The Villain's Sword Is Sharp

Chapter 2: Hunted

Isaac actually became less worried when he heard they were in the middle of the wolves' territory. Wolves wouldn't let intruders this deep into their land, so they should have been attacked already if they were going to be attacked at all.

However, resting in wolf territory was never a good idea, regardless of whether Isaac thought they'd be attacked or not.

Having waited for half an hour, the sun was no longer directly above them. The short, dark-haired woman leading the group quickly found north and they set off again.

Isaac was definitely one of the least fit in the group. He was thin without much muscle or fat and looked seriously underfed. Because of his weak physique, he was struggling to keep up after another few hours of walking. He wanted to suggest a break, but then somebody else shouted,

"Let's pick up the pace! We can rest when we're away from the wolves."

After that, Isaac just gritted his teeth and kept putting one foot in front of the other. After walking further, his breathing was ragged, his feet ached and his legs felt like they were on fire. However, there were a lot less trees in this area, meaning they had reached the edge of the woods. Then, the silence of the forest was shattered,

"Ahh-wwwooooooooo"

"Wooooooooo"

"Ahh-wooooooo"

Howls rung in the air.

The wolves hadn't 'let' the group into their territory. They'd actually been out hunting in the north of their land. Now, however, Isaac's group had run into them. Several people panicked and immediately ran, sprinting out of the forest.

These were cowards who could never pass the trial to begin with. 3 wolves burst out of the trees to the group's left and immediately charged towards those who'd run away. It was their natural instinct to target these stragglers instead of the large group of people.

At first, the group gave a collective sigh of relief. Only 3 wolves wouldn't pose a threat to their 90 strong group. Furthermore, the wolves weren't even attacking them.

However, they soon heard a horribly loud, bloodcurdling howl coming from the distance. The howl was closely followed by several other, fainter howls.

"Wh-what the hell was that?!"

"Wild Beast! It must be a Wild Beast!"

"We're doomed... what do they expect kids to do against a Wild Beast?"

Some members despaired, but they obviously hadn't given up on their lives just yet.

"Quick! We're nearly out of the forest so let's make a run for the village!"

They hadn't given up, but they also weren't thinking clearly. None of them knew where the village was, let alone how long it would take to run there. These people had lost their rationality under the pressure of being chased by a Wild Beast and its pack, causing them to make a rash decision.

On the other hand, most trialees managed to keep their cool and decide calmly. After considering his options, Isaac dashed back towards the woods. He wanted to use the trees as obstacles, making it harder for the wolves to catch him. However, it wasn't enough to just escape by himself: he needed at least half of the other youths to survive as well.

When he was a good distance ahead of the group, Isaac turned around and shouted,

"Into the forest, it'll be harder to chase us there!"

Many trialees had similar ideas to Isaac even before he shouted, and they were already running towards the forest. Everyone else saw them and felt that Isaac's suggestion was much better than running across the open tundra, trying to beat wolves in a fair race. Even some of those who'd just started running out of the woods heard Isaac and turned around, sprinting back into the forest.

Isaac was running ahead of all of them, just 500 metres away from reaching the thickly packed trees of the forest. However, he was already exhausted. He felt he could make it before the wolves reached them, but he didn't want to underestimate the speed of a Wild Beast so he pumped his legs as fast as possible.

Others began to overtake him as he sprinted towards the forest. He felt a twinge of desperation as he realised he might be left behind but he cleared his mind and ran even harder.

Isaac made a final push despite his exhaustion, and reached the area where the real, thick forest began. He bent over with his hands on his knees, panting hard as he looked up. Wolves were finally entering the large clearing where they had been. They immediately saw the other group running through open tundra and gave chase.

However, these wolves were just the frontrunners. The main pack arrived about a minute later, and there was a monster in the middle of them. It was more than twice the size of a normal wolf, making it nearly as tall as a human. Its sleek silver fur and dark blue eyes gave it a majestic aura, but Isaac didn't care about that. He was more focused on its bulging muscles, razor sharp teeth and savage claws which looked more like kitchen knives.

When the beast looked directly at Isaac, he felt as if his heart had stopped. The pressure it exuded was terrifying.

