Chapter 56: Wolf Lord Part 1

The beast was slowly approaching us. A wolf that was way bigger than the ones Sarah was using to train her powers. A wolf with 3m of height and 6m of width, double the size of a normal one, its body covered in silver fur, but from its tail all the way up its spine it was covered in black like pitch.

It was almost a beautiful creature, if you didn’t consider her red eyes without pupils and its sharp fangs. Looking at its big jaw, I imagined that it was big enough to crunch my head. The same dark color on its back was covering part of its head.

The long ears, the top of the head, and the corners of the crimson eyes were as dark as the bottom of the abyss, making it look more savage, and scary to look at directly.

The sight of the creature only meant one thing to me. Death. Only the end was waiting for whoever crossed paths with this devil in the form of a wolf. Instinctively, I put my body in front of Alicia once again.

“Stay back, Alicia.” I said to the blonde girl, keeping her behind me without taking my eyes off that monster.

“Rick, that is…!” Alicia’s voice failed her, the girl’s body completely paralyzed by fear.

The wolf leaned its body forward to gain momentum. Thankfully, I reacted quickly. I wrapped Alicia in my arms and jumped away from the ice block.

I could only catch a glimpse of the figure tackling where we were, and then the sound of ice being violently destroyed. The wall built by Justine, which imposed great difficulty on us, was easily crushed by the power of its headbutt.

The wolf shook its head, somewhat confused after the impact, but with no apparent damage. I took the opportunity to use my appraisal skill. Now that I had upgraded it, I could use my power to see the status of basically everyone and everything in my sight. However, I regretted the moment that I laid my eyes on the monster’s status.

[

Monster: Wolf Lord

Title: Fenrir Descendant Level: 20

Health: 350 points

Mana: 150 points

Strength: 40 points

Defense: 20 points

Magic: 25 points

Agility: 35 points

]

The monster was way above me, Alicia, and the two Silver Fang members that were now focusing on the Wolf Lord. I didn’t stay there just looking. I took Alicia by the arm and hid with her behind a nearby tree.

The big wolf, now free from dizziness, focused on the only people visible to it, its big red eyes staring at Erina and Justine with killing intent.

Erina had her weapon pointed at the beast, her expression grim, but she was courageous enough to face it without taking her eyes off it. Justine, on the other hand, was still frozen, not wanting to face the reality before her eyes.

“Hey, we are on the same side, goddammit!” Erina said without any intention of lowering her gun. “Hey, Justine! Don’t just stand there. We will have to fight for our lives here, so be ready!”

Erina’s words caught Justine’s attention. She didn’t seem more relaxed by the situation, but at least she took her position, shoulder to shoulder with Erina.

“What is your plan?” Justine asked her superior.

“Hmm… Maybe fight it until it gets tired and then try to give a finishing blow.” Erina said, not very sure of what she was saying.

“Do you think that we can defeat this?” Justine asked her in a serious tone, barely moving her mouth. The second one of them made a sudden movement, the Wolf Lord would go after them.

“No way.” Erina said in her laid-back tone. “Only a human monster can defeat a real one. That thing is one of Silver Fang’s killing machines. I would be lucky to injure it.”

Unfortunately, I knew what their words meant. This wolf was one of the few members of its species, and it wasn’t a monster that should be taken for granted.

…

In this world, it is possible, with the help of a Tamer, to train monsters and bend them to your will. The better the Tamer, the more powerful were the beasts he could control.

The Silver Fang leader, Gerard Strauss von Astrea, was known as the most powerful Tamer alive in Ashia, famous for having conquered special dungeons with his army in missions ordered by his brother, the King himself.

Gerard was a powerful lord, but unlike today, he had good fame among the people that lived inside his domains. His men trusted him as a leader, and the King entrusted him with dangerous missions, even those meant for professional guilds at that time.

In one of those adventures, inside an S-Rank dungeon, when he was accompanied by the best of his men, he found a giant wolf, a beast that he had never seen before. A creature closer to legends than to the real world.

SCRL didn’t follow exactly the myths of my old world, and it wasn’t the original beast, Fenrir, but one of his descendants. One thing was sure for Gerard: that was a monster capable of great destruction and mayhem.

Gerard ordered his men to step back and launched his most powerful beast against the Wolf Lord, starting a fierce battle against it. Gerard ordered his monsters against the beast, but they were mercilessly devoured by it, crushed by its fangs.

There were reports of the bloody fight between them, but no human was killed that day. That just showed how powerful Gerard was as a Tamer.

At the cost of some of his best monsters, Gerard defeated the Wolf Lord. He tried to make it submit to his will, but he couldn’t do that. The creature was too powerful and too savage to keep, so Gerard killed the big wolf, the boss of that dungeon.

Finally, at the heart of the dungeon, Gerard and his men found the core of the structure, but it wasn’t the only thing he found there. In a makeshift bed, there were five puppies nested close to the dungeon core. The boss’ offspring.

They were as small as babies, nothing that would oppose his strength. Those tiny lives could be held in his manly arms. Gerard knew that those creatures were powerful and dangerous, but, as a Tamer, he couldn’t help but think they were magnificent.

He didn’t regret his action. He did what he thought was right, but his spirit as a Tamer echoed strongly in his heart. Against the will of his men, who wielded their weapons pointing at them, he decided to take these puppies and raise them.

“The symbol of my army is a majestic wolf that protects us during the night. I pledge to raise them to reach this ideal, my Highness.” he made his oath in front of the throne.

“And if you fail? What if they show any threat to our people?” the King asked firmly.

“If that day comes, I shall pay with my own life.”

Gerard was respected for his abilities as a Tamer. Not even the King would doubt that he was capable of this. If there was a man capable of taming Fenrir’s descendants, this man would be Gerard.

After a deadly silence, the King gave his brother permission to tame the offspring of such a menace.

They were newborns, so they were easier to tame, but without the influence of the dungeon they didn’t reach their full development. They grew up, but they weren’t as powerful as their S-Rank mother. One of his wolves could be ranked as the strongest of the C-Rank monsters, and that is the creature in front of us.

…

If we needed a more obvious clue that her uncle was behind all the trouble Alicia suffered, here it is: Gerard’s own hunting dog coming to bring our corpses to him. Looking at the monster showing its fangs to the members of Silver Fang made me think that it was distinguishing friends from enemies.

Wolf Lords are a very intelligent type of monster. They can’t talk, but they understand human language. If it was attacking people that it knew were on its side, that meant they were following its master’s orders.

I could imagine what Gerard ordered it to do. For a skillful Tamer like him, it was possible to give such a monster a very specific order, especially if he had a piece of Alicia’s clothing to help the wolf track her better.

His orders could be something like: “When you find Alicia outside the cities, kill her and anyone who is close to her. Don’t leave traces behind.”

This single thought made my stomach turn. He was willing to send one of his most relentless beasts to kill a member of his own family. He sent his own men too. He didn’t care if there was the possibility they would be dragged into the bloodshed. No, he probably wanted that too. So there would be no one left to tell the tale.

“I’ll immobilize it,” my ears caught Justine talking to Erina. “At my signal, run and give me cover.”

“Hey, I’m the leader here. I should give the signal.” Erina opposed.

“Now!”

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