“The sound of wolves?”
“I’ve heard the stories.”
A wolf’s howl echoed through the mist.
It was the kind of sound that could gnaw at one’s sanity, but for those gathered here, such wolves posed no threat.
Even a single knight among them was strong enough to massacre an entire pack in one sweep.
However, the wolves howling here now were no ordinary beasts.
“According to the survivors’ testimonies, the creatures looked as if they’d been molded out of pitch-black mud.”
“Similar to cryptids, then. Or perhaps they are cryptids.”
“Since they’re controlled by the Demon King, calling them monsters might be more accurate.”
Awooooo—!
Awooooooo—!
The wolves’ howls grew louder—multiplied.
When one howled, others answered from elsewhere.
Their cries resonated together, vibrating through the fog in a deep, droning chorus.
There might have been a thousand of them—or perhaps even more.
Through the gray mist, pale, blackish shadows darted back and forth.
Footsteps of beasts. Ragged panting. And eyes so red they gleamed visibly even through the fog.
“They’re coming!”
The cryptids shaped like wolves were approaching.
And there were many of them.
Calling it a pack would not suffice.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!
The ground trembled as the creatures neared.
Their number was like an army—no, a legion.
Fwoosh!
The gray mist scattered, and a black tide surged forward.
That tide was made entirely of black wolves.
They surged ahead without care for tripping over or crushing each other.
“Hold the line! Everyone, get ready!”
The mages were the first to step forward.
They channeled mana, drawing formulas into the air, and unleashed their spells.
Those gathered here were all carefully chosen War Mages—each at least 4th-Circle in strength, their magical output extraordinary.
Ku-gu-gu-goong!
The mana-charged earth rose, forming a massive wall of stone.
Sharp spikes protruded along its outer surface.
The black tide slammed into the wall.
Bang! Thud!
Cryptids were impaled on the spikes, bursting apart like splashes of dark liquid.
But they didn’t stop. Whenever one fell, another emerged to take its place.
An unending torrent—an overwhelming flood of numbers.
As cracks began to spread across the once-sturdy wall, the next spell activated.
Whoooosh!
A wave of massive flames poured down from above, sweeping through the cryptids.
Like throwing a match into oil, the fire spread explosively fast. Screams of agony tore from within the sea of burning beasts.
In moments, the field became an inferno. The acrid stench of burning flesh filled the air.
The gray mist thinned, replaced by a thick, reddish haze as the cryptids burned and turned to ash.
Yet even as they vanished, new wolves rushed in to fill the gaps.
Kruuuagh!
Awooooo!
They had repelled one wave, but it was only a test—because the second one came crashing in, far larger than before.
This time, the wolves were not only more numerous but also far bigger.
Graaaargh!
A wolf hurled its body into the earthen wall.
Already cracked and barely holding, the wall shattered with a thunderous crash.
As dust billowed, the mages unleashed their prepared spells beyond the collapsing barrier.
Crackle—!
Water spread over the ground earlier now froze solid, trapping the wolves by their legs.
The wolves in the lead stumbled, and those behind crashed into them, causing a massive pile-up.
Rumble!
Kzzzzzt—!
Lightning fell from all directions, striking into the tangled mass of wolves.
Hundreds of cryptids were instantly turned to charred cinders and vanished.
But the wolves did not end.
They poured endlessly out of the fog, as if there were no limit to their numbers.
“By the gods!”
“Protect us with Your holy power!”
The paladins stepped forward.
Those tasked with defense carried massive, rectangular shields as tall as their ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) torsos.
They locked shields, forming a tight wall, and golden holy power shimmered over them.
The wolves couldn’t break through.
Where their bodies touched the radiant barrier, their flesh hissed and burned.
Any that tried to bite the shields had their heads consumed by golden flame.
And when one managed to push through, it was greeted by a warhammer or a mace.
Bang!
Holy-infused weapons crushed skulls.
The shattered wolves collapsed into puddles of black mud and dissolved.
