Only a single line of wolves now separated the black wolf from its pack. There was still a chance to save them—they were hanging by a thread. Pushing off with all four legs, the black wolf exploded into a powerful dash. Yet that glimmer of hope was shattered by the arrival of a new threat.
"Grargh!" The black wolf felt as if it had been hit by a ton of bricks. It rolled across the ground with the still-unidentified object that had struck it, bringing it to a complete halt and cutting off any chance of rescuing its pack.
"Snarl!" The black wolf quickly got back on its feet as the momentum of the collision subsided. It managed to dodge the next attack by a hair's breadth from the now-identified enemy. The black wolf recognized it as one of the three pack leaders who had come with the cunning, hateful wolf.
"Get out of the way, you crazy bastard!" the black wolf cursed, its voice laced with menace. Beneath that aggression, however, it was gripped by anxiety under immense pressure.
"Why are you being so impatient, you stuck-up wolf?" the wolf with messy fur said with a teasing smile, letting out a mocking cackle, clearly delighted by the black wolf's plight.
The black wolf was becoming more anxious with every passing moment. Wasting any more time here meant lowering the chances of saving its pack.
"I thought you hated that cowardly wolf. Why are you serving under it then?" the black wolf taunted, knowing it would work too well.
"Arrogant fool, I'm my own man. I serve no one." And the black wolf was proven right.
"I'm—you're the one who's a coward!"
The black wolf attacked immediately upon seeing its counterpart become riled up, not allowing it to continue speaking nonsense. It had no time to waste. Every fraction of a second counted. Killing it quickly would be for the best.
The black wolf frowned. Even a surprise attack—something that would normally guarantee a kill—had failed to do significant damage. The only result was a chunk torn from the other wolf's cheek. This was why the black wolf was anxious—it knew this one was different from the ordinary wolves.
"Fight me like a man!"
The only answer the black wolf gave was to pressure the crazy wolf with barrages of relentless, vicious attacks. The crazy wolf could do nothing but continuously dodge while being forced to take steps backward.
"Aren't you a man?! Let's fight man to man, you crazy bastard!" Like the pot calling the kettle black, the crazed wolf continued spouting nonsense. However, it soon fell silent after realizing the black wolf had no interest in conversation and was simply ignoring it. Thus, it turned its full attention back to the fight, determined not to make a costly mistake.
As the fight between the black wolf and the crazy wolf intensified, the battle elsewhere raged just as fiercely. After the initial shock, the pipsqueak made its move, heading straight for the critically wounded musclehead. Everything below its neck was bleeding profusely.
...
Five of the remaining wolves on the side of the musclehead opposite the pipsqueak regrouped against the tide of enemies assaulting them. They set aside their worry for the musclehead, knowing it was the most logical choice, and chose to trust the tiny wolf instead. Among the six of them, they knew that pipsqueak was the only one who could pull off such a stunt.
They believed in it. After all, surviving this long was a miracle in itself. The tiny wolf had persisted, overcoming flaws that would have doomed others to become what it was today. If they had been in its place, they knew they would have died long ago.
They knew that if the pipsqueak focused solely on reaching the musclehead's side, with nothing else in mind, no fighting, just getting there on time, it would be a piece of cake.
...
The pipsqueak loosened up its body with a series of quick, short jogs in place, then took several deep breaths, all the while dodging enemy attacks. With conviction blazing in its eyes, the pipsqueak launched itself forward at a speed resembling a rocket's.
The first line of enemies, trying to surround it from all sides, wasn't able to do so at all.
The second line fared slightly better. They managed to react and attempt a surround, but they were still too slow to trap its speed. It barely slipped past them.
The third line and even the fourth line of wolves had all turned serious and tensed up. The speed it had just shown was not something to scoff at. At that level of terrifying speed, being singled out by it spelled doom. They were all caught off guard when it abruptly paused midway between the second and third lines of encirclement, then made a small hop veering slightly left. Instinctively, they followed the direction the pipsqueak's head was pointing, and in that instant, the tiny wolf vanished from their line of sights.
They were in utter disbelief when they realized that the tiny wolf had already reached and was about to break through the fifth line of encirclement.
Although in a state of confusion, the fifth line desperately threw themselves at the pipsqueak, their dread of what their leader would do to them after the battle concluded far outweighed their temporary sense of bafflement.
They saw the tiny wolf abruptly stop and make a small hop, veering slightly to the right. Their eyes widened. Though it was dark, as it was night, they were wolves with heightened senses compared to humans, and they were able to see what it had done to the other two lines before reaching them. Though slightly different, they knew what was to come.
"Stay where you are!" someone among them shouted as if their life depended on it, and the warning seemed effective, at least at first.
"It's going the opposite direction," another called out at the same time.
With four nimble, fluid, coordinated feet, it shifted its balance with barely any movement, then burst to the left. Or so they thought.
"NOW!" someone shouted.
