Wolves of Hader

Chapter 96

Everyone stared ahead in shock.

There were so many monsters, they filled the entire tunnel.

It was like water pouring into the cave!

"We're just going to break through!"

"Fists are better than swords in this case! If you're not careful, you might hit your teammate!"

"Right! Eilin, stay down!"

"Understood!"

Krrrung- trrrr

Since the slope still descended, the freight train wasn't slowing down.

It was better this way—stopping would have been even more dangerous.

"They're coming!"

Everyone gritted their teeth, clenching their fists.

Krrhaak!

There really were an overwhelming number of them.

They looked like a cross between gorillas and goblins!

Unlike ordinary monsters, these didn't have the bones and flesh of beasts, but were instead formed of ice.

Trrrrr—

Koo-kwang—

Kueeek—kuek!

The train crashed into the monsters, plowing straight through.

At the same time, we swung our fists like madmen, batting away those that fell into the cargo car and pushing them out.

Some rolled along the wall, some spun over our heads, some clung to the cargo car railing while shrieking, and others bounced off after crashing into my body.

About half of them were shattered by the train, and the other half were destroyed by colliding with each other.

As the monsters broke apart, it felt as if an icy storm raged through the car.

Then, one of them landed inside the cargo car.

It lay there on the floor, hissing—kyaak!

Crack—

I stomped on the head of one trying to lunge at me, shattering it.

Even then, countless others hit my body and then flew backward.

The others were just as frantic as I was.

There was no difference between this and breaking apart falling chunks of ice with our bare hands.

If two or three hit you at once, every member in that car was likely to fall over.

Two more fell into the cargo car.

One immediately lunged at Eilin, but I kicked it and shattered it, and for the other, I grabbed its arm and hurled it away.

Pubbuk—

But several struck me from behind, pushing me against Eilin.

Monsters kept slamming into my back, making it nearly impossible to stand.

I gritted my teeth and endured, blocking the pouring monsters with my back.

When I looked forward, Allen was also fighting desperately.

The one at the very end had moved up to the fourth car and was protecting the two porters.

Swinging his fists furiously, Allen got knocked down by one that had hit my back and then kept stumbling back.

Then he shot back up—blood pouring from his nose.

"Don't we have any spare armor?"

"Are you hurt badly?"

"Is this a joke to you? Damn it! What kind of—"

Thunk—

Allen, mid-sentence, got hit again by a monster's body and fell backward.

Just then, Hans shouted.

"The train is slowing down!"

Come to think of it, the train was indeed slowing dramatically.

There were just too many of them.

"If the train stops, get out both front and back!"

"Understood!"

Creak—

Only a few seconds later, the train came to a complete stop.

The members grabbed their greatswords and leapt off the train.

I swung my greatsword on the roof, protecting Eilin, while Allen protected his comrades from the train.

Using the greatsword made things a bit easier.

Spinning on the spot and swinging my sword, I shattered so many that none could even touch me.

Donnie and three others moved to block the front of the train, while Hans and three more positioned themselves at the rear and took care of the monsters there.

The fight itself wasn't particularly dangerous.

The monsters had strong teeth and claws and were fairly strong, but none could pierce the armor we wore.

But the monsters kept arriving in greater numbers.

Even the ones that were thrown backward kept coming back, doubling their ranks.

In any case, we had to defeat all the monsters along the way, so we decided to kill as many here as we could.

Everyone took their positions and fought off the monsters charging at them.

/ / /

Maybe an hour passed.

I was swinging my greatsword like a machine, when I came to my senses.

I'd unconsciously lost myself in the flow.

"Everyone okay?"

"We can still hold out!"

"What about Allen?"

There was no response, so I looked in Allen's direction.

He was nowhere to be seen.

"Allen!"

Only then did I see Allen's fingers barely appear above the cargo car railing.

Then, his face came into view—crusted with ice—looking on the verge of freezing to death.

Allen hid in the cargo car again.

Come to think of it, the monsters weren't attacking Allen's side anymore.

