018: The Big Bad Wolf II

"So, you're back, huh?"

The child said as she sat elegantly on her throne.

The golden tree shimmered behind her.

"I'm sorry, my lady."

The butterfly said as she knelt at her feet.

"It was a miscalculation. I never would have expected the boy to be able to handle my poison, much less pick up on it."

The butterfly said frantically as if she was trying to defend herself in court.

"Yes, it is quite peculiar. Even I would have some trouble being completely unaffected by your poison. The fact that the boy shrugged it off so easily…"

"Do you think he's stronger than we initially anticipated?"

"It's difficult to say. His strength is such a mystery."

"I don't quite understand it, but he's strong. I'm sure we could use him as an ally."

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!"

"But my lady, with all due respect, the dark side currently outnumbers our side with the addition of humans to their ranks, at this rate we just might lose. I'm sure this boy could help us spread our influence throughout the human world…"

"I SAID NO! I REFUSE TO INCLUDE THE HUMANS AFTER WHAT THEY DID TO US!"

"But my lady, you must realize that we cannot win if we hold these grudges forever."

"THAT'S WHAT YOU ALL SAY! AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO ACTUALLY REMEMBERS WHAT HAPPENED? WE GAVE THE HUMANS POWER, AND THEY BUILT A STRONG EMPIRE WITH THAT POWER, BUT WHEN WE REACHED OUT TO THEM FOR HELP, THEY DID NOT LEND A HAND! WE LOST MANY GOOD LIVES BECAUSE OF THEM! IT'S GOOD THAT THEY'RE ALL DEAD NOW!"

"Even if you don't like it, if we refuse to use the humans then we will lose in the end…"

Fear stunned the butterfly as the child released white energy into the air.

"SHUT IT!"

The energy was so strong that it reached all the way up to the sky.

I could see it rising like a massive pillar behind the wolf.

Such power.

I cannot possibly hope to compete.

I could sense it even from this far away.

The creature at the center of the forest, its fire is a billion times bigger than that of the wolf or the butterfly.

Its blinding, white fire is larger than the planet itself, maybe even equal in size to the universe.

If I can hardly compete with one whose fire is the size of a tall pillar, how can I hope to beat that?

I'm…

TOO WEAK!

I don't stand a chance.

The second I gain some confidence, the universe just shows me there's an unclimbable wall standing in my way.

It's like there's simply no way forward.

I can't stand it, but I also can't do anything about it.

My lady.

The wolf thought.

Just what is the center point of such rage?

I have never seen her so angry before.

No, I think I know why she's so angry.

It's that damn butterfly's fault.

She failed, so now she's getting punished.

Just try not to go too hard on her, okay?

She's quite delicate after all.

"IS THAT ALL HE'S GOT?!"

A deep, strong, and raspy voice said from inside me.

"MAYBE I OUGHT TO STEP IN! NO, I CANNOT USE AS MUCH POWER AS I WOULD LIKE IN HIS BODY QUITE YET! I WOULD PUSH HIM THROUGH THIS, BUT I WANT TO SEE HOW THIS PLAYS OUT! HE'S FACED WITH AN INSURMOUNTABLE WALL, BUT HE MUST REALIZE THAT JUST BECAUSE THERE'S A WALL IN FRONT OF YOU DOES NOT MEAN YOU HAVE TO CLIMB IT, THERE IS ALWAYS ANOTHER WAY AROUND!"

It's useless.

I'm pitiful.

Sorry, everyone.

I guess I won't make it after all.

But you should keep walking along your paths without me.

I'll watch you from the afterlife, and I want to see you do some crazy things.

But it seems this is where my path ends.

It ends with me looking at the backs of those I led along it.

Sorry.

"Don't say that, you're not average."

A voice rang through my head.

That voice…

Anita?

"Yes, I am. I'm not as strong as Zephyros, as smart as Medusa, or as heroic as Okori, and I'm not even as good-looking as you."

I replied.

I remember this.

This was a conversation we had about a year back.

What?

Is this what it's like to have your life flash before your eyes?

Do random memories swarm through your head before you inevitably die?

All I remember is after that comment, her face turned beet red.

"You flatter me, but you're not average, you have many redeeming qualities."

"Oh yeah, like what?"

"You're smarter than you realize, you always help others when they ask for help, you lead others even if they are better than you, you always walk in front and let others follow the path you made for them, you're brave and never back down, and most of all, you never give up."

"HAH! Who told you that false information?"

"No one, it was what I came up with on my own."

"On your own?"

"You might not be able to see it, but all of those qualities are a part of your charm."

"My charm?"

"Yeah, and it's quite effective…"

I don't quite remember what she said after that.

Or at least I couldn't remember at the time.

She ended that sentence with the words:

"After all, that's what made me fall in love with you."

Although, I wouldn't remember that for a while.

As the realization hit me, the energy behind the wolf died down.

Good.

The wolf thought.

I don't have to worry about how much she's torturing that stupid butterfly.

I mean, I wasn't worried or anything, just didn't want an ally to die.

"Are you ready to give up yet?"

The wolf asked.

I slowly rose to my feet.

"I don't give up. I'm not one to sit here and say 'my power is never giving up' or something cringy like that, but just know that you cannot defeat me if I never stop fighting."

"That was still pretty cringy."

"Oh shut up, no one asked you."

"HAHAHA! YOU DO KNOW THAT I'M STILL GONNA DESTROY YOU, RIGHT?"

