CHAPTER 60: AGAINST A SMART WOLF!

He scrambled up—clawing, gasping, dragging his heavy limbs—until he finally rolled out of danger, collapsing beside the pit.

Exhausted.

Furious.

He gritted his teeth.

He swore that he would kill that alpha wolf—and he would do it in the most humiliating way possible.

He wanted to disgrace the alpha in front of its pack.

But he knew... that wasn’t realistic.

He needed to finish this dungeon. He needed to ascend.

And then he heard it.

A howl.

He recognized it—it belonged to the wise Alpha Wolf.

He looked up.

Far in the distance, the silhouette of the alpha emerged. It trotted toward Leon with majestic calmness.

Leon could almost see the smug expression on its damn face.

┏━━━━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━━━━┓

Mutant Gray Wolf Sent You a Message

┗━━━━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━━━━┛

"Huh"

’As expected of the wise alpha...’

He immediately tapped on the panel to see the wolf’s message.

But before he could tap on it and check, another message appeared—one he quickly swiped away without reading, deciding to check it later. Though honestly, he already had an idea of what it was about.

Looking ahead, he saw the silhouettes of two more wolves, inches behind the alpha, walking in the same calm and regal demeanor.

The foggy atmosphere—born from the relentless fall of snow and drifting snowflakes—wasn’t helping him see things clearly.

The two silhouettes mirrored the alpha’s movements exactly. No hesitation. No disturbance from the snow. They moved with the grace of trained royal beasts, their steps sure, steady, and disturbingly familiar.

But that wasn’t what truly bothered him.

What confused him was the fact that both of them were exactly the same size as the alpha—both in height and volume.

Every other wolf he had fought until now was slightly smaller than the gray alpha. Yet these two... were equals.

A sense of foreboding surged in his chest. He didn’t know why—but instinct told him something bad was happening. Something very bad.

Still, he knew retreat was not an option. Whatever this was, he would face it head-on.

Besides, the terrain didn’t favor him. He was standing dangerously close to the edge of the hole—one wrong step back, and he would fall in.

So, he quickly backed away from the edge, cautiously moving toward the three wolves. But as he approached, more wolves emerged behind them.

Dozens.

Each one the size of a typical beta wolf.

His eyes scanned the growing crowd—there were more than three times the number of wolves he had initially faced.

His brows furrowed in confusion. How did their numbers increase so quickly?

When did they regroup this fast?

He couldn’t help but sigh. Now he truly wished he had a Supreme AoE skill. Something big. Something explosive. He could already tell such a skill would be invaluable inside this dungeon.

With that thought, his curiosity piqued again.

He had completed the mission. Discovered the ’Wise Plan’. Escaped the Alpha’s trap just in time.

The mission completion notification had already popped up earlier—he made sure to take note of that.

Still uncertain of what to do, he tapped on the alpha’s message—eyes locked on the wolves in front. He didn’t dare let down his guard. He was 75% sure these wolves would attack the moment they sensed weakness.

No hesitation. No mercy.

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You would need to do more than that

to kill me. A foolish weakling like you

is like an ant compared to my

battle prowess.

I never thought you’d be able

to cross the hole. I created it to finish

the other packs, never expected it

to be used by something that’s not a wolf.

Once you’re dead, you’ll no longer be a

threat!

┗━━━━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━━━━┛

Reading the message, Leon’s eyes narrowed.

So that’s what this is...

He now had a better grasp of what was happening.

From the feel of his body and the state of his stamina, he could tell—he was weaker now. His HP had gradually reduced with the passing moments and with every bit of fatigue that built up in his muscles.

He stood there—alert, tense—unsheathing his daggers, scanning the surroundings for anything he could use to his advantage.

Nothing. Just snow. Just wolves.

He waited.

And slowly... the wolves came close enough for him to see them clearly.

And what he saw—shocked him.

He had expected something bad. But this?

At the front was the familiar gray alpha, panting slightly, tongue lolling from its mouth.

