22. Roar

“Hurry! Hurry, Lis!!”

“Ahhh!!”

A thin, sharp scream filled the quiet, dark forest.

“Why is Ursus here..!”

Isolde quickly grasped a dagger in her hand and fled in the opposite direction of where Lis had run.

Isolde wasn’t a saint who would sacrifice herself to save others.

But she knew that she needed to buy enough time for the other party members to fully wake up and evacuate the goblin-affected explorers to a safe place.

At Lis’s scream, Garond and Ewan quickly reacted and woke up from their sleep. Garond took the equipment and the injured explorers and went straight into the cave.

“Garond. If you go left once and right once in the cave, you can reach the goblin’s lair. Please wait there.”

“Are you going alone? That’s a hard proposal to accept.”

“I must.”

The goblin’s lair was small. Even if I couldn’t ultimately subdue it, I could at least prevent it from directly attacking people for a while.

“As I mentioned, I am stronger at night. Lys, the one we just saw, is it Urs?”

“Y-yes..! I’m sure! It was Urs!”

“Garond, please protect the rescued prisoners. I am not skilled in nursing the sick.”

“It can’t be helped. If it seems impossible, return to the cave quickly. It’s a must.”

“Yes.”

I nodded and ran without looking back. I had woken up immediately at Lys’s scream, my senses heightened.

I had already confirmed the direction Isolde had run. Although we had delayed a bit due to the conversation, this was more than enough time for the leader’s strength to catch up.

ㅡCrack

I transformed all the muscles in both legs into direwolf muscles. I replaced my heart and lungs to supply oxygen, and kicked off a straight-growing tree, shooting forward swiftly.

Bang!!

The impact was enough to dent the thick tree. I discarded anything that hindered my movement, like pouches or robes. Even so, the weight of the iron pieces on my body must be at least 10 kilos.

The weight felt every time my feet touched the ground was no joke.

‘Incredibly fast..!’

I had eaten and rested. It was close to midnight. The muscle fibers of the direwolf leader were showcasing their maximum capabilities, demonstrating tremendous output.

In less than a minute, I had caught up with the chase between Urs and Isolde. Utilizing my ranger skills and grappling hooks, I caught up with Isolde, who was fleeing, using only my running.

‘That one is Urs…!’

A monster with dark brown leather, faintly glowing with magical red patterns.

Its feet, running on all fours, smashed the ground, creating a tremendous noise.

It was said to be a mid-boss monster that could be encountered on the way to the 10th floor, appearing after the 5th floor…

“I never thought it would appear on the 6th floor..!”

Drawing two swords from his belt and gripping them in his hands, he slowed his pace and moved to Urs’ right side, following Isolde.

“Isolde! Turn the other way! I’ll handle this!”

“Y-Yuon!? When did you get here!?”

Isolde, too busy fleeing, hadn’t noticed her surroundings. Judging by her state, she seemed to be pouring all her strength into escaping.

“Haaah..!”

He slightly increased his speed, quickly overtaking Urs, and forcefully stomped the ground, cutting into the path of the creature with the sword in his left hand.

Clang—!!!

“Ugh..!”

The sword broke against the roughly swung arm. Though the bloodline was deep and slightly less sturdy, he hadn’t expected it to break with a single swing.

“Finally, you’re paying attention to me.”

“Grrr..!”

The creature’s fierce eyes turned towards him. But he wasn’t one to be intimidated by such things.

‘I can see it. An immense amount of magic power.’

The leader’s eyes scrutinized the creature’s magical power. When it tried to swing its claws, he could see the magic power moving towards its front paw.

“Roar—!!!”

“Argh..!”

The handle of the shield he was gripping tightly with his left hand twisted, straining his ligaments, and his entire body was flung back by the impact.

—Thud!!

“You b*stard..!”

He could feel it. The bone in his left forearm was cleanly broken. Thanks to the gauntlet wrapping his forearm, it wasn’t visible from the outside.

It has a similar effect to a splint, and just not dangling is already excellent. Except for the fact that more than 80% of the strength in my left grip is gone.

A body with tremendous performance capabilities scraped the ground, kicked off the ground before flying any further, and landed precisely on both feet.

“Ugh..!”

Just because I got up again after being hit doesn’t mean the shock disappears. After spitting out a handful of the blood I had deliciously gulped down, I roughly wiped my blood-stained lips, not realizing I was wearing a gauntlet.

The numbness in my lower jaw brings me to my senses.

My eyes open wide, very, very wide.

“Hiss….”

I opened my eyes wide and observed its movements. I also tried changing the right eyeball, which I hadn’t attempted before.

