Earth's SSS Pornstar to SSS Combat God in Another World-Chapter 15: Escaping the Initial Pursuit

The dire wolves held them in a ring of teeth and fur, a count of twenty bodies breathing steam into the cold air.

Joji let his mind spin, until a plan clicked into place.

"Alaric. Follow my movements. I will make an opening."

Alaric swallowed and nodded.

"I’ll back you up. Go."

Wind took Joji. Lightness of the Wind Art flooded his arms and legs at full force.

He vanished into the wolves’ encirclement, leaving only an afterimage, too fast for the dire wolves to see.

He planted his feet, bent his knees, and drove both palms forward.

Protectorate Barrier Wind Arts burst out as a green wall and shoved the wolves sideways.

Weeds and mud sprayed. The beasts stumbled, paws scrabbling for purchase.

Alaric did not waste it.

Three arrows sang in one breath, burying into fur and skull as the wolves dropped dead.

Three bodies hit the ground almost together, one yelping once, then going quiet.

Joji dashed again and hit the next knot of four wolves, shoulder low, using the wall for a momentary stun.

Alaric had already drawn. This time he loosed four arrows at once, as fast as fingers could feed the string.

Four wolves folded, rolling in the grit, legs kicking, then still.

The ring broke. The air changed. Fear cut through the stink of wet fur.

Only the pack leader stayed upright.

It was horse sized, scarred across the muzzle, eyes too calm.

It did not rush. It read them.

Alaric aimed for its chest. The arrow flew.

The leader dipped, and the shaft sliced fur instead of flesh.

That was battle experience. Trained, not an instinctive move of a wild beast.

"I’ll try to get a hold of it," Joji said.

Joji lunged, hand out, trying to seize the beast by the tail or hind legs.

The wolf twisted away with a dancer. His grip closed on air.

Alaric cursed. His barrage was off by a bit, and he had thought Joji would catch it.

Ten arrows were infused with Emerald Blade Wind Art. The air hissed around them, green edges singing.

The wolf pack leader moved nimbly, almost laughing in the way it carried itself, but five shafts still found meat.

Blood darkened its flank. It growled, then bolted into the scrub and the dark forest beyond.

Joji did not chase. Neither of them used another art. Aura did not come out of thin air. It came out of one’s body.

Walter stayed hidden using his ghillie suit, and watched the last wolf die. Steam rose from torn mouths.

The air stank of wet fur and iron. His fingers would not stop trembling, even with both hands locked together.

Close. It was too close for comfort. He thought he was going to die.

Twenty of them. If that was what his guards would have faced on the road.

There would have been screams.

There would have been bodies.

Joji and Alaric did it like it was work. Fast. Measured. Stingy with whatever power they called aura.

Walter felt admiration rise in his chest. Still, he hated how much he needed them. For being useless.

Joji looked back, and motioned him in with two fingers.

"Let us go. We have to hurry."

They moved on, boots scuffing over roots and frozen leaves. Walter clung to Joji’s neck.

The main path fell away behind them. Joji took them deeper into the trees, where branches knitted overhead and the moonlight turned thin.

Walter could hear the creek somewhere to the right, water sliding over stone.

Every sound made his skin tighten. Every shadow looked like another ambush.

Then the ground began to rise, not a true hill, just a swell of earth that promised a better view.

"Up there," Joji said. "We check where we are."

"Agreed," Alaric said.

When they reached the top, the wind found them.

Below, in the dark folds of the forest, small orange points winked.

Campfires. Not one. Several. Dim, careful flames.

Alaric’s brow furrowed.

"Those might be monster settlements."

Walter swallowed. Monsters meant stories that ended with violence and fighting. Again.

Alaric squinted, then shook his head once.

"Some monsters gather. They cook. They talk. They make rules." His voice went flat at the end, like he did not like admitting it.

"Or it is hunters. Or bandits. Or your imagination," he added.

Joji leaned forward like he meant to move right then.

"We check it out."

Alaric caught his sleeve.

"Too dangerous. We still have Mister Walter with us."

Walter flinched at hearing his name spoken like a weight. He was aware of it already.

He had been a burden in every step since they met.

Still his mind would not stop searching for a way to matter.

He cleared his throat. The sound was small, but both men turned. Walter forced himself not to look away.

"Sirs," he said, and his voice cracked once before it steadied.

"I have a proposition. If those scoundrels are hunting us, they already know your faces. The best we can do is make new ones. Disguise."

Joji’s eyes narrowed. Alaric said nothing. Both listened. That alone felt like a gift. Walter rushed before courage ran out.

"I can make costumes," he said. "I sew. It is a hobby."

Heat crawled up his neck. He hated that he blushed at a moment like this, but he could not stop it.

"Not normal clothes. Entertaining ones."

Alaric blinked.

"Entertaining?"

Walter nodded too fast.

"For festivals and... Hehe. Prank purposes."

"I hid in my father’s study once, dressed as a beast, and pounced on him. I still remember his face."

Joji barked a laugh, surprised and loud in the cold. Alaric laughed too, shorter, like it pained him.

"I could imagine that," Joji said, still grinning.

Then his gaze slid over Alaric’s outfit, the light fabric with the chest cut too open. Frilly lace along the edges. Joji’s smile turned mean, disgusted even.

"And look at you, I wouldn’t be surprised if some brothel got you wanted for jacking their escorts clothes." 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Alaric’s ears went red. He wiped his mouth and pointed at Joji with one gloved finger.

"These clothes feel good on the skin. I am for comfort. Is that so wrong?"

Walter almost smiled. Almost. Then the fires below came back to him.

Joji saw Walter ready to speak and quit joking.

"So," Joji said, grin fading, "what do you need?"

Walter forced his mind back to craft and away from fear.

"We cannot use wolf hide," he said. "If they were tamed, the leader could track their scent."

"We need hard leather that takes shape fast. Ogre skin. Crocodile skin. Anything like it."

Alaric squinted down at the fires again.

"And where do we find that, quickly?"

Joji pointed through the trees, where the water thickened.

"That wide river over there. We try our luck."

"Agreed," Walter said, and heard the shake in his own voice.

They climbed down from the swell and vanished into the trees.