Wolves of Hader

Chapter 133

"Damn it!"

Allen's curse echoed through the mountains.

It had grown quiet for a while, but now it started again.

"Will you be quiet!"

"Yeah, alright!"

When Donnie shouted, Allen shut his mouth.

That guy had knelt in front of others for the first time in his life.

He was probably showing the greatest patience of his entire existence.

When Urald and Wundbark said they would give out equipment only if one knelt, Allen almost cursed at them but barely managed to restrain himself and knelt.

It was to the extent that everyone was surprised.

I wondered what kind of ability Lok's Bouncy Boots had shown to make him act that way.

I hadn't seen them yet, after all. It seemed to indicate just how much Allen liked that equipment.

That guy had remained quiet until we were leaving the new territory, but then he started to reveal what he had been holding back.

Muttering curses, and now even yelling outright.

There were quite a lot of people in this expedition.

Forty-four special forces, Tuji and his brother, the Elin siblings.

And also five officers and Allen.

Everyone wore their silver plate armor impressively.

The Tuji brothers also received swords, and Allen wore armor fitted to his frame and even slung a hammer bigger than his own body onto his back.

"Elder brother. How many days will this take?"

"About four days."

"That's not too far."

A Yan man from the new territory was accompanying us as a guide. We brought him in case the Yan might be afraid of us. Conveniently, he'd also been studying our language diligently.

"But are these guys really going to be any help?"

Allen teased the officers.

The officers just kept walking as if they hadn't heard. If a fight broke out, they probably wouldn't just be beaten by Allen.

The officers had changed dramatically, too.

Their magic power had increased quite a bit. Soon, when the path of magic power fully opened, we planned to give them another infusion of power.

All the officers silently followed us. They were knights and staff of the legion, but they realized now that they were not as good as our house's special forces.

They were frogs in the well who had discovered reality and become humble. Now they had even surpassed the special forces' skills. After some combat experience, they might even be comparable to Berserkers.

Except for myself and Allen, everyone else had come along the same route as when we first discovered the new territory. If too many people moved at once, the Gate of Magic could close.

"Huh?"

Allen, walking ahead, stopped.

He was looking off toward the peaks of the seemingly endless mountains to the right. The rest of the group looked that way too.

"What's wrong?"

"There... there's a monster."

"That's not a monster. Just keep walking."

"It is a monster. It's huge!"

I ignored the alarmed Allen and kept walking.

Nothing was visible to the eye.

But my squad and I had known since yesterday.

A Hader wolf was following us.

While I lived in the new territory, wolves would occasionally watch me from the mountain tops.

It wasn't that they had sensed any danger and were following. Since their companions were moving, they followed out of curiosity—or maybe they knew there was a hunt.

"Huh?"

Allen stopped again.

"I told you, it's not a monster."

"Someone's coming?"

Allen's senses were sharper than most. It didn't seem to be because of any elemental talent, either.

Soon, Lok emerged from the forest.

"There are people not far away."

"People? Are they Yan?"

"Yes."

"Hey, Lok. Do you have an invisibility spell or something? How come you suddenly appear out of nowhere?"

"Ah, come on! I just went out on recon."

"Nobody said otherwise, man."

I asked Lok,

"How many?"

"Around twenty. They looked like refugees."

"Tuji, pass on a message, please."

Tuji asked the Yan guide something.

The man nodded.

His name was Raccoon.

"If Mr. Raccoon walks in front, they likely won't attack rashly."

Mr. Raccoon understood and took the lead.

We resumed moving.

Lok went back into the forest.

We walked for about an hour.

Near the sea in the forest, there was a place where Yan refugees lived. People were living in hastily built, flimsy houses.

Everyone was gathered around the bonfire, grilling fish, wearing clothes that weren't even complete.

It looked like they had had to flee the village quickly and hadn't even managed to take their utensils.

They all looked at us with fear in their eyes. Suddenly these white people appeared, wearing armor and carrying weapons. Mr. Raccoon also knew these people.

When Mr. Raccoon explained why we had come, they finally relaxed a little.

Afterward, we sat down around the campfire and heard about their various circumstances.

Tuji interpreted for us.

