"RIPPLING INFERNO!"

As Roland said these few words, at the tip of his cane a bright light started to form and pulsate, in fact, this light started to form a small circle of flame. This circle of flame grew bigger and brighter, the heat that it gave off was most intense. After no more than a second, the ring of fire began to grow and expand at an incredible rate and the faster it spread the hotter it became. Before Lowen, Clovis or the alpha wolf had any chance to make a move, the ring of fire expanded and encompassed everyone. The Alpha wolf, with no time to move out of the way, instantly felt its fur on fire and could feel its flesh starting to flake and burn away as dark black scorch marks formed all over its body. Clovis, Lowen, as well as the few remaining soldiers, instead, only felt a warm embrace from the heat. The expected cries of pain did not come from the other wolves. There were no cries nor any howls in agony, as the flame dissipated a truly odd sight was revealed.

In the battlefield many surrounding trees had become nothing more than dust and ash, rocks glowed bright orange and some even began to melt and fall apart. There were no more wolves, they had all turned into black ash in an instant, there was no more Magic Beast except for the lone surviving Alpha. Even with its incredibly tough body, the Alpha had still sustained wounds from this spell. Had he been slightly weaker, then he too would have died instantly. The Alpha wolf looked at its surroundings with a mix of shock, fear, and rage, staring up at Roland who still stood in a tree, the Alpha overflowed with fury. Right now it wanted nothing more than to rush over to Roland and destroy his body, ripping it into shreds and tearing him apart limb from limb. With each bite, he would tear into Roland's flesh and chomp down repeatedly on his bones, crunching, munching, anything and everything to get rid of this disgusting human. Looking at its surroundings, the wolf saw none of its comrades, not a trace of those that followed him loyally, instead, he only saw glowing rocks and the black scorched ground covered in ash, all of this within 500 ft of Roland. This area that was once flush with a beautiful green full of trees and grass, was now no more than a land of hell, only fit for the dammned.

The remaining men, Lowen, and Clovis, all looked on with a new hope. The Alpha however only had fury within itself. Completely ignoring everyone else it disappeared from where it stood and raced toward Roland with terrifying speed. With one incredible leap, it instantly appeared in front of Roland and before anyone could blink, it snapped its jaws shut at Roland's exposed head. But just before its fangs sunk into Roland's skull, it felt a large force tugging on its tail, with only inches separating him from Roland, the Alpha was confused by this sudden stop. Looking back, he saw Lowen with his tail in his grip and with one mighty pull, Lowen threw the Alpha nearly 20 feet away. Roland fell to his ass and leaned his back against the tree. Cold sweat dripped down from his face and he couldn't help but breathe out terribly heavy panted breaths. Staring down at Lowen below him, Roland felt a huge rush of a relief, at the same time, intense nausea hit his mind. The magic he just used was at the 4th Circle and it consumed every single ounce of energy he had left.

The Alpha wolf stared at Lowen with hate-filled eyes. Lowen as well stared back at the wolf, not in hatred but instead in disgust.

This wolf would do anything to get its way, even kill an enemy that already surrendered. Lowen didn't necessarily disagree with such actions but maybe because he was human and the soldiers were human as well, it upset him.

The alpha wolf didn't hesitate, this young boy was in its way. With a powerful charge, it raced towards Lowen with lightning quick movements. Lowen couldn't back down either and rushed forward. With ki circulating throughout his entire body, he quickly intercepted the Alpha wolf and as the 2 collided with one another, a loud metallic bang rang out.

It seemed the bodies of the two were so incredibly tough, so incredibly hard, that when they collided with such force an odd sound that would usually never come from living flesh exploded outward. Claw, fang, sword, and battle hammer clashed again and again and again. The movements of these two were nothing but blurs to all the surrounding soldiers. Clovis, however, could still just barely manage to see them but even Roland was having a bit of trouble keeping up. Once more Roland began to concentrate and absorb as much energy as he could, who knew when he would need it again but seeing how things were going, there was no doubt in his mind that he would need it almost immediately. For if Lowen was to fail, then Roland would most likely be the next to die.

