Chapter 47

Legion Commander of Beasts (1)

To be honest...

'I never thought he'd take the bait so quickly.'

I hadn't expected the lycanthrope to bite in less than a day.

After all, he would need time to discover Seraphia. He had to know the bait existed before he could take it or leave it.

Three days at the very least. Even that had been a tight estimate. Yet he hadn't even waited a day. He had taken the bait the moment I left.

This went beyond defying my expectations. It was as though he had seen straight through my plan to lure him out. And that was precisely how I had been able to see through his trap.

A thought had struck me as I left camp and headed down the snowy mountain. The lycanthrope was extremely wary of me right now. In other words, he was very likely watching where I went and everything I did. Which meant there was also a very good chance he had been watching from somewhere as I took Seraphia up the mountain.

What if watching me had naturally alerted him to the existence of my bait, Seraphia? The sight of her would have sent his lust soaring. But with me at her side, he couldn't act on it.

And if I left camp under those circumstances? What would the lycanthrope do next? The moment my thoughts reached that point, I turned and headed straight back to camp.

And sure enough, my prediction proved correct.

'Though I have no idea why he went after Kai instead of Seraphia.'

Apparently, Kai looked prettier to him.

The lycanthrope was a monster who went fucking wild at the sight of a beautiful woman. And beauty was subjective, after all. Apparently, Kai was more his type. That was why he had been so obsessed with the Saintess in my previous life, too.

"Then or now, that filthy lust of yours hasn't changed!"

Even after my return to the past, he was still the same hideous beast, shaped by the madness of lust.

Pinned beneath me, the lycanthrope thrashed violently. My current Strength stat was 33.45. With the strength of thirty-three grown men, I held his struggling body down.

But I couldn't restrain him completely. It was arrogant to think the strength of a mere thirty-three humans could hold a lycanthrope down in the first place.

I tore savagely at the neck clutched in my hand. It was too thick for one hand to wrap around. His hide was tough and hard, and the densely packed muscles beneath it were like steel armor in their own right.

But before Dragon's Claw[A], they were nothing more than paper. Even a lycanthrope couldn't surpass dragon genetic material.

I dug in my sharp nails.

CRUNCH!

They mangled his hide and flesh as they sank into his neck.

The struggling lycanthrope began to show visible alarm. He twisted even more violently, pushing me away as he lashed out wildly with his sharp claws.

CRUNCH!

A sickening sound of rending flesh rang out. Unfortunately, it wasn't the sound of the lycanthrope's neck being torn apart.

Both my hands, which had been gripping his neck and shoulder, were torn clean off. In an instant, the lycanthrope was free.

ROAAAR!

He charged at me like a starving beast. His sharp claws ripped through the air, and the madness pouring from him now carried unmistakable killing intent rather than lust.

He might be a beast of filthy desire, but he wasn't called the Legion Commander of Beasts for nothing. He was far too close, and both my hands had been torn off, leaving me unable to respond.

In that case...

◆Activating combination skill 'Metabolic Overdrive[U]'!

◆Calories Consumed - 50,000 kcal

◆All player stats increase by [+50%] for [500 seconds]!

My Agility surged in an instant, my sensory receptors growing acutely sensitive. Before my mind could make a decision and issue the command, my body was already moving nimbly.

The lycanthrope's swiping attack tore through empty air. I quickly retreated, my eyes constantly reading his movements. He kicked off the ground again—but this time, I was faster.

◆Activating skill 'Nutrient Synthesis[B]'!

◆Activating skill 'Regeneration[B+]'!

I swiftly restored my severed hands with Regeneration[B+] and swung Dragon's Claw[A] in a wide arc. The lycanthrope's claws and Dragon's Claw[A]—our lethal claws cut through the air and collided.

* * *

CRUNCH! BOOOM!

The sounds of rending flesh and an explosion rang out together. Kai's eyes widened.

