Partner (6)
Er stared at the werewolf and let out a choked sob. “You… you’re a werewolf…”
Her voice trembled with fear, but the words were steady enough to cut through the chaos.
“Ahin’s eyes too. Golden. And why the hell are things like this even around here?”
“It’s not the time for that, damn it. We need to save the people first!”
The man who answered was Er’s partner, Jina, heavy metal gauntlets already strapped to both hands as she followed Er into the cave.
“If we stall just enough, Ahin will pull him out. We just need to buy that much time.”
“…Call the fight off.”
“Of course! People’s lives are on the line—why would you risk everything for a bet?”
The two of them charged forward the instant they finished speaking.
The werewolf stood nearly 1.5 times the height of a normal human. More targets, more places to attack.
Jina, whose body moved like lightning, lunged straight for the head. Er, slower and more deliberate, aimed for the waist.
Two precise strikes aimed at the same monster. Even a werewolf couldn’t divide its attention fast enough.
“Ugh… ugh…”
“Damn it, hold on just a little longer!”
The gap the two women had opened was exactly where the middle-aged man’s salvation would arrive.
Ahin, who had carried the wounded villager out of the cave, shouted across the battlefield, voice hoarse.
“Er! Jina! I’ve got him!”
“Got it—let’s move!”
“I already know!”
The two women finally let their full fury explode outward. The cave walls trembled with the force of their counterattack.
“AUUUUU!!!”
The werewolf roared and slammed its paws into the ground.
At that exact moment, its red eyes locked onto Er and Jina.
KRRAAANG!
Er’s shield slammed up just in time. The impact rang like a struck bell as she gritted her teeth and poured every last drop of strength into her arms.
The blow was so savage it could have carved through most shields.
She had no time to think about retaliation. Only survival.
“[Smash]!”
Jina planted one foot on Er’s shoulder and launched forward. Her gauntleted fist smashed into the werewolf’s skull with a sound that echoed like a cannon.
A bare fist could already pierce a goblin’s torso. This strike, backed by metal and raw momentum, split the monster’s mouth and nose in a spray of blood.
“Filthy… thick skull…”
Jina had wanted to crush its head clean off. The durability she’d expected was simply too high.
“Grrrrr!!!”
The werewolf bellowed in rage, blood pouring from its ruined face, and swung its claws wildly.
Every swipe left deep gashes across the cave walls. Stone dust rained down from the ceiling and the ceiling crumbled.
The claws slammed into Er’s shield and Jina’s gauntlets, sending sparks flying and fresh agony ripping through the two women.
“Ugh…”
“I should have taken Bless before we started…”
They hadn’t prepared. If they had known survivors existed, they would have cast the enhancement first.
The foolish pride of trying to overpower the enemy with their own strength had been their fatal mistake.
A job that demanded your life was no place for a half-hearted fight.
The werewolf’s rage-fueled claw barrage was terrifying. It weaved and dodged inside the narrow cave like a blur.
“Fall back! Inside this cave we’re at a disadvantage!”
The tunnel was too tight for the monster’s longer limbs. The ground was soft from recent fights; cracks spider-webbed across the walls with every step.
“Like hell we’re running away!”
“…”
But if they lured it outside, it could simply disappear into the forest.
No choice but to seal the entrance and finish it here.
“Damn it, why do all the weird crap have to show up now…!”
“If you’ve got the energy to complain, move! Or you’ll die like this!”
Jina shouted, then spun and kicked the cave wall, changing direction mid-leap.
The werewolf’s claws came sweeping for the spot she had just vacated. It tried to pull back, but Jina’s fist was already faster—crashing into the monster’s midsection with a meaty thud.
PUH-WAAAK!
The heavy impact lifted the beast off its feet and slammed it backward.
Er didn’t hesitate. “Pierce!”
Blue mana flared at the tip of her sword. The strike was clean, honest—straight to the shoulder.
The wolf howled, but Jina was already leaping. She drove her heel down onto the monster’s head with bone-crushing force.
KUUUUNG!
The giant body hit the ground hard enough to rattle the cave. Jina and Er poured mana into their weapons without a second’s hesitation.
“Pierce!”
“Smash!”
The twin strikes punched straight through the werewolf’s chest and belly.
The coordination was flawless. No wasted motion, no hesitation.
“Grrrrr—!!!”
A deathly wail tore from the wounded monster’s throat.
It tried to rise, but the sword and gauntlet still pierced its body. Sticky blood poured from its mouth as it glared at Er and Jina, eyes blood-red with fury.
They waited, hearts hammering, certain the fight wasn’t over.
The moment never came.
The werewolf’s body gave one final, heavy thud against the stone floor.
“Haah…”
“Did we get it?”
Jina picked up a few loose stones and hurled them at the fallen beast.
The rocks shattered on impact, sending sharp shards ricocheting everywhere. The werewolf didn’t even twitch.
“Looks like we finished it…”
Jina said, voice thick with satisfaction.
