Chapter 82: Killing the Wolf (Part 2)

Dean, who rolled out of the tomb passage, the moment his back stuck to the metal ground, the flying knife already clenched tightly in his left hand immediately shot out—

Whoosh!

Ding!

The flying knife, aimed at the Alpha Wolf’s right eye, did not hit the target as wished; however, it made the pursuing Alpha Wolf shrink back into the depths of the tomb passage once again.

Scanning the dark environment where the opponent was located, Dean could not help but purse his lips—

“Tsk, nicely done, one more time!”

As his voice fell, Dean rushed into the tomb passage once again.

And the result afterwards was no different from the previous result; in fact, five or six times in a row, Dean faced such a result.

However, Dean was not discouraged in the slightest; on the contrary, he became more and more active.

After all, all of this was proceeding according to his plan.

Especially when, due to the injuries on its body and its Stamina, that Alpha Wolf retreated further into the depths of the tomb, to a position where there was almost no light, Dean considered his plan half successful.

As for the remaining half?

The [Knight Sword of Steel] temporarily replaced the Longsword of the Central Knight Order at Dean’s waist, and then, that Repeating Hand Crossbow appeared in Dean’s hand.

Then, Dean walked towards the tomb passage with an attitude more cautious than before.

If the previous times could be considered as ‘maneuvers’ where retreat was possible, then this time it was ‘actual combat’ that required one-on-one fighting.

As for retreating again?

Undoubtedly, it was possible, but it would cause everything done before to fall short of success.

And it would require using some items that Dean did not want to use for the time being—for example: those two Magic Scrolls.

Regarding these two Magic Scrolls, Dean thought they should be kept for more dangerous moments, rather than like now, when the situation and terrain were all on his side.

An Alpha Wolf similar to the one in Hagaslo was naturally incredibly powerful for the current Dean, and for a considerable period of time, such power would not change.

But, this was only true for a complete, undamaged Alpha Wolf.

If it was an injured one, especially an Alpha Wolf that was not lightly injured, it was obviously not the case.

Moreover, the opponent, who excelled in speed and agility, was restricted in a tomb passage that was only nine feet wide, similar in height, and filled with traps.

In such an environment, the situation was undoubtedly extremely unfavorable for the opponent.

Therefore, Dean occupied the advantage of the situation and terrain.

As for the human element?

If the previous Metal Puppet counted, then naturally, he occupied that as well.

Tap, tap, tap…

Dean moved forward step by step.

That Alpha Wolf was deeper into the tomb passage than Dean had imagined, almost close to the trap area, or even simply entered the trap area—such a situation was undoubtedly dangerous.

But for the Alpha Wolf, it was not that unfavorable; on the contrary, it added an extra layer of security.

After all, with the Alpha Wolf’s agility, at the moment it touched a trap, there was still room to dodge.

And Dean?

He would obviously be left with a tragic memory.

However, regarding this, Dean smiled indifferently—in fact, he had no intention of getting close there; holding a Repeating Hand Crossbow in his hand instead of a Longsword was the best proof.

At a position about thirty feet away from the trap area, Dean stopped his steps.

He lowered his body and reduced his breathing.

Using a lurking posture commonly used by Thieves, he made his hiding more skillful—although, doing this had a minimal effect against the Alpha Wolf in front of him, Dean did not skip doing it just because the effect was reduced.

After his sight gradually adapted to the Darkness, he began to search for that Alpha Wolf.

And very quickly, within the trap area, Dean found the opponent’s figure.

The opponent had no intention of dodging at all, just sitting upright on a safe floor tile within the trap area, waiting for Dean to appear.

“Using traps to limit my frequent retreats…”

Dean glanced at the position where the opponent was located, and after comparing it with the positions of the traps in his memory, he immediately understood what this Alpha Wolf wanted to do.

However, the opponent’s action made the corners of Dean’s mouth rise slightly.

The opponent wanted to limit his movements and chose an environment surrounded by traps with only a safe spot in the middle—undoubtedly, although his movements were restricted in such an environment, the opponent’s movements were also restricted in the same way.

And for Dean, who was holding a Repeating Hand Crossbow, this was naturally good news.

After all, in order to maximize the power of the Hand Crossbow before, Dean had thought of several sets of combat methods.

Although the Hand Crossbow was not a truly fatal move.

