novelraw Chapter 84 : Unveiling the Secret
Chapter 84 : Unveiling the Secret
Chapter 84: Unveiling the Secret
Although he had already seen another corpse, when this monster truly moved, the sense of oppression it exuded was indeed not to be underestimated.
Under the reflection of the bonfire, the pitch-black Giant Wolf charging toward Levi was as large as a bear.
Each time its paws struck the ground, a muffled sound rang out.
Little Red Riding Hood stood stiffly at Levi’s side.
If it had been Katie instead, she would probably have clenched her little fists, eager to leap forward and test her strength against the creature.
But Little Red Riding Hood was, after all, just an ordinary farm girl.
Even if she had some strength, she absolutely did not possess Katie’s ability to wrestle with elephants.
Levi, however, did not mind.
He raised his gun, pulled back the hammer, and aimed at the target.
The Giant Wolf leapt into the air.
At the same time, Levi pulled the trigger.
Twice.
“Bang bang!!”
The Giant Wolf, midair, paid no attention to the gunfire.
Its fur was thick and its hide was tough—ordinary bullets posed no real threat or harm.
But Levi never dealt in ordinary tricks.
The spray of flames enveloped the Giant Wolf head-on.
The creature let out a shrill, agonized scream, even forgetting how to land, crashing heavily into the ground instead.
Then, one saw it rolling frantically, leaping back up, and turning in panic to flee—its backside on fire (not a metaphor).
In the blink of an eye, the fiery sparks disappeared into the darkness of night.
Moments later, the villagers who had fled earlier returned.
But this time, the joy from the feast was gone from their faces, replaced by panic and unease.
That the monster had attacked again was one thing—but the fact that there was indeed a second one… that was what truly terrified them.
“How could this be… why is there another Giant Wolf?”
“Wasn’t there only one?”
The villagers looked around blankly, asking in unease, hoping someone could answer.
But unfortunately, no one could.
“Detective, are you alright?”
Little Red Riding Hood cautiously looked at Levi and asked.
He simply nodded.
“I’m fine.”
“But you’re amazing! I heard from the hunting team that this monster is very difficult to deal with!”
At this moment, admiration filled Little Red Riding Hood’s gaze.
After all, she had heard from the hunters how the creature was not only fast but also thick-skinned, bullets hard to pierce, and its strength immense.
The hunting team had struggled greatly against it.
Yet Levi had merely fired two shots, and the monster had fled!?
“Not bad.”
Levi fixed his gaze in the direction the monster had fled, the corner of his lips slightly curved.
“Do me a favor. Go find the Village Chief and have him gather the whole village.”
“Eh? Are we going to hunt the monster tonight?”
“No.”
Levi shook his head.
“I just plan to take attendance.”
“…………………？”
Though no one knew what Levi was up to, after witnessing the power he displayed against the monster, they obeyed.
Many hadn’t even managed to escape the square earlier—they had seen, from beginning to end, how Levi drove off the monster with just a single shot.
One had to admit—it was impressive.
Soon, under the Village Chief’s call, over a hundred villagers obediently gathered in the square.
Even Little Red Riding Hood’s Grandmother came, trembling as she lined up.
Many thought Levi was about to seize the chance to pursue the Giant Wolf, and their hearts wavered with unease.
But Levi merely glanced over the crowd and looked at the Village Chief.
“Who hasn’t come?”
“Who hasn’t come!?”
The Village Chief looked around at the villagers and shouted.
With just over a hundred people, all familiar with one another, it wasn’t too hard to notice who was missing.
The villagers checked amongst themselves, whispering for a while, before someone called out:
“Mick isn’t here!”
“That’s rare. Where did he go?”
“Who else is missing?”
“Charlie and Tommy! They were dancing just now.
Where did they go?”
“Did they go home to fetch guns?”
Before long, the headcount was complete: only three people were missing.
Mick, and the brothers Charlie and Tommy.
Levi was not surprised by the news.
He simply nodded and asked the Village Chief and the Priest to take him to the brothers’ house, while the others stayed put.
Ordinarily, the villagers would never obediently let an outsider order them around.
But now, none dared to protest.
After all, there was still a monster out there—they too wanted it dealt with quickly.
At the same time, a troubling question spread among them.
Why were there two?
Levi had no mind to explain to the villagers.
He simply followed the Village Chief and the Priest to the brothers’ home, located on the edge of the village, built on a slope.
The two usually chopped wood nearby.
The Priest stepped forward and knocked, but there was no response.
“It seems they haven’t returned yet.”
“I wouldn’t say so.”
Levi shook his head, then stepped forward and knocked again.
This time, the door opened, and Charlie appeared, face unpleasant.
Upon seeing Levi, his expression darkened, and he asked in a low voice:
“What is it?”
“Good evening, Mr. Charlie.”
Levi fixed his gaze on Charlie, pressed down on his hat brim, and nodded slightly.
“I’d like to have a word with you and your brother. Where is he?”
“He’s injured.”
“Injured?”
“That’s right.
When that monster appeared earlier, he was nearby and got hurt. I only just managed to bring him back………”
“Shouldn’t you be taking him to see a doctor?”
“That’s none of your business!”
Charlie glared angrily at Levi, shouting furiously.
His fierce demeanor frightened the others into stepping back, yet Levi still stood where he was, smiling as he stared at Charlie.
He did not care at all about the man’s vicious presence.
On the contrary, he reached out and tugged at the glove on his hand.
Then he spoke.
“I fired two shots just now.”
“???”
The others were all surprised to hear Levi suddenly bring this up.
“One of them was an incendiary round, made with white phosphorus. It burns easily—and it can burn even in water.”
