20.8%
■■□□□□□□□□
I thought I wouldn’t like it since it was a surprise attack.
Maybe because I saved someone, the empty gauge filled up to 20.8%.
Now then, let’s see. The wolf was level 45, was it?
The priest of the Abyssal Mother Cult who attacked us on the train was level 32.
Even accounting for the fact that there were several trash mobs with second phases, that was still a pretty high level for the next enemy to appear.
But right now, it had an eight-level reduction because it was under the penalty called "Agony."
Which meant its effective level was around 37.
Lower than Dante’s.
Still, named enemies had specs far above what their level suggested, so I couldn’t let my guard down just because its level was lower.
Then again, the same went for me.
【Ian de Logres】
◈ Level: 23
◈ Title: [Rival of the Sword Demon]
◈ Traits: [Dragon Strength], [Insight Eye], [Oath of Chivalry]
◈ Stats
Physical: 234 | Mana: 125
Luck: 10 | Mental Strength: 30
(Current SP: 0)
▶ [Skills]
Thanks to the cheat called [Orlando’s Muscle Cultivation Method], my stats could no longer be considered human.
Judging by stats alone, forget level 23—I had already gone well beyond human limits.
In raw specs, I was way above the wolf.
And even if it had been distracted by the apple, the fact that it got hit by a casually swung attack meant I probably wouldn’t need to use [Insight of One Who Has Seen the End].
So the problem here was how far I had to beat it before it counted as subdued...
If I remembered right, in the game, if the wolf survived the final blow and its HP dropped to just under 1%, the battle ended immediately.
The problem was that unlike the game, I couldn’t see an HP bar here, so I had no idea how much I needed to hit it before it counted as suppression.
I took a deep breath and raised my shield.
[Sealed Prydwen]
One of the three defensive armaments most trusted by the proud King of Knights.
◈ Grade: ■■
◈ Defense: 300
◈ Defense increases by 30% on water.
◈ On a successful guard, maximum damage is reduced by 80%.
◈ Nullifies the opponent’s first attack.
◈ Nullification can only be used once per battle against the same target.
◈ This armament is in a sealed state.
A shield I had obtained through [Oath of Chivalry] from my sparring match with Angelica.
Just like the gift of [Carnwennan] from the King of Knights, even sealed, this shield had absurd defense and a whole string of ridiculous options packed into it.
In the game, shields were only useful for raising defense or for parrying.
But this place was different.
Unlike the game, where you had to hold a weapon to deal damage, here anything you hit with would do damage.
In other words, the shield in my hand was a mace and a gauntlet all in one.
And in particular, a shield swung with these hulking muscles was basically a disaster.
Judging by how it couldn’t take its eyes off the shield in my hand, the wolf seemed to have learned something after getting smacked by it once.
Come on, get the water boiling.
Today’s the day I beat the soybean paste into you.
"Ian, I’ll cover you!"
"No. You all handle the leopard and the lion."
If it were up to me, I’d just gang up on it and beat it down, but those knightly gentlemen up above probably wouldn’t like that.
I stepped in front of the wolf and took my stance.
I needed to put on the kind of performance those voyeuristic old men would enjoy.
But since this thing wasn’t bipedal like a goblin, throwing down a glove and calling it a duel felt a little awkward.
Then...
"Come, you cowardly and loathsome creature of magic. I, Ian de Logres, shall be your opponent."
30.8%
■■■□□□□□□□
The gauge shot upward as if to say that answer was exactly right.
".................."
But in complete contrast to the rising gauge, an oddly unnatural silence fell over the surroundings.
"Haha..."
Iris, who had already seen me on the train, let out the sort of laugh that sounded painfully forced.
"Ahem."
Haede made a sound that was either a cough or her trying not to laugh.
Dante, meanwhile, made no sound at all...
Which somehow made it impossible for me to look behind me.
Well, I thought I was already thoroughly used to shamelessly brazening it out, but apparently I still had a long way to go.
Strangely enough, though, the wolf looked like it actually understood what I said. More than that, it wore an expression that seemed deeply conflicted.
Why?
I didn’t say anything wrong.
You really are an experimental subject made by an evil villain.
If not, then what does that make me?
#
And so began the chase between the one trying to smash with a shield and the one trying to flee from that shield.
Every time I swung it, the pressure of the wind warped the air around us, and the wolf, determined not to get hit by it, never once took its eyes off the shield as it dodged and weaved.
