Chapter 8

# Chapter 008

“What… Ian?!”

Meb’s eyes widened as she turned her head.

It was because Ian was already far away.

“Stop right now! Come back!”

Despite her urgent cries, Ian was swept away without hesitation right into the midst of the wolf pack.

“What a crazy thing to do…!”

Philip let out a cry of shock at this sudden, suicidal action.

Sure enough, a wolf leaped and pounced on Ian.

Blood spurted out immediately.

But it was not Ian’s blood; it was a fountain of blood from the wolf’s severed neck.

A flash of sword light, and the wolf’s head was cut off while its mouth was still wide open.

Before the wolf’s body could roll on the ground, more wolves charged from all directions.

Ian leaped just after that.

“……!”

Meb’s eyes twitched for a moment.

It was because Ian’s body seemed to soar even higher in the air.

Ian leaped over the charging wolves, rolled on the ground, and then ran again.

His speed was as fast as before.

In fact, his figure began to blur amidst the afterimages of the wolves.

In the blink of an eye, he broke through the encirclement.

A few wolves followed behind, but surprisingly, Ian’s speed of getting away was even faster.

“……”

Meb, who had been staring at the scene in a daze, suddenly turned her head.

Swoosh!

A wolf that had been sneaking up on her while she was distracted was split in half.

“What should we do, sir! Should we chase after him?”

Philip, who was also pushing back a wolf with his shield, shouted.

Meb turned her gaze again.

By now, Ian had already disappeared into the darkness of the forest.

Only the backs of the few wolves chasing him were faintly visible, and soon even they disappeared into the darkness.

Suddenly, she remembered the words Ian had left before the battle began.

He had said there was something only he could do.

Staring into the darkness, Meb muttered.

“No. Hold your position, Philip.”

“But help me, sir! I’m really going to die if this continues!”

At Philip’s scream, Meb gripped her sword and turned her body.

Because of this, Meb missed the sight of a purple glow streaking straight through the darkness of the forest and fading away.

***

Ian wasn’t particularly knowledgeable about hunting.

But he knew what not to do when encountering a predator.

Showing your back and running away.

This stimulates the predator’s instinct.

They are wary of approaching prey but recognize fleeing prey as a target.

That’s why he ran straight toward the leader’s position.

Before long, Ian’s senses sent a warning.

‘They’re coming.’

The sound of heavy breathing, not from the wolves, brushed past his ears.

It was a mix of excitement and anger.

Ian slowed his running speed.

The wolves that had been chasing him pounced as if they had been waiting.

It was the reaction he wanted.

Swoosh, Crunch! Roar!

The wolves were instantly cut down.

Ian shook the blood off his sword as if to show off.

The growling sounds of the wolves that had caught up to him added to the scene.

Ian stopped abruptly and turned around.

A fiercely burning purple glow captured his gaze.

Gleaming fangs in the darkness.

“Are you angry?”

“Roar!”

The creature howled and leaped.

A purple claw mark was etched in the air and then descended upon Ian.

Crack!

The swirling barrier that had saved him multiple times was torn apart effortlessly.

Ian, whose eyes turned a pale gray, extended his left hand.

The magic power in his grasp flashed a piercing blue.

Crackle!

An ice shield sprang up in front of his palm, shielding Ian’s body.

It was a blue magic, Frost Shield.

The surface of the shield was covered with spiky ice thorns.

Crunch!

The purple claws were blocked by the shield. Beyond the shield, Ian smiled at the creature’s glowing eyes.

“Nice to meet you, mutt.”

“Roar!”

Boom!

The moment the creature’s mouth, filled with large fangs, opened, the shield exploded.

Ice shards rained down on the creature. Though they couldn’t tear through its thick skin, they were enough to leave open wounds and knock it back.

Thud, the massive body rolled on the ground.

The creature regained its composure before it hit the ground three times.

Swoosh!

Long claw marks were etched on the ground. Blood droplets fell to the ground. The creature growled and stood up.

Ian finally got a good look at the creature.

It was a massive, over 2 meters tall, resembling a combination of a gorilla and a wolf.

Its arms, longer than its legs, were as thick as Ian’s waist, and at the ends were blade-like claws.

