Omniscient First-Person’s Viewpoint-Chapter 525: Time of Dogs and Wolves (13)

Azzy had no time to grab hold. Grull had no chance to block its path. Fenrir charged forward in a straight line, pouring its fury onto me.

Reacting after seeing it would be too late. I wouldn’t have been able to see it in the first place. Trusting in the savagery of the wolf, I drew Jizan in sync with the rhythm.

Beneath the ground, a trap lay concealed, spanning over 20 meters in depth. I simultaneously employed earth magic and my unique sorcery to capture Fenrir.

If not for Jizan, if not for the cracks caused by Earth Drop, this trap would have been impossible to create. With my will, I made it move. The earth split open with a deep crack, ready to swallow Fenrir whole. Even the King of Beasts could not stand without solid ground. Fenrir’s body plummeted into the pit.

Just as Fenrir had said, human savagery turns everything into a weapon—whether it be a demon god, an ideology, or even an illusion that does not exist. We sharpen them all into tools for a singular purpose.

As the ground collapsed, Fenrir leapt upward, using the falling debris as footholds. Above it, like a net, tree roots descended. With a simple swipe of its claws, it shredded them apart. When one possesses overwhelming power, tricks are easy to overcome.

And yet, even trivial tricks hold their own advantage.

"Azzy."

I weakly tossed a small pebble into the pit and muttered,

"Fetch."

"Woof!"

Azzy, who had been chasing Fenrir, made a great leap. Fenrir had been delayed momentarily, stepping on falling rocks to ascend. Azzy’s shadow loomed over it.

The two collided in midair. Fenrir, unable to find its next foothold, began to fall in a slow arc.

"Grull, you too. Use the land you’ve chosen."

"But that’s just empty air!"

"Which means the wolf won’t be able to move either."

A place where I struggle to move is also difficult for my opponent. Realizing this, Grull lunged forward. He gritted his teeth as he reached the edge of the pit.

‘If I’m not touching the ground, I can’t stop myself. You’re telling me to throw myself in? Damn magician!’

But being unable to stop also meant he could fall at the same speed as Ground Flattening. The backlash would be immense, but that, too, was an opportunity. Grull instantly expanded the land he had prepared and leapt. A sharp crack resounded beneath his feet like a gunshot. Using physics as a weapon, he gripped two daggers and pierced Fenrir.

"Ah...!"

Fenrir flailed in midair. At this point, its only choice was how it would take the hit. In desperation, it twisted its body. The dagger aimed at its neck missed slightly and pierced its shoulder instead. Grull’s massive frame drove Fenrir against the opposite wall.

Even as the daggers dug deeper, Fenrir lashed out with its arms and legs. With no place to evade in midair, Grull took the full force of the strike and was hurled 10 meters downward, crashing into the ground.

The enemy was repelled, but Fenrir had suffered a critical wound from the qi-infused attack. With blades embedded in its shoulder, there was no way it could move properly.

Even in midair, Fenrir’s first instinct was to remove the dagger from its shoulder.

By then, I had already aimed.

The human hand and shoulder exist to wield tools. The first weapons in history were stones and sticks, and throwing them was the only way they were used. So, I employed the god of weapons in its most primitive form.

Jizan spun through the air as I hurled it with all my strength.

In empty space, there was nowhere to dodge.

Especially not while struggling with a dagger stuck in its shoulder.

Jizan struck Fenrir and embedded itself deep into the opposite wall.

Unlike a regressor’s absurd qi attacks, Jizan doesn’t break the ground upon impact. But anything caught beneath it doesn’t matter. A mountain doesn’t concern itself with the small creatures trapped beneath it.

Even if that creature is the King of Beasts.

"Keheeng!"

Jizan crushed Fenrir. It didn’t matter if the opponent was the King of Beasts—Jizan did not stop until it reached the ground. Fenrir’s body, caught between Jizan and the earth, was compressed.

Had it been a human, they might have shattered the ground to escape instead of resisting the weapon itself... but expecting such adaptability from a wolf was asking too much.

Jizan finally bounced off the wall after driving Fenrir halfway into it, as if embedding it in stone. Cracks radiated outward from the impact. With a tremendous boom, the wall crumbled.

Dust and debris filled the deep pit. Below, Azzy and Grull kept their hackles raised, watching the rubble intently. From within the dust, Fenrir’s low growl still echoed.

"Awooo...!"

"Give it up, wolf. The fight is over."

But after this long battle, the end was finally in sight. Fenrir’s figure emerging from the dust was pitiful. The dagger still embedded in its shoulder twisted with every slight movement, worsening the wound. One arm was visibly crushed. Its balance was off, making its steps unsteady.

Even in this state, it could still tear through hundreds of humans in an instant. But its opponents now were Azzy and Grull—monsters that even a fully healthy Fenrir couldn’t defeat easily.

We had won.

Sensing victory, Grull spoke.

"For the name of the King of Wolves, that was too easy a victory. You played a major role, magician."

"You took too long preparing your Ground Flattening, so of course it was easy. I almost died, you know."

"It was the best strategy to ensure victory. You knew that. And you don’t look too worse for wear to be complaining."

