Chapter 8:A Play Between Hunter And Prey

CRING!CRING!CRING!

A warning signal rang drawing the attention of the person who was staring at the computer screen.

Getting the emergency call, the man reacted quickly and connected the walkie-talkie to his superior.

"Any issues."

"Affirmative Captain"

"We have an emergency."

"There is an emergency signal from Sector 2040."

"I repeat, there is an emergency signal from Sector 2040."

The man repeated his words waiting for further confirmation.

"Sector 2040, The Whirlwood Forest."

"If I remember correctly, there was a G-rank dungeon breakout last month and we sent forces to clear the monsters."

A solemn voice came from the other side.

"Yes, Captain. However, even after cleaning up, we have received an emergency signal from there."

"Is it the very place where we have received complaints about people missing or getting attacked by beasts recently?"The Captain asked in a sharp tone.

There was a hint of displeasure in his tone as how can a person who oversees the reports miss this kind of vital thing.

His carelessness might cost many lives.

"No Captain, that was another area."The man answered, sweating profusely.

"Captain, we have taken care of a few monsters in that area but it seems a new one has appeared."

"Which team is near that place?"

"It's Squad 4."

"Okay, send the location to Squad 4 and ask them to thoroughly survey the place once again after they dealt with the problem."

"Yes, Captain."

The man ended the call and connected to Squad 4 while cursing the squad who had taken the mission previously and did not finish the cleanup properly.

"I hope no one dies otherwise Captain would blame me for my incompetence in acting fast enough."

.........

The forest was instantly submerged in uncanny silence. Except for the sound of swift winds, all the noise ceased to exist at that very moment.

The sunlight pierced through the clouds illuminating the path leading to the Direwolf.

Coins of different values along with many materials scattered around the place reflected the rays towards Direwolf giving Lucas a full view of its body.

Before it, Lucas looked like a mere child.

The wolf had bitten a human hand that was still in its mouth.

The Direwolf, as if knowing the state of Lucas's mind, sneered at him and spat the bloody hand on the ground and with a smirk, he showed his ferocious fangs drenched in blood as if wanting to show Lucas his future.

It does not look hungry, rather hunting seems to be quite amusing for him.

Playing and cornering the prey seemed to be a way for it to pass time.

The Direwolf did not attack but just stared at Lucas's expression without a movement and waited silently as if telling him.

'Let me see what you are going to do now.'

It was the moment when Lucas felt the whole world come crashing down on him.

Lucas took a step back causing the Direwolf to flinch a bit. This made him sure that if he turned his back, it would pounce on him with all its speed.

From TV, he had seen experts advising people not to turn their gaze away from the beast.

Even if you are afraid, don't let the fear reflect on your face but it is easier said than done.

Lucas felt like his head was bursting apart due to tension. His heart was pounding and his nerves were twitching giving him a headache.

Lucas tried to ascertain the Direwolf level but it felt blank.

He was not able to tell the level.

As far as he knew from the novel, one could tell the level of an opponent with a mere glance however he could not.

It had something to do with mana but he wasn't able to sense the mana and energy flow properly.

The feeling was akin to something stuck in his throat unable to get out.

'If I cannot outrun the Direwolf, it will pounce on my back from behind and tear me without any mercy.'

'Do, I have no choice but to fight it.'

Although it felt like an eternity, only a few seconds had passed in reality.

Countless thoughts flashed in his mind as he pulled the dagger from the right pocket with his trembling hands.

GRRRRRRRRRRR!

The Direwolf let out a bestial shriek causing the birds in the trees to fly away in fear.

After announcing the beginning of the fight, it took a leisurely step forward while noting Lucas's movements.

On the other hand, the light in Lucas's eyes became dim.

Lucas gasped heavily as his wavering eyes clashed against the direwolf's ferocious gaze along with the frazzled silence.

The man was holding a dagger that looked like a toy in front of the enormous body of Direwolf which was more than 2 metres tall.

Lucas clenched his dagger and pulled the shoulder straps of the backpack into his left arm to use it as a shield.

Lucas knew that if he made a mistake he would die today and become the beast plaything.

The human body is capable of performing many miracles.

Even a normal human who has no experience can show abnormal instinctive reactions in face of danger.

Evolving through countless years, humans had shown unnatural might in the face of disaster and life-threatening crises in which the emergency feedback system along with the adrenaline rush plays a great role.

