[City of Argus]
Pyrrha didn't understand what had just happened.
Where were her clothes? Why was she riding a horse costume, and why was she now wearing what looked like a dominatrix leather outfit?
Those were the questions running through her mind as her hands flew to her body, whether to cover herself or because she still couldn't believe any of this was real.
But the moment she did, she froze in shock after feeling metal beneath her fingers.
Quickly, she ran her hands over her body, earning a disgusted expression from the huntress and a raised eyebrow from the horse costume, both of whom seemed to think Pyrrha was enjoying the feeling of leather against her skin.
The truth was far less strange… or at least that's what she wanted to believe. In reality, Pyrrha was only checking to make sure she was still wearing all of her armor, even if she couldn't see it.
"It's an illusion…," she quickly deduced, realizing the horse costume was actually the wolf using some kind of illusion on both of them. At this point, she wasn't even surprised anymore that the wolf had illusion abilities.
"But why a dominatrix outfit?!" she thought in frustration, trying to understand who the hell had taught him to do something like this.
A shiver ran through her body as she imagined what kind of degenerate had taught him that… and even worse, for what reasons. Thank God she didn't have time to keep thinking about those possible reasons before the huntress spoke up again, pulling her out of her thoughts.
"Girl, you'd better go home, and don't let me catch you walking around like that again," the huntress said as she started walking away, heading back toward the rest of the hunters who were already preparing to storm the restaurant.
Seeing her leave, Pyrrha hurried to stop her. "No, wait!" she shouted, making the woman turn around. "I'm Pyrrha Nikos!"
The huntress' eyes widened for a moment in recognition, but her expression quickly returned to normal.
"Hahaha… you do look a little alike. You almost fooled me for a second, girl…," she replied, pointing a finger toward the restaurant behind her. "But Pyrrha Nikos is inside that restaurant fighting a mutated wolf."
Pyrrha quickly pointed at the horse costume. "That's the wolf!" she said desperately. "He put some kind of illusion on both of us!"
The huntress took her words into consideration for a moment before looking at the horse costume, which stared back at her in complete silence.
"Are you the wolf?" the huntress asked.
The costume nodded several times in a mocking way, lifting one hoof as if to say, "What can you do?"
The huntress could only shake her head repeatedly, unable to believe she had actually taken the girl seriously for even a moment.
"Look, girl…," she whispered, stepping a little closer as her gaze met Pyrrha's. "I was young once too. I understand the pleasure and satisfaction of feeling the sting of leather against your skin from your beloved, but…"
Pyrrha felt like she was going to be sick.
"This is neither the time nor the place…"
Discreetly, the huntress handed over a card, which the horse costume caught with its teeth before Pyrrha could even react.
"...But if you don't mind adding one more," she said with a wink. "You know who to call."
Pyrrha covered her face with both hands in absolute horror as she felt a part of her dignity die forever.
[Restless Hands: The bearer of this ability is more likely to be groped by the opposite sex.]
The huntress smacked the 'horse' on the ass, causing it to start walking away with Pyrrha still on top. The redhead thrashed around wildly, trying to get off while feeling the fake horse calmly trot down the street.
"You have to believe me!" she shouted desperately.
But her pleas were completely useless. The huntress ignored her cries as she kept walking farther away, returning to the rest of the hunters. The last thing Pyrrha managed to see was the hunters finally storming into the restaurant.
"Noo…," she thought hopelessly, letting her face fall against the fake horse's back.
The wolf never stopped moving, walking at an unhurried pace while drawing glances and whispers from the few people still out on the streets. But Pyrrha no longer cared about the embarrassment. That feeling had completely faded into the background, replaced by frustration, disappointment, and bitter helplessness.
"I couldn't even make him stay still…," she thought sadly.
A single wolf had made a mockery not only of her, but of every hunter in Argus as well.
"Stop…," she growled at the wolf through clenched teeth.
All the effort from everyone involved had turned into a complete disaster while that animal treated the city like its personal playground, completely uncaring about the damage or fear it caused.
"Stop…," she repeated once again.
But the wolf didn't stop.
And worst of all, Pyrrha knew perfectly well that it understood her. It had simply decided to ignore her.
"STOP!"
She shouted as she raised her fist, her aura flaring before she punched the costume's head. The impact snapped the head violently to the side and also caused the wolf to come to an abrupt halt.
It took Pyrrha a moment to realize what she had just done. She looked at her hand, still clenched into a fist, then at the spot she had hit, feeling her face grow paler.
"I'm sorry..."
She tried to apologize, but as she spoke, tiny cracks began spreading from the point where she had struck. The cracks quickly expanded across the entire costume and also over the outfit she was wearing.
And the very next instant...
CRASHH!!!