The face, with a purple glow, looked like a terrifying mix of human and wolf.

Black fur, bristling from the bridge of its nose, moved with its breathing.

At that moment, a translucent window appeared in front of Ian.

Sub-Quest.

He steadied himself and muttered.

“I expected it, but it’s even more disgusting. Andolf.”

The cursed Andolf. The name of the sub-quest and the werewolf.

“Roar!”

Andolf howled.

Ian could clearly see the explosive purple magic power surging from Andolf.

A skin-tingling roar.

But that was all.

The howling that had induced fear in characters in the game was just noise to the current Ian.

Realizing it had no effect, Andolf kicked the ground and leaped.

Purple claws etched a long arc in the darkness and extended toward Ian.

To Ian, who was prepared, it was an obvious attack.

Crunch!

The tree Ian was leaning against snapped like a bamboo stick.

Dust rose from the ground where the claws struck.

In the midst of this, a gray glow rose like mist.

Ian had avoided the attack by taking two diagonal steps back.

A gust of wind then swept through the dust.

Crack!

Ian’s sword plunged deep into Andolf’s outstretched arm.

Even with a wind blade, he couldn’t completely sever the arm.

“Kiaaaah!”

While Ian clicked his tongue, Andolf let out a scream and raised his opposite arm.

Just as the purple claws were about to strike.

Boom!

A loud explosion caused Andolf’s body to lose balance and tilt.

It was an invisible explosion from the sword embedded in his arm.

It was a gray magic, Vacuum Explosion.

Though it had a very short range like other lower-level gray magics, its destructive power was undeniable.

Chunks of flesh flew out, forming a spray of blood.

“Kiaaaah!”

Andolf, barely supporting himself with his opposite arm, howled.

Black blood spurted from his ragged right arm like a pump.

Crunch!

Before Andolf could properly check his arm, Ian’s sword plunged into his left arm, which was planted on the ground.

Another explosion followed.

“Kiaaaah!”

Andolf, having lost both arms in an instant, collapsed amidst a spray of blood.

Ian, now covered in blood and flesh due to the wind blade’s effect, leaped back.

“Damn it.”

His frown wasn’t just because of the blood and flesh.

His sword had broken in half again.

How long had it been since he left the village, and he was in this state.

“Kiaaaah…!”

Meanwhile, Andolf, who had been rolling on the ground and screaming, suddenly crouched.

The fur all over his body bristled.

Ian’s eyebrows shot up.

“Already?”

Boom!

Almost simultaneously with Ian’s reflexive creation of a Frost Shield, a purple explosion erupted from Andolf’s body.

It was a pure explosion of magic power, without any technique.

Ian, who had barely hidden behind the shield, was thrown back.

As he rolled on the ground, Andolf, now standing on his two legs, leaped.

Directly to the opposite side of Ian.

The blood spurted from his arms, tracing a trajectory.

Thud!

The trajectory was cut off when Andolf collided with something.

It was an ice wall.

The wall collapsed as Andolf fell to the ground.

Crack, crack, crack.

The fallen wall froze again, forming a honeycomb-like hexagonal pattern.

When Andolf shook his head and stood up, he was trapped in a prison of ice bars.

“Kiaaaah!”

Andolf howled and lunged, but the ice prison only shook and didn’t break.

“Same pattern, different approach….”

On the other side, Ian slowly stood up, extending his hand forward.

In the game, Andolf would flee when he had consumed a certain amount of health.

Even if his head was severed, he would flee, and it was impossible to catch him.

A few days later, he would reappear, leading a pack of wolves.

So to kill him, you had to cut off his arms and legs first to prevent him from fleeing.

Or use a movement hindering skill like the ice prison.

But Ian hadn’t expected that he would choose to flee as soon as his two arms were cut off.

In the game, even with his limbs cut off, his health wasn’t low enough to flee.

However, Ian remembered that the magic explosion was something Andolf did only when his limbs were cut off or just before fleeing.

That’s why he used the ice prison spell while being caught in the explosion, and it hit its mark.

“You thought you got away, didn’t you, bastard.”

Ian’s eyes, filled with blood and dust, glowed gray.

The magic power in his grasp turned from blue to gray.

Dust and blood mist swirled and were sucked into Ian’s grasp.