“Courage to stand against darkness!”
“Steel bodies that will not yield to the enemy!”
Priests in the rear cast blessings, layering buffs over the frontlines.
Other priests raised their staves and unleashed golden rays of sacred light.
The beams streaked through the gray mist, exploding amid the center of the wolf swarm.
Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwang!
Massive blasts erupted across the battlefield, hurling wolves in every direction.
The mages joined in, reinforcing the barrage.
Occasionally, a few wolves leaped over the wall, but the knights dealt with them swiftly—cutting them down with aura-coated swords before they could advance further.
“Rotation!”
“Second line, forward!”
The front row detonated their shields’ holy energy forward, shredding the wolves in front of them.
At that moment, the second line stepped up and swapped places with the exhausted vanguard.
The front-line paladins retreated for priestly healing and recovery.
Their coordination was flawless—attack and defense executed in perfect rhythm.
By all rights, such a display should have broken the enemy’s momentum.
Yet it did not.
The wolves remained ferocious, charging without hesitation, unafraid of death.
They died, and died, and died again—yet more kept coming.
No matter how many they slew, more cryptids surged from the mist.
“There’s definitely something out there,” murmured Tarian, the Paladin Commander, staring into the dense fog.
He was one of only three Paladin Commanders in the Theocracy of Bretus.
With the other two slain, he alone bore the command now—and he realized the battle was turning against them.
“We’ve held them this long, but the assault isn’t slowing. That can only mean there’s a core somewhere creating them.”
Their combined force could withstand this level of attack for now.
But if this continued without pause?
Even the finest warriors would eventually tire.
Meanwhile, the enemy—thanks to whatever trick the Demon King had used—seemed infinite.
An endless tide of darkness.
“It must be the Beast of Jévaudan,” said his senior paladin adjutant.
“So it is that thing.”
The Beast of Jévaudan—the worst cryptid in history, the creature that drove the Kingdom of Durmang to ruin.
A single entity, yet capable of endlessly spawning new cryptids—an army in one body.
They had once believed it was exterminated during the Durmang subjugation.
But it reappeared in Rederbelk, at the Kunst Auction House.
And after that—vanished once more.
“To think it would reappear here of all places. So, the incident at the Kunst Auction House really was the Demon King’s doing.”
The Beast of Jévaudan.
He’d thought the stories had been exaggerated—until now. Facing it directly, he realized the legends hadn’t done it justice.
At this rate, the battle would turn into an endless war of attrition that would drain them to death.
“Commander Tarian, what are your orders? If this continues, we’ll be overrun.”
“How long can we hold?”
“At this pace, we can endure for at least a full day.”
“That should be enough time for the reinforcements to arrive.”
Tarian’s detachment was the first vanguard. The follow-up divisions, already on their way, outnumbered them several times over.
Once reinforcements joined, they wouldn’t just be holding the line—they could advance and wipe out every cryptid in their path.
“But that alone won’t be enough. We can’t just sit here defending when we don’t know what tricks the Demon King Heathcliff is playing. According to reports, the enemy is deliberately stalling for time. This wave assault must be part of that strategy.”
“Then we’ll have to shift to offense.”
“There must be a core—something generating these cryptids endlessly.”
The true body of the Beast of Jévaudan.
If they could destroy that, this war of attrition would end.
“We’ll send a strike team to take it down.”
And naturally, that task would fall to the strongest man here—Tarian himself.
“I’ll accompany you, Commander.”
It was a reckless mission, but his adjutant didn’t try to stop him. The thought that Tarian might lose never even crossed his mind. To suggest such a thing would be almost blasphemous.
Who was Tarian?
One of only three Paladin Commanders in all of Bretus—and the strongest among them.
And their opponent was a being of evil—one that thrived on corruption. By nature, cryptids were vulnerable to holy power. The matchup was in his favor.
Tarian swiftly chose a small number of elite members to accompany him.
They couldn’t move as a large group. While most of their forces drew the cryptids’ attention, this strike team would target the heart of the darkness.
