“Grrr...”
The pack closed in on the building Shulim had crashed into. Several Second-Tier wolves let out threatening growls through the holes, while the other wolves quickly completed their encirclement of the house.
Just as the Second-Tier wolves prepared to charge in, the figure inside the house moved.
Whoosh—!
Accompanied by the sound of tearing air, a freezing ice greatsword instantly sliced through the body of a dire wolf. As blood splattered, a rapidly moving figure rushed out of the building.
“Awoo!”
“Awoo!”
“Awoo—”
The pack surged once more, and Shulim, wielding her frost greatsword, chose to take the initiative and meet them head-on.
Clang! Clang! Clang!...
She swept her ice sword, directly blocking the spikes flying toward her.
The incoming Wind Blades were directly shattered by her strikes.
Even the hard skulls of the dire wolves were cleaved open by the ice sword.
Gradually, the originally transparent frost greatsword seemed to be dyed bright red.
“Roar—!”
A massive shadow descended from the sky.
“Did you think that would work a second time?!”
Instead of dodging, Shulim leaped high into the air toward the giant forest wolf, charging straight at it.
“Gleaming Light—!”
The figures of the girl and the wolf crossed in mid-air. Sharp claws left a trail of blood on Shulim's body, while blood also appeared on the giant forest wolf for the very first time.
Scarlet blood dripped down its pristine white fur. The giant forest wolf stared in disbelief at the new wound on its body, somewhat dazed. It hadn't been injured in a very long time...
On the other side, the moment Shulim landed, before she could even regain her stance, she was immediately besieged by the pack, leaving her with no choice but to hastily defend herself.
However, there were too many wolves in the pack. Moreover, they were employing hit-and-run tactics—each wolf would attack once and immediately retreat, allowing another to take its place. This meant that every time Shulim attacked or defended, she was facing a wolf in peak condition. No matter how many wounds she inflicted, they felt meaningless. Combined with her new injuries, her movements began to falter slightly, causing her pressure to spike dramatically in an instant.
At that moment, the giant forest wolf charged once more. Its eyes were bloodshot; being injured for the first time in so long had fully ignited its primal savagery.
Bang—!
The sharp claws struck down at Shulim with even greater speed and power than before. Shulim blocked with her ice sword, avoiding a direct hit, but the massive force still sent her flying backward. Upon impact, the ice sword shattered into fragments.
“...Ice Weapon Creation!”
Even while flying through the air, Shulim relied on her sheer willpower to cast her spell.
A new frost greatsword materialized in her hand. Just like the endless wave of wolves in peak condition, as long as her mana was not fully depleted and she still had a shred of strength left, her weapon would never break for good.
Whoosh—!
Sweeping her ice sword, she wounded several wolves that had been waiting with open jaws where she was about to land. She then used their bodies to cushion the impact of her landing.
“Roar—!”
Just as she steadied herself upon landing, the massive roar of the giant forest wolf rapidly approached.
Shulim looked up at the charging giant forest wolf. Gripping her sword with both hands, she raised it to her chest, slowly closed her eyes, exhaled, and entered a state of complete relaxation.
Whoosh—!
The howling wind kicked up by the giant forest wolf was already whipping her hair. Shulim opened her eyes, and then, she moved.
In extremely slow motion, one would be able to see Shulim swinging her sword forward three times at a speed far exceeding anything she had shown before—a speed so fast that even the giant forest wolf could not track it.
“Roar—!!!”
Its raised claws froze in mid-air. The giant forest wolf stared forward in shock. In front of it, a ferocious beast, seemingly no weaker than itself, appeared to let out a roar and swing its claws.
“Hunter's Sight—!!!”
Rip—!
The sound of tearing flesh rang out. Three distinct, bright-red bloody gashes were carved onto the giant forest wolf's body. No matter the angle, those wounds looked like marks that could only be left by a rival beast king of the same rank.
The giant forest wolf stared blankly at the wounds on its body, then at Shulim standing before it, as if it had just witnessed something utterly unbelievable.
The wolf pack also came to a strange halt. They shifted uneasily; the three sword strikes Shulim had just unleashed made them feel as though another king had appeared. Without their king's command, they did not dare to easily provoke this sudden sovereign.
“...”
“...If you truly consider yourself the king of the wolves, then prove it to me in a one-on-one duel!”
“Grr—!”
“Roar—!”
Although the wolves could not understand Shulim's words, her provocative stance made her meaning clear to them.
Each one bared their sharp fangs in anger, wanting to tear to shreds this creature who dared to insult their wolf king.
“Roar—!!!”
A massive roar that shook the mountain forest reverberated in all directions.
The pack instantly fell silent. Every wolf stared in confusion at the giant forest wolf roaring toward the sky, unable to comprehend its actions.
However, the command of the wolf king must be obeyed.
The pack retreated.
They pulled back to the edges of the goblin village, forming a ring that encircled the giant forest wolf and Shulim in the center.
During this entire time, neither Shulim nor the giant forest wolf moved. They simply stared unblinkingly at each other.
At this moment, the arrogance and fury in the giant forest wolf's eyes had completely vanished, replaced only by a determination to duel with its dignity on the line.
“Phew—!”
Exhaling, Shulim gripped the frost greatsword tightly with both hands and raised it before her once more.
Swoosh!
Boom!
Without any warning or declaration, the two figures—one massive and one small—moved at the same time. All that could be seen were the afterimages left by their high-speed movements and the metallic clanging of the ice sword colliding rapidly with the sharp claws.
In total contrast to her physical size, Shulim displayed immense strength and speed, matching the giant forest wolf blow for blow without falling behind in the slightest. Similarly, despite its massive size, the giant forest wolf was consistently able to keep up with Shulim's agile footwork.
Severed fur, shattered ice, and crimson blood flew wildly around the center of the battlefield.
Every member of the wolf pack stared unblinkingly at the scene, unwilling to miss this peak duel between two kings.
This was no longer an ordinary duel; it was a battle that would decide the future of the entire pack.
Bang!
Once again, Shulim used the gap after being blown back by the giant forest wolf to construct a new ice sword. Capitalizing on her inability to find purchase in mid-air, the giant forest wolf rushed to her landing point and assumed its most powerful offensive stance.
However, the giant forest wolf's plans fell through. Shulim did indeed fall into its attack range as expected, but the fatal combo did not connect.
This was because a ring of bizarre sword phantoms suddenly appeared around Shulim. They seemed like extensions of her own body, making her movements even more unpredictable and her lethality far greater.
Evading the claws and fangs, she sliced its limbs and the corners of its mouth instead. She even used its forehead as a stepping stone to leap back to the ground, leaving a deep wound on its brow in the process.
“Grr...”
Blood trickled down its forehead and into its right eye, dyeing half of its vision red.
The giant forest wolf dug its paws into the ground, its mouth baring a row of sharp teeth. Its heterochromatic eyes—one red, one green—stared intently at Shulim. Then, it opened its massive jaws and inhaled deeply.
“?”
Instead of pressing the attack, the creature had suddenly assumed such a strange posture, causing a seed of doubt to sprout in Shulim's mind.
But a moment later, she realized what it was doing.
“Roar—!!!”
A terrifying acoustic shockwave erupted from the giant forest wolf's mouth.
The air and the earth trembled violently at that instant, but worst of all, the mana within Shulim's body was thrown into uncontrollable disarray.
“Dammit! It had a move like this too?!”
Rate on N.U.
