The great lightning wolf of rank V advanced with an almost deliberate slowness toward the city, as if enjoying every step. Several blue plasma spheres floated around it, vibrating with unstable energy and threatening to reduce everything in its path to ashes.
Lucas stood before him, his armor shattered, covered in dried blood and hardened mud. He tried to stay on his feet... but his legs trembled.
The monster's aura was overwhelming.
It wasn't just power.
It was a crushing presence.
He clenched his teeth until his jaw ached, forcing himself not to back down, even though every instinct in his body was screaming at him to run. To escape. To survive.
And then the beast looked at him.
That was enough.
All the fighting spirit he had mustered crumbled in an instant. A violent chill ran down his spine, while cold sweat drenched his back beneath his cracked armor.
He felt as if an icy claw were slowly closing around his neck.
It hadn't touched him.
