CH 98

Chapter 98 – Glasses boy wants to apologize

Before I realized it, dawn had arrived.

It was still early in the morning, but the sun was now properly shining through the mountains, highlighting the jet-black Demon Beast.

I could now clearly see the Obsidian Wolf.

It looks strong. It’s big. And it’s really cool. Black wolves are really cool.

… This isn’t the time to be thinking this kind of thing. This is an extremely dangerous situation where people could die at any moment… Still, it is cool.

In any case, the knights chose a small clearing as their battlefield.

It’s pretty close to the forest itself, but not directly within it.

They probably decided that it would be better to fight in a place with solid foothold and clear visibility, even if it meant that the Obsidian Wolf could move around more easily too.

It certainly wasn’t their intent, but they chose a location that was perfect for me.

The knights and Roda are on the frontline, on the center of the clearing. In this situation, I can snipe the Obsidian Wolf while hiding within the forest.

Well, this bow and arrow won’t even be able to pierce the fur of the Obsidian Wolf though. No matter how I look at it, it’s definitely tougher than the Chalk Chicken.

Even the huge sword of the old man is only delivering shallow wounds to the Obsidian Wolf, in fact.

However, I don’t need to deliver any damage. I just need to hit it.

The Obsidian Wolf is a quick enemy.

Moreover, as it is four-legged, it always has very stable footing. It can easily move backwards, sideways and forward without losing balance. This kind of stability lets it easily link one action into the next one.

The damage that the knights accumulated on its legs are most likely the first step towards limiting the movement of this enemy. It may not be making a big difference now, but it will gradually weaken the Obsidian Wolf for sure.

Also… A hunter who can’t hit a prey, simply because it’s fast, is a useless hunter. Especially when dealing with a prey that is this big and hasn’t even noticed me.

It’s a prey that is moving, but it’s fine, because it is still within my range.

If I can’t hit it, my master would definitely get angry at me.

******

I left the place where I ordered Lisse to wait, climbed a tree, then started patiently waiting.

Not just waiting though. I paid attention. I stared at the fight, getting used to following the movements of the Obsidian Wolf with my eyes.

I observed the cooperation of the knights and started identifying their offensive and defensive patterns.

And Roda, who is poking through the gaps in the Obsidian Wolf’s movements and creating distractions… I gave up quickly. I can’t read him.

After all, Roda is moving according to the situation, adapting on the spot depending on what the knights and the Obsidian Wolf are doing. There is no pattern in Roda’s actions.

… Or rather, he is doing exactly the kind of thing that I would like to do in his place. To switch back and forth between losing the attention of the Obsidian Wolf, then becoming a distraction when needed.

Roda is skillfully toying with the Obsidian Wolf like that.

… Well, the main difference between me and him, is that he has a lot of leeway with this fighting style, while I would instantly die if I tried it.

In any case, after observing the fight for a while, I came to the conclusion that I should aim for the moment when the Obsidian Wolf approaches one of the two female knights.

Their roles in this battle are to be the people who take the brunt of the Obsidian Wolf’s blows. That’s why they’re carrying shields with them.

They either receive the attack head-on, or parry it, creating opportunities for the male knights to attack. That’s the main pattern that they are working with in this battle.

The fair-skinned knight uses a small shield and the Tree Wind Gift to skillfully parry the blows of the Obsidian Wolf, so she seems to have enough leeway to handle its attacks.

The problem is the tanned one. Differently from the fair-skinned one, she uses a large metal shield that was obviously chosen for its high defensive power.

And because she uses this kind of shield, she often receives the attacks head-on. A fighting style that puts a lot of strain on her body.

The impact from multiple blows would accumulate over time, which might lead to her posture eventually collapsing.

At this point, the shield would become useless.

The attacks of the Obsidian Wolf are extremely powerful, and as it is also a very fast Demon Beast, it attacks often.

Even if the tanned knight has the Life Absorption Gift, that helps her sustain her stamina and gradually heals her from the impact of the blows, it is most likely not enough to let her withstand the attacks of a foe as powerful as the Obsidian Wolf for a long period of time.

It would be best if I never had a turn in this battle…

With this wish that was basically a prayer, I hoped for the best.

… But my turn came unexpectedly early.

The lounge of the Obsidian Wolf clashed with the tanned knight, like it had done many times before.

This time, however, the body of the tanned knight was flung away.

The Obsidian Wolf is a smart foe. It learns.

