Amidst the chaotic battlefield, Shulim immediately locked her gaze on the distant giant forest wolf.
The creature stood proudly in place, as if it had already decided that Shulim was a dead woman walking, its eyes once again filled with its previous arrogance.
“...Isn't the breakthrough right here?”
From anyone else's perspective, Shulim's idea would probably seem utterly insane. After all, that was a C-Class pinnacle creature—a giant forest wolf! Ordinary people wouldn't even have the courage to challenge it.
In truth, Shulim hadn't thought about facing the giant forest wolf directly in the beginning. She had even felt a sigh of relief when she saw it holding back. But now, if she had to choose between the pack and the giant forest wolf, she would inevitably choose the latter...
“Phew—!”
Taking a deep breath, Shulim adjusted her mindset. Taking advantage of the pack's slight carelessness while they were still in their hunting rhythm, she directly cast a spell in a certain direction.
The wolves "guarding" the goblin lord grew tense for a moment, but when they saw her magic flying in a different direction, they relaxed once more.
But then, they heard a furious sound.
“Awoo—!!!”
The entire pack froze, and the forest fell into an eerie silence.
Every gaze turned toward the owner of that furious voice—the giant forest wolf leading the pack.
Unlike before, however, there was a patch of scorched black on its body, a large clump of its fur having been burned away.
Because it hadn't been on high alert, by the time it saw Shulim's Great Fireball flying toward it, it was already too late to dodge, and it took a direct hit.
Furthermore, due to its vulnerability to fire, it looked even more wretched at this moment than the goblin lord, who had also taken a Great Fireball to the face.
“Roar—!!!”
Feeling the draft on its head, the giant forest wolf was thoroughly enraged and let out a furious roar at Shulim.
Yet, Shulim felt that it wasn't angry enough to completely lose its rationality, so she immediately began to verbally provoke it.
“What's the matter, getting angry? Mangy wolf? Look at you. You call yourself a wolf king? All you can do is hide in the back and howl, yet you can't even dodge a single fireball. Did you get that position of yours by relying on your loud mouth?! Bleh, bleh, bleh! Mangy wolf! Trash! Small fry! Any old dog could do a better job being a wolf king than you...”
The giant forest wolf suddenly felt that, sometimes, being too intelligent wasn't a good thing, because it could actually understand how she was insulting it. Although the other wolves weren't very smart, they could at most tell that she was insulting them without knowing the specific contents, so they wouldn't get as angry.
Of course, the most frustrating part was that it couldn't speak, meaning it couldn't even talk back!
Bombarded by Shulim's verbal onslaught, the giant forest wolf's head spun with rage. Its anger index spiked directly, gradually reaching the brink of losing control.
“Roar—!!!”
When had this giant forest wolf ever endured such a provocation!
It roared at Shulim in rage, then charged at her like a rampaging gale. It would slaughter her with its own hands—shredding this creature who dared to insult it!
“...I only mocked it using the same style Fran usually does, but it's quite surprising that it worked so well. It looks incredibly angry...”
The giant forest wolf was extremely fast, capable of crossing this distance in the blink of an eye. So the moment it moved, Shulim also immediately began to chant her spell...
“Awoo!”
“Awoo!!”
“Awoo...”
With the wolf king leading the charge, the entire pack became incredibly excited. Running alongside the giant forest wolf, they joined the formation wherever the wolf king passed.
“Roar—!”
Leaping into the air, the giant forest wolf opened its massive jaws—wide enough to swallow an adult whole—and lunged toward Shulim.
And at that exact moment, Shulim's spell was unleashed.
“Rock Spear!”
A massive spear of stone erupted from the ground, thrusting directly toward the giant forest wolf's wide-open maw.
She had thought this blow would pierce straight into its throat, but to her surprise, the giant forest wolf forcefully twisted its head in mid-air, snapping its jaws shut and shattering the incoming Rock Spear.