The first sound had been Adrian's attack ripping through the lycanthrope's claws. The second, explosive sound had come as the impact sent the lycanthrope staggering back. In other words, Adrian was holding his own. But he wasn't completely overwhelming the creature, either.

Adrian and the lycanthrope tore into each other, inflicting wounds and unleashing their rage and madness without restraint. Each exchange produced a crash powerful enough to shake the entire snowy mountain. It was like watching two wild beasts clash.

'What in the...?'

Horror naturally filled Kai's eyes. Having faced the lycanthrope himself only moments earlier, he knew just how impossible this was.

Their ferocious battle was utterly mesmerizing. But he had no time to stand around watching. He quickly turned to look for Seraphia.

She lay collapsed on the ground, with the monster legion surrounding the area. Adjusting his grip on his sword, Kai slaughtered the encircling monsters and hurled himself toward her.

Fortunately, Seraphia was all right. She had no visible wounds or obvious injuries. But she was unconscious, apparently having passed out. It seemed she had fainted, unable to endure the lycanthrope's lust.

Kai lifted the unconscious Seraphia onto his back. Then he tore the thermal stockings he was wearing as part of his disguise. He removed the women's underwear he was wearing as well, fashioned them into a rope with the stockings, and secured her firmly to his back.

By the time he finished, the legion's monsters had closed in from every direction. There were enough of them to blanket the snowy mountain. Kai checked once more that Seraphia was firmly secured, then gripped his sword.

The legion was an added variable, but it only meant moving the plan forward. In other words, the plan hadn't gone awry.

Amazingly, Adrian had anticipated this. He had foreseen the possibility that the lycanthrope might bring a legion and had even prepared countermeasures. The operation and the plan remained unchanged.

Then, as a knight, it was time to carry out that operation. And now, Kai felt he could do it. He slowly steadied his breathing.

He took a step forward and honed his blade with aura. Sharpened like a wolf's fang, his sword unleashed rapid, consecutive attacks from multiple directions. It was a technique that threw the legion into ever-greater confusion through relentless strikes, leaving no opening for a counterattack.

Wolf's Swordsmanship. First Form.

Dance of Fangs.

Kai's blue fangs tore the legion apart.

* * *

Kai was practically ripping the legion to shreds.

'That's...'

My eyes widened involuntarily. That technique he was using...

'Wolf's Swordsmanship?'

Wolf's Swordsmanship. As its name implied, it was a style of swordsmanship that wielded the blade like a wolf. Kai had created it, inspired by the way wolves hunted. And it was the very swordsmanship that would later be instrumental in making his name as the Legion Commander of Bitter Cold.

Even Ian acknowledged its power. What more needed to be said?

'He's already perfected Wolf's Swordsmanship?'

In other words, it wasn't a sword style the Kai of this time should have been able to use. Apparently, taking a step into the realm of a Master had allowed him to perfect it...

'Crazy bastard.'

His rate of growth was insane.

Now he was slaughtering the legion's monsters like a golden wolf. Having Seraphia on his back severely restricted his movements, but he remained unstoppable. As an enemy, I couldn't have hated him more. As an ally, he couldn't have been more reassuring.

That was why my original plan had been to use Seraphia as bait, then join forces with Kai to bring down the lycanthrope. But the plan had hit a snag.

'To think he'd bring a legion.'

The lycanthrope had brought a legion with him. He might be a lust-crazed beast, but apparently he valued his own life enough to take out insurance.

At any rate, that made a joint attack with Kai impossible. Instead, we were on the receiving end of a joint attack by the lycanthrope and his legion. Fortunately, Kai was holding off the legion single-handedly.

SLASH! SPLURT!

... Wiping it out, to be precise.

I didn't need to worry about Kai. The problem was on my end.

The lycanthrope's eyes flashed in the darkness of the snowy mountain. But he didn't rush recklessly at me. Neither did I.

'He's strong.'

