"What do you think I should do to your woman, black wolf? Or should I say, how do you want me to kill her?" it asked with an evil grin as it finally shifted its attention to its main target—the black wolf.
"Don't you dare touch her, you coward! Unhand me, you bastards!" For the first time since the start of the battle, the cool-headed black wolf lost its composure. It writhed violently, doing its best to break free from the numerous wolves trying to hold it down.
"I dare you to unhand me and fight me, you lone dog!" the white wolf taunted. The sly wolf almost froze from the sheer coldness in her voice. Even while being restrained, she showed not the slightest hint of fear.
"You really think I'll fall for that, bitch? Why would I risk my life against a defeated enemy?" After recovering from its momentary hesitation, the sly wolf crouched mockingly in front of the delicate-looking wolf. Embarrassed that it had been intimidated despite her restrained state, it took pleasure in seeing her brought so low.
"Don't play around, old coot."
The sly wolf followed the source of the voice and saw a group of wolves parting to give way to a limping wolf. Supported by several others, it slowly made its way toward the spot where the sly wolf and the pair were located.
"Oh? You're still alive?" the sly wolf lightheartedly jabbed at its still-breathing ally.
"Finish the job and keep your promise," the last remaining of the three allied alphas said impatiently. It was already struggling just to remain standing with a broken leg and several fractured ribs. It only showed how tough—and worthy of the title of alpha—it was.
Everyone simultaneously turned toward the source of the commotion. A new battle had seemingly broken out, with several of the sly wolf's pack members fighting against something they could not yet identify. Moments later, the enemies broke through the encirclement and emerged amidst the sly wolf's countless subordinates.
The black wolf immediately shouted upon seeing the identity or rather indentityes of those who appeared before them.
"What the hell are you doing? Get out of here, you bunch of fools!" the black wolf angrily shouted at the five remaining members of his dauntless pack, unable to hide the anxiety in his voice.
"What was that, leader? I can't hear you!" one of the five feigned ignorance of what he had just blurted out.
"We're coming for you, leader!"
"Here we come, boss!"
"Don't worry, boss. I'm going to rescue you. It's just some cowardly fool!"
"..." The last one merely stared at him with a deadpan expression.
"Idiots," the black wolf muttered heavily. Despite his words, he could not stop a faint smile from forming as he looked at the unwavering loyalty of his pack. His heart felt heavy, his emotions tangled and complicated.
"Don't let them get near," the sly wolf ordered indifferently to a nearby subordinate.
"Now then, where were we?" It turned its attention back to its remaining wounded ally.
"I asked you to keep your promise."
"Yeah, yeah... got it," the sly wolf said with a dispassionate shrug, eliciting an angry growl from its wounded ally. "Or not?" it added with a devilish smile directed at the wounded alpha.
"You..." The wounded ally was unable to finish speaking because the sly wolf suddenly pounced on it and savagely ripped open its neck.
Everybody froze in shock—the black and white wolf pair, the sly wolf's subordinates, the pack of the betrayed alpha, as well as the five brave members of the black wolf's pack who were pushing themselves to their limits to rescue their leader and his life partner.
When the wounded alpha betrayed by the sly wolf fell to the ground with a thud, its pack members finally snapped out of their shock. Soon after, another all-out battle erupted—one that seemed destined to become long and brutal. Unexpectedly, however, it ended almost as quickly as it began.
More than half of the betrayed pack died in the initial assault. There were several reasons for such a quick and lopsided battle. They were heavily outnumbered, and more importantly, their pack—as well as the other two allied packs that had lost their leaders—was already utterly exhausted. In contrast, the sly wolf's pack had merely been feigning aggression for most of the battle, conserving far more of their strength.
The sly wolf had calculated everything beforehand, ensuring the battle was utterly one-sided before it had even begun.
"Choose: surrender, or die alongside the black wolf and his pack," the sly wolf coldly stated.
The leaderless allied packs were stunned by the sudden demand to make such a difficult choice. Their gazes shifted back and forth between the captured dominant pair of the black and white wolves and the headless corpses of their former leaders. Seeing this, the difficult choice suddenly no longer seemed so difficult after all.
One by one, they dropped to the ground in submission. Some sat motionlessly, others lay down, while a few exposed their bellies in a complete display of surrender.
Seeing this, the sly wolf could not help but grin from ear to ear. It only needed to take one more step to fulfill its ambition—to escape the shadow of the black wolf and his damnable pack. To become the sole dominant force in the outer layer of the Eternal Forest.
To achieve that, the black wolf needed to die.
The sly wolf fixed its gaze upon the delicate-looking white wolf and grinned maliciously. It hated her to the core, which was precisely why she had to die first. It wanted the black wolf to drown in despair before meeting his own end.
With a mere glance, it signaled to the wolves restraining her. The sly wolf's loyal subordinates immediately forced the white wolf onto her back. She struggled fiercely, but there was little she could do while being pinned down by more than a dozen wolves.
Once the struggling white wolf was firmly pressed against the ground, the sly wolf swaggered forward. It deliberately positioned itself before the female wolf while remaining directly within the black wolf's line of sight.
"Watch closely, arrogant black wolf. Die, bitch," it said, and with a single swift motion, it sank its fangs into the white wolf's slender neck.
As the white wolf writhed beneath it, the sly wolf deliberately maintained eye contact with the black wolf, slowly savoring the taste of victory. Little by little, its jaws tightened further around her neck until her struggles gradually ceased.
"I'm going to kill you! I'm going to kill you!" the black wolf howled as he struggled desperately to break free from the dozen wolves pinning him down.
"Don't be so impatient. You're next," the sly wolf said once the white wolf stopped moving.
The black wolf could only watch helplessly as the sly wolf made its way toward him.
