SHATTERED REALM: FORGOTTEN ECHOES-Chapter 184: Battling The Lone Wolf II
Kesha clenched her fist tightly and punched the air.
The spikes immediately stopped chasing him and shuddered. All pulsed at once, then violently clumped together ina burst of ice shards.
They formed a thick, tall wall that stood in Aramith's way.
Before he could decide his next move, the wall surged forward. The air around it immediately dropped in temperature, and the ground became white.
The grating sound alone was enough to drive someone crazy, but Aramith didn't react much.
He only observed carefully, knowing there was more to it than just an empty wall; she was preparing a greater attack, but from where?
There!
Sheets of razor-edged ice sliced free from the corners of the wall and launched toward him in rapid succession. Aramith twisted aside as the first tore past, then the second as well, impaling the ground deep.
The third was on its way, but before it reached him, it split into smaller shards that spread across.
Each shard detonated midair.
A violent burst of white swallowed the space, cold mist erupting outward and consuming his vision completely.
Gasps rippled through the arena.
Before the cloud could settle, the remaining ice rose.
The remaining wall detached into individual spikes that flowed up as if carried by a breeze.
They locked into formation, forming a spiral of deadly spikes aimed at Aramith.
The mist flowed down, settling at ankle length.
Kesha stood calmly, arm raised.
From the stands, murmurs spread.
"He's still not attacking."
"Is he going to be suppressed till he can't do anything?"
"Or is that all he can do?"
He wasn't retreating, and he wasn't panicking as they saw.
Power was easy to show.
Endurance was another thing altogether.
Aramith exhaled, his breath coming out as white wisps. He locked eyes with Kesha for a second, then her hand dropped.
Bullets fired.
I wonder how long she can keep this up.
He suddenly changed his mind and pivoted, twisting back to face her as he dodged another.
He shot at her like a bullet, but then he felt a cold rush behind.
He turned to see a rolling mass of mist flowing toward him.
He raised his staff just in time as a wolf materialized, preparing to slash him.
He felt the force this time. This one's real.
Without hesitating, he struck its limb with the staff.
A limb broke off, scattering into dust as the wolf dispersed.
The wolf emerged again, fully formed.
Its claws tore into the ground as it lunged, forcing Aramith to brace and strike. His staff smashed into its side, ripping through and sending fragments scattering across the ice.
The wolf collapsed soundlessly, the pieces sinking into the floor. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮
The mist stirred again, and the wolf reformed, whole and snarling.
More mist rolled in.
Another wolf.
Then another.
Aramith moved quickly, weaving between them and striking hard enough to tear limbs free, crushing skulls, shattering spines.
But every fallen piece returned without fail.
His eyes sharpened.
Foreheads, he realized. That's their core.
The only issue now was that they were too conscious and would react quickly. Landing a clean strike there wasn't going to be easy.
He looked at the staff. I need something stronger.
Above him, the temperature dropped again.
He glanced upward and saw that the sky was filling.
New spikes formed rapidly, ice condensing and locking into place as Kesha rebuilt her formation without pause.
Spikes rained down once more.
Aramith found himself boxed in—four wolves circling, teeth snapping, claws tearing at the ground, while death descended from above.
Now he had to dodge two attacks at once.
This feels like training with Gebreth.
He dodged the first piece of ice, but as he moved, he glanced at the ice embedded in the ground where he stood, and an idea struck him.
He stopped moving at once and grabbed the staff tightly with both hands.
Then, as the attack came at him, he spun the staff quickly, forming a blur of wood before him. The ice hit the wood in thuds, shattering in clinks.
He took slow steps back as he blocked Kesha's attack.
He observed from the corner of his eye as the wolves increased in number, circling him.
Aramith remained calm, seemingly focused on the volley raining from above, then one wolf quietly lunged at him from behind.
Before it could reach him, it suddenly burst into nothingness.
"What?"
This was the first reaction Kesha had shown, and it was an odd mixture of confusion and surprise, which only showed in her brow.
How did he do that?
She frowned more, observing more carefully as another attacked him, but it suddenly dispersed as well.
She commanded three more to attack simultaneously, but all Aramith did was shift his stance a little, and they were gone.
"What's going on? They just disappeared."
"I don't understand. Aren't they supposed to attack him?"
"Yeah, but..."
Only a few saw what he was doing, and they couldn't believe it.
"Damn, that kid is crazy," Lynnor rubbed her eyes, disbelieving what she was seeing."
