The gates of the Luminant Spire opened slowly behind Kael Drazin.
Cold wind rushed into the chamber immediately, carrying the smell of rain, smoke, blood, and burning metal. Outside, Granule no longer looked like the city the students had walked through earlier that day. Streets were flooded crimson beneath the lantern light, shattered glass covered the roads, and parts of entire buildings had collapsed into the waterlogged streets.
Beyond the ruined district, hundreds of glowing eyes moved through the storm.
The wolf howlings had gathered.
Some crawled low through the flooded streets while others climbed walls and broken rooftops with disturbing speed. Their distorted bodies twitched unnaturally beneath the red rain, and every few seconds another howl echoed through the city.
Far beyond them stood the Wolf King.
Even from this distance its silhouette towered over the surrounding skyscrapers, black wings partially spread beneath the bleeding moon while electricity crawled violently across its body.
Kael stepped forward alone.
Behind him, Cassian stood near the entrance of the Spire alongside several exhausted soldiers holding rifles with trembling hands.
"You're really going alone?" one soldier asked quietly.
Cassian kept watching Kael. "If all of us go, we die faster."
The soldier swallowed hard.
Kael continued walking through the flooded streets.
The howlings noticed him almost immediately.
Several of them began snarling, their glowing eyes locking onto him as they slowly spread outward through the roads like predators surrounding prey.
Kael stopped.
The rain hammered against his coat while the wind tore through the ruined city around him.
Then the street beneath his feet cracked.
A low vibration spread outward through the ground, subtle at first, but strong enough that nearby puddles began trembling violently.
Thin red lines slowly appeared beneath the skin of his arms.
"Phase One," Cassian muttered quietly.
Strength enhancement.
The most basic state of Nuclear Ichor.
But in Kael's hands, even the first phase was enough to kill.
The nearest wolf howling suddenly lunged toward him.
Its claws tore through the air aiming directly for his throat—
Kael struck first.
His fist collided with the creature's skull hard enough to crush the upper half of its face instantly. Bone fragments and black blood sprayed through the rain as the body flew backward into a nearby wall.
But the creature twitched.
Its limbs spasmed against the flooded ground as it tried forcing itself back up.
Cassian narrowed his eyes.
"The heart…"
Kael already knew.
Destroying the brain wasn't enough for howlings.
The heart was the real core.
And stronger howlings possessed more than one.
The creature let out a broken growl and tried crawling forward again.
Kael walked toward it calmly.
Then he drove his foot directly through its chest.
A sickening crunch echoed through the street as the creature's ribcage collapsed inward. Kael twisted slightly before pulling his leg free.
The howling finally stopped moving.
Its heart had been destroyed.
More creatures rushed him immediately after.
Three lunged from different directions at once.
Kael moved forward instead of retreating.
His elbow smashed into the first creature's chest hard enough to cave it inward completely. Before the body even hit the ground, Kael grabbed the second howling by the jaw and slammed it face-first into the flooded pavement.
The road cracked beneath the impact.
The creature screeched violently, still alive.
Kael's fist came down again—
straight into its chest.
The impact burst through its back, fragments of its shattered heart scattering across the water.
Dead.
The third howling reached him from behind.
It bit into his shoulder.
Kael didn't even flinch.
He grabbed the creature by the throat and punched directly through its ribcage with enough force that his arm emerged from the other side.
The creature convulsed briefly before collapsing.
More howlings flooded into the streets.
Ten.
Twenty.
Then dozens.
Their howls blended together beneath the storm until the entire city sounded alive.
Kael exhaled slowly.
The glow beneath his skin intensified.
Rainwater exploded outward around his feet.
"Phase Two…" Cassian whispered.
Damage amplification.
Every strike now carried one and a half times its original force.
The next howling barely touched the ground before Kael punched through its torso completely.
Another lost its entire upper body from a direct hit.
One creature tried lunging from above—
Kael caught it midair and slammed his fist into its chest.
The shockwave ruptured the creature's heart instantly before launching the corpse through a storefront window.
But the howlings kept coming.
Because they weren't mindless.
The smaller ones were testing him.
Waiting.
Kael could feel it.
Far away, the Wolf King still hadn't moved.