A whirlwind that could be seen with the naked eye, spinning fiercely.

Crack, crack, crack!

Blue sparks began to fly from the whirlwind.

“Kiaaaah!”

Sensing the ominous atmosphere, Andolf charged at the ice prison.

Boom, crack, crack, crack!

Cracks began to form in the prison as the magic supply was cut off, and it started to collapse.

Crash!

Andolf broke through the ice and leaped out.

Crack, crack, crack!

What greeted him was a whirlwind filled with blue lightning.

The ice prison had bought enough time for the spell to be completed.

Crack, crack, crack!

The lightning whirlwind enveloped Andolf.

A blinding flash of light erupted, momentarily blinding the vision.

Andolf’s fur stood on end, and thin lightning bolts flickered around his body, which was bent like a bow.

“Kiaaaah….”

A stream of smoke rose from Andolf’s mouth, his eyes rolled back.

Thud.

He fell to his knees.

Whoosh!

Ian, surrounded by wind blades, charged forward.

He extended his palm, which was filled with a wind blade, toward Andolf’s abdomen.

The wind blade pierced Andolf’s abdomen.

Boom!

A vacuum explosion occurred inside Andolf’s stomach.

With a sound like a drum bursting, Andolf fell backward.

His abdomen split open, and his organs and blood gushed out.

Ian, panting, examined Andolf with a calm gaze.

His head ached from the continuous use of magic, but he was ready to cast another spell at any moment.

Now, unlike in the game, he couldn’t see the health bar.

Given the werewolf’s tenacious life force, it was possible he could still flee in this state.

Swoosh.

The purple glow in Andolf’s eyes, which had been flickering, dimmed shortly after.

Purple magic power rose like mist from his body and then dissipated.

Crack, crack, crack.

His body began to convulse and twist.

“Huh….”

Ian finally lowered his raised arm and sat down.

Crack, crack, crack.

Andolf’s body gradually shrank.

His head, which had resembled a cursed beast, became more human-like.

A faint glimmer of reason returned to his eyes, which had been filled with savagery.

“Th….”

His jaw moved slightly.

“Thank… you.”

“Well, give me a clue about your curse or something. Or a trophy. Don’t just say thanks and leave it at that.”

Ian, wiping the blood and organ pieces from his hands onto Andolf’s fur, said.

He didn’t know what curse Andolf had received.

Perhaps he was just one of the excessive sub-quests.

Andolf’s lips opened again.

“Old… deer….”

“What about the deer?”

There was no response.

His breath had stopped.

Ian let out a hollow laugh.

“Did he eat the wrong deer or something?”

Of course, that wasn’t the meaning.

Regardless, there was some harvest.

Completing the cursed Andolf quest increased his health stat by one.

Since he had no plans to invest points in intelligence or mental strength, it was a very valuable reward.

“This should look like he died from magic….”

Ian nodded, looking at Andolf’s corpse.

If he had used red magic, he would have won more easily, but he would have returned with a lump of charcoal.

He wanted to avoid a troublesome situation.

Ian, holding the broken sword, stood up.

He then placed one knee on Andolf’s chest.

He grabbed the face, which had almost returned to human form, and turned it to the side.

He intended to take only the head, as he couldn’t carry the entire body.

Thud.

Something fell from Andolf’s open mouth at that moment.

It was a bead, glowing purple.

“So this guy had a core too…?”

Ian, tilting his head, picked up the bead.

A condensed core of the curse.

It contained a different attribute of corrupted magic power from what he possessed.

“…I don’t remember seeing this in the game.”

Moreover, it could be used immediately.

Though it had the fatal drawback of immediately plunging the user into the madness of the curse.

“I can purify this too.”

Ian put the core into his subspace.

The empty space left by the core he had sold to Meb was filled.

Now, he just needed to find a priest.

Thinking this, Ian began to cut the neck again.

The sword, which he thought might not hold up, was assisted by a wind blade.

After a while, he completely separated the head, threw the sword aside, and stood up.

A headache and hunger hit him belatedly.

“I want to eat some chicken and sleep….”

Muttering this, he gripped Andolf’s hair and started walking.

It had been a long night, but there was still a long time until morning.