Chapter 57: Wolf Lord Part 2

After this short exchange of words, the girls started running in opposite directions. As companions already accustomed to fighting side by side, Justine and Erina positioned themselves at each side of the beast.

The Fenrir heir decided to go towards Erina, who was on her knees, with her gun pointing at the Wolf. Its jaws were wide open, a few meters from the Captain, ready to tear her flesh apart.

However, the girl using glasses behind the creature wouldn’t let it happen so easily. With both her palms turned toward the Wolf Lord, the Mage conjured her skill.

“Muddy Ground!” Justine used her spell. As soon as she said those words, the ground below the Wolf changed from solid ground to a sludge mass, its paw sinking into the mud.

“Thunder Strike!” Justine launched her second magic ability in a row. From the palm of her hand, a blue lightning appeared, attacking the monster. It didn’t look damaged, but it didn’t move an inch either, paralyzed by the shock.

“Good work, Justine!” Erina vigorously praised her Lieutenant. When she pulled the trigger, a reddish ray of heat was released from the barrel of the gun straight to the Wolf’s torso. At the same moment, Justine’s right hand was elevated, as if she was calling power from the sky.

“Ice Shards!” Justine conjured her third skill. Sharp pieces of ice, bigger than the one that almost pierced my foot, materialized above the Wolf Lord, only to mercilessly plummet onto it.

The combination of opposite elemental powers, ice and fire, exploded at the same instant they hit their target. Dust raised from that crossing point spread until where we were, and instinctively, I covered Alicia with my arms against it.

A normal monster, even if it was a C-Rank, would be dead by that attack. However, the beast they were dealing with was no ordinary monster. When the dust settled, the Fenrir’s Descendant was in the exact place where he was before.

“Hey, hey. This is not funny at all,” Erina muttered. “Not even a scratch.”

I watched the fight against the monster. With a few attacks launched against the Wolf Lord, I got the feeling that they wouldn’t do much damage to him. So I used my appraisal to verify that.

[

Monster: Wolf Lord

Title: Fenrir Descendant

Level: 20

Health: 340/350 points

Mana: 150 points

Strength: 40 points

Defense: 20 points

Magic: 25 points

Agility: 35 points

]

A drop of sweat ran down my face when I saw the damage they dealt to the foe. Just 10 points out of a total of 350. They still needed to deal the same amount of damage 34 times. Mana was limited for Justine, and Erina could run out of bullets. Without proper support, it was over for them.

The mud that was covering the monster became dry and brittle, easily broken by the movement of its legs. The beast was deciding which one it would attack after this clash of magic energy, and in this fraction of a second, Erina shot her second bullet.

It didn’t have any special effect, it was just a normal bullet, even though it dirtied the Wolf’s fur red when it hit. The creature barked in pain in reaction.

“Ho! I think I get it now.” Erina said, very happy with her discovery. I looked with the appraisal skill to see what the difference was.

[

Monster: Wolf Lord

Title: Fenrir Descendant

Level: 20

Health: 330/350 points

Mana: 150 points

Strength: 40 points

Defense: 20 points

Magic: 25 points

Agility: 35 points

]

’She managed to deal 10 points of damage with just a bullet. That is double! But why–’ My thoughts stopped when I figured out what did the trick. ’It has magical defense.’

[ It seems that is the case. It’s normal for a monster to receive so little damage from magic. ]

Brandish started talking to me through the system screen, confirming my suspicions.

’So the second bullet worked because it was focused on physical damage?’ I asked her.

[ Yes, magical bullets are focused on dealing magical damage, so they tend to lack physical damage. Normal bullets tend to penetrate flesh easily, so it was probably that. ]

“Justine, only my bullets can damage this thing. Keep him still where he is and I—” Erina stopped her words abruptly.

The Wolf got mad at Erina, deciding to make her the new target. In the blink of an eye, the monster closed the distance between them, hitting the Silver Fang’s Captain with its tail. The strength was enough to send Erina flying until her body stopped against a tree behind her.

“Buah!” Blood came out of her mouth the moment she absorbed the impact.

“Erina!” Justine called her name, her voice nervous.

“Dammit…” Erina murmured, her immobilized body resting under the tree she was thrown against.

At that moment, I felt as if time was running slower than usual. Erina, the only one who managed to hurt the monster, was out of combat, and the Wolf Lord was getting closer to her, opening its jaws filled with sharp carnivorous teeth. Justine was trying to slow him with her earth magic again, but was getting no results.

Their fight was almost ending in a loss, and after that, it would be our turn. Of course, I had the option to leave the forest with Alicia and let the other two deal with the wolf, but it was a bad idea. The instant the monster killed them, it would follow Alicia’s scent, track us, and kill us too.

The Silver Fang guys were our enemy, but the real problem here was that monster targeting us all. I couldn’t deal with that beast on my own, neither could they. But maybe, just maybe, if we combined our forces, the result could be completely different. I had little to no hope at that point, but it was our best chance against our mutual enemy.

“Alicia, hear me out.” I said to the blond-haired girl at my side. How I acted in the next seconds would define whether we lived or died.

…

’It seems that I’m going to die.’ This thought crossed my mind when my body didn’t respond to me. As the Wolf Lord came towards me, I knew that death was near.

My teacher at the academy always said that it was important for Gunners to keep moving, repositioning, so conditioning their bodies was extremely important. How could that matter if I couldn’t move a finger now? ’Your advice is useless, teach!’

Maybe I hit my head, because I was thinking about all kinds of stuff, but not about the creature that was about to devour me.

’I’m really stupid! I hate hard work. I hate getting up early. After the academy, I wasn’t compelled to join the Silver Fang or anything like that. I could have taken a safe administrative job and had a good life in the capital. Why the fuck did I do this?’ I asked myself, but my brain reminded me of the answer.

I was born into the noble Ashburn family as the fifth daughter. I have one brother and three sisters older than me. I really don’t get along with most of them, not even with my parents.

Our family has a history of giving birth to some famous Awakened. I wasn’t born with a cool class like Paladin or Mage, so it was probably because of this that I didn’t have a good experience growing up. Maybe I joined the Silver Fang because I just wanted to show my Gunner skills to them. Maybe I wanted to show them that I wasn’t worthless.

’Aaaaaah! I’m really, really stupid! Of course I passed through the academy without much trouble, barely making an effort. But the paperwork as a Captain is a bore,’ I thought inwardly, ’And what’s the point if my family still treats me coldly.’

My eyes wandered until they stopped at Justine. The girl was still using her magic, trying to stop the Wolf Lord. I couldn’t help but regret bringing her with me into the woods. ’Sorry, Justine. Forget about me and run as far as you can.’

Another thing that crossed my mind was the young man I met earlier. ’Who would have thought that I would meet my type of man in this dump. I’m really stupid and unlucky.’

The monster’s fangs were right in front of my inert head.

’I would like to know him more.’ That was my last thought.

And then something changed where we were. At first, I thought it was the sun illuminating above my head, but I was wrong. Another form of light, warm and kind, was radiating next to me and the creature. The Wolf Lord seemed to be stunned by the light.

I couldn’t see exactly what happened, but I heard the sound of flesh being slashed. Thankfully, it wasn’t my flesh. The sound was accompanied by the Wolf crying, which answered who got hurt.

Then a familiar shadow stood right in front of me, where the monster had been before. But it wasn’t something to be scared of.

“Are you still conscious?” the man asked me in a worried voice.

As the light became less intense, I could see Richard Forster, sword in hand, offering his other hand to me.

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