Chapter 44: So… you finally got serious?

In the southern part of the city of Arkham, rain fell violently on the bloodstained ground, and the constant roar of the storm drowned out screams.

Alaric floated in the air in his immaculate white robe… completely dry, as if the weather dared not touch him. From that height, he watched the knights trying to hold back the tide of silver trolls, whose massive bodies advanced relentlessly. However, their leader still did not move.

As a third-circle wind mage, Alaric could face a rank IV monster on relatively equal terms. Victory would not be assured, but he would be able to hold it off long enough.

That was enough.

He glanced toward a side alley and narrowed his eyes coldly. He muttered a few barely audible words, and his figure moved like an invisible gust of wind.

In a matter of seconds, he appeared in front of a group of hooded figures running through the streets, taking advantage of the chaos.

So the young master was right… There had been infiltrators from the beginning.

He raised his hand.

A magic circle unfolded in front of him, spinning delicately in the rain.

“[Wind blades].”

The invisible blades cut through the raindrops with lethal precision. The hooded men had no time to react; their bodies were cleanly severed before they could comprehend what had happened.

Alaric descended slowly.

The rain washed blood and fragments of flesh across the cobblestones. He approached one of the men who was still breathing heavily, his torso split open by the cut.

The hooded man tried to speak.

Alaric placed his foot on his chest, pressing down slowly.

“Who sent you?”

The hooded man opened his mouth, but Alaric sensed the fluctuation of mana in the air and quickly muttered:

“[Hammer of Vieto]”

An invisible hammer quickly struck the hooded man’s head.

The impact was grotesque.

A wet crack echoed down the street as the hammer crushed the infiltrator’s skull like ripe fruit. Blood and brain matter splattered, but did not stain his robe; it was stopped by an invisible wall that remained stained bright red.

Teeth and bone fragments flew against the walls, sticking with a viscous sound before sliding to the floor.

There was a moment of silence before the sound of rain echoed in his ears. Alaric looked at the corpse with cold eyes, without a trace of remorse.

Alaric let out a long sigh before returning to the area where the knights were fighting the rank I and II trolls.

When he reached the battlefield, he raised his hand.

The air rippled.

Several complex, shining magic circles began to form in the gray sky, overlapping one another. Their lines glowed for an instant…

And then, hundreds of invisible blades descended like sharp rain.

The silver trolls were pierced from all angles; flesh and stone were torn apart under the spell, shredding them as if they were weeds pulled up mercilessly.

The knights took advantage of the sudden respite.

But it was only a moment.

“ROOOOAAAHH!”

The thunderous roar of the Silver Troll of rank IV shook the area. The ground vibrated beneath their feet, and several soldiers involuntarily recoiled.

The creature emerged from among the remains of its subordinates, its enormous body covered in scars, its eyes bloodshot with rage.

Alaric stepped forward.

He stood between the monster and the knights, not looking away.

“I will fight that creature. Do not let any more beasts dare to take the lives of citizens.”

Mana began to swirl around him.

And the Rank IV responded by raising his enormous stone mace.

…

With the rain beating down hard on his silver armor, Adam stood motionless, waiting for the big silver wolf to make its first move.

And it didn’t keep him waiting.

His mana perception flinched for a moment before the attack. Adam barely turned his head and saw the huge claw descending toward him.

At the last second, he dropped his body backward, surrendering to gravity. The claw grazed him with a violent roar. With his free hand, he pushed himself off the ground and quickly stood up.

Without wasting any time, he directed more mana into the blade of Repentance. The sword vibrated, becoming denser, heavier in intent.

He attacked.

The blow cut through the air.

The monster had already moved.

An electric crackle echoed to his left.

Adam moved immediately, running toward one of the destroyed houses. He jumped through one of the broken windows and came out the other side, closing the distance with the wolf just as it bared its fangs in the rain.

CLANG!

The clash of steel against claws echoed throughout the area before being swallowed up by the roar of the storm.

Adam was thrown back and fell heavily to the ground, creating a small crater beneath his body. The impact shook his bones… but he didn’t stop.

He lunged forward again as the Mana Dharma Wheel spun behind him, absorbing mana from the environment.

The great silver wolf did not retreat.

His claws and fangs tore through the air with brutal speed, seeking to tear him apart in a single exchange.

Adam saw the attack coming.

He gripped the hilt of his sword so tightly that the iron gauntlet dented slightly under the pressure.

Just as the claws were about to reach him, he took a small sideways leap, deflecting their trajectory.

The monster’s enormous paw passed beneath him.

And then he acted.

He drove the tip of his sword into the wolf’s flesh and, using his own downward momentum, slid the blade upward like a ruthless saw.

The flesh split open.

The great silver wolf’s leg was almost completely severed.

The beast roared.

Adam tried to take advantage of that moment of vulnerability. But he had barely taken a step forward…

His world turned white, and his body shot backward like an arrow.

CRASH!

He smashed through the wall of one of the destroyed houses, the stone exploding under the impact. The structure collapsed as his back sank into the rubble.

The air left his lungs.

For a second, he couldn’t breathe.

With his free hand, he braced himself against the ground and forced himself to get up from among the remains of wood and stone. Rain poured in through the gaping hole in the wall.

From beneath his helmet, blood began to drip… then run in thin red threads, mixing with the water.

He looked down.

The armor on his chest was caved in.

He hadn’t seen the moment of impact, and his mana perception hadn’t reacted.

That meant only one thing.

The great silver wolf… had become faster.

Adam inhaled with difficulty.

Pain shot through his chest.

Several ribs were broken. He could feel one of them scraping against something every time he breathed.

And then…

He smiled.

A broad smile.

Sincere.

Manic.

“So… you finally got serious?”

The rain fell harder.

In the distance, through the gray curtain, the great silver wolf stood on three legs.

But something had changed.

His fur was no longer simply silver; it was crimson.

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