521 – Time Of The Dog And The Wolf – 9
Quito’s memories begin with a piece of chalk falling on her head. She had entered the academy through the door and had fallen into a very simple trap, leaving a white mark on her head.
The academy, where the beastmen showed their childlike innocence, was like hell to some. Quito was a rare rabbit beastman, and the attention seemed to continue until her ears fell off. It was common for something to fall from somewhere, and she would trip over a string or hang from it.
If she were a beast, she wouldn’t understand the trap, but Quito was a human. She understood what the trigger was and what chain reaction would lead to the result.
Then one day, Quito realized how to read the flow and stop it. The traps aimed at Quito often missed their timing or became useless.
At first, she thought it was just because she had gotten used to the traps. But soon after, she realized that it was her unique magic. Quito boasted about it with joy, but the beastmen who had been teasing her laughed at her.
They said that there was such a useless unique magic, and that her ability was as cowardly as a rabbit. They said it was a half-baked ability that could only be used when there was a trap.
Quito was discouraged. Even she thought that her unique magic, which was useless without a trap, was definitely half-baked. Even with a trap, it was a unique magic that only adjusted the timing of activation, and she didn’t know how to use it.
It was still a unique magic, and since the existence of a beastman magician was valuable in Ender, they created the position of trap designer and hired Quito. It was only moderately useful, but it was far from being called mysterious.
But unique magic is unique magic. It is a mystery that can become a god if the situation is right.
“Woof! Woof!”
A wolf rolled down the slope. It seemed to be quite worn out, its fur covered with dirt and dust. The wolf coughed and coughed, and as soon as it found the beastmen, it bared its teeth.
“It’s a wolf! Form a formation!”
The wolf was as tall as a man, even though it was on all fours. The dogs barked and surrounded it, and the Oberi guards formed a formation and stabbed their spears. At that moment, the wolf twisted its body in an instant, grabbed the spear shaft, and pulled it.
“Ugh!”
The Oberi guard, who had not been able to release the spear shaft in time, was dragged out. The moment the formation collapsed, the wolf rushed in like lightning. Its large mouth aimed for the Oberi guard’s neck.
“How dare you! Receive the permission of the gods!”
At that moment, a large rock fell on the wolf’s head. Before it could bite the Oberi guard, the rock covered its mouth. The wolf, which was backing away, unfortunately stepped on a bear trap that someone had dropped. Clank. The sharp teeth bit the wolf’s foreleg.
It was a wolf led by Fenrir. It wouldn’t be incapacitated by a bear trap. However, the Oberi guards were also trained beastmen. They didn’t miss the short gap when the wolf stopped and rushed in.
“Now!”
“Stab!”
Sharp spear blades sprang up against the wolf, whose movement was blocked. The wolf struggled, and several spear shafts broke, but the Oberi guards took turns thrusting their spears.
The spear blades, which were covered with air, could pierce through thick leather. The wolf, which was struggling while caught in the trap, eventually collapsed from exhaustion.
It was a small victory, but a big harvest. If they had met dozens of wolves of that size on the plains, they would have been wiped out without being able to do anything.
“We won!”
When the Oberi guard clenched his fist and shouted, a small rock fell on his head again. Clutching his head in pain, he heard Quito’s voice in his ear.
“We, you say? Tong! Not we, but me, Quito’s ability!””Key, Keyto?”
“Call me Lord Keyto! I am the one who holds all the triggers in this place, a god!”
Keyto puffed out his chest confidently. The entire ground shook as if responding to him. Controlling the triggers meant he could sink the ground or pull up the roots at will.
“Your lives are in my hands! You should show me a little more respect when you ask for something…”
“Be quiet!”
“Toeeeng!”
What if the wolves heard him and came? I flicked Keyto’s ears, and he curled up and sank down.
“Good. I’ll bring the obelisk, so guard it well until then. If you use the traps to defeat the wolves one by one, it’ll be easy to defeat them.”
“Toeeeng…”
“Answer me.”
“I understand…”
Okay. This should keep them safe for a while even if I’m not here. Keyto’s power is like a god’s, especially in a situation like this where anything could collapse at any moment.
I just hope he doesn’t do anything reckless.
‘You dare speak to me like that, even though you know my power? I am a god now? Hmph. Here, have a taste of the rabbit god!’
I need to fix his attitude.
The ceiling tilted and tried to hit my head. I reached out and touched the ceiling. Keyto’s power was ‘maintaining the triggers,’ and by intentionally releasing it, he could activate the traps.
That meant that I, who had stolen Keyto’s unique magic, could also maintain the triggers. It was limited to what I had touched, though.
Keyto, who had been imagining me suffering, muttered in confusion at the unmoving ceiling.
“Toeng? Why isn’t it working?”
“Don’t do anything useless.”
“Toeeeng!”
I squeezed his head again, and Keyto fell to the ground, whimpering.
“Just because I said I’m a god doesn’t mean I’m an actual god. Get a grip. You’re useful right now, but you’re not strong enough to wipe out the wolves or a human who has mastered ki. If you mess with me, you’ll die.”
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Even gods can die, so why should a magician be so arrogant? Keyto answered with tears in his eyes.
“Y-yes…”
‘You said you’d make me a god! What kind of god can’t even handle a flick to the forehead!?’
