Ryu had pushed her aside just in time but at the cost of a graze from his left arm. The spike was from the wolf’s furs coated with his poison. It was a physical attack. It was not a spell from mana, so Ryu was in a serious predicament.

“Y-you . . .” Valij didn’t know what to say. She immediately got up and cast a healing spell.

[Earth Heal]

“I don’t know how long you’ll last before the poison spread on your body. This is just a temporary spell to slow down the poison. We have to defeat it and met up with the others as soon as possible.” The great mage Murok could definitely heal that poison. Valij thought, forgetting her animosity towards the halfbreed.

Hooowlll!

The Vamperic wolf snarled and licked his snout and saliva drenched its fangs.

Ryu’s arm was beginning to numb, and he felt the poison cursed his veins. He’d deducted fifteen minutes at most before he’d be paralyzed to death.

Ryu peeked at Valij. Why did he rescue her, again? He wondered. She was nothing but antagonistic to him, and if their position was reversed, he doubted she would do the same for him.

But . . .

He thought that he still needed Valij to defeat the wolf. And now that he had the poison, Ryu flung all caution to the side.

“Il hold it down. You think of ways to pierced its stomach,” said Ryu, and he sprinted into the Vamperic wolf.

“W-wha––Wait!”

Valij protest went to deaf ears as Ryu’s charged towards the beast with terrifying speed. His canine barge, Ryu toppled the Vamperic wolf and bit its neck.

Rawr!

The Vamperic wolf’s dilated eyes drew to a slit, and with a crunch, it bit Ryu’s shoulder. It wanted to rip him apart but found that Ryu’s body was as sturdy as its own –– even more.

Not minding the pain, Ryu slashed the Vamperic wolf with his claws.

Whip!

Ryu was knocked flying by its tail and smashed onto the ground, creating a huge crevice on the dirt. Ryu clawed and snarled at the hound, blood-soaked his body.

Ryu was furious, and his inner beast kicked in. He charged towards the Vamperic wolf, which in turn, bared its wide jaws at him. Ryu dodged its bite, and he barraged the Vamperic wolf with his claws. Repeatedly, in the same spot while he soaked all its attack.

Roar!

The Vamperic wolf howled in furry as its skin was torn with the onslaught from Ryu’s claws. Its white fur dyed in red and it went berserk.

With a whip of its tail, Ryu was knocked flying by the force, smashing hard against a tree, snapping it in half before he fell on the dirt.

At the side, Valij watched all this happen with an open mouth. She was rendered speechless by the fight between two beasts. But Ryu was at a disadvantage. His body was reaching its limits, and its movement was drastically slower than before.

The poison must have kicked in!

With the bites and scratches all over his body, Valij deducted another fight like that, and Ryu would die from blood loss before the poison could claim his last breath.

Ryu briefly looked at her. Valij didn’t know if that was a sign or not, but she cast a spell on her. Depleting almost her mana as she quadruples her strength.

[Golem Strength]

Ryu charged towards the jaws of the Vamperic wolf once more. Not minding that the wolf was twice his size. He wrestled it down with brute strength.

Roar!

Ryu let out a loud roar, and the wolf whimpered before it shook its head and snarled. But Ryu already pinned it down on the ground. With his arms wrapped around its neck and his legs tightly held its torso, it was trap.

The Vamperic Wolf trashed on the dirt, and Ryu used all his strength to immobilize it. But with the massive power of the Vamperic wolf, he was afraid that he could only pin it down within seconds.

“Now!” Ryu snarled.

Using all the strength of her whole body and with the aid of [Golem Strength], she leaped forward and brought down her Claymore on the wolf’s stomach.

The Vamperic wolf’s thick skin resisted the blade at first, but with Valij spell, it only took a mere fraction of a second before the tip of the blade pierced the wolf’s hide and struck its mana core.

Rooooaaarr!

The Vamperic wolf cried an agonizing roar before its body glowed brighter and brighter and––

BOOM!

It exploded and turned to particles.

Both Valij and Ryu were knocked away from the explosion. Valij was sent meters away, snapping dead trees on her wake before she fell on the dirt.

“Argh!” Valij spat a mouthful of blood and healed her broken ribs and limbs. She caught her breath before she searched for Ryu.

Hundred meters from the massive crevice formed from the Vamperic wolf’s explosion laid Ryu, battered and broken.

Valij scrambled to her feet and zoomed to his side. “Hey! Hey!”

She called, but Ryu didn’t respond. Blood covered his body, as well as bites and claw marks. His arm was torn from his shoulder, and bones were sticking from his legs.

“Oh, shit.” Valij cursed under her breath, and what little mana she had, she cast a healing spell to reconstruct Ryu’s skin and bones.

For a minute straight, Valij managed to stop Ryu’s bleeding. That was all she could do. The bite and claw marks would have to wait until she could recover some of her mana. But the poison showed its effect on his skin. His veins were bulging red, and his color was turning violet.

He needed a healer or a great mage!

“Ryu!” Valij called his name for the first time and slapped him left and right on his cheeks. “Don’t close your eyes. Wake up!”

Valij was about to slap him again when Ryu groaned. His eyelids fluttered.

Valij sighed a relief. But then she paused. Why was she concerned with the halfbreed? Was it because he saved her life? Or was it because there was admiration blossomed when she saw how he fought the beast with his bare hands without even a tiny bit of fear on his face?

Ryu was more courageous than most men she knew and work with. If it were somebody who she’s with facing the Vamperic wolf, she would have died from its poison for sure. Others would flee for their life. Its poison was lethal without a healer.

The Antitoxins in her traveler’s ring were just to counter common poisons. Not the lethal poison of a Vamperic wolf. For that, she needed at least a Panacea or an Elixir. Rare items that could cured anything. But those items weren’t sold. Alchemists made them, and the ingredients were rare and scattered throughout the realms.

Ryu could have run. In the first place, the Vamperic wolf was after her.

But he didn’t. He saved her life and risked his life in return so they could defeat it.

Such courage was admirable.

Was that the beastmen traits? Valij wondered.

Ryu’s breathing turned ragged, and Valij wiped his hair away from his face and whispered a low, “Thank you.”

At this time, the fog cleared, and Ryu opened his eyes when his nose caught a familiar scent.

Cecily!