(Arin's POV)
The frozen forest suddenly felt devoid of air. Not because the oxygen was literally gone, but because of the existential pressure from the single creature standing there. Its presence sucked all the attention and courage out of the living beings around it.
The Sigma Direwolf.
It merely stood atop a snow mound, staring at us with red eyes radiating cold intelligence, arrogance, and a terrifying sense of boredom. Its metallic silver fur gleamed statically under the faint moonlight, as if every strand were coursing with high-voltage electricity ready to explode at any moment.
Behind me, I could hear the sound of chattering teeth. It was Erika. The mage girl trembled so violently that her magic staff clacked against her cloak buttons. Kars's breathing sounded hitched and ragged, as if his lungs had forgotten how to draw in air. Even Rose, the sword genius usually always ready to fight with a dismissive smile, lowered the tip of her Rapier slightly this time. Her posture was stiff, intimidated by this dense and suffocating Pseudo-Tier 4 aura.
Primal human instinct screamed one absolute command in their heads. Run. Do not look back. Run.
But me?
Inside my chest cavity, that crazily modified mechanical heart, the Piston Heart, beat to a different rhythm.
Thump... Thump... Thump...
This was the curiosity of a scientist looking at a beautiful and deadly biological anomaly. My eyes, sharpened by the serum, scanned the monster's muscle structure. The enlarged hind thighs, the broad chest, and the neck protected by thick fur. It was a perfect biological killing machine.
"You all stay here," I ordered without turning. My voice was calm and flat, in stark contrast to the thunder raging in my chest. "No one makes a careless move. Do not provoke it, do not run. Let me measure its depth."
"Arin! Do not be stupid!" cried Elena. Her voice rose an octave in panic. "That is not a slow Golem you can play with! Its speed..."
WHOOSH!
Elena's words were forcibly cut off by a sudden blast of wind.
The wolf disappeared from the naked eye's view.
No, it did not disappear. It moved with pure acceleration. The thigh muscles of that two-ton monster contracted with an illogical explosive force, launching its massive body past the threshold of human vision in a fraction of a second.
BOOM!
The spot where it had just stood exploded. Snow, frozen earth, and rocks were thrown into the air, creating a crater two meters wide just from the push of its legs.
My eyes could not see it. Its speed had entered the subsonic realm. But my body, modified by the Grizzly serum and tortured by Brook's random gravity for a full week, reacted before my brain caught on.
Wind.
The air pressure in front of me split. There was unnatural turbulence. My instinct screamed, FRONT!
I did not wait for its shadow to appear. That would be too late. My finger pressed the hidden button on my right glove with a reflex trained thousands of times.
Feather-Touch: 0% Weight.
The gravity circuit ignited. The law of inertia on the Adamantium sword in my hand was erased instantly. The heaviest and densest metal in the world now felt as light as light itself, as if I were holding only an empty hilt.
"Slash!"
I swung the sword horizontally into the empty space in front of me.
Because it had no mass, my speed surpassed normal physical limits. My sword blade shot out creating a Supersonic Slash, cleaving the air with a high-pitched shriek painful to the ears.
Right as my sword blade reached the midpoint of the swing, reality caught up.
A giant silver claw emerged from nothingness, only five centimeters away from my neck. Sigma intended to decapitate me in one clean motion without giving me a chance to blink.
However, it miscalculated. My sword was already there. Blocking its trajectory.
At the second of contact, my eyes widened. This was the crucial moment. If I blocked a two-ton monster's attack with a zero-weight sword, I would be blown away like cotton.
Feather-Touch: OFF. Mass Return: 100% + Torque.
The original weight of the Adamantium sword returned in the blink of an eye. Three kilograms of solid metal multiplied by the supersonic speed of my swing created a terrifying kinetic momentum.
CLANGGG!!!
The sound was not like clashing metal. It was a sound like a giant bell shattering after being struck by a sledgehammer. A shockwave swept the snow around us in a ten-meter radius, blowing away my friends' cloaks behind me.
My sword met its claw. Sparks spurted out.
However, Newton's Laws were cruel and absolute.
Even though my sword possessed deadly momentum, Sigma's body mass was equivalent to a young Wyvern speeding at a hundred kilometers per hour.
