Raising the Princess to Overcome Death Chapter 66
66: Engagement – Noguhwa
- Gyaaaah!
The Noguhwa let out a furious roar, its gaping mouth wide enough to swallow a person whole.
Its eyes, as large as human heads, had vertically slit pupils filled with the desire to tear the two humans apart.
Lena and Leo gulped. The destructive force of the fox's roar made their flesh tremble.
‘How did Dehor manage to face this thing alone?’
The Noguhwa, sitting upright on its hind legs, was so tall they had to crane their necks to see it.
It was honestly terrifying.
One wrong move and the fight would be over in an instant. The moment they got caught in that huge maw, their limbs would be torn apart and they'd end up as shredded meat inside the beast's stomach.
He signaled Lena with his eyes and began to sidestep, increasing the distance between them. They had to execute a pincer attack, just like they did with Noel Dexter. One person would be attacked while the other inflicted damage.
However, there was a significant difference from fighting Noel Dexter.
The Noguhwa's attacks couldn't be blocked. Even if they held their swords together to block its tree-trunk-sized legs, the result would be the same.
Dehor had been able to fend off the Noguhwa's attacks by swinging a giant axe like a windmill, but they lacked such capabilities, so they had to dodge somehow.
The fox, bleeding from its snout, turned its gaze to Lena. It seemed the slash on its cheek had caused significant pain.
As the Noguhwa growled and prepared to approach, it instinctively placed its paw on the ground, only to feel pain.
The iron skewer lodged in its paw wouldn't come out.
The fox furrowed its long snout in pain and swung its front paw with a loud "whoosh."
Lena quickly leaped backward to dodge, giving Leo an opening to attack its side.
- Kyah!
As he approached, the Noguhwa twisted its body and snapped at him with its jaws.
- Thud!
The sound of jaws snapping shut.
Leo sidestepped, avoiding the fox's jaws, and swung his sword horizontally to slash at its leg.
But it was ineffective.
Swinging the sword horizontally made it catch on the fox's fur, reducing its impact. He needed to slash or stab vertically to avoid the fur's resistance.
It was a difficult maneuver.
Spinning around to attack made horizontal slashes easier, but it was harder to execute now.
Fortunately, the Noguhwa's movements were slowed by the injuries to its front paw and one of its hind legs.
Enduring the pain in its pierced thigh, the fox kept turning to follow Leo, who was trying to get behind it.
Then,
- Kyah!
Lena approached and slashed its front leg.
Annoying little monkeys!
The fox realized these primates were trying to attack it alternately while circling. It quickly decided, snapping its head around and leaping forward like a bolt of lightning, targeting the monkey that had just slashed its leg.
Lena, startled by the sudden move, rolled sideways. The fox's claws missed her by a hair, gouging deep marks into the ground.
That was close. If she had rolled backward like before, she would have been dead.
Leo chased after the leaping fox and stabbed his sword into its flank.
It was a deep thrust! The fox let out a pained cry, its tail swinging wildly but not threateningly.
Determined, the fox twisted its body, even collapsing itself to target Lena again.
The Noguhwa's snout exhaled rough breaths.
- Thud!
Lena, trying to dodge its snapping jaws, rolled over once more.
The snow clung to her, quickly melting from her sweat.
This was the chance! Leo leaped high towards the half-turned fox.
Holding his sword in a reverse grip, he put all his strength into stabbing it between its ribs.
- Kyahaaaak!
This time the fox let out a massive cry. Its size might have prevented the stab from reaching its vital organs, but the shock made it tremble.
Leo, perched on the fox, tried to pull out his sword and noticed the scars on its body.
The creature was already injured.
Several long gashes, not severe but recently inflicted, were slowly healing.
‘What's this?’
But there was no time to ponder. Leo gripped the sword embedded in its side, using his legs to push against the fox's body and pull the sword free. He then tumbled to the ground, narrowly avoiding the massive paw of the Noguhwa.
“Ugh!”
