Volume 3, Chapter 24 – The Undying Beast

“It has arrived, it seems.”

Shizuku-san smoothly stood up, fastened her sword to her waist, and headed outside.

Chris-san followed, then Lu-chan, and finally me.

Night had fallen over Fu Yie Village, and the moonlight quietly illuminated the village.

I heard that since the beast attacks began, not a single villager dared to leave their home at night, leaving the village eerily silent.

A single large wolf was prowling through the center of the village.

“Indeed, it is a grey wolf shrouded in black mist, it is.”

“It’s large, but other than that, it looks no different from an ordinary wolf.”

“Eh? Are wolves usually that big? Isn’t that thing about the same height as Lu-chan?”

“Muu, Onee-sama, you aren’t that much taller than me!”

“Fufu. But I am taller, after all.”

Since Shizuku-san and Chris-san are tall, I have to look up at them, but Lu-chan only reaches about as high as my forehead.

“Fiene-sama, Lumia. Here it comes.”

Chris-san cautioned us as we continued to banter.

“I shall handle this.”

With those words, Shizuku-san leaped forward and severed the wolf’s head in a single strike. The wolf collapsed on the spot.

“Shizuku-san. Masterfully done.”

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Shizuku-san maintained her stance before sheathing her blade.

“Grrrrr…”

“Eh?”

The severed head let out a growl, and the headless torso began to walk.

The moment the body touched the head, they were enveloped in black mist, and in the next instant, the wolf was restored as if nothing had happened.

“What!?”

“Shizuku-san! Look out!”

The wolf charged at Shizuku-san at breakneck speed.

“In that case, I shall simply crush its head.”

Timing her move with the wolf’s charge, Shizuku-san unleashed a flurry of iaijutsu slashes too fast for the eye to see.

In the next moment, the wolf’s head was hacked into pieces and crumbled away.

Just how many strikes did she land to make it that fragmented?

Having lost its head, the wolf’s body seemed to lose its target; it slammed into the fence of a nearby house and came to a halt.

“Did we get it?”

Ah, Chris-san just said the forbidden line.

“Chris-san, there’s a rule that whenever you say that line, it means you haven’t actually gotten it.”

“I-Is that so?”

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And sure enough, the headless wolf stood back up.

The bleeding neck was enveloped in a black mist, and with a disgusting, squelching sound, the head regenerated.

“Grrrrr…”

“What? Fiene-sama, what on earth is that thing?”

“How am I supposed to know?”

“Enough! If it regenerates, then we shall simply wound it beyond the point of recovery. Chris-dono!”

“Understood. Fiene-sama!”

“Yes, yes. I’ll protect myself.”

Chris-san leaped at the wolf.

Together with Shizuku-san, the two of them launched a one-sided assault, turning the eerie wolf into a mangled lump of meat.

“Surely it can’t revive after this,” Chris-san muttered.

The moment she said it, the lump of meat was enveloped in black mist, and in the next instant, an unscathed wolf was glaring at the two of them.

“Wha—what is this!?”

“Purification!”

I decided to blast it with Purification Magic for the time being. If I could erase that black mist, I’d be golden.

My Purification Magic hit the wolf, enveloping its form in a light of purification.

I felt something like a slight reaction, but not the distinct feeling I get when a purification is fully successful.

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As expected, the wolf emerged from the light without a scratch, growling at us.

Apparently, I am the next target.

The wolf let out a roar and charged toward me.

“Defense Wall!”

I used a barrier to stop the wolf’s charge. Unable to avoid the wall that suddenly appeared before its eyes, the wolf slammed head-first into my barrier magic.

It let out a yelp and crashed to the ground in a twisted position.

Its front right leg and neck were bent in directions they definitely shouldn’t have been.

“Grrrrr…”

Even so, it glared at me, attempting to stand. I felt something terrifying dwelling in those eyes—something like madness, or perhaps hatred.

“Take this!”

Lu-chan fired an arrow.

The wolf, likely hindered by its broken leg, couldn’t dodge properly, and the arrow pierced its rump.

Immediately, a white, smoke-like vapor began to hiss from the wound.

“Lumia, the arrows infused with Fiene-sama’s Purification Magic are working! It’s just like those Lesser Vampires in Tukat! Keep firing those arrows!”

Chris-san shouted instructions to Lu-chan, who immediately readied a second shot.

Sensing a bad omen, I quietly erected a barrier between myself and Lu-chan.

Clang!

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The arrow aimed at me bounced off the barrier.

See? I knew the Friendly Fire was coming. I think I’m starting to get the timing down.

“Lu-chan, don’t worry about me, just keep shooting!”

“Y-Yes!”

Lu-chan fired arrow after arrow, and each one hit home.

Once the wolf had turned into something like a giant hedgehog, it stopped moving entirely.

After a while, the carcass gradually turned black, then crumbled into dust and vanished in the wind.

“I cannot believe it, it is.”

“I wonder what happened…”

“It means that while Fiene-sama’s direct Purification Magic didn’t work, the Purification Magic infused into Lumia’s arrows did…”

“Hmm, I wonder why. If Purification Magic doesn’t work, it shouldn’t be Undead…”

“And since it left no magic stone, it is not a monster either.”

“Hmm, I don’t really get it, but why don’t we just fight with the weapons Onee-sama enchanted for us?”

What exactly was that mysterious wolf shrouded in black mist? The night deepened, leaving the question unanswered.

Translator Note

I just realized, Fiene stopped using the “Kukkoro” nickname to call Chris.