I was not cut. My sword did not break. But I lost completely in the clash of inertia.
"Ugh!"
The repulsive force traveled from the sword to my arm, then to my entire skeleton.
My body shot backward like an out-of-control cannonball. My feet lifted off the ground. I flew for twenty meters, passing over the gaping heads of my friends, then smashed into a giant pine tree trunk behind our defense line.
CRASH!
The tree, one meter in diameter, snapped in two instantly, falling with a terrifying rumbling sound, crashing into the snow with a heavy thud. I was buried beneath the wooden debris, pine needles, and cold snow.
"Arin!" Erika screamed hysterically. Her voice was full of terror.
"Defensive formation! Do not break!" shouted Kars, though his own voice trembled.
Silence fell for a moment in that pile of wood.
Pain.
My entire body felt crushed.
Quick diagnosis. Ribs number four, five, and six cracked. Right humerus bone hairline fractured. Right lung severely bruised. Diaphragm spasming.
Fresh blood dripped from the corner of my lips; it tasted salty and warm. My breathing was heavy; every inhale felt like stabbing a knife into my chest.
But inside my blood, the Grizzly Serum was rampaging.
The microscopic green substance worked like an emergency repair squad. My cells divided at a crazy speed, knitting back the bone cracks, plugging internal bleeding, and flooding my nervous system with natural painkillers.
I pushed the tree trunk pinning me down. The large wood shifted easily. I staggered to my feet, brushing wood splinters from my shoulder.
I spat blood to the side, then grinned widely. This pain, this was proof that I was still alive. And proof that the monster up ahead was a real challenge. My experiment on my own body worked; I could take a hit from this monster without dying instantly.
"Good..." I muttered while staring at Sigma who landed smoothly without the slightest scratch where I had stood earlier. "This creature is much stronger than the Silver Golem. This is what you call a monster."
Sigma tilted its head, looking at me with a bit of wonder. Perhaps it was surprised that the fly it just swatted didn't turn into meat mush, but got back up as if it only tripped over a pebble.
Seeing me blown away, panic struck the backline team. Their logic crumbled seeing the monster's strength. But for Erika, her fear turned into protective aggression.
"Keep your claws away from him!" shouted Erika.
She raised her magic staff. The tip of the staff shone bright blue, vibrating due to mana overload. She didn't care about her own safety. She only wanted to destroy whatever hurt me.
"Erika, wait!" I shouted, but it was too late.
"Modified First Circle Magic: Mana Bullet - Multicast!"
Du-du-du-du-du!
Erika did not hold back. She fired twenty mana bullets in one second. The barrage of blue energy projectiles launched fiercely like a meteor shower, targeting Sigma's face with anger-guided accuracy.
At the same time, Elena also moved. As an ice magic genius, her reaction was fast.
"Ice Javelin!"
An ice spear as thick as a human arm formed in the air, spinning at high speed, aiming for the wolf's right eye with deadly accuracy.
Two long-range attacks. Fast, deadly, and coordinated.
However, Sigma did not dodge. The wolf merely shook its fur.
Its silver fur stood on end, vibrating with a strange humming frequency.
Ting! Ping! Ping!
Horror unfolded before our eyes.
Erika's mana bullets did not explode upon contact. When they touched that silver fur, the bullets bounced wildly like rubber balls thrown at a steel wall.
Boom! Boom!
The ricocheting mana bullets hit the ground, rocks, and trees around Sigma, destroying everything except the wolf itself. One of the ricochets even destroyed the rock Erika was using for cover.
And Elena's ice spear...
Clang!
The spear struck Sigma's forehead. Unfortunately, the spear reversed direction one hundred eighty degrees at double the speed, shooting back toward its sender.
"Rose! Look out!" shouted Kars.
The ice spear did not aim for Elena, but bounced wildly toward Rose who was preparing to attack from the left side.
Rose's eyes widened. Her reflexes as a speedster saved her. She performed an acrobatic somersault in the air.
Whoosh!
The ice spear passed one inch below her neck, cutting the tips of her red hair before embedding deeply into a tree trunk behind her and coming out the other side.
Rose landed with a pale face. She touched her neck, making sure her head was still there.
"What the hell is that?!" shouted Rose. "Magic doesn't work?! It has Magic Immunity?!"