After crushing the Rock Spear, the giant forest wolf pushed off the ground with its four limbs, its massive body leaping forward once more to crash into Shulim, its gleaming claws already aimed straight at her body.
“Water Leap!”
Shulim cast the spell at her feet. A huge wave of water surged out of thin air, hoisting her into the air and carrying her rapidly backward.
Bang!
The giant forest wolf missed its mark, landing right where Shulim had stood. The ground trembled from the sheer impact of its landing.
“Bah—!”
Spitting out the rock fragments in its mouth, the giant forest wolf stared hungrily at Shulim with its massive eyes.
“Roar!”
“Roar!”
“Roar...”
At the same time, the pack behind it leapt past, lunging at Shulim from every possible angle.
Instantly canceling her Water Leap, Shulim rapidly chanted a new incantation.
“Circle of Repulsion!”
Boom—!
A massive ring of fire appeared once more, expanding outward with Shulim at the center, instantly sending seven or eight wolves flying and setting them ablaze.
However, as the ring of fire continued to spread outward, a massive head lunged forward, opening its jaws to bite directly into the flames.
Bang!
The ring of fire, which was made entirely of flames, was actually bitten open by the wolf, and the entire circle disintegrated after a moment of instability.
“Huff—!”
A cloud of white smoke puffed from the giant forest wolf's mouth, and the fur around its muzzle was slightly singed.
Boom!
Its massive body launched off the ground once more, instantly leaping above Shulim's head. Having learned its lesson, it didn't open its mouth to bite this time; instead, it swung its sharp claws downward with all its might.
It was so fast that only an afterimage could be seen in the air.
“Rock Barrier!”
Shulim urgently cast her barrier spell, and a stone wall rose from the ground to block the path of the giant forest wolf's claws.
But...
Boom—!
Upon the slightest contact, the Rock Barrier was completely pulverized. The giant claw, which was thicker than Shulim's entire body, continued its descent and struck her squarely.
Bang—!
Shulim's body was sent flying, crashing heavily through two wooden goblin huts before she finally ground to a halt.
“Pfft! Cough, cough...”
With a trace of blood leaking from the corner of her mouth, Shulim pushed herself up from the ground, supporting herself with her wand.
Wiping the blood from her lip, she glanced at the somewhat dimmed white light surrounding her body. This was probably the most severe injury she had sustained since the day began...
“【ᛃᛒᚺᛏבᛤᛜᛈᚠᛞᛃᛡᚪᛚᛏᛗᚠᚺᛜᛖᛄᚠᚳᛜᛓᚠᛃᛖᛚᛜᛖᚢᛋᛜᚪᚠᛖהᛤ】”
“Fortify.”
Reapplying the Non-Elemental Third-Tier defensive spell, Shulim took advantage of the brief respite to compose herself.
She had about thirty percent of her mana left...
She had to conserve her mana and end this quickly!
With that thought, Shulim calmly cast a certain spell.
“【ᚪᛒᛜᚻᛏᛋᛡᛓᚠᚢᛒᚳᛓᛖᛜᛃᚾᚪᛜᛚᚲᛜᛓᚠᛏᚱוᚠᛃᛖᛜᛃᛓᚾיᛃᛗᛞᛜᛖᚪᛏᛗᛜᛃᛄᛚᛜᚾᚠᛃᛈᛏ】”
Crack! Crack!
A greatsword formed of frost materialized out of thin air in front of Shulim, before dropping to the ground and plunging into the earth before her.
Third-Tier Ice magic—Ice Weapon Creation!
Then, Shulim let go of the wand she had been gripping, slinging it back onto her back. Taking a deep breath, she tightly gripped the hilt of the frost greatsword. Bolstered by the strength granted by Reinforce and Battle Cry, she effortlessly pulled it free.
“Reinforce active, Battle Cry active, Swiftness active, Fortify active...”
Strength, speed, and defense—she now possessed them all.
In that case...
“Since you like close-quarters combat, I'll finish you in close combat—!”
...
Rate on N.U.
