Chapter 133: Wolf King's Pursuit, Sudden Realization

(Every reader who offers me a comment is my treasure; thank you for giving me the motivation to write every single day.)

A colossal wheel of freezing ice manifested from thin air, drawing in the snow and ice from the ground before beginning to spin with frantic intensity. A vast concentration of ice elements gathered around it, driving the temperature above the frost wheel to a terrifying degree.

Any tree it sliced through had all its internal moisture flash-frozen in an instant, turning the wood into brittle matter that shattered at the slightest touch.

If a human body were struck by such a frost wheel released by the Winter Wolf King, it was likely that the wound and the surrounding limbs would rapidly succumb to necrosis and wither away.

"Be careful not to get hit by that thing again. The first one that wounded us earlier probably hadn't gathered ice elements over a long distance, which is why we managed to endure it. If we get hit by an attack like this, we'll likely lose the ability to move!"

Wang Yu shouted a warning to Edward, who was flickering in and out of sight among the surrounding trees as he fled alongside him.

As this frost wheel tracked its target, it continuously accumulated ice elements, strengthening its destructive power and the lingering corrosive effect upon impact. Even with his Blood-Burning Drive activated, Wang Yu had no confidence in surviving another strike.

"Understood, though I'm not doing so well right now," Edward gritted his teeth to acknowledge Wang Yu's warning, clearly struggling with his current state.

Traces of frost still lingered around the wound on his right hand; the freezing effect prevented the blood from seeping out, but it also made the laceration far more difficult to heal.

The wound could not close without removing the ice, yet removing the ice would inevitably trigger massive hemorrhaging. Edward chose not to clear the frost, even as the residual ice elements continued to invade his body.

His battle aura fought constantly against the chill, but battle aura itself was not particularly effective against magic. The remaining ice elements were slowly turning Edward's entire arm a bruised, cyan-purple hue.

"Is this the power beyond the Great Knight stage? Truly terrifying, a chasm of difference. Edward, use that vial I gave you—inject it directly!"

Wang Yu’s brows were tightly locked. The strength displayed by the Winter Wolf King was frighteningly immense. If the gap between a Formal Knight and an Apprentice Knight was a gully, then the gap between a Great Knight and a Formal Knight was a bottomless abyss. A single effective attack had nearly stripped Wang Yu and Edward of their ability to fight back.

"Right!" Pulling a syringe filled with an amber-red liquid from his pocket—one of two Wang Yu had given him and Charles during a previous gathering—Edward plunged the needle directly into his own neck.

"Ugh!" A searing heat spread from the injection site, quickly permeating his entire body. His muscles felt a faint, biting sting, but this was soon replaced by a restorative sensation.

"Thanks!" The heat reached the frost-covered wound on his right hand. With a hint of horror, Edward watched as tiny, bud-like structures made of blood emerged from the wound, cleansing the frost away before rapidly stitching the flesh shut and retracting.

Edward was shocked by the efficacy of the potion Wang Yu had given him, though he might have felt differently had he known its ingredients.

It contained Wang Yu’s blood, secretions from a Swamp Giant Mosquito, and various nutritional supplements. In a sense, the concoction was alive.

The Swamp Giant Mosquito, a vile and hideous creature, possessed a component that bypassed the immune systems of supernatural beings—originally evolved so the mosquito wouldn't be harmed by the blood it consumed.

By extracting this, Wang Yu could inject his own blood into those not significantly stronger than himself as a potent healing potion. It could even remain in the host's body for a time, serving as a long-term healing agent.

Having helped Edward resolve his troublesome condition, Wang Yu glanced back. The Winter Wolf King was still in hot pursuit. Its state was bizarre; as it ran, it kept crashing into the massive boulders and thick pines that Wang Yu and Edward were intentionally using as obstacles.

Stone fragments flew and trees toppled. Such obstructions could cause no real harm to a powerful existence above the Great Knight stage, but there was no denying it hindered the Wolf King. Had it not been for this, the Winter Wolf King, whose physique far surpassed that of Wang Yu and Edward, would have finished them off long ago.

