff fur.
Just like the player 「癤우삤瑜쇰씪」 who had appeared alongside vampires on the 3rd Continent, this mysterious player known to 1st Continent players as 「?뷀듃留?」 had shown up with the werewolves.
However, while most races could be infected by vampires, the werewolf curse only spread to what players called "humanoid" races—humans, elves, dwarves, and the like. Thanks to multiple nations banding together to suppress it swiftly, the spread was contained.
The werewolves on the 1st Continent ended up in much the same situation as the Empire's vampires.
Unlike vampires, who needed to drink others' blood, the feral savagery and thirst for violence in werewolves were no less dangerous.
After the Demon God's death, they scattered, with some drifting to the 2nd Continent.
The Union Kingdom was no slouch when it came to racial discrimination either, but their standards differed from other nations.
The Enraged One had taken notice of the werewolves' strength. Despite their violent nature, he promised to take them in if they proved their worth.
'And the werewolf in front of me must be the result of that promise.'
The wolf's face came into Ramin's view—long snout bared with densely packed fangs, growling fiercely.
The werewolf gripped Ramin's sword with one hand, its blade caught on the creature's claws.
"Is that all you've got? Empire vampire?"
Ramin wielded both hands; the werewolf used just one.
It was a gap in strength that Ramin could hardly comprehend.
Abandoning the contest of power, Ramin moved one hand to draw his second sword.
Or tried to.
-Thud!
The impact felt like being smashed by a tree trunk. Ramin's body launched upward.
He smashed through the stone passage's ceiling, flew into the air, then crashed back to the ground.
'...What? What just happened?'
He'd instinctively assumed a defensive stance, but even that left his forearms throbbing and his back burning. Something was broken or fractured. The pain hit late, and Ramin swallowed a groan.
It was the werewolf's fist that had struck him.
'Even for a werewolf, this kind of power...'
Ramin rolled quickly and rose to his feet.
The ceiling above where he'd lain shattered and rained down debris.
The werewolf leaped straight up onto the passage in a single bound, revealing itself fully under the sunlight.
Ramin spotted the silver fur and realized its true nature.
"...The Disaster Wolf?"
The silver-furred werewolf, now more than twice its previous size, strode forward on two legs.
The werewolf spoke.
"That's right. I am Ariega Rob, the seventh apostle of the Enraged One."
Ramin belatedly felt bile rising in his throat.
Ariega Rob—the Demon King's descendant, leader of a werewolf pack that came to the 2nd Continent and submitted to the Enraged One. The King of Werewolves.
'So I was found out after all.'
Even while directly commanding numerous units, the Enraged One hadn't missed the intruders in the Sky Fortress.
But managing units personally was demanding, so he'd sent a proxy.
Sending an apostle to catch mere intruders might seem excessive, but for the Enraged One, it was the safest approach.
'Having to face an apostle...'
If Owen were here, maybe. But Ramin believed facing an apostle alone was impossible.
'No, think differently. One apostle here means the enemy's forces are poorly distributed. If I hold out with everything I've got...'
Hold out, staking his life.
He had no choice.
Ariega was an apostle of the Union Kingdom, but even Ramin had heard of his reputation.
This werewolf had once stormed a small kingdom that refused entry to his pack, seizing the royal castle in a single night. He'd even slain a dragon single-handedly, though wounded.
All feats from his mortal days.
'Nothing like a nobody like me.'
Ramin felt a chill run down his spine.
It was a familiar sensation now.
The thrill when standing on a cliff's edge, peering down as his vision expanded.
Not just the view, but discovering something deeper, darker. A sense of achievement.
The feeling when embracing death.
'This must be the final sensation those who sacrificed themselves in the Pantheon felt.'
Ramin embraced it.
Drawing his second sword, Ramin said,
"Come at me, you..."
Ramin pondered a taunt.
"Puppy."
"...Puppy."
Ariega seemed stunned—bewilderment plain even on his wolfish face—but after a brief pause, he took the bait as intended, feeling insulted.
"...Hah, I won't waste much time on trash like you."
Ariega charged.
'Fast. But...'
Ramin narrowed his eyes.
'I can see it.'
Ramin couldn't match Ariega's speed or power, but he predicted its movements from the beast's form and muscle shifts.
Dodging two alternating swipes from its forepaws,
Ramin drove his knee into Ariega's distracted jaw, wary of the sword.
'Heavy...!'
It felt like kneeing a boulder.
But Ramin had another way to compensate for his lacking strength.
-Zzzt!
As Ramin's knee smashed Ariega's jaw, crackling electric sparks pierced through the wolf's chin and skull.
Ariega's eyes flashed wide from the electric shock's agony.
"...You bastard!"
But Ariega showed no paralysis as Ramin had hoped, despite the shock.
Planting both forepaws, Ariega launched into the air, pulled in its belly, and coiled both hind legs.