But.
Just because it never looked away from the shield didn’t mean it could avoid getting hit.
I deliberately left an opening to make use of the shield’s effect, and the wolf, thinking it was the perfect chance, lunged in at high speed.
Then, before its jaws could reach me, an invisible barrier sprang up as if declaring they never could.
The wolf faltered in confusion when its attack failed to land.
I didn’t miss that opening and slammed my shield into its side.
The wolf got smashed in the ribs again and went flying with a yelp.
But the wolf was no pushover either.
In that very instant of being hit, it still managed to counterattack.
Its claws grazed my left arm, carving three lines into it, and blood seeped out through the wounds.
To think that a single counterattack pierced my invisible armor and left slashes on my left arm.
Of course, the academy uniform had an auto-repair function, and thanks to [Dragon Strength], a wound like this would regenerate quickly...
Even with the penalty on it, level 45 clearly wasn’t just for show.
Still.
Compared to Angelica, this was nothing.
Do not underestimate me, Ian de Logres, survivor of that duel-crazed menace.
I checked how things were going behind me, and the leopard and lion were completely failing to keep up with the others’ attacks.
Especially since the wolf’s concentration had been disrupted, the leopard and lion felt much less threatening too.
But Dante was fighting rather passively, which made it obvious that something was wrong.
Did he have some chronic illness? I didn’t remember any such setting.
In any case, once Dante’s magic shot them down, the leopard and lion crumbled away into dust.
All that remained was the wolf.
And then, something caught my eye.
Something like a magic stone embedded at the back of the wolf’s neck.
No, looking closer, it had just been hidden under all that thick fur. That was definitely a choker.
I had no idea why it was wearing a choker there, unless it was trying to advertise that it was someone’s pet.
■■■■■■!!!!!
The wolf suddenly howled, and purple electricity began to pour from the choker.
"Now it’s at 30%..."
The wolf’s second phase, which triggered when its HP dropped to around 30%.
It drooled like it had rabies, its body grew even larger, and the whites of its eyes, around those blue-glowing pupils, turned red as blood vessels rose across them.
"It’s suffering..."
Sorrow filled Iris’s eyes as she looked at the wolf.
With a hand pressed to her chest as if her heart ached, she pitied the howling wolf that had attacked her.
But unfortunately, the only way to save that wolf was to kill it or beat it down until its HP dropped below 1%.
The guide had never offered any method beyond that, and even after facing this wolf twenty-nine times before and now again today, that was still the only way to save it.
"Um, excuse me..."
Haede spoke up and pointed at the choker crackling with purple electricity.
"Could it be because of that choker?"
Probably.
The reason the wolf had ended up like this was most likely that choker.
But would villains using it to suppress the wolf really have left it at that?
There was no way they hadn’t installed some bullshit mechanism that made it self-destruct the moment someone tried to remove it.
No, wait a second...
Maybe that choker held a clue.
A clue that could let me end this shitty situation much more easily.
Unlike the game, which lacked interaction, this was reality.
I ran straight at the wolf.
The wolf lunged at me too.
We ended up looking like we were embracing, and the wolf shoved its drooling jaws toward me, but...
I refused to have my first kiss stolen by a furry.
I turned my head aside to avoid the wolf’s kiss and reached for the choker.
Because with any item, I only needed to make contact once.
My hand touched the choker, and I activated [Insight Eye].
[Dog Collar]
A malicious choker created by someone.
Several fifth-circle mental magic spells were modified and mixed together, making it less a collar and more a torture device.
◈ Grade: Advanced
◈ Inflicts "Agony" on the wearer.
◈ Triggers "Berserk" when the wearer’s HP falls to 30%.
◈ Automatically releases when HP falls below 1%.
◈ "Self-Destruct" if forcibly removed.
Fuck, it really did have self-destruct.
They slapped every nasty feature they could onto this thing.
Still, thank God.
There really was an easy way.
Normally I would have had to just keep beating it, but right now I had an item that could break this situation open immediately.
I dodged the wolf’s drooling surprise kiss one more time and opened my inventory.
A whole spread of square slots unfurled before me.
I reached into one of them and grabbed what was inside.
What came out was a dagger gleaming with a silver blade.
[Sealed Carnwennan].
A brokenly overpowered dagger that nullified all magic of sixth circle and below.
