It’S A Cat, Adopted By A Wolf Family? [EN]: Chapter 133

Leopards that had poured out of Delta’s castle were running at full speed toward the territories of other races.

Leopard beastmen were incredibly fast even in human form, and now they were scattered, making it very difficult to catch them.

Crunch―!

Wolf knights, who had barely managed to catch and deal with one leopard in a group, took a breath to calm their panting.

‘Damn it, there are more of them than I thought!’

‘We can’t let those lunatics into the territories of small animals.’

‘I didn’t expect them to distract us like this…….’

Since only the highest-ranking fox beastmen could use teleportation magic, most of the wolf knights had to rely on their strong legs.

Even when moving with foxes who could use teleportation magic, they couldn’t attack while moving, so they had to start chasing the moment they spotted a leopard.

Because as long as the swift leopards kept running, their coordinates would keep changing, making it difficult to attack with magic.

Of course, there were monstrous exceptions.

Swoosh―

Eden jumped out of the teleportation circle created by the fox beastman and simultaneously severed the leopard’s tendons with his two swords.

A feat possible because he could subtly adjust his movements using magic even in mid-air.

Adding to that, he could predict the leopards’ paths in advance with his brain, so suppression was instantaneous.

‘As expected of the Wibis family head.’

‘His movements seem even swifter than usual.’

In fact, Eden couldn’t see anything right now.

The thought of Kitty being held tightly in Kleid’s arms, shooting arrows, made him feel like all the blood in his body was drying up.

He was trying to focus on the task at hand, but all his nerves were focused on Kitty.

“Even if Delta is using tricks to distract us, the difference in military strength is overwhelming.”

“Yes, sir!”

“So fight to the end.”

Eden frowned as he watched the leopards sacrificed as bait by Delta’s greed.

“To abandon comrades like this.”

Eden quickly ended the life of a leopard clutching its attacked leg, trembling, and then left haughtily.

At his few words as the head of the family, the wolf knights regained their strength.

The wolf knights, running and chasing the leopards, didn’t let go of their swords even as they gasped for breath.

Among them were many who had lost their families long ago and had been waiting for this day to wage an all-out war against the leopards.

Today was a day of revenge.

All the wolf knights thought so.

The Gridwolf couple stormed into the leopard’s castle to confront Delta. The two young masters were doing their best to prevent the leopards from escaping into other beastmen’s territories.

Today might be the day to make up for the humiliation of decades ago.

Grrr…….

One of the wolf knights, catching his breath, sensed a suspicious sound and looked toward the bushes.

As his ears, which had been ringing from running so fast, returned to normal, he could hear the leopard’s sound more clearly from inside the bushes.

“This isn’t just one or two of them?”

“Quick, light the signal flare…… Ugh!”

The leopards, hidden among the plants with a strong scent, pounced as if they had been waiting, biting the signal flare and the knight’s hand.

An attack so strong that it was hard to believe they were biting in human form.

Just as the exhausted wolf knights were throwing off the leopards covering them and grinding their teeth, a clear voice was heard.

“Get away!”

Thud―

An arrow containing warm light was lodged in the leopard beastman’s back.

Then, he made a groaning sound and returned to his animal form.

A docile and gentle appearance that was hard to believe was the leopard that had been full of murderous intent until just now.

“There are two outside the bushes, and three more inside.”

Kitty quickly infused magic into Polly’s mirror, which she had put in her bag. This made it possible to shoot multiple arrows without taking out the mirror each time.

However, her hand muscles momentarily failed her because she had drawn too much magic.

“Ah!”

“Are you okay?”

Kleid held her hand tightly. Kitty nodded and wished earnestly.

‘Please. Just a little more strength.’

The mirror, which had been trembling as if it would crack, finally calmed down. Kitty drew on the power of the mirror and shot an arrow.

The single arrow split into several strands and hit the leopards in turn.

Whimper…….

The exhausted leopards returned to their animal forms and curled up. Some were even snoring, as if they had finished a hard day’s work.

The wolf knights chuckled in disbelief as they looked at the ones who had been so terrifying until just now.

“Are these guys pretending to be cute in front of the young lady because they’re about to die?”

“No, they’re probably genuinely relieved.”

Kitty placed her hand on the smallest of the unconscious leopards.

Squish―

The madness felt through her hand was very complex. It even felt similar to what Jerian had used on Toby before.

“These leopards are being mind-controlled. It’s different from being caught up in madness. The fact that they were hiding in the bushes with a strong scent, waiting for the knights, means they have intelligence and judgment.”

“But…….”

Kitty could tell what the knight was about to argue without even hearing it.

Decades ago, the leopards who chased the cats moved as if they had no intelligence.

They lost their footing and fell off cliffs, and they ran at high speeds and died instantly because they couldn’t avoid obstacles.

