Chapter 5: Werewolves (Part 2)

This mission was a mistake.

It was a death trap.

We are no match for them.

WHY DID I AGREE TO THIS?

Loid, where the hell are you?

After Loid effortlessly slaughtered the Spider Monster, Ranga thought that he found a rare gem of a person, someone of value that he could not pass up as a partner, but this guy, he was someone completely unpredictable.

When the monster subjugation began, he was nowhere near to be found.

Then the subjugation turned on its head and became a one-sided slaughter.

None told them that the monsters in question would be werewolves.

Not only were they several times stronger than humans, they also had a racial trait that made them have extremely high resistance against any material except silver.

Silver Weapons are not cheap to come by and none had the foresight to bring any.

Their weapons did them no good, they simply were not strong enough to pierce the belly of the beast.

54 Adventurers came to this mission, not counting Ranga and Loid, now there were only 4 left, one died a few seconds ago, eaten by the werewolf.

Oh god, I am going to die here, I will be eaten.

For them, I am just a meal.

Perhaps Loid got eaten as well.

I wonder what I taste like? Knock it off, me!

Being an adventurer meant facing life and danger on a daily basis.

Only the strong would survive, the rest met their ends.

As someone who failed to become stronger, perhaps this was a fitting end.

Even if this was the end, Ranga would not go down without a fight.

But right now, he needed to run, as fast as he could.

Loid, if you are already dead, I think I will see you soon….

Then Ranga saw Loid, casually walking in the direction of monsters.

He was wobbling like a lunatic and even from a distance, Ranga could tell Loid was drunk, with a bottle of booze still in his hand.

This is a life-or-death situation and he is drinking? What is wrong with him?

Not good. At this rate, this drunk idiot was going to get himself killed.

Although they have just met, Ranga was not about to let his partner end up dying in such a stupid way.

Loid, even if it costs me my life, I will save you.

<I appreciate the thought, Ranga-kun>

What the heck was that? What was the voice inside his head just now?

As bewildered Ranga kept running towards Loid and the incoming werewolves, something did not feel right.

From an outside perspective, Loid was completely surrounded.

And yet, for some reason, Ranga felt that it was not Loid that was in danger, but the werewolves.

It is the same feeling; it feels exactly like the last time!

That unshakable confidence and conviction in what he was doing.

If anything, Loid seemed more bored than anything else.

Even when one werewolf pounced upon him, sinking its fangs into his flesh, he did not as much as utter even a faint cry. He simply grabbed hold of the head of the beast from both sides and twisted it, breaking the werewolf's neck in the process.

The monster fell on the ground, Loid's black blood still leaking out of its mouth.

Black Blood? He really is not completely human! Wait, that's not important.

Loid was injured.

How in the world he managed to break werewolf's head with a simple twist was beyond Ranga's imagination, but that changed nothing. Loid was still facing an entire pack of werewolves, not to mention he was slowly bleeding out.

Casually, Loid picked up a knife from a corpse of a dead adventurer near him.

What could he hope to accomplish with that tiny knife? It was smaller than a dagger and it was not made if silver, so it would do him absolutely no good.

Werewolves were enormous monsters, far larger than any wolf, in terms of size, they were 2-3 times larger than a bear, but far faster.

Even if he killed one, the rest would not stop. If anything, this motivated the monsters to single him out. By now, he was completely surrounded. A large circle composed of werewolves surrounded one unlucky victim.

For any person, this was a death sentence.

19 werewolves vs. 1 Loid.

When Ranga tried to break into the circle, he ended up facing two werewolves who pretty much made it clear they would not let him interfere.

Ranga used to think dying was the worst fate imaginable, but watching your friend die might be a fate worse than death.

Granted, they were not exactly friends, but having to watch him die before him was too much.

One werewolf proceeded to attack Loid, clearly aiming at Loid's neck, but Loid somehow stepped back then forward, plunging his hand into the werewolf's mouth.

A sound of pure agony followed by yet another werewolf's corpse falling to the ground.

When he took out his arm out of the beast's mouth, the answer became clear, it was the very knife he took from the corpse.