I pressed that [Carnwennan] against the choker glowing purple.
The moment the blade touched it, the choker crackled and dropped right off the wolf’s neck.
The wolf, which had kept trying to force surprise kisses on me, froze the instant the choker fell away.
Now there was no reason to fight.
The choker tormenting it was gone.
The only question was whether the wolf, being a beast, would keep attacking or not.
Because if it did, I’d have no choice but to beat the hell out of it until it stopped.
Let’s keep this reasonable.
But that worry turned out to be unnecessary.
The wolf slowly rose, put some distance between us, and sat down.
It looked as though it was making it clear it had absolutely no intention of attacking anymore.
Then—
Ding!
[Your level has increased!]
[Your level has increased!]
[Your level has increased!]
Translucent notification windows filled my vision, announcing my level-ups.
#
Once it was over, Dante suddenly said to wait a moment and disappeared into the bushes.
What on earth had happened to him?
He had looked seriously flustered.
His face had gone red, and he was breaking out in a cold sweat.
And judging by how he kept pressing at his chest, maybe he had some kind of heart condition.
An arrhythmia, maybe.
Iris and Haede, meanwhile, kept petting the seated wolf with sparkling eyes.
The wolf just sat there quietly, as if it had nothing at all on its mind.
【Dotore’s Experimental Subject, She-Wolf】
◈ Level: 45
◈ The target has been liberated.
◈ The target feels gratitude toward the player.
When I checked with [Insight Eye], no danger rating appeared, so it seemed safe enough to leave it alone.
Then first, my status window.
【Ian de Logres】
◈ Level: 26
◈ Title: [Rival of the Sword Demon]
◈ Traits: [Dragon Strength], [Insight Eye], [Oath of Chivalry]
◈ Stats
Physical: 243 | Mana: 125
Luck: 10 | Mental Strength: 30
(Current SP: 15)
▶ [Skills]
A bluish UI floated in the air as if answering my call.
Maybe thanks to the effect of [Rival of the Sword Demon], I had gone up three whole levels.
Naturally, I tried to dump all my SP into mana, but—
[You have exceeded the limit of [Orlando’s Muscle Cultivation Method] that your current realm can withstand.]
[At your current realm, increasing the mana stat will no longer raise the physical stat.]
A translucent notification window blocked me.
What a shame.
I’d just put it in later.
Since I wasn’t taking the blacksmith or alchemy route, I didn’t really need luck.
Magic resistance could be raised with items, and while mana recovery was a little disappointing...
My mana pool was so huge that I didn’t particularly feel the lack.
I’d get an aura stat at level 30, so I should just dump everything into that.
I closed the status window.
The gauge at the bottom was—
61.8%
■■■■■■□□□□
It was over halfway full, but [Oath of Chivalry] still wasn’t over.
It seemed I would have to clear even the hidden dungeon before it was satisfied.
Well, I had been planning to clear the hidden dungeon anyway, so that was fine.
I walked over to the wolf, which was currently being petted to death.
The reason I had gone through all that trouble to save this wolf
was because this wolf knew the location of the hidden dungeon.
So then.
First, I needed to strip this wolf of its mask.
"Wolf, you can talk, can’t you?"
"Oh, come on, Ian. How could a wolf possibly ta—"
Haede laughed and waved a hand as if I were being ridiculous, but—
"That’s right..."
As though mocking her reaction, a human voice came from the wolf’s mouth.
Iris and Haede both jolted in shock at the wolf’s voice.
What, had they never seen a talking wolf before?
Apparently, even in romance fantasy, wolves not being able to talk was common sense.
The wolf, as if used to reactions like that, showed no response at all and simply began to move slowly.
Then it started walking toward me, one step at a time.
"I can guess what you wanted when you tried to save me."
Before I knew it, the distance between us had closed until our noses would touch with the slightest movement.
"But speaking to my benefactor in this form would not be proper etiquette..."
And then, all at once, the wolf’s body began to change.
Its body shrank, its thick fur fell away, and the great beast became a single person.
Bronze skin. Long ash-gray hair.
And narrow eyes so slitted it was hard to tell whether they were open or closed.
Two large breasts swayed right in front of my eyes.
At the sight of the wolf’s new form, my jaw dropped open.
Not because of the breasts.
I already knew it was female.
No, you crazy bitch, you’re completely fucking naked.
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