The gray wolf, struck on the nose, let out a howl.
With eyes flashing with a murderous light, it sprinted toward Ai on all fours.
The other wolf, which had its lower back grazed by a stone, also lunged at Sento.
As for the two sled dogs, they were pinned down by the most robust alpha wolf.
The difference in size between the two sides was very apparent.
The alpha wolf knocked down one sled dog with a single pounce, while the other dog lunged and bit just in time, preventing the pinned dog from being injured or even killed.
But even with the two sled dogs working together, they could barely manage to hold their own against the alpha, unable to take it down for the time being.
After blowing his whistle hard, Sento spotted a wooden club not far from him.
The club was a little over a meter long, but it was much thicker than the branch he had picked up earlier for self-defense.
Snatching up the club, Sento swung it at the wolf lunging toward Ai.
After all, this wolf was passing right in front of him, making it easier to hit.
Although he didn’t usually exercise, he had at least returned to a youthful body, and his strength was indeed much greater than that of a middle-aged body starting its decline.
The club swung with a whistling wind, striking the wolf’s front shoulder.
The wolf, in the middle of its sprint, lost its balance.
Its trajectory instantly veered off course, and its entire body slammed sideways into the snow, rolling over and kicking up a cloud of white mist.
However, this move also exposed Sento’s back.
His unprotected back was now facing directly toward the wolf lunging at him!
Under normal circumstances, a person’s reaction would definitely be too slow to avoid it, or rather, their mind would keep up, but their body wouldn’t.
But don’t forget, Sento had a talent that enhanced his neural reflexes.
In this split second, several thoughts flashed through Sento’s mind.
Twist around and counterattack?
He felt he might not necessarily hit the target.
Turn and face it head-on?
He might end up getting injured.
The best way was…
Following the momentum of his swing, Sento leaned his body forward and rolled on the spot.
He performed a forward roll—not quite standard, but agile enough—clearing the spot and causing the wolf lunging at him to snap at thin air.
Ai’s reaction was even faster.
She had seemingly intended to dodge the wolf’s attack herself, but hadn’t expected Sento to intervene.
Her eyes swept left and right, and she extended her right foot, hooking a branch not far away.
With a nimble flick of her toe, the stick popped up and fell right into her hand.
Ai gripped the end of the stick, her waist and hips twisting violently to the left.
Her whole body unfurled like a compressed spring, and the long stick shot out like a flood dragon emerging from water, thrusting straight at the wolf’s head.
This Mid-level Spear Thrust was brilliant, the tip of the stick striking the vicious wolf square on the nose.
The gray wolf, its nose injured for a second time, let out a sharp whimper as if it had been electrocuted.
Its head jerked to the side, and it stumbled into the snow.
After rolling and scrambling back up, the wolf kept pawing at its face with its front claws.
Its whimpering was intermittent, and large drops of blood fell onto the white snow, staining it with patches of crimson.
Sento, who had just rolled back to his feet, looked at Ai in surprise.
‘Nice one, sister!
Keep fighting like that!
Don’t you dare start acting.’
Sento’s biggest worry was that Ai would try to maintain her persona, deliberately acting like a weak little rabbit and not putting in any real effort even when facing wild beasts.
That would be trouble.
Fortunately, this worst-case scenario didn’t happen.
Whether it was to protect her own life, to prevent anything from happening to Sento the intelligence operative, or because Sento had built up enough favorability yesterday, Ai was finally showing some of her true strength.
Meeting Sento’s gaze, Ai blinked her large blue eyes.
The valiant Valkyrie expression on her face instantly switched to that of a flustered gyaru.
“Eh?
I actually hit it?
Luckily, I joined a few Spear Club activities just to help my friends meet their recruitment quota.”
Sento nodded vigorously.
Whatever you say is right, whatever works.
Even if you said you went to the Land of Shadows in your dreams at night to learn spear techniques from Scáthach, I’d believe you.
Just give it your all and crush these ungrateful wolves!
Ai narrowed her eyes slightly.
‘Is it my imagination?
I feel like Sento is being a bit perfunctory…
Well, maybe because we’re in the middle of a fight, he doesn’t have much energy to think about what I’m saying.’
Not dwelling on Sento’s behavior, Ai looked up again, focusing her attention on the two wolves.
Sento also tightened his grip on the club.
He squeezed his eyes shut for a second or two, then rolled his eyes around.
Maybe it was the angle just now; the sunlight reflected off the snow and hit Sento’s eyes, stinging him.
He felt as if a golden light had shimmered around his eyes when he swung the club to save Ai, but it had vanished quickly.
The two wolves that stood back up were in a sorry state.
The one hit by Sento clearly had a fracture or even a broken bone; it could only stand on three legs, limping as it moved.
The one poked by Ai’s stick was bleeding profusely, blood still dripping from its nose.
The wolf’s snout was stained crimson, looking quite terrifying.
The wolf with the bleeding nose shook its head irritably, letting out short, rapid breaths and occasional growls.
It and the other slightly lame wolf maintained a side-by-side stance, slowly pacing toward the two humans.
After suffering injuries, they were clearly much more cautious.
While the two wolves were assessing the state of the humans, Ai was also assessing the combat power of the two wolves.
She glanced at Sento beside her, and an idea formed in her mind.
“Sento-kun, my weapon is longer, so I’ll stand slightly ahead.
I’ll find a way to force these wolves to show an opening, then you seize the moment to attack one of them with all your might.”
Having witnessed Sento’s combat just now, Ai now had some confidence in him.
Firstly, Sento’s strength wasn’t too bad.
Secondly, his talent for increasing neural reflexes was very reliable.
During this kind of combat, his body could completely keep up with his mind, allowing him to strike exactly where he intended.
If they coordinated, taking down one wolf quickly shouldn’t be an issue.
After Sento gave an affirmative grunt, Ai held the stick in front of her.
With Sento standing to her left, the two of them slowly approached the two wolves in a V-formation.
As they closed in, the tip of Ai’s stick remained pointed at the wolves’ heads, while Sento held his club with one hand and supported the middle with the other, in a stance like holding a baseball bat.