Maybe his body temperature had dropped so low the monsters couldn't sense him.

Meanwhile, mine and the others' temperatures were still normal.

Thanks to Flame's cloak, droplets had formed on my armor and my underwear was drenched in sweat.

But if we kept going at this rate, Allen and the two Dran porters would freeze to death.

Even for us, one or two more hours of stamina at most, no matter how hard we tried.

We wouldn't even get a chance to see Guardian before collapsing.

"Donnie! Hans!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Cover Allen and the two porters with a red cloak and protect them! Donnie, come over here!"

"Yes!"

The members rushed up from both ends of the train.

Hans and the others quickly took off their cloaks and covered the three Drans.

I addressed Donnie as he approached.

"Donnie, stay here and protect Eilin!"

"What about you, young lord?"

"I'll deal with the monsters! Rotate using the red cloaks to maintain body heat!"

"Understood!"

I jumped off the train and headed to the front—alone.

I fought my way forward, battering monsters as I went.

Then I began drawing on the power of Flame, drawn from the necklace's subspace.

I kept moving forward, regulating the fiery aura. I watched as the monsters that leaped at me melted away.

Yet they kept charging at me regardless.

I emitted an even stronger aura of Flame and walked on.

Then they collapsed as they drew near. They instantly melted away.

These things were probably similar to evil spirits—spirit bodies inhabited by ice.

I kept walking, emitting flame.

As my aura grew stronger, many melted just by coming near. They didn't even try to run away.

There was only one reason.

Their master, guardian, was nearby. They couldn't flee because they had to protect their master.

Now, the tunnel was filled with steam. Seeing more monsters charging in from the train side meant that Guardian had to be close.

Did I walk for about thirty minutes?

An intense chill swept in from further down the tunnel.

The number of monsters had doubled again, but even they couldn't touch me.

When too many crushed in at once, I paused, melted them all, then pressed forward again.

The farther I went, the stronger the raging chill grew.

The collision of cold and heat threw whirlwinds through the tunnel.

Water droplets flew about as if a storm raged inside.

I went a bit farther and the rails ended.

This was the area where Dran had stopped digging the tunnel and retreated.

And, in the blizzard swirling beyond the tunnel—

I saw something white.

The tunnel was shrouded in darkness, but there was a faint light in the chamber ahead.

As I drew closer, I saw the hole the Dran had started and abandoned.

I walked right up to that hole.

Then—

Woooowoohhh!

A tremendous roar pounded me like a wave of sound. Then I saw it—a massive body.

A lion's head, gigantic bullhorns, enormous and hulking front legs even bigger than the hind legs, white fur glowing faintly, and swirling around its body the powers of freezing and magic.

It was the Guardian.

The legendary Freezing Guardian I'd only heard about.

Thunk—THUNK—

Krawrrohhh—

It roared again, hammering the ground with its massive forepaw. The shockwave was tremendous.

I looked at the chamber terrain.

Compared to the Guardian's bulk, the space wasn't that large.

There were quite a few small passage entrances at the back of the chamber.

There must be other tunnels leading to the surface from here.

The Dran had just discovered this chamber by accident while digging ages ago.

So, this is where most of the ice monsters came from?

The number attacking me had noticeably decreased, and now none charged at all.

But inside the chamber, there were still some sizable monsters.

Up to now, those blocking us had been the Guardian's lackeys; the tougher ones guarded their master up close.

Woooaaar—

THUNK THUNK THUNK—

The Guardian, like a raging buffalo, charged and bellowed at me.

Whenever it breathed, sleet sprayed through the air. Even the air itself seemed to freeze.

I surveyed the chamber again.

Except for tunnels too small for the Guardian to enter, there seemed to be no treasure.

No mysterious power, either.

At that moment, noise came from behind.

It was the sound of the tunnel train coming down.

"Slow down! The rails are gone!"

"Sorry? What was that?"

"There are no rails at the end of the tunnel!"

"He says there are no rails!"

"Stop it with your greatswords!"

