Magus Supremacy

"Damn it!" he cursed in anger as he slowly rose to his feet while the remaining four beasts dashed forward at full speed.

"Hhuu!" He grunted as he quickly flipped backward, narrowly avoiding a claw strike that would have ripped his face apart.

Landing smoothly on the ground, Grey gripped his sword tightly, his eyes narrowing into sharp glares as he stared at the four beasts in front of him.

AWHOOOOO!

They howled in unison, their voices echoing like thunder, before bolting straight for the human who dared to stand against them.

One swung a massive punch at his head. Grey leaned aside just in time, avoiding it, before swinging his sword toward the beast's torso.

But another Lycan burst forward, intercepting his strike with its claws. The impact rattled his arm and sent him skidding a few inches away, his boots grinding into the ground.

A third Lycan came charging with reckless abandon, but Grey sensed its movement and leaped aside, causing the beast to tumble forward into the dirt.

Seizing the opening, Grey swirled his Ki around his feet, and with a sharp bang, he exploded forward. His sword streaked toward the beast's neck, and in a clean motion, it sliced through flesh and bone. The creature's head toppled down with a soft thud that was lost beneath the chaos of battle.

Growl!

A guttural sound echoed behind him. Grey's instincts screamed. He ducked low, causing a claw strike meant to decapitate him to whistle over his head.

Using the momentum, Grey spun his body, swirling wind magic around himself before shooting upward like a rocket. His head smashed into the beast's jaw with brutal force, snapping it upward.

But the second Lycan wasted no time. It crouched low and then launched itself into the air, aiming directly where Grey hovered for a split second.

"Breathing Technique: First Formation!" Grey roared as the wind whistled sharply around his sword. Invisible streams of steam seeped out of his nostrils.

"Gust of the Wind." He whispered the name like a vow and thrust his sword forward.

A bang echoed through the battlefield as the wind howled ferociously. Instantly, a gaping hole tore through the beast's body, and it plummeted to the ground with a heavy thud, lifeless.

Grey landed smoothly, his posture calm and unshaken, while the remaining beasts circled him like predators closing in on cornered prey. Their yellow eyes glowed, their bodies tense as they growled and tested his patience.

Grey just smiled. Slowly, he wiped the speck of blood that stained his lips with the back of his hand.

"Scared?" he asked in a mocking tone.

As if provoked by his words, the beasts charged forward with terrifying speed. But just then, Grey's pendant glowed faintly, and in the blink of an eye, his sword vanished from sight.

He raised his hand, pointing his fingers forward. The wind gathered instantly, whistling and howling around his limbs as though obeying his very heartbeat.

"Wind Pulse." He mumbled, his voice calm despite the chaos.

Right on cue, two loud bangs erupted. Blades of compressed wind shot out of his fingers like bullets, slamming into the beasts. Small, precise holes tore clean through their skulls. They dropped lifelessly to the ground with dull thuds.

And just like that, Grey had eliminated the pack that surrounded him. He exhaled slowly, a faint smile tugging at his lips as he admired his work.

'Wonder how the others are holding up,' he thought while scanning the battlefield. His eyes caught Rivock, who was tearing through beast after beast with terrifying ease.

"What the hell?! What terrifying power is that?" Grey muttered in disbelief, his eyes widening as he watched Rivock overwhelm the horde.

"That yellow energy… I'm not imagining it. That's Ki. How can he emit it visibly? Is that the true extent of his strength? I always knew he was a monster, but now I'm witnessing it with my own two eyes."

He shook his head with a long sigh, then tightened his grip. His heart skipped a beat when he noticed five more beasts already moving toward him with snarls and killing intent burning in their eyes.

__

Meanwhile, in another area, Ray and Liam were initially bickering until they stopped, their eyes narrowing as six Lycans could be seen heading their way.

"You want to prove your worth? Now is the time to!" Ray shouted as his body erupted with explosive force. He dashed forward to meet the beasts head-on, the ground cracking beneath his feet.

"Tch!" Liam scoffed as he gripped his katana tighter. Without hesitation, he followed after Ray, his figure blurring as he sprinted.

Ray swirled Ki around his feet, pressure distorting the air around him. With a loud bang, he kicked off the ground and soared high, his hands raised above his head. A Lycan locked eyes with him, but before it could even react, Ray came crashing down like a meteor. His gauntlet-covered fists smashed directly into the beast's skull, all his Ki packed into the blow.

The crushing impact created a small shockwave, dirt and dust scattering violently. The Lycan's knees buckled before its body collapsed, its head caved in grotesquely.

'He's strong.' Liam thought with gritted teeth as he quickly ducked under the savage swing of another Lycan.

Dragging his katana along the earth, sparks flying, he suddenly snapped it upward in a vicious slash, severing the beast's claws clean off. The Lycan howled in fury, but Liam had already pivoted sideways, narrowly avoiding a thrust from another monster that came at him with terrifying speed.

"That was close." He muttered beneath his breath, a trickle of sweat cascading down his temple as his heart hammered in his chest.

"Look out, you fool!" Ray roared, his voice sharp with urgency as he spared Liam a glance mid-battle.

Hearing the warning, the eye-patched warrior spun around, but too late. A Lycan's claws ripped across his face, hurling his body backward with brutal force. Blood sprayed into the air as Liam crashed against the ground, the earth groaning beneath the impact.

"Damn it!" Ray cursed, his eyes flashing dangerously. Ki flared violently around his legs as he swung his foot forward with explosive force, hammering it into the abdomen of the beast before him. The Lycan's furry body was hurled several meters away, crashing with a heavy thud.

"Are you okay?!" Ray called out, leaping off the ground the very next second. His knee slammed viciously into another beast's jaw, snapping its head backward. Before the creature could recover, Ray's fists came crashing into its neck in rapid succession, the impact sending it tumbling across the dirt.

"Do I look okay to you?" Liam barked back angrily as he staggered up, his eye blazing with fury. The Lycan that had injured him charged forward again, claws gleaming.

In seconds, the monster was upon him, its claws slashing down. But Liam anticipated this. He rolled over, narrowly dodging the strike, his Ki surging to reinforce his battered body.

In a single burst of power, he shot up from the ground, his katana slicing with all his strength. The blade cleaved clean through the Lycan's neck, decapitating it in one decisive strike. Its body collapsed lifelessly as Liam landed with a grunt, his chest heaving.

"Weak." Ray scoffed mockingly, his tone laced with disdain as he squared off against the final Lycan.

He kicked the beast away with sheer force, sending it staggering. In the same instant, he leapt high, spinning sharply in mid-air before unleashing a devastating roundhouse kick. His heel smashed into the Lycan's neck, the impact lifting its massive body clean off the ground before hurling it away like a broken ragdoll.

The battlefield grew silent for a moment, filled only with the heavy breathing of the two warriors and the faint crackle of dust settling.