My Devourer System: Rise of the Bastard Son

The tremors running over the ground slowly withered. The rushing, colossal bodies of the red wolves began to diminish. It was still pure chaos, but Lucen could feel it dying with the Bull wolves.

Bolts of fire and lightning soared over them like shooting stars and crashed into the earth in a blinding explosion. Farrowmounts hawked the battlefield, their riders flinging nets down and peppering wolves with arrows.

The ground was wet with blood. The burnt field's scent of smoke was replaced with the smell of iron and beasts, tight and suffocatingly hot.

Lucen's world felt duller as his mana grew lower. But he still needed more kills. The wolves were too powerful to just run up to and attack.

He glanced at Elle, and back at the Bull wolf that was just done ripping a man's head from his shoulders.

"You can make holes in your shield, right?"

Elle turned pale. "Yes, but that place will be weakened, and the shield will break faster."

"I only need a second to aim."

"I can't!" she shook her head violently. "If I don't control it well, the shield will collapse, and you'll—"

Lucen grabbed her shoulders and forced her to look at him, while also sending worried glances at the wolf behind them. Her breath was shaky, her eyes grew more frantic as she pulled at her brown hair.

"We kill it now or it kills us," he said simply. "Even if we survive this, if you never kill the wolf, you'll always be scared of it. It's now or never."

He didn't give her time to argue, turning and charging at the Bull wolf behind them. The beast snarled, bounding across to him in a split second. Its claws raked toward him, but he rolled under them.

It was a Fledgling, but its power was still astonishing. Its claws gouged the earth with each swipe, and the sound of its jaws clamping reminded Lucen of gunshots.

He jumped over one of the terrifying snaps and used the built-up force of [Surging Flames] to spin in the air. His spear cut a wide silver arc and tore open the back of the wolf's neck.

The wound felt too shallow, and the beast ignored the pain and bucked its feet as he landed. He raised his spear to block and braced himself for the force, but it never came.

A crystal-blue shield of water rippled in front of him, dissipating the force to the ground. Elle's hands were fidgeting with a bow as she tried to notch an arrow.

Lucen silently thanked her, and the enraged wolf jumped against the shield, mouth open, drooling as it gnawed at the water.

"Open just enough for my spear to enter its mouth!" Lucen shouted. He would blast the spear up its gullet.

Elle abandoned the bow and stretched out her hand, narrowing her eyes as she focused. A small hole opened in the shield.

But then it expanded too rapidly, and the shield collapsed as its form was compromised. The wolf pushed through as the water disappeared into thin air.

It brought its two claws down on Lucen, but he was ready, and zipped away.

The wolf pursued madly, but its front paws sank into one of Lucen's [Sinking Sand] traps. He turned to Elle, whose face was incredibly pale, and shouted.

"Don't worry about it, I can take care of myself. One more time."

They failed two more times. But Lucen could see that if they perfected this strategy, it would get them so many kills. The wolves' underbellies had much less fur, and he could see their navels.

"We can do this!" he encouraged. "We just need—"

Lucen's eyes widened. There was a wolf prowling behind her.

The next second he was flying toward her. She seemed to understand what was happening and ran to him. He enchanted his spear with three breaths, and the wolf lowered its head, charging.

Lucen's spear slammed into the iron skull of the beast. The air burst like a hot balloon, and they were both forced back.

Elle casted two shields in different directions to slow down the wolves.

They were surrounded, and soon the wolves would try going around the shields.

"It's now or never!" Lucen shouted.

Elle's face was covered in sweat and dust. Her blue eyes shuddered as she watched the wolves. Her two arms shot toward both directions, and her eyes stilled.

A hole appeared in the shield—a bit too small and uneven—but the wolf's mouth widened around it, its tongue and saliva pouring through.

Lucen's spear glowed and he fully activated it. A silver beam shot from his hand and had no trouble threading the needle. It pierced through the small hole, eviscerating the wolf's tongue, and blasted its head backward as it slammed into its skull.

Lucen spun, grabbing Elle, and jumped away as both her shields collapsed. She did a good job maintaining one, but his mana sense saw the collapse coming.

He dropped her off, and opened his palm as the silver streak of light landed, turning back into his spear.

"Sorry about that, but one more time!" he quickly said.

Elle's shield popped up just in time. The beast slammed into the shield with its horns. The crystal water quivered but held its shape. It stood on its hind legs and slammed into the shield a couple more times.

Elle stretched out her hand weakly and opened a hole in the shield just below the wolf's chest.

Smart girl. He quickly enchanted his spear with two breaths and released it. The silver beam stabbed into the wolf's navel, throwing it back, but was unable to pierce through.

No problem. He flexed his fingers, and the spear returned, pulling the wolf's intestines with it. Blood scattered through the air, and the spear slammed back into his hands, covered in blood and pink flesh.

That's four. It was probably the best he could do today. His mana was almost completely gone, and Elle looked spent mentally from constantly summoning the runes for the water shield.

The battle was almost over anyway. Multiple men were now ganging up on single wolves, pikes riddling the beasts with holes. Others picked up the mangled bodies of their comrades and returned to the backline to try and save them.

Lucen's eyes crossed over the field. Koril fought amongst a sea of almost thirty hungry wolves. In front of him, a wolf so colossal that Lucen could bet it was the Fiend was struggling to keep up.

Koril's untamed black hair and beard whipped in the wind as his gigantic sword clashed with the Fiend's paw—its claws so huge they covered half his body.

But once the paw met the sword, it was blown away viciously, and an explosive bang split the air.

The wolf whimpered, retreating. Other wolves surged toward Koril—a wave of red fur and claws.

Eighteen intricately detailed golden disks appeared between Koril and the hungry wolves.

The wolves slammed into the disks and bounced off like they were weightless. It was like jumping against a trampoline; the wolf was sent flying.

Lucen's eyes then caught Heimar streaking through the air. His sword flashed several times, and the wolves fell to the earth in pieces.

Warren was in the shadows beneath him, clearing space for Heimar to land. He moved so slowly, but it felt like Lucen's mind was lagging. He could see Warren move, slash, pivot—he could see everything clearly. But the wolves, moving so quickly their bodies blurred, all fell to his blade.

The High-rank wolf charged at Koril once more, each step shaking the earth. Koril raised his sword over his head and took a deep breath.

Lucen truly felt like he was running mad after what happened next.

Warren ran in, what seemed like slow motion—but got in front of Koril before the wolf.

Meanwhile, the Fiend wolf was so fast Lucen could barely see it.

But Warren got there first.

Warren stretched out his hand, and glassy golden chains shot forward, wrapping themselves tightly around the High-rank. The chains shuddered and cracked under the wolf's harrowing strength, but held long enough for Koril's spell to activate.

Koril's already huge greatsword extended in size, growing so massive that it could be seen from all sides of the battlefield. Koril groaned and brought the sword down on the sealed beast.

Lucen thought the whole field would collapse under the might of Koril's blade. The shockwave blew him off his feet, and the apocalyptic sound of the earth shattering deafened him.

When the world stopped shaking, Lucen got up, warily watching the remaining Bull wolves flee as their leader was split in half.

The earth around Koril was utterly ruined. Great spikes of stone had risen from the earth, and the wolf's body was more smashed like a rotten apple than sliced in half.

Koril watched the wolves retreat for a moment, then he raised his sword into the air. The field shook once more with the roars of men, and Lucen joined them, raising his sword and screaming at the fleeing enemy.