"Bring it, I refuse to lose."

I know that he can absolutely destroy me, but this time is different.

It's my turn to be on the offensive.

I'm charging at him, not the other way around.

This time, I don't have to beat him, I just have to get around him.

If I can make it into the dense forest behind him, then there's no way he follow me, and if he does, he'll have to trample through quite a bit of trees.

I still can't see out of my right eye, and my entire body is in pain, but I feel like I'm stronger than I was before.

Maybe it's not the red energy that increases in potency due to my blood, maybe it's me as a whole.

I channeled red energy into my legs and took off running.

I ran right at him and took him by surprise.

I cut his left ankle, and he stumbled over it a bit.

I began to run beneath him.

The only way he can attack me while I'm beneath him is if he…

YES!

Exactly what I was waiting for.

He tried to crush me, and I dove to the right as strongly as I could.

I narrowly escaped.

Alright, I'm doing good, but it's not over yet.

I was at the wolf's back feet by the time he got back up.

I slashed at his right ankle, but he spun around just in time to dodge the strike.

But that's fine.

Because now I just need to run toward the forest

I didn't expect him to be so agile.

The wolf said.

It's like he's gotten stronger as the fight has gone on.

But he still cannot defeat me.

Wait.

Why is he facing his back to me?

He's leaving himself wide open.

Don't tell me, he wants to make it into the forest.

That would be annoying.

It wouldn't stop my hunt, it would just be a pain in the ass.

I'll stop him, with this last attack.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I KNEW THE BOY COULD HANDLE IT ON HIS OWN! I'M QUITE PROUD OF HIM! ALTHOUGH I DON'T THINK HE REALIZES THAT THE POWER HE IS CURRENTLY USING IS NOT MINE! NO, THE POWER TO GROW STRONGER AS THE INTENSITY OF A FIGHT INCREASES, SUCH A POWER WAS BRED AS A RESULT OF HIS NEVER GIVE UP ATTITUDE! THAT'S RIGHT, THE POWER BELONGS TO YUHVEN LIBERT ALONE!"

"DON'T THINK YOU CAN GET AWAY FROM ME!"

The wolf screamed as he chased after me.

I was almost there.

I was touching the edge of the forest when the claw of death swatted me down from the sky.

Or at least, it tried to.

I turned around to face him and jump backward.

His claw scratched me across my chest.

It eventually left a scar, but it wasn't extremely deep.

All that mattered was that blood spilled from it.

"Battle Enraged, Red Slash."

I said as I infused all of the energy I could muster into the knife.

I gave him a good slice which cut off his right paw.

After the attack, I fell backward into the woods.

I quickly got to my feet and just narrowly dodged his last-ditch effort of trying to bite me.

I scurried into the forest leaving the wounded wolf behind.

It didn't chase after me.

I won this time.

I fell to the ground to take a quick breather.

Man…

I really did it, huh?

I won.

I won!

I WON!

AND I FEEL LIKE I'M STRONGER NOW TOO!

AND IT FELT SO AWESOME!

WHEN I YELLED OUT THE NAME OF MY ATTACK, I FELT LIKE THE MAIN CHARACTER OF AN ACTION SHOW!

SO COOL!

*TREMBLE*

"DAMN IT!"

The child screamed as she slammed her fist into her throne.

The force was so strong that it caused the ground to tremble.

"My lady, surely you see now that someone like him could be useful…"

The butterfly tried to interject, but the child's anger could not be stopped.

"I DON'T CARE! I REFUSE TO BE HELPED BY HUMANS ESPECIALLY ONE THAT LOOKS LIKE HIM!"

She screamed.

"Looks like who?"

The child immediately settled down.

Rather than being angry, she looked disturbed, as if she said something she shouldn't have.

"Just forget I said anything."

She replied.

"No can do,"

The wolf said as he entered the clearing.

"I'm quite interested too."

"So you're back, huh? How wonderful. Nice job, by the way, you failed."

The butterfly responded.

"You didn't do so well either, so I wouldn't be talking."

"I DID BETTER THAN YOU!"

"SAID WHO?!"

"SAID ME!"

"AND WHY SHOULD I LISTEN TO YOU?!"

"BECAUSE I'M BETTER THAN YOU!"

"BUT I'M A HIGHER-RANKED WARRIOR

"YEAH, WELL, AT LEAST I'M NOT AN IDIOT!"

"ENOUGH OF THIS, we're getting off topic."

"Agreed. My lady, with all due respect we deserve to know why exactly you hate this boy, what issue does he pose to you?"

She was hesitant, but she eventually responded.

"He looks very similar to a man I once knew."

"OOH! WAS HE YOUR BOYFRIEND?!"

The butterfly asked.

"I never knew you had a love life, because nothing like that exists now."

The wolf said to the child.

"Look just because it was a man does not mean that he was a love interest of mine."

"Well was he?"

The wolf asked.

"He may have been."

"See, we were right."

The wolf added.

"What was his name?"

The butterfly questioned.

She wanted all of the gossip.

"His name was Asol."

"What was he like?"

"Sorry, but I'm afraid I don't want to remember anything more about him, so please leave me alone."

The two of them backed off.

I'm sorry, you two.

The child thought.

I cannot tell you that the man I once loved was almost responsible for the destruction of the universe.

Asol, I hope you rot in Hell for all you did.