Both eyes were replaced with the eyeballs of the alpha creature, effectively compensating for the sense of distance caused by the difference in vision.

“Yeah, you look really tasty…!”

ㅡGrowl..

My body doesn’t listen to me. The instincts of the direwolf, which occupy a part of my body, wrap around my brain.

My tongue slipped out between my parted teeth, and saliva poured out.

ㅡSwoosh

Between the leaves swaying in the wind, the clear moonlight flickered in my vision.

The sensation of sweat flowing from my sweat glands and soaking my clothes again repeated all over my body.

Since I wasn’t a creature that sweats, I must be feeling it as an alien sensation.

Judge accurately. What should I be feeling?

“Do you want to kill me?”

Looking at it, it feels like a voice is flowing in.

A very wild, blatant, and straightforward murder notice without any bluffing.

—I will kill you.

I can feel Urs’s hostility. To be precise, his murderous intent.

“Huff..!”

My body is too light. Despite having strong muscles, my body lacks weight, making bipedalism unsuitable.

It’s like a sports car needing a spoiler. Walking on two legs continuously pushes the shock towards the ground, causing my body to keep floating.

What is the best movement for me right now?

‘I know.’

Good. Since no one is watching, I can willingly become a beast.

“Come on, you bear-like b*stard.”

I bent my waist and slammed my left hand, clenched into a fist, onto the ground. Although my ligaments stretched and my bones slightly fractured, it was fine since I had wrapped my muscle fibers with direwolf’s strength. Just pushing off the ground was no big deal.

It’s not quadrupedal, but maybe tripedal.

Since my body still needs to function as a human, I can’t use both hands as feet.

‘It’s coming.’

—Roar!!

The massive body charges towards me. As my vision aligns, I can see Urs’s intentions.

The basis for his movements, and what he expects, became clear.

“He’s mistaking me for a direwolf.”

I ran quickly. The sensation of pushing off the ground with my hand was alien, but at least it was effective. My left forearm protested with pain every time it hit the ground, but it wasn’t a pain that bothered me much.

I can feel him following me.

‘Once I get past that curve…!’

As I passed the thick tree, I kicked the ground with both feet and soared into the sky.

Even during the day, my incredible strength allows me to jump 3 meters like a sergeant. At night, 5 meters is a breeze.

To the one charging on all fours, it must have seemed like I suddenly disappeared.

‘Take this..!’

The reverse-gripped Excalibur aimed its sharp blade downwards, ready to plunge into Ursus’s back.

Gravity is powerless. Even with a weight of just 80kg, falling from a height of 5 meters won’t penetrate Ursus’s hide.

“Haaap..!”

I placed my foot on Excalibur’s crossguard as if riding a pogo stick. Gripping the long handle designed for a two-handed hold, I stabilized the blade to face the ground.

Like a scene shot in slow motion, I descended slowly through the air, closing the distance between us.

When I extended my foot, the tip of the blade was close enough to touch his back hide,

—Crack

“Kuik..!”

I extended my bent knee forcefully, stomping on Excalibur’s crossguard and shattering his spine.

The impact was so powerful that Excalibur, launched like a pile bunker, pierced through his entire back hide and buried itself so deeply that even the handle was no longer visible.

“Keek..!”

The spine is essential for supporting his massive body. Moreover, a 1.3-meter-long iron stake had been driven into the center of his body with tremendous force; it couldn’t possibly be painless.

—Squelch..

Like an ace, the creature, pierced through both its belly and back hide, abandoned quadrupedal movement and stood up on two legs.

“Was it this much….”

Tough intestines were entangled in the crossguard, and the blade of Excalibur was already deeply embedded in the ground.

Every time it took a step back, its intestines dragged out through the hole in its belly skin.

“It looks narrow.”

I walked slowly towards it. After inserting my left hand into the hole in Ursus’s belly, I tilted my hand sideways and summoned a shield.

—Crunch

Blood gushed out beyond the widened hole.

Thud..!

Only then did Ursus fall backward, flailing, and ended its short life.

“Phew.. My legs are trembling.”

Blood was seeping out enough to form a puddle. Was it my brain thinking it was a waste because of my abilities?

Or was it the instinct of the direwolf?

Whatever it was, it didn’t matter. First, let’s return my body to its original state.

Leaving only the strength necessary for dismembering the corpse.

—Swoosh

“Roar, s*x. This is the taste of dense magic.”

I buried my face in the blood puddle and gulped down a handful of Ursus’s blood.

“F-Final words..?”

“Ah.”

Beside me, Isolde was looking at me with a horrified expression, as if she had seen a monster.