However, this did not hinder Dean’s idea of making the best use of everything—

Whoosh, whoosh!

Two crossbow bolts shot out instantly after Dean pulled the trigger.

Ding!

Whoosh!

The first one shot onto the floor where the Alpha Wolf was originally hovering, returning without success; while the second arrow grazed the Alpha Wolf’s body, bringing up some broken fur and scattered Blood—although the Alpha Wolf was jumping in the air and had already completed the dodge, it had undoubtedly misjudged Dean’s archery, and… the shortness and rapid-fire nature of the Hand Crossbow bolts.

Of course, as two arrows for testing and forcing the enemy, being able to achieve such a degree, Dean already felt satisfied.

After all, the key point still lay on the third arrow—

Whoosh!

The sound of the arrow breaking through the air rang out again.

Awoo!

The Alpha Wolf, which had not yet fully landed, let out a roar from its throat full of unwillingness and anger—being able to dodge once in the air did not mean it could dodge a second time.

Perhaps, in its complete state, a second dodge would be nothing for this Alpha Wolf.

But, with several wounds on its body deep enough to show bone, especially the injury on its leg, which affected its own agility, this was already the limit of the Alpha Wolf.

Therefore, facing the third arrow, the Alpha Wolf had nowhere to hide.

Thud!

The arrow hit the target, but only the front part less than an inch sank into the Alpha Wolf’s body, and the remaining part of the arrow was exposed outside—an arrow capable of penetrating leather armor could only shoot into this Alpha Wolf less than an inch deep, which showed how tough the Alpha Wolf’s skin and flesh were.

If not for the previous battle with the Metal Puppet, where it suffered heavy injuries.

At this moment, Dean would have almost no solution.

Clearly, a Fierce Beast approaching the Silver Level, even without undergoing the human ‘Knight’s Baptism’, possessed its own uniqueness.

However, right now, this Alpha Wolf completely ignored its ability that it used to be proud of. Having landed on the safe floor, its green eyes were staring dead at Dean, who had already turned around and ran.

Aro!

With a howl, the Alpha Wolf leaped into the air and pounced towards this damned human again—although it only scratched some fur, the numbness coming from the wound made this Alpha Wolf even more angry; although there was no rule against using poison in the fights within the Wolf Pack.

However, the Alpha Wolf understood that it was already seriously injured, and after being invaded by poison, it no longer had the ability to continue fighting with the opponent.

It had to end the battle quickly.

Therefore, the Alpha Wolf pounced towards Dean somewhat recklessly.

Even if that was the direction leading to that metal Square.

Clearly, even if injured again, the Alpha Wolf had to tear Dean apart under its claws—

“Ai!”

A low shout suddenly came from the mouth of Dean, who was ‘fleeing in panic’, and then, Dean’s original forward rushing posture paused, and in the next moment, he turned his body.

He became face-to-face with the Alpha Wolf pouncing in the air.

On his raised palm, at the base of his finger, the [Crimson Ring] was emitting a red glow, and that glow almost instantly condensed.

Boom!

A fireball with a volume far exceeding an ordinary one, about the size of a basketball, just sprayed out from the Ring.

It shot straight at the Alpha Wolf pouncing in mid-air.

Awoo!

Feeling the light and heat on the fireball, the Alpha Wolf immediately let out a terrified whine, but it, having exerted all its strength, could not dodge at this moment.

It could only watch helplessly as the fireball got closer and closer, until finally—

Boom!

A loud explosion echoed in this tomb passage, a wave of air drove up the dust on the ground, and the scorching Flame raged everywhere.

Within a radius of 20 feet, it completely became a sea of fire.

Pop, pop, pop…

Although after firing the fireball, Dean had tried his best to dodge, he was still brushed by the flames of the fire, forcing him to pat out these flames that stained his body.

Of course, compared to Dean’s slight contamination, which only needed patting to extinguish the flames.

The Alpha Wolf, located at the very center of the explosion of this fireball far exceeding the ordinary [Fireball], had most of its body completely turned into a charred state, and its life aura had completely disappeared—although its body was not torn apart by the explosion, within the narrow scope of the tomb passage, the heat of the Flame and the shock of the continuous explosion had long since shattered all its internal organs.

A white light ball slightly larger than an egg floated up and merged into Dean’s body—

[XP+150]