Instinctively, he rolled, even dropping his sword in the process.
Thud! The fox's paw struck the spot where Leo had been moments before.
“Take this!”
Meanwhile, Lena got up and slashed the fox's snout again.
This time, the metal skewer stuck in its snout vibrated with a “clang,” but the fox didn't react as sensitively as before.
As if daring them to strike, the fox slowly rose to its full height, its eyes burning bright.
- Kang! Kang! Kang!
The rapid, rhythmic barking sound they had heard before.
The battle was entering a new phase.
Despite it being daytime, the Noguhwa's eyes glowed, creating afterimages as it slowly shook its head.
It was a sight they hadn't seen before. The hunt with Dehor and the hunting team had ended before the fox displayed this behavior.
- Whoosh!
Suddenly, the imposing fox stretched its body, extending its left paw in a wide arc. The snow on the ground stirred, creating a flurry.
Leo, trying to retrieve his sword, had to drop flat to the ground. From his low vantage point, the massive fox looked majestic.
There was no time to admire it. The fox immediately followed up with a right paw swing, its sharp claws tearing through the ground towards the prone Leo.
Leo pushed himself back with his arms, rolling his body away. Thud! His rolling body stopped as it hit a tree.
He avoided it! ─ But before he could feel relieved, the enormous, gaping jaws of the Noguhwa closed in on his dizzying view.
The fox, mouth agape, kicked off its hind legs and leaped.
“Ugh!”
No time to dodge!
Lying down, he couldn't roll to the side because of the gaping mouth spread wide on both sides, nor could he retreat backward because of the tree behind him.
‘Dying…’
Before he could continue the thought, Leo rolled forward. Underneath the gaping jaws, below the fox's body.
- Crack!
The tree behind Leo was crushed. The rather thick tree snapped with a loud crack.
The Noguhwa, spitting out pieces of wood, rolled its blue eyes left and right, not knowing where Leo had gone.
Then, just as it felt something under its chest,
“Hyaah!”
Lena charged and slashed the fox’s right shoulder.
“Leo! Quickly!”
Taking advantage of the fox's diverted gaze to the right, Leo rolled his body to the opposite side.
He had almost died. Truly.
With a face drained of color, he gasped for breath. His body, heated with tension, met the cold air, producing white steam like a mirage.
But it was frustrating.
If I had a sword just now.
He had been in a position where he could see the fox's chest and neck clearly, but he had no weapon.
Meanwhile, the Noguhwa seemed to change targets, slowly shaking its head and looking at Lena. This time, it swung its left paw wide, then its right paw, and then its snout…?
‘It's a pattern!’
“Lena! After it shakes its head, it’s left paw, right paw, then bite!”
Lena seemed to catch on, avoiding the attacks without much difficulty. During this time, Leo picked up the sword he had dropped on the ground.
After recognizing the pattern, the fight flowed in favor of Lena and Leo. They avoided according to the pattern, and one of them slashed.
The fox, bleeding from various places on its body, became desperate and hurriedly swung its front legs, sometimes tripping itself.
“It's done! We're almost there!”
As Lena and Leo's faces brightened,
- Kang! Kang! Kang! Kang! Kang!
The fox barked more urgently than before.
Then… it leaped high into the sky!
‘Huh? Wasn't it supposed to be unable to jump because of its leg injury?’
“Lena! Dodge!”
The Noguhwa’s target was Lena. Its gaping mouth came crashing down vertically.
- Thud!
Lena hurriedly rolled to avoid it, but the previous pattern triggered again consecutively.
Sweeping widely with its left paw, then accurately aiming with its right paw…
“Hup!”
Next was the bite, but Lena dodged the sweeping left paw, leaping back and pulling out a hand axe from her waist, throwing it, and then rolling to avoid the incoming right paw.
- Scree!
The fox couldn’t bite. The hand axe Lena threw had stuck in its brow, dangling.
As the angry fox shook its head, the axe fell off, and blood gushed from the wound above its eye, blinding one side.
