As everyone reached the conclusion that wondering what the divine tool was thinking and why it was staying put was pointless, they began their operation.
The strategy decided upon was simple: Wanri would drive it from the opposite side of where Shurein and the others were, trapping it in a pincer attack.
It would have been ideal to surround and corner it completely, but that would have significantly increased the chances of it sensing them, and more importantly, they were too few in number.
Even if the divine tool managed to escape the pincer attack, the original wolf’s combat power was no match for Wanri, so they judged that it would be quickly caught.
While this was a somewhat optimistic estimate, given they had no idea how the divine tool would react, even setting aside the wolf, there was nothing they could do about it.
As usual, the plan felt improvised, but seeing as further discussion was futile, they decided to proceed.
Wanri was scheduled to communicate their arrival at the designated position using Divine Power Telepathy.
Both the women and Wanri were already proficient in Divine Power Telepathy, so there was no issue.
Shurein was waiting for Wanri’s communication when she was about to take her second sip of tea and noticed it.
“Elder Sister Shurein, I have arrived at the designated position.”
“Hmm, is that so? Then, let us proceed as planned.”
“Yes.”
After a brief telepathic exchange, Shurein turned her gaze to Silvia and Floria.
“It seems Wanri has reached the designated location.”
“I see. Then, let us proceed as planned as well.”
“Indeed.”
The three exchanged nods and quickly tidied up, then departed from the spot to head toward where the divine tool was believed to be.
***
Wanri, a Nine-tailed Fox, was a being that, under normal circumstances, would be a ruler of a certain domain.
Under normal circumstances, the wolf that the divine tool was using as a means of transportation would be no match for Wanri.
This was true not only for direct combat but also for whether it could escape from Wanri.
One would think escape would be impossible once caught by Wanri, but things changed when the divine tool was involved.
Firstly, since they had no idea what methods the divine tool might employ, Wanri had to proceed cautiously.
However, for this operation, they had decided to reveal Wanri’s presence only after approaching to a certain extent.
This was to ascertain the divine tool’s escape threshold and also to prevent Shurein and the others from being noticed.
Regardless of the divine tool’s criteria, their success in concealing Shurein’s presence seemed to have worked, as the target wolf began to pay attention to Wanri as she approached to a certain distance.
However, even then, judging by its demeanor, it seemed to be treating Wanri as if a normal fox were approaching.
Wanri was currently concealing her true power, so the wolf did not seem to realize Wanri’s full strength.
If it had, it would likely have fled immediately.
Alternatively, the divine tool might have instructed it not to flee.
Regardless of the reason, Wanri was able to approach close enough to launch a full-speed sprint to close the remaining distance.
Upon reaching that point, Wanri charged towards the wolf.
Only then did the wolf realize it was the target and initially growled, preparing to confront Wanri.
However, in the next moment, whether instructed by the divine tool or through its own judgment, it quickly turned and fled.
And, as intended, the direction it fled was towards where Shurein and the others were approaching.
“Shurein!”
“Understood!”
As Floria’s sharp voice rang out, Shurein unleashed a pre-prepared spell at the wolf.
It was a unique Vampire technique designed to restrict the wolf’s movements.
Once the spell hit, the wolf should have been immobilized, and they could simply approach it normally… but it wasn’t that simple.
“What did you say!?”
The moment Shurein cast the spell, the wolf gracefully stepped to the right and evaded the spell’s range.
At this point, casting any more spells would be futile.
“Silvia!”
Shurein clicked her tongue softly and called out Silvia’s name.
Silvia, called by Shurein, unleashed a holy magic, prepared as a secondary plan, towards the wolf.
Unlike Shurein’s spell, this holy magic was not designed to capture its target, but to stop its movement entirely.
Unlike Shurein’s attempt, Silvia’s holy magic did not allow for evasion.
It appeared to have flown directly towards the wolf.
However, in the very next moment they thought the spell had completely connected, a sharp metallic clang echoed, and Silvia’s holy magic was canceled.
A normal wolf was incapable of doing such a thing; it was entirely the divine tool’s ability.
Despite being evaded twice in a row, Shurein and the others did not panic and continued to launch successive attacks to capture the wolf.
They were no longer concerned about the divine tool going berserk.
This was because they had deduced that as long as it didn’t make any drastic movements after Shurein and Silvia’s initial attacks, it would be fine.
As they had predicted, the divine tool did not go berserk; in fact, they could sense its will to escape.
While they didn’t know the divine tool’s purpose for being in this location, they at least understood from these exchanges that it had no intention of randomly going berserk.
Their objective was to capture it alive rather than face the worst-case scenario, which was why they were taking time against a wolf that could normally be defeated with ease.
Finally, as the stalemate was broken and Floria raised her sword for the final attack.
Suddenly, Wanri, who had been approaching, transformed into human form and shouted.
“Elder Sister Floria, no!”
Floria stopping her attack in response to that voice created a perfect opening.
As if waiting for that opening, the magatama divine tool clinging to the wolf’s neck suddenly emitted a bright light.
Naturally, as they were in the midst of battle, all eyes were focused on the wolf.
As a result, all of them were affected by the light.
When their vision finally recovered and they looked around, the wolf had already vanished.
“Sorry.”
As soon as the wolf’s disappearance was confirmed, Wanri bowed her head towards the three.
Silvia shook her head from side to side at Wanri.
“It’s alright. You must have had a reason, right?”
“Yes… but.”
“Don’t worry about it. We’ll hear the reason properly later. Escaping was, after all, a matter of outcome.”
Everyone present knew that Floria’s actions had been stopped for a good reason.
It was rare for Wanri to shout like that.
Judging by Wanri’s current demeanor, it was clear she had not done it to allow the wolf to escape.
“That speed of escape was truly remarkable. Even without Wanri’s intervention, it would have escaped at some point.”
Shurein looked towards the direction the wolf had fled with a look of exasperation.
Indeed, the attack (or perhaps it was an ability) utilizing that light was timed with incredible precision.
Even if Kouhi or Mitsuki had been present, the outcome would probably not have changed much.
However, if either of them had been there, it was more likely that they would have captured it in an instant.
Unfortunately, neither of them were present, so there was no point in dwelling on it.
Ultimately, this second capture operation also ended in failure, but a significant discovery was made, which became clear only after Wanri returned to the management layer and submitted a report.
The second attempt was also a failure.
However, Wanri noticed something. This will be continued in the next part.
