Elysia landed with a heavy thud, snow scattering beneath her boots. The impact cracked the hot dust beneath her feet, sending a faint echo through the field. Now standing face-to-face with the creature, she looked impossibly small before it, a lone figure dwarfed by the monstrous Alpha Wolf towering above her.
The Alpha loomed silently, its mist-like fur rippling under the sunlight like waves of liquid smoke. Each breath it exhaled shimmered with hot daylight, distorting the air around it. It did not growl, nor did it strike. To the beast, this human woman posed no threat.
But Elysia stood her ground, both hands gripping the black chains that coiled around her arms. The Red Reaper spun at the other end, its blade humming with a faint, crimson glow that painted fleeting streaks across the field.
For a heartbeat, neither moved. The mountain wind howled between them, scattering ashes of hot dust. And since she stood in front of the wall's protective barrier, the Alpha didn't try his mental attacks on her. Because deep down, he was thinking of her as no threat at all.
Then, without warning, the Alpha lunged. The ground trembled under its weight as its claws, long, silver, and razor-sharp, came crashing down toward her with blinding speed.
Elysia's lips curved faintly."All that power has blinded you, I see," she said coldly. "But if there's one thing I've learned… It's to never underestimate an opponent, no matter the difference in size or strength."
She flipped backward, her chain trailing through the air like a streak of red lightning. With a sharp flick of her wrist, she hurled the Red Reaper straight at the beast's descending claws. The spinning blade shrieked like a storm, the sound cutting through the mist with violent beauty.
The Alpha expected to deflect it easily, but he was wrong.
The moment metal met flesh, the chain's momentum tore through bone and sinew with a wet, slicing sound that echoed like thunder in still air. The right claw fell away, black ichor spraying into the snow, sizzling as it touched the ground.
The creature let out a guttural roar that shook the air. Its eyes, glowing faintly beneath the haze, blazed with pain and disbelief.
Elysia landed lightly a few paces away, the chain coiling once more around her arm. She began spinning the Reaper again, its rhythm steady and merciless. The fire of her rage had cooled, now replaced by something colder, sharper, a focus that bordered on divine fury.
"What's wrong?" she taunted, her voice echoing faintly. "Not enjoying yourself anymore? Where's that arrogance you had when you tried to hurt my team?"
No one expected that kind of power from her. She managed to slice the arm with such ease that there was no resistance to the blade. Seeing the shocked look on the face of the Alpha, who was now groaning in pain, she didn't want to give him any time to think.
Without hesitation, she leapt again, this time driving the Reaper upward in a brutal arc. The blade howled as it cut through the air, striking the Alpha from abdomen to neck in one clean motion. Flesh split open. Bone cracked. A spray of black mist scattered like rain.
"Did you think I'd let you heal?" she hissed. She could already see the grey mist stirring around the wound, trying to mend it. "Not this time."
For the first time, fear flickered in the creature's eyes. Both of her strikes had landed cleanly, each one faster than it could react. The Alpha realized this was not a prey; instead, it was a predator, and he was the prey.
He tried to howl, but Elysia moved first. She sprinted forward, leaping high into the air. Spinning mid-flight, she hurled the Reaper again, the chain burning crimson against the night sky.
"What's wrong?" she shouted. "Going to summon your little minions again? Why don't you face me yourself?"
The Alpha snarled, retreating with a heavy bound, clutching its mutilated limb. Ichor dripped from its wound, staining the ground black.
But before she could press her attack, the beast raised its head and howled. A chilling sound, like thunder cracking through mist, shaking the heavens themselves.
In response, the fog thickened… and from within its folds, nine smaller wolves began to materialize once again, their forms rising one after another from the swirling grey. Their eyes glowed with the same cold hunger.
Seeing the smaller wolves appear again, Elysia didn't panic, even though she was now facing ten of them.
Two seconds late, she thought bitterly. Because of those two seconds, it managed to summon its subordinates. I need to focus on speed and precision this time.
Now that the smaller ones had been summoned, the Alpha had created distance between itself and Elysia. With a low growl, it commanded the mist to envelop its body once more, the haze swirling like a living armor.
"Do you think these minions can save you from me?" Elysia raised her Reaper, aiming directly with her right hand while keeping her grip firm on the black chains. But the Alpha only needed a few seconds to heal itself.
The gray mist behind the Alpha dissipated, revealing its seamless, fully healed body. The half-severed claw had reattached perfectly, and the fury in its eyes burned even brighter. Now that the Alpha had summoned all of its subordinates and healed its wound, it regained its lost confidence once again. And Elysia, after seeing the same arrogant look in the eyes of the wolf, once again smiled softly, unshaken.
"If you think I'm alone," Elysia said coolly, "then you've forgotten something."
