When this thought crossed Shulim's mind, she glanced toward where the goblin lord had just been, but it was no longer there.
However, she had been keeping a close eye on its movements, so she had a general idea of where it had run off to hide.
“Alright, time to burn it all down!”
Shulim raised her wand, preparing to bury the hiding goblins, the incapacitated ones still lying on the ground, and their entire tribe along with them.
“Awoo—!”
Right then, a long, drawn-out howl suddenly echoed from deep within the forest.
Startled, Shulim spun around, her gaze turning solemn as she stared into the boundless forest ahead.
“Awoo—!”
Another long howl echoed, closer this time.
“Awoo—!”
“Awoo...”
The long, eerie howls multiplied, rapidly closing in from all directions.
“Growl!”
“Growl!”
“Growl...”
Dark figures darted swiftly through the underbrush just outside the goblin tribe.
“Ga—?!”
Terrified goblin shrieks erupted from the woods.
A moment later, several goblins that had previously fled into the forest burst back out in sheer panic, running toward the settlement. They repeatedly looked back over their shoulders, terrified of what might be pursuing them.
“Growl!”
As if to confirm their worst fears, several figures surged out of the shadows. In just a few bounds, they overtook the fleeing goblins, pinning them to the earth and instantly snapping their necks.
Only then did Shulim finally get a clear look at their true forms.
It was a type of wolf with a single horn on its head and gray fur.
“Horned wolves?”
Shulim recognized the creatures before her; they were horned wolves, an E-Class lupine species.
“Were they drawn here by the scent of blood...? But even with the smell of blood, would mere horned wolves dare raid a goblin tribe ruled by a goblin lord?”
Although she was only facing E-Class horned wolves, Shulim did not feel the slightest sense of relief. On the contrary, her sense of impending danger only intensified.
Having apparently realized that the goblin tribe before them was utterly defenseless, the few horned wolves that had emerged from the forest began to grow restless, itching to make their move.
Yet the lingering scents of the goblin lord and the numerous hobgoblins in the air kept them pacing anxiously at the edge of the camp, not quite daring to step forward.
“Awoo—!”
Eventually, one of the horned wolves chose to signal its pack behind it.
“Awoo!”
“Awoo!”
“Awoo...”
Cascades of howls echoed deeper into the forest as more and more dark silhouettes began to gather around the goblin tribe.
Much like the initial wolves, they refrained from any rash action, instead darting swiftly through the surrounding woods.
“Am I surrounded...?”
Shulim scanned her surroundings. With rustling noises emanating from every direction, it was clear that the pack had completely encircled the settlement.
While they had not made any further moves for now, Shulim could feel countless hostile, predatory eyes glaring at her from the shadows of the dense forest canopy.
“What are they waiting for?”
The situation was growing increasingly bizarre.
It was one thing for those first few horned wolves to hesitate out of fear. But now that the pack had completed its encirclement, their continued inactivity was highly abnormal.
And... there were simply too many of them.
The sheer size of this pack of horned wolves made absolutely no sense!
Shulim had already sensed over a hundred individual presences, and the worst part was that this wasn't even the full extent of them. Even more wolves were steadily emerging from deeper within the forest.
“In a dangerous place like the Monster Forest, E-Class horned wolves could never amass such numbers. Something is definitely wrong here...”
As if to validate her suspicions—
“Roar—!!!”
A distinct howl boomed from deep within the forest.
Even from a great distance, the sound was so powerful it made the very air seem to vibrate violently.
A profound chill gripped Shulim's heart.
“Oh no! Could that voice mean—”
“Awoo!”
“Awoo...”
Following that sound, the wolves surrounding the settlement finally moved, bursting out of the woods.
Once Shulim saw their forms clearly, she instantly understood why this pack of horned wolves was so extraordinarily massive.
E-Class blackback wolves, D-Class dire wolves, E-Class grass wolves, D-Class spinetailed wolves...
More and more wolves of entirely different species were pouring out of the forest.
They circled the goblin settlement continuously, tightening their ring as they ran.
Of course the horned wolf pack couldn't be this huge—because this wasn't just a pack of horned wolves at all, but a massive mixed pack!
This was highly unusual.
As pack animals, one of their key traits was that different packs couldn't coexist peacefully, and that was within the very same species.
If it was difficult for members of the same species to tolerate each other, it was practically impossible for entirely different species to do so.
Under normal circumstances, they would tear each other apart in a fight to the death the moment they crossed paths.
Yet here they were, wolves of completely different species, mingling harmoniously and even displaying a clear division of labor.
This situation...
Her right hand tightened on her wand involuntarily, but Shulim's mind only grew calmer as she watched the massive mixed pack slowly close in from the forest.
She had heard rumors of such situations. Certain born rulers among wolf-type creatures possessed an innate leadership ability that could force entirely different packs into submission, forming massive legions or even triggering full-scale wolf plagues.
And Shulim just so happened to know of one such king-type wolf species...
“Grrrr—!”
Deep, heavy panting echoed from the trees in all directions.
Thud! Thud! Thud...
Heavy, thudding footsteps that seemed to make the earth tremble drew closer from the depths of the dark forest.
“Awoo!”
“Awoo!”
“Awoo!”
“...”
At that moment, the hundreds of wolves from various species surrounding the goblin tribe threw their heads back and howled in unison, as if welcoming the arrival of their king.
Thud!
The heavy, approaching footsteps came to a halt right at the boundary between the forest and the goblin settlement.
Within the gloomy canopy, a pair of glowing, massive eyes hung in the air like two bonfires in the dead of night.
“Grrrr!”
A cloud of white steam drifted out from the shadows—vapor exhaled from its massive jaws.
The howling wolves fell silent instantly, quietly awaiting their king's next command.
“Roar—!!!”
A massive roar that seemed to vibrate the very air resounded through the mountains once more.
In the next instant—
Boom—!
A massive dark shadow flashed past. With a single leap, it landed right in front of the goblin tribe's settlement.
Shulim raised her gaze slightly and finally saw its form in its entirety.
It possessed a body as large as a house, the appearance of an ordinary wolf without any distinguishing features, and a sharp, fierce gaze that shone with a glint of intelligence.
—A giant forest wolf.
A name both familiar and terrifying.
And it was indeed the exact same king-type wolf species Shulim had heard of in those rumors.
...
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