When the Wolf God's eyes opened, he realized with a jolt of dread that what he faced was not the gaze of an ordinary man. Before him were ey
When the Wolf God's eyes opened, he realized with a jolt of dread that what he faced was not the gaze of an ordinary man. Before him were eyes carved with impossibly dense patterns, radiating an inhuman coldness and divine authority.
"You made a mistake," Arakawa Zenkichi said calmly.
The Wolf God's heart lurched. Something was wrong—his body no longer obeyed him. His movements faltered as if invisible chains bound him, forcing him into a puppet's sway.
What is this? he screamed inwardly. Why can't I move?
He had always believed his spiritual arts to be among the strongest. He considered himself an apex predator, one who could not be so easily suppressed. By all logic, another practitioner of esoteric techniques should not have been able to dominate him outright. Yet now, in the presence of Zenkichi's gaze, he felt helpless, powerless, reduced to nothing more than prey.
"You are far too arrogant," Zenkichi continued, his voice calm but laced with finality.
The Wolf God had underestimated the Samsara Eye. He could not possibly comprehend its true terror without experiencing it firsthand. Among the pinnacle of spiritual arts, its might was unrivaled, and wielded by Zenkichi, its force was absolute.
The Wolf God had chosen to confront him directly in a battle of eyes, abandoning defense in hopes of crushing Zenkichi through sheer offense. But this was his gravest mistake—he had stepped into Zenkichi's strongest domain.
"Take my sword."
Frozen in place, the Wolf God could not react as Zenkichi advanced. Energy condensed swiftly in Zenkichi's hand, forming a radiant blade. Without hesitation, he swung it in a lethal arc aimed at severing the Wolf God's head.
"Poof!"
The sword cleaved into his neck, blood spraying violently. Yet Zenkichi's brow furrowed. His strike had not achieved the result he sought. The Wolf God's head remained attached, though his neck bore a deep, gruesome wound.
Zenkichi's eyes narrowed. "You should already be dead."
In that instant, the Wolf God roared, breaking free from the spiritual imprisonment through sheer force of will. His trembling hand touched his blood-soaked neck, the hot wetness igniting a fury unlike any he had ever known.
His expression twisted into rage, his pride shattered. To suffer such humiliation, to be wounded at the throat—it was intolerable. His eyes burned with divine light as he glared at Zenkichi with killing intent so fierce it seemed to pierce the heavens.
"You will pay for this!" the Wolf God bellowed, his voice shaking with wrath.
Zenkichi felt it at once—an ominous shift in the air, a pressure far heavier than before. Though outwardly the Wolf God's form appeared unchanged, a suffocating aura surged from him. It was a sense of crisis, sharper and deadlier than anything Zenkichi had felt in this battle so far.
And then, the Wolf God's power exploded—wild, unrestrained, a storm threatening to consume everything around him.