As the last wolf in front of Lin Yun fell, the giant wolf—several times larger than the others—let out a mournful howl. It had been carrying the Goblin Chieftain, but now that he had fallen, it roared and charged at Lin Yun, clearly furious. It seemed the giant wolf and the Goblin Chieftain had been close. What a shame.
The giant wolf reached Lin Yun. It was even taller than his scales—truly enormous. It opened its big mouth and lunged at him. Its massive jaws broke through Lin Yun's Protection from Evil and Shield spell in an instant, then clamped down on most of his body.
Lin Yun lost consciousness at once... and the weapon in his hand was sent flying.
(This is what you get! The giant wolf rolled a 20, and this thing had a +5 to hit, so the Critical Hit landed too. That's brutal. Then, based on the critical effect I rolled, it stacked: not only did the damage double and then gain another 1, but his weapon was knocked away too. Absolutely terrifying. The giant wolf's damage was 2D6+3, which became 6D6+3 because of this. I have to say... it's a good thing he leveled up, because I rolled 19 damage. Not bad.)
"Mr. Silent, you bastard!" Seeing the beast about to bite Lin Yun in half, the young warrior swung his longsword at it with all his might, striking the giant wolf. The blow badly wounded it. With a piercing howl, it spat Lin Yun out. Behind Lin Yun, the Female Mage jumped in fright, but when she saw the giant wolf, she fired the last Flame Arrow she had prepared for the day. "Nock and loose!" Light flared from her staff, forming a ball of flame. Perhaps because Lin Yun, who had always stood in front of her, had fallen, she couldn't steady herself. Her Flame Arrow wavered and struck the stone wall beside the giant wolf.
Nearby, the young warrior saw Lin Yun sprawled on the ground, covered in his blood and the wolf's saliva. A huge, bloody gash ran across his waist, and his scales had been bitten through. The giant wolf's attack had clearly been terrifying.
The Goddess Priestess hurried to Lin Yun's side. Her voice trembling, she closed her eyes and tried to focus, praying for a holy miracle. "Merciful Earth Mother..."
But the miracles that had always worked did little for Lin Yun this time. They slowed the bleeding from his wounds, but he remained unconscious. The Goddess Priestess grew frantic, yet there was nothing she could do.
"What do I do? My Divine Magic isn't working!" The Goddess Priestess's face crumpled, and she was on the verge of tears. The miracles that had once healed people in an instant had barely helped this time, leaving her doubting her own abilities.
"Use medicine to stop Mr. Silent's bleeding first," the Female Mage said, somewhat panicked, but still managing to speak. She had already picked up the Light Crossbow beside her.
Meanwhile, after taking the young warrior's fierce attack, the giant wolf glared at him viciously. It opened its bloody jaws and pounced. Lin Yun's blood still stained its mouth.
The blood in its mouth deeply unnerved the young warrior. He rolled across the ground and narrowly dodged the attack, then swung his sword at the giant wolf again. But the strike was too hurried to land. Worse, the sword was already slick with blood, and its edge seemed to slip.
"Damn it!" The young warrior was so angry he nearly threw his sword away.
Hearing the Female Mage's words, the Goddess Priestess quickly took out the Silverleaf Grass from earlier, stuffed it into her mouth, chewed it rapidly, then spat it out and pressed it against Lin Yun's wounds. But he had too many wounds—the giant wolf's teeth had left a terrible mess—so she couldn't cover them all. On the verge of tears, she could only keep going.
Meanwhile, facing the pressure of the giant wolf possibly breaking through at any moment, the Female Mage raised her Light Crossbow and pulled the trigger. This shot went all right; it managed to hit the giant wolf's body, but the damage was clearly minor. The wolf kept its eyes fixed on the young warrior and pounced again.
Perhaps it was Lin Yun, perhaps the gods, or perhaps the young warrior's astonishing fighting spirit, but he rolled once more and successfully dodged the giant wolf's leap. This time, he threw away his shield. He realized it was useless, so he discarded both his sword and shield, drew two short swords, and seemed to plan to stab the giant wolf and climb onto its back.
The first short sword stabbed deep into the giant wolf, drawing blood once more. Unfortunately, as he tried to wield both weapons at once, the second short sword missed and slid off its body.
Still, he had landed one hit, which let the young warrior get close enough to cling to the giant wolf.
Meanwhile, the Goddess Priestess continued applying medicine to Lin Yun's wounds. As before, she still couldn't cover them all, but she estimated she only needed to do it once more.
The Female Mage reloaded her crossbow and fired at the giant wolf again. This time, she wasn't so lucky. The young warrior was clinging to the wolf, and its constant movement accidentally helped it dodge the bolt. It had been a close thing.
