A Big Wolf

Clovis and Jay stood on top of a small hill a bit further away from their original location. They had found several packs and even killed more than ten wolves on the way, but because they were not big enough packs for the competition, they continued on their way.

During the whole trip, both of them assessed each other's abilities. Clovis was quite impressed by Jay's blade. It focused on slicing the beast's neck and he swiftly killed one beast after another. 

The same applied to Jay. He never thought that Clovis would be able to keep up with him. Despite the fact that his evolution rate was only 15%, it was hard for him to believe that Clovis was able to come here, let alone compete with him.

However, Clovis had shown a high level of martial prowess. As Clovis said, the evolution rate was just a number. With that kind of terrifying prowess, he could easily kill a lot of beasts. 

And his biggest concern was the backer behind Clovis. The weapons he had were beyond what a normal person could have. 

Even if they ended up recalling the bet later, he didn't mind becoming his friend. 

"What do you think of those wolves?!" Clovis pointed at the pack to the northwest of their location.

"I'm not sure how many of them are there. But I don't think it's more than twenty, right?"

"But it's going to be hard to find more than that, unless we merge one group with another." Clovis sighed, wondering if there were any other packs that could be led to that big group. This way, they would have enough wolves for their competition.

"Hmm?!" Suddenly, Jay squinted his eyes as though he were finding something.

"!!!" Clovis raised his eyebrows and turned to the right, hearing a gunshot. 

"Gunshot?" Both of them exchanged looks. They knew what the gunshot sound meant. The beasts around the area would either come to take a look or become protective of their area. 

Looking at the bigger group they spotted earlier, it seemed to be the former. 

"They are going to lure those wolves away?" Jay gritted his teeth, annoyed. But soon, the gunshot continued; this time, it didn't sound like a pistol. "A machine gun?"

"Who is so rich to waste all those bullets?"

"Probably not the special bullets."

"Only suppressing guns, huh? If that's the case, why would they use it here when they haven't secured the perimeter?"

Both Clovis and Jay fell silent. There was only one possible reason. They were running away from something.

"Should we save them?" Clovis looked annoyed.

"Let's not. Saving unknown people might lead us into another trouble. We should just focus on our competition." Jay abruptly stopped. Since they were on top of a small hill, he could clearly see the people who were being chased by a lot of dire wolves. 

It was a group of four. Two of them were bringing automatic rifles, while the other two had a shield and a long sword. 

"What's wrong?" Clovis asked. 

Jay's gaze was fixated on the woman who used the rifle. "That's…"

"You know them?"

"I only know one of them. Kanaria Renvolt."

"Renvolt? That famous family in the city? The one with a high ranking explorer?"

"Yeah. That one. I don't know how she is in this situation, but I think I have to postpone our competition."

"So, are you going to save her?"

"Yeah. Our houses are quite close, so I can't just let her die like that."

"As expected, you are a son of a good family." 

"My name is Jay Havenson."

"No wonder." Clovis sighed, understanding where that 95% evolution rate came from. 

"How about you? You are not an ordinary guy either, right? Your equipment is far too good for someone at your level." 

"I will tell you after our competition."

"Huh?!"

Clovis pointed toward the distress group. "They are going to be flanked in two directions. It's going to be over for them. So, why don't we change the competition a bit? We'll see who kills more, but the targets are those wolves around them."

Clovis actually offered to continue with their competition while saving those people even though they were not related to Clovis. Jay smiled and said, "I'm extremely grateful, but I'm not going to hold back."

"Of course. We can't keep track of each other's kills, so don't lie." 

"Do you think lying can win our trust?"

"Hehe! Let's go!" Clovis pulled out his swords. Jay nodded as both of them rushed toward the distress group.

…

In the distance, there was a beautiful woman in white. She was shooting the dire wolves approaching from behind to stop them. 

The dire wolves' hides were able to take on a bullet, but if they were rained on by bullets, they would still die. Hence, they were using the trees and their speed to make an unpredictable movement to approach them.

"Sup! How is the situation over there?" She asked the other guy who had a rifle. 

"Not good. They are closing in." 

"Xavier, Susan! Open up the path for us!" She shouted.

"I don't think it's possible anymore!" Xavier frowned, looking at the shadow of the wolves coming toward them from the front and their left. 

Kanaria clicked her tongue. She took a glance for a split second to understand what was going on and was stunned to know the number of dire wolves coming toward them. "Disengage. We'll break through to the left."

"But we'll end up going deeper."

"We have no choice." Kanaria felt pressured, but she still did her best to maintain her calm. She ordered her subordinates to move toward the left, the only direction where there were no wolves.

However, the wolves they had been suppressing the whole time finally reached their position. Two of them broke through and leaped toward the other guy. 

