“Waoooooooooooooooooooo!”

The dark wolf charges in while howling. With its enlarged body, the dark wolf looks more like a huge hog rather than a wolf. It runs with a speed similar to a bullet. Yet its movements are straightforward and easily predictable--- I can avoid it. Dodging the dark wolf, I jump to the sides. I ready myself so that I can adjust my position if the dark wolf follows up and redirects its charge. However, the dark wolf simply pounces pa.s.s me.

“Agyaaaaaa--!”

A scream of agony. When I turn my gaze, I witness one of the students that were on its track getting crushed. The wolf’s momentum must have been horrifying as the student that has been sacrificed becomes a b.l.o.o.d.y ma.s.s of meat.

“U-u-uAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

“Do-don’t come here!”

Just as the dark wolf is about to strike at another student besides it, the monster tamer shouts.

“What are you doing? Your enemy is the man in the hood! Ignore the rest!”

“U-u-uuuuu…”

Hearing her command, the dark wolf turns towards me and stares at me with turbid eyes. Somehow… its eyes seem to be trying to appeal for something.  

“You ain’t walking away today. You’re simply too dangerous.”

Saying that, a few goblins and orcs emerge from her feet.

“These guys can hold back the rest of the small fries, but I’m not confident about getting rid of you if I do not use this wolf.”

The monsters recommence their offense. Monsters also approach the area where Nis.h.i.+no and the twins are.

“They’re coming, nee-chan!”

“Muu, they’re a hindrance!”

Let’s have them take care of things on their end. Rather, that would ensure that no one b.u.t.ts in. Now, how should I proceed… I contemplate while staring at the dark wolf in front of me. I was quite confident before, but after it got strengthened, I’m not sure anymore. Its injuries are healed, and its defense which has been its only weakness also disappeared after enlarging itself… Should I flee? With our ambush having failed and our existence exposed, there really isn’t any merit in staying. Even if I choose to fight it, it would be better if we first retreat and prepare ourselves. If I manage to run away, all is well. Otherwise, I can gradually exhaust its health with a hit-and-run strategy. Yup, I think that is for the best. With that said, the question is how to get out of this situation. The dark wolf’s sense of smell is especially troublesome. Then I guess I will go with that method.

“Momo!”

“Uon?”

“Ah?... A dog?”

I swiftly retrieve Momo who hiding into my shadow and activate my new “Ninjutsu”. 

“

” (TN: 煙遁の術 Better name?)

The next moment, black smoke erupts around me. The smoke that would disrupt anybody’s field of vision covers the cafeteria in an instant.

“What’s this?”

“I can’t see anything!?”

This is my second Ninjutsu. It is

. The important thing is that it interrupts everyone’s vision. With this, I have sealed its eyes. Next.

(Ichinose-san)

Under the cover of the smoke, I retrieve Ichinose-san. Even if I can’t see anything, I still have “Detect Enemy”. As I approach Ichinose-san, I activate

and create four duplicates. I make the duplicates rub themselves at Ichinose-san.

(Fueee~?! Wait, Kudou-san, what are you doing in this situation?)

(Just be quiet for now.)

After rubbing thoroughly, I order the duplicates to flee in different directions. If I can’t trick its sense of smell, I can make do with numbers. With Ichinose-san’s odor, the four of them shouldn’t be differentiable. Although the chance is still one out of five, it’s better than nothing.

(Ku-Kudou-san! This is?)

(I’ll explain later. We should first get out of here.)

After whispering an answer, we smash a window and escape. The duplicates also flee through different exits.

At that moment ---

“Darkness” spews out from the ceiling of the cafeteria and spreads like the webs of a spider. Once again, it encompa.s.ses the entire school.

“Wha…!?”

This is bad! I immediately start das.h.i.+ng… but fail to make it in time. A few seconds before we make it out, we get trapped within the barrier.

“d.a.m.n it!”

“That was a close one.”

I hear a voice from behind. When I look back, I see the monster tamer and the dark wolf standing there.

“Blinding us. What a futile resistance. Also, I have no idea how you did it, but you also managed to split your smell… what an interesting skill you have there…”

This girl… she saw through our plan in an instant. While being secretly surprised, I release the duplicates that are some distance away. Since the escape has failed, there isn’t a need to waste any more MP.

“Hee~ so you are indeed with Ichinose-san.”

The monster tamer’s stare alternates between Ichinose-san and me.

“Long time no see. Didn’t think we’d unite like this.”

“Tsu…”

Ichinose-san doesn’t reply. However, her shoulders are slightly shaking.

“It was unexpected. I didn’t think you and Aisaka would have established contact. Thanks to you, all my plans have gone out of the window.”

So it was that mail… I guess the mail triggered all this.

“If we didn’t do something, you would’ve killed them right?”

I reply in Ichinose-san’s stead.

“Well yeah. I was thinking of killing both Aisaka and Nis.h.i.+no using this guy.”

“Uuuuu~gururururu…”

The dark wolf is whimpering as if it is in pain, but the monster tamer continues without minding.

“But then~ there’s something I don’t understand. Innit better for ya, Ichinose, if they died?”

“What are you…?”

“Oya? So the one wearing the hoodie doesn’t know about it? This girl was bullied by Aisaka in the past.”

“…!”

Ichinose-san reacts strongly to the monster tamer’s words. Bullied? What does she mean? Isn’t she her friend?

“While I wasn’t in the same cla.s.s as Aisaka, Ichinose was. I heard that people bullied her under Aisaka’s orders, making sure that they do not get caught by the teachers or that Student Council President. The rest of her cla.s.smates pretended like they didn’t know what was going on. I bet there wasn’t anyone willing to side with her.”

