Fighting a White Wolf

Ian was rather skeptical of Cien's belief in the existence of Fenrir in the lake.

Perhaps it was because he was afraid, as he grew up hearing about the mythical creature since he was a child.

Even though he was afraid, in his mind, Ian tried to convince himself that Fenrir was nothing more than a myth.

Even if it were real, Fenrir should have died centuries ago. Ian refused to entertain the idea that the monster could still be alive after all these years.

"Father..."

Kirana whispered, cautioning her father immediately.

Cien understood, as he himself had heightened his sense of the surrounding area.

Cien signaled the people around him to stay quiet and calm, while he reactivated the stealth skill on his cloak.

Kirana and Cien felt a presence drawing closer.

It didn't take long for a giant wolf to emerge at the spot where they stood before.

The wolf had fur as white as snow, and its eyes were as beautiful as sapphire. Its long fur swayed gracefully in the wind as it took step after step.

The wolf seemed to be sniffing the air around, not finding anything substantial, but it noticed fresh human footprints. It looked in the direction where the footprints led.

'Damn!'

Cien cursed inwardly. From the wolf's demeanor, he realized that it was no ordinary monster. It possessed a rather high level of intellect.

The wolf walked slowly, following the trail of footprints. It showed no signs of annoyance, anger, or vigilance. Only tranquility and unwavering confidence.

Cien glanced to his side, noticing three people beside him shivering. Even Kirana seemed to tremble, though not as severely as Ian and Legia.

The wolf then came to a halt, wrinkling its brow after seeing the tracks vanish into thin air. Kirana had erased their previous footprints near them using magic.

The wolf proceeded to survey its surroundings. It couldn't sense anyone nearby, but its instincts told it that those who had entered its territory were still close.

Reluctant to deal with the hassle, the wolf stomped its foot on the ground, instantly conjuring a large, light blue magic circle.

Hundreds of ice spears shot up from the ground, attacking an area fifty meters ahead of it.

Brar! Brar! Brar!

Cien and his companions simultaneously leaped onto trees to avoid the indiscriminate onslaught. However, in their panic, they jumped to different locations, inadvertently separating them from Cien's stealth zone.

<Found you!>

""!!!""

Apart from Cien, the other three people immediately heard the resonant and authoritative voice of an old man in their minds.

They all turned their attention to the giant white wolf that now gazed calmly at them.

Seconds later, another magic circle appeared beside the wolf. A pillar of ice shot swiftly toward Ian.

"!"

BAM!

Ian immediately shielded himself with the Blackferno's side. However, he couldn't contain the power of the ice pillar, causing him to be flung far away and knocking down several trees in its path.

Legia was stunned.

"Legia! Be careful, it's Jack!"

Kirana shouted, snapping Legia out of her surprise.

A monster with enough intellect to speak like a human was only possible for monsters ranked as Jack or higher.

This meant that the wolf was on par with a Champion or a Demon General.

Magic circles reappeared around the wolf, this time around ten of them. They all produced ice pillars, attacking Legia and Kirana.

Legia had some difficulty evading the attacks. She activated [Speed Amplification] and used her spear to maneuver among the trees.

On the other hand, Kirana easily dodged five pillars that came at her. In fact, she utilized one of the pillars and ran on it to approach the wolf.

"[Ice Arrow]."

Kirana activated three magic circles simultaneously, and ice arrows appeared then shot towards the wolf.

Unfortunately, her efforts were in vain as the three arrows shattered like glass about a meter away from reaching the enemy.

<Using ice against me. You dare, human!>

The wolf responded, countering with even more and larger ice arrows. But Kirana effortlessly deflected dozens of them with her rapier.

Kirana closed in, attacking the wolf with her rapier infused with various ice and water magic spells.

Swoosh! Clank! Swoosh!

Kirana and the wolf clashed swords and claws. The wolf still appeared relaxed, effortlessly countering Kirana's attacks and easily shattering her strikes with the strength of its legs.

TANG!

Kirana felt her body tremble, causing her reaction to be slightly delayed. She saw a spear of ice hurtling towards her head.

"Father!"

"[Burn]."

A single arrow instantly appeared, piercing the ice spear and incinerating it completely.

The white wolf was taken aback. It hadn't sensed the presence of the arrow nor noticed its origin. It then glanced at the human girl before it, who had now moved away.

Shoot! Shoot!

Two arrows suddenly materialized. The wolf disregarded the arrows, deeming them not a threat. Or so it thought, but...

"[Explode]!"

BOOM!

Before the arrows reached the wolf, they unexpectedly exploded with considerable force, not just once, but twice. The ground in the area shook from the impact.