"Wang Yu, get closer! The Professor will be here soon. These two frost wheels are getting faster; if this continues, we'll be hit. Bring them together, and I'll handle them!"

Edward’s voice came from the side of the woods. Wang Yu didn't hesitate; he kicked off the ground, leaped against a nearby trunk, and vaulted forward. After a few bounds across the pine branches, he reached Edward’s side.

"How is it? Can you handle them?" Running shoulder-to-shoulder with Edward, Wang Yu glanced back at the two frost wheels, which were beginning to converge as their targets drew together.

He had no confidence in destroying these wheels even with an overloaded Tier 3 spell from the Weaver’s Tome. If Edward could solve this, it would be perfect.

"No problem—at least for this one strike, it’s fine." While continuing to run, Edward drew a delicate-looking dagger from his right hip. Its patterns were complex, clearly another artifact Wang Yu couldn't decipher.

"Then I'll lend you a hand." Wang Yu nodded and transmitted a command to the blood still lingering within Edward’s body.

The blood began to war with itself. The death brought by this internal slaughter was converted by the Flag of Triumph into pure life force. This life force was a near-conceptual substance derived from a wonder-item; without Wang Yu’s blood to absorb it, it was passed directly to Edward. This purest form of life force was an excellent tonic—yes, killing oneself also counted as "killing the enemy."

At the same time, the residual substances from Wang Yu’s blood-war were being absorbed by Edward. Having "learned" certain traits from dragon blood, Wang Yu’s blood now contained a "beast-specific adrenaline" component. Since Wang Yu was human, this substance naturally worked for humans as well.

"Hoo!" Edward took a deep breath. His entire body grew feverish, and the fatigue in his muscles vanished under the replenishment of life force. The absorption of the "special adrenaline" sent his organs into a state of peak excitement and optimal performance.

"Lion’s Fang!" Edward silently recited the name of the technique. His battle aura swirled through his abdominal vortex, raced through invisible channels throughout his body to his heart, and after circulating, took on a faint golden hue. It then surged out, flashing across his right arm and into the delicate dagger in his hand.

Unlike a crude, fragile iron sword, the dagger vibrated without showing any signs of breaking. Instead, a blade of light began to emerge from the tip, forcibly extending the short dagger’s reach by a level.

He turned, braked sharply, and decelerated. While maintaining his balance, he slid across the snow due to inertia—a trivial matter for a Formal Knight.

Aiming for the center of the two frost wheels that were now nearly touching, Edward thrust the dagger out, colliding with the wheels as they closed in.

"Ping!" There was no loud crash, only a crisp sound like ice shattering on the ground. The extended light from Edward’s dagger and both frost wheels exploded into fragments in the air.

Sheathing the dagger, Edward turned and continued to flee through the woods with Wang Yu, evading the Wolf King’s pursuit.

Wang Yu knew clearly that while the move lacked spectacle, that extended blade was battle aura compressed to the limit. If that thing were thrust into someone’s battle aura vortex, it would be two words: explosion.

"ROAR!" The Wolf King seemed to notice the destruction of its frost wheels and let out a sudden, deafening howl. A cold current erupted from its center, freezing everything in its path. Trees snapped and collapsed as their frozen lower halves became too brittle to support the weight of their crowns.

As the blast of cold passed over Wang Yu and Edward, the Steel Sun Shield covering Edward and Wang Yu’s own Wizard’s Barrier flickered once and vanished. Immediately, a sluggish sensation seized their joints and muscles.

"Damn it!" Wang Yu couldn't help but curse inwardly. This beast, beyond the Great Knight stage, was simply too terrifying. If it weren't for its strange state, it could have killed him and Edward in an instant.

"It's fine, jump!" Edward’s warning came from beside him. Without hesitation, Wang Yu leaped, fighting through the stiffness in his body.

Ahead lay the edge of the woods, where a slope rose. Using their momentum, Wang Yu and Edward avoided the sluggishness caused by their stiff limbs and successfully maintained their speed as they burst out of the forest.

Landing on the slope, they didn't stop to run; they kicked off the incline and rolled rapidly downward.

