209 Clearing Second Stage
Horned Fire Wolf.
That’s what Eren was fighting against.
These wolves had sharp canines and sparkling red eyes that made them look menacing. They had two fangs jutting out from their lower jaw. They had distinct muscle details that made them look intimidating.
These mana beasts had long ears that stood erect over their heads. They had thick and voluminous manes on their backs.
They were as tall as Eren and looked quick on their feet. Their purple-red fur would shine with fire-element mana from time to time, making them look like they were flame incarnates.
They had sharp red claws and scales around their joints. These scales would also shine with fire-element mana as if they were made from molten lava. Plus, they had furry tails with hair that looked like copper strings. The ends of their tails would catch fire when they channeled their fire-element mana through them.
However, the most noticeable thing about them was the horns on their forehead. These horns were about three inches long and looked extremely pointy.
Bitz Steps
Twin Star Arts
Igni Wave x 4
Eren fired a series of fire-element fire slashes around him when he found himself getting surrounded by a pack of Horned Fire Wolf once again. This was the third wolf pack he was facing off.
The first pack had four wolves. The second pack he had to kill contained 8 Horned Fire wolves in total. And the third pack had 16 wolves, five of which he had already killed.
During the second stage, the wolves would attack for an hour. Of course, surviving the wolves’ attacks for an hour was the minimum requirement to pass the second stage. To completely clear the second stage with an 80 percent clearance rate or more, the battlemage needed to last more and kill more.
Every time he killed a pack, a new pack would appear within a few seconds. The updated pack would contain more wolves who were also more ferocious than their predecessors.
Howl!
An echo of a wolf howling was heard as Eren’s flying slashes attacked four wolves from the pack of eleven. They had various wounds on their bodies as Eren’s fire-element mana entered their bodies and tried to burn them. These four wolves were forced to stay behind while the rest of them chased after their attacker.
‘Damn it. They are becoming more difficult to kill now.’
Eren thought as he changed his position and attacked the pack once again using the flying slashes. He dodged a series of fireballs and fire breaths fired at him by the wolves. Still, he couldn’t dodge them all and was eventually hit by a fireball dense in fire-element mana.
Things could have been smoother for Eren if he could have summoned his fire domain. Sadly, he was unable to use Igni Lotus. Every time he tried to cast it, he only received a slight backlash in return.
The altered space did not allow him to create a subspace under his control. It was as if he was inside someone else’s fire domain himself. Thus, he couldn’t summon his fire domain without getting rid of the existing one.
Some of the wolves used two elements, just like Eren. They had earth and fire element affinities. As a result, they would first summon an earth-element chunk from thin air and fuse it with fire element mana before firing the fused fireball in Eren’s way.
The fireball that Eren was hit with just now was fused with earth-element mana as well. He was thrown into the air at a critical velocity by the vector force of the impact. His left side back and shoulder were injured because the fusion fireball had hit him hard there.
“Fuck these wretched wolves!”
Igni Chains
The battlemage used Igni Chains as an anchor to stop his forced flight. He summoned the Igni Chains and tied them around the leading wolf’s neck who was following his flight closely. He then used one more Igni Chain on another wolf, ensuring he had the control to stabilize himself.
Eren tugged at the fire-element whips he had summoned and changed his direction midair. He then pulled himself towards the leading wolf and stood on his back.
Howl!
The Alpha tried to shake Eren off his back while howling and increasing his speed. He left his pack behind. The wolf realized that Eren was not about to get off his back this easily. The noose around his neck was tightening and there were even more fire-element chains that were making him difficult to move.
The wolf’s flesh was starting to burn as the Igni Chains tightened themselves around his torso and moving limbs. The burning wounds started releasing smoke that was smelling like a barbecue to Eren.
Igni Wave
The Alpha was about to put his dignity aside and roll over when he received another injury from Eren. This time, it was inflicted right over his nape by Eren’s Tachi.
Howl
Blitz Steps
Eren jumped using his movement spell and applied the same tactics to target the wolf that was following closely behind the Alpha. He summoned his Igni Chains once again and landed on the wolf’s furry back. He then used the fire-element chains to restrict his movements before attacking him in the same manner.
Eren thought that the wounds he had inflicted on all six of the wolves in 40 seconds were fatal. But he saw only two out of four wolves he had killed earlier succumb to their injuries and die. The remaining two wolves were blessed with enhanced recovery speed. The same was the case with the two wolves he had attacked using the Igni Chains. He managed to kill the second wolf. But the Alpha wolf survived by making use of his enhanced recovery speed.
‘Son of a….’
Eren cursed the incremental difficulty level of the second stage as he saw Alpha along with two other wolves manage to make a quick recovery. He then used the go-to spells that he had used to control the horde aiming for him.
Alfem
Igni Shards
Taranbiest
Blitz Shards
The fire-element birds and lightning-element hounds were summoned into existence as soon as Eren landed on the ground. His summoned creatures surrounded him and locked eyes with the incoming wolf pack being led by the Alpha.
The Alpha wolf’s nape injury had been completely healed by now. But it seems that he had expended a significant amount of mana doing it. As a result, he didn’t send any fireballs or fire breaths toward Eren carelessly.
“Go.”
Eren mumbled as he changed his weapons once again. In the beginning, he used axes, then switched to a sword midway. And now he was using his two dual-element crossbows to attack.
Igni Bolt Blasts
Blitz Arrows
Eren kept on summoning more creatures and attacked the wolf pack using his pack. He fired off his ranged attacks and applied an edge to his offensive.
Howl!
Blitz Steps
As soon as Eren saw that some of the wolves had become critically injured because of his attacks, he entered the fray and attacked them using his Igni Chains controlled axes.
The axes flew in the air around Eren and created a typhoon of flying slashes of their own. The weapons directly chopped heads and limbs off of the wolves that were unlucky enough to get caught in the weapon attack storm. Or he attacked their torso so brutally that their intestines were ripped off.
Of course, the weapons also attacked the summoned creatures. But since they had the same mana signature as the weapons’ imbued mana, the attacks passed through the creatures’ mana bodies. As a result, Eren’s attacks
Boom!
Eren’s summoned creatures attacked the wolves that attempted to create a distance from his indiscriminate attacks. Since they were strengthened by the fire and lightning shards, the mini-explosions they generated were enough to kill the wolves.
The limbs flew and the blood splattered. The horns were chopped off and used as weapons by Eren’s lightning and fire whips to attack the other wolves. The flesh and various organs rained down on the battlefield as Eren kept on attacking the wolves with all he had.
Only 4 wolves managed to keep their lives intact from Eren’s all-out offensive. They were able to maintain their life due to their enhanced regeneration. The Alpha was among the four surviving wolves.
Howl!
A loud wolf cry was heard in the surrounding area. The beast shook his head and stomped his feet. His growl made the other three heed his order. They stood up behind him and looked at Eren with their menacing eyes and drooling maws. Eren could tell that seeing the blood of their brethren was making the beasts more hungry than ever before.
Eren took a long breath as he recovered his injuries with his healing spell. He wasn’t injured that badly in the first place.
‘Hmm. If my guess is right, this should be the last lot.’
The battlemage thought and decided to use his Hex spell once more. He summoned his Bear armor and charged his axes and charged his dual weapons.
Bzzt. Swoosh. Drop.
The lightning cracked and Eren disappeared from his spot. Four wolf heads dropped on the red-sanded ground at the same time, indicating that he had wiped out the entire wolf pack.