An utterly unexpected, bizarre motion.
The werewolf's legs rocketed into Ramin's chest.
'...Air!'
Air fled his lungs in an instant; prior damage compounded, splitting his chest with pain.
Ramin's body floated up, flew dozens of meters, hit the ground, and tumbled several more rolls.
Lying spread-eagled staring at the sky, Ramin barely lifted his head.
Ariega bounded over in one leap, landing before him.
-Boom!
'At this rate, I'm dead.'
Ramin tried to rise, but blood erupted in a cough.
His chest soaked in his own spew.
Ariega wiped his singed jaw and said,
"Surprised me for a second... but that's it? Amazing you're still alive. Vampires really are tough."
Ariega approached.
"I'll end your suffering now."
Enduring agony, Ramin propped up his torso.
But his legs wouldn't move.
More precisely, his abdominal muscles and tendons seemed torn.
'I can still fight, right? Get up!'
Muttering to himself, Ramin forced his drooping eyes wide.
Then he noticed the air shimmering at the edge of his vision.
Something was moving.
'What?'
At first too small to identify, but peering closer, it sliced through clouds at tremendous speed.
And it aimed straight for none other than Ariega's back, closing in.
'No way...'
Ramin grasped one truth.
Just as the Enraged One had peered at him, the Pantheon was watching Ramin.
'First, during the fall.'
Leaping without a parachute, yet fierce winds had cradled the three like feathers for a gentle landing atop the Sky Fortress.
'Then, it deflected the bullets.'
Too fast to notice then, but amid the ambush, Ramin hadn't taken a single hit.
Hard to call coincidence.
Some force lingered around Ramin.
'And as the Sky Fortress nears the Lasdasil ruins and Empire lands, that power grows stronger.'
Exactly.
Now, the Pantheon's third miracle was prepared for Ramin.
As Ramin anticipated what came next and smiled, Ariega Rob said,
"What's so funny?"
Ramin waved dismissively.
Ignoring Ramin's attitude, Ariega moved to close in—but his animal instincts screamed to look back.
As a warrior of the Enraged One, turning from an enemy was foolish.
But Ariega was a werewolf. He trusted his instincts, and that faith had elevated him to apostle.
"...?"
What Ariega saw was a pointed lead shell.
Just one a meter in diameter.
"...!"
No time to dodge.
Ariega reflexively thrust out his forepaws to block. Ramin saw nothing after.
-Boom!
Ariega vanished from Ramin's view with the shell. Only scattering debris, frictional heat from the projectile, and the roar of torn air followed.
Ramin rose and looked where the shell had struck Ariega.
Dust billowed from where it had embedded between the Sky Fortress's complex stone walls.
'The Mobility's main gun packs this much punch.'
─┼
Lunda asked,
"Did it hit?"
"It hit."
The main gun rounds from the Mobility had abysmal accuracy.
But they soared into the sky, riding winds across the atmosphere.
In other words, control the skies, and you dictate where and how the main gun hits.
With command of the vast skies, Seongun realigned wind paths for the Mobility's shell.
Then hurled the Mobility's warhead straight at their top threat: Hegemonia's apostle.
Having a weapon that could intercept an apostle in some fashion held immense strategic value.
"Dead?"
"Hope so."
Expecting the dust to settle, Seongun adjusted other battlefronts briefly.
Lunda, watching Seongun's screen, said,
"Not dead? Next shell from the Mobility won't arrive for a bit."
Seongun waved it off.
"Doesn't matter."
─┼
From the ruins, Ariega Rob rose—beautiful silver fur caked in dust and blood.
Blocking and evading a shell the size of his torso had shredded his left shoulder: flesh gouged, skin torn by friction, raw meat exposed.
But Ariega snorted out nasal blood, then leaped to a nearby watchtower.
Spotting Ramin from there.
Ramin saw Ariega too and tightened his grip on his sword.
'He took massive impact. Damage-wise, Ariega's far worse. Without being an apostle, he'd be dead.'
But the situation hardly favored Ramin.
Ariega's wounds regenerated via innate werewolf recovery and apostolic power.
Plus, apostles could unleash full strength even on death's door. Unlike Ramin.
'Next shell might finish it. To make that happen, I just need to survive atop this Sky Fortress until then.'
Ariega showed no intent to flee either—but likely because he figured he'd kill Ramin quick and evade the next shell.
Shoulder somewhat healed, Ariega leaped dozens of meters to Ramin.
-Boom!
Licking his lips, Ariega said,
"You've got backup, huh."
"Stay put, and the next one blows your head off."
"You think I'll still be here?"
Truth be told, Ramin wanted to agree with Ariega.
He wasn't confident.
'No choice but to try.'
As the two prepared to clash again, a voice came from Ramin's left.
"Ramin Solrost Muel, look this way."
There stood a band of goblins clad in black garb, lightly armed.