Chapter 7

The night sky was, as usual, thickly covered with dark clouds.

On the endlessly stretching main road, Ian leisurely rode his horse through the damp darkness.

Ahead of him rode Mev and Philip on horseback as well.

Ian neither bothered riding alongside them nor tried to start conversations.

He had no desire to form attachments with people who might become enemies someday.

In fact, after leaving the village, he hadn’t spoken even ten sentences.

The same went for Mev.

Among all the knights Ian had seen, she was one of the most serious.

“Strangely enough, I barely remember seeing clear skies lately. Don’t you think so, my lady?”

If not for Philip, the group would truly have marched in complete silence.

Though Ian and Mev barely responded, Philip chattered away as though he were used to it.

“Could this also be proof that the madness of the Black Wall is seeping all the way into Agel Lan? Or perhaps the twilight of mana is affecting the climate itself?”

Awoooo—

As though answering him, a faint wolf howl echoed in the distance.

Philip added,

“…I think we heard that earlier too. Looks like the wolves become energetic once the sun goes down.”

“Philip.”

At that moment, Ian suddenly spoke.

Philip instantly turned around, as though he had secretly been waiting for Ian to respond.

“Yes, my lord?”

“That forest. How large is it?”

Ian pointed toward the dark forest spreading ahead of them.

It was far from lush greenery, filled instead with dry, brittle trees.

The path running through the middle looked like the entrance to a dungeon.

“It would take a little over half a day to cross it.”

“Then we should probably camp here tonight and cross early tomorrow morning. What do you think, Sir?”

“Agreed.”

Mev nodded and turned toward Ian.

Her helmet visor could be raised like it was now, exposing only her face.

“There should be a stream around the middle of the forest where travelers usually camp overnight.”

Philip added cautiously.

Ian answered calmly.

“There’s a wolf pack in that forest. I don’t feel like voluntarily losing sleep by walking into it.”

“Ahh. So that was your deep reasoning.”

Philip immediately accepted the explanation at the mention of wolves and rode ahead.

“I’ll prepare the campfire!”

Philip noisily unpacked their luggage in a field a short distance from the forest.

His movements were so loud it almost looked like he was advertising their location.

Ian let out a hollow laugh.

“You really keep around an airheaded fool.”

Mev dismounted her horse and replied,

“He merely lacks experience. In a few years, he’ll properly fulfill his role.”

If he’s still alive by then.

Ian muttered inwardly while getting off his horse.

Snort.

The horse snorted tiredly.

It was an old horse Ian had practically gotten for free from the stable keeper.

There was no point riding an expensive horse when he likely wouldn’t keep it alive long anyway.

‘And the ride quality sucks.’

Ian frowned at the throbbing pain between his legs.

If horsemanship hadn’t already been ingrained into his body, standing right now would probably have been difficult.

It was the same reason he could naturally wield a sword.

Even though he had never learned in his original world, riding felt instinctive, as though it had been engraved into his body.

Probably because of shared skills.

Of course, just like he merely knew how to swing a sword, he also only knew how to ride a horse.

Experts in mounted combat could apparently perform acrobatics while riding, but that was far beyond Ian.

‘…Still, I’m not leveling riding skills just to sit more comfortably on a horse.’

“The preparations are finished, my lord.”

While Ian tied his horse beside Mev’s, Philip’s voice rang out.

He had already built a decent campfire and even arranged the sleeping area.

Even a maggot can roll if given the chance.

Apparently, he was also skilled at preparing for death.

Ian sat down beside the campfire.

A flame barely pushing back the darkness.

Uneven ground.

The sound of wolves howling.

Only then did it truly hit him that his comfortable lifestyle over the past month was completely over.

Naturally, the worn-out room on the second floor of the tavern came to mind.

‘I knew this would happen. I already miss it.’

Smirking faintly, Ian pulled out the bundle from subspace.

Philip’s face immediately brightened.

“Ooh. At last, the bundle carrying a maiden’s feelings is being opened. Judging from the waitress’s expression earlier, there’s definitely—”

“You sure use a lot of words just to say you want soup.”

“…You were planning to share?”

Philip asked after freezing.

Without even looking at him, Ian answered,

“If you shut up.”

Philip’s mouth snapped shut immediately.

Even so, his gaze remained fixed on the bundle in Ian’s hands.

Ian leisurely began unwrapping it, but his hand suddenly stopped.

Philip nervously licked his lips before finally speaking again.

“My lord. Surely you aren’t teasing me—”

“Shut up.”

Ian cut him off.

Philip instinctively closed his mouth, then belatedly noticed the difference in Ian’s tone and looked toward him.

Ian was frowning while staring past the campfire.

Maybe it was just imagination, but a faint light seemed to flicker in his eyes.

