novelraw Chapter 85 : Steel and Beasts
Chapter 85 : Steel and Beasts
Chapter 85: Steel and Beasts
If this were a game, then at this moment it should have been a cutscene.
Charlie would have thrown a chair, everyone would have panicked and dodged, then they would have seen Charlie transform into a huge werewolf, followed by the start of a BOSS battle.
However, Levi did not give Charlie this chance.
He activated 【Eye of the Reaper】, slowing the flow of time around him, then without hesitation aimed at Charlie and pulled the trigger.
“Bang bang!”
Gunfire rang out, and time returned to normal.
Levi sidestepped the flying chair, while the village chief behind him failed to dodge and was struck head-on, crying out miserably as he collapsed to the ground.
But the unluckiest one, naturally, was Charlie.
In reality, there was no such thing as invincibility through transformation.
At that moment, Charlie’s body had only just begun to swell, tearing apart his clothes, and he was far from ready.
An armor-piercing bullet struck directly at his chest and exploded, cruelly turning his chest into a vast basin of flesh and blood.
Then, the second silver bullet repeated the trick, shooting into Charlie’s wound.
“Uwaah!”
Charlie spat blood and fell to his knees, his massive body slamming into the ground with a heavy thud.
Yet Levi did not relax his guard.
On the contrary, after dodging the thrown chair, his figure flickered into the shadows by the wall.
Almost simultaneously, a thick claw swiped from behind, nearly grazing Levi’s body as it raked across the front wall, leaving a long gash in the solid wooden planks.
“C–Cornis… Priest!?”
The village chief, lying on the ground, widened his eyes in disbelief at the giant wolf before him—just moments ago, it had been a calm and steady priest.
But now, it had transformed into a towering black wolf.
“I am not like you, Charlie.”
The priest, transformed into a werewolf, raised his arms, staring at his massive hands tipped with sharp claws.
“I do not believe this is a curse. This is the power granted to us by the Holy Lord. We passed the trial, we destroyed the evil that plagued this village, and so the Holy Lord blessed us with this mighty strength! Why—why will you not accept it?”
“So that’s the explanation.”
Levi stepped out of the shadows again, staring at the priest.
He had not forgotten that there had originally been four injured people—the priest was among them.
Since the others had all become werewolves, the priest would naturally be no exception.
The others may not have realized it, but Levi had always been aware, thanks to his puppet bird acting as a scouting drone, circling above their heads.
Thus, the moment the priest transformed, Levi had already noticed.
“N–nonsense…”
Charlie collapsed on the ground, the silver toxin rapidly corroding his veins and nerves.
Perhaps because his transformation had not fully completed, his muscles were still writhing, as though desperately trying to heal his blasted chest.
Yet the more he tried, the faster the silver spread… Levi hadn’t expected it, but this stuff worked wonderfully against monsters with regenerative bodies.
Benjamin would deserve another note of credit for this.
“Th… this ugly… abomination… how could it… be God’s blessing…”
“Foolish.”
The priest shook his head, spreading his arms as though delivering a sermon.
“Fear is the Holy Lord’s whip for herding His lambs! Only demons tempt through beauty! The greater the fear, the more grotesque, the more sacred it becomes!”
Come to think of it, it did fit.
Levi recalled that Eliza had explained how, within the Holy Lord Church’s clergy, the belief was that the less humanlike something appeared, the more sacred it was; the more humanlike, the more demonic.
Demons needed human form to tempt mankind, but angels did not… Speaking of which, Bishop Raphael’s feathered monstrosity looked no better than the werewolf before him.
If the priest’s words were the truth, it wouldn’t be surprising.
“I am the blade of the Holy Lord, the sword aimed at evil! But you ignore His blessing and betray Him so! You shall face judgment and punishment!”
The priest cast a glance at Charlie, then turned toward Levi and the village chief.
“What a pity. You were never meant to know this truth. Perhaps this is fate.”
“You don’t expect us to surrender obediently, do you?”
Levi chuckled coldly, staring at the priest, who flexed his claws.
“I admit, you are strong indeed, outsider. But I—…”
Whatever the priest intended to say, Levi would never know.
Because at that instant, a thick, fur-covered wolf arm pierced through his chest.
In the massive hand was a dripping, bloody heart, still beating fiercely.
“H–how…”
The priest stared dumbly at his own heart in disbelief.
What was happening?
Could there be… another werewolf? But who?
Clearly, only a handful of them had received this so-called blessing…
But he had no chance for answers.
The hand holding his heart clenched, and with a wet squelch, the still-beating organ burst like a crushed tomato.
The priest collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.
And so, the shadow behind him finally revealed itself before Levi.
“My apologies, Detective.”
