Catgirls And Dungeons (Yuri)
Chapter 218 - 218: Fighting shadow wolves

The ambush had been a surprise, but thankfully, the group reacted quickly. Using reflex and experience, they managed to drive the surprise attack of the two shadow wolves back.

For now, the wolves circled.

Low growls rolled across the rocky terrain, reverberating like distant thunder. The monsters kept just outside the lantern's reach, their black fur shifting like smoke in the darkness. Purple glowing eyes stayed locked on their targets, watching, waiting, calculating.

Looking for another chance to strike.

"Ereskia, are you alright?"

Ereskia didn't take her eyes off the wolf in front of her. "Yeah. I'm good." She replied.

"And you, Larp?"

"I… I'm okay," Larpard breathed out. His voice was tight, strained a litte bit, but he was upright, fists clenched, no longer gasping for air. Seemed like the pill's effects were holding, barely.

Lucian then gave a short nod, still tracking the two predators circling him. "Good. Then here's the plan," she began. "Let's split up. You two take the one on the right. I'll handle the left."

"Got it," Ereskia said, already shifting her stance.

"They're just oversized shadow wolves. Same instincts, same weaknesses, but stay sharp. These ones are fast." Lucian added cautiously.

"Understood," Ereskia nodded.

And then—

"Larp—let's go!" she commanded.

"Right behind you!" Larpard instantly called, voice rising with adrenaline.

And just like that—

Ereskia moved.

She didn't wait for the beast to strike first, but she chose to be on offensive right away!

Her dark shield rippled, then reformed in her hand, turning into a massive greatsword of blackened mana, nearly as tall as she was.

She lunged.

Straight at the shadow wolf!

BOOM!

She brought the sword down in a wide diagonal arc! The sheer force of the slash was so powerul it cracked the rocky earth beneath her feet, shards of stone exploding outward.

But—

The wolf wasn't there.

"Tch!" Ereskia hissed through clenched teeth.

Too fast.

A blur of shadow flashed past her vision.

Behind!

In the blink of an eye, the beast had reappeared, fangs bared, claws splayed wide, lunging toward her exposed back!

And now… not good. Ereskia's momentum had betrayed her. She was still mid-swing, weight thrown forward, the greatsword stuck on the ground.

No time left to block.

No time left to twist, or dodge.

She had charged too recklessly, violated one of the most basic rules of combat: never rush an unknown enemy head-on, especially not one faster than you.

And thus, this moment, she had no defense.

The wolf's jaws opened wide, gleaming teeth just inches from her spine, each one bigger than Ereskia's arm.

One bite.

One simple bite.

And she'd be crushed!

However…

Ereskia smirked.

A sly, wicked smile.

"So the Guildmaster was right. Just a bigger wolf, huh?"

CLANG!!

A shadow-forged shield slammed into place behind her just in time, intercepting the wolf's jaws mid-lunge!

The impact sent out a shockwave, kicking up snow and dust.

The wolf snarled, snapping furiously against the dark barrier.

But Ereskia held firm, her smirk deepening.

Of course.

There had been no reckless charge. Ereskia wasn't some rookie—she had years of experience. She'd fought thousands of shadow wolves before, even if they were smaller ones.

This had all been calculated.

She had expected this.

Expected her slash to miss. Expected the beast to use its absurd speed to slip behind her and go for a clean, lethal strike.

And since she knew she couldn't match it for speed—

She'd used herself as bait.

The wolf bit down hard, its powerful jaws crushing against the shield, dagger-like fangs digging in. Cracks began to spiderweb across the surface.

But in that exact moment—

Ereskia's eyes flared.

The shield shifted, morphed.

Into chains of darkness.

With a burst of dark magic, black chains erupted from the crumbling shield, winding like serpents into the wolf's open mouth!

CLINK! SNAP! TWIST!

The wolf's eyes widened as the chains surged deeper, winding around its jaws, then its neck.

CRUNCH!

The metal constricted, forcing its mouth shut with brutal force. The beast let out a muffled snarl, stumbling back.

Ereskia didn't waste a second.

As she landed, she spun on her heel and slammed her palm to the ground.

More chains exploded up from the terrain like rising serpents! There were four in total, one for each limb.

SHUNK! SHUNK! SHUNK! SHUNK!