A loud blast echoed from behind the wall. A smaller wolf fell to the ground, black blood gushing from its shattered skull.
"You see," she continued, her voice sharp, "the defense mechanism is back online. So no matter how many minions you summon, they're useless to you now."
With that, Elysia dashed toward the Alpha, ignoring the smaller wolves as the massive guns mounted on the walls opened fire, tearing through the pack. Each explosion thundered across the field; the air reeked of blood and smoke.
Seeing her charge, the wolves howled and rushed forward, uncaring for their own safety.
Elysia sprinted straight toward the Alpha, who stood behind its lesser kin. She leapt again, her shadow slicing through the fog as the Red Reaper howled around her wrist.as a wolf lunged from below. Twisting midair, she spun gracefully and landed on the ground, continuing her advance. Another wolf pounced, but she slid low, and at the same time, a cannon round from the wall struck its head mid-leap, obliterating it in an instant.
Elysia continued her sprint, the metallic scent of blood thick in her throat, the roars echoing across the walls. Her boots slid through the ash-coated ground, each step scattering sparks from the burning debris.
It's useless unless I kill the big one.Sprinting toward the Alpha, she caught a glimpse of the mist enveloping a smaller wolf's head, healing it the moment the cannon struck.
Ignore them all and go for the Alpha, she thought, dodging claws and fangs with calculated precision.
But three wolves attacked from three directions at once, forcing her into a blur of motion. Seeing them converge, Elysia leapt and spun around her axis, the Reaper whirling with her. Each sweep met flesh; all three wolves fell, their bodies cleaved cleanly, faces split by vertical furrows.
Elysia kept her momentum, the Reaper a crimson blur in her hands as she danced through the onslaught, a storm in human form. Every movement was seamless; every strike, a piece of art. The snow was painted black beneath her boots.
After she felled the last of the smaller wolves, the wall's cannons continued to roar, tearing through the remnants of the pack. When the smoke cleared, only Elysia and the Alpha stood facing one another once more.
This time, the Alpha ignored the dying smaller wolves and turned its full attention on her; it made no effort to heal them.
"There is no escape for you. I can't let you live after what you have done," Elysia said, coming face to face once again as it snarled, eyes narrowed. The beast also knew now it could do little against her; the weapon she wielded was merciless and precise.
Instead of attacking her, it tried to flee, but Elysia was faster. She hurled the black chain toward its rear claw; it wrapped around the leg and yanked, toppling the Alpha mid-stride. It stumbled through the air and crashed to the ground, dirt exploding around it.
"Time for you to face your absolute justice."As the Alpha hit the ground, Elysia didn't give it a second to recover.
She continued to spin, throwing the Reaper at the beast in a relentless cascade, each cast shearing and slicing away another section of its body. Her display was a terrifying ballet of destruction. She stood at a distance, yet moved constantly, flipping and spinning midair while the Reaper carved through flesh and bone from abdomen to neck.
Each swing wasn't just to kill; it was vengeance, justice, and the promise she made to those already lost. Her arms ached from the Reaper's weight, but she refused to slow down. Pain could wait; the monster couldn't.
In that moment, she was both beauty and death itself.
After taking a storm of blows, the Alpha realized its life hung by a thread. It needed time, any delay, to escape. It turned its bloodshot eyes toward her, but to its shock, her eyes were closed. Yet there was no pause, no hesitation in her attacks.
"I knew you would do that," she whispered, then halted mid-motion, the Reaper pausing in her grip. "But you are not the only one with a surprise." She planted her feet and ceased her assault.
The Alpha was missing both front claws, its body torn with a dozen wounds. The defense mechanism above the walls had fallen silent for a breath.
"I will not kill you with the borrowed power of creatures like you. If you think the purpose of creatures like you is to wipe out humanity, then you are mistaken, because the greatest monsters on this planet are none other than us humans.
Elysia moved both hands in a circular motion."
There is no deadlier creature than humankind. She said while making a fist on one hand.
At first, nothing happened, but then, the space around the Alpha's neck began to twist. The creature, attempting to heal, suddenly felt an invisible noose constricting.
The air itself folded inward, collapsing with unnatural pressure. The Alpha thrashed, clawing at nothing, its howls choked as reality bent around it. The warped space shrank into a single, trembling dot, and with it, the Alpha's head vanished.
"Rot in hell, as you will not be remembered by anyone, you monster."
Elysia lowered her hands as the Alpha's head reappeared, tumbling from a tear in space before striking the ground with a wet thud. Black blood gushed from the neck in violent bursts, staining the snow in dark rivers.
As silence settled, Elysia turned toward the wall. Rylan and Liora stood there, motionless, their faces pale and stunned, watching the woman who had just slain a legend.