If there was one thing that the Wolf learned from the countless cycles against Little Red, it was that she never gave the slightest effort to defend herself.
With one hundred percent of her strength directed toward a brutal offence, it was both a blessing and a curse to the Wolf.
Little Red was still a formidable opponent despite her previously weaker stats because of her savage nature in combat.
But now, when she was equal to it in strength?
The Wolf shivered with excitement.
"A more rational opponent might get the chance to kill me here..." It was mostly talking about the boy behind it, who hadn't moved a step so far.
To be honest, that kid unsettled the Wolf more than Little Red did.
But it wasn't nervous. If that 'rational person' joined the fight... It already had a perfect plan for that.
But first, the creature began to pad in a circle around Little Red.
It wasn't a mere beast, and now its inhuman intelligence displayed itself.
For a moment, its eyes flashed with a brilliant cobalt hue.
As it stepped forward once again, its shadow... split away from it.
From the detached shadow rose an identical wolf, walking in the same gait that the original had, in the opposite direction.
Little Red's eye only tracked the original.
Yet both the clone and the Wolf's shadows detached once more, each forming a new copy of the Abnormality, twice as tall as Little Red.
Four.
And again.
Eight.
Again.
Sixteen.
The Wolves circled around Little Red. The crimson figure was the center of the storm of shadows.
Sixteen Wolves circled around her, each moving in opposite directions. They phased through each other as they collided, creating a disorienting, rippling sea of fur, scars, and teeth.
Yet, Little Red's eye still only tracked the original, a single wolf that blended perfectly with its clones.
Was that it, its best efforts?
It was almost laughable how simple this 'ploy' was.
She pointed her blade forward, setting her sight onto her target.
That was the one to kill.
The Wolf that she pointed at seemed to snarl with discomfort, giving Little Red a sense of simmering satisfaction.
"Is this it?"
The Wolf growled wordlessly, and its clones rushed forward with it.
The leaves that crackled underneath her target's paws only confirmed Little Red's thoughts; this was the real one.
None of the other fifteen clones disturbed the soil with their movements.
Little Red felt confident. She felt strong.
She saw through all the flawed tricks that the Wolf so favored. This was how things were meant to be.
"Weak!"
Little Red readied her blade, slashing toward the Wolf's outstretched maw.
As the blade inched to the Wolf's maw, its eyes flickered with an emotion that Little Red didn't miss.
Fear. Hesitation.
Sadistic euphoria flooded Little Red's body. This was it! THIS WAS IT!!
This was the moment she lived for.
The blade touched the Wolf's jaw, and she waited for the sound of ripping flesh.
Little Red trembled as her blade sunk into its cheek...
No.
Phased through-!
It can't be.
The Wolf's expression morphed in an instant, twisting into an inhuman smirk.
It taunted her.
Did she really think it was going to be so easy?
As the Wolf phased through her blade, she felt a tearing pain in her calf.
She whirled around. Another clone drew blood, twisting her flesh off.
She briskly stomped at the Wolf's true body with her other foot. A clever trick, but it wouldn't work twice.
Little Red trembled as her boot crushed into its skull...
No.
Phased through-!
What was going on?!
The pressure on her calf disappeared as the clone passed through her foot, skittering away from her.
It cawed with sickly pleasure, spitting out the blood and cloth from its mouth.
Little Red was left with a garish wound on her calf. Along with the massive chunk of flesh missing from her thigh, her movements had been effectively crippled.
"What's wrong? Confused~?"
The clone in front of Little Red grinned as each of its other bodies passed harmlessly through her flesh and out the opposite side, forming another circle around the woman yet again.
Blood gushed down the Abnormality's leg. Little Red screamed into the air, beating the ground with her fist.
Why? Why? WHY?!
Her guttural howls became incomprehensible with rage.
Amid the explosion of dirt and grass, the Wolf merely laughed.
"Your arm's next!" Each of its shadows detached themselves once again, creating sixteen additional wolves.
Time for some mind games.
Little Red's eye bounced around sporadically, her chest heaving with effort. Which one was real? Which ones were fake?
Her confidence began to waver. Even with so much extra strength, was she still not enough to have her ending?
The wolves began to circle around her once again.
This time, they didn't bother with pretenses.
Each one of their expressions were filled with mocking glee.
Just give up, their stares said.
...
Asher narrowed his eyes, piercing through the murky red glow of hesitation that emanated from Little Red.
'Any hints, System?'
[Nope.]
Asher ignored its non-response, his mind already occupied by what he just saw.
Weren't these clones? Of course, right?
From the sixteen he saw a second ago, only one of them made noise as it rushed forward, only one actually crushed the leaves underneath its paws.
So that should have been the true body.
But then it phased through Little Red's attack, and another bit her calf, a wolf that Asher had originally assumed was a clone.
However, that one also phased through her counterattack a moment later.
An idea flashed through Asher's mind. He had to test something.
The thirty-two wolves slowly circled Little Red, paying Asher no attention.
Asher strained his ears, listening for the crackle of leaves.
Immediately, he located the 'original'. It had its vision turned away from Asher, solely focused on Little Red.
