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RAGNA POV...
As if it sensed death breathing down its neck, the wolf tried to twist away at the very last second—but it was far too late. I saw the flash of steel, felt the violent resistance snap, and then its head was simply gone. One clean arc. The body collapsed sideways like a puppet with its strings cut, and a hot spray of blood splattered across the golden sand, painting it in violent crimson streaks that stead faintly under the sun.
The knight who struck it didn’t even pause to admire his work. Not a single breath was spared. His figure blurred, folded in on itself, and vanished as he teleported elsewhere, already hunting his next kill. For several long, terrifying monts, the dozen or so black steel knights beca sothing unreal—a moving, living fortress of steel and mana—blocking the endless, crashing tide of vicious wolves as if they were holding back the sea itself.
I clenched my jaw.
"We should fight as well," I said, my voice tight as we ran forward, sand crunching beneath our feet. "Even if it barely counts, even if it only lightens their burden a little."
"Yes," Reiner replied imdiately, nodding hard, his eyes burning. "If this drags on, even the knights will start to tire. And once that happens... we all hit rock bottom."
I nodded in agreent, keeping my face stiff and my guard high, refusing to let even a sliver of hesitation show. But inside, I knew better. The black steel knights weren’t anywhere near their limits—not yet.
Especially not him. That one knight watching from within the carriage, the one whose presence alone made my skin crawl and goosebumps rise along my arms. He hadn’t moved, hadn’t acted, and that alone told everything. He was most likely the strongest of them all.
Still, whether I liked it or not, I was the vice-captain.
The title felt bare. Heavy. Restricting. Slowing down in ways I despised. But duty was duty, and I complied.
Under my leadership, the demon children began semi-activating their abilities. So drew crude weapons, others let strange energies ripple faintly over their bodies. We followed behind the knights, striking from the sidelines, targeting weakened wolves, finishing what the steel titans had already broken.
The desert erupted into chaos.
Howls tore through the air as sandstorms roared to life, visibility collapsing into swirling gold and dust. From within those storms, the vicious wolves erged unceasingly, charging forward like living tsunamis, their massive forms shaking the ground with every step.
And then one of them stopped in front of .
A two-ter-tall vicious wolf lood over my small figure, its shadow swallowing whole. It looked vaguely like the black wolves I rembered from Earth—but warped, exaggerated, perfected for slaughter. Bigger. Stronger. More aggressive. More nacing than any natural creature had a right to be.
The mont our gazes t, it snarled, lips peeling back to reveal rows of jagged fangs slick with saliva and blood. The stench from its maw hit like a physical blow, thick and tallic.
I didn’t flinch.
Instead, I narrowed my perception and hardened my mind, constricting my area of detection until the battlefield collapsed into sothing smaller, sharper, more manageable. I scanned everything around in tight detail, searching for the fastest, cleanest way to end this.
At the sa ti, an intrusive thought crept in—whether consuming animal flesh might suppress my hunger, even temporarily. The idea made my stomach churn. Disgusting. Uncertain. I had no idea if it was even possible. The thought lingered uselessly, unresolved.
Within my mind, a panoramic, three-dinsional image ford—a small black wolf phantom, moving in slow motion, every muscle, every intent laid bare.
I was so deep in thought that I nearly forgot the real wolf standing right in front of .
I turned—
—and realized the phantom was no longer where it had been.
It was already coming for .
The real wolf must have sensed sothing wrong. Instead of charging head-on, it shifted tactics, intelligence glinting in its eyes. With explosive force, it lunged, slashing a blood-soaked claw toward , sand and dust erupting in violent clusters around its strike.
My eyes widened slightly.
It’s smart.
Far smarter than any desert beast I’d seen before.
I leapt backward, infusing my body with air-elental mana. I couldn’t afford to waste what little mana I had on a full Dash, so instead I let the air wrap around , lightening my movents. With my comprehension, it was enough—just enough—to mimic a lesser version of Dash.
At the sa ti, I split my focus, running two elental energies in parallel while my perception swept outward, guarding against sneak attacks from other wolves.
Earth-elental mana surged into my silver daggers. Their color dulled, shifting into hardened bronze as one blade streaked out to the right.
Clang—!
I barely managed to deflect the claw.
The instant tal t flesh and force, a violent shock surged up my arm. Pain exploded through my bones, and for a split second it felt like I had slamd headfirst into a speeding truck.
My teeth clenched.
’Its raw strength is far above mine.
Unless I force myself into full bloodlust, a head-on fight like this will end badly—and fast.
I’ll exhaust myself before it does.
I need to end this quickly.’
The strain from this new way of using mana was obvious. My body protested, muscles screaming under the pressure.
’Maybe I’m just too young. Or maybe my mana pool is still too small.
Either way... this is a damn good start.’
I moved constantly, running, striking, repositioning, my thoughts racing even as I fought my first true clash against a powerful opponent. The results astonished . Despite its strength, the wolf struggled to land a hit, struggled to keep up with at all—and that was only because it was already weakened.
Following the precise path calculated by my perception and ntal fortitude, I suddenly accelerated, faster and faster, until it felt like the world blinked.
One mont I was far away.
The next, I was right in front of it.
To conserve mana, I made my choice.
With a single thought, I activated earth-elental mana beneath the vicious wolf.
It raised its head sharply, eyes darting as if sensing danger. A mont later, panic flickered across its face as it realized it couldn’t move. The sand beneath its claws had softened and begun to sink, dragging its massive body downward.
I stayed at a safe distance, just in case it had other abilities, carefully manipulating the sand in its vicinity, tightening my control.
The wolf howled, thrashing, forcing its claws with brute strength, resistance mounting as it fought the earth itself.
And when I saw it—stuck exactly where I wanted it—
I moved without hesitation.
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