I had given him a whip, so now it was time for a carrot. I encouraged Keyto.
“Anyway, you hold the lives of those who enter this trap in your hands. You may not be the god of the world, but you hold the lives of the Ende people.”
“Lives…!”
Is it an Ende trait for their eyes to change when they hold power? His eyes were flickering strangely.
No, it must just be a human trait. Anyway, this solved one problem. Now I just had to summon the obelisk and ask it to protect Keyto.
Keyto had to stay alive so I could use his unique magic.
“Then I’ll be going.”
“Wait. Magician! How do I get out of here…”
I didn’t have to answer him. I was in a hurry.
I used earth magic to soften the ground. I turned the solid wall into a card and slipped out. With Keyto’s unique magic, I didn’t have to worry about it collapsing. It would hold back the collapse for a while.
Wolves. Wolves that couldn’t read minds were a bit scary.
“Ah. I found it.”
After sliding down the floor for a while, I found a brown club half-wedged into a large rock in the darkness. I grabbed the handle of the club. It felt heavy, but when I applied force, I was able to lift it without much difficulty.
The javelin that the regressor had thrown. He had said it would be difficult to retrieve right away. Then I’ll just borrow it for a while.”Excuse me. I need to write something.”
It would be difficult for me, who lacks stamina, to use Chi-gong with Jizan. However, a club with the weight of Mount Tai is a fearsome weapon in itself.
As I swung Jizan around once, the ground above my head split like tofu and poured down. A wolf that had been buried somewhere with the rocks also fell. I made eye contact with the wolf that shook its body to dust off the dirt.
“It’s fate that we met here like this. Why don’t we put our differences aside for a moment and join forces to find an exit?”
“Grrr.”
“Become my dog. Like you used to be.”
“Kuhung!”
The wolf immediately bared its teeth and charged. I guess we’re fighting. I was a little slow to react because I couldn’t read its mind. I stepped back a little and thrust Jizan toward the wolf’s face.
As the moist stick approached its eyes, the wolf bit Jizan cleanly. As if it was trying to crush me with the club, it kicked the ground with its hind legs and charged even more.
“Does this look like dog food to you? Yes. Eat it without a trace.”
However, Jizan does not budge from the wolf’s strength. The wolf’s eyes widened in surprise at the heavy feeling in its mouth. The wolf’s body bounced as if it had been caught on a thread.
I quickly grabbed Jizan with both hands and turned it like a directional key. The wolf’s neck, which was holding Jizan, also turned around. The wolf realized that it had bitten the wrong thing and opened its mouth, but I pushed it in further so that it wouldn’t come out.
“Once you open a dog food, there’s no return.”
Quadduck. The wolf paid dearly for putting something inedible in its mouth. The teeth caught on Jizan broke into pieces. I threw the wolf, which was writhing in pain, to the floor. I tried to crush it with Jizan, but the wolf escaped with surprising agility at the last moment.
“That’s why you have to choose what you eat, okay? Oh, now that all your teeth are gone, you have no choice but to eat it.”
“Auuu-!”
“I won’t play with bad kids who don’t listen.”
Keyuma, Miss Goldberg. I, who had stolen Keyuma from Kito, searched for the trigger that was sleeping under my feet. As I put Jizan in the crack of the rock and twisted it, the crack grew larger and the ground split in half. The ground where the wolf was standing lost its support and tilted obliquely.
“Goodbye. Let’s meet again in the next life.”
The wolf, which had lost all its teeth, was thrown down below with the pile of dirt. I could have chased after it, but what if a toothless beast crawls up through the dirt and rocks and attacks me? That would be a shame.
I, who had gotten rid of the wolf’s threat, used the poison technique. Hundreds of people trapped underground, obelisks and beast warriors caught in the aftermath. And other humans who sided with the wolf king. The thoughts and desires of thousands of people flowed into me.
I gauged the direction and checked for hazards. I held up Jizan and gauged the direction.
Jigongryu? I don’t have such a great technique. I lamented my weak strength and wielded Jizan ignorantly. My lack of strength is made up for by Jizan. Even if I swing it around roughly, rocks break and the ground collapses, creating a large tunnel in front of me.
It’s nice not to have to worry about collapsing. After walking through the ground for quite a while, I finally reached out Jizan toward the crack in the rock where the bright light was shining. A rock the size of a house bounced up like a toy, and the bright sky spread out before me.
It’s nice to see the sunlight after a long time. As I came out slowly, I saw the obelisks and the watermen screaming and prostrating themselves on the ground. Well, it’s not right to treat someone like a ghost when they’ve barely escaped.
Sapien, who was commanding the obelisk, found me and approached me.
“You…! Magician!”
“Wow. It’s nice to see your face after barely escaping through the darkness.”Sapien seemed to welcome me in a different sense. He reached out as if he wanted to grab me by the neck and shouted.
“Who are you using as bait! Do you know what will happen if Thea gets hurt?!”
“Then follow this path quickly. The ground is about to collapse. You’re the only one who can save her.”
“Don’t just talk, guide me!”
“I can’t. I have to go do something more important right now.”
“Something more important?”
If it’s that important, you can guard the noble from the empire. I have to go do something else.
Even amidst the chaos where humans and wolves were buried in the forest, the noise could still be heard. I answered as I walked towards it.
“I’m keeping my promise.”