An Unlikely Alliance

“Huff… I can’t run anymore. Let’s hide for a bit…” Demonflame ducked into a house at the corner and unceremoniously dropped me. I have to admit, the guy was fast… Even faster than a werewolf…

“Thanks for the hard work…” I said, shamelessly thanking him.

“What the hell! What do you mean he has no rationality?! Hey! You scared me to death!” he exclaimed, collapsing onto the floor.

“‘No rationality’ means he attacks indiscriminately…”

“I know that! Can’t you tell I’m complaining?! Ah!” He clutched his injured left hand, his face contorted in pain. “I’m seriously wounded, and I still carried you all this way! Aren’t you going to do something, as the Hero?!”

“Who told you to instinctively pick me up…? The way I see it, you deserve everything that’s happening to you. This is what you get for attacking the village and killing so many people.”

“Hmph. If you have the guts, then finish me off now!”

“With pleasure!” I hissed, drawing my sword and pressing it against his throat.

“Dammit!” He snapped his fingers, and a ball of fire erupted just as before. “You slit my throat, and I’ll blow myself up. Let’s see who dies first!”

We faced off like that for a full minute…

“Awooo—”

The howl made both Demonflame and me jump. We scrambled to crouch against the wall.

“Why’d you put out the fire?”

“Why’d you put away your sword…”

Helter’s current form was so terrifying that the enemy boss and I were now huddling together for warmth…

“Werewolves are a type of demi-human, aren’t they…” Demonflame asked, his voice trembling.

“They are.”

“How can a demi-human have no rationality? Is there something wrong with how he transformed?”

“I don’t know… Helter’s transformations have always been passive…” I explained.

“Passive? Shouldn’t transforming be an active choice? He must have triggered it when he was on the brink of death!”

“You seem to know a lot about this…”

“I do! I encountered werewolves when I was a kid. As long as you don’t act aggressively toward them, they won’t suddenly transform and attack!”

“Is that so… Then they definitely are rational. But why is Helter filled with such killing intent the moment he transforms?” I asked him.

“I don’t know… Maybe it’s because I stabbed him in the heart. Creatures like werewolves won’t die unless you cut off their heads.”

“Oh.”

A tremor ran through my body as I heard the werewolf’s footsteps drawing closer and closer…

“Hey! What are you doing, clinging to me?!”

Yes, I was so terrified that I had wrapped all four of my limbs around Demonflame’s torso.

“You seem very reliable…”

“You damn woman! A moment ago you were fierce as a tiger, and now you’re acting like a kitten! You’re the Hero, for crying out loud!”

‘Sorry, I’m a man… at least on the inside.’

“What do we do now…” I whispered.

“Shh, be quiet. If we wait for the footsteps to pass, we might be saved.”

Demonflame was actually giving me serious advice… I was reminded of something the Village Chief once said—[In times of shared adversity, anyone can become a friend.]

The air around us suddenly froze. The only sound was the frantic pounding of my heart echoing in my ears.

“Is he gone?” I asked.

“No way, right? That fast?” As he spoke, a drop of blood trickled from his left arm and dripped onto the floor.

“Say, is a werewolf’s sense of smell as good as a dog’s?”

“Of course! It’s even better! Why are you asking?”

I pointed to his left arm…

“Blood…”

He glanced at the bloodstain on the floor, then his head shot up.

“Run!”

CRASH—

There it was! That attack that descended from the heavens! The werewolf Helter landed right in front of us!

This is terrifying!

“Aaaahhhhhhh!” Demonflame scooped me up and began another frantic dash.

“Why did you instinctively pick me up again?! Is it a reflex?!”

“What do you mean, reflex?! All I know is my brain short-circuited again!”

‘Why am I having such a smooth conversation with the enemy boss?!’

“ROAR—”

A loud noise erupted from ahead!

“The old Knight of Caster makes his grand entrance!” The armored Village Chief appeared, riding atop an enlarged, weaponized Blacksmith!

“Village Chief!!!” I cried out toward my beacon of hope.

“That old geezer?!” ‘What the hell is going on! How did that old man suddenly become so imposing?!’ Demonflame screamed internally.

“Apologies! We’re late! We were going to let the Hero show off her skills, but we just couldn’t help ourselves!” the Village Chief said, his teeth flashing with a brilliant glint as he charged forward on his humanoid warhorse, the Blacksmith.

‘This is great! We’re saved, we’re saved!’

BANG! As they rushed over, the Village Chief struck Demonflame on the forehead with the blunt end of his knight’s lance… then leaped over and pulled me onto his “warhorse.”

“Get him! I haven’t been this aggrieved in all my years!” the Village Chief cursed.

“Take that for your wickedness! And that for your murder and arson!” The Blacksmith, meanwhile, was furiously stomping on the dazed Demonflame with his “forelegs!”

“You’re not kicking him hard enough! Let me!” The Village Chief leaped from the saddle and began to jump wildly on Demonflame’s head!

“Wait!” I shouted. “You’ve got the wrong target!”

“Huh?” The Village Chief and the Blacksmith looked utterly bewildered. “No, we don’t. That’s Demonflame, the bandit leader…”

“Yes! He is Demonflame! But you need to understand the situation! Our opponent right now is…”

“Awooo—”

BOOM—

A colossal crash shook the entire street. The impact was too much for the four of us, and we were sent flying!

‘Damn, Helter’s pounce attack is brutal in his werewolf form!’

“Cough, cough.” “Cough, cough.”

We all started coughing amidst the dust, only to realize someone was missing.

“Demonflame?”

A massive monster now stood among the group.

Helter lifted the unconscious Demonflame with his huge wolf claws and let out a furious roar right in his face, jolting the poor bandit leader awake.

“Waaahhh! Damn you! You old geezers! I’m not done with you!”

Now, with the two old men down, I was the only one left with any fight in me…

“Awooo—”

“Roar my ass! You stupid swordsman! Come on! Kill me!” Flames erupted around Demonflame’s body again, but this time they couldn’t drive the werewolf back, even as fire engulfed Helter’s own form.

The transformed Helter had no humanity left to speak of. He wasn’t foolish enough to pause for some moment of mutual respect.

He opened his blood-soaked jaws and lunged for Demonflame’s throat!

“Helter!! Wake up!”

He couldn’t hear me.

“Wake up! This isn’t you!”

He still couldn’t hear me…

“Heh, how ironic… Big brother, little sister, I didn’t live a good life… I’m coming to see you now…” Demonflame closed his eyes, resigned to his fate…

In that split second—

“Hey, big guy! Where are you?! What the hell! How did everyone end up dead after I woke up?!”

That voice! Not far away…

Leaning on a piece of wood he must have scavenged from somewhere, Crimson Aironi limped toward us, step by step.

“It’s so dusty… Huh? Why is there a gnoll over there?”

‘Hmm… Is his arrival a good thing or a bad thing?’

Helter violently flung Demonflame aside, sending him crashing into a pillar of a nearby building before he collapsed…

‘Whoa! He actually got taunted by that.’

The werewolf let out a great roar where he stood, and the flames on his body died out.

“Huh? What’s going on?! Holy crap! It’s a wolf!” Realizing his mistake, Crimson Aironi turned and fled.

‘Now’s my chance!’ I leaped onto Helter’s broad, wolfish back!