"There are apparently several groups of refugees scattered throughout the mountains. Some have fled to the sea by boat, others have gone up into the mountains. The villages were completely reduced to ashes; no one was left."

"Are there still monsters around?"

The translation went back and forth.

"Yes, they say there are. Roughly more than ten thousand in number. Some have already crossed the mountains."

"Isn't it dangerous for Mouk?"

"A few hundred crossing should be held back by the East Army Fortress Wall's garrison. They'll probably turn back soon."

I asked again,

"What are the monsters like?"

"They come in many forms. The smallest are dog-sized; the biggest are like forest giants."

These mountains contain ogres even bigger than trolls. They're called forest giants.

The Guardian must have created subordinates modeled after the beasts and monsters of this mountain range.

"Lok."

"Yes."

"You need to draw out the forest giant."

"I'll go with Lok."

"Alright. Do you see that snowy mountain over there?"

From here, it was quite far away.

"Below that white mountain, there's a huge thicket. The forest giant lives inside it—lure it all the way to the village. It has rage issues, so it'll chase you to the end."

"Got it."

"What's rage issues?"

"It's just something like that. Go now."

"Yes."

Bellen and Lok immediately took off running.

Lok was fast, but Bellen was far faster. It was like she was riding the wind, just like a 'Wind Rider'.

"The Recon Unit will move ahead."

"Understood."

Twenty members of the special forces' Recon Unit also headed toward the area identified by the Yan.

We began to make our own preparations.

"Please inform them that we'll reclaim the village for them. From now on, we can live helping each other."

The Yan nodded.

They were still afraid of us.

Different civilization, and they'd never seen us before.

We moved on.

Through the southernmost tip of this continent, it's possible to reach the Yan Continent.

When that time comes, the Yan will be of much help in many ways.

/ / /

Everyone lowered their bodies and looked down the mountain.

A small fishing village was visible.

Everything had collapsed; only empty ground remained.

No Yan were in sight—only monsters lurked there.

As the Yan had said, there was a wide variety. Some resembled wolves, others were huge.

Thud—thud—

Several ogre-shaped monsters were roaming around.

If the Golems made by the Iki Tribe were huge boulders patched together, these things looked like they were shaped and hardened out of clay.

Like the ice monsters of Dran Sovereignty, these things weren't living beings either. They were a type of evil spirit that possessed earth and stone. Naturally, they were much harder than ice.

"Officers, don't go after the big ones—focus on taking down the smaller ones. If you hit the bodies, your swords might get damaged, so aim for their joints."

"Understood."

"Tuji and Uson."

"Yes, sir."

"Sometimes there will be flashes of light on the big monsters' foreheads. When that happens, shoot the arrow at the light."

"Is that their weak point?"

"It's the passage for the evil spirit. The hole is tiny, so it won't be easy to hit."

"We'll concentrate."

I looked over at the special forces.

"New recruits, don't overextend—move with your seniors. Even if you get hit by those things, your armor won't crumple, so don't panic even if you're surrounded."

"Yes!"

"Special forces, clear out all the monsters left in the village. If you get exhausted, head into the sea. If those things touch water, their bodies melt, so they can't go into the sea."

"Understood."

I looked at Allen and the others as well.

"We'll take down the giants first, then enter the exit those things are coming from. Officers, you'll go in with us as well."

"Got it."

I took out the magic bag.

From within it, I fetched a war hammer for myself and for the squad.

All were enchanted with the Weight Reduction enchantment.

Thump—

They were three times heavier than a greatsword and much slower, but the stone monsters were also slow.

The technique wasn't too different from wielding a greatsword. And we'd practiced plenty.

"Let's go."

Everyone descended from the mountain.

We'd been traveling in only armor without weapons.

For about 70 days. I'd put gold in the magic bag, but it hadn't disappeared.

It was likely a subspace connection or a deeply sealed warehouse.

So we decided to store our weapons in the magic bag, along with any treasure we acquired.

Since the rough mountains never seemed to end, it was hard to move things in carts.

Boom—

CRACKLE—

As we got halfway down, the monsters noticed us.

Letting out terrible roars like splitting stones, they began to swarm gradually toward us.

They were quite slow.

Thump thump thump thump—

Rumbl—

The ogre-shaped monster stomped through the smaller ones, charging at us.