“…”

“One day, I was in the bathroom. There, I saw her soaked in sewage water and crying. There were also traces of a beating.”

The monster tamer laughs as if there’s something funny.

“In the end, she refused to attend school and dropped out. It was a while after that. The school finally noticed and suspended everybody that partic.i.p.ated in the bullying. Of course, Aisaka included.”

The monster tamer claps her hand because of the “happy ending”. What is going on… If she isn’t lying, then why would Ichinose-san… Her actions up till now… Having learned about the truth, I’m stunned by how contradictory they were.

“So anyways, she has no reason to help Aisaka. More like she should hate her to the bones. Wait. Were you actually trying to snipe her instead of me? Then---”

“… up.”

“…Huh?”

“Shut up. You don’t know anything.”

Ichinose-san glares at the monster tamer while crying tears.

“You don’t know anything. You have no right to talk about Ricchan. AAAAHHHHHHHH!”

A bullet gets shot along with her scream but gets stopped midway by the “darkness”.

“Hmm, whatever. Doesn’t matter. You’re going to die regardless.”

Having said that, she takes a step back and allows the dark wolf to move forward. So a battle cannot be avoided. For Ichinose-san who is panting in anger, I soothe her by patting her back.

“Please calm down Ichinose-san.”

“So-sorry.”

“I will charge forward. Please cover me from the back.”

“Yes.”

There are many things I want to ask, but I will save that for later. Right now, I need to deal with the situation in front of me. The shadow near my feet shakes. No, Momo. You can’t come out yet. Since I don’t know what conditions the monster tamer must pa.s.s to manipulate monsters, I can’t reveal Aka or Momo yet. That’s also why I kept Momo at the rear in the cafeteria.

“Momo, pleas a.s.sist me from the shadows.”

I sense a nod from within the shadow. I kick the ground beneath me.

“Goaaaahhhh!”

Just like before, the darkness surrounding the dark wolf rushes forward like a stream. As if I’ll get done in by the same trick. As I jump, I’m taking out vending machines and sc.r.a.pped cars so that I can use them as scaffoldings. Kicking them allows me to maneuver in the air.

“I’m not going to hold back.”

I trigger the

skill. Creating four duplicates, I confuse the dark wolf’s perception.

“What? Copies?”

The monster tamer raises her voice in surprise.

“Gua…”

The dark wolf tries to follow every copy’s movements, but it doesn’t seem successful. A knife which one of the duplicates throws gets imbedded on the dark wolf’s hide. Unfortunately, the injury is shallow and it has only scratched the surface of the skin.

“Like I predicted, its defense has gone up…”

Attacking from a distance isn’t working well. Then… I should use that. I dismiss all my duplicates and take “that” out of my Item Box. Thereafter, I summon my duplicates again and order them to hold “that”. Unlike me, the duplicates cannot use the Item Box skill. Once again, the duplicates surround the dark wolf to confuse it.

---Right now.

Finding an opening, one of my copies throw “that” at the dark wolf. It hits the wolf’s face and the liquid inside the container splatters on its face.

“Ga!? Gaaaaaaaa!?”

The dark wolf screams and proceeds to roll on the ground.

“What? What? What did you do?”

The monster tamer is also stunned by the sight. Apparently, the Tabas...o...b..ll seems to have worked. It is a perfect weapon against an enemy with an excellent sense of smell.

“Now! All the duplicates! Onwards!”

The copies rapidly close in and slash at the dark wolf. Since I can’t inflict damage from a distance, I can only do so by using the

and

skills at close quarters. My plan works and the knives firmly land on the dark wolf.

“Guoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

Along with a scream, the “darkness” around the dark wolf entangles the duplicates. As such, I cancel the duplication skill.

“Guooo…”

The dark wolf stands up slowly while enduring the pain.

“I see…”

From this fight, I know clearly now that the dark wolf does not possess the keen battle sense that it used to have. Whether it’s because of the monster tamer or because of the forced strengthening, the dark wolf is incapable of making full use of its enhanced stats. As such, it feels like the wolf has become weaker compared to when we first met.

“What, that’s impossible… What is happening?”

The monster tamer cries. I guess the monster tamer didn’t expect this outcome. We are faring much better than she expected. And she hasn’t realized yet. That the dark wolf is unable to display its full potential after the enhancement.

“How unfortunate.”

To finish off the dark wolf, I once again cast the duplication skill. Taking into account my MP, this would be the last time. I must end it with this.

“Guoooooooooooooooooooo!”

As its last form of resistance, the dark wolf shoots the “darkness” from its feet. But that’s it. For a moment, I thought the dark wolf would activate the cyclone attack that it used back when we first encountered each other, but it ended prematurely (TN: the skill where everything the dark wolf sucked up gets released to the surrounding at a very high velocity). The “darkness” encircled the dark wolf momentarily before dispersing. The dark wolf lies there. That previous attack must have used up all of its strength. The wolf’s enlarged body shrinks back to its original size.

“Guooon...”

It tries desperately to protect its head and body with the “darkness”, but there are many openings. The knives of the duplicates descend upon the wolf. With that, the “darkness” disappears as it melts into the ground. The barrier around the school dissipates as well. Finally, a purple magic stone rolls out.

< you="" have="" gained="" experience="">

< experience="" has="" reached="" a="" certain="" threshold="">

< kudou="" kazuto’s="" level="" has="" increased="" from="" 17="" to="" 18="">

I hear the voice of heaven in my head. Now, we only have to deal with the monster tamer… In a sense, this is the real problem.