Moonlight pierced the clouds, casting silver upon the earth and dispelling the darkness.
Behind the priest, a petite figure emerged—red cloak, white dress, unchanged as always.
Only now, the girl’s right arm was grotesquely thick, coated in black wolf fur and dripping with blood.
Little Red Riding Hood raised her head toward Levi, smiling brightly.
“I didn’t want to intervene, but if it were you, you would have killed him, wouldn’t you? And then I would have lost the chance to avenge my father with my own hands.”
“Father?”
Levi arched a brow, surprised.
“You don’t mean to say… you are the cub that escaped back then?”
“That’s right.”
Little Red Riding Hood smiled.
“They weren’t wrong. I did return, and I returned for revenge. First against the ones who killed my father, then against the villagers. They all must die. Honestly, I rather liked you, Detective. I thought to wait until you left before taking action. But I didn’t expect you to uncover so many interesting things… So I had no choice but to act first.”
“You’re so certain you can kill me? I’m quite formidable, you know.”
“Oh, I’m very aware. But please don’t compare me to these worthless creatures.”
She cast a scornful glance at the priest and the suffering Charlie nearby.
“They were nothing but low-grade beings infected by Father.”
“So this identity of yours is fake?”
The girl before him looked no older than her teens.
Yet the Wolf God had died thirty years ago.
If she were that cub, the age didn’t fit.
“Of course.”
She chuckled lightly.
“Ah, but the girl truly existed. I didn’t lie. She did want to see her grandmother. But unfortunately for her, she met me. So I ate her and became her—perfectly mimicking those I devour. That is one of my abilities. Now you see, Detective, why I am nothing like these brutes who only transform and use force?”
“So, in the end, the Big Bad Wolf still ate Little Red Riding Hood.”
Levi sighed, silently raising his gun.
“As fairy tales go, this ending is not well-received.”
“I like you too, Detective.”
Little Red Riding Hood’s eyes gleamed.
“You’re clever and beautiful. If I devoured you, it would be far easier to hunt in the human world. Surely a man like you attracts plenty of female attention. That would make hunting and breeding so much easier.”
“Uh… should I say thank you for the compliment?”
“Hehehe…”
The two chatted as though nothing had happened.
But then, with a soft laugh, Little Red Riding Hood vanished.
Like a hurricane.
When Levi looked up, his vision was filled with blackness.
A giant wolf—not like Charlie and the others, who resembled grotesque ape-wolf hybrids—but a true, proportioned giant black wolf.
Its body stretched against the night sky, moonlight glistening off its sleek fur, its blood-red maw threatening to swallow the heavens.
And then, Levi vanished too.
Replaced by black steel.
A steel body, a roaring engine, and… blazing headlights!
“—————!”
Blinding light flared, dazzling the black wolf.
Instinctively, it squinted and rolled away—an innate reaction of any creature to sudden brightness.
At the same time, the Phantom roared forward, colliding with the wolf head-on.
If the steel beast could speak, it would surely cry, “Taste my seventy-mile-per-hour fury!”
“Thud!”
The wolf was the size of a horse, but before the power of modern technology, it had no special defense.
The Phantom barreled through, slamming into the wolf, which yelped in pain, trying to evade.
Yet time slowed again.
Levi, reappearing on a tree branch through 【Shadow Step】, raised his transformed cane-gun, aimed at the wolf’s head, and fired.
“Bang bang bang bang bang!”
Flames burst, igniting its fur.
Before it could howl, armor-piercing bullets tore its flesh, shattering its skull.
A silver bullet followed, entering through the opening, burying itself deep into the wolf’s brain.
Time returned to normal.
“BOOM!!”
The Phantom crashed into the wolf once more, sending it flying, sliding dozens of meters before coming to a halt.
It blinked weakly, opened its jaws as if to speak, but only a feeble howl escaped.
By the time Levi appeared before it again, the wolf’s eyes had already shut forever.
“…Haa…”
The cold wind blew.
Levi stood in silence over the corpse of the giant wolf.
Clearly, the root of everything in Wolf Head Village lay with this wolf’s father.
But unfortunately… Levi had no means to capture and interrogate it.
“D–Detective…”
The village chief’s trembling voice came from behind.
Levi turned to see him, pale-faced, rising unsteadily and looking around.
“W–what should I do now? How can I explain this to the villagers?”
“……………”
Levi blinked, surveying the scene.
Charlie lay dead in the cabin, Tommy motionless on the bed.
The priest with his pierced heart was still on the ground, and the corpse of the black wolf beside him made it look like the aftermath of a monster film.
“…Why not stuff their stomachs with stones and sink them in the lake?”
“Eh!?”
“I’m joking.”
Levi glanced again at the wolf, sighing softly.
“Burn them.”