Chapter 509 - Wolfman's Demise
Chapter 509 – Wolfman’s Demise
The wolfman clawed towards me aggressively with his metal claws, not stopping for a moment or giving me any opportunity to turn the situation around. I was patient, however, and carefully evaded every single one of his blows, since parrying wouldn't work. I tried it once already, and he was able to overpower my vampiric and angelic strength somehow in this form, so I resorted to simply dodging.
"DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE ALREADY!" The wolfman yelled in fury, having been completely taken over by the bestial side of him. I narrowed my eyes, looking for a way to take advantage of that, but for now, I could only keep evading.
There was something wrong with his psyche in this form. This wasn't like his normal self, that was for sure.
Or perhaps… these were his true colors?
The wolfman—or perhaps at this point just 'wolf'—growled and swung his metal claws at me once more, but this time, I spotted an opening—his throat. There, a tiny red gem was embedded in his otherwise dull navy blue steel armor. It was quite small, and the sheer speed of the wolfman made it impossible to notice it before, but since he jumped directly from my front this time, I was able to get a tiny glimpse at it.
But a tiny glimpse was all I needed.
I rolled backwards, evading the attack, and the wolfman swiped nothing but thin air with his sharp claws. Clearly enraged, it howled once more and followed after me, attempting to pounce on me once more, but this time, I was ready.
Holding my katana up in defense, I waited. The wolfman grinned, thinking he had already won, but little did he know, this was just a bait tactic. He thought I was out of stamina to dodge, and could only attempt to block. He thought he could simply overpower me with brute strength and devour me whole.
But then, I moved my katana slightly—just enough to reveal the gunpoint hiding behind its blade.
"—?!" The wolfman let out a strange gurgle of confusion and surprise, clearly having not expected this. However, it was already too late.
I pulled on the trigger, letting the bullets in the chamber fly. The first missed, thanks to the beast's thrashing, but the second hit its mark, striking the red gemstone and shattering it to pieces.
The beast's body froze momentarily, then rolled over to the side and promptly collapsed without a sound, now shut down for good. The armor on him faded away, revealing his original form, and I shot a couple bullets into his body just to make sure he was dead.
"… Whew."
I rose to my feet and dematerialized my katana and reloaded Ace before placing it back in its holster.
"Looks like my hunch was right. In this form of yours, you are stronger physically and far more durable, but something you would've been able to clearly see coming in your human form will become blinded to you in this form thanks to the bloodthirst that has consumed your heart."
I had taken a wild risk, and it had turned out good for me. The victor of this battle was decide-
"More… I need… more… I can't fall here… not until DAMNED MAGIC HAS BEEN ERASED FROM THIS WORLD!"
A loud battle cry that echoed across the island and made the tides pick up erupted from behind me, and I immediately spun around in utter shock.
"No way… you're still not dead…?!"
"I have to say… thank you, Xuan Kai… you're the first one to make me feel like I've truly lost in a fight, fair and square. You helped me overcome the final lock, the final challenge, of my power, the Ashen Wolf Bloodline. And now… you will face its wrath, as my way of saying thank you. DIE, HUMAN!"
"Uh, weird way of saying thank you, but-!" My sentence was cut short as he leaped at me even faster before, but this time, without the wildness. No… this time, his movements were controlled. Calculated. Dangerous.
This made him more deadly than before. It was as if the physical prowess of his second form and the intelligence and observance of his normal form had combined to create a monster of a fighter, precise and fatal.
"Tch… looks like I'll need to get serious now, huh?" I muttered to myself, narrowing my eyes. It's been quite a while since I last had to really try in a fight. But now… I needed every card I had at my disposal, beginning with this.
Calling upon the Celesticus blood within me drawn from Lin Luo, I forced a pair of wings to appear on my back, black and glowing red. They were, like everything else when it came to me, fused with Chaos energy, and more powerful than the norm. I ascended into the air with then, then called upon the blade of lightning Lin Luo had once used, fused with my Chaos katanas.
"Now then… let's settle this."
The wolfman grinned at my words, signaling that he too felt the same, then leaped up towards me. He could not fly like I could, but his jump height was able to reach me in the air.
Like a dark shadow, the steel-skinned wolfman scraped at me with his sharp claws, but I evaded with my aerial agility and counterattacked, slicing at him with my sword. Unfortunately, it missed, but his dodging opened up another possibility for me.
Grabbing him by the throat, I dove downwards as fast as I could with my wings, using my Chaosborne energy to accelerate. I left behind a trail of red light emanating from the two eyes on each wing as I flew, and smashed the wolfman into the ground as hard as I could.
Still, as iron-skinned as he was (literally), this did minimal damage. He grabbed me by the wrist and flipped me around so that I was now the one on the bottom, and began clobbering at my face.
Or at least, he tried.
From my hand shot a bolt of fire I had prepared before hand, striking the wolfman in the eye and burning it.
"GRAGH!" He growled in pain, loosening his hold on me momentarily, and I took that opportunity to break free from underneath him and rise to the air once more. He, however, was not finished, and despite the black and red fire that had already taken his left eye, he jumped up at me once more dauntlessly and still full of fighting spirit.
I had to give him credit where it was due. But alas, this was his story's conclusion.
I raised my sword up to the sky just like I had once witnessed Lin Luo do, and called upon the lightning of the heavens.
"… You're a warrior, I'll give you that," I said as my attack charged up. "But unfortunately… your journey ends today."
The grey clouds converged over my head, sending the entire island into a dark thunderstorm, as red lightning pulsed around the ash-like clouds. My Chaos blade sparked with energy as the electricity within it called forth the ones in the clouds, and for every second that passed, the wolfman's doom drew nearer.
"DIE…!"
Time seemed to slow down as the wolfman swiped at me with his hand, having reached the required height with one final leap of faith, and I shut my eyes as I aimed the tip of my charged blade towards him. The red, Chaosborne lightning that was above had now been fully channeled into my sword, and nothing, not even his steel armor, could resist this.
This, was the end.
A red surge of lightning shot out of my sword and struck the wolfman head-on, directly in the chest where his heart was. The wound was fatal.
The attack wasn't impressive. Nowhere as grand as Lin Luo's had been. It was but a single, tiny laser that wasn't adequately prepared since this was my first time trying this, but it was enough.
The wolfman froze in mid-air momentarily, before finally falling to the ground. This time, the landing he made was not dull. It carried the weight of a soon-to-be-dead person, never to rise again.
Receding my wings, I landed on the ground beside him, and walked closer before kneeling down beside his fading body.
"… You lost."
"Heh… yeah. I suppose I did."
"I… just have one question," I said after some hesitation, switching to a comfortable sitting position. "… Why?"
"Huh?" He chuckled to the best of his ability, and strangely, despite his dying figure, that chuckle held true happiness. "What do ya mean?"
"I mean… why did you want to do this? You could've simply pretended to be dead after the second phase, and live to fight another day. By that time, you already knew, didn't you? That you couldn't beat me."
My words carried no arrogance. That wasn't my intention at all. I simply wanted to know the answer to my question, and the wolfman knew that too.
"Heh… yeah. I did," he replied.. "I did, but… I just couldn't let go, I suppose."