"Goodbye," the sly wolf said before sinking its fangs into the black wolf's neck.
The black wolf cursed the sly wolf in his mind. Then, the image of the young Ichiro surfaced within his fading consciousness. At first, he wished for the boy to avenge them, but with his final breath, he changed his mind. Instead, he wished for Ichiro to never return to the forest and to live a far longer life than they ever could.
"Cease the attack." The sly wolf's order echoed throughout the forest.
Its pack immediately ceased all action upon hearing its command.
Without the pressure of the relentless attacks hindering them, the five wolves finally saw the final state of their leader and his life partner.
"How about you lot? I'm being generous here. Will you admit defeat and pledge your loyalty to me, or continue resisting and follow the miserable deaths of your incompetent leaders?" it asked the remnants of the black wolf's pack arrogantly.
"Can you believe this? That old coot is actually asking us to betray our leader?" one of the five wolves from the black wolf's pack said loudly enough for everyone around to hear.
"Delusional old fool," another calmly stated.
"You really think we'd betray our leader just because he died?" the third wolf said, glaring at the sly wolf.
"You think we'd surrender and become your lackeys just because we fear death?" the fourth spat.
"We fear betraying our leader far more than we fear death," the fifth coldly declared.
"Brothers, with me!" the wolf who appeared to lead the five-man group called out.
"YES!" the other four answered in unison.
"FIGHT TO THE DEATH!" the five roared as one and lunged forward.
They attacked with such ferocity that they overwhelmed anyone who faced them. The five wolves tore through their enemies, killing left and right.
In the background, the sly wolf savored its victory over its bitter enemy. It paid little attention to the commotion caused by the ongoing battle.
The five wolves fought fiercely, but the enemies came in endless droves. They were surrounded on all sides, with hundreds of wolves closing in on them.
As more and more wolves fell, the casualties quickly climbed into the hundreds. This included the wolves from the black wolf's pack who had already died during the hunt for the gigantic boar and the encounter with the gigantic bear. Despite heavy casualties, the sly wolf's side still had overwhelming numerical superiority.
...
After dealing with the leader of the strongest pack of wolves, he forced his bloodied body-- already at its limit-- to move. Ichiro saw some new set of wolves emerging from their dens. He knew exactly what was running through their ugly minds. These brave and cunning ones that remained wanted to finish him off while he was at his weakest.
"Listen up!" Ichiro shouted.
"Just make sure you kill me the moment you come for my life. You heard our conversation, didn't you? Revenge was the spark that set our battle to the death in motion. Just make sure you give everything you've got when you attack me, because that is where deep hatred between our sides will be forged. And I will make sure that if I manage to escape, you will suffer the same fate as their group. I will leave no one alive. That I guarantee."
After issuing his threat, Ichiro dragged the limp, battered body away, chin raised in defiance, as he made his way out of the Eternal Forest.
Not a single one of the watching wolves moved. The opportunistic wolves who had tried to take advantage of the moment were frozen in fear. His threat worked like a charm; it effectively deterred their devious intentions. They could only watch as the staggering wolf slowly made his way out of the Eternal Forest. The memory of what they had just witnessed kept replaying like a broken record in their minds.
One against many.
In most battles, the many are the ones who survive in the end. But in this encounter, the lone wolf was the only one left standing.
Though they were many, strong, and well-organized, this staggering wolf still managed to single-handedly crush the entire opposing group.
They had intended to seize the opportunity and eliminate the wolf who might one day become a future threat, but a deep fear lingered within them—that even if they sent thousands of wolves against him, it would all be meaningless. Provoking him could bring disastrous consequences. It might very well lead them to an early grave.
After weighing their options, they chose survival over the risk of trying to eliminate him.
They all let out a deep, heavy breath as the figure of the deceptively fearsome being finally vanished from their sight. In the minds of everyone present, its image was firmly etched so they would never forget it.
On the spot Ichiro left behind, the leader of the largest pack lay motionless, his face pressed into the ground. From beneath it, warm blood slowly seeped into the lingering warmth of the earth.
The staggering wolf made his way through a strange part of the Eternal Forest. It was filled with thick, towering trees arranged in a uniform pattern. As the wolf moved forward, the trees gradually became shorter along his path.
"Tired" is an understatement.
Without exception, Ichiro's body ached in the aftermath of that gruesome battle.
Within his blurring sight he finally saw the exit from this damnable forest, as he drag his weakening body, he saw the faces of his former pack one by one. A bittersweet smile appeared in his face.
"I've finally avenge you," he muttered as he slowly collapsed to the ground.
As he was collapsing, he saw the faces of a man smiling like a fool and a cute little green slime in his mind and a smile blossom in his face.
...
The wounded wolf was being plagued by a nightmare. In his dream, he was drowning in a light, transparent green mucus.
Ichiro's eyes suddenly flew open as consciousness returned to him. The first thing he saw was a pale green, translucent slime hovering above him. A moment later, realization dawned on him—it was Iyashi, the Regeneration Slime.
Behind it stood their master, his boss. It was clear he was worried about him, judging by his panicked movements.
Even in his weakened state, Ichiro felt overwhelming relief. The worries that had haunted him from the past were finally lifted.
"I shouldn't think about those things anymore. This is what I have now. The two of them are my family. I just need to make sure what happened in the past never happens again. I will protect this family." Ichiro silently vowed in his heart.
The wolf could not shake the words of the enemy he had killed, because he knew the conclusion was not impossible.
The Law of the Jungle...
It applies not only to the forest, but also to life itself.
As long as they live in this brutal world, they can never escape that law...
But what if an existence equivalent to a jungle appears?
Would they still be chased by death? Or would they become an exception?