Kwakwakwakwa—

Kwakang—Kiiiik—Tutung—

The sound of the train scraping along the wall rang out.

I hurried back toward the others.

Thankfully, everyone was on their feet, walking toward me.

"Is everyone safe?"

"Yes. The train stuck to the wall, but it didn't fall."

Allen and the two porters were shivering violently, barely alive from hypothermia.

Eilin was also shaking, pale as a ghost.

Allen asked,

"What happened? Where did the monsters go?"

"I killed them all. Only the boss is left."

"You killed them all yourself?"

Allen and Eilin stared at me in disbelief. I, and the others, pretended not to notice. The members didn't know much about my hidden power, after all.

"Is the boss in that chamber?"

"Yeah. It's not going to be easy."

We moved toward the chamber together.

Donnie quickly changed the topic, so Allen didn't ask any more.

I think he was more puzzled by how much warmer the tunnel had become.

In front of the chamber, I looked inside again.

No one said a word. They'd never seen a monster so huge; the idea of fighting it was overwhelming.

Allen spoke again.

"You guys can't beat that thing. You'll freeze solid before you can even get close, forget about actually fighting it."

No one replied.

None of us was thinking of turning back, but honestly, no one knew how we could kill it, either.

In my last life, there wasn't a single guild that had slain a Guardian.

Many parties had been wiped out in one strike. Still, quite a few had attempted.

They all said the same thing.

The tank should draw aggro while everyone else circled the Guardian and focused on breaking its defenses first.

And, when the Guardian felt its life was in danger, it would go berserk.

You absolutely had to avoid it during this rage, especially since most were wiped out by a burst of magic during rampant mode.

Its breath is very dangerous, and a direct hit from its forepaws would mean death.

Its charge or leaping attacks are also lethal.

Before, it was all a game.

Even if you got wiped, you didn't die for real and could try again and again.

It was just that Guardian was so overwhelmingly strong, no one succeeded.

But now, it's reality.

If you get wiped like in the game, you really die.

Still, there's one difference between our guild and the others.

Those other guilds had healers, but not Buffers.

Even if they had buffs, they did almost nothing. So I was effectively the only high-level Buffer.

Our guild had never hunted a Guardian, and by the time I'd reached the peak as a Buffer, I'd become an executive, so I never went in person.

That's why I thought we had a chance.

I had already explained to the members, several times, how to take on Guardian.

What to do, and how to handle emergencies.

"Don't forget—its body is surrounded by a magic barrier. You have to break that first to do any damage. Instead of strong attacks, you're better off landing several hits."

"We all understand."

"And remember—even when circling the monster, never stop moving. Make sure you stay by its tail or side, and if you're in its attack range, retreat at once."

I looked at the members and continued.

"These monsters have tells before they attack. When they charge, leap, or strike with their forepaw. Even if it's only for a second, you'll see the same movement each time."

"Telegraphing their moves?"

"Yes. Recognize those tells and get ready. If you see signs of a magic burst, get into the nearest tunnel. Make sure you're inside the barrier I set."

"Understood."

I looked at the newest member.

"Nabak."

"Yes, young lord."

"You stay here and protect Eilin and the two porters. If more monsters come, it's better to take everyone into the smallest side tunnel."

"Yes, understood."

I scanned the members and looked at Eilin.

Eilin looked at me anxiously. Allen looked like he was doubting whether I was really going to face the boss.

"You just have to avoid getting hit even once. As long as you don't make any mistakes, there's nothing to die for fighting a boss monster, right?"

"Of course."

I smiled, then entered the chamber.

Carrying my greatsword.

"W-wait, are you going in alone?"

I just smiled.

Eilin looked as if about to burst into tears.

Was she that worried about me?

Step, step.

I walked into the chamber.

Krahaaaak—

The Guardian let out a deafening roar, rearing up on its hind legs. Then it slammed its huge forepaw down.

THUNK—

The Guardian kicked off the ground and charged straight at me.

I ran at it, too.