I watched as tendrils of smoke emerged from my arm to envelop the dagger I held in my hand; I felt a chill and discomfort,
but I also felt great joy at having finally assimilated the workings of Malice—something I'd been trying to achieve ever since I'd discovered it by chance. But my smile quickly faded when the wolf leaped at me again; I'd lost my focus for a few seconds due to the sense of accomplishment from the assimilation. Krax grabbed me by my clothes and shoved me to his right, saving me for the second time that night.
"Don't get distracted, do you want to die?"
"I need a good angle to stab him with the dagger"
"It won't work; he moves too fast, even if you land a hit"
"No, just once will be enough"
— Krax smiled and shook his head. Using his sword for support, he stood up again to face the animal head-on. You could see his legs trembling, his eyes exhausted, and the blood overflowing from his wounds. Even so, he attacked the wolf with his sword thrust forward, The wolf easily dodged the attack, returning the assault as it sank its teeth into his waist. Krax let out a scream that startled the birds nearby, dropping his sword to try to grab it. The wolf wouldn't let him; it broke free, letting itself fall to the ground, while Krax, already exhausted, was passing out —
"Thank you"
— Oberon emerged from behind Krax, leaping headfirst toward the wolf that was about to hit the ground. In that brief moment when the animal was helpless in midair, Oberon didn't waste the opportunity, managing to grab it and put it in a chokehold, The wolf thrashed frantically, preventing Oberon from holding it properly, to the point that it bit his forearm a second time. Oberon didn't scream; he only let out a slight groan before raising the dark dagger he held in his hand. He bit his lip, his eyebrows furrowed, and his gaze fixed solely on the animal pinned beneath him. In a single motion, he plunged the dagger into the wolf's skull. The wolf let out a cry of despair. Hearing no response, it bit down again, even more fiercely, even as its head bled. Meanwhile, Oberon's pupils were constricted in an intense stare; he hadn't blinked once since he'd had the wolf in his arms.
The color of the black smoke tentacles reaching toward the dagger embedded in the wolf was intensifying, becoming more and more visible, until at one point the sound of shattering glass was heard.
The wolf's eyes opened wide for an instant, relaxing its jaws and releasing Oberon's forearm —
I sighed, finally, when I pulled the dagger embedded in the wolf's skull out; I saw that it was completely broken. I used Malice to reinforce it more and more until it couldn't take it anymore and exploded from the inside, scattering all its pieces inside the wolf's head. To tell the truth, I wasn't sure if it would work; if the dagger had been of better quality, I would surely have lost my forearm.
"Finally, that was intense, and quite… oh my head, it hurts so much"
To my eyes, it looked as if the world were spinning like a whirlwind; my head hurt horribly, and when I fell to the ground, I could see that Krax's sword had taken on its usual color. That's when I realized what that chill I'd been feeling meant, and I passed out just as Kaelen was returning.
"No way, how did you end up in this state?"
— Kaelen wasn't exactly in the best physical condition either; you could see bite marks and scratches all over his body, from his calf to his cheek. Still, compared to his two companions lying on the ground, you could say he was a lucky man.
He picked them up, slinging Kaelen and his sword over his back and carrying Oberon—who was the lightest—in his arms.
And in an instant, he began to run, plunging deep into the forest at top speed—the fastest he could go in his physical condition while carrying two wounded men. His nose kept twitching; he was searching for something or someone —
"This way"
— He turned left, dodging every tree. You could see how well Kaelen adapted to his surroundings even in the worst conditions; he was fast and elusive, dodging every obstacle with great ease, as if he had a map of the area. His yellowish eyes must have given him vision that ordinary people didn't have; that, combined with his keen sense of smell, made him a great tracker.
Following his nose as if he were hunting his dinner, he didn't pause even once; his companions were in dire straits, and there was no time for that.
The clues were faint: broken leaves, trees with fewer fruits, and, of course, the fading scent. He kept running like that for quite a while, until finally, he came upon a campfire.
He was surprised to see nothing but the wood burning in the fire and an open tent. He scanned the area in all directions, moving cautiously. After a brief moment, he knelt down, placing his companions on the grass beside the campfire, and scanned the ground for traces of a presence that had been there. just then he heard footsteps coming toward him; standing up again, waiting to see who would come through the bushes in front of him, a slight relaxation of his jaw muscle was noticeable upon seeing the person standing before him—it was a woman as tall as the staff she held in her hand, about five feet seven, perhaps shorter; her hair was golden blonde, parted in the middle, though one could say her beauty was above average, the enormous round glasses she wore did her no justice, nor did her clothes, which seemed too big for her—an open-fronted tunic that revealed layers beneath and reached all the way to her feet. The woman stood frozen, staring intently at the man in front of her by the campfire,
but when she began to lower her gaze and realized there were two bloodied men who looked more dead than alive beside the fire, she took a slight step back before reaching into her pocket.
"No, wait!!!"
— The woman didn't listen; it was the middle of the night, deep in the forest, and standing before her was a terrifying man with what appeared to be two corpses beside him. She began to pull out a metal ball, but before she could fully do so, Kaelen leaped at her, upon seeing Kaelen's eyes, she let out a scream that could be heard even by the birds flying meters above them, fainting on the spot —.