“Eh? Burn even in water?”
At this, the crowd was astonished.
In the simple minds of country folk, water was meant to extinguish fire.
A fire that could burn in water was something they had never seen in their lives.
Charlie, however, clenched his teeth, staring at Levi with fists tightly balled.
But Levi still looked entirely unconcerned as he continued.
“The second bullet was more interesting—it was a mercury round, in simple terms, a bullet containing mercury. When it enters the body and bursts, the mercury poisons the insides, causing coma, shock, even death. So…………”
Levi tilted his head curiously, looking past Charlie.
“Is Mr. Tommy still doing well? If he’s awake, he can give a howl. But I’d guess he probably can’t manage that anymore.”
“You—————!”
Charlie raised his fist in fury———but Levi’s gun was faster than him.
With the muzzle pressed against his forehead, he had no choice but to back step by step into the house under Levi’s pressure.
Levi followed him in.
The others, having heard their conversation, were even more shocked.
They crowded to the doorway and looked inside—only to see Tommy lying on the bed, face ashen and drained of blood.
“As expected.”
Levi glanced at the unconscious Tommy and quickly made his judgment.
Then he turned his gaze back to Charlie.
“Tell me—who killed Fraser? Was it you brothers, or Roger?”
“Eh?!”
The Village Chief and others were taken aback by this sudden question.
They had not expected the matter to circle around and point directly at them!
Confronted with Levi’s question, Charlie’s expression flickered briefly with surprise.
Then he clenched his jaw.
“It was Roger.”
“Because Fraser’s wife carried his child?”
“Yes!”
At this point, Charlie abandoned all pretense and answered directly.
“That idiot insisted it was his own son, that he had to raise it himself, not let Fraser do so. We tried to talk him out of it, but the fool had lost his head!”
“So, you were the one who killed Roger and Fraser’s wife?”
“I did it.”
Charlie nodded.
“Because you came here, and we were afraid you might discover something………so I stole Roger’s key, followed him at night, and when he went into that woman’s room, I slipped in and killed them both.”
“And then you thought you could pin all of this on some so-called Son of the Wolf God, stirring up the villagers to hunt it?”
“……………”
“I’m curious—why didn’t you simply kill me outright?”
“Because………you’re that special advisor from the Police Station, aren’t you?”
Charlie frowned, staring at Levi.
“We were afraid killing you would draw police investigations and a manhunt……….”
“Mm. Sensible enough.”
Levi nodded.
“And then? How did you trick Mick into becoming your scapegoat?”
“………………………”
Charlie now looked utterly terrified at Levi’s gaze.
“How did you know……………”
“When they hunted the Wolf God, four were injured. Roger, Mick, and your father were among them.”
Levi flicked the gun slightly.
“And as it happens, I heard a rumor—that those bitten by werewolves also become werewolves. That’s why their wives died one after another in the following years, isn’t it?”
“That’s right—the Wolf God’s curse…………!”
Charlie, resigned now, nodded and continued.
“They killed the Wolf God, but were cursed. Ever since, on nights of the full moon, or when their emotions raged out of control, they would transform into werewolves. Our father too—we saw with our own eyes how he became that terrifying, savage, loathsome beast! And he told us that since we carried his blood, we too would become the same monsters!”
“………………”
“We couldn’t bear it, so we killed him.”
“Wait.”
The Village Chief was stunned.
“So—he didn’t die of illness?”
“No. We killed him and claimed it was illness. Though he was a werewolf, when in human form, his strength was no greater than a common man. My brother and I poisoned him, then killed him………but that wasn’t the end!”
Charlie clenched his fists as he spoke.
“That old bastard told others about us too! He said, ‘because we’re companions.’ But I’ll never be companions with those damned monsters!”
“That’s why you often drank together?”
“We never wanted to—but Roger threatened us. He demanded we help his brother, or he’d reveal our true identities. So we had no choice. It was only drinking with a drunkard anyway……….”
“But you still worried, still feared exposure. So when Roger killed his own brother and stirred up trouble, you saw the chance to silence him………Mick too, right?”
“Yes.”
Charlie was fully open now.
“We told Mick we’d stage a play—if everyone believed the Giant Wolf was killed, then everything would be fine. Mick thought it was a good plan, so in front of the villagers we put on a show. Originally, I was only supposed to press my gun to him and pretend to shoot. But instead, I shoved the barrel into his mouth and blew his brains out before he could react.”
Charlie’s gaze toward Levi grew more furious as he spoke.
“Originally, it would have ended there. The monster slain, life returning to peace. But you had to put out a bounty of one hundred pounds for a live capture! Now, everyone’s eyes were on us! Even if we left only a footprint, they’d rush to sell us out for money. So……….”
“So you decided to kill me.”
Levi looked at Charlie with no trace of sympathy.
“And that’s exactly what I wanted. I had long sensed something strange.”
“So you deliberately posted that bounty?”
“Correct. You killed the Giant Wolf too quickly, and hurried to bring back its corpse—because you wanted to bury the matter fast. But all I had to do was ensure it wouldn’t end quickly, and you would act. Seems I guessed right.”
“………………………”
Charlie glared at Levi, Levi stared back at Charlie.
Both men knew—there was no room left for words.
Only one thing remained.
“Die! I’ll kill you all!”
Charlie suddenly grabbed a chair and hurled it at Levi.
At the same time, his body began to swell and twist.
Facing the oncoming chair, Levi did not dodge nor flinch.
He widened his eyes, staring straight ahead.
In that instant, time seemed to slow immeasurably.
Then, Levi pulled the trigger.