The entire illusion surrounding them shattered apart like breaking glass, revealing the enormous white wolf once again and restoring Pyrrha's outfit back to her original combat gear.
The wolf, now completely still, slowly turned its head to look at Pyrrha with a very clear expression of annoyance and irritation.
Pyrrha had a very bad feeling about this.
But before she could say or do anything else, the wolf suddenly moved and slipped into a narrow alleyway.
"Where are we going?!" Pyrrha asked in alarm.
The wolf ignored her, and even though it had done that before, this time it felt far more personal.
It had simply grown tired of her presence. At first, playing with her, annoying her, and dragging her all over the city had been entertaining, but over time her constant complaints started wearing it down. And the punch had been the last straw.
It sprinted through the alleyway until it found what it was looking for. Then it accelerated a little more before suddenly coming to a dead stop, completely catching Pyrrha off guard and finally throwing her off its back.
"AHHHH!" she screamed as she went flying several meters before crashing into a wall and falling straight into a large dumpster.
BAM!
Without the slightest trace of respect, the wolf turned its back on her and kicked dirt toward the dumpster with its hind legs. Right after that, it ran off, continuing on its way alone now, though still eager to cause a little more chaos throughout the city.
Pyrrha, who had landed on top of several garbage bags, felt utterly humiliated.
"I don't think I deserved this…," she said in a depressed tone to no one in particular while remaining sprawled among the trash for a few seconds.
For a moment, she considered staying there and letting the actual hunters handle things. After all, she hadn't been able to do anything against the wolf.
But she quickly pushed those thoughts out of her head.
"Stupid wolf…," she cursed as she started climbing back up. "You're not going to make me give up!"
Even if she couldn't defeat it, she refused to quit. Not while someone could still get hurt and she could still do something to stop it.
But just as she finished standing up, a male voice caught her attention.
"That's the spirit."
Pyrrha jolted in surprise. Certain she had been alone inside the dumpster, she tried to find the source of the voice, only stopping when she felt something rapidly crawling up her back until it reached her head.
In an instant, Pyrrha's hands shot upward, trying to remove whatever was on top of her. But the moment she tried, her entire body froze completely, unable to move.
"Let's teach that stupid dog a lesson," the voice laughed.
Right after that, Pyrrha's body straightened and, in one fluid motion, leapt out of the dumpster with an agility so incredible she was sure she couldn't have pulled it off even with her aura active.
"Who are you?!" she asked, slightly frightened as she realized whoever it was now had control over her body.
But she received no answer.
Instead, her body began moving, sprinting out of the alleyway as fast as it could. Almost instinctively, Pyrrha activated her aura and, as a result, her speed didn't just increase… it exploded.
She was shocked by the speed at which her body was running, though she could also feel the cost. Her muscles were being pushed to their absolute limits as she moved.
Without slowing down, her body jumped onto the side of a wall, running along it for several meters before leaping toward another building and continuing until it reached the rooftop.
"I didn't know I could do this…," Pyrrha thought as she helplessly watched her own body move with absolute precision.
She didn't ask where they were going or try to immediately regain control, because she already had a pretty clear idea of what was about to happen. And if this was the price for stopping the wolf, she was willing to allow it.
It didn't take long before she spotted the wolf running through the streets, eventually reaching the plaza of a park. Apparently, the hunters still hadn't managed to find it.
Pyrrha didn't need to say anything. She was sure whoever was controlling her body had already seen it.
The burst of speed confirmed it.
Her body accelerated even further, sprinting across the rooftops until it lined up with the wolf. And the moment it was directly above it, it launched itself downward in a massive leap.
Of course, something like that wouldn't go unnoticed.
Many people managed to witness the scene from the streets and around the park. And the instant they recognized Pyrrha Nikos, several of them immediately pulled out their phones to record what was happening.
As she fell, Pyrrha's body began spinning several times at incredible speed. Even so, she did her best to stay silent, certain the wolf still hadn't noticed her.
And when it finally did, it was already too late.
The wolf looked up only to see Pyrrha's foot extended right in front of it. In less than a second, and before it could react, Pyrrha's heel slammed straight into its back.
The wolf's body violently folded in on itself before being crushed into the ground, followed by a massive impact explosion that cracked the earth beneath them. The sound echoed throughout the entire plaza as a cloud of dust erupted around them.
When the dust finally began to settle, Pyrrha stood several meters away from the flattened wolf.
"Oh my God…," Pyrrha thought. She hadn't expected the hit to be that strong. The wolf was dangerous, yes, but she didn't want to kill it either.
To her slight relief, the wolf moved again. Slowly, it began standing back up while its broken spine, along with several other fractured bones, snapped back into place within seconds, gradually returning to normal and losing that horribly flattened tortilla-like shape.