The wolf's legs were yanked backward and bound tight, locking it in place.

Now, it had been fully immobilized!

But not defeated, not yet.

After all, this was still an S rank beast, its power was nothing to scoff at!

CLANG! CLANG!

The creature thrashed violently, straining against the bindings. Its muscles bulged, its eyes blazing with rage.

Crack!

Crack!

The chains, even though they were forged from mana hundreds of times stronger than iron, had begun to splinter in under a second, already threatening to snap.

Ereskia gritted her teeth, sweat running down her brow. The sheer force of holding the beast down was brutal, even for her.

But it was enough.

All she needed was this one second.

"LARP!" she shouted.

And right on cue—

WOOOSH!!

A blur of black shot in from above!

The guy appeared!

Turned out, while Ereskia had charged in head-on, Larpard had already been moving too, like an assassin, silent as a reaper of death.

He'd cloaked himself with stealth magic the moment the battle began, erasing his presence completely, waiting patiently for the perfect opening.

And now, it was time.

He revealed himself in an instant, launching from a rocky outcrop above like a falling star of darkness.

His eyes glowed with fierce determination!

His blade shimmered with ominous light, coated in focused shadow mana!

"HAAAAAH!!"

With a primal roar, Larpard dove down like a spear, accelerating fast!

The beast were fast, sure, but now, bound by shadow chains, there's no way it could escape!

SKRRTT!!

His blade pierced straight into the beast's skull, clean and deep, driving into its brain with a wet, slicing crunch. Dark blood exploded from the wound as the massive wolf let out one final, strangled snarl.

Its limbs then spasmed.

Its body twitched.

Then dropped.

Limp. Lifeless.

Dead.

Thud.

Larpard landed beside it, panting, staring at the still body in disbelief.

"Holy shit!" He exclaimed. "I… I did it? I killed an S-rank…?"

His voice was shaky, disbelieving, but filled with pride and the thrill of the battle.

"Good job!" Ereskia called out with a grin, giving him a big thumbs-up, still holding her binding chains taut.

She then walked back towards the beast, a shadow spear materialized in her hand, then she drove it in the beast's head just to make sure it's totally dead.

And then, just as the two finished with their battle—

A soft, strangled whimper echoed through the dark.

They turned.

And standing a few meters away, Guildmaster Lucian had already finished his own battle too. He now stood atop the second wolf's corpse, his greatsword driven straight into its chest, buried to the hilt, right through the heart.

Blood steamed on the blade, staining the rocky ground black.

Lucian didn't even look winded.

"Nicely done," he said calmly, pulling his sword free in one fluid motion, then wiped the blood clean with a big piece of linen cloth.

---------------------

After the battle, the group got to work quickly.

They approached the fallen wolves, and with practiced precision, extracted the mana cores from their corpses.

The cores were pitch black, glowing faintly, pulsing with residual power. On the market, S rank cores like this would cost at least one million crowns each.

And as each core was removed, the smoky darkness leaking from the wolves' bodies gradually faded, until the corpses were still and silent.

Sure, they could have taken more time to harvest fangs, pelts, or claws—parts that could fetch a fortune on the market.

But right now, time was not a luxury they had.

They had to get to Ereskia's father as soon as possible.

Lucian slipped both cores into his dimensional ring and, without missing a beat, pulled out a small metallic object: a simple compass.

It was a brass one and had been used quite a bit, as the glass was slightly cracked.

Ereskia blinked. "Wait, that works in here?"

"Yeah," Lucian nodded. "Surprisingly so. The magnetic interference is minimal as long as you stay away from the Rift Zones. Navigating this dungeon isn't too hard, so long as you don't step into the invisible tears."

"I see…" Ereskia murmured.

"Alright, follow me." Lucian then said. "Stay close to me though. And hopefully, we won't run into too many monster on the way."

"Yup, let's go," Ereskia replied, then turned to glance at her brother walking beside her. "You good, Larp?"

Larpard gave a shaky grin. "What? I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

"Alright then." Ereskia smiled softly.

With the magical lantern still floating overhead and casting soft light across the jagged terrain, the trio pressed onward.

Lucian in the lead.

Ereskia and Larpard following close behind.

And above them, the shattered moon watched in silence.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.