“Got it!”
Lena rejoiced. But the fox, as if it wasn’t done yet, jumped high into the sky again.
Enraged to the limit by Lena, it didn’t even look at Leo, who was slashing at its side.
- Thud!
Lena, as if she had fully grasped the same attack, avoided the vertical drop with ease.
On its second landing, the fox’s front legs twisted, and blood poured out.
“I know it all now! We can catch it!”
Lena shouted as she prepared for the next pattern of the Noguhwa. However,
“Kyah!”
Dodging the sweeping left paw just like before by stepping back, Lena miscalculated the distance, and the blood gushing from the fox's torn front paw drenched her.
“Lena! It's dangerous!”
Blinded by the sticky blood, Lena temporarily lost her sight.
‘Next is the right paw swipe!’
His heart sank.
Blinded, Lena ran backward recklessly...
- Thud!
A terrible sound was heard.
The Noguhwa’s right paw swipe had to be dodged by sight, not randomly.
The giant fox swung its front leg accurately, and Lena, hit directly, couldn’t even scream and was flung away.
She landed far in the snow and didn’t move.
“Lena! No!”
Then the fox, gathering its hind legs, as if to finish her off, aimed to jump.
If it jumped, Lena would die!
Leo threw himself toward the fox’s head.
If its gaping mouth turned this way, he would throw himself into its jaws, but there was no time to consider that. Fortunately, the Noguhwa, distracted by Lena, didn’t react.
- Scree!
Leo’s sword slashed the fox’s other eye.
How deep he cut, he didn't know. The beast kept its wounded eye tightly shut.
- Grrrrrrrrrrrr....
The Noguhwa looked at Leo with its remaining blood-red eye. Its vision was narrowing.
At that moment, Leo sensed something ominous and adjusted his stance.
A chilling aura emanated from the fox.
A small gulp, the tightening muscles of its neck, the steady front legs...
The Noguhwa leaped.
Jumping high into the sky, it attempted what could be its final attack.
Of course, Leo dodged.
He had no reason to clash with such a final attack, nor the capability.
- Thud!
As the fox landed heavily, Leo charged at it.
Gripping the hilt of his two-handed sword with his 'right hand' on top, he stabbed the right side of the fox’s neck.
Following the pattern, the fox's left paw, attempting to swat at the one stabbing its neck, crashed down.
- Thump!
Its own attack hit itself, but Leo was no longer there.
He switched his grip on the sword hilt with his 'left hand' on top and leaped, stabbing the left side of the fox’s neck.
Following the pattern, the fox's right paw, attempting to swat at the one stabbing its neck, fell weakly.
Its blood-soaked head couldn’t hold out any longer and dropped. The Noguhwa planted its snout into the ground before Leo.
“Huff... Huff.”
Only Leo's panting remained as silence fell.
The giant blood-soaked fox lay still, unmoving.
[ Achievement: Beast Hunt - ‘1’, your body is faintly imbued with mana. ]
“Lena! Lena!”
An achievement notification appeared, but Leo, without time to savor it, threw away his sword and ran.
Lena, who had been flung into the snow, was covered in bruises on half of her body. At a glance, her left arm and leg were broken. Her left ribs seemed to be shattered, her side deeply sunken.
Leo was horrified, but it was a miracle she was alive.
Hitting precisely with the Noguhwa’s front paw had been a stroke of luck.
If it had been even slightly off, her spine would have snapped from the inertia, and if the paw had been shorter, her body would have been shredded by its claws.
“Lena! Wake up! Lena!”
Leo, unable to shake her, sat down in front of her, shouting. She didn’t move.
What to do? I can't lift her.
As he panicked, not knowing what to do about Lena’s critical condition, he heard someone shouting from a distance.
Looking up tearfully, he saw Ainar warriors, alerted by the Noguhwa’s roar, rushing down the valley.
Leo sprang to his feet, shouting that they were here.
Behind him, blood flowed steadily from the giant fox's corpse.