"Sup!" Kanaria shouted while shooting the two wolves, ultimately killing them. However, it also meant that Kanaria ended up defenseless. Three wolves approached her, making Kanaria click her tongue. She grabbed the pistol from the holster, but Xavier suddenly came and smashed the wolves with his shield, pushing them away.

But due to him leaving his position, it only left Susan holding off the beasts from two directions. 

Susan panicked. She had taken down one of the wolves before her, but she still had to stop the other three. While doing so, two more wolves came from Xavier's side. She thought this was the end of her life.

"Susan!" Kanaria shouted while turning around, trying to suppress the wolves. 

But all of a sudden, a sword impaled one of the wolves. Kanaria was stunned, but this meant there was only one target. She hurriedly suppressed the wolf with a few shots, causing its body to sway to the side and miss Susan. 

"Who?!" Kanaria called whoever saved her teammates.

Soon, she saw the wolves in Xavier's direction turn around as if they had encountered a new enemy. Two voices resounded across the wood.

"Hahaha! That's three!"

"That short sword is unfair!"

"This is my weapon!"

While arguing, the two killed one wolf after another and made their way toward Kanaria. She couldn't help but be surprised to find out who actually helped her.

"Yo, Kanaria. It seems that you are in trouble!" Jay smirked. 

"Jay?" Kanaria never thought that he would be the one to save her, but she also noticed Clovis, who was actually fighting at the same level as Jay. 

"You can save your reunion for later. We'll take care of this side, so suppress the other two sides, will you?!" Clovis raised his voice, reminding them of their situation. 

Kanaria was quite surprised that Clovis would dare say such a thing, but he was right. So, Kanaria moved on and ordered her subordinate. "Xavier and Sup will take care of our rear. I will help Susan stop the beasts on our front." 

"Got it!" They hurriedly positioned themselves. 

"Hoh?" Clovis was quite surprised that she understood her role and quickly adjusted her position. 

"Sorry for failing your expectations as a spoiled brat of a rich family!" Jay grinned while striking another wolf on his right. 

"I'm not thinking about that!" Clovis snorted while tossing the short sword to another wolf. 

While suppressing the wolves, Kanaria was amused. Clovis was extremely strong, and his technique was profound. It didn't look like he was just a random guy. 

The fact that he was with Jay made him think that he was also an heir of a famous family. And there was one more thing that caught her eye. It was his choice of weapon. This was the first time she saw someone with a long sword, a short sword, and a gun. 

In the past, she had never seen someone as talented as Jay. In a huge battle, the guns might be able to overwhelm a lot of enemies, but that didn't change the fact that they would bring a lot more beasts in their direction. 

Jay and Clovis gradually cleared up the beasts. Just from this side alone, they had killed a total of eight beasts. Fortunately, they reduced the number by ambushing them at the beginning, or their situation would be like that of Susan. 

Susan had been moving from one place to another, barely parrying the dire wolves' attacks. The dire wolves even attacked her from three different directions and ended up biting her left arm. If not for Kanaria's cover fire, she might have died.

Once they were done with this side, Clovis and Jay exchanged looks. They had a tacit understanding of which side they should clear up first.

Without hesitation, they ran past Kanaria.

"Peel off the beasts on the sides," said Clovis while moving to the right.

Jay moved to the side and slashed the wolf while saying, "Miss. I know you're injured, but do you mind taking care of the middle?"

"Got it." Susan nodded with a serious expression, knowing her assignment. 

The situation looked extremely good, and if this continued, they should be able to kill all the wolves within fifteen minutes.

Kanaria couldn't help but smile, ready to support these three. However, it seemed that the group that was coming to them brought another surprise.

There was a dire wolf, far bigger than the rest of the wolves. Its color was red, as though its fur had been dyed by the blood of its prey. 

And this wolf appeared out of nowhere and charged at Jay. 

"Oi. What the fuck is that?" Jay made a wry smile while kicking the wolf before him to intercept this big wolf.

"Jay!" Kanaria widened her eyes in shock as she hurriedly aimed at the wolf.

Unfortunately, it was too late. The wolf had reached Jay and swept its paw.

Jay struck the wolf's paw, but he finally felt the immense gap between their strength. In the end, the wolf launched him to the side until he crashed into a tree. 

"Kh." Jay spat some acid from his stomach before coughing. 

The wolf thought it would be better to kill them one by one, so this dire wolf moved toward Jay to finish him off. 

When looking at the wolf, Jay couldn't help but smile while saying, "Took you long enough!" 

Suddenly, Clovis landed on top of the wolf's back and impaled the wolf's neck. "Do you think you can get away after hurting my subordinate?" 

"Since when did I become your subordinate? The competition is not over yet."