Chapter 478: Lycanthrope
Kim hadn’t been sure what Elwin was up to, but she didn’t see a reason to stop him. However, now she couldn’t help but grin at getting Harold to give them a target to protect first. One that he’d be likely to go for first.
Although, she couldn’t help but wonder if by having asked Harold that, that it gave him time to seriously consider how best to beat them. Otherwise, she had a feeling he’d have attacked whoever was closest first. Which would have at least gotten the fight to end that much sooner since they wouldn’t have had to deal with more talking when the fight had already been determined to be unavoidable. Then there was the fact that giving Harold a chance to think about who to go after first allowed him to apply some strategy in the fight rather than using brute force. Which was what Kim had the sense was what he was used to doing.
However, that was a moot point now. It wasn’t like she could have gone back in time to explain this to Elwin. At least with her current knowledge. A stray thought teased her about how there probably was a book on that very subject in the library. She’d just need to get a book with which to trade for it. Not that she’d likely ever return to that library. Not with how close they were to reaching the end of this competition.
"Just to warn you, I don’t plan on dying on this world here," Kim informed Harold, who merely blinked at her, looking rather incredulous. As if her assertion was something he couldn’t have fathomed her saying.
"You really don’t have a choice anymore," Harold merely replied, his voice strained as he continued his transformation.
His body rippled, each limb thickening as if watching a time-lapse video of a creature growing from a newborn to an adult. Each second feeling like it was a few years of growth that Kim could see. Harold’s clothing, however, didn’t find it as fascinating as it tore to shreds, much like when the Hulk would transform and his shirt would tear apart.
On top of that, Harold’s skin grew a fur that almost looked like armor and Kim wouldn’t be surprised if it helped reduce the damage he’d take from any of their blows. Not because she expected it to be the case, but rather because she felt that it’d be more par for the course at this point than anything else right then.
Harold’s fur had the typical orange and black of a regular tiger, though Kim idly thought the shade of orange was more of a pumpkin orange than an outright orange. It didn’t change anything about what was happening, but it did make Kim wonder if all that had happened to them in this world was slowing her mind down, as she couldn’t imagine that she’d have ever had that sort of thought in the past.
It might not be this world, but she certainly wasn’t going to discount the possibility, as it was the primary target she could think of right then. She didn’t plan on letting this world be her final resting place, but she couldn’t discount the possibility that she might not make it here. That she’d be unable to beat Harold or something else before the competition was over. However, until that happened, she didn’t plan on letting this become her grave without her giving her all in the endeavor of survival.
Kim drew her sword as she could see Harold’s fingernails turn into claws that were at least an inch long. She wasn’t going to try and come up with an exact measurement because she knew those claws were rather intimidating themselves and if she got an exact measurement, she might find her own resolve to win this fight start to fail.