However, when Philip followed his gaze, all he could see was the dark forest.

“…?”

While Philip tilted his head in confusion—

“So much for dinner…”

Ian muttered with a sigh and stuffed the bundle back into his clothes.

“What exactly did you see?”

Philip finally asked.

“We have visitors.”

It was Mev who answered.

She stood up slowly, eyes sinking coldly.

“Visitors? What do you mean by—”

Muttering while turning back toward the forest, Philip finally froze.

Beyond the darkness of the woods, dozens of glowing eyes had appeared.

Yellow and red eyes silently glaring at them with murderous intent.

“……!”

The moment Philip locked eyes with one of them, he recoiled in shock.

“You’re awfully timid.”

Ian muttered quietly.

Philip snapped out of it and reflexively turned toward him.

“Who are you calling timid—”

His words trailed off.

He realized his own voice was trembling.

Unlike him, Ian had already risen and drawn his sword.

Aside from a slight irritation on his face, he didn’t look tense at all.

“Do they seem connected to the black mage?”

While Philip stood there speechless, Mev calmly asked.

Ian shrugged.

“Who knows.”

His eyes calmly scanned the glowing eyes in the forest.

“We’ll find out after killing them, won’t we?”

“Fair point.”

Philip, listening blankly, finally asked,

“W-What exactly are those things?”

Ian didn’t need to answer.

Awoooo—! Awooo—!

Wolf howls began echoing from every direction.

The sound felt like it was squeezing the mind itself.

These were no ordinary howls.

Neighhh!

Ian’s horse, tied nearby, cried out violently.

While Philip froze amid the endless howling—

“If you don’t want to die just watching, pull yourself together.”

Ian snapped at him again.

Philip barely managed to grit his teeth and stand.

“What… what should I do?”

He forced down the trembling in his voice while asking.

Without even looking at him, Mev answered,

“Protect the horses, Philip.”

“Yes! …B-But by myself?”

Clank.

Lowering her visor, Mev added,

“Ian. You should fall back and protect the horses too.”

“I refuse. You do it.”

“What…?”

Mev turned toward Ian.

Her gaze showed clear surprise.

Ian calmly continued,

“You can’t chase wolves around wearing all that armor. Holding the line suits you better.”

“Then we should both fall back instead. I can’t risk losing you, even by chance.”

“And losing the horses is fine? We’re only a few meters away. I’d rather have you covering my back.”

“But—”

Just as Mev was about to argue further, the echoing howls abruptly stopped.

All the glowing eyes vanished at once.

“There’s something only I can do. Trust me on this. You won’t lose anything.”

At Ian’s firm words, Mev finally turned away.

“…Don’t die.”

Yeah right. Don’t die yourself.

Ian clicked his tongue softly.

Rustle— Rustle—

A strange sound followed.

The darkness blanketing the ground rippled like waves rushing toward them.

“There’s way too many…”

Ian muttered while tightening his grip on his sword.

To his eyes, the true form of the black wave rushing toward them was perfectly clear.

Dozens of charging wolves.

Their numbers were just as abnormal as their massive bodies.

Still, Ian had already experienced similar situations in the game.

Though compared to then, the current pack was far larger and more oppressive.

‘Still, the key is finding the leader.’

That was the one thing only he could do.

That was the end of his thoughts.

One strand of the black wave suddenly leaped up from close range, lunging at him with savage yellow eyes.

A huge maw full of sharp teeth filled Ian’s vision.

Crunch.

The sword stabbed straight through the center of its mouth.

Ian calmly stepped forward and thrust deeper.

Combined with the wolf’s charging momentum, the blade pierced through the back of its neck and burst out the other side.

Ian slid backward together with the collapsing wolf.

Just as he lowered his stance to pull the sword free, two more wolves charged from both sides.

Gray mana suddenly swirled in Ian’s eyes.

Whoosh!

A violent gust burst out around him, altering the wolves’ trajectories.

Raging Barrier.

Bang!

Pulling out his sword, Ian immediately slashed upward into the body of the wolf passing beside him.

He instantly steadied himself again.

Another wolf had already landed behind him and was springing forward like a coiled spring.

Crunch!

This time, the wolf’s forehead was pierced through.

Ian gritted his teeth as the beast’s momentum forced him sliding backward once again.

‘Fuck it, should I just burn them all?’

Fire was the easiest solution against creatures with flesh.

Against a wolf pack like this, he could annihilate them simply by activating Flame Walk and running around.

Just like he had done in the kobold hideout.

But Ian had no intention of revealing himself as a mage to Mev and Philip.

They might become enemies someday.

And beyond that, he’d undoubtedly spend the rest of the journey dealing with troublesome questions and proposals.