Thankfully, its eyes were filled with disdain for the puny creature it caught observing it. It didn't consider Isaac a threat or prey worth catching. It simply ignored him, howled, and loped away to join the chase on the open tundra. Most of the pack left with it. However, a few wolves stayed behind.

These wolves were at the bottom of the pecking order. Even if they killed something, other wolves would come to steal their food. Therefore, they usually hunted away from the rest of the pack.

Isaac counted how many wolves stayed behind, then immediately headed to re-join the group. He hadn't been left behind. After everyone slowed down, he caught up with the group and told them the Wild Beast wasn't chasing them.

However, wolf howls soon came from behind them.

"I thought you said they'd left!"

"I saw the Wild Beast go the other way, those are normal wolves from the pack."

"We can't run, we're too tired. If they're normal wolves, why should we fear them?"

There were about 70 people in the group, and Isaac said he'd seen less than 10 wolves stay behind. It would actually be more dangerous to run, since they would lose their numerical advantage and get picked off one by one. That made the group decide to stay and fight if they had to.

Just as they had finished deciding, 20 or so wolves rushed out of the forest like a wave of white fur.

"Ahhhhhhh!"

"Help! Hel Urgh!"

Nobody was prepared. Several trialees were taken down by wolves without any chance to defend themselves. The wolves then pounced on top of the fallen trialees, and others could see them twitching and struggling before they went still.

When one of the wolves looked up, its eyes gleamed fiendishly and its snout was covered in blood.

There was absolute chaos. Wolves ran directly at the group and everyone scattered. Isaac saw a wolf running straight for him, saliva dripping from its mouth. His first thought was to escape. He sprinted towards the trees, running in and out of them so the wolf couldn't chase him at full speed. However, it was still quicker than him even when it had to keep twisting and turning.

Isaac quickly realised he couldn't lose the wolf and made a new plan; he changed directions and ran towards somebody else. The person didn't see Isaac coming behind him and was surprised when Isaac ran past.

He turned around to see what Isaac was running from and was immediately pounced on by the wolf. Isaac looked back at the scene and smirked. He kept moving and tried to find a more peaceful part of the battlefield where he could wait safely, but he was incredibly unlucky.

One of the wolves nearby stopped eating and looked up. Maybe it thought Isaac was too close, or maybe it had been starving for so long that 1 meal wasn't enough. Whatever the reason, the wolf abandoned the body it was munching on and leapt at Isaac.

Isaac didn't expect it to attack, meaning he had no time to dodge. He could only raise his arms to protect himself from the wolf's claws. He was bundled over and ended up on his back with the wolf on top of him. Its mouth was open and its teeth were bared, ready to take a bite out of him.

Isaac acted quickly and stuffed his right arm into its mouth. The wolf bit down, leaving deep puncture wounds in Isaac's arm. Then it tried pulling its head back to take another bite. However, Isaac wouldn't let it go. He pushed his arm deeper into the wolf's mouth, causing it to gag.

It couldn't bite down again because of the gag reflex and started to shake its head, trying to get free. Isaac's fist was blocking its throat and stopping it from breathing.

The wolf started to panic and thrash around. It even fought against its gag reflex and bit down hard on Isaac's arm, trying to make Isaac take it out. Isaac gasped in pain but he knew he had to endure. If he drew his arm back, the wolf would bite him to death. Even though it hurt, he pushed his arm in deeper.

The wolf bit down again and frantically scratched at Isaac's face with its claws. He covered his eyes with his left arm and turned his head to the side.

The wolf seemed to be getting weaker as it was choking and running out of air. Its bites and scratches had grown significantly weaker. However, it didn't give up.

It rolled over and over to shake Isaac off. Isaac had to wrap his legs around it and cling on for dear life. Just as Isaac was about to lose his grip, he pushed his arm upwards hard. The wolf's teeth got stuck into his arm and stopped it from slipping out.

Eventually, the wolf suffocated and died.

Isaac flopped onto his back, panting heavily and clutching at his injured arm. He tried to sit up as quickly as possible since he could be attacked again at any time. However, something stopped him.