Chapter 946 - 462: The Only Price of Weakness Is...

The Elite Jackal Wolfman warrior wore a hideous, ferocious smile. A cold glint flashed in its eyes, as if it could see right through the tree trunk to the trembling human man hiding behind it.

It waved a hand, signaling several other Jackal-Wolf People under its command to flank from the sides. Meanwhile, it strolled unhurriedly toward the man’s direction.

CRUNCH!

Making no effort to muffle its approach, its heavy footsteps quickly produced the crisp sound of snapping branches and crunching leaves.

The strongest human leader of that party had already died by its hands. With no further threats to its life, the beast finally had the chance to properly toy with these damn humans. Rather than killing the man swiftly and cleanly, it preferred to savor the thrill of torturing its prey now that victory was assured. It wanted to watch the human wear an expression of absolute, powerless despair.

It was the exact same crushing powerlessness the creature had felt on the frontline battlefields. Back then, facing human powerhouses, it hadn’t even been able to withstand the residual shockwaves of their attacks. It could only watch as its comrades wailed and died one by one. Its spirit broken, it had fled in a panic, barely escaping with its life.

It wanted to inflict that same despair onto these humans tenfold. Only by doing so could it briefly escape the terrifying psychological trauma that still haunted it. It was a vicious, repeating downward spiral.

CRUNCH!

The approaching footsteps were distinct now. His captain’s teachings flashed through Finley’s mind. He took a deep breath. Using the direction of the sound and his memory of the Elite Jackal Wolfman’s massive size, he mentally mapped out his enemy’s exact position. He pushed off the ground, spun around, gripped his Short Blade, and thrust it forward with explosive force.

THWACK!

Everything went perfectly until the very last moment. Just as his Short Blade was about to pierce the Jackal-Wolf People leader’s abdomen, a rough, powerful hand clamped shut around his wrist like a vice, halting his momentum completely.

Finley’s heart ran cold. Before he could even look up, the monster’s voice hissed into his ear, speaking a heavily accented version of the human common tongue.

"You are too weak. The price of weakness is only—"

SPLASH!

The voice abruptly cut off. A splatter of scorching hot liquid rained down onto the top of Finley’s head. It streamed down his forehead, pooled in the corners of his eyes, and ran over the bridge of his nose, his lips, and his chin before dripping steadily into the soil like a miniature crimson brook.

Stunned, he licked his lips. The viscous liquid tasted slightly salty, carrying a strange, acrid sourness. "Is this blood?" he wondered. "Whose blood is it?"

Finley looked up, only to find that the imposing Elite Jackal Wolfman standing before him was now a headless corpse. Its death had occurred so suddenly that its body was still frozen in its previous attacking posture. Its severed head had rolled to a stop two meters away. Ironically, the face on that head stared blankly, its eyes wide open in an unresigned death glare.

Finley suddenly realized the forest was deathly quiet—so silent it was almost eerie. He turned around. In every other direction, the remaining Jackal-Wolf People who had flanked him were also standing frozen in place, utterly headless.

"What in the world just happened?" he wondered.

"You are safe."

A voice echoed from above his head as Gauss slowly drifted down from the canopy. Descending alongside him were several other Adventurers—Finley’s surviving companions.

This was the umpteenth human party Gauss had saved along his journey. By a rough estimate, he had already rescued several hundred people. Of course, even with him stepping in, it wasn’t always a flawless rescue. Frequently, by the time he arrived, a human party had already suffered casualties. There were even times when he found groups completely wiped out, their corpses already growing cold.

Gauss could only do his best. The Future Sight he commanded only allowed him to briefly freeze the space-time around himself to deduce the future; it was still utterly incapable of reversing the past.