The instant the wind blew, the woman disappeared, and an enormous wolf stood in her place, glaring at me.
Judging by size alone, it looked closer to a tiger than a wolf.
Its presence was on an entirely different level from the Black Hounds I had encountered in the Labyrinth.
Beast Transformation.
And not a Partial Beast Transformation, but a Full Beast Transformation.
Beastkin transformations were divided into two types.
The first was Partial Beast Transformation. As the name implied, only part of the body changed into the form of a beast.
Garbo, whom I had fought in the Labyrinth, was a typical example.
It was a transformation available to any Beastkin.
Full Beast Transformation, on the other hand, was a privilege reserved for Purebloods.
In exchange for losing the ability to wield human weapons, their physical abilities were maximized.
Its defining characteristic was overwhelming technique through sheer physical power.
“…….”
I could feel the prickling force of her killing intent.
She was probably releasing it deliberately.
She wanted to drive a human out of her territory.
The silver wolf growled as she spoke in the human tongue.
“This is your final warning. Get out of here right now. Take one more step, and I’ll tear your throat out.”
The murderous edge in her voice made it clear that this would not end as an empty warning.
If I took another step forward, that enormous wolf would charge at me.
Even so, I ignored her warning and continued deeper into the forest.
“Hah!”
The wolf let out an incredulous laugh before vanishing from sight.
RUSTLE!
Something moved through the undergrowth.
I nearly summoned Flame, then stopped myself.
I had not come here to start a war. Killing her unnecessarily would only cause problems.
BARK!
A howl rang out, unable to conceal the excitement of battle.
I sent a Wind Scythe toward the source of the sound.
WHOOOSH!
“!?”
The charging wolf snapped her jaws shut and lowered her head, avoiding the blade.
The Wind Scythe sliced through leaves and branches before disappearing deeper into the forest.
The wolf landed some distance away, maintaining space between us.
TAP!
Narrowing her eyes, she asked,
“What? You’re a Magician.”
“I’m not a Magician. I’m a Mage.”
“Same thing. Tch. Guess I won’t get a proper fight after all.”
Even with a wolf’s face, her contemptuous expression was obvious.
Apparently, she had encountered a Mage before.
“Have you met another Mage?”
“Once. He came here saying he wanted to study our clan.”
The wolf’s eyes flashed with murderous intent.
“When we refused, he secretly kidnapped one of our children from the forest.”
“And? What did you do?”
“Hah! What do you think? We tore him apart. He talked like he was something special, but he was ridiculously weak.”
Idiots with a death wish existed everywhere.
Now that she knew I was a Mage, she turned away and began walking.
“You ruined my mood. You haven’t done anything yet, so I’ll let you leave.”
“What if I kidnapped a child?”
“None of the children wander around outside anymore. You’re strange. Why do you keep saying things just to irritate me?”
“I came to meet your Clan Chief. I need someone to guide me.”
“Do you think the Clan Chief is someone you can just demand to meet? Leave while I’m still letting you.”
Of all people, I had encountered a young sentry.
I had planned to provoke her, subdue her, and force my way inside, but things were not going as expected.
There was no helping it.
I would have to take a more forceful approach.
“I have the body of a Werewolf named Garbo.”
“What?”
The wolf stopped in place.
Unlike before, she now stared at me with razor-sharp eyes.
Garbo was probably a sore spot for the Werewolf Clan.
Just as expected, she turned around with a growl.
“Where is he?”
In response, I calmly showed her the black ring on my finger.
“It’s a Subspace Ring. I’m storing his body inside so it won’t decay.”
There was no answer.
The wolf charged at the ring in a gust of wind.
I brought out new magic.
『Wooden Coffin』
A human-shaped tree surged from the ground in front of me.
Ignoring it entirely, the wolf swung her claws to smash through the wood.
The instant her claws touched it—
SNAP!
“!?”
Thin branches shot out from the tree and wrapped around the wolf’s body.
The Wooden Coffin restrained her enormous body and prevented her from moving.
It was an improved, full-body version of the Wooden Cuff I had used against Garbo.
“What the hell is this?! Let me go!!”
I had intended to cover her mouth as well, but apparently enclosing that massive body completely was too much.
The fact that she was a Pureblood, combined with her hot-blooded personality, meant this woman was the Clan Chief’s daughter.
What was her name again?
I could not quite remember.
Like Allen, she was a character who died early.
‘Now then….’
What should I do?
Persuading her did not seem likely to work, and threatening her would probably work even less.
Maintaining the Wooden Coffin was a waste of mana, while killing her would create troublesome consequences.
As I watched her shout at the top of her lungs and considered my options, someone suddenly whispered from directly behind me.
“This is fascinating. I’ve never seen anything like this in the Earth-Wood School.”
“!?”
An ambush without the slightest trace of presence.
I hurriedly spun around.
Nothing was there.
When I turned forward again, a man was standing far away, holding the entire Wooden Coffin after ripping it from the ground.
“It even has roots serving as fixed anchors. Truly, the Executioners of this generation have advanced remarkably.”
The arm gripping the Wooden Coffin was a thickly furred wolf’s arm.
The wolf, still trapped inside the Wooden Coffin he had lifted along with it, thrashed around like a child throwing a tantrum.
“Enos! Why are you lifting me too?! Put me down right now!”
“Ah, my apologies, Young Lady. You were so light that I didn’t notice.”
“Bullshit!!”
The two bickered back and forth.
Just in case, I had already begun drawing up my mana.
‘Enos….’