But how? Werewolves were immune to anything but silver.

<Resistant, not immune. And only on the outside, inside they are just as soft and squishy everyone else>

It was that voice again. Was he finally losing it?

Did the stress and the horror of the situation finally make Ranga lose his mind to pure madness?

<Ranga, relax. It's me, Loid. a message spell>

Loid?! You can do that? Why did you not tell me?

<It's not something I can bring up over a meal, you know>

Ranga: "Just how many hidden skills do you have?"

<I told you. I dabble>

Ranga: "This is way beyond dabbling!"

From his tone, it was obvious, Loid was not worried, not even a little.

Ranga: "Is there any way I can help?"

<In that case, mind tossing me your sword?>

Ranga: "Are you sure? It's broken"

<It matters not, by the time I am done, there will be no sword left>

Ranga: "Can you catch it?"

<Affirmative >

Ranga: "Ok. Loid! Catch!"

Ranga threw what was left of the sword in Loid's direction.

He was not confident Loid would be able to catch it, but as his partner, he had to do something.

Mere moments later, silver light erupted from within a circle of werewolves.

The shockwave was strong enough send all of the werewolves stumbling back.

Even Ranga ended up knocked off his feet.

On his knees, he watched something unimaginable happening right before his eyes.

The broken blade he tossed to Loid was glowing with swirling silver light around it, the lights around it gave it the illusion of being a complete blade.

Holding the Silver Blade in his left hand, Loid smirked.

Loid: "Come at me, I am waiting!"

He was taunting the werewolves.

Anyone who could do that was either the bravest man in the world or an absolute madman.

Either way, it was clear that Loid definitely had balls of titanium.

Before, they came at him one at a time, but this time, the werewolves threw away the idea of fighting him 1 vs. 1, and started to attack him simultaneously.

Loid: "Let's dance"

He was holding the Silver Blade with his left hand, but his movement was different from any form of swordsmanship that Ranga ever witnessed.

If he had to describe it, it was a style that seemed to have no defined form.

No, the more accurate description was that it was Formless.

There was no wasted movement, rather than something that was done for maximizing a certain aspect of like speed or power or following some style, it felt like a natural motion.

It was as easy as cutting watermelons with a knife.

Not much skill required.

Yes, just like watermelons, the werewolves started to be cut up into pieces one after another.

Morphus knew very well of their racial weakness, so he was more than willing to take advantage of it.

Using a low-level transmutation spell, he converted the steel blade into silver blade. Technically, transmutation could be used to transmute any material from one into another, as long as one knew the structure of both what is used and transmuted into, but converting one type of metal into another was much easier.

Then, he cast another low-level enchantment that converted matter into pure magic energy. Silver metal would turn into a silver energy blade. One downside is that it was a one-time use spell for any object, after it has been cast, the material would end up used up and how long the energy lasted depended on the skill of the user and the amount of material.

With the amount of metal Ranga gave him, Morphus had approximately five minutes before his Silver Energy Blade disappeared into nothingness.

Since he was stuck in a low-level corpse, he could not afford to cast any higher-level spells, they simply took too much toll on his body, requiring him to use such indirect means.

Of the 20 werewolves, only several were left.

Their leader, the biggest one of them all, faced off against Morphus.

Strangely enough, instead of attacking head on, he shifted into a humanoid form, standing up on his two feet.

Even by human standards, he was enormous.

Rather than a human, he looked like a humanoid wolf. Obviously, this was his wolf-human hybrid form, while his previous form was his pure beast form.

He growled: "You killed so many members of my pack. Absolutely unforgivable. I will kill you"

Morphus: "Are those your last words?"

Alpha Werewolf: "Your name. Tell me your name. I am Luan Razorg, leader of Razorg clan of werewolves"

Morphus: "Like hell I am going to remember that. My name is of no importance. At the end the day, I am Just a Guy"

Alpha Werewolf: "Justaguy. I will remember that name. Now face me!"

Morphus: "You really suck at listening, don't you? Oh, well…let's get it over with"

Ranga: "Unbelievable"

Alpha Werewolf was clearly abnormal even by Werewolf Standards. Because of his strength he managed to obtain class of Werewolf Lord. Suffice to say, he was at least ten times more powerful than an ordinary werewolf.