‘…No way I’m putting up with all that annoyance just to kill some mutts.’

Gray whirlwinds swirled once more in Ian’s eyes.

Most low-level gray magic had effects that were difficult to notice visually.

Which made it perfect for pretending to be a skilled mercenary.

In fact, the people in the first city he visited in Agel Lan never realized he was a mage until the moment he left.

Whoosh!

An invisible wall of wind wrapped around him.

And that wasn’t all.

Fwoooosh!

His clothes and hair began fluttering lightly as though in a gentle breeze.

Wind Blade.

A spell that enhanced movement with propulsion while infused with wind and could instantly transform into a sharp blade whenever desired.

The blade’s range was extremely short, so in the game it was mostly used for sprinting.

But now that Ian used a sword as his primary weapon, even that became an advantage.

Ian suddenly lifted his head.

Three wolves were charging at him with claws and fangs bared.

His sword flashed in an arc.

Slash— Crunch!

Before the blade even physically connected, the Wind Blade carved apart the foremost wolf’s maw and split the next wolf’s skull in half.

Whoosh—

The barrier blocked the remaining wolf.

Losing balance midair, the beast crashed directly into Ian.

Taking the impact on his shoulder, Ian slid backward and chopped down at the wolf’s exposed neck.

Kyauuu—!

Another wolf leaped up howling, taking advantage of the opening.

Just as Ian was about to swing again—

Crunch!

A brilliant blue sword flash descended before his eyes, slicing the wolf cleanly in half.

Blood splattered across Ian’s face.

“……”

Frowning, Ian turned his head.

Mev, her armor now stained bright red, shook blood from her sword.

During the fight, Ian had unknowingly been pushed close to her.

Her glowing blue sword and the mana stones embedded throughout her armor illuminated the surroundings.

The smell of blood filled the air.

Around them lay several wolf corpses, crushed or split in half.

Standing at the center of it all, Mev naturally resembled the Bleeding Avenger from the game.

‘So even without corruption, she’s ridiculously strong.’

“These definitely aren’t ordinary wolves.”

While Ian wiped his face and stood again, Mev added calmly.

Her breathing wasn’t even disturbed.

“I’d say the same.”

Ian looked around.

The surroundings were chaotic with afterimages of running wolves and trails of glowing eyes.

Perhaps because they had already lost several packmates in an instant, the wolves no longer charged recklessly.

Instead, they chose ambush tactics.

The wolves circled around looking for blind spots, only to repeatedly spray blood from Ian and Mev’s blades.

Mev fully utilized her strengths while controlling the battle.

No matter how infused with mana they were, wolves were still ultimately just oversized beasts.

Their claws and fangs couldn’t penetrate her armor, so she had no issue neglecting defense entirely.

Of course, collisions using their weight and speed could still be dangerous.

But Mev smoothly redirected or avoided even those with minimal movement.

It was skill truly fitting for a knight.

Still, in Ian’s eyes, she wasn’t even revealing half her true strength.

‘She probably doesn’t want to show me the Apostle’s power yet.’

Even Philip was fulfilling his role.

While gripping the reins of all three horses with one hand, he used the round shield in his other hand to deflect charging wolves and draw their attention.

Mev handled the finishing blows, but that alone was enough.

‘They’re both better than expected.’

Ian clicked his tongue briefly.

Which also meant the time given to him was running out faster.

Though the wolves looked consumed by savage madness, they were actually under the control of a leader.

In the game, once the pack’s numbers dropped below a certain point, the leader would flee like a cunning coward.

At the same time, once it marked prey, it obsessively pursued them to the very end.

That probably hadn’t changed even now that the game had become reality.

If Ian didn’t kill it tonight, he’d definitely have more trouble later.

And he had no desire to fight another wolf pack that barely dropped any worthwhile loot.

Ian’s eyes flashed.

Mana Detection.

Combined with nerves sharpened through battle, his natural instinct became even more refined.

As a result, things invisible to the naked eye became clear.

The murderous intent and madness flowing through the wolf pack.

The waves of purple mana surging like tides.

Time itself seemed to slow.

It was an advanced state of concentration created by high mental strength, intelligence stats, and his innate trait working together.

However, Ian’s own movements slowed just as much as the flowing time around him.

His physical body couldn’t keep up with the speed of his thoughts.

Still, the only movement he needed right now was shifting his eyes.

Ian’s gaze slowly scanned the dreamlike scenery.

Then suddenly, his eyes locked onto one point deep in the forest.

‘…Found you.’

The source of the mana waves controlling the wolves.

Ian bent his knees and spoke.

“Keep protecting the horses.”

“…?”

“I’m going to take the leader’s head.”

Then he kicked off the ground.