The Alpha wolf repeatedly snapped its jaws at Lowen's face, neck, and chest, eagerly trying to devour him, to defeat him. Lowen as well, was in no way letting up. Slashing with his sword swiftly and precisely, he just barely missed each time. Each time the Alpha countered and missed, Lowen could feel cold sweat dripping down his spine and it brought a terrifying feeling. There was a simple reason for this fear, Lowen knew if this wolf bit him, then it was all over. Lowen swung his battle hammer, bringing it down with tyrannical force. The Alpha, however, showed little fear towards this heavy hammer and tried to deflect it with one of its front paws. Lowen, seeing this chance, greatly increased the speed of his swing and with one loud *Bang* the hammer and foot collided.

As the mighty blow connected, the Alpha wolf's face immediately twisted in pain and in one swift movement, the wolf agilely dodged backward in order to throw some of Lowen's force off. Had the wolf not reacted instantly, then the blow from Lowen may have caused grievous injury. As the two separated, the Alpha gave Lowen a vicious glare, Lowen in return, smiled devilishly. The Alpha spoke with a ferocious voice.

"So this is your true strength, it seems you were holding back earlier, hahaha. Am I the fool or are you? It was my mistake to hold back, that mistake, is my last."

Suddenly, magic energy rushed toward the Alpha and swirled all around him. A dim white light began to glow around the entire wolf's body, it seemed he was about to make his move. Lowen could feel the energy draining from his surroundings and instantly felt a fear creep up his spine. With his fastest speed, he began circulating his ki at an intense rate but instead of circulating it all over his body, this time he began to focus it solely on his legs and feet, as well as his eyes. The Alpha once more glared at Lowen and in a cocky tone he said.

"Here I come."

Just as those words left the Alphas mouth, this monstrous beast vanished. Lowen's eyes quickly darted to his left side, and with his swiftest movements, using his Shadow Steps, Lowen jumped backward with incredible power. This, however, was not enough and the Alpha swiped at Lowen's chest, Lowen quickly raised his battle hammer just as the blow connected.

*Boom*

Even though Lowen had properly brought the battle hammer in front of himself in defense, he still felt a mighty force enter his chest and with it, he felt something he hadn't in a long time, pain. Lowen's body was sent flying almost 50 feet, toward a tree. Just as Lowen's back was about to slam into the tree, Lowen, using his feet, managed to just barely brace himself but still, that wasn't enough to prevent the tree from cracking. Using the force from his feet, Lowen quickly ascended the tree and as the tree began to fall, the wolf rushed madly towards him. Lowen aimed and quickly threw out his family sword but the wolf saw this coming and slapped it away. Right after that, the wolf looked at the tree as it was still falling but Lowen was no longer there. Instead, the Alpha could hear the air above his head being torn apart. The Alpha looked up and surprisingly Lowen was falling at an incredible rate, at the same time he swung the hammer down like a mighty mountain. The wolf's body grew brighter and brighter and the magic within was activated once more. Jumping backward, the Alpha dodged Lowen's blow completely.

As the heavy battle hammer came down, it struck the ground, cracking the earth open, creating a crater more than 10 feet in diameter. With Lowen missing his blow, he quickly needed to grab his family sword, so with a sidestep, Lowen ran towards his blade but before he got very far, the Alpha was already in front of him. Lowen once more raised the battle hammer expecting an attack but this time he was too slow and the Alpha swiped him. Jumping backward, Lowen felt a warm liquid running down his chest, looking down he could see blood pouring down his front, collecting at his feet. Lowen was wounded, it's been so long since the last time Lowen had suffered such an injury, it was almost unreal. The feeling it brought him, the burning pain coming from his chest, Lowen knew that this was real and not his imagination. The Alpha smiled viciously at Lowen and licked the blood at the end of its claw. The face the wolf made clearly showed it was enjoying itself.

Clovis, as well as the soldiers, looked on in horror. If Lowen couldn't defeat this wolf here and now, then they were all dead. Even if Roland used more spells, no matter what they were, they wouldn't work. Even if they all ran right now, there was nothing they could do. If Lowen died, the wolf would catch them. Even if Roland distracted the Alpha, it would still catch them and even if they all ran in separate directions it would still catch them. Whether they made it up a tree, hid in a bush, dove into a river, no matter what they did, this Alpha would still be able to catch and devour them all. For the first time since Lowen came to this world, he felt genuine fear and with it, a bit of disappointment in himself.

