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33. The War of Wolves and Foxes 098 – The War of Wolves and Foxes #2
Black shadows emerged from the entrance of the cave.
━Excellent. Absolutely excellent. You really did bring all the wolves, Blackpaw.
Among them was the golden-furred fox, Ishtar. He was blocking the cave entrance with a bunch of brown foxes the size of wolves.
Borjigin’s face scrunched up as he bared his fangs.
━Is it a trap?! What happened, Blackpaw? Was there a promise? Did you promise those guys?!
The wolves were looking at me, demanding some sort of explanation.
But as the real Blackpaw, I had nothing to explain. In fact, I wanted to know what on earth was going on.
The golden fox, Ishtar, sashayed like a proud cat towards the wolf pack. The wolves fluffed up their fur, clearly on high alert.
━Yip! Yip!
━Yap! Yap!
The foxes and wolves faced each other, barking indiscriminately.
A tension so thick you could cut it with a kn*fe filled the cave, as if they were about to leap at each other and bite each other’s necks at any moment.
The only two who looked completely unfazed were the golden fox Ishtar and the wolf leader Kublai.
Ishtar smirked, his lips curling in a way that chilled the spine like a sharp crescent moon.
━Dumb wolves, you don’t even understand that you’ve been betrayed by your own! Now, Blackpaw, come join us.
Ishtar was gesturing towards me, the current embodiment of Blackpaw. Beside me, I could hear the heavy sigh of the wolf Kublai.
━Blackpaw, you really sold us out! Was that suspicious behavior we noticed recently behind your back? You finally showed up at the meeting and turned out to be a traitor like this…!
━Dirty traitor!
━You’re a fox’s lackey! You aren’t even a wolf!
━You’re lower than a dog!
Kublai and the other wolves unleashed a torrent of verbal ab*se at me. I was completely baffled, standing there without any clue why I was getting lambasted.
‘Whatever this is, I don’t think I should be next to the wolves right now.’
I quickly moved and dashed toward the golden fox Ishtar.
━He’s running away! Grab him!
━Don’t let him escape!
Several wolves lunged at me, baring their teeth, but couldn’t keep up with my speed.
━Tch, he’s running!
The wolves, blocked by the foxes, could only growl aimlessly like dogs chasing after chickens.
I blended into the fox pack. The foxes gave me a nod and opened up a path.
Ishtar looked at me, smirking with satisfaction.
━Excellent. As promised, I’ll let you live. Blackpaw, you’ll be the only wolf to survive the night in the Eastern Forest. I’ll even throw in a cute little fox as a bonus.
━You perverted brat, betraying us to cozy up to a fox!? You really think those little foxes can defeat us!?
The silver wolf Borjigin looked like he was about to pounce on me.
━You won’t d*e easily, Blackpaw! You foxes, too!
Borjigin charged towards the foxes with all his might, reminiscent of a supercar racing 100 kilometers in 3.6 seconds.
━Youthful spirit, I see.
But Ishtar moved his front paw and swatted Borjigin aside.
Borjigin looked strong, but Ishtar seemed to have the upper paw.
With a short grunt, Borjigin growled in frustration and backed away from the foxes.
━Foxes don’t engage in fights they can’t win. That means, with you all trapped, your lives end here today.
As Ishtar spoke, the fox pack behind him began to bring something to their mouths. It was lettuce flowers swaying elegantly, their white petals fluttering.
The foxes piled up heaps of petals at the entrance of the cave, wagging their tails like broomsticks.
Suddenly, the lovely breeze generated by their bushy tails wafted flower scents and pollen into the cave.
━Krah, where did those little brats get that flower!? Lettuce flowers only grow next to our cave! When did they get it!?
Borjigin groaned in agony, his body trembling.
He was one of the more restrained wolves, while the others were rolling around on the ground like they had some sort of seizure, their noses buried in the dirt.
━The foxes made sure no one could approach the lettuce flowers!
━Plug your nose! Close your mouth! Ughhh!
Ishtar held his head high, looking down at the wolves with contempt.
━This all came from the bits Blackpaw has been moving. To be immobilized by such a flower—wolves are truly foolish and dim-witted creatures. Your proud sense of smell has become your weakness.
━Blackpaw, you little! So that’s why you said your neck hurt! I’ll k*ll you!
Borjigin was writhing in agony, taking one step at a time toward us.
Drooling from his mouth and nose, he was nonetheless charging at the foxes like a monster, causing some foxes to stop fanning themselves and flinch.
━Now! Everyone, charge in!
Borjigin and the wolves seized the moment and lunged at the foxes. But Ishtar remained calm and directed his fox comrades.
━Those guys are probably in bad shape from the pollen. Their noses and throats must be burning, making it hard to even breathe or open their eyes. Right now, you could take down even the strongest wolves. No, this is our only chance. Go!
At Ishtar’s command, the foxes yipped and lunged at the wolves.
━Krah!
━Yip!
━Haargh!
━Guh, yip!
The wolves and foxes came together, creating a spectacular scene of biting and clawing. Fur and bl**d flew everywhere in this beastly bloodbath, and I was wide-eyed, my heart racing.
‘The most entertaining sights are fires and fights.’
I stood in a corner near the cave entrance, watching the fray like an indifferent spectator.
━Kugh, d*e, traitor!
Occasionally, wolves would break through the foxes’ lines and charge at me, but other foxes would quickly take them down, biting their necks and pinning them to the ground.
Ishtar pressed down on a wolf with his massive front paw.
━I suppose keeping a few alive wouldn’t be so bad. We’ll pull their teeth and claws and use them as our slaves. Just as humans do with dogs. Now, the foxes command the wolves.
