The impact sent a shockwave through the clearing. The beast didn't even get a chance to scream before its body exploded into fragments of flame and ice, scattering into the air like shattered glass.
The echo of the attack had barely faded when the ground beneath Max trembled violently. Dozens of glowing cracks appeared on the frozen and scorched earth. From those cracks, creatures began to emerge one after another—wolves cloaked in fire, serpents of molten rock, and avian beasts made of solid ice. The entire valley seemed to have come alive, as if responding to his presence.
"So, the monsters of this area reveal themselves," Max said, his voice low but steady.
One of the fire wolves leapt at him with a snarl, its mouth blazing with molten light. Max's figure blurred. A flash of blue lightning streaked across the sky, and in the next instant, the beast's head was gone—its body collapsing to the ground, cut cleanly in half.
