The direwolf’s head smashed into Zack’s again, squeezing all the air out of him. The tip of the stick protruding out of its eye stuck Zack at the side of his stomach before deflecting away.

The boy’s vision swam. A metallic taste washed his mouth.

Gritting his teeth while fighting against his urge to puke, Zack grabbed the blood-covered stick at his side, pulling it out of the direwolf’s skull through the eye-socket along with bloody remains of the direwolf’s eyeball.

Looking at the crushed eyeball falling down off the stick, Zack felt his insides churn.

However, he didn’t have the luxury to wretch at the sight. Instead, in order to prevent himself from being thrown away by the momentum of the tackle, he decisively struck it in the direwolf’s other eye-socket, puncturing its other eye, lodging the stick in its skull. Gripping on the stick, he hoped to not get blown away by the force of impact.

Yet, to his chagrin, the blood covering the stick made it so his grip slipped. The momentum sent him flying, crashing into the ground a few metres in front of the direwolf.

While revelling the scent of the blood, the direwolf’s body froze before it began spasming. As the pain from its head sunk in, the direwolf tried to open its eyes, all to no avail. Upon realising the loss of its vision, the direwolf howled.

Sniffing in deeply, it opened its jaw before charging forward.

Being caught unaware, Zack’s pupil dilated. His hand, now pushing against the ground to prop him up, trembled for a moment.

‘Am I going to be scared into doing nothing? NO! NEVER!’

A stubborn glint flashed through the boy’s eye. His hand stopped trembling as he continued his motion of getting up. His body swayed, and the world felt like it was spinning. Even so, the image of the direwolf closing in was exceptionally clear.

Although he couldn’t dodge nor block, he still glared at the direwolf, prepared to take the attack head on.

Moments later, a resounding thud permeated the surroundings.

“S-Samuel?”

Samuel’s fist, densely covered in the grey hue signifying Ki, slammed into the direwolf’s stomach from the side, stopping its charge, sending the direwolf flying.

After the thud, faint sounds of cracking bones filled the surroundings.

On the other hand, the bones in his arm creaked. The pain made his expression drop for a moment, which he picked up the very next second.

He smirked, “What? Just remembered I was here? Or maybe… were you trying to one-up me? Well, I guess you did this time. Now… go attach it. I mean, attack it. Before it can get up again.”

Zack nodded as he walked next to the unmoving direwolf.

In the middle of the direwolf’s blood-colored fur, an imprint of a fist drew his eye, leaving him in a daze.

‘Is this the power of the Ki Arts? No, it has to do with Samuel as well.’

Breaking free from his daze a moment later, he attacked. Lifting his fist high, he smashed it against the direwolf, right above the fist imprint. The direwolf whimpered like a beaten dog, not moving its body in the slightest.

While feeling bad for the direwolf, Zack buried his compassion, preparing to land another punch.

‘You shouldn’t have attacked. But you did. Now, face the consequences.’

His fist moved downwards once again, the intention of beating the direwolf to death evident through the blow.

But before he could land the blow, his pupil widened.

The direwolf swung its tail, releasing the wind attribute spell — Wind Bullet. The bullet of wind shot through the air, slamming against Zack in the middle of his forehead.

Although the force wasn’t anything to write home about, it was enough to throw Zack back.

“Zack!” Samuel’s brows jumped. He looked at the direwolf, his eyes catching the ends of direwolf’s mouth, curling up in a faint smirk.

An ethereal steam-like white smoke rose from the direwolf’s wounds. The direwolf roared, causing its wounds to close back up at a visible rate. At the same time, its body began shrinking, returning to its initial size. Yet, its fur didn’t turn back the same dusty white, remaining blood red instead.

Samuel blinked. ‘What the… how did it recover? Wh… wait! Zack!’

The direwolf got up, planting its foot atop Zack’s chest in a show of victory.

In response, two hands grabbed its leg, attempting to pull it away. Yet, the leg didn’t budge an inch. Next, Zack tried to punch against it to move it away. In the end, though, it was no more than a fool’s errand.

As if bored with the actions of the bug flailing beneath its leg, a deafening howl escaped its mouth, drowning out all noise. However, upon remembering the black-haired nuisance which took away its eyes, the smirk on the direwolf’s mouth disappeared.

Having abandoned its pride as a mutant beast, it grew serious.

Raising its paw, it slammed it against Zack’s chest, squeezing the air out of his lungs. As if not satisfied by just one, it slammed again. And again. And again.

Zack barely managed out a groan, passing out beneath the direwolf’s foot.

When it was about to slam its leg down a fourth time, the direwolf’s ears picked up the sound of something tearing through the air. Instinctually, it leapt back, barely evading Samuel’s punch headed its way.

Furling and unfurling its tail, it shot out two Wind Bullets in an instant to its left and right as it charged straight ahead, where the punch came from.

Samuel twisted his body to the right, evading the direwolf and one of the Wind Bullets entirely, and dodging the other Wind Bullet by the breadth of a finger.

However, in the next instant, the wind bullet he dodged exploded, releasing a wind pressure which forced him to the side.

Regaining his balance, Samuel blinked in astonishment.

‘So you can do that as well?’

His brows jumped up and down in amusement, an urge to try replicating what he saw filling his being. Still, he knew better to not let his urge take over him in a situation like which he was in.

He raised his left hand as he began muttering an incoherent chant. A glacial colored hue symbolising ice attribute began coalescing in the space around his hand.

The direwolf, upon sensing a spell being constructed, raised its head high, sucking in a deep breath. Next, it opened its jaw, shooting out a column of wind twice as thick as a Wind Bullet.

Samuel’s eyes widened: ‘Is that… Wind Bullet? No, it's Wind Cannon! This is bad…’

His gaze shifted onto his own arm, attempting to finish his spell faster.

In the next moment, against Samuel’s expectations, the hue around his arm fluctuated, as if about to wink out, like a flame near the end of its life.

‘I’m out of Arcana?! Why now of all times?! Damn it!’

Before Samuel could start a train of curses, the Wind Cannon slammed in the middle of his chest, knocking him senseless.

His vision blurred as he could no longer hold on. With his eyelids weighing like metaphorical mountains, he blacked out an instant later.

The direwolf stood still, prepared for any more movements.

Having not sensed any development after a while, it began huffing, its underside heaving up and down at a rapid pace.

It walked forward towards the black-haired boy, opening its jaw to take a bite.

“Although some areas can be improved, not bad. Not bad at all.”

But before it could, a distant yet melodious voice filled the direwolf’s surroundings, as if coming from everywhere.

In the next moment, with a flash of light, a sword sculpted out of ice fell down from the sky, lodging itself cleanly in the middle of the direwolf without making a ruckus, ending it in one strike.

From above, two frosty azure eyes looked down upon the direwolf, showing no shred of emotion. The woman shifted her gaze to look at the two boys knocked out unconscious, a trace of warmth overturning the chilly light in her eyes.

The voice continued to mutter, “Especially considering they fended off a mutant with some half decent recovery and jaw strength. Even so… just what is going on within the Frellesca City?”