519 – The Time Of Dogs And Wolves – 7
Teia ran. She ran for herself, not caring about the tens of thousands of lives she carried on her back. Teia was a legend in the history of horse racing, where even stepping on her shadow was praised as an achievement. She galloped as if the plains of Ende were too narrow, leaving behind all the scenery in the world.
But her opponent is the king of beasts. The sound of the ground pounding follows Teia closely. It feels like hot breath on the back of her neck.
Teia knew by instinct, not by sense, that she was being caught up with, not getting further away.
Is it great that Fenrir is trying to catch up with Teia, who wrote the legend of the history of horse racing? Or is it great that Teia is trying to escape the king of beasts on a human subject?
Both are great, but Teia and Fenril didn’t care about the evaluation of others and ran. To live, to kill.
There is no one in front. The evil spirit is chasing after him. The target is not yet visible. In contrast, the pressure is gradually approaching.
Is this the fear of being in the forefront? Teia finally realized why the racehorses were reluctant to run ahead. It was so difficult to endure the pressure and run away from an invisible opponent.
However, there are times when you have to do difficult things.
Teia “ran away” for the first time in her life.
“Oh, here it comes! The wolves are swarming!”
The guard dogs, who felt the trembling, shouted. The watermen, who had been scattering bear traps on the ground, quickly gathered. A strange sight unfolded before their eyes, aiming their spears with great tension.
“Oh my God….”
The two of them ran, creating a cloud of dust. Teia, who was running with her teeth clenched, and the wolf king chasing her fiercely. The distance between the two was quite far apart objectively, but the speed at which they were running made it seem like they were close together. Distance is relative, so it must be close to those two.
The guard dogs muttered as they watched the evil spirit following Teia.
“Is that… the wolf king?”
And a little later, hundreds of wolves appeared over the ridge, following the king.
Wolves form packs. However, unless they have a political system, their numbers cannot exceed a certain level. The hierarchy, food, and social problems increase exponentially, and a single beast cannot solve all these problems.
That’s what it should be, but the number of wolves gathered under the strong power of the wolf king was truly astonishing.
The wolves that followed the king barked fiercely and exuded wildness. As they were the king’s pack, they were all large and fast. The wolf pack advanced at a speed comparable to that of cavalry, howling fiercely.
[Auuu–.]
[Auuu–.]
The howling gradually spread to the surroundings. In addition to the king’s pack, the wolves that had been wandering around us approached us all at once. The Oberi guard dog, frightened by the sudden increase in wolves, shouted.
“The wolves are swarming! There are too many! Let’s retreat for now….”
The guard dog, who was about to retreat even though it was too late, looked back and was terrified.
“They’re coming from behind too!”
“What, behind?”
“Did the wolves go around?”
On the other side, hundreds of beasts are running fiercely, pounding the ground. It’s hard to just run away, but they’re surrounded. If we stay like this, we’ll die.
The situation is surrounded on all sides. The Oberi guard dog shouted urgently.”Magician, Kito! Is there no way?!”
It’s coming. But before that.
I waved the flag greatly. This is the finish line. Everything begins with Teia arriving here.
Teia, who found the finish line, gritted her teeth and gave a final push.
She ran with all her might from the beginning to the end. Teia’s legs, which had reached their limit, were trembling. However, she, who had reached the limit that a human body and human energy could reach, barely pushed away the wolf king and stuck her body out.
“I’m hereee!”
Thud. Teia, who had arrived at the finish line, staggered. She was about to collapse from the sense of relief that she had won, but she gritted her teeth and took one last step. She slowed down a little, gasped for breath, and looked back.
“Fenrir?!”
The fact that this is the finish line is something we decided on our own. The wolf doesn’t need to follow. She was worried that the wolf might follow her to the end, but she chased the wolf with her eyes… The wolf king had stopped a long time before her.
The wolf king looked like he had put his soul into another body. His facial features, the shape of his fur, and his build were exactly the same as Aji’s. The only difference was his fur color and atmosphere. The wolf king, who had been running while emitting a ferocious aura, stopped and stared at us.
Teia gasped and said.
“Where… are you looking?”
It must be his other half. I followed the wolf king’s gaze and looked at the herd of beasts approaching from behind us.
“Woof! Woof!”
“Growl!”
“Grrr!”
Their movements seemed less controlled than the wolves. Their appearances were strangely different. However, the beasts, who were united as one, were running in a herd.
And the king of dogs, Aji, was leading the herd in the lead.
“Isn’t that Matthew’s 복실? Not a wolf… a dog?”
You noticed. What’s coming after us isn’t a wolf. It’s reinforcements.
Ende is a city of water people. However, water people also eat meat and raise animals. Just as there are water people who raise pigs for meat, there are also many water people who raise dogs. And in Ende, where theft is free, most of the dogs raised are guard dogs that protect homes and property.
Aji used the power of the king to control the beasts that were not enough to be treated as full-fledged because they could not develop tactics and ran.
“Aoooooooooooooooo!”
