PROTAGONIST’S POV

“Gaahhhh!!!”

The monstrosity in front of me fell to the ground with a thump.

It was looking at me with fear and horror in its eyes.

It was the Wolfana that foolishly tried to fight me.

I had already cut down its legs and gave it a grave wound on its torso. The Wolfana looked at me with fear and caution in its eyes. Then it did something that was unthinkable for a monster to do. It joined its hands as if it was begging me for mercy.

Where did this creature learn something like this from?

It was a pretty obvious answer, in my opinion, it learned the universal art of begging from its victims. I don’t know how many humans must have begged the same way in front of this monster.

I didn’t waste any time further and swiftly cut down the monster’s head. The monster didn’t even have the time to make any sound. The monster’s body twitched for a few moments before it eventually stopped.

“Graaaaaahhhh!!!!”

Hm? Has she met that guy already? Now that was fast, I never expected her to be so quick on her feet, looks like she wasn’t completely incapable after all.

Without further ado, I picked up the monster’s corpse and rushed in the same direction as that girl earlier did.

The girl, although, she looked weak, was a very fast runner. I can’t believe that she was able to run so far in such a short amount of time. It took me a while to catch up with her and just as I expected, she encountered the other monster.

There was no need for me to do anything, so I decided to sit back and enjoy the show.

The girl looked to be scared out of her wits, she was shaking and shivering so badly that even I felt a bit of pity for her. 

But then suddenly her shivering stopped and she said,

“No! I can’t die here!!!”

Hm? I guess she has her reasons to not die as well.

“Haaaaa!!!!!”

‘Whoa!!! That’s nice, got gettim!’ I inwardly cheered for her victory

The girl raised her short sword, enveloped it with mana, and ran towards the monster.

Looks like it’s her last attack… too bad, this much is not enough to kill a monster of this caliber.

Just as I expected the monster easily dodged the attack and punched her in the face.

The girl got thrown away and finally collided with a tree and collapsed. She was bleeding heavily and it looks like she has broken a few of her bones as well. I guess it’s over for her now.

Now then, what will she do now?

Will she fight or run away?

Or maybe she will start begging? 

“I don’t want to die! Not yet! Not yet!! Not yet!!! I cannot die, not until I kill ‘him’!!”

Ah, so she started crying and throwing a tantrum

The girl started shouting, protesting, and crying. Tears filled her eyes and her entire face got drenched by her tears.

…

…

Pathetic

Truly, absolutely pathetic

Well, it’s none of my business so I guess it’s fine.

“Whoa! How pathetic~!”

I didn’t hide even a bit of my contempt when I said these words.

The monster and the girl looked at me

The girl’s tense face became even tenser when she looked at me.

I didn’t pay her any more mind and instead started focusing on the monster.

The monster was looking at me with wary eyes, no, to be honest, it was actually looking at the corpse of its fellow comrade in my hands.

The monster looked at me and then it looked at the girl. Then it looked at me again with the kind of face as if it was waiting for my reply.

“You want to trade your life with that girl’s? Is that what you are trying to say?” I asked it

In response to my question, the monster just nodded and started looking at me with expectant eyes.

“No can do, she’s not my companion do whatever you want with her, I don’t really care”

The look in the monster’s eyes changed and it charged at me without thinking anything else.

Foolish guy…you should have at least tried to take the girl as a hostage first. What if I had just been kidding?

I shook my head and threw the other Wolfana’s corpse at the one that was approaching me.

In response to me throwing its companion’s corpse at it, the monster just dodged it and came at me. Its long nails, strong enough to destroy trees and boulders aimed at me, for a moment I felt the hairs on my arm stand up, yep this was a thrilling sensation for me.

I covered my sword in mana and aimed it at the monster’s head, the monster seeing my sword approach him jumped backwards and looked at me with caution apparent in its eyes.

I pointed my sword clad in mana at the monster and covered my feet with mana. The monster, knowing full well that it won’t be able to escape by any means finally made up its mind and lunged at me.

And then

***

GIRL’S POV

This guy…he is a bigger monster than that Wolfana.

I don’t think I can escape from this place even if I were to run right now, I should focus on healing myself first.