With the class of the Werewolf Lord, the werewolf obtained an Ultimate Battle form, its potency was devastating, to say the least. With his current abilities, he could sustain this form for about 10 minutes before reverting back.

Morphus: 'He resembles a small hellhound'

Small bolts of electricity surged from the body of the Werewolf Lord.

His teeth and fangs elongated along with the changes of his body.

Other werewolves were in awe, seeing their leader in his Ultimate Form was a very rare occurrence, for some, this was the first time seeing it in person.

They knew in their hearts that this puny human, even with a Silver Energy Blade, stood no chance against their leader.

Werewolf Lord: "Prepare to…"

He did not even get to finish his sentence before he was cut vertically in half, with both halves falling in opposite directions, exposing his brain and internal organs.

Morphus: "You talk too much"

Gesturing at the terrified werewolves, he casually asked: "So, who is next?"

Just that question alone made the remaining werewolves run for their lives.

This man was no mere human. He was Death itself.

They were not the only ones terrified by the display of ultra violence.

Ranga's right eye was twitching.

I almost pissed myself.

When he first met Loid, Ranga suspected Loid might be some kind of Fallen Hero. After seeing such display of power, it only confirmed his prior suspicions.

He was stronger than a Gold Level adventurer. Perhaps Platinum, maybe even higher.

Why did someone of such strength and might decided to become a partner to a mere Iron level like Ranga was beyond him.

Who was this guy in his former life? Loid was rather secretive and never told much about himself so Ranga did not pry, but he could not help but be curious.

Whoever he was, it was abundantly clear that he was someone with a past, a seriously dark one at that. And he likely killed an enormous number of enemies and lost so many allies that death itself became a casual affair for him.

When he killed those monsters, he did not do so much as blink.

If he had rage or sadistic delight in his eyes, Ranga would have understood.

But to Loid, killing monsters incited as much enthusiasm as someone throwing out garbage or using toilet paper. It was something he simply needed to get done and over with, nothing personal.

I wonder just how many he killed over his lifetime.

Loid may look like a young man in his twenties, around same age as Ranga, maybe a little younger, but his red and black eyes, his personality, and his ridiculous power, Ranga was certain he belonged to some king of long-lived species.

It was entirely plausible that Loid was much older than Ranga, how old, he did not dare to ask.

Morphus: 'Oh come on, I am not that old. I am only 975'

On one hand, Ranga was grateful, but on the other, he was a little scared of Loid.

Morphus: "It is done"

Ranga: "You did it"

Morphus: "Sorry about your sword"

What remained of the broken blade crumbled into dust and vanished into nothingness.

Ranga: "Don't worry, it was already broken. I will get another one."

Morphus: "I am hungry, let's eat and get wasted"

Ranga: "Loid. Do you not fear death?"

Morphus: "Fear it? Why should I?"

Morphus sighed.

Morphus: "When you lust for death, it saves you for last. When you run from it, you will simply run straight into its embrace. Quite the conundrum, is it not?"

Ranga was dumbfounded. This is how he views life, he thought.

Morphus: "Wanna have a contest with me? The loser buys lunch"

Ranga: "Sure why not"

When the surviving adventurers returned, they were shocked to discover that the field was littered with mutilated werewolf corpses, and so many of them.

The marks on the corpses resembled cuts made by a blade. To be able to cut werewolves like this would require nothing less than a swordsmanship of a hero.

As far as they knew, Loid was a magic caster.

That left only a single possibility.

Ranga, the warrior, was the one who defeated the werewolves.

Perhaps Loid provided magic support, but it was Ranga, with his supreme swordsmanship, that managed to kill the werewolves.

Much to the confusion of surviving adventurers, Loid and Ranga were engaged in a pissing contest, competing on who could piss the furthest.

After this incident, unbeknownst to him, Ranga gained a reputation as Wolf's Bane and Werewolf Slayer, and soon enough, the guild decided to promote Ranga and Loid to Bronze Rank for their accomplishment.