If a simple leg swing doesn’t work, it starts adjusting the angle of the attack, it starts getting momentum on its charge to deliver more powerful blows. Delivering attacks that look the same, but that are more damaging.

Pair that up with the damage that had already been accumulated on the body of the tanned knight, she eventually couldn’t withstand it and was thrown backwards by the attack.

However, she seemed to have expected this to eventually happen.

She quickly rolled as she fell, then stood up immediately after. She had clearly lost her balance, but without dropping neither sword nor shield, she stood up once again.

It surely showed how skillful those knights were.

However…

The Obsidian Wolf roared and charged forward. It didn’t lose any momentum and moved towards the tanned knight that was still recovering her foothold.

And, the Obsidian Wolf had its mouth open.

… A bite. A direct bite that she could not stop.

An extremely primitive movement that anyone can see coming, and yet, it’s probably the most threatening attack of the Obsidian Wolf.

If a Demon Beast as big as this one bites you, it won’t let go until you die.

Well, a human will probably die as soon as they’re bitten. But even if they are lucky enough to not die, they’ll be immediately thrown to the sides of the mouth and be completely minced by the molar teeth in instants.

Demon Beasts have a tremendous advantage over humans simply from being big. This is why they’re so strong.

But that’s why people come up with lots of plans to handle this kind of enemy.

Just as the Obsidian Wolf started its charge, both the old man and the young man swung their swords at its leg.

However, the Obsidian Wolf ignored their attacks.

Perhaps it remembers being played with throughout this battle, so it decided to focus on one person at a time. Killing its enemies one by one.

I thought this would happen eventually.

And I thought that if the Obsidian Wolf used this kind of plan, it would aim for the tanned knight.

I was ready for it.

So, on the moment that the tanned knight was blown away, I immediately readied my bow, then shot an arrow from the tree branch that I was positioned at.

Even if the knights got in the way of the Obsidian Wolf, they wouldn’t be hit by the arrow, as I’m aiming it from above.

So, my arrow traveled in a straight line. No obstacles got in its way and it was able to hit the side of the Obsidian Wolf, who was caught completely off guard.

[Look at that boing boing! It’s super big!]

Everyone stopped moving as those words resonated throughout the battlefield.

… Eh?

Look at that… Boing boing… Boing boing…

Super big…

The roar was far louder than I imagined. This outrageous sound echoed to the distant sky.

… That was the Sound Bomb. A type of magic that can be added to matter.

When the infused matter touches something, it makes a specified sound. That’s all that this Gift does.

The sound was added to the arrow, creating a gap on the Obsidian’s Wolf’s assault when it was frightened by the sudden large sound that echoed directly in its ear.

That was my plan. Cover fire to protect someone, stopping the Obsidian’s Wolf attack.

I figured that this was the only thing that I could do here.

That exclamation about boing boings was something I heard in the royal capital once. Someone shouted that, and I realized that this was probably the loudest scream I had ever heard in my life.

So, I used it in the Sound Bomb.

If the noise wasn’t loud enough, the Obsidian Wolf wouldn’t be surprised by it.

Then, added together with the Sound Bomb at maximum volume, it created this thing… I truly didn’t expect it to end up being this loud.

Also, I think it was a bit of a problem that I focused on the practicality of making the sound as loud as possible, and neglected to pay attention to the content of the sound itself.

It was not intentional, but I can’t help thinking that I did something bad here.

I mean… I have no idea who said this, nor what they meant with these words. Judging from the voice, I can assume that it was someone around my age, but I don’t know anything more than that. It was just something that I happened to hear on the first time I ever went to a big city.

And well, while the Obsidian Wolf did suddenly stop moving because of the loud noise in its ear, everyone else also stopped moving. They seemed shaken… Probably due to the contents of the noise.

Even Roda, who had been highly responsive and moved flexibly throughout the battle, had stopped moving and had a puzzled, but stern expression in his face.

But well… It worked out.

The Obsidian Wolf was so surprised that it interrupted its attack. It jumped away from the tanned knight and started looking around, trying to understand what was that noise that it just heard.

My cover fire was a complete success. It saved the tanned knight from a dangerous situation. It was a perfect shot that can only be described as spectacular. Something nobody could possibly complain about.

… I’m sorry.

In the midst of such a serious and dangerous battle, I did something silly and funny.

Maybe I should apologize later.

… Or rather, I want to apologize.

… I have a feeling that they will never forgive me for this though.