If he had his strength from his previous world, then this wolf would have been slain with a mere flick but now, Lowen struggled.

This wolf was just too strong for someone at Lowen's level. If something didn't change soon, then Lowen would have no other option but to flee, but even then, witnessing this Alphas speed, there wasn't much hope. With Lowen now bleeding, the Alphas excitement grew more and more, once again the Alpha vanished from sight. Using his Shadow Steps, Lowen dodged to one side and quickly rolled out of the way of a swipe. Once more, the 2 moved so quick you could barely catch their shadows.

Lowen had no time to concentrate and therefore had no time to seal his wounds properly. With how tough his body was he could heal extremely fast and his body did slow the bleeding but because of his quick and rough movements, the stress on his body made his wound stay open. Every time his wound got close to closing, with another rough movement, it again would tear open and his body would have to start healing again from the beginning. No matter where Lowen went the wolf followed, left, right, up or down, this wolf continued to press him and the pressure was real. Right now there was very little Lowen could do. As things stood he could only dodge and with no counters, the Alpha only grew more determined. With another swipe, Lowen brought the hammer in front of him and again took a heavy blow, just as his body was forced back, the Alpha rushed forward. Catching himself, Lowen spun the hammer in the air and the momentum dragged him off to the side, as it did, Lowen spotted something he could use. As the wolf continued to chase him, suddenly Lowen came to an abrupt stop, the wolf, however, didn't.

As the wolf came upon Lowen, its jaws snapped at his back. Lowen quickly grabbed the object in the ground and spun around with Incredible speed. Bringing the object up, the wolf's bite immediately clamped down on it, surprisingly, it was Layfon's spear. The Alphas jaws crunched and munched on the handle of the spear and chips of metal begin to flake off like little shards of shrapnel. Lowen was now on his back and the wolf pinned him down. With the spear bending more and more, the fangs of the Alpha got closer and closer to Lowen's neck. If this wolf's bite could break off metal pieces, Lowen could then imagine what would happen to his fleshy neck. Being down in this position, Lowen quickly threw several knees towards the wolf's upper body. With solid blows, the wolf howled in pain, still, it refused to get off of him. The Alpha took its right claw and slash at Lowen's chest, Lowen couldn't completely move out of the way since he was pinned down and received 4 long cuts from his shoulder down to his waist. Blood immediately spurted out of the wound and Lowen couldn't help but release cries of pain.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!"

Lowen, however, could not remove his hands from the spear for even a moment or the Alphas fangs would immediately sink into his neck. All he could do was continually knee the wolf in its upper chest. Each blow consistently hit the Alpha in the exact same spot and as it did, Lowen could feel that spot giving and with another ferocious knee to the chest, Lowen suddenly heard a large snapping noise.

*CRUNCH SNAP*

The Alpha howled in pain and once more slashed at Lowen, the Alphas claws, this time, sunk even deeper into Lowen's flesh and again he cried out miserably.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

Clovis's whole body shuddered, he couldn't stand these agonizing screams. To hear a child yell out in pure agony, it was a nightmarish scene to behold. Clovis struggled to his feet and limped toward the Alpha and Lowen. Even if he could only be a distraction for but a moment, Clovis felt that was more than enough to allow Lowen to make some form of an escape. As Clovis continued to limp over, suddenly a blur flashed past him. With silent but quick steps, someone appeared right behind the Alpha, with two quick swipes, metallic hooks sunk into the Alphas back and again the Alpha howled in pain. Bren swiped two more times, dragging off skin and tearing deeply into the Alpha's flesh, causing harsh wounds atop the Alphas back. The Alpha immediately leaped away and stared at this new foe.

Bren looked at the terrible injuries on Clovis before than looking at Lowen's chest and waist. Seeing the state the two were in, a bitterness hit him, but seeing Clovis not giving up and watching Lowen grit his teeth and endure, Bren felt pride for his nephew, for still pushing forward and he felt great respect for Lowen. Bren looked around at the situation and found the only way to win was if he and Lowen fought together with everything they've got. The real problem though was just how much more Lowen could take before he was done. Now though was not the time to have doubtful thoughts. Looking down at Lowen, Bren found no supportive words, he could only be direct in this environment. So with no consideration for Lowen's well being, he yelled.

"On your feet soldier, we have killing to do. "