In the chaos of the battlefield, Hulim Heyerar’s gaze locked onto the Forest Colossus Wolf in the distance in an instant.

  The beast stood tall and proud, as if already certain of Hulim Heyerar’s impending demise, its eyes once again cold with the same arrogance it had shown earlier.

  “......So the breakthrough was right here all along?”

  From anyone else’s perspective, Hulim Heyerar’s idea would have seemed utterly mad. After all, this was the Forest Colossus Wolf—the absolute pinnacle of C-Rank creatures, a beast most people wouldn’t even dare to challenge.

  In truth, Hulim Heyerar had never intended to face the Forest Colossus Wolf head-on at first. She’d even felt a flicker of relief when she saw it hanging back instead of joining the fray. But now, if forced to choose between fighting the entire pack or taking on the wolf king alone, she would pick the latter without a second thought......

  “Whoosh——!”

  Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, Hulim Heyerar waited until the wolves, lulled into the rhythm of their hunt, let their guard down a fraction—then she cast a spell directly at a certain target.

  The wolves “guarding” the Goblin Lord tensed up for a moment, but relaxed again when they saw the spell wasn’t heading their way.

  But then, a roar of unbridled fury split the air.

  “AWOOOO——!!!”

  The entire pack froze. The forest fell into an eerie silence.

  Every eye turned to the source of that furious cry—the Forest Colossus Wolf, leader of the pack.

  Unlike before, though, a large patch of its fur was now charred black, singed clean off its body.

  Caught off guard and lacking vigilance, it had been too slow to dodge when it saw Hulim Heyerar’s Great Fireball streaking toward it. The spell had hit it dead-on.

  And because fire was its weakness, it looked far more disheveled than the Goblin Lord, who had also taken a Great Fireball to the face earlier.

  “ROOOOAR——!!!”

  Feeling the cool breeze on its singed scalp, the Forest Colossus Wolf flew into a rage, letting out a thunderous roar at Hulim Heyerar.

  But Hulim Heyerar thought it wasn’t angry enough—not angry enough to lose its wits entirely. So she opened her mouth and let loose a barrage of taunts.

  “What’s wrong? Mad about it, baldy wolf? Look at you! Is this what passes for a wolf king these days? Hiding behind your pack, yelling your head off, too useless to even dodge a lousy fireball! Did you cheat your way into that crown with nothing but loud howls? Nyah-nyah-nyah~! Baldy wolf! Worthless trash! Pathetic fodder! Even a mangy stray dog would make a better king than you......”

  The Forest Colossus Wolf suddenly realized that sometimes, being too intelligent was a curse. Because it understood every single insult she hurled. The other wolves, dull-witted as they were, could tell she was mocking their king—but they had no clue what the words meant, so they didn’t feel the same rage.

  And the worst part? It couldn’t talk back. It had no way to retaliate with words!

  The Forest Colossus Wolf was so stunned by Hulim Heyerar’s verbal assault that its anger skyrocketed, teetering on the brink of total madness.

  “ROOOOAR——!!!”

  Never in its life had the Forest Colossus Wolf been subjected to such provocation!

  It let out a furious snarl at Hulim Heyerar, then charged at her like a raging storm. It would kill her with its own claws—kill this insolent human who dared to insult its honor!

  “......I was just mimicking how Fran usually talks trash, but I didn’t expect it to work this well. It looks really mad now......”

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  The Forest Colossus Wolf was incredibly fast. It would cross the distance between them in the blink of an eye. So the moment it lunged forward, Hulim Heyerar began chanting another incantation......

  “Awooo!”

  “Awooo!!”

  “Awooo......”

  With their king leading the charge, the entire pack erupted into a frenzy. They raced alongside the Forest Colossus Wolf, joining its charge wherever it passed.

  “ROAR——!”

  The Forest Colossus Wolf leaped into the air, its massive jaws—big enough to swallow a grown man whole—gaping open as it lunged at Hulim Heyerar.

  And at that exact moment, Hulim Heyerar’s spell was ready.

  “Rock Spear!”

  A colossal spear of stone erupted from the ground, streaking straight for the Forest Colossus Wolf’s open maw.

  Hulim Heyerar had expected the spear to pierce its throat clean through—but to her surprise, the Forest Colossus Wolf twisted its head violently mid-air, clamping its jaws shut and shattering the incoming Rock Spear into dust.

  After crushing the spear, the Forest Colossus Wolf pushed off the ground with all four paws, launching its massive body into the air again, hurtling toward Hulim Heyerar. Its razor-sharp claws, glinting with cold light, were aimed directly at her torso.

  “Water Levitation!”

  Hulim Heyerar cast the spell at her feet. A huge surge of water burst forth out of nowhere, lifting her into the air and propelling her backward at high speed.

  THUD!

  The Forest Colossus Wolf missed its mark, slamming into the spot where Hulim Heyerar had just been standing. The ground shook violently from the impact of its landing.

  “Pfft——!”

  The Forest Colossus Wolf spat out the fragments of rock in its mouth, its enormous eyes fixed on Hulim Heyerar with predatory intensity.

  “GRRR!”

  “GRRR!”

  “GRRR......”

  At the same time, the wolves behind it surged past their king, lunging at Hulim Heyerar from every angle.

  Hulim Heyerar dispelled Water Levitation immediately, chanting a new incantation at lightning speed.

  “Ring of Repulsion!”

  BOOM——!

  A massive ring of fire erupted once more, spreading outward from Hulim Heyerar’s position. It sent seven or eight wolves flying through the air, their fur catching fire instantly as they screamed in agony.

  But just as the fire ring continued to expand, a huge head darted through the flames. The Forest Colossus Wolf opened its jaws wide and took a bite directly at the ring of fire.

  POP!

  The ring of fire, made purely of flames, was actually torn apart by its bite. The entire fire barrier rippled violently before dissipating completely.

  “Woo——!”

  The Forest Colossus Wolf puffed a cloud of white steam from its mouth, a few singed tufts of fur still clinging to its lips.

  BOOM!

  Its massive body launched itself from the ground again, leaping into the air and appearing directly above Hulim Heyerar in the blink of an eye. Learning from its earlier mistake, it didn’t open its mouth to bite this time—instead, it swung its claws downward with all its might.

  It moved so fast that only a blur could be seen in the air.

  “Rock Barrier!”

  Hulim Heyerar cast the defensive spell in a panic. A stone wall erupted from the ground, standing directly in the path of the Forest Colossus Wolf’s claws.

  But......

  CRASH——!

  The Rock Barrier shattered into pieces the moment the claws made contact. The enormous paw, thicker than Hulim Heyerar’s entire body, continued its downward trajectory, slamming into her with devastating force.

  THUD——!

  Hulim Heyerar’s body was sent flying through the air, smashing through two wooden goblin huts before finally skidding to a halt.

  “Ugh! Cough...... cough......”

  A trickle of blood seeped from the corner of her mouth. She propped herself up with her wand, pushing her body off the ground.

  She wiped the blood away casually, glancing at the faint white glow clinging to her body. This was by far the worst injury she’d sustained since the battle began......

  “【???????????????????????????????????????】”

  “Barrier.”

  She re-cast the Third-Tier non-elemental defensive spell, using the brief lull to catch her breath and assess her situation.

  Her mana was down to roughly thirty percent......

  She had to conserve her mana. And she had to end this fight quickly!

  With that thought, Hulim Heyerar’s expression turned calm as she cast a new spell.

  “【?????????????????????????????????????????????????????】”

  CRACK! CRACK!

  A massive greatsword, forged entirely from solid ice, materialized out of thin air in front of Hulim Heyerar. It then fell to the ground, embedding its blade into the earth at her feet.

  A Third-Tier Ice-Elemental Spell—Ice Weapon Forging!

  Next, Hulim Heyerar released her grip on the wooden wand she’d been clutching tightly this whole time, slinging it over her back. She took a deep breath, then wrapped her hands around the hilt of the ice greatsword. Bolstered by the enhanced strength from Fortify and Battle Roar, she pulled the sword out of the ground with ease.

  “Fortify active. Battle Roar active. Haste active. Barrier active......”

  She had strength, speed, and defense all at once.

  So then......

  “If you love close-quarters combat so much, then I’ll finish you with close-quarters combat——!”

  ......