To its left was a massive black wolf—robust, fierce, and menacing. Its eyes glowed the same deep crimson as the alpha’s.

And to its right was a tall, lean white arctic wolf. Slightly taller than the other two by a few centimeters. Its body was built for speed, and its red gleaming eyes carried the same killing intent.

Leon analyzed them quickly.

The white one—lean and aerodynamic—was likely the fastest.

The black one—its muscles bulging and stance powerful—was definitely the strongest, perhaps the most physically dangerous.

The gray one—he already knew—was the smartest. Without a doubt, this was the one who had orchestrated the entire plan. And judging by the way the other two flanked it—moving just behind its shadow—it was clear they acknowledged the gray wolf as their leader.

They feared it. Or perhaps... respected it too much to challenge its commands.

Trailing behind the trio was a group of wolves that matched their leaders.

White wolves followed the lean white one.

Black wolves trailed behind the robust black one.

And gray wolves fell in behind the calculating alpha.

The number of gray wolves was significantly larger than what Leon had seen earlier. That pack had grown in size... too much.

Leon narrowed his eyes and gave a slow, understanding nod.

’Did these three packs... form an alliance? Just to kill me?’

He heard faint footsteps from behind.

He turned briefly—and saw gray wolves gathering at the far end of the hole.

Some were limping. Some bloodied.

But all of them were there. Ready.

’What are these wolves thinking?’

’Do they really believe I’d try jumping back over the hole... after the last one nearly drained my HP completely?’

’As expected of the Wise gray alpha...’

’You blocked all exits...’

Leon smirked.

’You’re sooo calculative!’

But just as he let out that smirk—his eyes widened.

He noticed something.

Something important.

Something he hadn’t realized until now...

’The gray wolves! He didn’t bring all his pack members when we first fought!’

"Tsk... tsk! Whatever! They’re all going to die anyway," Leon scoffed at them.

The Gray Alpha was wise, yes. But since he brought all of his pack right now, Leon would make sure to kill every last one of them.

Leon infused mana into his teethed dagger while activating Light Steps.

His mana barrier was still active. Though the tiny icicles here weren’t much of a threat, Leon kept the barrier up. With it, he’d be able to block sneak attacks — because he didn’t know if the wolves’ plan ended here.

The weakest wolf in this dungeon was an LVL 7 beast. Though Leon was also level 7, he was confident in his ability to kill them.

When he was at level 6, he’d killed a beast with the strength of a level 9.

So therefore, killing a level 7 beast should be easy... Right?

The three alphas sensed Leon’s thick killing intent and aura. They moved back, letting the beta wolves step forward, wanting to see how the betas would fare if they joined hands against Leon.

The Gray Wolf sent a mocking gaze toward Leon before stepping back.

"There are three alphas in this dungeon and they all joined hands to kill me? We’ll see who’s going to die here!!!" Leon concluded, ignoring the Gray Alpha’s gaze completely.

His words didn’t help the situation in any way — instead, they only pissed off the Gray Alpha more.

The Gray Alpha was so enraged that it howled immediately, ordering all the wolves to attack.

Awuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!!

The wolves, upon hearing the howl, reacted like programmed robots, growling at Leon as they jumped at full force, aiming to pounce on him and topple him before killing him with one bite.

Growl!!!

Most of them pounced on him.

Leon’s face turned serious as he instantly took the situation even more seriously.

He started striking and slashing at the beasts with high speed — already boosted by his activated Light Steps.

He targeted their bellies, slashing them open. Their soft stomachs, their weak spots, were almost cut in half. The injured beasts would immediately howl and growl in pain, unable to stand back up after being sliced from the belly up to the spinal cord.

Their inner organs and guts burst out of their open stomachs, soaking the floor in a large pool of blood.

Alongside this came a mind-numbing pain. All of it was like torture to them.

They had no other choice but to bear it, as Leon slashed another wolf, leaving the previous ones unattended.

Leon wasn’t merciful enough to grant them instant death and free them of their pain.

As they waited, their HP continued to drop. They gradually edged closer to death’s door.