I killed them one by one. Thereâs no way these horn rabbits will spawn infinitely no matter what.
While I continued fighting, the area became littered with the corpses of horned rabbits.
The verdant grassland marred with the red color. It made me want to look away from the place where I am.
I feel like Iâve made a mess of a beautiful place. But there is nothing else I could do if I want to survive.
As I dealt with the horned rabbits that were still attacking me, I could smell the strong stench of blood around me. Letâs move places soon. âŚ..When I think so, it seems that it was too late.
A howl was heard among the swishing wind.
This seemingly caused the horned rabbits to ignore me and flee back into their burrows at full speed.
As expected, the smell of the blood spilled in the battle seemed to attract bad things.
A silver beast appeared from the other side of the horizon.
Itâs already visible even from afar. Just how big is it?
When it noticed me, it made a beeline toward me. It ran so fast that the grasslands swayed so strongly that it created a path behind it.
Itâs clearly aiming for me, not the corpses of the horned rabbits.
I tightened my grip on the broken black sword and waited for the attacking monster that looked like a great wolf to enter my range. Anyway, the current me canât escape from that speed.
Sharp canine teeth were peeking out from the large, open mouth. Itâs easy to see that even just one bite would be fatal.
Wary of the silver wolfâs bite, I held up my black sword.
It was too late when I realized I was wrong.
When I tried to dodge the bite with just a paper thin margin and slam the black sword into the wolfâs neck,
[What!]
The silver wolf dodged my slashing, changed its stance and chased after me.
It swiped its sharp front claw at me.
[Kuh.]
It was targeting the arm that held the weapon. I stared at the silver wolf as the black sword danced in the air.
This guyâŚis smart. The first attack was just a feint.
Its real goal was to neutralize me.
Bereft of my weapon, I slowly retreated. The silver wolf calmly approaches as if to match.
Despite being a monster, it seemed like itâs confident of its victory.
I only have my bare hands left. If I still have the martial arts skills, I would still be able to fightâŚbut there is no sign of any skill activating.
[Damn.]
The silver wolf scratched at me with its sharp claws as if toying with me who was impatient. It cuts through the jacket with chains woven inside very easily.
My blood spattered on the grass at my feet.
Second time, third time, fourth time, fifth timeâŚ
[This guy.]
If it wanted to eat me, it wouldâve killed me quickly. So, itâs just playing around with me?
Or is there another purpose?
The silver wolf narrowed its eyes, perhaps finding me, who didnât fall down even when covered in blood, amusing.
Then, it started walking around me.
It wouldnât be strange if I was attacked again at any time. Such tension continued for some time.
Then it came all of a sudden.
When the silver wolf licked the blood on its paws, it raised its hair and howled loudly.
From there, it was different from the previous silver wolf. Its rational face disappeared and turned into a beastly cruel eye.
Was my blood that delicious? I feel like itâs somewhat similar to when Mimir drinks my blood. Iâm sure sheâll get angry if she hears that sheâs likened to this silver wolf.
I donât have time to carelessly think about such things now.
The black sword was tossed away pretty far. In order to retrieve it, Iâll have to show my back to the silver wolf.
Thatâs a no go.
As soon as I took my eyes off the silver wolf rammed into me. Itâs a giant rush. I was taken by surprise, so I took it head-on.
This was all I could think of, and I was thrown backwards. I couldnât breathe due to the impact, and blood was overflowing from my mouth.
But, I was lucky.
Because I landed right next to the black sword.
I picked it up and held back the mouth of the silver wolf that was about to bite me with it. Heavy⌠too heavy. Probably because there is no status assist. Compared to the giant silver wolf, I was too small.
It started to push me, and its big mouth gradually approached me. Up until now, it might have paid off with the Gluttony skill.
Then a strange laugh could be heard.
[Thatâs it. I have to return home.]
I lost strength and was pinned to the ground. Even if I suppress it with a black sword, the silver wolfâs mouth steadily moves towards mine.
[âŚI have to return home.]
Find Roxy, and return to the Seyfert Kingdom. Itâs just over there!
At that time, a gust of wind rushed through.
Whoosh!
Together with the pitiful voice of the silver wolf, the weight that was trying to crush me disappeared.
Loud footsteps receded. In my hazy vision, the silver wolf disappeared.
[Are you alright?]
[Yeah, thank goodnessâŚ]
Perhaps due to the excessive bleeding, my consciousness was blurring. A woman with silver hair helped me.
I thought she was a human too, but something didnât seem right.
She was beautiful, but her ears were very long and pointed at the tips. Iâve never seen a human like her before.
She seemed to have the same impression when she saw me.
[You⌠I thought you were an elf, but you have short ears. What are you?]
[âŚ..elf?]
[That I am.]
As I looked at her questioning face, my consciousness faded away.
======
A swaying warmth. Even the body that hurt so much felt light as if it were a lie.
The grass-scented wind was pleasant.
[Wake up. Your wounds have already healed.]
[âŚ..]
[To think you would wander this far. Youâre either very brave or a fool.]
When my cheek was pinched and I jumped up, there was a silver-haired woman as expected. She had tied her long hair in a ponytail.
Perhaps because of that hairstyle, her long pointed ears became more prominent.
If I remember correctly⌠she called herself an elf. Perhaps itâs a racial designation.
With her green eyes, she looks at me with suspicion.
[What are you? A failed elf or something?]
[Let go of my ear.]
[Not like it will get any smaller. Even so, you do resemble an elf.]
[Would you please stop staring at me?]
[I saved your life, you know? That wolf from earlier is a dangerous monster called Fenrir.]
[Fenrir?]
She was holding her head and looking amazed.
[Haa. Youâre lucky that I was able to drive it away⌠otherwise, youâll be inside Fenrirâs stomach by now.]
[Thank you for saving me. Um, what is your name?]
[My name is Cecilia Belial. And you?]
[Fate Barbatos.]
Cecilia offered me a handshake. She has helped me, so she must be a friendly elf.
So I shook her hand back.
Then, Cecilia said with the feeling that she would definitely get an answer this time.
[So if Fate is not an elf, then what are you?]
[âŚ..a human.]
She tilted her head at those words. It seemed like she had never heard of it.
[Well, itâs fine. I came all the way here to hunt⌠it looks like I picked up something strange. But, it seems thereâs a lot of prey.]
Looking at the horned rabbit lying around, Cecilia smiled.
[Itâs just right. That way youâll be able to repay me for helping you.]
[You want me to come with you?]
[Thatâs a good guess. Besides, thereâs a law that disallows me to leave someone like you alone.]
[Law?]
[Yes. so please come with me.]
[I canât decline⌠can I?]
Sheâs strong enough to drive away that huge Fenrir. I couldnât seem to move.
Even though itâs a different place than I used to be⌠not to mention that itâs a place that doesnât seem to know about humans, but I canât believe I can understand the language.
It would be better to just follow the instructions here and gather information.
I packed the horn rabbit into the bag that Cecilia had prepared.