He was one of the named characters from the game.
Someone incomparably stronger and more dangerous than a minor figure like Marco.
After freeing the struggling wolf, Enos examined the Wooden Coffin with considerable interest.
Then he looked at me through narrowed eyes.
“Platinum Blond hair and a Mage… My apologies for the discourtesy. Aren’t you the eldest son of the Kalsburg Family?”
Enos bowed deeply at the waist.
Good thing I had come without changing my hair color.
If he had regarded me as an enemy, my head might already have been gone.
“Raise your head. I doubt commoners and nobles mean much by your standards anyway.”
“Haha. That is not entirely true. Times have changed, and even we cannot avoid being influenced by humans. Besides, I personally find humans quite interesting.”
“…I’d like to get back to the point. I came here because I want to meet your Clan Chief.”
“Why do you suddenly wish to meet the Clan Chief?”
“I have the body of a Werewolf named Garbo. I want to deliver it to the Clan Chief personally.”
“Hmm.”
Enos’s narrowed eyes opened slightly.
He seemed more intrigued than surprised.
The wolf beside him had already transformed back into a young woman and shouted,
“I told you! I said that human had Garbo!”
“Did you? When?”
“I’ve been saying it this whole time!”
“Then you should have explained it in a way I could understand.”
After pushing away the woman who had rushed at him in protest, Enos looked at me and asked,
“Where and under what circumstances did you obtain Garbo’s body?”
“As I said, that is something I would prefer to discuss directly with the Clan Chief.”
I phrased it politely, but the meaning was simple.
You are not enough.
Enos merely smiled, showing no sign of offense.
After studying me for a moment, he asked again,
“You do not appear to be carrying a body.”
“…….”
I remained silent.
Nothing would be decided through a conversation with him anyway.
There was no reason to give him information, and I did not particularly want to.
Enos tilted his head back and forth for a moment before turning around.
“Haha. Whether you may meet the Clan Chief is not for me to decide, so I will go ask him. Young Lady, please refrain from causing trouble and keep our guest company.”
WHOOOSH.
Enos turned and vanished from sight in an instant.
The moment I saw it, I understood.
I could not beat him.
Not yet.
“…….”
“…….”
Silence passed between me and the woman he had called Young Lady.
I was thinking about Enos, but apparently she could not tolerate the silence for long.
“Hey, human.”
“My name is Allen.”
“All humans look the same to me.”
“Speak, wolf.”
“Wolf? My name is Luna.”
“All wolves look the same to me.”
Perhaps experiencing her own treatment from the other side made something click.
Luna immediately changed her attitude.
“Fine. I’ll call you Allen, all right?”
Apparently deciding that exchanging names meant we had reconciled, she asked with sparkling eyes,
“What was that magic you used earlier? The one where the tree went WHOOSH and trapped me.”
“Wood magic.”
“I mean, what kind of wood magic?”
“Why are you suddenly acting friendly? Didn’t you say you hate humans?”
“I do. Humans are weak, but they’re cunning.”
The sparkle in her eyes intensified.
“But strong people aren’t cunning. Your magic looked incredibly strong too. What was it called?”
“…….”
She was already exhausting me.
Among the Beastkin, Werewolves placed particular importance on martial prowess, but I had a feeling one answer would only lead to more questions.
It was almost like dealing with Geren.
With no other choice, I began explaining.
“It’s a spell called Wooden Coffin. You wait for the opponent to attack, then restrain them all at once.”
“Wooden Coffin…?”
“Yeah.”
“Then show me some other magic too. I’ve never seen a Mage like you before.”
I was mostly ignoring Luna when I sensed someone approaching from far away.
At the same moment, Enos was suddenly standing in front of me.
“Did I keep you waiting?”
“Not really. But your Young Lady wouldn’t stop bothering me.”
“I told you, my name is Luna!”
“So? What happened?”
“Haha. Good news. The Clan Chief has agreed to meet you.”
Good.
If I had gotten this far, I had succeeded.
Given the Clan Chief’s personality, I had expected him to agree anyway.
The real business began now.
The Clan Chief known as the King of the Werewolves.
I had a great deal to discuss with him.
“Good. Let’s go right away.”
I immediately started walking.
Enos, however, did not move.
Instead, he suddenly pointed toward the sky.
“Ah, you should wait. He’ll be here shortly.”
“…?”
The gesture and his words made no sense.
Before I could even consider what they meant, something like a cannonball slammed into the place where I had been standing.
BOOM!!
The impact hurled both Luna and me into the air.
From above, I could see that the ground had been completely pulverized.
‘This lunatic…!’
The laws of physics had gone completely out the window.
An impact like that should normally have destroyed my body.
“Whoops!”
Enos swiftly caught Luna out of the air.
At the same time, the man who had suddenly appeared reached toward my neck.
‘Damn it!’
The situation had gone insane without warning.
To avoid being caught, I immediately invoked Word Magic.
『Stench』
My magic could not stop that man.
The only possible method was to make him stop himself.
Curse School magic.
And the target was me.
“Hmm?”
The man, whose hand had been moving toward me like lightning, frowned and pulled it back.
I landed and braced myself against the ground.
The man looked at me and asked,
“That is an unusual power. A curse?”
He was a massive, silver-haired middle-aged man.
His hair was exactly the same color as Luna’s.
“Good judgment.”
I knew who he was the instant I saw him.
“Enos told me about you.”
Tristan.
The ruler of the Werewolf Clan.
“Where’s the body?”
A warrior far beyond my current ability to challenge stood before me.