The sound of a wolf howling in pain echoed through the forest. With a loud bang, the black wolf crashed into a tree, snapping it in two.
"How'd you like that?" Apollo smirked.
The black wolf shook its head while standing up slowly. It looked at the tiny human and growled. It didn't dare move, just observed him.
This guy knows it's going to be hard to defeat me, Apollo thought. But he decided to end this fight by killing the wolf. He wasn't a good person to begin with, and he wouldn't hesitate to end a life if needed. Besides, this black wolf tried to kill him, so it was only fair that he would do the same to the wolf, right?
Apollo ran toward the wolf and jumped high. He raised his foot in the air before sending it downwards!
Roar!
The black wolf responded with its own attack, one of its tails sweeping up! The impact caused both of them to be thrown back. Apollo landed and dashed forward again. He wasn't going to let the wolf recover from the impact and wanted to bombard it with attacks. It was risky, but Apollo knew that if the black wolf managed to land another hit on him, his life would be in danger.
When he was about to reach the black wolf, it suddenly turned around and started running toward the forest. Seeing this, Apollo couldn't help but be amazed at how cunning this wolf was. If you can't win, then run. They had the same thought, but the wolf applied it first.
"Come back here!" Apollo shouted as he chased after the wolf. Using his Simple Movement Technique, he parkoured his way to get close to the wolf. With his surroundings turning into a blur, he caught up with the wolf.
He reached out his hand and grabbed one of its tails, but the other tail struck his hand.
"Argh!" Apollo grunted in pain. He noticed that his hand was bleeding, causing great pain. He gritted his teeth and caught up again. Using his injured hand, he held one of the wolf's tails. As expected, the other tail tried to attack his hand, but Apollo anticipated this. Using his free hand, he caught it and pulled hard!
"Ahhh!" Apollo shouted as his body was dragged by the wolf. He stomped his feet, creating a long trail on the ground before shouting, "Take this!"
The beggar used all the strength he could muster to stop the wolf from running before he twisted his body and threw the black wolf as hard as he could!
The wolf howled in the air, its body crashing into a tree and creating a small dust cloud upon impact.
Apollo breathed heavily, sweat dripping from his forehead. The pain from his right hand made him frown, but now was not the time to mull over it. Instead, he focused on the wolf. "That throw was hard… Did I kill it?"
He walked toward the broken tree and noticed that the black wolf was trying to stand up, but its legs gave out.
There were broken pieces of wood stuck in its body, and blood constantly flowed down. The wolf was also breathing heavily, and when it noticed the tiny human, it growled, but compared to before, it was very weak and low.
Looking at its state, Apollo concluded that it was on the verge of death. He looked around and saw a piece of wood with sharp, pointy edges. He went and picked it up. "Let me end your suffering."
The black wolf seemed to resign to its fate as it let out a final howl.
Apollo let it howl and waited until its head fell to the ground from exhaustion. Seeing this, the beggar raised the wood and plunged it into the wolf's head.
Blood splashed onto his clothes.
"Sigh… I almost died," Apollo muttered bitterly. Although it may have seemed that he had the upper hand, his life was still on the line, and with one wrong move, the situation could have turned around.
Fortunately, the black wolf decided to escape instead of fighting him to the death.
Apollo turned around and started walking back.
Howl!
Suddenly, the howl of a wolf echoed in the forest. When the beggar heard this, he glanced back at the black wolf he had just killed. Realization dawned on him. Don't tell me!
Another howl sounded, but this time, it came from a different direction. Then, one after another, wolves' howls reverberated through the forest.
Apollo gulped, his eyes wide with fear. He looked at the dead wolf and recalled their fight. That guy didn't escape because he was afraid! He escaped to buy time for his pack to arrive! That's why the black wolf kept howling even while running away.
If he had been calm and not clouded by arrogance due to his newfound strength, he would have considered this possibility before deciding to fight a wolf. But regretting it now wouldn't do him any good. Instead, he took a deep breath to calm his mind.
"Gotta run now!" Apollo decided to return as soon as possible. He valued his life above all else, and staying here was akin to suicide. Although his body ached from the previous fight, his running speed didn't slow down; instead, he became even faster.
He used his Simple Movement Technique to the best of his abilities. He ran up a tree and decided to traverse back by jumping from one tree to another. Wolves had more advantage on land, and as he expected, the moment he started his return, there were already black wolves running after him.
Howl!
They howled to the sky while running in the direction of the human scent.
Apollo looked down and counted them. There were at least a dozen of them, and their speed was fast. They also ran in the same direction but not on the same track, making it easier for them to hunt an escaping prey.
If he had been a few seconds later in escaping, he would have found himself fighting against those wolves, and the outcome would have been dire.
Suddenly, the howl of a wolf echoed, louder than the others. Apollo glanced down and noticed a wolf running toward his direction while looking up at him.
Sh*t! They found me!
The other black wolves started gathering beneath him, behind him. Thankfully, they couldn't climb the trees and travel as he did.
Faster!
After a while, Apollo could finally see the city wall, and the light of hope shone in his eyes.
There were still a few more trees before he reached the clearing. Here, there would be only grass. Apollo started to worry that the moment he jumped and landed on the ground, the black wolves would lunge at him. He gritted his teeth and decided to let fate work its wonder.
Apollo jumped hard, causing the trunk to shatter and his body to propel forward. The black wolves howled angrily in his direction. As he saw the ground closing in, Apollo prepared himself.
The moment he landed, he rolled forward and started running toward the caravan lining up to enter the gate.
Breathing heavily, he turned around and saw that the black wolves were looking in his direction but didn't dare to leave the forest.
"Woah, thank god," Apollo put a hand over his chest. His heart was beating like never before. His body was even shaking from the nervousness. He noticed that the wolves started to retreat back into the forest, and he heaved a sigh of relief.