Quara’s eyes narrowed as she muttered coldly. "You again, the realm guard dog who thinks she’s a Knight."

The wolf growled at her. It charged fast.

Killian barely saw the movement before Quara shoved him away. She jumped back quickly.

But when the wolf suddenly jerked its head back, Quara stumbled too. Her expression changed instantly. "What—"

Killian’s eyes widened when he saw it.

A dark chain materializing around his sister’s neck with the other end connected to the wolf. The chain glowed with light mana but there was something repulsive about the light.

As if the light hid something else under it. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

The wolf pulled harder this time and Quara moved with it. She was dragged violently forward, crashing into the ground as her left arm bent unnaturally beneath her.

It pissed Killian, and he acted immediately. "How dare you, vile creature," he cursed under his breath.

<Piercing Scorch>

Killian clasped his hands together.

A concentrated beam of fire shot toward the chain, tearing through the air with enough heat that it should split stone. The flames struck against the chain violently but the chains didn’t break.

Instead, their chains brightened and absorbed the fire greedily.

The wolf immediately bolted sideways to avoid the rest of the attack, dragging Quara across the ground again in the process. She planted her feet to the ground and pulled it forward.

It stopped but didn’t budge. With its size and height eight feet to match, it was clear that she would lose in a show of strength, especially with the chain weight on her neck.

Killian’s jaw tightened, as he lowered himself to the ground.

<Umbral Override>

Nothing happened. ’What?’ He was sure he had activated the skill, but there were no tendrils listening to him.

’Are they being disobedient again? This is not the time!’

"She cut off her mana stream." The Void said calmly.

"You need to use one-thousandth of its mana, remember? You cannot override what isn’t flowing."

Killian bit his lower lip, watching the tendrils agitating under his legs. He had never heard of someone switching off their HEART, the source responsible for the flow of mana.

"If that’s so, she can’t use elements either!"

Which meant she could only dodge his attacks. She was just pure physical strength, and it could be intimidating as she’s an oversized wolf but it was still a stupid decision.

"Quara!" Killian shouted, running towards her as her feet slid on the earth, while the wolf pulled. "She shut down her mana! She’s vulnerable! Use your—"

Quara’s eyes widened slightly. "<Ablaze: Inferno>"

Massive blue flames erupted from her neck instantly, spreading directly into the chains. The fire rushed across the links violently and engulfed the wolf at the other end.

The beast howled in pain, but the chain didn’t fall off despite her distraction. Killian realized the chain needed more than that.

The only skill that could go directly for the kill without hitting his sister was the flame skill Piercing Scorch. He kept his distance as the hot air grew thicker, making it harder to breathe.

Yet his sister was still within her own flames. The beam of fire attacked the wolf again. Killian didn’t miss.

<Orbs of Scorch>

At the same time, his tendrils burst from the ground, slithering to the wolf and wrapping around the injured wolf’s limbs.

"Pull her down."

The wolf landed hard against the earth, writhing in pain from the hole at the top of her back. Another Piercing Scorch fired straight through the middle of the wolf’s eye.

To seal the deal,

<Orbs of Scorch>

The floating balls absorbed Quara’s blue flames greedily, growing brighter and hotter before blasting forward all at once.

Quara noticed them from the corner of her eyes. "No, Killian!"

BOOM!

The Orbs detonated, the explosion more than Killian expected, blasting Quara backward alongside the wolf.

"Quara!"

Killian lunged forward and caught her before she hit the wall, though the impact slammed him into it instead. Pain shot through his back immediately as they both fell to the ground.

Quara fell unconscious against him, blood sliding from her neck and mouth slowly. "Sis?" he called, scanning around at the flames scattered across the trees and ground, searching for what to burn.

’Blue flames... they are too violent... I didn’t know.’

The chain around Quara’s neck began fading little by little.

Killian’s expression darkened. He didn’t see it break, and that meant it still trapped her for the time being.

After the flames settled, the wolf’s body collapsed to the ground. Not crispy. Not dead. Killian held his sister gently in his arms.

"That thing didn’t die from those flames. What can I do to kill it? I must kill it." As those words left his mouth, he felt mana burst from the wolf’s body.

It only passed out and the unconscious release of mana proved it. Yet it was still there, helpless. He balled his fists, his gaze hardening on the wolf’s vulnerable body.

"Eat her."

The tendrils surged toward the wolf, wrapping tightly around her frame. They tightened, twisted, even spreading like a rug as he had taught them.

But they couldn’t swallow her.

The Void spoke again.

"Your current capacity is insufficient. You can’t eat a Knight."

"Yet I want to. So how much?"

"Killian, there are no orcs in this realm for you to practice with. George killed them all. Unless you return to the temple where you’d be meeting an even bigger threat."

His lower lip bled as he bit even harder. "Are you saying I just have to let her regain consciousness? Even if we’re gone by then, she hurt my sister!"

The Void kept a deliberate silence before adding, "You need 300% capacity to consume a Knight-level existence."

"Even a weak one like that? And if I force-feed?"

"The tendrils will be dormant for a long time. Possibly even after you reach three hundred capacity. I wouldn’t advise it."

Killian lowered his head, resting it over his sister’s. He cursed under his breath, and stayed quiet. The tendrils around him slowly returned to his side. He glared at them, and they kept their distance.

The Void sighed in a low tone.

A notification popped up in front of Killian.

[Innate Skill Unhidden]