The light in the eyes of several of the black wolf's pack members began to dim.
"You cunning wolves!" the black wolf snarled, seething with rage as he faced the opposing pack's leader.
"Thanks," the rival leader said, his tone dripping with sarcasm as he took it as praise.
"Comrades! Prepare yourselves!" the black wolf roared, his voice filled with burning intensity.
The order was identical to before, but the nine under his leadership understood it meant something entirely different.
Fight until your last breath!
"Kid!" the black wolf called to the younger wolf.
"Leader!" the young wolf, who would one day be known as Ichiro, called out to his leader.
"Run out of the forest. You must survive. Someone from our lineage must remain alive. Our blood must continue to flow," the leader whispered, giving his final mission to the wolf who would one day be known as Ichiro.
"What?" it replied, its voice filled with disappointment.
"Just follow my order. This has always been our pack's tradition," the leader said in a tone that brooked no opposition.
"Do as the leader says, young one."
"Just listen to the leader, kid."
"Yes... he's right."
"..."
The young Ichiro could only stand there, speechless. The nine stood united in their decision, and he felt overwhelmed, knowing his opposition could not change their resolve. Still, he spoke up. "But our chances of winning would be greater if there were ten of us instead of nine. Besides, isn't it the promise of every member to always protect the leader?" the young Ichiro said, having regained his composure.
But beneath his steady voice, desperation burned within him. He knew that if he obeyed them, he would never see them again. He would rather fight-- and die-- alongside his beloved pack.
"Boy! Do not insult us."
"The eight of us are more than sufficient to protect the leader."
"Boy! I don't need a snot-nosed pup to protect me. You should get stronger first. We'll talk about whether you're qualified once you've grown stronger. We have no intention of dying here. We'll see each other again next time," said the black wolf leader without looking at the young Ichiro. But Ichiro could see the corner of the black-furred wolf's lip curl upward.
"Enough of this nonsense, black wolf," the overall leader of the four opposing wolf packs said, his voice sharp with impatience.
"At my signal," the leader of the ten wolves said in a low voice
"CHARGE!"
"ATTACK!"
At the signal from both sides, three of the four opposing packs surged forward like arrows loosed from drawn bows. From three directions, the wolves serving as the arrowheads of the three packs were the first to reach the ten.
"After him!" the overall leader of the opposing pack roared to its allies. It had seen one wolf break away, heading toward the thick trees behind the black wolf. There was only one meaning, it was attempting to escape the Eternal Forest. It was running away.
Several wolves from the three packs broke off to chase the fleeing young wolf. What they did not expect was that one of the remaining nine enemy wolves would also break away. It went after the wolves chasing the young Ichiro.
The black wolf stood ready as the first enemy reached him.
They crashed together, both rearing onto their hind legs. Their forepaws struck violently, mouths agape, snapping slightly open and shut as if rehearsing a strike aimed at the enemy's vulnerable neck. They dropped back onto all fours after losing their balance from the initial impact. The moment they regained it, they clashed again without hesitation. They raised their leading forepaws and tore into each other with their sharp claws.
The black wolf's cheek was lightly torn. In retaliation, its dominant claw slammed into the enemy's skull. At the same instance, a piercing cry rang out as the black wolf's claw carved through the opposing wolf's skull as though it were nothing more than paper.
The first enemy fell, its life extinguished in an instant.
Enemy wolves came one after another before the black wolf. Each that faced him was instantly overwhelmed, their defeat marked by a howl that faded into silence. The black wolf needed only a single strike to end a life. Bites to the neck. Claws to the head. It struck only at the vulnerable spots.
Still not satisfied, it pressed on. It charged forward, ramming one enemy head-on with full force. The enemy was knocked off its feet, killed the moment it toppled. The black wolf kept advancing.
The overall leader of the opposing pack felt sweat begin to pour down him, despite it being impossible for a wolf like him. He knew the black wolf was powerful, but not to this terrifying extent. His subordinates rushed like fearless knights toward the other side, only to collide with a solid wall and perish pointlessly.
Worse still, he could barely make out the black wolf. The darkness of night shielded it completely. All he saw were shifting blurs. He could only track its position by the death throes of his subordinates.
He breathed a sigh of relief. His decision to observe first had been the right one. He was certain that if he had joined the charge, his head would have been sent flying at their first encounter, just like what happened to his numerous subordinates.
Meanwhile, on both the left and right sides of the black wolf, his subordinates were managing to hold the defensive line. Through intense teamwork, they slowed the advance of two of the three packs, which numbered more than a hundred. The remaining one was being held back single-handedly by their ever-reliable leader. The seven of them were the strongest of the black wolf's subordinates. However, they all knew it was only temporary. It was impossible for them to win against an enemy more than thirty times their number.
