Chapter 2

The cold blade swept across my thigh, and a burning heat ignited in its wake.

“Ugh, aaagh!!”

Realizing I’d been slashed by the tip of the sword, I let out a scream and fell back onto my rear.

“—Hey! Everyone! We’ve got a solo colleague here! Everyone, fall back! We’re dumping the aggro on him!”

The man who seemed to be the leader barked an order to the people around him.

I couldn’t understand what he meant. I didn’t want to.

First, the woman with the staff looked at me and passed by without saying a word. Next, the man who had been blown away earlier, and all the others—everyone halted their combat and sprinted past me toward the rear.

Naturally, the giant wolf that had been fighting the group tried to give chase.

And in its path stood a single, immobile human.

Which meant that right in front of me, the wolf was—

“U-uaaaaaaaagh—!!”

Terrified, I tried to leap sideways, but a sharp pain shot through my slashed thigh, and I rolled pathetically across the ground.

Drawn by that movement and my scream, the wolf fixed its gaze entirely on me.

The men were already in the safety zone.

The wolf began to charge toward me, its nearest target.

At this rate, I was going to die.

I was going to be eaten by that giant, ferocious wolf and die.

I didn’t want to die.

I don’t want to die, don’t want to die, don’t want to die—

My thoughts became a torrent.

Various negative emotions stormed within me.

Flashes of my life up until today flickered by.

And then—

Some kind of “display” floated into my field of vision.

Right now wasn’t the time for that, and I had no intention of trying to understand what it was.

However, along with that “display,” I felt a chill wash through my head.

The torrent of thoughts grew quiet, the foul emotions vanished, and I became able to focus solely on what needed to be done.

Without using my injured left leg, I pushed myself up using only my right.

At that exact moment, the wolf pounced.

“—!”

I threw myself perpendicularly away from the lunging wolf.

However, my speed was woefully insufficient. Even with a surge of adrenaline, I couldn’t keep up with the wolf’s speed at all. As we crossed paths, the wolf’s sharp claws ripped through my upper right arm.

Then, I heard the voices of the men who had escaped to the safety zone.

“—Alright! This is the spot! Fire! Seal off the path!!”

A chill ran down my spine.

This wolf wasn’t my only enemy.

Those humans were my enemies, too.

Those bastards used me as a decoy to escape—!

And even then, it wasn’t enough for them—!!

Following that chilling instinct, I looked behind me, but it was already too late—a roaring flame large enough to engulf the entire corridor was closing in.

The wolf noticed the roaring flames as well. But it was too late for it, too. Having leaped up to bite my throat out, the wolf had no way to evade.

Naturally, I was too late for everything as well.

—Damn them! They’re trying to burn the wolf along with me!!

I cursed them in my heart.

Then, the roaring flames erupted—and exploded.

Reflexively, I shielded my head with both hands and threw myself as far back as possible, staying low. But a gust of wind carrying the flames slammed into my back, blowing me away.

The fire began to char my entire body.

It felt as though a blowtorch was being held against me.

A maddening pain assaulted my brain.

Using that agony as a wake-up call, I forced my mind to stay sharp.

Through sheer resentment and hatred, I maintained my will to live.

After being blown away and slammed into the ground, I slowly opened my eyes and surveyed my surroundings.

The flames that had filled the entire corridor had vanished in an instant, as if by magic.

However, a clean wall of fire had been erected in the direction the humans had fled.

“S-so… that—”

So that was their aim.

My scorched throat wouldn’t let me finish the sentence.

I took another look at my situation.

With the path cut off by the wall of flames, the only ones left here were the giant wolf and me.

I let that fact sink in slowly.

The wolf had managed to stand up, just as I had.

However, it was clear that it had taken the brunt of the fire more than I had.

Aside from its physical size, the fact that it had been mid-leap, looming over me at the end, was likely the cause.

The damage it sustained was greater than mine. It was weakened.

The wolf’s breathing was heavy, and I could see it stumbling.

Yet, its eyes still shone brilliantly.

Its fighting spirit hadn’t withered at all; letting out a low growl that seemed to say “a wolf is at its most dangerous when wounded,” it began to step toward me.

I steeled my resolve, just as the wolf had.

The spot where I’d been blown to was fortunate.

The wolf probably couldn’t see it, but the greatsword the warrior had been using earlier was lying on the ground behind me. If I could take it by surprise and use that… there was a chance, however slim, that I could win.

I immediately spun on my heel and began to run with everything I had.

The moment I turned, I caught a glimpse of the wolf lunging at me in the corner of my vision.

Sharp pain shot from my left thigh, and a shrill alarm bell rang in my brain.

Still, I ran.

I forced my feet, which were losing sensation, to dig into the ground.

I couldn’t find the timing for a counterattack.

I couldn’t predict how the wolf was closing in.

Despite that, I sprinted at full speed, scooped up the greatsword, and swung it in a wide arc just as I spun around.

The greatsword was so heavy I could barely support it even with both hands, but I put everything on this one moment and swung with brute force.

Along with a raw, dull thud, I saw the greatsword bury itself in the wolf’s neck.

“I-I did it—! Agh, gah, guaagh!!”

The counterattack was a success. However, the wolf collapsed on top of me with the greatsword still wedged deep in its neck.

I managed to narrowly avoid its fangs and claws, but being pinned head-on by a two-meter-tall beast was fatal.

An unbelievable weight crashed down on me; the contents of my stomach surged up and were vomited out of my mouth.

Furthermore, even with its neck nearly severed, the wolf continued to move in an attempt to eat me alive.

Opening its massive maw, the wolf tried to swallow my head whole.

I dragged my fading consciousness back, twisted my body to the absolute limit, and dodged.

Then, using that momentum, I drove the greatsword even deeper.

“Aagh, aaaaaaaaaaaaaagh—!!”

I screamed, swinging my arms with the intent of blowing the two-meter giant away.

A tiny gap opened up between me and the wolf.

Using that opening, I scrambled out from under the beast. Realizing the greatsword wouldn’t bite in any further, I let go of the hilt and put some distance between us.

The wolf didn’t follow me.

Or rather, it was trying to.

But its body wouldn’t move forward.

The wolf was a tattered mess—bleeding profusely, its entire body charred.

By watching the wolf vigilantly, I noticed something.

One of the wolf’s eyes had been burned, leaving it blind on that side. An arrow was buried deep in its hind leg, which it was now dragging. The greatsword must have reached its windpipe; its breathing made a sound like a high-pitched whistle. It was clear that its injuries were far more severe than mine.

“Ah… you’re already…”

The words spilled out on their own.

The wolf dragged the greatsword along as it took a step toward me.

To be safe, I kept moving into the blind spot created by its burned eye, making sure it couldn’t track my position.

Before long, the wolf collapsed.

Then, it vanished while emitting a faint, emerald-green light.

The greatsword and the arrow hit the ground with a clatter.

“Eh…?”

Indeed, it had vanished.

No corpse remained; like a spark, like an illusion, the wolf was gone.

I watched the scene unfold in a daze.

In the spot where the wolf had disappeared, a glittering green stone remained.

Along with a “display” that read: