Aji had no time to grab hold. Gurool had no chance to block. Fenril simply charged in a straight line to unleash its savagery upon me.
To see and react would be too late. I didn't have the ability to see it in the first place. Simply trusting in the wolf's ferocity, I drew Jijan in rhythm.
Hidden a layer beneath the earth was a pitfall over twenty meters deep. To capture Fenril, I simultaneously employed Greater Earth Magic and inherent demonic arts.
Had it not been for Jijan, had the Land-Sinking not created fissures below, I moved a trap that couldn't have been made with my will. The great earth split apart with a crack, seeking to swallow Fenril. Even a king of beasts cannot stand without a foothold. Fenril's body fell into the pit.
As Fenril himself had said, human savagery turns everything in the world into a weapon. Be it a demon god, an ideology, or even an illusion that doesn't exist. Honing it into a weapon for a single purpose.
The ground was collapsing. Even amidst the fall, Fenril kicked off a falling rock and leaped. Over Fenril, tree roots descended like a net. It tore through them effortlessly with its claws. With overwhelming power, all petty tricks could be overcome.
Still, the advantage gained by petty tricks, however slight, certainly exists.
"Aji."
I murmured, weakly tossing a small pebble into the pit.
"Fetch."
"Woof!"
Aji, who had been chasing Fenril, took a great leap. Aji's shadow loomed over Fenril, who was momentarily delayed from springing off the falling stone.
The two collided in mid-air. Unable to step onto the next foothold, Fenril began to fall in a gentle arc.
"Gurool, you too. Use all the ground you've flattened."
"That spot is empty air!"
"Exactly, so the wolf can't move there either."
A place difficult for me to move is also difficult for my opponent. Gurool had already realized this and was charging in. Reaching the edge of the pit, he gritted his teeth.
'If my feet aren't touching the ground, I can't stop. He's telling me to throw myself in. That mage, this bastard!'
Not being able to stop also meant he could fall at the same speed he moved when he used Ground-Leveling. There would be a massive recoil for Gurool himself, but that was also an opportunity. Gurool leaped, instantly spreading the ground he had preselected. The sound of a bullet being fired came from under his feet. Using physics as his weapon, he gripped two daggers and pierced into Fenril.
"Grrr...!"
Floundering in the air, Fenril's only choice was 'how it would be hit'. Fenril urgently twisted its body. The dagger that had aimed for the throat slightly missed, piercing through Fenril's shoulder. Gurool's massive frame drove Fenril against the opposite wall.
Even as the dagger tore into its body, Fenril swung both arms and legs in retaliation. With nowhere to dodge in the void, Gurool took one blow and was smashed ten meters below.
The enemy was shaken off, but the strike infused with qi inflicted a fatal wound on Fenril. How could it move properly with a blade piercing its shoulder?
Fenril tried to pull the blade out of its shoulder even in mid-air. That's when I was already aiming at Fenril.
The hands and shoulders of a human being are meant for using tools. The primordial weapons were stones and branches, and throwing was the only way to use them. I used the demon god's power in the most primal way.
Jijan, thrown with all my might, spun as it flew. It can't be dodged in empty space with nothing to push off. Let alone block properly with a blade stuck in its shoulder. Jijan struck Fenril and slammed into the opposite wall.
Unless using immense qi like a regressor, Jijan doesn't shatter the earth. But it cares nothing for the creature crushed beneath it. Just like a great mountain pays no heed to the insignificant things piled under its peak.
Even if it's a king of beasts.
"Kyahaang!"*
Jijan pinned Fenril down. Regardless of whether the opponent was a king of beasts or whatever, Jijan did not stop until it met the ground. Fenril's body, caught between the ground and Jijan, was crushed.
Had it been a human, they might have broken the ground to evade instead of blocking Jijan… but it's hard to expect that level of improvisation from a wolf.
Jijan eventually collided with the wall and bounced away. After it had half-embedded Fenril into the wall like a fossil. Cracks spread out from Fenril as if radiating outward, and with a great tremor, the wall collapsed.
Dust filled the deep pit. Aji and Gurool, who had fallen below, still had their hackles raised, glaring into the debris. In the meantime, Fenril, emerging through the dust, still bared its ferocious growl.
"Owooo...!"
"Give up. Wolf. The fight is decided."
Yet even the long battle was now showing its end. Fenril's figure revealed through the dust was a wreck. The dagger embedded in its shoulder had shifted and torn the wound wider, one arm was visibly deformed. Its gait was precarious, balance seemingly broken.
Even in that state, it could probably rip hundreds of humans apart in an instant, but its current opponents were Aji and Gurool. Monsters Fenril couldn't easily beat even when its body was intact.
"We've won." Gurool, sensing victory, spoke.
"We achieved victory rather easily, considering the king of wolves' reputation. Your contribution was immense, mage."
"You joined late after spending ages smoothing the ground, so it was easy for you. I was nearly killed."
"It was the best course for victory. Weren't you prepared for that? And for someone complaining, your limbs look perfectly intact."
"I nearly died several times. You just came in after the hard work was done. The first-class merit goes to me, who set the table."
"Not yet. Isn't the most important merit still to come?"
When you thought about it, I was the one who stalled for time and killed everything. What was he on about? The overly ambitious Gurool gripped his one remaining dagger in a reverse grip and approached Fenril.
"A wounded beast is dangerous. Stay back. I'll finish it."
"You just want to land the final blow yourself…."
Gurool grinned, dagger in hand, and advanced towards the snarling Fenril. That's when Aji abruptly stepped forward. With the half-crown hovering over its head, Aji approached Fenril as if entranced.
"The promise was kept. Thank you, human."
Unaccustomed to being called human, Gurool responded half a beat late.
"...Are you addressing me?"
"Yes. You too."
"I’m grateful. I merely fought to survive as well. Our intentions just happened to align."
"Still, thankful is thankful."
Having conveyed its gratitude, Aji approached Fenril alone. Gurool, who had been aiming for the final blow, looked regretful.
"Wait. If you're taking my merit… no, I suppose you, the king of dogs, achieved the greatest merit. Hmph. Is there no chance you could concede?"
"I'll let it be recorded as your kill, so just watch quietly."
Gurool scratched his chin and backed off. Meanwhile, Aji neared Fenril, staring at it intently. As if sensing the end, the half-crown began to hum.
"I, won. Wolf, lost."
"Not yet. Dog. I'm not dead."
Even while bleeding profusely, Fenril still charged, shedding its savagery. But even a king of beasts is a beast. A beast that moves with a physical body, no matter how powerful, cannot escape its limits.
Clearly, its arm didn't extend as far as it intended. A forepaw swiped past Aji's side, futilely missing. Fenril didn't stop and bared its fangs, but Aji instantly pinned Fenril down and overwhelmed it.
Pinned beneath Aji, Fenril panted but still responded savagely.
"And wolves too. Savagery won't disappear. Savagery is a mirror. It's in humans, it's in dogs, and it's in wolves. As long as there is a savagery that seeks to protect itself, it will keep appearing."
"Woof. Maybe. But, the promise was kept."
Aji took the dagger embedded in Fenril's shoulder in its mouth and pulled it out in one swift motion. The blocked blood momentarily spurted like a fountain. Aji quietly looked down at its other half's wound.
"You and I, same. The only difference, a promise. A promise shared with a human."
"That's your promise, not mine."
"Woof. No. You, me."
Leaving that remark, Aji began to lick Fenril's wound.
The saliva of a beast king possesses a slight healing effect. The blood flowing from Fenril's wound gradually stopped. A king of beasts with strong vitality would likely have stopped bleeding eventually, but having taken a human-like form, it probably couldn't lick below its own shoulder blade, so Aji aided its recovery.
"Human, I, kept promise. Now, no promise. So, now, you are me."
"Discard my savagery and become tamed, you mean?"
"No. Savagery is also me, being tamed is also me. All of it is me. There's no need for us to split apart and fight."
Beasts lick each other. It's closer to a favor than a service, a gift from the one with more leeway.
Fenril would never have done it, but goodwill can coexist with savagery. Instead of ending Fenril's life, Aji spoke.
"Beasts, can do anything. Can be savage. That's not wrong. But, can also be tamed. That's not wrong either."
Aji's crown resonated. A being that represents the will of the species, the king of beasts. Aji conveyed the will to Fenril on behalf of the split half.
"Strange. That we must only be savage, or must only be tamed."
"Wolves are not tamed."
"No. Tamed. Woof. Because I am a tamed wolf."
Aji pressed its forehead against Fenril's. The two halves of the crown touched each other. Brrr, the crown, shaped like a thorny vine, vibrated violently.
"The promise, had to be kept. So we split. The promise, was kept. No need to split."
Having no strength left to resist, Fenril pathetically bared its teeth.
"...Savagery doesn't disappear. You will bite humans."
"Woof. It's okay. You can bite. Just, whenever I choose."
And then, the half-crown moved.
The broken half-crown, split apart by someone, became whole again. From atop Aji's head to onto Fenril's head. As if they had always been one, they clicked together and became whole.
Once, long ago. A past no one remembers now. There was a wolf cast out from its pack. Starving and weakened, the wolf panted even with its prey, a human, before its eyes.
Wolves are savage and dangerous. It would be rational to end its life while it was weak. But that day, the human felt pity for the dying wolf and shared its food.
Life is precious even to a beast. The wolf regarded the human who saved its precious life as part of its pack, and stayed by the human's side, protecting him. They licked and stroked each other, protecting one another for a long time.
That is how dogs were born. No, the name used to call the wolf merely changed. The dog shared a promise with the human, and because of that, dog and wolf split apart to fight each other…
After a long time passed, after much blood was shed, they returned to the starting point.
Fenril's crown was complete. Gazing down at Fenril, reborn clearly and distinctly as the king of wolves, encompassing both dog and wolf, Aji declared, still with gentleness in its voice.
"You, king."