"Don't let it get away again!" The fifth line scrambled after it.
It came to an abrupt stop once again, then spun smoothly and dashed to the right, straight for the gap it had deliberately created. With that slick maneuver, the tiny wolf parted the sea of wolves like Moses parting the Red Sea.
"Chase after that fucking rat!" an angry roar came from behind.
A few lightly wounded wolves lingering behind the formation were caught off guard as the pipsqueak burst through. They lunged to intercept it, but to no avail. Those who failed to body it join the chase.
With nothing to slow it down, the tiny wolf surged ahead, leaving them behind in the dust.
"Cough!" "Cough!" Cough!"
...
"Grrrra!" "Snarl!" Yelp!"
The black wolf and the crazy wolf remained entangled, tussling and tossing each other around with no clear winner yet.
...
The pipsqueak leapt and hurled itself at an enemy climbing onto the musclehead's side, threatening to bite it by the scruff of the neck.
"Yelp!" The blindsided wolf died instantly upon unluckily hitting the ground at an awkward angle, its neck twisting by accident.
"Hey doofus, you still holding up there?" The pipsqueak teasingly asked the musclehead.
"You're the dumb one!" the tiny wolf secretly sigh in relief when the robust wolf shot back.
"Let's see who racks up more kills, what do you say, musclehead?" the pipsqueak challenged.
"Fine by me," the musclehead said with a smirk.
True to its reputation, the musclehead one-hit a nearby wolf right after accepting the pipsqueak's challenge.
The pipsqueak, on the other hand, absolutely hated being one-upped by the robust wolf. It instantly targeted an unlucky wolf, blinding it right in that instance.
The two unleashed themselves, catching the enemy wolves off guard.
The opposing wolves were briefly overwhelmed by the duo's renewed momentum.
The robust wolf was giving it everything it had. It knew that in its current state, no matter the outcome of the battle, its fate was already sealed. It wasn't sure if it could affect the outcome, but it planned to take as many enemies with it to the grave as possible, giving its pack, its boss, and even the tiny fool fighting by its side a better chance of survival. The musclehead was essentially hurling its massive body at every enemy it attacked, using it with reckless abandon and completely forsaking any defense for its bloodied frame.
The enemies scrambled in panic at the sight of it.
The tiny wolf was up to its usual antics, but with an added layer of tension. It pushed itself to its limits, evading while striking and striking while shielding the defenseless musclehead. Its breathing was becoming labored. It realized that three tasks at once was far more difficult than two. Dodging and attacking had been a cakewalk, but adding defense, circling to ensure no blow reached the heavily wounded musclehead, was something else entirely. Its focus slipped.
Suddenly, three wolves launch at a very coordinated attack on the tiny wolf, at the same time, a huge shadow was also fast approaching. The pipsqueak whose focus slip for a moment regained its focus barely being able to dodge the pronged attack. Even though it was able to avoid any mortal wound it was bodied by one of the three. Still, the tiring pipsqueak managed to avoid sustaining any wound. Unbeknownst to it, a danger was just lurking around the corner.
It was about to relaunch an attack.
...
"Idiot!" the black wolf calmly stated, eyeing the fallen crazy wolf. He was about to turn around when he found itself frozen in place.
"PIPSQUEEEAAAAAK!!" An ominous feeling welled up in the black wolf's heart when he heard the robust wolf shouting the tiny wolf's alias in an anguished tone.
"KUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" followed the manic laughter of that vile, cowardly sly wolf.
The black wolf violently turned his head to the voices direction.
There he saw it.
The tiny wolf lay on the ground in front of the robust wolf as it hurled another wolf away.
Without hesitation, the black wolf moved toward it.
"Not so fast, black wolf." The vile, sly wolf stepped into its path. "Hey, you two, come with me!" it called to the other two remaining alpha wolves of the alliance.
"Sure."
"Alright."
...
"Pipsqueak." the robust wolf could do nothing but call out to the tiny wolf.
"Damn it," it said helplessly. The tiny wolf lay motionless, barely breathing. Its eyes stayed locked on the robust wolf while blood spurted from the side of its neck with every pulse.
"Get away from pipsqueak!" The musclehead's emotions exploded. It tried to protect its dying rival from the wolves closing in to finish it off, positioning itself over the tiny wolf to shield it.
"Cr-crying?" The robust wolf jolted when the tiny wolf beneath it spoke with great difficulty.
"Are you okay?" the musclehead asked, worried.
"Ug-ugly," the tiny wolf said, coughing.
"Look at yourself. You're the one who's ugly." Even in the most tragic moment, the two couldn't help but take jabs at each other. They couldn't help it, that was just how they were.
"You're... slow... even death... I'm... faster," it said with a faint, triumphant look before going still.
For some reason, as the pipsqueak fell silent, the musclehead felt its eyelids droop and its strength drain away. The tough, robust wolf was suddenly overcome with exhaustion, as if sleep was pulling it under.
...