O-Oh... So It Was You...

"What could a few darts possibly do?!" Shuka, president of Smile Coffin, felt insulted. After talking so big, his opponent had actually taken the initiative to attack without even using magic, merely throwing a few darts.

With quick eyes and swift hands, Shuka turned sideways and caught the Flying Thunder God Kunai flying toward him. "Trash from the Light Guild, using such low-class toys? I'll personally—"

"If I were you, I wouldn't..." With a flash of golden light, Ed vanished from where he stood and appeared before Shuka. A Monster Strength Fist with Zero charge-up struck Shuka squarely on the bridge of the nose, sending him flying. The unfinished second half of his sentence reached everyone's ears along with his scream.

"Casually catching projectiles thrown by hostile mages!" With Ed's move, the battle officially began.

The surrounding Smile Coffin members came to their senses and swarmed him, launching magic at Ed's position. "Shadowhorn Spear!" "Lightning Strike!" "Fireball!" "Shatter!" As the names of the spells were shouted, several attack spells landed where Ed had just been standing. With a BOOM, thick smoke billowed out.

"Did we get him?" "He dared to talk big all by himself? Now he'll learn his lesson!"

"Ever heard of smoke, Zero damage?" As the voice rang out, everyone looked over to see that Ed had somehow appeared in front of the Wolf King. He had already cut the ropes binding the wolf cubs with the kunai in his hand and was tossing them to the Wolf King.

"Alright, keep an eye on your children. I already know they were trying to control the wolf pack and use it to attack the town, while you were restraining the pack. So the two of us aren't enemies. What do you say? Want to join me in taking out this trash?" Ed invited the Wolf King.

The Wolf King did not answer. He merely lowered his head, picked up several wolf cubs, and tossed them onto his back. Keeping everyone on guard, he slowly backed away.

"Tch, not interested? Fine, I won't force you." Watching the Wolf King retreat, Ed did not invite him again. He turned directly to the people around him. "Then it's our business from here on out~"

He then took out several more kunai, gripped them in his hand, and threw them at Shuka, who had just climbed back to his feet. "Capture the leader first! If you've got the guts, catch another one!"

After throwing the kunai, pale golden magic power emerged from Ed's hand, rapidly gathering and spinning until it gradually formed a golden sphere. It glowed faintly and gave off a dangerous hum.

Shuka had learned his lesson this time. Seeing the kunai about to hit him, he scrambled aside. Before he could catch his breath, he heard a "whoosh." Looking up, he saw Ed already beside him, raising the dangerous-looking sphere of magic power in his hand, ready to slam it down on him. Shuka's hairs instantly stood on end as an overwhelming sense of danger stabbed into his brain. With no time to think, he immediately unleashed his strongest defensive magic. "Earth Wall Summon!"

Shuka truly was a guild president; his casting speed was still impressive. In the blink of an eye, an earthen wall shot up, successfully blocking the Rasengan before Ed could strike Shuka.

"I thought you had some amazing trump card. A mere earthen wall? Break for me!" Ed did not hesitate. He directly increased his magic output and continued pressing the Rasengan against the wall. The instant the wall came into contact with the Rasengan, a hole was bored straight through from the point of impact with Zero pause, like a red-hot iron ball dropped onto a white foam mat.

Then, under Shuka's disbelieving gaze, the Rasengan slammed straight into his chest. Under Ed's burst of power, the tennis-ball-sized Rasengan expanded into a massive sphere of magic nearly two meters wide after striking Shuka. Its explosive force sent Shuka spinning into the forest behind him. He crashed through four or five trees before falling to the ground, and by then, he was taking in more air than he was letting out.

"Now then, you're next." Ed looked around at the dozen or so dark mages staring at him as if they had been petrified.

"The boss was defeated just like that, without any ability to fight back!" "What kind of magic did he use?!" "Impossible! Absolutely impossible! This has to be an illusion! How can some teenager be this strong?!" They seemed to have Zero ability to accept reality.

Ed did not hesitate. He activated Flying Thunder God again, pairing it with Monster Strength Art and Rasengan to swiftly clean up all the surrounding lackeys.

After taking down every enemy, Ed dragged them together and tied them up tightly with rope. "That should be it. That was pretty easy~"

Ed was just about to leave with the group when he heard rustling behind him. Turning around, he saw the Wolf King, who had just left with the cubs, return alone. Seeing the scene before him, the Wolf King looked somewhat surprised. "Human, you defeated your own kind so quickly."

Ed realized that the Wolf King had gone to settle the cubs down, not because he had refused to fight alongside him.

"Well, I'm pretty strong. Come to think of it, you're the Wolf King, right? Thanks to you restraining the wolf pack, this town managed to hold out until I arrived. You've helped them a great deal too. Oh, and you can call me Ed."

"I understand, human... no, Ed. Helping me means helping the wolf pack. If you ever need us, the wolf pack will repay you. In the name of Andrius, Wolf King of the North Wind, I swear that the wolf pack will remember you."

"O-Oh... So you're the Wolf King of the North Wind. Does that mean that after becoming Wolf King, you changed from being purely wind-elemental into a dual-element creature possessing both ice and wind powers?" Looking at the ice crystals and gentle breeze swirling around Andrius, Ed could not help feeling envious. Those effects are so cool, Ed thought.

"No, I am not a purebred Wind Wolf. I was born with both wind and ice magic power. My pack is not from this forest. When I was young and playing outside, a group of humans captured me. When we passed through this town, the humans here rescued me and released me into these woods. Then the Wind Wolf pack in the forest accepted me. They taught me to hunt and helped me grow up. To repay them, I became the king of the Wind Wolf pack, protecting them from harm while restraining the pack from attacking the town."

"So that's how it is. You always repay kindness—I like that about you~" Ed patted Andrius's foreleg. "Then let's meet again if we get the chance. I've defeated all these people, so all that's left is to take them back and hand them over to the Magic Council. That means the mission is complete, right?" Ed was about to bid the Wolf King farewell when he suddenly noticed that Shuka had somehow regained consciousness and was trying to break free of the ropes.

"Buddy, could you give me some respect? Trying to run away right in front of me is a little too much, isn't it? And your vitality is like a cockroach's. You woke up this quickly after getting beaten that badly." Ed kicked him irritably, rolling Shuka over. Shuka gasped heavily. "Hah... You think... you think you've already won?"

Ed did not quite understand. "Why don't you explain how you plan to turn this situation around?"

Shuka looked at the sky and estimated the time. After falling silent for a moment, he suddenly grinned viciously at Ed. "Since you heard our plan, did you notice that none of the mages here can control magical beasts in battle?"

"You mean Fosa, the one who can control the wolf pack? Wait, where is he now?" Ed suddenly remembered that their plan involved a mage capable of driving magical beasts.

"Why don't you guess?" Shuka seemed to have Zero fear and was even trying to provoke Ed.

"You won't say? Then I'll just—" A red firework suddenly exploded in the distant sky.