The moment it finished regenerating, the wolf locked its gaze onto Pyrrha, its eyes widening in recognition. Though not exactly because of her.
It was because of whatever was sitting on top of her head.
Pyrrha desperately wanted to know what exactly she had on her head, but she didn't have time to find out.
At that moment, the wolf began releasing massive amounts of lightning throughout its body, clearly irritated.
[Super-Speed: Allows the user to move at incredible speeds, accompanied by an electric trail.]
Pyrrha would've preferred not to fight. Her puppeteer, on the other hand, seemed to think the exact opposite, slowly raising Pyrrha's arm toward the wolf as if provoking it to attack.
"We don't have to do this!" Pyrrha told the wolf.
But the wolf completely ignored her.
In an instant, it lunged toward her, and faster than Pyrrha could even follow with her eyes, it was already right in front of her with its jaws wide open, ready to snap shut around her body.
To her surprise, her body moved in an unbelievably fluid motion, stepping aside and letting the bite miss by mere centimeters.
Both Pyrrha and the wolf were shocked that she had dodged it. Even more so when Pyrrha's fist slammed straight into the wolf's face, sending it flying several meters backward.
Pyrrha couldn't help glancing at her fist. It hurt, yes, but more importantly… that feeling of superiority felt pretty good.
The wolf didn't stay on the ground for long. It quickly lunged at Pyrrha again with the same brutal speed, using claws and fangs in an attempt to catch her.
Just like before, Pyrrha couldn't truly follow its movements with her eyes. But she didn't need to.
Her body moved effortlessly, dodging every bite and every swipe the wolf threw at her.
The people still recording were stunned. They had never seen a hunter, much less a student, move like that or hit with such terrifying force.
"She's beating it!" one girl said excitedly while filming with her phone.
Her friend shook her head in amusement. "She's not just beating it… she's humiliating it."
The mockery didn't go unnoticed by the wolf, whose eyebrow visibly twitched in irritation.
Its chest quickly expanded and, in a far from subtle attack, it unleashed a thunderous bark accompanied by a violent blast of air.
"WOOF!!"
[Air Cannon: Allows the user to generate walls or blasts of compressed air.]
Pyrrha's body moved quickly, pulling the shield off her back and blocking the first gust of wind, causing her to slide several meters backward without falling.
But the wolf didn't stop.
It continued firing multiple air blasts one after another.
"WOOF! WOOF! WOOF!"
Pyrrha's body endured the second hit, though the impact was already beginning to affect her aura. By the third attack, it chose to move, beginning to circle around the wolf while dodging the wind blasts and searching for the right moment to strike.
And it found it.
With incredible skill, it threw the shield, though not directly at the wolf, but toward a completely different direction.
The attack didn't miss.
While the wolf continued launching blasts of air nonstop, it failed to notice the shield ricocheting off a car, then a wall, and then a mailbox before finally smashing into the side of its head.
The impact distracted it just long enough for Pyrrha's body to rapidly close the distance.
At the same time, after failing to find the wolf inside the restaurant and following the new alerts, the hunters finally arrived at the area. The first thing they saw was Pyrrha charging straight toward the wolf.
They had no intention of standing back and watching the girl kill herself. All of them immediately moved to intervene.
But then they suddenly froze in place.
[Terror Aura: Passive ability that creates psychological pressure capable of paralyzing nearby enemies with fear.]
An overwhelming sensation of fear washed over everyone, freezing them where they stood. Some hunters who had already experienced the effect before recognized the wolf's ability, though this time it was far more intense.
Most of the people present were affected almost instantly, including several hunters. Only those with stronger willpower managed to remain partially steady.
And to everyone's surprise… Pyrrha didn't seem affected in the slightest.
Or rather, her body wasn't affected.
Pyrrha herself was terrified. Absolutely terrified.
The closest comparison she could make to her current situation was being trapped behind the wheel of a car with no brakes speeding straight toward a cliff while being unable to get out.
The wolf didn't stay still while taking advantage of its ability. It lunged directly at Pyrrha, aiming to tear a chunk of flesh off her body.
But before it could reach her, Pyrrha's body bent backward with absurd flexibility, letting the wolf pass right over her. Then it grabbed one of the wolf's legs before it could escape and, using the momentum, straightened itself while spinning before violently slamming the wolf into the ground.
Pyrrha's body tried to repeat the move, but suddenly let go and jumped backward when the wolf's head sharply turned toward her and a violent stream of fire burst from its jaws.
[Inferno: Allows the user to expel continuous streams of fire from their body.]
It barely managed to dodge it.
The wolf recovered quickly again, getting back up almost instantly. It repeated the same attack, charging directly toward her before leaping at her head.