Annoyed by this, the giant wolf kept targeting the young warrior, even though attacking the Female Mage would have been easier. It turned toward a nearby wall, then leaped with all four legs, trying to crush the young warrior against it with its body.
The young warrior realized what was happening and quickly braced himself. Using the opportunity, he flipped over to the other side of the giant wolf. The result was that the giant wolf slammed itself into the wall with its own weight...
Taking advantage of the opening, the young warrior charged with both short swords, heading straight for the giant wolf's head. His right-hand sword plunged into its skull, while his left-hand sword—once again hampered by trying to use both at once—slid past the side of its head without causing any damage.
But that first strike had already inflicted enough damage. As the young warrior pulled out his sword, the giant wolf collapsed to the ground and passed out.
When the giant wolf was finally dealt with, the young warrior, the Female Mage, and the Goddess Priestess all let out a breath of relief. The pressure this giant wolf had put on them was tremendous. Their strongest fighter, Lin Yun, had been killed in a single exchange, and even his scales had been bitten through. It was terrifying.
Meanwhile, the Goddess Priestess had finally packed medicine into all of Lin Yun's wounds. Hearing his breathing finally grow steady, she burst into tears again, though she had just managed to stop them.
At least one person had gone down, but he had survived.
But just as the Goddess Priestess had finished treating the young warrior, wolves howled. The four wolves that had run off because of what that armored goblin had said... had returned. Wait, where were the riders?
Perhaps the giant wolf's howl had summoned them. It was clearly the leader of the pack. As for the riders above, they had probably been thrown off. Seeing the giant wolf lying by the wall, the wolves let out a mournful howl and charged through the gap.
Seeing the wolves about to rush in, the young warrior realized he couldn't let them through. He picked up his shield and short sword, then charged into the gap, meeting the wolf on the other side head-on.
The young warrior thrust with his short sword and managed to blind the right eye of the wolf charging from the left. He stopped it from biting him, and blocked the wolves behind it as well, leaving the ones that had been preparing to attack unable to do anything.
Meanwhile, Lin Yun's condition had stabilized, so the Female Mage and Goddess Priestess had recovered some of their strength. They began shooting at the wolves. The Female Mage thought the wolves farther back were more dangerous, so she shot at them instead. Then something remarkable happened.
The Female Mage, whose crossbow shots had always missed, seemed much more relaxed and focused now that Lin Yun was stable. Her bolt flew straight into the eye of the wolf at the very back and sank deep. The wolf fell to the ground. Even if it wasn't dead, it was probably close.
As for the Goddess Priestess, she still closed her eyes when she fired, as usual. But this time she managed to hit something: the wolf the young warrior had wounded. However... all she did was take off its ear, accomplishing nothing else...
Meanwhile, the young warrior thrust at that wolf again with his short sword. This time, he hit its body and finally knocked it to the ground.
But... there were still two wolves. They charged again and savagely bit at the young warrior. He easily dodged one, but as he did, the other wolf caught sight of him, took aim, and pounced. It knocked him down and sank its teeth into his shoulder.
"Ah!" The young warrior felt a sharp pain in his shoulder, then lost consciousness.
Only the two girls were left on the field.
What were they going to do?
Watching the wolf about to kill the young warrior, the two girls clenched their teeth. In the end, they aimed their Light Crossbows at the wolf and pulled the triggers.
The Goddess Priestess was too frightened, and she even seemed to have a little holy water leak out. She was also still shooting with her eyes closed, so her bolt struck somewhere else again.
Meanwhile, the Female Mage clenched her teeth and forced down her trembling. Her bolt hit the wolf, making it howl.
After firing, the Female Mage grabbed the Goddess Priestess and tried to run.
The wolves, of course, weren't going to let the two of them escape. The distance was a little too great, and the ground was uneven—mostly because there were so many bodies lying around—but the Female Mage managed to fire the bolt she had reloaded while running just as the two wolves reached them.
This time, both shots hit. One struck a wolf in the mouth, inflicting such severe damage that it fell to the ground. Meanwhile, the last wolf, the one the Goddess Priestess had hit in the leg, reached the Female Mage.
Perhaps because she was older than the Goddess Priestess, the Female Mage resolutely stepped in front of her, trying to shield her from the wolf.
Seeing the Female Mage bravely step forward, the wolf naturally pounced at her. At the crucial moment, the Female Mage darted aside and barely dodged its attack. Meanwhile, though her hands were shaking badly, the Goddess Priestess quickly reloaded her crossbow nearby. While the Female Mage distracted the wolf, she pulled the trigger and sent the bolt cleanly into its body. At long last, the final wolf... fell.
Before you continue