If we got hit by that massive brawler, even titanium armor could bend.

"Tuji!"

"Yes!"

Tuji and Uson took their positions.

Soon, two arrows were released.

Ting—

The arrows fired by the brothers struck the forehead of the stone ogre in succession.

But neither hit the hole.

"Hold on! Here I come!"

Thunk—

Allen, running, kicked off the ground.

"Yahoo!"

With a single leap he soared more than ten meters!

Then in a flash, he jumped more than thirty meters, flying through the air on a grand arc, smashing directly into the stone ogre.

Kaboom—

The stone ogre's massive head exploded and shattered. One blow from Allen's hammer was enough.

That enormous body, nearly eight meters tall, collapsed helplessly forward, headless.

Boom—

The body crashed down, shattering into countless pieces, flinging up dust and stone powder.

Once the sorcery's power faded, they simply turned back into dirt and rock.

Allen launched off with another thunk.

Toward another ogre in the distance.

"This thing is amazing!"

That's what the Bouncy Boots were capable of.

He could leap up to 20 meters in a single bound. Even when landing, there was almost no shock.

Originally, it was a piece of equipment that only the extremely light-bodied Elin could use.

But since Allen was also light for his size and incredibly strong, such leaps were possible for him.

That's why Allen forced himself to bow and kneel.

He had endured the greatest humiliation of his life to get it.

For other Dran or humans, it wouldn't have much effect.

"Form a flying wedge!"

"Form a flying wedge behind the young lord!"

I sprinted ahead, and the squad members with massive hammers fanned out to my left and right from behind me.

After them came the special forces, the officers, and the Tuji brothers.

"Hammer spin!"

"Spin!"

Thump thump thump— CRASH—

We spun through toward the horde of stone monsters coming at us in droves.

Rocks shattered and exploded, scattering stone fragments everywhere.

As nine of us wielding hammers spun as one, the monsters were crushed at once.

The hammers might spin slowly because of their weight, but the destructive force was tremendous.

As soon as we broke through, we smashed the torso of a stone monster shaped like a bear.

It only cracked a little. Then Donnie, following right behind, struck it at the same spot—breaking it.

Crack—Crash—

We slammed, swung, and spun our hammers, taking out everything in our path.

It wasn't just about using muscle; we made full use of inertia.

After fighting a bit, even those from the forest and mountains started to swarm in.

More monsters poured out from the cave they'd come from. In an instant, the entire village was filled to the brim!

"Isn't this a bit too many?"

"If you get tired, head for the sea!"

"Understood!"

Everyone fought the monsters frantically.

Yan said there were around 10,000, but put together it looked like more than 20,000. The number was still increasing as time went on.

Allen, alone, bounced around and took down only the giants. He'd already killed four by himself.

There seemed to be about thirty giants, so we could leave those to him.

"Hey! Let me know when you're heading for the monster cave! Don't just go in by yourselves!"

"Trying to leave elder brother out again?"

"I wasn't talking to you, elder brother! I was talking to Donnie!"

"Hey! After being used as a ball by the young lord, now you're a ball yourself? Look at you, bouncing all over the place!"

"Donnie, are you asking to die?"

"Hahahaha!"

With all the jesting and banter, the hunt turned into a festival.

There were only a lot of monsters—but they weren't all that dangerous, so even in the midst of battle, laughter broke out.

Even the special forces newbies grew more confident.

The officers, for whom this was their first real combat experience, were training in earnest.

This monster hunt was just a warm-up.

"Taa!"

Mango and Oren took turns leaping, crossing six paces in a single bound.

Brai and Code displayed the dazzling sword technique of the house, then spun and broke through encirclement.

Their expressions were hidden by their helmets, but everyone was intoxicated by the thrill, lost in the heat of the moment.

From now on, the path of magic would start opening up more and more.

Who would awaken first?

Perhaps Oren, who had shown the most skill.

Or maybe Lingo from the north, who had the most experience.

Or maybe I myself would grow as well.

I had heard this Guardian drew power from the fragments of magical crystals scattered everywhere in its habitat.

If I possessed those fragments.

My body, too, would slowly begin to change.

I, too, would be able to borrow that power.