But now they can maintain their intelligence and elicit loyalty, which sounds like a contradiction.

“If Delta was a leopard born with the Blue Moon [a rare and powerful magical ability], he might have known how to do this all along.”

“Even though he doesn’t have immunity like the young lady?”

“Isn’t it similar to a baking oven? Delta, the creator, may know the best about how to use and apply the oven, but a skilled baker can actually bake the most delicious bread using the oven.”

In that moment, the wolf knights imagined Kitty pressing the chewy dough with her soft hands.

“So……. When they attacked the cat beastmen, they just sacrificed them because they didn’t want to get hurt?”

If the leopards who attacked back then had intelligence, they might have been able to survive. The wolf knights shuddered.

“Maybe so. It’s Delta, after all. He’s forcing himself to control these guys’ minds without being able to control the Blue Moon, so Delta’s condition must be terrible.”

Kitty patted the wolf knights to reassure them, then looked up at the sky. The battle that had started early in the morning was still not over, and the sun was already setting.

‘I wonder if Karis and Jackal are okay.’

They had promised to howl to let her know when they had taken Delta’s head, but there was no signal.

Kitty suppressed her uneasy feelings and turned her head.

“Kleid, your magic?”

“All charged up thanks to you, miss.”

With Kitty helping him to have a mana core [a source of magical energy] in his body, Kleid’s magic, which had been considerably depleted, had reached its peak in half a day.

That was why Kitty had decided to stick with Kleid without considering other methods.

“Then, can you do what I asked you to do earlier?”

Kleid grinned and flicked his fingers.

Then, against the sunset sky, hundreds of large teleportation circles appeared.

The round things blooming around Kleid looked like the gears inside a giant clock.

“I have to do whatever you tell me to do, miss.”

As Kleid moved his fingertips slightly, magic circles were engraved on the legs of the wolf knights.

“If you run with that, you’ll be able to go five steps forward even if you take one step. Everyone, run hard and catch those leopard bastards.”

“Kleid, no, Head of the Foxstein family…….”

The wolf knights, who had been watching young Kleid at Gridwolf’s training hall, felt a lump in their throats and stood up.

“Miss, we will definitely prevent the leopards from attacking the small animals.”

“Thank you.”

As soon as they left, Kleid staggered.

Giving teleportation circles to almost all the wolves in the leopard territory was too much even for Kleid, who had unlocked his mana core.

Poof―!

Kleid, who had exhausted all his energy, turned back into a small fox.

Kleid, who was about to rest in Kitty’s arms for a while, soon sensed something and narrowed his eyes.

“Wait, there’s something nearby…….”

A strong madness was approaching at a rapid pace. He could tell without seeing it.

“Delta Leopard!”

Kitty turned her head and immediately readied her bow. She still had a bit of dizziness left, but she couldn’t rely on Kleid, who had overdone it to grant her request.

“Kittyah Gridwolf.”

Delta appeared from among the bushes, dyed the same color as the sunset. As the wind swept past him, the sleeves of his robe, where his arms should have been, fluttered emptily.

‘It looks like Karis bit off Delta’s arm.’

The problem was that Delta had come all the way here, breaking through Jackal and Karis.

“Delta, how…….”

“Came through the Gridwolf couple? They collapsed on the spot when I threw them the bones of a dead beast, telling them it was their daughter’s.”

Of course, the bones of that small beast were scraped from a baby wolf taxidermy that Sigma had collected.

However, Karis and Jackal, who had waged an all-out war against the leopards with the single-minded determination to avenge their dead child, could not have immediately realized that fact.

“The head of the great Gridwolf family wailing at the sight of a young beast. Could there be anything more ridiculous than this?”

“Delta, you’re……. You’re really the worst.”

“I know.”

Delta smiled and slowly approached. Kitty immediately shot an arrow into his heart.

However, Delta only flinched a little and did not break free from his madness.

‘Why isn’t it being purified?’

Is it because of the mutated Blue Moon’s power?

Kitty gripped her necklace tightly. Her magic was running low, but she still had enough to shoot a few more arrows.

But why.

Why at such an important time.

“Kittyah Gridwolf, did you think you could fully control the Blue Moon that I was born with?”

Delta, screaming like a madman, leaped and lunged at Kitty. Sharp leopard fangs were revealed.

‘I can’t let him hurt Kleid. He’s too close to shoot an arrow…….’

Then.

Kitty quickly put Kleid down from her arms and gripped her bow tightly. There was no other way to protect Kleid, who was exhausted.

Just as she was about to swing the bow.

Crunch―!

A drop of blood burst before her eyes.

Kitty momentarily looked at her hand holding the bow. It was fine.

“……Are you okay, kitten?”

Instead, Eden’s low voice and the strong smell of blood dominated all her senses.