It was watching him.
Judging him.
The cracks beneath Kael's feet widened further.
Then Lunar Ichor surged violently through his body.
The red glow spread across his neck and shoulders as pressure rolled outward through the street.
"Third Phase…"
Cassian felt the air itself grow heavier.
This stage increased the total amount of Lunar Ichor generated inside the body. Most users destroyed themselves attempting it for too long.
Kael stepped forward.
The flooded road shattered beneath him.
He crossed nearly twenty meters instantly and drove his fist into a howling's chest with enough force to implode the creature inward before launching the remains through two separate walls.
Another creature charged him from the side.
Kael grabbed its arm, twisted violently, and tore it completely off before driving his knee through the creature's chest cavity.
Heart destroyed.
Dead.
A larger howling rushed him next, nearly twice the size of the others, with two glowing pulses visible beneath its ribcage.
Class II.
Dual Core.
Kael immediately recognized it.
The creature roared and slammed both claws downward.
Kael caught the attack with one arm.
The street beneath him collapsed slightly from the force.
Then he punched the creature directly in the chest.
Once.
The first heart ruptured.
But the creature stayed alive.
It lunged again immediately despite half its chest being destroyed.
Kael's eyes narrowed slightly.
Then he struck again.
Second heart destroyed.
The creature dropped lifelessly into the flooded street.
Cassian watched silently from the Spire.
"That's the problem…" one soldier muttered beside him. "Even when you hurt them, they keep moving."
Because unless the hearts were destroyed, howlings did not stop.
And stronger howlings possessed more.
The battlefield became worse by the minute.
Bodies littered the streets while the rain carried blood through the cracks in the city. Buildings shook from repeated impacts as Kael tore through the growing swarm.
Then—
his body relaxed slightly.
The violent flow of Nuclear Ichor stabilized.
"Phase Four…"
Flow State.
At this level, Kael's control became nearly perfect. Every movement connected seamlessly into the next, and every attack gained another 1.5 multiplier through optimized Lunar Ichor circulation.
Kael disappeared.
The stone beneath him exploded from acceleration alone.
The first row of howlings died before the others realized he had moved.
One creature's chest collapsed inward from a single punch.
Another lost both hearts instantly when Kael drove his fist through its torso.
A third had its spine shattered before Kael crushed its core beneath his heel.
He moved through them like a force of nature.
No wasted movement.
No hesitation.
Every strike aimed for the hearts.
Every kill deliberate.
The wolf howlings finally began retreating slightly.
Instinct.
Fear.
Then black Lunar Ichor started gathering around Kael's hands.
Cassian's eyes widened immediately.
"Fifth Phase…"
The gloves formed slowly, layers of compressed Lunar Ichor hardening around Kael's fists until both hands were fully covered in dark armored gauntlets.
The pressure in the city changed instantly.
Windows shattered nearby.
Rain shifted direction from the force radiating off the gloves.
The howlings froze.
Kael clenched one fist.
The air cracked sharply around him.
Then he moved.
His first punch struck a charging howling directly in the chest.
The creature exploded apart instantly.
Not torn apart.
Not thrown.
Its ribcage collapsed inward so violently that both hearts ruptured at the same time before the remaining force launched the corpse through multiple buildings.
The shockwave behind the attack blasted several smaller howlings off their feet.
Kael slammed another punch downward into the flooded street.
The impact detonated through the ground.
Stone erupted upward.
Several howlings were launched into the air while others had their bodies crushed by the force traveling beneath them.
Even the Wolf King reacted now.
Far in the distance, the giant creature slowly rose from the ruined skyscraper.
Electricity burst outward across its massive wings.
The smaller howlings immediately regrouped beneath it.
An army gathering behind its king.
Kael stared directly at it through the storm.
The Wolf King stared back.
Rain poured between them while dead howlings filled the streets of Granule.
Behind Kael, Cassian stepped closer to the edge of the battlefield.
"Sir…"
Kael didn't look away from the massive creature ahead.
"Get the ships moving."
Cassian hesitated briefly. "And you?"
Kael tightened the Nuclear Gloves around his fists.
"I'll kill the king."
The Wolf King roared.
And the ruined city trembled beneath the bleeding moon.