He wasn't the Legion Commander of Beasts for nothing.

Of course, Dragon's Claw[A] could tear through even his claws. Ignoring [-35%] of a target's defense, it could rip apart his tough hide in an instant. In other words, my offensive power far surpassed his.

But I lacked the stats to back it up. Agility, Strength, Stamina—the stats that sustained and supported me in combat. The stats I needed to drive Dragon's Claw[A] into his chest fell far short of his. Even with Metabolic Overdrive[U], I couldn't match him.

'If I burn more calories...'

I could amplify my stats further. The boost from Metabolic Overdrive[U] varied according to the calories consumed, after all.

'That's not an option.'

But I couldn't do that. I couldn't spend all my calories on Metabolic Overdrive[U].

My current calorie storage limit was 100,000. I had to save the remaining 50,000 for Regeneration[B+].

'Once my calories run out completely, I won't be able to regenerate anymore.'

That would lead directly to death. And once my HP hit zero, Regeneration[B+] would be utterly useless.

It wasn't as though I hadn't stockpiled spare calories in my Inventory. But I couldn't afford the complacent assumption that I'd have time to replenish them while fighting the lycanthrope. The Legion Commander of Beasts wasn't an opponent who allowed that kind of luxury.

More importantly, even if I did have time to consume more calories, I couldn't take in nutrients with both hands torn off, as they had been moments ago. On the battlefield, a single mistake, a single error in judgment, could decide whether you lived or died.

GRRRRR!

The lycanthrope let out a low growl.

The lycanthrope's upturned muzzle was as long as a crocodile's. The fangs exposed within it were sharp and hard enough to chew through steel with ease.

His natural healing ability was exceptional, too. The wound where I had first torn into his shoulder had already healed, as had the one I had ripped into his neck. It couldn't compare to an ice troll's, but it gave him a considerable advantage in a prolonged battle.

The claws on his fingertips were no trifling matter, either. Of course, they couldn't compare to Dragon's Claw[A]. Even so, they were powerful enough to tear through my skin, despite Toughened Skin[B] granting me [+30%] resistance to all external injury damage.

It seemed I would need something on the level of Dragon’s Skin[U] to block them. But that lasted only [5 seconds], and even that cost [10,000 kcal]. Dragon’s Skin[U] wasn't a skill I could use indiscriminately.

The lycanthrope and I could both inflict fatal wounds on each other. We both knew it, so we watched each other in the darkness, remaining tense.

◆Metabolic Overdrive[U] has <157 seconds> remaining.

Even then, the duration of Metabolic Overdrive[U] continued to tick down. About two and a half minutes remained. Honestly, subduing the lycanthrope within that time was all but impossible.

And if I tried to replenish my calories, there was no way he would let that opening slip by. Just as I thought.

'I can't do this alone.'

The first plan had failed. It had failed the moment the lycanthrope arrived with his legion. But only the first plan.

When planning this operation, I had considered the possibility that he might bring a legion. Countless variables had cropped up on missions in my previous life, too. I'd had more than my share of experience anticipating as many variables as possible and adjusting my plans to ever-changing circumstances.

And so, the second plan to counter this situation.

"Kai!!"

The moment I shouted, Kai hurled himself straight toward me. I gave no specific instructions. But he immediately understood what I meant. I launched myself toward him, too.

In an instant, our backs and shoulders met. Using that point of contact as a pivot, we spun half a turn, smoothly switching positions.

I had been facing the lycanthrope; now I faced the legion. Kai had been facing the legion; now he faced the lycanthrope. By exchanging positions, we switched opponents in an instant.

Both the lycanthrope and the legion were caught off guard. Kai exploited that moment of confusion and charged at the lycanthrope. As he was now, he should be able to buy me time against the creature.

That left me free to deal with the legion while Kai fought the lycanthrope. Or, to be more precise...

"Who should I eat first?!"

I could replenish my nutrients.