As Lupus heavily walked up the stone stairs, making his way to the concealed trap door that led to the surface, his body started to violently transform into his full, monstrous Werewolf state.
He absolutely wasn’t going to take any chances with a terrifying opponent like this. As his muscles bulged, his bones cracked, and his stature doubled in size, sothing incredible happened. At the exact sa ti, his newly forged beast gear started to seamlessly grow and shift along with his expanding body, the dark tal plates and golden trim sliding and locking into place exactly as if the armor itself were alive.
Just in ti, as he reached the top of the stairwell, Lupus's muscular fra pushed the heavy iron trap door completely open. He stepped out of the dark and into the biting, cold air.
He walked forward, the heavy trap door slamming shut behind him, sealing Galdark and the others safely below. He didn’t have to look far to see Unzoku.
The ancient mastermind was already there. His monstrous, twisted body, which looked like a demonic Werewolf that had just crawled straight out of the deepest pits of hell, was just standing completely still among the jagged rubble of the Ruin castle.
“I am... surprised that you have actually decided to co out and face ,” Unzoku said. His voice was impossibly deep and heavy, carrying a dark resonance that physically vibrated the small pieces of concrete on the ground.
Lupus didn't say a word. He continued to walk with heavy, asured steps until they were only fifteen ters away from each other. Then, they both stopped. They stood there in the chilling silence, staring at each other amidst the ruins as if they were in so type of ancient, lethal duel, completely ready for the first person to strike.
“Although, I must admit, you look quite a bit different from before. I guess you actually learned a little sothing from your humiliating defeat last ti,” Unzoku mocked, his glowing eyes scanning the black and gold plates. “But a shiny new suit of armor and a heavy shield isn’t going to help you against .” Unzoku ended his threat with a slight, arrogant laugh.
“You know exactly what happened last ti, Lupus. So I think you should just make this entirely easier on yourself, drop the shield, and just allow to co forward.”
“Are you here for my head?” Lupus asked, keeping his shield angled straight, his eyes unblinking. “Or are you just trying to violently control my mind and use as a puppet like last ti? Because you must know, I have absolutely nothing left to give you this ti around.”
Lupus tightened his grip on his weapon. “I lost the fight. Your grand plan failed. So, if you’ve actually co all the way out here to try and do the exact sa thing... the way I see it, you just ca here looking for so punishnt instead.”
“Hahaha!” Unzoku laughed, the sound hollow and devoid of any real joy. “You confidently say those bold words, even though you know exactly what happened the last ti we clashed. Look around you! This wasteland was the direct result of us two fighting! There is nothing left of this place because I broke you!”
Unzoku took a slow step forward, the rubble crunching beneath his feet. “Maybe you would have actually had so minuscule chance of surviving if you stayed huddled with the Howlers. But I have my own grand plan. I will systematically deal with all of you, one by one. You guys constantly sticking together makes it a little harder for to act freely... which is exactly why you have been chosen as my pri target for wandering out here alone.”
Unzoku spread his arms wide, relishing his dark sche. “Last ti, I effortlessly used your mind to start a bloody war against the Howlers. As for this ti... I will use your enslaved body to start a war with the Vampires!”
Hearing this sick, twisted manipulation, Lupus started to clench both of his fists. He felt his jaw tightening until his fangs ground together.
As much as he intensely hated the Vampires for the lives of those he knew that were lost to them, and for forcing his kind into living the miserable, hidden life they currently lived... what he absolutely hated more was soone arrogantly trying to pull his strings and force his hand to act against his will.
Lupus slowly lifted his armored hand up, pointing a sharp, tal-clad finger at the ancient monster.
“I already owe you a severe beating for what you did to my mind last ti. You wonder why I confidently split from the others, even though I knew this confrontation would eventually happen?” Lupus growled.
“Let tell you sothing, Unzoku. Out of all of them... I’m still the strongest Werewolf. And I absolutely welco the chance to beat your damned arse into the dirt to prove that.”
Lupus let out a dark, mocking chuckle. “And by the way, I know it isn’t the first ti this has happened to you. It looks like Werewolves have thoroughly beaten you before, right? Who was it that put you in your place... Jack and Steve? So, if it’s happened to you before, it can certainly happen again!”
The ntion of those specific nas struck a terrifying nerve. The thick, dark hairs all over Unzoku’s hulking body started to violently stand on end, almost moving as if they were alive. A suffocating, blood-red aura started seeping out of his pores.
Lupus wasn’t entirely sure, but as the aura expanded, it was almost as if he could hear the faint, agonizing screams of thousands of souls trapped within it. What he could clearly see, however, was the solid ground literally cracking and splintering underneath Unzoku’s feet from the sheer, crushing pressure.
Before Lupus could even blink, Unzoku charged forward like a localized natural disaster.
At the exact sa ti, Lupus spread his thick legs, perfectly bracing his stance, and stretched out both of his armored arms.
“ARGHH!” Lupus scread at the top of his lungs, drawing upon every single ounce of raw power in his body. His black and gold armor started to glow slightly as his Qi surged through the beast armour, radiating into his heavy shield. He violently slamd the spiked bottom of the shield directly into the solid ground, burying it deep into the concrete, and put his entire body weight directly behind it.
Unzoku’s devastating fist slamd directly into the center of the glowing shield.
BOOM!
A catastrophic, earth-shattering shockwave exploded outward from the point of impact. The sheer kinetic force pushed thousands of pounds of surrounding rubble, sending jagged concrete flying violently into the air and completely clearing nearly the entire courtyard. The blast wave even instantly atomized the tough weeds and grass that had grown underneath their feet, leaving nothing but a smoking crater around them.
“ARGHH! What is this?!” Unzoku grunted, his eyes widening in pure shock as his arm trembled against the immovable tal barrier.
“What, are you surprised?!” Lupus roared back, his boots grinding deeper into the earth, holding the line perfectly. “I told you, I’m not the exact sa as back then!”
There had been a staggering amount of biological changes in Lupus since the last ti the two of them had fought. He had ruthlessly consud Ice. He had consud Don. Two incredibly strong, fearso Altereds, both of them residing at the absolute peak of the Mythical level. Their raw power now coursed through his veins.
Then there was the masterwork armor perfectly fitted on his body, forged from high-tier beast crystals that actively amplified his physical output. And lastly, he had rigorously learned exactly how to use the ancient power of Qi. It helped him seamlessly draw even more supernatural power from the weapons in his hands, allowing him to output far more defensive force than ever before.
Lupus was already a terrifying monster before. Now, he was almost sothing else entirely.
“Fine! Then I’ll just have to forcefully break your mind again!” Unzoku snarled.
He stretched out his free, clawed hand. In the imdiate area closest to his palm, the strange, suffocating red mist started to rapidly gather, swirling with dark, hypnotic magic.
Right then, Unzoku violently lunged forward, trying to forcefully press his glowing, mist-covered palm directly onto the top of Lupus's head to inject his power.
But before he could even touch his fur, Lupus snapped his arm out and caught him. His heavy, armored gauntlet clamped down like a steel vice, grabbing Unzoku firmly by the wrist and stopping the hand dead in its tracks.
“What the fuck do you think you're doing?” Lupus growled, his eyes burning right through the red mist.
“What...?” Unzoku gasped. He frantically tried to push his power forward, but it just dissipated harmlessly against Lupus's skin. “My powers... why... why aren’t they working against you?! This is... it’s the exact sa... it’s exactly just like with him! It’s just like the Green-Haired Boy! What have you two done?!”
**
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