Fumbling, he went over the sequence of events once more in his mind.

... The strike that had made his chest burst, and the momentary blank.

And then, as he was in the middle of falling forward over his opponent, another blow had struck his back. It was probably that second attack that had torn his heart apart.

'....  You're joking. There's no way, I would ever...'

... be defeated by something like that. Physically speaking, it couldn't happen.
Coming to a conclusion that told of foul play, he ground his teeth and put power into his entire body.

'That's right. This is all a lie. There was no one that could defeat me, not even among my own race. This pain, this situation, they're all lies. This inconsistency is driving me crazy. After all, there's no way I'd lose to another living creature...!'

The time of inquiry had reached its end. The wounds were long healed. Seeking a rematch, the wolfman glared at the enemy standing beside him while remaining on the ground.

'There's... No way, I'd...'

That instant.
An altogether new kind of pain that he didn't really understand ran through the wolfman's back.

Up above were two inhuman eyes. Eyes. Eyes.
They had far too little life in them.
The moon, still hanging in the empty air, seemed more alive by comparison.
That thing's arms were both broken.
If it could feel pain, then it must have screamed.
Yet it remained silent.
Therefore it wasn't [or perhaps it had never been] alive [in the first place?].

The thing gazed upon the wolfman, it's eyes like that of a corpse.

[I know of one thing that it reminds me of]

Without anger or joy.
Without expressing any kind of emotion.

[It's an insect without a brain]

... Up until now, the golden wolf had fought and destroyed many mysteries.

He knew of beasts who boasted a larger body than his.
He knew of beasts who, like him, had been brought to life through folklore and tradition.

However, he didn't know this. He had never before met with an insect as large as a man, not even in his imagination.

The muscles along his back were shaking as if they were about to split in half.
If he moved just a little bit, that thing's legs would surely aim for his neck and strike without pretext nor warning.

The boy could sense that contrary to this hopeless premonition, his opponent would by no means move. This human wouldn't exercise more violence than this. Even thought it was a stone without a living thing's... no, an animal's instincts, it moved according to a human's reasoning.

That contradiction stuck in the wolfman's mind.
Phantom pain assaulted him due to the unidentified fear.
It was as if his heart was being stabbed by small thumbtacks.

'... It... Hu... rts'

The sense of pain that he had kept cut off up until now overflowed into his entire body.
This, too, was a first for him.
To this day he had managed to keep even pain under strict control.
He had never even felt his body shiver before.
... Indeed. This being who had been born perfect, was now thrown into chaos by the absurdity of the human world.

'It hur- It hurts, it hurts, it hurts...!'

His heart had fully recovered. Gasping from the fear-induced phantom pain, the wolfman hugged his quivering body.
Above were human eyes that looked like artificial lenses.
And then, the boy finally understood the reason why he was still alive.

Even if its arms were both broken, his enemy could surely have killed him with just his legs. But he never had. Why? Because he had only acted in retaliation.

It wasn't a counterattack against the wolf who had tried to kill him.
This was simply the natural retribution for the act of wounding the girls.

'..., ..., ...'

The abnormality made his throat cramp up.
His breathing had been disturbed for a while now.
This human had no sense of self. And so he hadn't judged the golden wolf who stood in his way to be a threat against his own person.
That's what it meant to feel neither hatred, fear or even intent to kill.

That's right. Letting the wolfman live was not a decision made by this human's own will.
If his way of fighting was mechanical, then his reasoning was the same.

This creature had simply carried out an equivalent exchange.
If the wolfman had finished off even one of the girls, then surely the outcome would have been different.

'... If had killed them, I would have been killed in return...?'

The answer to his question was obvious.
He felt horror at this possibility that he had never even stopped to consider before.
After all, he had always thought that this rule would never apply to him...!

Pain ran through his body.
No matter what kind of mystery he was, he was no exception to wounds and decay.
The boy had finally realized that obvious truth.
No, he had been forcibly made to realize it.

'... I've been killed... No mistaking it...'

The pain of defeat, the pain of his ruptured heart, and above all, the pain of knowing the incomprehensible.
Pain, pain, pain.

His once perfect world crumbled away.
As it became a thorny bush that consumed his entire body, it severed the central pillar in the boy's mind.

Doubt strong enough to give rise to dizziness.
Ahh, human beings are just far too inexplicable.

'... I've been killed. I've been killed, I've been killed...'

He feared for his own life.
Not able to withstand it any longer, he reverted from a beast back to human form.
... Quietly.
While his body was shivering, as if he was a frightened child in his mother's lap.