Langtian twisted, every nerve in his body screamed, every muscle burned.
He ducked beneath the beast's snapping jaws, feeling the heat of its breath graze his cheek, fangs passing within inches of tearing through his neck.
As he slid under its hulking frame, he roared, dragging his sword in a savage arc across the exposed flesh of its belly.
This time, he poured a large amount of remaining spiritual energy into the blade.
"RAAAAGHHH!!"
SLASH!
A wet, tearing sound rang out.
Black blood exploded from the beast's stomach, hot and foul. It sprayed across Langtian's face, soaking his chest.
He dropped to one knee, gasping, barely able to breathe.
His vision swam.
His arms were shaking.
He could feel his body breaking down.
But then, he looked up.
And horror bloomed in his chest.
The wolf's guts were spilling out, a tangled mess of steaming organs trailing behind it…
And yet, it kept moving.
It didn't stumble.
It didn't falter.
It didn't even flinch!
No.
It got faster!
Its eyes flared like twin suns of pure hatred.
It snarled, blood and foam bubbling between its teeth. The muscles in its shoulders rippled with unnatural strength.
And then, it charged again.
Faster than before.
Faster than anything that size should be able to move!
The ground shook with every step.
Langtian tried to dodge, he forced his legs to move—
But "AGHH!"
A bolt of pain shot up his spine as his battered leg buckled beneath him.
"FUCK!"
The beast was almost on him.
No space left.
No time.
Desperation surged through his chest.
He raised his sword—
CLANG!!
Steel met bone—
Then—
SNAP!!!
The blade shattered.
The wolf's jaws crushed it like dried wood, sending shards flying.
And then—
WHAM!!!
It slammed into him, full force.
Langtian was thrown backward, his spine cracking against the cold stone. The air was knocked from his lungs in one brutal blast.
"GHHHK—!"
Blood spilled from his mouth.
And then, the weight of the beast pressed onto him.
He let out a hoarse cry, blood bubbling on his lips.
The beast loomed over him now, towering, bloody and snarling.
Its breath was hot and rancid, its saliva dripping in thick strands onto Langtian's face.
Langtian struggled, pinned.
The wolf's fangs opened wide—
"RAAAHHHH!!"
It was trying to bite, to crush his skull!
Langtian reacted on pure instinct.
He caught the wolf's massive jaws with both hands, with one gripping the upper, the other bracing the lower. Its fangs snapped like guillotine blades, and Langtian's arms trembled violently as he held them apart.
"Ghhkk—!"
His muscles tore.
His elbows buckled.
His bones creaked under the crushing force.
Hot, fetid breath blasted into his face, thick as rotting meat.
Foaming saliva spewed across his cheeks, into his eyes, soaking his robes in sour, stinking slime. The stink made him retch.
The beast thrashed, snarling, its head jerking wildly, trying to break free, trying to bite through his skull, but Langtian held on, fingers digging into the wolf's sharp teeth and gum, blood slipping between his knuckles.
"No…" he snarled, veins bulging in his neck.
"I won't die here!!"
With a desperate roar, he twisted his hips and kicked up—
SLAM!
His boot crashed beneath the wolf's lower jaw, jamming its mouth open just inches from his face. Its jaws snapped helplessly, teeth slamming shut on air.
Now, he had freed.his arms
He reached out, fingers scraping across the stone ground—
Searching.
Scrambling.
Bleeding.
Until—
There!
He felt it, the broken hilt of his shattered sword.
His hand closed around it. Then without hesitation, Langtian snatched it up—
And jammed the blade into the wolf's throat!
STAB!!
The beast let out a choking gurgle. Black blood gushed out, hot and stinking.
STAB!
STAB!!
STAB!!!
Langtian roared, plunging the jagged steel again and again into its throat, pouring the last remnants of his spiritual energy into each savage thrust.
Blood sprayed like a fountain. It coated his face. Flooded his chest. Soaked the ground beneath him.
The wolf howled, spasming, its limbs thrashing like it was being electrocuted. Claws gouged stone. Muscles twitched violently. But it couldn't shake him off.
Langtian didn't stop.
This was no longer a fight.
It was a butchering, a battle of rage, of will, of raw survival!
"DIE!!!" he bellowed.
With a final, maddened cry, he drove the jagged blade up, right through the bottom of its mouth!
Up through its tongue!
Into the roof of its skull1
CRACK!!!
Something snapped.
The beast's eyes widened, then went still.
Its body gave one last violent jerk, and then collapsed on top of him, like a falling boulder.
The weight crushed the air from his lungs.
And then, for a long moment, there was only silence.
Only the sound of Langtian's ragged, wet gasps beneath the blood-soaked corpse.
***
Now…
Langtian lay there beneath the beast's massive corpse, gasping for air. His entire body ached—bones screaming, muscles torn, blood soaking through his robes in sticky patches.
The stone beneath him was slick with black blood. His chest rose and fell in ragged bursts. His arms trembled, barely able to move.
And yet…
"Hah… Haha… HAHAHA!"
He laughed, loud and wild, like a madman drunk on pain and victory.
"I… I did it…" he gasped, eyes wide and gleaming. "I actually did it… I fucking killed a Rank 3 demonic beast!"
But then…
Something shift in the dark, the slightest sound.
Langtian froze.
Still pinned beneath the beast's weight, he slowly turned his head, and what he saw next made his heart nearly stopped.
"...No…"
From the edge of the mist, something moved. A single pair of glowing red eyes blinked open in the darkness.
Then another.
And another.
Three… four… five…
Five pairs of crimson eyes staring directly at him through the gloom.
And then, they stepped forward.
More wolves. Each one equally monstrous, coated in black fur and soaked in demonic mist, their body all mutated just like the beast Langtian had just defeated.
Five more Rank 3 demonic wolves.
Langtian's throat tightened, and a cold, sinking dread spilled into his chest like ice water.
"Fuck…"