Mozrael was about to ask, but from the way things were moving rapidly, she couldn't take her eyes off, afraid she'd miss something.
Frustrated, Kesha commanded dozens more wolves to rise from the ground. They rose from the ground like an undead army, some larger than others, some more muscled, and others with spike outgrowths.
It looked frightening, but Aramith didn't turn to look.
Kesha pointed at Aramith. "Go!"
And that was her first verbal command.
All wolves rushed towards him like an avalanche.
People stood on their seats, scared for him, but Aramith remained rooted in his spot.
All he'd do was shift his stance a little, and then any attacking wolf that got close enough would be gone.
"How'd he do that?"
The question repeated itself so many times, but no one had an answer, leaving it to hang harmlessly in the air.
Wolf after wolf disappeared, and Aramith kept spinning his staff, blocking the icicles.
Suddenly, someone noticed something odd.
"Look down there," they pointed.
And when they looked, they noticed the mist around Aramith's feet had turned brown like dust. It was as if the ground beneath his feet vibrated vigorously to create that shade.
Kesha also noticed the odd color, and as more wolves died, the dust rose higher around him.
Lynnor chuckled from where she sat, then controlled a small ball of wind in her palm.
She charged it till it was sharp enough to rip through the shield around the arena, then shot it toward Aramith.
It passed right through the shield and passed beneath Aramith's feet, exploding into a small breeze that scattered the mist and dust beneath Aramith's feet.
It was then that the sharp-eyed once saw his feet.
They were moving in a flurry, kicking left, right, front, and back.
He was kicking things at the wolves to kill them.
But that wasn't all he was doing.
They observed more carefully and couldn't help but shudder.
"What the hell!"
"Is he even human?"
The shock was real. Aramith was a monster.
Kesha's lips parted in confusion and disbelief.
What Aramith was doing was an insane coordination of hand, eye, and leg movement.
He was blocking the ice from above, but then he'd aim at a wolf, then carefully let one of the ice spikes slip through his defense. And just before it struck the ground, he'd kick itcarefully, aiming it at the animals' foreheads.
This wasn't skill of any sort; it was madness. Utter and complete madness.
The rain of spikes thinned.
One by one, they shattered against his spinning staff until there were gaps—then silence.
The sky above him was empty, and only the wolves remained.
A dozen of them prowled in a loose ring, breath misting as their claws scraped softly against the frozen floor. Their eyes never left him.
Aramith slowed his movements at last and lowered the staff.
For the first time since the exchange began, he faced them fully.
He dragged the tip of his staff across the ground, and a sharp screech rang out.
The frozen floor trembled, then a wide layer peeled upward, thick plates cracking free in jagged slabs.
Before gravity could reclaim them, Aramith raised his staff and struck once.
The lifted ice shattered instantly, exploding into dozens of razor-edged fragments.
With a single sweeping motion, he sent them flying.
The shards whistled through the air as they went to their marks.
Foreheads burst, and three wolves collapsed instantly, dissolving into mist before they could reform.
More shards followed, and each wolf was struck cleanly, erased before it could recover.
In seconds, only three remained.
They hesitated, which surprised Aramith.
They're conscious.
He crossed the distance in a blur, staff humming as it cut through the cold air.
The first wolf lunged, its skull shattered as the staff struck its forehead dead center.
The second tried to evade, but was too slow. One clean jab ended it.
The last snarled, stepping back, but Aramith was already there.
The wolf vanished, and the place was silent once again.
Kesha stared, but not for long.
Her brow furrowed in thought.
"...Enough," she murmured.
The temperature dropped sharply.
All around the arena, the lingering mist vibrated a second.
It all rushed toward her from every direction, spiraling inward like it were alive. Wind screamed as it wrapped around her body, spinning violently and obscuring her completely.
A soft glow ignited at the center.
The mist tightened, compressing, and then burst outward.
When it settled, Kesha was gone.
In her place stood an elegant wolf, tall and refined, her form sculpted from frost and flowing mist. Her fur shimmered like moonlit snow, strands of ice glinting with every subtle movement. And the fur around her limbs flowed like a snowy waterfall that spilled into the ground.
A small, slow-moving cloud hovered above her head, circling as if bound to her presence.
Five tails fanned out behind her.
The three central ones were adorned with crystalline ice, glittering faintly as cold energy pulsed through them.
Her eyes burned a piercing blue.
She lifted her head slightly, gaze locking onto Aramith with an intensity that silenced the stands.
She was serious now.
That's what I've been waiting for. Now...