"Awoooo!" Another piercing howl. Out of the corner of his eye, Wang Yu saw a massive white shadow soar from the woods, bringing a cloud of snow with it as it descended upon them like a blizzard of ice crystals.

"Damn it!" Wang Yu swore again. What grudge did this Wolf King have against them? It was giving them no way out. Fortunately, they wouldn't need to fight for their lives much longer.

"BOOM!" A figure rushing up from the bottom of the slope collided with the descending Wolf King. Ice and snow scattered in the air as the Wolf King and Zig separated, both retreating backward.

Zig had arrived.

After separating, neither seemed to have suffered any real damage. Zig’s clothes were merely frosted, and the Winter Wolf King was simply shaking its head vigorously.

"Wait, shaking its head...? Professor! Try hitting its head." Wang Yu’s eyes never left the battlefield. Upon noticing that the already abnormal Winter Wolf King began to shake its head more frequently after being struck, a thought occurred to him.

Zig nodded slightly and stepped forward to charge the Winter Wolf King. Wang Yu quickly communicated with the Weaver’s Tome, completed an overload of the "Vibration Intrusion" spell, and cast it upon Zig.

Yes, the spell was originally intended for mages to enchant their staves to counterattack enemies at close range; naturally, Wang Yu could enchant Zig instead.

The Winter Wolf King was in a bad state. Shaking its head, it could still easily suppress Edward and Wang Yu, but against an opponent of the same level like Zig, even the slightest anomaly was a massive opening.

With a sudden dash, Zig closed the distance and slammed a fist into the Winter Wolf’s skull. The wolf turned its head hard, managing only to meet Zig’s fist with its thickest cranial bone.

"THUD!" A muffled sound rang out. The Winter Wolf was knocked back, yet it still appeared to have no serious wounds or bleeding.

"As expected, if I don't reveal a portion of my dragon power, I'm not strong enough..." Zig looked at the rising wolf with caution. He dared not show those draconic traits again, lest he be noticed by "Him" once more. Finishing this wolf quickly would likely be impossible.

Although Zig failed to deal a fatal blow, the Vibration Intrusion spell enchanted onto his fist had already entered the wolf’s skull.

With the Winter Wolf King’s powerful physique, a Tier 2 spell would be a pipe dream to cause damage, but the wolf could endure it—which did not mean the parasitic entity Wang Yu had discovered within the leader’s brain could.

After being knocked back by the punch, the Winter Wolf King shook its head rapidly. The bloodshot haze in its eyes began to recede. Its wary gaze met the equally vigilant Zig; it did not launch another manic attack, but instead retreated bit by bit into the forest, gradually disappearing.

"What is this?" Zig was puzzled. He had noticed the spell Wang Yu placed on his hand, but it was too weak to be effective. However, after the wolf was knocked back, he realized the reason for the change—clearly, Wang Yu had done something.

"These Winter Wolves are acting this way, it's clearly because of something in their brains..." Wang Yu climbed up and brushed the dirt off his clothes, just about to explain, when he caught a glimpse of something red rising in the distance.

"?" Wang Yu turned his gaze toward the source of the red light. Within the Royal City, where the Stevenson School of Magic stood, a blood-red barrier was rising, enveloping the surrounding area.

In that instant, everything converged in Wang Yu’s mind. The doubts and the anomalies all connected as the Stevenson School of Magic faced its crisis.

When investigating the orphanage, Wang Yu and Edward had used methods to detect supernatural power, and he had done the same when meeting Professor Avia.

The "non-supernatural" thing found in the Winter Wolf’s brain ruthlessly exposed the blind spot in their investigations.

His memory quickly retrieved images of the past. The orphanage roster resurfaced in his mind, names flashing by, until Wang Yu, guided by the realization, quickly found the missing gap.

The night Hughin, as the Smoke Knight, slaughtered the Source of Life, a girl had been saved by Edward and Charles...

She was an orphan, yet her name did not appear on the orphanage’s list. At the time, they had been too focused on studying the suspicious residual power to cross-check the names.

"Vanessa... or rather, Erfin." Gritting his teeth, Wang Yu spoke the source of the tragedy.