The man who had been rescued groaned from the ground. “Ah… thank you…”
But the women weren’t listening. Their eyes were locked on the dead werewolf.
“Living person’s a relief, but then our bet…”
“Geez, you’re talking about the guy who’s bleeding out like it’s nothing. How can you even—”
“Same thoughts, huh? You didn’t think I’d notice?”
“…You really gonna hit me with that?”
The moment Ahin disappeared, this smug attitude was a clear signal.
They were goading him. Once he got back, they’d start the usual teasing.
Jina smirked. “If the other side was thinking the same thing, then yeah, they’re being shameless about it…”
“Like I’d do that! I don’t even play dirty!”
“…Fine. You’re really going all out?”
Er’s grin was bright, almost playful. Jina’s eyes narrowed.
“These idiots are dead for sure, right?! I’ve never seen you fight like this!”
“…”
“Ah, so this is what you’re like…”
The second Ahin returned, the two women could feel the shift in the air. It was all so obvious.
They’d cornered him into a fight and were already sharpening their claws.
“Alright, since we’re on the same page now… let’s settle this between us.”
“Fufu, can’t solve it with words? Guess it really is going to come down to fists, huh? I like it. Nothing makes two people feel the difference like a good beating!”
At that exact second, Er stepped forward with a cocky grin.
“HEY IDIOTS!”
A panicked voice echoed through the cave.
“Behind you!!”
A massive, gray-furred werewolf erupted from the darkness, claws raking the air with a roar that shook the very stones.
●
While Er and Jina bought time, Ahin was deep in the forest, dragging the wounded villager toward the village.
“Thank you… thank you so much…”
“Just hold on a little longer…”
He kept muttering as he half-carried the man down the slope, but his mind was elsewhere.
The two women still inside the cave—his partners—occupied every spare thought.
Without combat skills, Ahin had no way to help them. He was nothing but dead weight.
He knew it. That’s why he couldn’t stop hesitating.
“Enough already…” he muttered, shaking his head. “Do something useful. That’s the only way I can actually help.”
He laid the man on a sheltered clearing, opened his emergency kit, and started treatment.
Bandages soaked in water to staunch the bleeding. Pulse. Breathing. The villager’s wounds were mostly someone else’s blood, and the missing foot was the only obvious casualty.
He’d be fine until they reached the village.
That thought was still warm in his chest when the man’s eyes fluttered open.
“Ugh… the others…”
“I found the bodies. I followed the trail.”
“…I see.”
The man’s face was a mess of pain and regret.
“Endo… he died, didn’t he? The screams… I thought maybe it was something else…”
“Screams? I saw it with my own eyes…”
“A guy’s throat being cut… another guy was just screaming…”
Ahin’s stomach twisted.
“Can you tell me what happened? Please. I need to know.”
The man’s voice cracked as he began to speak.
They’d been hunting. A sudden ambush. One comrade’s head severed in a single stroke. The second man had only managed to scream before fleeing. The werewolf had caught him next.
A simple, brutal story.
Ahin’s mind raced. “…The scream came from behind you?”
“Yes… yes.”
“But… you were running, and the werewolf blocked your path?”
“…What do you mean?”
The werewolf that had killed his friend had already taken out the second man. How could it possibly turn around and block him again?
Impossible. His legs weren’t that fast.
Cold sweat prickled down Ahin’s back.
A single werewolf with that kind of skill was already rare.
What if there were two?
●
A second werewolf stepped out of the cave.
“Grrrrrrrr—”
It saw its dead companion lying in a pool of blood and let out a roar of pure rage, claws slashing forward.
“W-what?!”
“A second one?!”
They had thought the fight was over and were already joking around. That cockiness had cost them everything.
Er and Jina raised their weapons in panic.
The shield took the first claw swipe and snapped.
Jina’s gauntlet blocked the second strike, but the metal cracked and blood sprayed across her arm.
“Ah!”
“Damn it!”
“Ahin! Jina!”
Ahin’s eyes widened. Holy light flared around his hands.
“[Heal]! [Bless]!”
Warmth flooded both women’s bodies instantly. Their wounds closed. Their strength surged.
But the werewolf didn’t slow down. It leaped straight over the two of them and charged toward Ahin.
There was no way to stop it in time.
“Ahin!”
Er and Jina poured every drop of mana they had into their weapons.
The monster was already closing the distance.
No ranged options. No time to cast anything big.
The only thing left was to blow the entire mana they had left in one final, desperate burst.
The cave passage was narrow. That was the only mercy.
The combined attack of two enchanted weapons and Ahin’s divine power was more than enough to collapse the entire ceiling.
One person alone wouldn’t have done it.
Two people together made all the difference.
Er hurled her sword aside and slammed her shield overhead. Jina dove into her arms without a word.
The entire cave began to collapse.
Mud and rock rained down.
“Stay—!!!”
The man’s voice was swallowed by the roar of falling stone.
Then there was only darkness.