"I almost died multiple times! You just jumped in at the last moment. The one who set the table is me."

"Not yet. The most important piece of work remains."

Strictly speaking, I was the one who stalled for time and practically killed Fenrir myself. But Grull, filled with ambition, gripped his last remaining dagger in a reverse grip and approached Fenrir.

"A wounded beast is dangerous. Stay back. I’ll finish this."

"You just want to land the final blow yourself...."

Grull grinned and held his dagger tight as he approached Fenrir, whose bared teeth glinted with defiance. But then, Azzy suddenly stepped forward. Wearing the broken half of a crown atop her head, she walked toward Fenrir as if entranced.

"The promise was kept. Thank you, human."

Unaccustomed to being called a human, Grull hesitated before responding.

"...Was that meant for me?"

"Yes. You too."

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

"I appreciate it. But I fought only to survive. Our intentions just happened to align."

"Still, gratitude is gratitude."

Having expressed her thanks, Azzy continued toward Fenrir. Grull, who had been poised to strike the finishing blow, showed a hint of reluctance.

"Wait. If you're taking my kill— No, I suppose you deserve the greatest credit, King of Dogs. Tsk. But still, would you consider letting me have this?"

"I’ll let you take credit for the kill, so just sit back and watch."

Grull scratched his chin but stepped back. Meanwhile, Azzy stared at Fenrir as she moved closer. Sensing the end, the broken half-crown atop her head began to hum.

"I won. Wolf, you lost."

"Not yet, dog. I’m not dead."

Even as blood poured from its wounds, Fenrir still showed its ferocity and lunged. But the King of Beasts was still a beast. No matter how powerful, a creature bound by flesh could not escape its limits.

Its foreleg clearly didn’t stretch as far as it intended. It swiped at empty air beside Azzy. Even as its jaws remained bared, Azzy easily overpowered Fenrir and pinned it down.

Beneath Azzy, Fenrir panted heavily yet still growled out its defiance.

"And wolves... savagery does not fade. Savagery is a mirror. It exists in humans, in dogs, and in wolves alike. So long as there is savagery to protect oneself, it will always emerge."

"Woof. Maybe. But the promise was kept."

Azzy clenched the dagger lodged in Fenrir’s shoulder with her jaws and yanked it free in one swift motion. Blood gushed out momentarily like a fountain. Azzy then gazed down at her own wounded side.

"You and I are the same. The only difference is a promise. A promise made with humans."

"That is your promise, not mine."

"Woof. No. You, me."

Saying this, Azzy began to lick Fenrir’s wounds. freēwēbnovel.com

The saliva of the King of Beasts carried a faint healing property. Fenrir’s bleeding gradually stopped. With its strong vitality, it would have stopped eventually, but as long as it had the form of a human, it would not have been able to lick beneath its own shoulder. Azzy simply helped.

"Human, I kept my promise. Now, there are no more promises. So now, you are me."

"You want me to abandon my savagery and be tamed?"

"No. Savagery is me. Being tamed is also me. They are both me. There’s no need to divide and fight."

Beasts lick each other. It is not an act of servitude but one of affection, given as a gift from the more relaxed party.

Fenrir would never have done it. But kindness and savagery can coexist. Instead of taking Fenrir’s life, Azzy spoke.

"A beast can do anything. It can be savage. That is not wrong. But it can also be tamed. That is not wrong either."

Azzy’s crown resonated—a representation of the will of the species known as the King of Beasts. She conveyed her intent to Fenrir in place of the divided half.

"It is strange. To say that one must be savage, or that one must be tamed."

"Wolves do not become tame."

"No. They do. Woof. I am a tamed wolf."

Azzy pressed her forehead against Fenrir’s. The two broken halves of the crown touched. A fierce tremor ran through the thorn-like crown.

"The promise had to be kept. That’s why we were divided. But the promise has been fulfilled. There’s no need to be divided anymore."

With no strength left to resist, Fenrir bared its teeth one last time in desperation.

"...Savagery will never disappear. You will bite humans."

"Woof. [N O V E L I G H T] That’s fine. I can bite them. But only when I choose to."

And the broken crown shifted.

The once-broken crown merged into a single piece. From Azzy’s head to Fenrir’s, locking together as if it had always been whole.

Long ago, in a time no one remembers, there was a lone wolf cast out from its pack. Weak and starving, the wolf found itself before a human, yet it could only pant in exhaustion.

Wolves are dangerous and savage. It would have been logical to end its life while it was weak. But that day, the human felt sympathy for the dying wolf and shared food with it.

Life is precious, even to a beast. The wolf considered the human who saved its life to be its pack. It stayed by their side, protected them, licked their wounds, and for a long time, they guarded each other.

Thus, the dog was born. Or rather, only the name given to the wolf had changed. The dog made a promise to humans. And because of that promise, dogs and wolves split apart and fought each other.

Only after spilling so much blood, after so much time had passed, did they finally return to their origin.

Fenrir’s crown was complete.

The King of Dogs and the King of Wolves—now the indisputable King of Beasts.

Looking down at Fenrir, whose crown was now whole, Azzy, still radiating kindness, declared,

"You. Be king."