Meanwhile, the young Ichiro was giving everything he had to escape the forest. He ran at full speed in a zigzag pattern, as the Eternal Forest had a unique entrance-- or rather, an equally unique exit-- depending on which direction it was approached from.
Over ten layers of dense, overgrown trees formed a natural barrier at the entrance of the forest.
There were straight vertical lines, followed by a gap before another line of trees appeared. For every four trees forming a square, there was one tree in the center. To put it more clearly, you could think of it as a fishing net or a checkerboard pattern.
In truth, the young Ichiro had long since gone beyond his limits. The side of his body that had slammed into a tree earlier was already swollen. Still, he pressed on because of his companions' request. He didn't want to let them down.
He ran on and on.
Behind him, the sounds of battle echoed, growls and screams. Following the order of the wolf protecting him, he did not look back.
With every kilometer he ran, the sounds of battle behind him grew fainter and fainter. Even the clash within the Eternal Forest itself was gradually fading from his hearing. His side ached terribly, yet he felt something even more painful within him. The young Ichiro couldn't understand it. It was something he couldn't explain. He only knew that it hurt like hell.
Before he knew it, he had already escaped the hellish battle in the forest. He didn't know if it was a coincidence at the time, but the first thing he saw outside was the moon.
For some reason, Ichiro felt that on that night in particular, the moon looked especially sad.
Young Ichiro tilted his head upward and howled with all his strength.
He kept howling without pause...
until...
...the young Ichiro finally collapsed, completely drained.
.
.
.
(End)
...
It's been almost a year since then...
.
.
.
He walked with his head held high through the familiar land. He had returned to the forest of his origin. Wolves began to emerge. They had caught a whiff of a scent that was both familiar and unfamiliar.
Curiously, they observed the unfamiliar member of their kind. There was something about him they couldn't quite place. His scent was different. They were certain of it, its the scent of an outsider.
While the wolves of the Eternal Forest kept their eyes on him, he kept his eyes on them too.
Almost instinctively, his gaze landed on a familiar wolf.
"How are you, leader of the biggest pack of Eternal Forest?" The wolf he addressed was taken aback. It hadn't expected the stranger from outside to recognize him.
"Who are you?" the wolf who had once led their betrayal demanded, suspicion dripping from his voice. Ichiro would never forget him, not for as long as he lived. "Too ordinary. Not a threat," the leader wolf concluded in its mind, its judgment coming even as it questioned him.
"Where is my leader? Is he still alive? Are they still alive?" Ichiro asked bluntly, his questions throwing the opposing wolf's mind into confusion.
"Huh? What do you mean? Who are you, outsider?" the opposing wolf asked in irritation, sounding slightly dazed and confused by the unexpected interrogation.
"You don't remember? You don't recognize me? Hu--wooow... that really hurts," Ichiro replied with a tinge of sarcasm.
The opponent's eyes turned sharp and narrowed.
"Wooow! That hurts!" Ichiro let out an ironic laugh.
"I'll give you a clue. I'm the only one who survived your betrayal of my pack," Ichiro said, his expression turning serious, his words heavy with meaning and a reminder. "You fucking rat!"
"YOU?!" the leader of the opposing pack exclaimed in disbelief, memories of that night flashing back to him. That was the night he finally defeated the one most admired and envied by the wolves of the Eternal Forest. It had not stood out in his memory at first, but as he dug deeper into his thoughts, he recalled a single young wolf whom the black enemy had let escape.
"That's right. It is I... the one that you've failed to kill that night."
"You pup... you've got a lot of nerve coming back. I'll give you that. Do you really think I can't finish you off? Do you see our numbers?" he said, his voice dripping with arrogance.
He laughed out loud, disbelief written all over his face.
"Do you want to end up like your leader? Do you want to follow him... join them?" the leader of the largest wolf pack threatened, his tone laced with menace.
At last, Ichiro had the answer to the question he had waited so long to hear.
Unexpectedly, he didn't lash out in anger. He could still feel the anger within him, it was there, but he was far calmer than he had expected himself to be.
"What, cat got your tongue? Are you afraid? How will you face your leader after I send you to him?" Even so, he remained unmoved by the opposing wolf's blatant provocation.
A quiet tranquility settled around Ichiro, as if he had attained a moment of clarity. Confidence surged within him. His entire body seemed to be brimming with strength.
A strange red energy began to seep from Ichiro, becoming increasingly visible to the naked eye of the forest wolves.
Ichiro moved.
Its speed was so overwhelming that no one could track it, let alone react in time.
"One down?" He tilted his head toward the rear. A corpse of a wolf with a severed head can be seen there. A blatant act of retaliation meant to provoke.