Asher picked up a small stone, tossing it into the 'original' body, or at least the body that made noise with its steps.
The Wolf twisted around, giving the stone a glare.
It blinked as the rock approached its fur.
If Asher's prediction was right, it would now 'change' bodies.
As expected, the stone phased through the creature's body, but-
Right there!
Asher held back his gasp.
An instant before the stone passed through the Wolf's fur, the leaves stopped crackling under the clone's paws, like it suddenly became weightless.
And in that same instant, the crackling leaves could be heard somewhere else, from a clone a few meters away from the original.
The Wolf tossed a sideways glance at the boy. Unbeknownst to the boy, its smirk broadened.
'He figured it out. As expected, that boy wasn't chosen for nothing.'
The Wolf could see its plan unfolding beautifully.
That boy's mind... The Wolf salivated with anticipation. Breaking one of the chosen was an opportunity that rarely presented itself.
But Asher had no clue of the Wolf's thoughts. He instead fell into a contemplative trance.
He had an idea of what the Wolf's power was now. It had clones, sure, but it could also change which one was the 'original', which one could interact with the world.
Asher's theory was supported by what he saw with Little Red, too. The crackling leaves from the first wolf was to lower her guard, and cement in her mind that the wolf she focused on was the original.
But when her blade reached it, the Wolf 'swapped' permeability, allowing the blade to phase through and letting its other clone bite into her calf.
That was... pretty smart.
'But I know the secret now. Red, please figure it out!'
Asher's prayers didn't work.
Little Red's eye was still twitching, filled with doubts and mania. Her confidence was shattered by the unexpected reversal of the situation, the way the Wolf leered at her, confident in its victory.
She didn't notice the sudden change in the location of the crackling leaves.
'If I don't step in, she won't survive...' Asher could tell. Despite the increase in Little Red's strength, the Wolf was toying with her in the palm of its paws.
The Wolf seemed to enjoy the game, how the woman could do nothing to stop it.
Asher grit his teeth.
He had to help her.
Right?
'System, how many attacks have I done so far?' Asher didn't want his [Fourth Match Flame] to activate without his knowledge.
[Two attacks remaining until next activation of 'Fourth Match Flame'.]
Before Asher could think, the wolves converged once again, each leaping straight toward Little Red.
'Then I'll have to make these two shots count!'
Little Red snapped out of her rage, her eye regaining some clarity. She locked onto the nearest clone.
Rushing forward, she ripped through the closest wolf's jaw with her blade.
Phased through. Next.
She crushed the snout of a clone behind her-
Next.
She sliced into the eyes of another-
Next. Next. Next. Next...
In a fraction of a second, Little Red tore through each and every one of the clones.
Yet all of her attacks phased through.
The wolves slid on the ground, reforming their circle around the woman.
"Hah, what's got you so twitchy?" The Wolves scoffed, a hint of boredom reaching its eyes. That was fast. But still a little slower than it expected.
It wanted something more... entertaining.
Asher gulped. Even with his new strength, he couldn't pinpoint an exact moment where he could have made an attack of his own without implicating Little Red as well.
[Twenty-three seconds remaining.]
The System helpfully informed him of his remaining time of his effects and skills.
If he didn't do something in twenty-three seconds, he would certainly fail.
'Come on... What do I do? And how do I do it?'
Asher knew that the Wolf could change which clone was the real body, yet he had no idea how to actually hit the main body.
Couldn't the Wolf just let his attack pass through it, switching to another clone?
Asher remembered the exact scene when the Wolf took a chunk out of Little Red's calf.
...The clone that attacked her from behind-
His eyes lit up.
'That clone was the only one who was actually prepared to attack!'
Asher could repaint the scene with perfect clarity. Right before Little Red's blade phased through the clone the first time, a wolf from behind had already opened its mouth, waiting for its opportunity to bite the woman's calf once it gained the chance to.
And that wolf behind her, the only one that had its mouth open, was the one the ultimately made the wound.
None of the other clones attempted to bare their teeth; they were only there for distraction.
So that was it.
An idea sprang into Asher's mind.
With childish naivety, Asher didn't consider the possibility that the Wolf might have been faking every single one of its 'habits' that he so meticulously analyzed.
Time seemed to slow down in the boy's eyes as the wolves began their attack again.
This time, Little Red did not step forward, instead waiting for the clones to come to her.
Already, Asher could see several wolves in the crowd bare their fangs. He took a mental note of the wolves that did so.
'...Three.' The wolf that led the charge was one, yet Asher was fairly certain it wasn't be the one the Wolf planned on using. After all, as the one leading the charge, Little Red's eye was already focused on it.
As expected, Little Red's hand phased through its eyes when it reached her arm length.
[14 seconds remaining.]
'So quick?!' Time had unknowingly flown by.
Now really was his last chance!
The wolves converged on Little Red, instantly overwhelming her senses with sheer numbers.
Asher narrowed his eyes, focusing on the other two wolves with their mouths open.
His hand gripped the knife in his palm, prepared to strike at an instant's notice.