I stared at the silver fur with narrowed eyes. My analysis ran fast. No, it was not ordinary immunity.
"That is not just hard skin," I shouted a warning while running back to the formation. "That is Mana Mirror Alloy! Every strand of its fur is coated with mana metal acting as a magic mirror! It is not just strong; it is the antithesis to all mages! Do not use magic projectile attacks anymore! That is suicide! You will only kill your own friends!"
No wonder it was cast out of the pack. This wolf was a nightmare for mages. And a beautiful dream for me. Anti-magic armor material, I thought greedily.
The wolf, now realizing that magic was ineffective against it, shifted its attention. Its red eyes no longer looked at me far away. It looked at Erika who was wide open because she had just fired.
Mages were the softest targets.
Grrr!
Its leg muscles tensed again. It lunged. This time the target was the artillery.
"Erika!" I shouted. My distance was too far to arrive in time.
But there was one person standing between the monster and Erika.
Kars Benzzi.
Kars's legs trembled. His face was deathly pale. He looked at the monster that had just thrown Arin like a doll and bounced magic like a toy.
But he remembered Celia's words. Prove you have fangs. He remembered Leric's insults. He remembered his promise to be a protector, not a hiding coward.
"Hold..." whispered Kars to himself.
Kars did not run. He stepped forward, assuming the Iron Fortress stance. He held the Black Mace given by Celia with both hands.
"Do not touch our mage!" roared Kars. His shout was not a shout of courage, but a shout of fear forced into strength.
He did not block from the front; that was suicide. He saw Sigma's running path.
Kars activated full Senior Aura. His body shone golden yellow. He jumped slightly to the side, then slammed his mace not into the wolf's body, but into the ground in front of Sigma's running path.
Skill: Earth Shock.
Boom!
The ground in front of Sigma caved in and cracked. The earth shockwave made the monster's front footing falter for a fraction of a second. Its front leg slipped into the makeshift hole. Its running momentum was ruined. Its massive body wobbled forward.
"Now!" shouted Kars.
Taking advantage of that wobbly moment, Kars did not hit. He turned his entire body into a bullet.
Body Check!
Thud!
Kars's steel armor-clad shoulder hit Sigma's ribs with a horrific sound of impact.
"Ugh!" Kars vomited blood behind his helmet. It felt like crashing into a fortress wall. His shoulder bone must be cracked. But...
Sigma was shifted.
The two-ton monster was pushed one meter to the side. The momentum of its lunge toward Erika failed completely.
"Celia!" called Kars with a bloody mouth. His legs wobbled but he was still standing.
Celia Alphine appeared from behind Kars's back. She jumped, using Kars's shoulder as a stepping stone.
Her giant Halberd swung. Not with the axe blade to cut, but with the hook side on the back of the weapon.
"Get down, Dog!"
Celia hooked her spear to Sigma's hind leg which was trying to balance itself. She pulled it with all her body weight and muscle strength trained in forging iron.
Technique: Hamstring Drag.
Thump!
The giant fell. The Sigma Direwolf fell face first kissing the snow. Its legs were tangled. Perfect teamwork between Tank and Fighter.
"Success!" cheered Erika who was still prone on the ground.
But we forgot one thing. Sigma was no ordinary animal. It was the King of the Mountain who had survived alone.
In a fallen position, Sigma did not panic or thrash wildly.
The big dog twisted its hips with terrifying flexibility for a creature its size.
Its long and thick silver tail slashed horizontally. The tail turned into an iron whip as thick as a tree.
The Tail Whip.
"Defend!" shouted Celia.
She spun her spear to block the slash. Kars raised his mace.
Blam!
Useless. The power was too great. Kars and Celia were swept back five meters, dragged over the snow like kicked rag dolls. Their defense was destroyed in one counterattack. Kars coughed violently, his armor deeply dented in the chest.
However, their sacrifice was not in vain. They opened the most fatal gap.
Sigma's neck and head were exposed as it tried to get up. Its belly was unprotected. And most importantly, its eyes were wide open without the protection of metal fur.
"My turn!"
A red flash shot from the left side.
Rose Carlos.
She had been waiting for this moment. She was the only one on this team who could approach Sigma's speed. She entered Flash mode. Her feet did not touch the ground, but glided over thin air using Wind Step.
