Chapter 53: Ragebait
Awooooooo!
A resonant howl reverberated across the mountains.
The rocky plain rumbled in response as a large pack of wolves could be seen in the distance, treading toward them.
Grrrrr
Guttural growls and barks rang out as the pack surrounded the duo.
Roy’s expression remained unmoved in the face of this scene. He stared into the crowd of wolves, his eyes glued to a particular red-eyed, black-furred wolf.
The pack parted ways as the alpha made its way in majestic strides toward the duo.
And when it was finally before them, an awkward voice — which seemed to be made of growls — rang out, eerily echoing human words.
"You must be the Lord in charge of those stray pups... Well, I’m sorry to say they’ve repented and have decided to dwell with their own kind... So unfortunately, you’ll be heading home disappointed today."
After finishing its speech, its jagged teeth were revealed as it snarled — probably a failed attempt at a smirk.
The wolves were quite tall, taller than they would have been back on Earth, with each one now comparable to animals of the big cat family. The alpha wolf was even more exaggerated.
But in Roy’s eyes, this intimidating pack might as well have been a group of whining puppies. His gaze didn’t waver in the slightest — instead, it was heavy with disdain.
"So you’re telling me my K-9 unit are your kin?" Roy suddenly questioned.
The alpha wolf tilted its head. "Isn’t that obvious? We are of the same kind!"
The disdain in Roy’s eyes deepened. "So you’re telling me foxes, hyenas, and jackals — all these you would accept into your pack without question?"
"..." The alpha wolf couldn’t reply.
"Stupid mutt. You probably saw a bunch of high-leveled, high-potential Hunters and decided to abduct them — and now you’re using the name of race as justification?" Roy spat scornfully.
The wolf’s teeth bared once more as it began to get aggressive. Roy was half correct — though it truly wanted to liberate its kind from the control of humans as they always had been, its main driving factor for taking them was their stunning potential.
Frowning, Roy deduced, "Actually, I’m pretty sure Alpha alone is enough to put you in your place. But surprisingly, he couldn’t... You’re not strong enough to kidnap him unless he came willingly — or you have a strange ability that helped you somehow take him without resistance...
So tell me — which is it?"
"Know your place, human! You’re in my territory. Here, I’m king! Here, I’m superior! Here, my word is law!" the alpha barked aggressively, beginning to get agitated from all Roy’s deductions and questions.
No matter how beasts tried, they could never match up to human intellect. The Beast Lords were no exception to this — even Amon’s mind could only match up with a ten-year-old at best.
As though deaf to the Beast Lord’s outburst, Roy still continued speaking. "So you’re telling me if I brought a chihuahua or something, you would happily accept them into your pack? You see how ridiculous you sound?"
By now, all the other pack members seemed to have sensed their alpha’s agitation, and they all started to growl menacingly.
And again, as though blind to all this — as well as the fact that he was in another Lord’s territory, which was meant to be a big disadvantage — Roy continued.
"I’ll give you one last chance, mutt. Hand my subordinates over now, or else..." His cold, hard gaze stared dangerously into the depths of the wolf’s soul as he finished his words.
"Saving your kind would be the last thing you’d have to worry about..."
"How... dare... human... insult my king!" Suddenly, a massive grey beta wolf couldn’t take it anymore. Its thoughts echoed its feelings as it lunged ravenously for Roy.
It pounced so fast and so suddenly, even the alpha wolf wasn’t expecting it — not that this didn’t please him.
But a pained whimper rang out as suddenly the unassuming figure beside Roy had already moved, his hands coated in milky gold, clenched tightly around the grey wolf’s neck.
The poor wolf tried clawing at its captor, but Jake’s grip slowly grew tighter as the pained whimpers began to slowly die down.
Crunch!
All the bones making up the wolf’s neck were squeezed into mush under the vice grip of Jake.
The growling pack suddenly became silent... The alpha blinked.
Were these guys crazy?
Daring to kill one of his betas before him — and in his own territory no less... Was this courting death or what?
It couldn’t wrap its small brain around what gave these two such confidence. And contrary to what was expected, the pack didn’t react rabidly or burst into a feral attack. Instead, they were all wary.
This was the cost of intellect. If it was back when they were simple beasts, they might have attacked mindlessly at the loss of their comrade. But now they had intellect — and that bred fear of life, wariness, and shrewdness.
Even the alpha remained silent for a moment before growling furiously, "You dare kill my subordinate? You want war?"
Roy met the wolf’s gaze coldly. "He moved to kill and was killed instead — how is that my fault?
Tch. Why am I wasting time exchanging banter with a mutt?
Give me an answer — do you want to comply willingly and bring me my subordinates, or do you want me to reunite you with that beta of yours?"
"You!" The wolf gnashed its teeth in anger. It couldn’t curb its fury any longer.
"Kill these two! RIP THEM TO SHREDS!" it commanded in a furious howl.
At the end of the day, at their very core, they still remained wolves. No amount of intellect could change that. And so, even though wary of Roy and Jake, at the command of their alpha, they all lost all reason — as the massive wave of wolves, growling and snarling rabidly, pounced.
No matter what those two have in their sleeves that gives them such confidence — before an endless and relentless assault, it would be for naught! The crimson gaze of the wolf king shone as it concluded.
Contrary to what the wolf king expected, Roy had a big smile pasted on his face.
Good boy... Now I have a reason to act. As this thought ran through his mind, his assault rifle appeared in his hands.
[Danger! Beast Lord Amon has declared war on the Host!]
[Quest issued!: Conquer the army of the Wolf King Order and claim his territory!
Clear conditions:
— Retreat and come back with your army to vanquish your foes (No rewards)
— Act on your own with no support other than the Arm of Justice — The Oracle, as you aid and conquer the enemies (Mystery Rewards!)]
Roy’s smile widened. All his previous disdainful and infuriating words were part of the elaborate ploy to get the wolf king to attack first!
Why did he do this? Because as the bearer of the Order of Justice, he had restrictions when it came to killing. Even when his subordinates were kidnapped, the system advised him to bargain peacefully with the wolf king if possible — because him initiating violence as the Order of Justice might cause penalties...
Now that the wolf king attacked first, it meant:
Claiming another territory so early... Ah, it feels so refreshing!