Aji ran on all fours. Just as the wolf king chased Teia to kill her, Aji felt the murderous intent and ran to save her. Its speed was the same as the wolf king’s.
Aji’s ferocity is not exerted on humans. It can be exerted on things other than humans, but it is usually not revealed because the king of dogs has a gentle nature.
“Wolf…!”
However, if that’s the wolf king, the fated enemy and the wild itself. Aji will fight, consumed by ferocity.
Clack. Clack. A crown appears on Aji’s head. Aji, who is facing his opponent, is now trying to fight the wolf on behalf of all dogs.
And so is the wolf king.
“Dog…!”
Flames flickered in the wolf king’s eyes. He revealed his ferocity, looking at the other half that he hated more than humans. Clack, a crack occurred an inch away from his head, and a crown began to grow on the wolf king as well.
Likewise, it was a half-crown that seemed to have been taken from Aji’s crown.
“Aoooooooooooooooooooooooooo—-!!”The wolf king also changed its target. The beast king, who had been running towards the human, howled instead of the wolf. The world was in an uproar as it heard the wolf’s anger.
Even the wolves stopped in fear. Some of the dogs collapsed as they ran, but Aji ran faster with fire in his eyes.
And at the last moment, Aji, who had become a brown bullet, tangled with the wolf king.
Thud, thud, thud. The two beasts rolled dozens of times on the ground. They pressed each other down with their front paws with their claws raised, and aimed for their necks with their sharp teeth. In the bloody and bruised fight, the two beasts attacked each other dozens of times before rolling twice. And finally, they bumped their heads together as they tried to bite each other’s necks.
Half of the crown collided. The shock wave spread out like black branches. Compared to its enormous strength, the girl’s body was too light. The two beast kings bounced back in the opposite direction.
Aji’s body rolled and rolled and rolled near me. Aji, covered in dirt, stood up with a pitiful look. In contrast, the wolf king quickly regained its posture and attacked.
Aji, who felt a sense of crisis, raised his fur. It seemed a little urgent.
“Aji. Take it easy. You don’t have to win this alone.”
“Woof!”
Aji barked fiercely and ran out again. Whether he heard me or not, he gritted his teeth and ran into the wolf king.
But maybe it was too easy to read. The wolf king, who had been staring at Aji, slammed its front paw down in one breath. Bang. The wolf’s front paw hit Aji’s head exactly. Aji’s body was slammed into the ground, and dirt flew up on both sides of him. It seemed to show the shock Aji had received indirectly.
“Ah… ooooo!”
However, Aji jumped up as he was slammed into the ground and attacked the wolf king. Aji, who had once again dragged the fight into a dogfight, relentlessly pursued the wolf king even as he was constantly injured.
“The king of dogs is being pushed back…!”
“It’s being pushed back, but Aji is trying to protect us right now.”
While being injured by the wolf, he tries to keep it as far away from humans as possible. The wolves’ momentum was slightly dampened as the fight took place in the middle of the wolves. In the meantime, Ende’s dog and Oberi’s guard dog joined forces to fight the wolf. The wolf’s momentum was terrifying, but the alliance of dogs and humans blocked the attack much more firmly.
Dogs and wolves were originally like this. Then, for some reason, they were divided into two. Dogs that are friendly to humans, wolves that are dangerous to humans.
However, dogs can also bite humans, and wolves can also share feelings with humans. They were one in the first place. There is no beast that unconditionally obeys humans or unconditionally opposes humans. Beasts are not phenomena.
That’s what it should be.
“Someone artificially divided dogs and wolves.”
They put wildness into ‘wolves’ and tameness into ‘dogs’. Using the characteristic that they were divided from one branch, they made the two beasts a ‘species’ rather than a phenomenon.
That’s why they are the same but opposite. They became ferocious wolves and tame dogs, destined to fight to kill each other.
“There’s only one thing that can do this… but I’ll think about that later.”
The front line is pushed back. Dogs bitten by wolves are pouring out. Oberi’s guard dog tries to help by throwing a spear from time to time, but the wolf enters through the gap in the formation and bites and scratches Oberi’s guard dogs.
“Ouch! My arm! My arm!”
“Throw the net!”They were somehow holding their ground, inflicting damage on each other, but even this would be over if the pack led by the wolf king attacked. A precarious situation.
That was when it happened. A group of soldiers appeared on both sides. From the Ende direction came the main force of the water tribe led by Obelisk, and from the opposite direction came the warriors of the beast tribe led by Grull.
“Magician, you crazy bastard! Who did you use as bait without my permission?!”
“Heh. It wasn’t a strategy, but we’ve surrounded them. Now’s our chance! Warriors! Charge before they cool down!”
Sapiento, who had endured the attack, and Grull were also approaching, pushing their troops forward. The same would be true of the humans on the wolf’s side.
This is the battlefield. The situation is set.
I looked up at the sky where someone was hiding in the distance and shouted.
“Shay! Now, do it!”
Even if it’s a lousy returnee’s strategy, I have no choice but to rely on it now. Let’s give it a try.