Roy’s group of friends split up with Marth, his knights, and Peter. They immediately went to the Wolf Den dungeon and chose the normal difficulty. When they entered, they found the same dark cave that they already cleared on the easy difficulty.

“So it’s just gonna be stronger monsters that we have to fight?” Jack looked around and asked.

“Guess so,” Robb shrugged his shoulders. “Also, how are we gonna be fighting? Usually, I just go in alone with Roy as a backup.”

Alfonse scratched his chin, “We can just use the formation of my group. Fred will be on the front to block the monsters with his barrier and shield, while we go in and out with our swords.”

Roy nodded at Alfonse’s suggestion, “Sounds like a good plan. I can also use my fireball from far away if I need to.”

“Cool, then let’s go,” Jack hurriedly walked forward along with Fred. The group made their way through the ever-darkening cave for a few minutes before they met with their first foe.

Rather than the two grey wolves that they usually fought at this stage, there were two black ones. Without exchanging any words, Fred charged toward the two beasts before pushing them with his barrier skill. The wolves clawed and bit at the invisible wall but to no avail.

Jack and Robb dashed in with great synchronization before overwhelming the two beasts with slashes and thrusts. After a few seconds, Robb’s sword pierced from under the beast’s jaw to its brain. Meanwhile, Jack simply thrust his blade through the black wolf’s chest.

“Well, that was surprisingly easy,” Fred was taken aback. “Took us a while to kill these fuckers when we did the easy difficulty.”

“That’s the power of having good swordsmen in your team,” Jack said with a smug grin.

Alfonse looked at Roy with a weak smile, “We didn’t get to do anything.”

“That’s fine. It’s mana that we can conserve,” Roy shrugged.

The team then continued on its way through the cave that was growing tighter by the minute. As with the first two wolves, they were able to easily take care of their opponents until they reached the crystal-lit section of the dungeon.

“What do you think the pack of five will look like?” Robb looked at Roy with concerned eyes.

Roy weakly smiled at his friend’s question, “Well, you already know it.”

Robb clicked his tongue at the expected but unsatisfactory response, “That’s gonna be annoying.”

The group continued walking toward the first big chamber. That’s when their suspicions and thoughts were unfortunately confirmed.

The pack of five was made of four black wolves, led by the large crescent-stripped black and white beast. It stood atop its rock with a majestic form and looked aloof as it stared at Roy’s group.

Fred’s eyes opened wide at the sight in front of him, “Damn… If this thing is here, what’s gonna be the boss?”

“Focus, no time for chit-chat.”

Robb’s words alerted everyone to the seriousness of the situation and marked the start of the battle. Fred raised his shield to protect his chest and vital organs before making his way toward the beasts with heavy steps.

“Awoo!”

With this howl signal from their leader, the four wolves separated and ran at Roy’s group from both sides. Fred saw their movement and was about to block those coming from the right when he shifted back his focus to the crescent wolf. The beast charged with incredible speed and clawed at Fred’s shield.

Fred immediately used his barrier skill and blocked the wolf’s attack. Meanwhile, Jack and Robb clashed with two of the black wolves. Robb overwhelmed his opponent with his incredible speed and slashed off its legs. With one final strike, he beheaded the black beast.

On the other hand, Jack skillfully dodged the wolf’s bites and claws. He moved away from the wolf’s attack right at the moment that they would twitch a muscle, it was as if he could predict the entire fight. With each dodge and sidestep, Jack would counterattack with a slash or a thrust. Soon, the wounds accumulated on the beast’s body before it fell to the ground, bloody and battered. Jack then finished it off with a clean thrust through the nape.

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In the meantime, Roy and Alfonse were each dealing with their own black wolf. Neither of them had much trouble as their stats were high and they only had to focus on one opponent.

After a quick round of back and forth, Roy found the opportunity to slash across the beast’s neck. He then thrust his sword through the wolf’s heart to finish it off. With his opponent now dead, he dashed toward the final black wolf that was fighting against Alfonse. The latter saw Roy coming and increased the rate of his strikes to push the wolf backward. Overwhelmed by Alfonse’s assault, the beast did not notice Roy that was dashing toward its back. In but a second, Roy reached the black wolf and vertically slashed at the side of its chest.