━Since when did foxes start barking like that? Kkaah!
The wolf pinned under Ishtar let out a wail, whether from dying or fainting I couldn’t tell.
━So, how long are you going to just watch, Kublai? Have you been paralyzed by the lettuce flower?
━I’m not soft enough to be taken down by this flower! Using tools and tricks—this feels like something your human masters would do, Ishtar. Seems you can’t forget the memories of being a pet even after hundreds of years!
━The great Kublai is getting a bit long-winded. I’ll rip your head off and toss it before those human sc*m!
Ishtar charged at Kublai first.
Their shoulders collided with a thunderous crash, like rocks falling to the ground.
Kublai and Ishtar raised their front paws to bite each other’s necks and howled fiercely.
━Grrr!
━Yowww!
‘This is a total mess!’
I never imagined stirring up trouble between the wolves and foxes would work out so well.
Watching those two fight, it seemed one of them wouldn’t survive, and the other definitely wouldn’t escape unscathed.
━Look at this talentless wolf!
The golden fox Ishtar slashed across Kublai’s face with his paw.
Trying to inflict a critical hit with his claws, he found Kublai’s eyes were already distant as if consumed by fire, making it ineffective.
━You sly little fox!
Kublai, infuriated by the slap to his front paw, bit down hard on Ishtar’s neck and shook him around.
━Fox meat may not taste good, but I’ll personally chew you down to the bones! Become my bl**d and flesh!
Injured by Kublai’s attack, the golden fox Ishtar shrieked weakly, unable to retaliate.
‘Is the fight going to end this quickly?’
In another corner, Borjigin was leading the wolves in a rampage, biting at the little foxes and gaining the upper hand.
━Let go of me!
The golden fox Ishtar, pinned down by Kublai, roared in defiance.
Suddenly, the blue flame at his feet flared up, engulfing his fur.
The fire tried to spread to Kublai, who looked taken aback by the heat, stepping back and releasing Ishtar.
Ishtar stood tall, adjusting his posture and rubbing his neck with his front paw. His beautiful golden fur was stained with red bl**d running from a tear.
He spat a mixture of bl**d and saliva onto the ground.
━It’s a shame to lose one of my precious tails, but it can’t be helped. Kublai, you fear fire, don’t you? Like the fire of the humans.
━Ha, who says I’m afraid of such things?
━You sure seem incapable of charging at me then?
The blue flames clinging to Ishtar roared to life.
I didn’t know how Ishtar had caught fire, but he acted as if he felt nothing.
‘What a fascinating ability he has.’
I figured I should learn how these big fellows fought and what techniques they showcased while watching Kublai and Ishtar’s battle.
Ishtar crouched low like a bread loaf, taking a low posture.
━I have received three abilities from the great World Tree. I am chosen as the Master of the Forest and the Master of the Fruits!
Unlike at the start, when he spoke like a gentleman, Ishtar was now openly spewing fiery rage.
━d*e, Kublai!
Ishtar sprung into action. It was akin to the leap Borjigin made at full speed.
Boom!
But his speed was incomparably faster than Borjigin’s, creating a thunderous sound that cut through the air.
Ishtar’s flaming body surged forward like a laser. Shooting towards Kublai like a flaming cannonball.
━Turn to ashes and vanish!
When Ishtar’s body collided with Kublai’s, an explosion of heat and wind spread through the cave.
Several wolves and foxes were swept away in the chaos, tumbling this way and that. The leather covering me flew far because of it.
━Kyiing…!
Yingyi, hanging around my neck, let out a pitiful wail as if he were about to be swept away by the wind.
‘What kind of beast fight is this? I can’t even call it a mess!’
Then again, the fight between Lao-Hoo and Suka had left the ground cratered and trees flattened like paper, boasting a tremendous scale.
The clash between the Master of the Forest and his challenger seemed to be a battle of strength greater than I could have imagined.
A pungent cloud of ash gray dust filled the cave.
With neither Kublai nor Ishtar in sight, I had no clue how this clash would end.
Gradually, as the dust cleared, the shine of golden fur appeared first.
━How is it, Kublai! What may seem like a simple shoulder charge is actually a combined technique of three abilities! You have nothing left to say, not even bone dust!?
The golden fox let out a triumphant howl. From his confident voice and demeanor, it seemed that Ishtar had emerged victorious in this battle.
‘Nothing left but bone, you say? No way, I should have eaten that!’
I was eagerly hoping this war would end soon, like a hyena or a vulture eyeing its meal.
The sprawled bodies of wolves and foxes looked to me like a treasure trove I needed to scoop up.
But meals were when I was most vulnerable, so I couldn’t recklessly step in, preparing for a surprise attack.
━What!? What the heck!
Ishtar, who had been so self-assured moments ago, suddenly let out a startled sound. Dust dispersed, revealing the hulking black-furred giant, Kublai.
━Your abilities aren’t anything special, huh? With three powers, you believe you have the fate to be the Master of the Forest? Not at all. This Ancient Nest is not so simple.
Kublai was dripping bl**d from all over.
His dark fur made it hard to tell which parts had been burned and which were hurt, but judging from the bl**d loss, he’d likely sustained severe injuries.
However, an inexplicable pressure was radiating from him. All the foxes, including Ishtar, took a few steps back, terrified.
━You’re barely hanging on, yet your mouth is running…!
━Why are you retreating? Come on, bite my neck. Do it!
Kublai’s one eye twitched as he scanned the cave.
When our eyes met, I flinched and trembled.
‘Oh, cr*p, he noticed me.’
Kublai, who had just been dying and spewing bl**d, had puffed up his fur aggressively.
━You little…!