But to everyone's horror… including Pyrrha's own… her body raised its fist.
Except it didn't punch the wolf.
It completely ignored the wolf and punched the empty air to her right.
Some people even shut their eyes, convinced the wolf was about to rip her head off.
But before it could even bite her, the wolf in front of her shattered into thousands of fragments, vanishing like a destroyed illusion.
And at that exact same moment, Pyrrha's fist slammed into the real wolf, which was abruptly forced out of its camouflage after taking the hit.
[Overactive Imagination: Allows the user to create illusions visible to others.]
Many people couldn't understand how she had realized the first wolf wasn't real.
Including Pyrrha herself.
The spectators began cheering excitedly and, seeing that everything seemed under control, several hunters even stopped trying to move in to help.
The wolf, feeling completely humiliated, finally became genuinely angry. It growled loudly, baring its teeth as its body slowly began to grow larger. Fire spread across its fur, steadily increasing the temperature around them, while that aura of fear intensified once more.
People backed away in terror. Even some hunters hesitated for a moment as they felt the pressure crushing them again.
But then, suddenly… nothing.
The fire vanished instantly. The aura of fear disappeared as if it had never existed, and the wolf's growing size quickly returned to normal.
The wolf simply seemed to lose interest.
With complete calmness, it raised its head.
"Awooooooooo!"
It let out a calm howl. And as it did, its body slowly began dissolving into tiny motes of light.
It narrowed its eyes at Pyrrha one last time before disappearing completely.
Everything fell silent.
There was no surprise attack or final ambush. The wolf had simply left.
Pyrrha's body finally gave out at that moment. She collapsed onto her back against the ground, feeling as though her entire body had been torn apart. She was fairly certain that if it hadn't been for her aura, her muscles would have exploded from the strain they had been subjected to.
The people watching from hiding spots, windows, and streets remained in shock for several seconds, just like many of the hunters. Until finally, one person reacted.
"She beat the wolf!"
The shout created a ripple effect through the crowd.
People began cheering excitedly, slowly emerging from their hiding places to surround Pyrrha, while several hunters, though clearly relieved, spread out to make sure the wolf had truly disappeared. Others hurried over to assist Pyrrha, who was dangerously close to complete muscular failure.
And amidst all the commotion, nobody noticed the small mantis shrimp calmly walking through the crowd, weaving between people until it reached a green-haired boy who picked it up and placed it on his shoulder.
"I would've won," Daniel said confidently.
Aegis nodded arrogantly. "Uh-huh… I'm sure you would've."
Daniel gritted his teeth, clearly offended. "I want you to know I didn't even use my best tricks or half my abilities. Besides, I've never fought in wolf form before."
Aegis nodded again, amused. "I'm hearing a lot of excuses, but not many results."
As the two disappeared into the crowd, Pyrrha, who had already been treated by paramedics and surrounded by worried fans, slowly closed her eyes.
"Thank you…," she murmured to whoever had taken control of her body and fought the wolf for her.
She wasn't sure whether that person or being could still hear her, but it didn't matter much. She was still grateful that they had helped keep everyone safe.
Finally, she rested her head against the stretcher, allowing herself to relax for the first time all day, convinced that the worst had already passed.
[The Next Day]
Pyrrha smiled awkwardly while Carolina Cordovin, head of the Argus military base, decorated her in front of an enormous crowd.
"For your bravery in facing the mutated wolf, you are hereby awarded the Medal of Valor," Cordovin declared as she placed the medal on her.
The crowd applauded like crazy.
Her popularity, something she had never truly liked, had skyrocketed even further. The videos recorded during the battle, showing her performing physical feats and combat techniques that didn't actually belong to her, had already spread all over the internet under titles such as:
"The Greatest Huntress in History?" or "The Invincible Girl Lives Up to Her Name."
And all of that had only made her fame grow even more.
Pyrrha could only keep smiling awkwardly at all the people watching her while Caroline held a microphone toward her.
"Do you have a few words for the city you saved?"
Pyrrha tried to be honest. "The truth is, my body moved on its own, I didn't..."
Caroline snatched the microphone away with a huge smile. "What a modest young lady. Her skill is purely instinctive."
Then she immediately started clapping once again, completely preventing Pyrrha from explaining herself.
Pyrrha felt like a fraud.
—//—
Author's Note:
As some of you already know, I don't actually speak English, so if you notice any mistakes, feel free to point them out.
My favorite manhwa is Beautiful New World. Why am I mentioning it? No particular reason, I just felt like saying it.
I thought there'd be more backlash over a bestiality scene, but it turns out I'm surrounded by perverts… good to know.
Nothing else to comment on. The Argus arc will be short; they'll only be there for a few days, so this should wrap up soon.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it…
Kisses and hugs, rats!