The Alpha Wolf lunged with impossible speed, and Daichi barely managed to throw up his arms in defense. The impact sent him flying backward into a tree, bark exploding from the force.
"Daichi!" Mayu shouted, rushing to his side, her hands already glowing with healing magic.
Renjiro dashed in to intercept the beast, his blade igniting in a burst of fire as he swung. The Alpha twisted mid-air, dodging with an unnatural grace, then slashed at him with its mana-imbued claws. Sparks flew as metal met raw magical force, Renjiro staggering backward from the sheer weight behind the strike.
Akari came in low from the side, her blade crackling with a coat of reinforced earth mana. She slashed at its hind leg, drawing blood—but the beast didn't even flinch. With a whip of its tail, it knocked her off her feet and into a thick bush.
"It's adapting," Renjiro muttered, panting.
"It's toying with us," Akari hissed, pushing herself up.
The Alpha Wolf howled, its mana flaring outward in a violent wave. The pressure alone forced everyone back—knees buckling under the weight of its killing intent.
Kyoichi threw out a hand, catching Mayu just as she stumbled. "Stay behind."
"I'm running low on mana," she said through gritted teeth, struggling to stabilize Daichi. "I need time."
"Then we'll give you time," Renjiro said, gritting his teeth and charging in again.
He slashed, feinted, dodged—his every move met with uncanny counters from the wolf. The beast was fast. Too fast. Its body shimmered with mana, every motion enhanced. It moved more like a shadow than a creature, slipping through their formation and striking from blind spots.
Daichi recovered enough to rejoin the fray, letting out a war cry as he tackled the Alpha from the side. He managed to grab its neck and slam it into the dirt—but even his monstrous strength couldn't keep it down. The beast kicked off the ground and threw him over its head, Daichi crashing into Akari mid-step.
"Damn it!" she shouted, pinned under him.
The Alpha Wolf circled, breath steaming in the cold forest air, its fangs glinting with residual mana. Cuts and burns marked its hide, but it still looked ready for more.
Renjiro's arm trembled as he held up his sword. "We're barely scratching it…"
"It's like it doesn't even feel pain," Mayu muttered.
They reformed ranks, staggering and bloodied, each breathing heavily. Every movement now came with effort. Their synergy, once clean, was now strained—timing slipping, positions thrown into chaos.
The Alpha Wolf didn't let up. It charged again, fangs bared, claws glowing with mana. It was relentless. Fast. Intelligent.
A flurry of blows followed—slashes from Renjiro, stone-coated strikes from Akari, raw punches from Daichi—but nothing was enough to slow the Alpha. The wolf ducked, twisted, struck back harder every time.
Kyoichi joined the formation, using bursts of telekinesis to push the wolf's attacks off-course or slow its momentum just enough for the others to dodge. But even his efforts were beginning to falter under the creature's sheer pressure.
It was a drawn-out clash—brutal and exhausting. The kind of battle where seconds stretched like minutes, and each breath was a gamble.
And they were losing.
One by one, they were pushed back—cut, bruised, and drained.
Still, they stood.
But barely.
And the Alpha Wolf… showed no signs of stopping.
The Alpha Wolf lunged again, faster this time—its glowing claw aimed straight for Akari's chest. She was mid-swing, completely exposed, her eyes widening in that split-second of helpless realization.
Then—
"Kyoichi!"
He blurred into view, stepping between her and the beast. There was no time for spells, no time to brace. The claw sank deep into his side, blood spraying across the mossy ground as the force lifted him off his feet and hurled him into the trees.
"KYOICHI!" Akari screamed.
His body slammed into the trunk of a thick oak and crumpled at its base.
Everything froze for a moment. Even the Alpha seemed to pause.
"Kyoichi—!" Mayu was already sprinting toward him, nearly tripping over the torn roots. "He's—he's bleeding out!"
Renjiro and Daichi closed ranks around Akari, forcing the wolf back with a desperate combo of blade strikes and brute punches.
Akari stood frozen, heart pounding in her ears. "He… He jumped in front of me…"
Mayu fell to her knees beside Kyoichi's limp form, hands glowing with frantic light. "Come on, come on—stay with me. You idiot…"
Kyoichi didn't move.
Didn't speak.
His eyes were closed, breath shallow, blood soaking into the ground beneath him.
"Hold the line!" Renjiro roared, forcing the others back into position. "We're not done yet!"
But it was clear.
They were all breaking.