I started circulating mana in my body to heal all the injuries I received and started watching the fight before me. This fight, although I didn’t want to admit it, will eventually decide my life, I have to watch it until the end and then plan my moves carefully

The Wolfana jumped at the boy and tried to tear him apart using its claws but the boy instead of facing the attack just moved to his right side, turned around using his right leg as a hinge while his left leg was up in the air, and slashed his sword at the back of the monster. His attack was so casual and flawless that it almost seemed natural to me.

How can that boy fight against such a strong monster with so much ease?

I wanted to get up and ask this question but I didn’t have the guts to do that, I had a feeling that I would die if I even try to leave this spot.

Blood was pouring out of the monster’s back at a very fast rate. The monster was panting heavily as it glanced at the boy, the boy on the other hand was just standing there with a confused expression on his face.

“Graaaahhhh!!!”

The monster growled and yet again ran towards the boy, this time the monster aimed at the boy’s head. In response to the attack, the boy just ducked and used his left leg to kick the monster’s knee.

The monster fell to the ground and started wailing in anguish but it didn’t stop there, ignoring the pain the monster kept on attacking the boy but no matter what it did, he wasn’t even able to land a scratch on him. On the other hand, the boy kept on inflicting wounds to the monster without stopping at all.

To be honest it felt to me that the boy was playing around with the Wolfana. It was an unreal sight, something that seemed to be out of a fairy tale that my mother used to tell me before I went to sleep, in that fairy tale the monster aiming to kill the princess was usually slain by a great hero.

Well, of course, I was no princess and the boy in front of me, judging by the way he acted was no great hero either.

The monster got up once again and ran towards the boy but suddenly while running it fell to the ground.

What happened?

The boy slowly approached the monster and said,

“You sure took your time didn’t you?”

The monster looked fearfully at the boy.

“Honestly, I underestimated you. I didn’t think you’d be able to take so many of my attacks, I knew I got them in clean. No wonder you’re confident to put on airs”

He stated plainly as if it was just a matter-of-fact.

The monster joined its hands and bowed its head as if it was begging for mercy.

The boy looked at the monster, his eyes reflecting disgust and contempt at the mere sight of the monster begging before him.

He didn’t say anything else, he just walked forward and cut off the monster’s head with a slash from his sword.

“*Kachak!*”

Blood splattered dying the ground red.

It was then that the boy looked at me.

His expressionless face and his sharp gaze made me gulp unconsciously

The boy didn't say anything to me, he just turned around, cut the two Wolfanas' tails and heads as proof of killing them, and then incinerated the two corpses to dust

After that, he just turned around and proceeded to leave

Is he really going to spare me?

Looks like he was just another soft-hearted moron

I was about to get up and chase after him when suddenly I remembered the scene of him killing that monster, I would never forget the fear I felt when I saw him butchering that monster like it was nothing

But what should I do now?

I need the boy in order to leave this place safely,

But I am so afraid that I can’t ask even him, to be honest, I am surprised that the boy didn't kill me, I mean I did set him up to save myself, if I were him I wouldn't have been so merciful, no, I probably would have tortured him before finally killing him.

But I am afraid,

What would I do if he gets angry after I try to ask for his help? Wouldn't he just kill me then?

But I would die just the same if I don't leave this forest soon, the monsters in the forest are all afraid of this guy and I know for sure that the moment he leaves me, I will die

I have to survive, no matter what! And in order to do that, I would go to any lengths!

I shook my head and made up my mind to shamelessly ask for his help,

I ran to catch up to the boy and called him out,

"Hey wait! Wait a minute!!"

The boy stopped in his tracks and looked at me

A chill ran down my spine when I saw his eyes

It's not like the boy looked terrifying or anything, no, not even close to anything like that. Rather he actually looked pretty and delicate, but for some reason when I see him now, I get the feeling that he is more vicious than any other monster I have seen.

My legs started trembling from fear and my back got soaked with cold sweat, it was as if I wasn't facing a human but something entirely different, something that I should stay away from.

I tried to speak but no voice came from my mouth, I tried to blink but my eyelids wouldn't move, I completely lost control over my body and thus, fell to the ground.

I couldn't feel anything, the wind, the ground, the tears that unconsciously started falling from my eyes. I couldn't feel anything, I became totally numb to everything.

"If you go east from here, then you might be able to safely leave this forest"

The boy said in a smooth voice and left me behind

His shrinking back made me regain my breath, so I heeded his advice and decided to go the way he told me to

I hope, no, I pray that I never get to see that man again