Chapter 104: Fucking Mutt - 3

The beast charged before he could gather enough mana for another spell.

Kyle tried to raise an Earth Shield, but the wolf reached him before the barrier could fully form.

WHOOSH!

BAAAM!

Its body slammed into his chest and drove him to the ground, knocking the air from his lungs. He struggled to keep its jaws away from his face while its claws dug into his arm.

GRRRRR!

The wolf caught his forearm between its teeth.

CRUNCH!

A blinding flash of pain tore through Kyle’s arm.

"AAAAAGH!"

His scream echoed through the forest as the beast’s jaws tightened around his forearm, threatening to crush the bones beneath its teeth.

Kyle screamed as its jaws closed around him. The beast shook its head violently, wrenching his injured arm sideways and sending a surge of agony through his shoulder. His vision blurred, and for a moment he couldn’t tell whether he was going to pass out from the pain or the blood loss.

Desperately, he reached for anything he could use as a weapon. His fingers closed around a broken branch, which he immediately rammed against the wolf’s mouth. The wood snapped under the pressure, barely slowing the creature.

The wolf opened its jaws again, moving toward Kyle’s face.

He twisted his body and shoved against its throat with his good hand, but he was rapidly losing the strength to resist. The pressure of the wolf’s weight made it difficult to breathe, and the sight of its teeth approaching his face filled him with genuine terror.

’I’m going to die.’

The thought was no longer an exaggeration or a dramatic possibility. He could feel the wolf’s breath against his skin and the pressure of its jaws against his arm. If he couldn’t force the beast away, it would tear into his throat within seconds.

Then his fingers brushed against something hard beneath his torn clothing.

A Mana Bomb.

Kyle remembered that he had kept the remaining bombs on his person, and one had apparently shifted loose during the struggle. He couldn’t bring his arm around to throw it, nor could he risk trying to crawl away while the wolf had him pinned.

But he could still activate it.

He wrapped his fingers around the bomb and poured mana into it. The device began to glow, and Kyle realized with a flash of panic that he had very little time to act.

’Oh, fuck.’

With the wolf still bearing down on him, Kyle shoved the bomb toward the space between its neck and shoulder and threw himself sideways as far as his battered body would allow.

The explosion swallowed the forest floor in a flash of light.

BOOOOM!

The blast hurled Kyle away from the wolf and sent dirt, shattered branches, and burning fragments flying through the air. He struck the ground hard and rolled several times before coming to a stop against the roots of an enormous tree.

For a few seconds, the world became nothing but ringing ears, flying debris, and pain. Kyle lay on his back, unable to breathe properly, while blood ran from a wound on his forehead and soaked into his torn clothing.

He forced himself to turn his head toward the wolf.

The beast lay several meters away, its fur scorched and its body covered in blood. One of its legs was twisted beneath it, and the ground around it had been torn apart by the explosion.

For a moment, it didn’t move.

Then its chest rose.

Kyle stared at the creature in disbelief.

It was still alive.

"No," he whispered, barely able to produce the word. "No, no, no. You’ve got to be fucking kidding me."

The Bloodfang Wolf dragged itself onto its front legs. Its hindquarters trembled, and blood poured from its wounds, but it continued to rise. Even after everything he had done, the beast was still determined to kill him.

Kyle tried to stand, but his legs gave way beneath him. He collapsed onto one knee, nearly blacking out as another wave of pain swept through his body.

The wolf took a step toward him.

Kyle looked at the approaching beast and realized that he had almost nothing left. His mana was nearly depleted, his body was severely injured, and he had no time to recover before the next attack.

Yet the creature was barely standing, too.

They were both approaching their limits.

"Bitch."

Kyle gritted his teeth and forced himself upright, refusing to let the wolf see him give up. His injured arm hung uselessly at his side, and his good hand trembled as he gathered whatever scraps of mana remained within him.

The wolf lowered its head and prepared to charge.

Kyle raised his hand.

He had one last chance to end this fight.

"Let’s get it done!"

The Bloodfang Wolf charged.

Kyle knew he couldn’t outrun it. His legs were shaking, his ribs felt as though they were being crushed from the inside, and the arm the beast had bitten was nearly useless. Even raising his good hand required an effort that made his vision blur.

Still, he refused to back down.

Instead of attempting to dodge, Kyle stepped forward to meet the attack. The wolf’s jaws snapped around his already injured forearm, and its momentum drove him backward. Agony ripped through his body, but he clenched his teeth and forced his free palm against the side of its head.

"Mana Missile!"

The spell formed almost instantly, concentrated at a distance of barely an inch from the wolf’s skull. Kyle poured the last of his mana into it, ignoring the burning sensation that spread through his arm as the skill took shape.

The missile detonated.

The impact snapped the wolf’s head sideways and forced its jaws open. The creature stumbled, its legs buckling beneath it as the force of the spell shattered what remained of its resistance. It collapsed onto the ground beside Kyle, kicking up a cloud of dirt before lying still.

Kyle fell with it.

For several seconds, he couldn’t understand what had happened. He lay on his side with one arm trapped beneath the wolf’s body, his face pressed against the damp earth. His ears were ringing, and his breathing came in shallow, uneven gasps.

He waited for the creature to move.

One second passed, then another.

Nothing happened.

With considerable effort, Kyle dragged himself away from the wolf’s body. A sharp burst of pain shot through his shoulder, nearly making him black out, but he managed to roll onto his back and stare at the beast.

Its crimson eyes were open, but they no longer followed his movements. Its chest had stopped rising, and the terrible growling that had haunted him throughout the fight had finally ceased.

The Bloodfang Wolf was dead.

Kyle stared at it for a long time before the realization finally sank in. Then he began to laugh, although the sound quickly turned into a groan when the movement aggravated his injured ribs.

"I won," he rasped. "I actually fucking won."

He wanted to celebrate, but his body had other ideas. His clothes were shredded, blood covered his arms and chest, and deep wounds ran along his ribs. His forehead was bleeding, his forearm had been badly mauled, and his injured shoulder throbbed with a pain so intense that he could barely move it.

He had survived, but the victory had come frighteningly close to costing him his life.

A familiar translucent screen flickered into existence above him.

[Target eliminated: Bloodfang Wolf.]

[Threat neutralized.]

[Host condition: Critical.]

[Warning: Multiple severe injuries detected.]

[Warning: Blood loss remains significant.]

[Recommendation: Immediate medical treatment required.]

Kyle stared at the notification for a moment before letting his head fall back against the ground.

"Yeah, no shit."

He tried to reach for his inventory, but his injured arm refused to cooperate. His fingers twitched uselessly, and he had to fight down the rising panic when he realized how difficult even a simple movement had become.

Then he remembered the healing potions.

They were safely stored in his System inventory, along with the other supplies he had purchased before activating the dimensional travel ticket. He didn’t need to rummage through his belongings or waste precious time searching for them. He only needed to summon the inventory interface and retrieve a potion.

With a low groan, Kyle focused on opening the System interface. The familiar translucent screen appeared before his eyes, and he immediately navigated to his inventory.

His vision blurred from the pain, forcing him to concentrate harder than usual. After several frustrating seconds, he located the healing potions and selected one.

A small bottle materialized in his hand.

"Please work," he muttered.

He uncorked it and swallowed the contents. The potion tasted bitter, like medicinal herbs mixed with rusty metal, but he barely noticed. Warmth spread through his chest and limbs, gradually dulling the sharpest edges of the pain. The bleeding slowed, and the worst of the immediate discomfort began to ease as the potion’s effects took hold.

However, the healing was far from complete.