Chapter 55: Pressure

Since the magical cement was hardening gradually, the alpha had been moving away from the gardening area as much as it could. As it moved further from the hardening, more wolves ended up getting caught up in the hardened area. And each of them had ended up terribly.

The only ones who could be considered lucky were the ones who were able to stick out their heads as the hardening reached them. So, although their whole bodies were sealed in the magical cement, they could at least breathe. The unlucky ones ended up getting their whole bodies sealed inside. So without a doubt, these wolves did not survive; they probably died of lack of oxygen.

And a terrifying death it was to anyone with claustrophobia. The wolf alpha may not be claustrophobic, but the death was nonetheless terrifying, even to its hard-willed self. So it paddled as hard as it could all in an effort to get away. But alas, it seemed like a its fate was sealed this time. As with its current body, there was no way to get out of the cement.

But at that moment...

Bam!

One of its own suddenly fell to the already hardened cement. And for a moment, the wolf's alpha found a moment of clarity.

And it thought that since the cement was gradually hardening completely, why didn't it just latch on to the hardened part and pull its body out before it fully hardened?

So for the first time, the wolf alpha rushed towards the hardening rather than away. Once close, the wolf's alpha put its front paws on the hardened cement and tried to pull itself up.

But the wolf form just did not have the perfect limbs for that. Had it been in its kobold form, it might have done it, but it could not in this case.

Crrr!

As such, its hind legs were hardened and sealed before they could be pulled out of the pool of cement.

So, the alpha was stuck...

"Grrr!"

He growled and writhed. Trying all it could to get itself out. But try it did, but the cement barely had any cracks. The only part of the cement that cracked was the thin and hardened cement on its body.

Of course, this was mainly because the wolf's alpha was not in the best position to pull itself out. With the kind of body it had now, it was not possible to exert much strength in that situation.

For a little while, the wolf alpha tried to get itself out of the cement, that is, until it looked up.

At the very top of the sky was the full moon, shining on its figure. With the bright light, the moon too shone on the multiple goblins and hobgoblins looking down on it. Surrounding the hole, the goblins looked down into the now hardened cement, with the heads of many wolves sticking out.

As the child watched this scene, he found it quite awfully familiar. Familiar to a similar hunting incident that occurred more than a week ago. At that time, a horned rabbit had found itself fallen to the traps of a certain gremlin. Looking up, it saw the green skinned creatures that caused it to end up in such a situation. The wolf alpha was no no different from the horned rabbit.

Looking at the despairing situation, the wolf alpha suddenly stopped.

They say a great leader knew defeat when he saw it. And Wolf Alpha liked to believe itself a great leader, but...

"It seems I have prevailed in the end," the child said, heaving a sigh of relief. Throughout this whole battle, only a few minutes have passed, but each minute was tiring for the child. With his single mind, he was required to order around 50 goblins to accomplish his task. Each goblin and hobgoblin was required to be at the right place at the right time in order to deal with the coming problem.

The child believed he was ready for whatever may be thrown at him, but when the kobolds appeared as giant wolves, that was not something he was prepared for. Luckily, though, the kobolds becoming wolves wasn't really a big problem.

"In fact, it might have made my job much easier. Dealing with the kobold could have been much harder to do than the wolves."

As with the kobold bodies, it would have likely not worked to throw them into the hole. With their large claws, the kobolds could have very easily climbed out of the hole.

As for the cement, the kobolds could have just done what the wolf alpha tried to do at the end. Only this time, they would have easily succeeded by grabbing the hardened parts of the cement and quickly rolling it out. But this was almost impossible for the wolves. In the end, they could only stick out their heads and live longer.

But the wolves could not be blamed, as the child had specifically made the trap to capture wolf-like creatures like them. After all, the creature he saw in the vision was a wolf. A wolf he believed to be the guardian of this world.

"But luckily, it turns out the wolf was merely a transformed kobold. Otherwise, with the rank-two strength of a guardian, this wouldn't have been able to stop it..."

The child suddenly stopped. Because suddenly, out of nowhere, an anomaly in his senses occurred. Something he had never experienced came to his vision. The ether particles in his control suddenly rushed towards the hole.

"Oh no..."

The child voiced before...

Crack!

Boom!

"Awoo!"

A gust of wind suddenly flew from the hole, slightly pushing the goblin back.

Gurr!

Through the goblins' feet, the child felt the edge of the hole suddenly vibrate. And through their eyes, the child saw the cracked hole of magical cement that used to be where the wolf alpha was held.

As for the alpha, it stood not far from a hole. This hole was where the wolf alpha had been locked on not long ago.

It looked at the top of the hole with undisguised anger. Its body was covered in what seemed like some sort of aura. As the light around it was getting bent, not unlike how it would when heat deviates it.

But the child knew that this was no aura. Although the viable shaking ground and slowly floating cement bits made for a convincing show, the child recognized it for what it was. Evidently enough, from the pained look, the wolf alpha seemed to be using its anger to hold back.

"So this is what the universal pressure feels like. Amazing." The child was in awe as he felt his ether get pulled in and the strong cement he specifically made crack with a mere step. And to think that this pressure is only the first and weakest level the universe could exert

The child sighed.

"Seems like plan B is back in motion..."

...