And Kyoichi—Kyoichi wasn't getting up.
Just silence… and the slow, flickering light of Mayu's healing magic, fighting to keep him alive.
"FALL BACKKK !!!!" Renjiro shouted
The party staggered through the dense forest, half-carrying Kyoichi's limp body between them. Blood dripped steadily from his side, leaving a trail behind them as they moved deeper into the shadows of Verdant Hollow. The howls of the Alpha Wolf echoed in the distance, but for now, the beast wasn't chasing.
They found shelter beneath the twisted roots of a massive fallen tree. The roots curled over them like a natural cave, dark and hollow but dry and safe—for now.
Mayu immediately knelt beside Kyoichi, her hands glowing with healing magic. "Stay with me… just stay with me," she muttered under her breath, refusing to let her panic show.
Akari sat frozen near the wall of roots, her eyes wide, fists clenched. "He… he jumped in front of me. I didn't—he would've died if—" Her voice caught in her throat.
Renjiro placed a hand on her shoulder. "He made a choice. You're alive because of it. And now we need to end this. That Alpha's not going to stop until we're all dead."
Daichi cracked his knuckles, his knuckles still raw and bloodied from earlier. "Let's finish this."
The three stood up, sharing a silent nod, and vanished back into the woods to face the beast once more.
Mayu stayed behind, her healing magic pulsing brighter with each breath. Kyoichi's bleeding had slowed. His breathing had steadied. His eyelids fluttered.
Then opened.
Kyoichi stared at the tangled roots above him for a moment, registering the faint sting of pain in his side. He turned his head slowly, catching sight of Mayu, still hunched over him, exhausted but focused.
He didn't speak.
He raised one hand and gently patted her shoulder.
She looked , startled—then smiled softly in relief.
Without a word, Kyoichi pushed himself to his feet. His shirt was torn and bloodstained..
"I need to help them..They can't defeat it on their own ",
He said .
He turned away from the hollow and disappeared into the forest, following the trail of broken branches and scorched earth left behind by his comrades. Followed by Mayu who went running after him ..
The Alpha Wolf's roar shook the trees, its black fur bristling with erratic streams of raw mana. The clearing was a battlefield of broken branches and torn earth. Renjiro and Daichi fought with everything they had, but the wolf was a relentless storm of claws, teeth, and fury.
Renjiro's flame-coated blade clashed with the beast's claws, but the sheer force sent him tumbling backward. Daichi charged in from the side, fists hardened with braced gauntlets, but was swatted aside with a powerful kick that cracked a nearby tree trunk in half.
Akari stood alone now, her blade trembling in her hands. She stepped forward, trying to hold her ground, lips pressed in a firm line. But her heart was pounding—this felt too familiar. The last time, she had frozen. And the cost could've been Kyoichi's life.
The Alpha crouched low, growling deep from its throat. Then it lunged.
Time slowed. The massive claw arced toward her once again.
But this time, it never reached her.
A hand caught the Alpha's claw mid-air—barehanded.
The shockwave from the clash rippled outward, blowing leaves off the surrounding trees.
Standing there, calmly holding the beast's claw in one hand, was Kyoichi.
His eyes, half-lidded . His grip tightened. exhales...
And then, with a sudden motion, he threw the Alpha Wolf—its massive body flipping through the air before crashing violently into a tree with a bone-snapping crack. Bark and splinters flew in every direction.
Akari's eyes widened. "Kyoichi…?"
The Alpha staggered back to its feet, growling, but it was shaken. For the first time in the entire mission, it looked uncertain.
Kyoichi stood infront of akari .
The Alpha roared and leapt at him again. But that's when kyoichi noticed something...
Kyoichi using telekinesis accelerates the wolf towards him and with a smirk muttered " So that's why you are so powerful " and punched the wolf in its face , sending it into the sky and as it falls back to the ground .
He caught it and again accelerated it towards the ground , The Alpha was crushed mid-air—bones cracking, howling in agony after being hurled straight down into the earth.
Silence.
The mana around the Alpha Wolf dispersed. It twitched once. Then lay still.
Kyoichi lowered his hand and looked over his shoulder at the others.
Renjiro stared, still catching his breath. "...What the hell…"
Daichi just blinked, dumbfounded. "You're kidding me."
Akari's sword dropped an inch. "You caught its claw."
Kyoichi dusted off his shirt, expression unchanged. "I figured it'd try that again."
Renjiro stepped forward, eyes still wide. "Who are you?"