Her Rapier glowed thin green. Wind Aura sharpened to a microscopic point.
Rose did not aim for the hard skin or thick neck. She aimed for the only soft part that was exposed and vital.
Sigma's left eyeball.
"Die!" hissed Rose.
Squelch.
The sound of a wet stab was heard.
Rose's Rapier sank to the hilt, piercing Sigma's left eyeball, tearing the retina, and should have penetrated into the brain. Black blood spurted wetting Rose's beautiful face.
"Got it!" shouted Rose triumphantly. "I killed it!"
But, Sigma did not scream. It only stopped moving for one second.
Rose tried to pull her sword for a follow-up attack or retreat.
"Eh?"
Stuck. Her sword could not be pulled.
I saw it from a distance, and my blood turned cold.
The muscles around Sigma's destroyed eye throbbed wildly. Red flesh tissue grew at a terrifying speed, coiling around Rose's sword blade, eating the weapon so it couldn't be pulled out.
The destroyed eyeball regenerated. In seconds, I saw its eye lens re-form, slowly pushing Rose's sword out like a foreign object discarded by the body.
The monster stared at Rose with that newly healed eye. A gaze full of mockery. It seemed to say, is that all?
It opened its mouth wide. Not to bite. But taking a deep breath.
Its lungs expanded twofold.
"Rose! Fall back! Cover your ears!" I shouted while running closer.
Too late.
Sonic Roar.
Vwooooom!
No sound was heard at first. Only a transparent shockwave exploding from the wolf's mouth. The snow in front of its mouth evaporated instantly.
Rose's eardrums ruptured instantly. Blood poured from her ears. Her balance was totally shattered.
"Arghhh!"
Rose was thrown backward, holding her head which felt like it was going to burst. Her eyes widened in horror, her world spinning. She fell rolling in the snow, vomiting due to severe vertigo. She saw the monster had fully recovered as if the fatal attack just now never happened.
We failed.
My physical attack? Failed. Erika and Elena's magic? Bounced. Kars's defense? Penetrated. Rose's speed? Useless against regeneration.
Sigma was bored of playing. It realized that these sheep were a little more persistent than usual, and that annoyed it.
It stood tall, towering over us who were scattered. Its silver fur shone blindingly under the moonlight penetrating the tree gaps.
It looked up at the sky, and let out a long howl.
Awooooooooo!
The sound was not just a sound. It was a call to the elements. The sound manipulated the air pressure around us.
The wind changed direction. The air temperature plummeted drastically to minus twenty degrees in an instant. The clouds above us spun, covering the moon.
The snow on the ground no longer fell downward, but swirled upward, defying gravity.
"What is happening?" asked Erika, her teeth chattering from the cold. "Why is it so cold?"
"Domain," I whispered, feeling the change in mana in the atmosphere. "It is manipulating local weather."
In seconds, a Whiteout occurred.
A dense and fast-spinning white blizzard swallowed us all. Visibility dropped to zero. I could not see my own hands. The roaring wind sound deafened the ears, covering the sound of footsteps and team communication.
"Erika! Elena! Kars! Hold each other's hands!" I shouted.
My voice was swallowed by the storm. No answer.
We were separated. Isolated in a cold white prison.
I stood alone amidst that white blindness. Blood dripped from my forehead, freezing before reaching my chin. My clothes were torn, my bones cracked, and my enemy was invisible.
The situation was desperate. An enemy immune to magic, regenerating instantly, stronger than a tank, and now it made us blind and deaf.
But, instead of being afraid, my lips slowly curled into a wide grin. The crazy smile of a scientist who had just found the final variable for his experiment.
I wiped the blood on my lips. My eyes lit up in the darkness of the storm.
"Instant regeneration violating the laws of thermodynamics..." I whispered to the storm. "Fur reflecting mana, and now local weather manipulation?"
I drew my Adamantium sword again. Gripping it tight though my hands trembled.
"Damn it! This monster has evolved to tier four. So unfair," I mumbled. Adrenaline flooded my brain, suppressing fear.
"But unfortunately, I am more unfair."
I closed my eyes. Turning off useless vision. And started listening to the heart rhythm behind the storm.
This dance was not over yet.