The wounded beast fell and flailed on the ground while whimpering like a beaten dog. Alfonse immediately pierced its throat with his sword and ended its suffering.

“Awoo!”

The crescent wolf howled in anger at the death of its kin before a moonlight aura gathered around its body. Knowing that this was their opportunity, both Robb and Jack dashed toward the beast as it growled and grew in size. Robb used Ghost Step and appeared in an instant in front of the crescent wolf. With a slash from his Moonlight Katana, he cut through the beast’s thigh and made it fall to the ground.

Meanwhile, Jack jumped high in the air before striking the beast with an overhead double-handed slash. His sword cut through the beast’s neck like butter, and its massive head fell and rolled on the floor.

“Damn, that was cool,” Fred nodded with an impressed look.

Roy also smiled at the result of the battle, “This was some good work. I didn’t need to use my fireball, so I can keep all my mana for the fight against the boss monster.”

“Same here,” Alfonse nodded at Roy’s words. “The fight against the boss is going to be so much easier.”

The group then continued on their way through the crystal-lit chambers. Their fight against the second pack of wolves was much similar to the first one. Fred kept the crescent wolf in check while the rest of the crew killed off the black beasts one by one. With the crescent wolf fighting alone at the end, he was quickly overwhelmed by the combined might of their team.

After going through the small cave entrance and killing off all the wolves in the passage, they reached the boss's room after a few minutes. Without much talk, Roy opened the door.

“Huh, is this the right place?”

Alfonse’s words were something that everyone present was thinking. The boss’s room was different. Instead of the cracked roof, there was now a dome that let moonlight seep through. The room itself looked much different, with less dust and debris and looking closer to a palace chamber than to the ruins that were present in the easy difficulty.

However, none of them had the time to admire the architecture and design, as a beast that towered over them made its way out of the shadows and into the limelight. The giant wolf stood at two meters and a half on all four, with eyes blue like the clear sky and fur whiter than the moon.

No one had to bark out any order or directive as all of them knew exactly what they needed to do. Fred took to the front with his shield raised high, while Jack and Robb ran to the flanks. Roy and Alfonse stood in the back. While both of them were good at close-quarter combat, they were more effective at a range where they could comfortably use their skills.

The beast howled in rage at the puny human that dared walk so arrogantly toward it. In less than a second, it pounced at Fred and struck him with its mighty paws. The young man had barely enough time to raise his shield and block the beast’s attack. Even then, he was pushed back two steps.

The beast continued its assault, but this time, Fred used his barrier skill. The white wolf bit and clawed at the invisible force, but he could not crack it. Using this shift in momentum, Fred pushed the beast back using his barrier, allowing Robb to jump in.

Robb slashed at the giant wolf’s chest. While his sword could not reach the beast’s organs, it still cut through its skin and flesh. On the other hand, Jack ran around the beast and struck its back with a jumping slash.

With damage accumulating all over its body, the white wolf switched its attention from Fred and swiped at Robb and Jack.

“Get out of the way!”

The three young men immediately dashed out at Roy’s call. He had conjured a medium-sized fireball on top of his palm before launching it at the moon beast. Before it could react, the spell exploded into a massive fireball that engulfed its whole body.

“Did you get it?”

Roy shook his head in annoyance at Alfonse’s question, “You should never say that…”

When the flames died down, everyone could see the beast laying on the ground. Its fur was charred black, and parts of its face, legs, and body burned beyond recognition. The fur melted, and the skin flaked off showing the flesh, blood, and bone behind them.

Just as the thought of victory crept up Roy’s heart, the beast opened its eyes. It stood up with great difficulty before opening its mouth and letting out a terrible howl.

It was as if a lightning bolt had struck the ground in front of them. Roy immediately closed his ears in fear they rupture from the wolf’s thunderous cry.

A pillar of pure white light fell from the moon and basked the wolf in its glory. This was not the ephemeral aura that covered the crescent wolf, but a skill that was on an entirely different level. Roy could almost feel the milk-like texture of the light that covered the wolf’s body in its brightness.

By the time, Roy and his friends could take out their fingers from their earholes, the white pillar dimmed out into nothingness. What stood there was an even more majestic beast; a wolf that was even bigger, and had black stripes over its white body. Its injuries were no more to be seen.