Lucas could feel the adrenaline rush and blood being pumped faster by the heart.

Suddenly he felt a premonition.

It was quite faint but Lucas, whose concentration had reached a great height in the face of a life-threatening situation, was able to catch onto that faint feeling.

As his senses screamed of danger, everything seemed to slow down in his eyes.

The thick muscles of the Direwolf bulged and like an arrow released from a stretched string, its figure disappeared.

Even though Lucas's eyes weren't able to keep up with the direwolf's movements, his heightened perception came to play at the most crucial point of his life.

A virtual trajectory was drawn in Lucas's eyes as if he knew from the beginning what was going to happen.

At that moment, Lucas twisted his legs and sprang towards the right in the span of the moment.

His eyes widened as he saw the paw passing from just a few inches away from his body.

The paw missed narrowly however it was too soon for him to be happy.

A blunt shock transmitted throughout his body.

It felt as if he had been hit by a shoulder tackle by a bulky person.

BANG!

The paw struck the ground creating a faint shock that passed through Lucas's body throwing him a metre away.

"Ahhhhh!"

Lucas's body rolled on the ground for a distance.

He felt dizzy but he had no time to rest.

He had hardly got up on his feet when his eyes widened with horror.

With his muzzle wide open, the Direwolf was right before him wanting to take a nib.

Lucas's scalp became numb and he raised his hands forward to cover himself out of instinct.

KHRRRRG!

The sharp canines were deeply embedded in the backpack.

The fibre of the backpack was quite thick and the folded tent in it added further protection.

However, Lucas felt a crushing pain in his elbow as the fangs pierced through the backpack and almost came near to his elbow.

The jaw force of Direwolf was too much and a crackling sound was heard.

GRRRR!

The Direwolf roared in frustration and yanked his muzzle.

Lucas, who did not have a steady foothold was dragged on the ground like a ragdoll and was on the verge of being thrown off but his arm which was inside the loop of shoulder straps thwarted Direwolf's plans to toss Lucas away.

GRRRR!GRRRR!GRRRR!

Lucas's body jerked, making him dizzy.

"Stop it!"

Lucas screamed and shot his arm holding the dagger at Direwolf.

He wanted to stab at the forehead however as his body swayed and his dagger was embedded at the back of the direwolf neck.

Lucas did not put much strength and the dagger grazed at the outer thick skin of Direwolf which was like a scratch for it.

The inflicted wound appeared to hurt its pride.

Being infuriated by a lesser prey, it roared angrily and slammed its paw.

"Aaaahhhhhh!"

Lucas's eyes widened spontaneously, and blood gushed out from his mouth.

The Direwolf fangs embedded in the backpack tore the front portion causing a series of things to scatter on the ground.

Lucas's body was blown away regardless of his will and was flung onto a tree.

CRASH!

The tree hit by Lucas shook violently.

Pain coursed through Lucas's back making his vision tremble.

Lucas instinctively couched down while groaning in pain. It was just a single hit but it was enough to make every part of his body ache.

He looked down to see a claw mark on his chest and he could see the white sternum through the scratch mark which became blood red very quickly.

Fortunately, The Direwolf did not hit him with full strength otherwise his chest might have been torn open by the sharp claws.

In the end, he still fell short.

He did not know whether he was too weak or inexperienced to end up in this state.

However, as he noticed two bloody eyes of death staring at him, he found it oddly comfortable as if he had gone through this kind of situation countless times.

The feeling of helplessness frustrated him greatly and anger surged in his heart making his mind numb.

Why did he have to go through all this shit?'

If he was fated to die today then why was given a second chance?

To be pitted against a wild monster with a sickly weak pathetic body that does not even have an ounce of training is suicide and this original owner instead of taking a carriage to save some meagre money decided to put his life on the line.

Who knows if this bastard died here in the original novel?

The questions flared up his anger and clouded his sense of reason.

The Immense anger shook away his fear.

He had already died once, and since he was going to die again, what help could this feeling of fear provide?

He spat on the ground and put his hand on the trunk of the tree to support himself.

Lucas raised his chin staring directly at the dire wolf's eyes with a darkened expression as if the fear shone in his eyes previously was just an act.

"You want to kill me and eat me."

Lucas burst into laughter making the beast wonder whether he had gone mad.

"Come…Come and kill me."

"Since I am going to die pathetically, I will bring you down even if I had to bite you to death."