“We’ll clear the way!”
The priests and paladins poured the last of their holy energy into a grand invocation.
A celestial light descended upon the earth.
Golden radiance fell like sunlight upon the clustered cryptid pack.
The wolves unable to endure the sacred power were wiped out in a single sweep.
The sight of the blackened ground clearing was almost exhilarating to behold.
Yet, none of the defenders smiled.
They knew that even if they repelled this wave, more would soon come.
“Damn it, how many more? They just keep coming—this is insane!”
“Hold out a little longer. Commander Tarian is moving now.”
Thanks to the diversion, Tarian and his strike team had managed to slip away, heading straight for the Beast’s lair.
“If it’s the Paladin Commander, he’ll make it happen. We just need to buy him enough time.”
After all, what were these things but oversized wolves? No matter how big or vicious they seemed, they could be killed.
“Wait... what the hell is that?”
One of the knights pointed past the mist.
He had keen eyes—sharp enough to see what others could not.
Through the fog loomed a dim, enormous shadow.
At first, he thought it was another wolf-shaped cryptid—but it wasn’t.
It was far larger, radiating a crushing sense of pressure.
No matter how one looked at it, that thing was not ordinary.
They could feel its gaze upon them.
A chill raced down their spines.
Just meeting its eyes gave the illusion that a predator’s tongue was flicking inches from their necks.
Those present were far beyond ordinary humans—their tolerance for fear and pain was superhuman.
Yet even they could not escape the terror this creature exuded.
“Wh-what in the world is that...”
Around the massive black beast, a pitch-dark energy began to gather.
It crackled with sparks as a black sphere formed, so dense and dark it was visible even through the fog.
A moment later, the sphere shot straight toward the Holy Crusaders’ line.
* * *
KWA-GWA-GWANG!
Commander Tarian, who had just cleaved through a wolf, narrowed his eyes as the tremor rolled through the ground behind him.
“Commander, what happened?”
“That shockwave... it didn’t feel like the kind caused by magic.”
“Sir? What do you mean—”
“Never mind. We move now. The creature has realized we’ve split off. If we delay, we’ll be surrounded.”
Tarian knew something had gone wrong at the main camp.
But turning back now was impossible.
Just a little farther, and they would reach the source—the Beast of Jévaudan itself.
Already, wolves had begun to close in, drawn by scent.
Tarian made his choice.
Let’s hope the main force can hold until we return.
The holy knights and priests of Bretus were no weaklings; they wouldn’t fall easily.
“Advance.”
Tarian cut down a wolf and pushed forward.
The mist grew thinner, revealing a ground thick with flowing darkness.
Like an oil well burst open, black energy poured endlessly from the earth.
From that darkness, red eyes flickered to life—shaping into wolves that immediately charged into battle.
The moment they were born, they were cryptids—spawned and thrown into combat within seconds.
The speed of their creation was astonishing.
And beyond that darkness—
—stood the source of it all.
“That’s the Beast of Jévaudan? It’s... smaller than I expected.”
Hadn’t the Beast been described as a gigantic wolf with three heads?
This one didn’t look like that at all.
Its head was lupine, but below the neck, the body was unmistakably humanoid.
It wore a suit of dark armor, and a long, tattered cloak hung from its shoulders.
“I—I don’t understand, sir...”
“Whatever it is, it’s clear that thing commands this darkness.”
The cloak billowed, and wherever it touched the ground, black mist frothed and spread outward, consuming the surroundings.
Tarian’s sword gleamed gold.
It wasn’t what the reports had described—but it didn’t matter.
Goooooh—
The creature, which had been standing motionless, slowly raised its head.
Its red eyes locked onto Tarian.
Then, it reached toward a nearby pillar.
‘No... that’s not a pillar.’
The object overflowed with black energy—it was a massive, blunt greatsword carved from stone.
Clack.
The wolf lifted the greatsword and rested it across its shoulder.
Its flickering mane made it look every bit the image of a demon.