<Rrrraaa! How dare you!>

The wolf roared in anger.

The wolf dispelled all the explosion smoke with a gust of wind, then scanned its surroundings, searching for the figure that shot the arrows. Unaware that two women were now close to it.

Kirana used a high-level magic spell, summoning an ice dragon that attacked the wolf.

At the same time, she approached and thrust her rapier, infused with ice magic, into the wolf's leg, freezing it down to the bone.

The wolf struggled to deal with Kirana's attacks, leaving it unable to retaliate against Legia, who was on its back, slashing its skin with Crimsonagin and absorbing the monster's blood.

Furious, the wolf created a shockwave around its body, throwing Kirana and Legia away. It then focused on attacking Kirana, whom it considered the most dangerous.

But every time it attacked, an arrow would intercept its movements.

<You coward! [Frozen Forest]!>

This time, thousands of sharp-tipped ice pillars simultaneously struck the area where Cien was standing. The pillars were so dreadful that to Cien, it felt like being in a forest of icy thorns.

Braaaarrr!

"Father!"

<Now it's your turn!>

The wolf attacked again with an ice spell, this time forming a giant spear. Kirana recognized it as a high-level magic spell.

"[Spear of Apocalypse]."

Shoot!

However, before the wolf could launch its spear towards Kirana, a fiery arrow, flying like a bird enveloped in flames, struck it again, disrupting the incantation the wolf was preparing.

The wolf roared in pain. This time, Cien's flaming arrow could be considered equivalent to a Rank 9 attack, so even with its Rank Jack strength, Cien's attack still hurt him.

<You're still alive?>

Overcoming the flames that burned its body, the wolf snarled at Cien whose location was still unknown.

Stab!

This momentary distraction allowed Legia to stab one of the wolf's legs and drain some of its blood, causing the leg to weaken.

<Gah! You despicable human!>

Meanwhile, Cien, who had hidden in the shadows and survived, emerged from hiding, still employing [Stealth].

He then ran while shooting arrows at the wolf, who was currently busy dealing with Kirana and Legia.

Cien alternated between regular arrows and magic-infused arrows, causing the enemy to be somewhat disoriented as it had to defend against the arrows and two women in front of it.

<Tch! These arrows are annoying!>

The wolf unleashed another shockwave, sending Kirana and Legia flying temporarily. Then, it glanced at the arrows continuously appearing from various directions.

'He's fast and undetectable.'

The wolf grew increasingly frustrated with Cien's tactics. It couldn't pinpoint the exact location of its arrow-wielding foe; it could only hear the footsteps in the snow, but that proved useless.

Eventually, it found itself facing the two women again.

But suddenly, four arrows suddenly appeared, each one piercing a different side of the wolf—front, back, right, and left.

The wolf was stunned and wondering about the arrow-wielding enemy's strategy.

But seconds later, from the arrows lodged in its body, magic circles appeared, and a thick wall of earth instantly grew, enclosing the wolf within it.

"!"

The wolf looked up at the sky, seeing the two women now positioned above.

Legia, with the accumulated blood on Crimsonagin, began forming a blood spear and hurled it towards the trapped wolf.

"[Blood Spear]."

The spear struck the wolf's back, inflicting a severe wound and further enraging the monster. But before it could break free from the encasing wall, it noticed the other woman conjuring a massive slash of fire.

Kirana, wielding the Fire Sword, utilized all the power from the Mana Cores on its hilt, unleashing a Rank 10 attack.

"[Maximum Fire Slash]!"

Swooosh!

The wolf's fury intensified.

<Damn you!!!>

BAMMMMM!

The fire attack successfully shook the area once more, destroying everything it touched, including Cien's earthen wall and leaving a large scorch mark on the ground.

Kirana and Legia backed away and readied themselves. Meanwhile, unnoticed by anyone, Cien approached closer to where the giant wolf lay.

When the tremors subsided and the smoke and dust cleared, they saw the massive wolf now covered in blood.

Its earlier grace seemed to have disappeared, replaced by a terrifyingly twisted and enraged expression.

Kirana could sense that her opponent was far from defeated. Her strongest attack had failed.

She now had to prepare and wait for her father to act. But before that, the man who had been forgotten since the beginning of the battle reappeared.

"[Magma Zone]."

Ian shouted, his mouth filled with fresh blood. He activated a skill on his sword, turning the battlefield into a land filled with turbulent magma.

Kirana and Legia moved further away and climbed up trees, while the wolf writhed in pain as its legs started to melt.

"Haa... haa... you damned mutt! Now it's my turn! I'll turn you into a grilled dog!"