The Wolf King's pupils contracted sharply, a cold shiver of lingering fear washing over its heart.
It hardly dared to imagine what would have happened if it hadn't dodged that strike.
Extreme rage surged in its heart. Seizing the brief window of recovery after Phoebe's heavy cleave, it gathered cold, teal-green wind-element magic in its right claw.
Accompanied by a screeching howl that tore through the air, it swiped fiercely at the young girl's body.
It assumed that Bai Xuan, atop the tree behind her, would deploy another magical barrier. Yet, the expected golden barrier that blocked all attacks failed to appear.
Phoebe had no time to raise her axe to parry, and she was even less willing to abandon her weapon and retreat in unsightly defeat.
She could only grip the handle of her battleaxe with all her might, using the momentum of her charge to spin the weapon and completely hide her petite body behind the broad, hard face of the axe.
The Wolf King's sharp claws slammed violently into the handle of her battleaxe. The razor-sharp tips pierced through the edge of the wooden shaft and sliced open Phoebe's left arm, leaving a gruesome wound in their wake.
The violent impact sent Phoebe flying backward, but her hands remained locked onto the handle of her axe. Her body skidded several feet across the stony ground, leaving fine trails of blood in the dirt.
Warm blood continuously seeped from the wound on her left arm, dripping slowly from her fingertips to soak into the dry dirt beneath her feet, blooming into dark red stains.
Phoebe glanced down at her bleeding wound, but the curve of her lips only grew more wild and pronounced.
The remaining gold in her eyes faded completely, her pupils entirely swallowed by a hot, manic crimson.
She looked up to stare directly at the Wolf King, her eyes swirling with an almost mad obsession and an ultimate desire for battle, like erupting lava—hot and overbearing.
Licking the blood from the corner of her mouth, she let out a low, satisfied exhale from the depths of her throat.
The Wolf King stared intently at the silver-haired girl. Even though it held an absolute advantage in level and strength, a ridiculous illusion of gradual defeat inexplicably took root in its heart.
Phoebe launched another fierce charge.
This time, the speed of her swings increased dramatically. She deliberately held back some of her attacking force to preserve explosive power for follow-up strikes, completely avoiding the vulnerability of recovery frames that typically followed heavy weapon attacks.
With every bit of force she withheld, her swinging speed and the fluid transition between strikes surged.
Overlapping, sharp, and dense shadows of her axe sealed off all of the Wolf King's avenues of evasion, forcing it to dodge in a frantic rush.
The entire battle displayed a bizarre contrast.
A petite, silver-haired girl wielding a heavy battleaxe that far outweighed her was pressing forward step by step, every swing carrying lethal intent.
Meanwhile, the hulking, massive demonic Wolf King could only dodge passively and retreat continuously, completely losing the overwhelming presence of a vicious beast.
The high-intensity, continuous swinging rapidly drained Phoebe's stamina, and her movements gradually became sluggish and stiff.
Heavy pants continuously escaped her lips. Sweat from her forehead mixed with the blood and grime on her cheeks, dripping onto the stony ground and leaving faint crimson splatters.
The Wolf King keenly sensed her physical exhaustion. It immediately slowed its offensive, feigning maneuvers to deliberately bait Phoebe into committing to a full-force attack and exposing a fatal opening.
Phoebe swung her heavy axe with all her might but missed. Her posture instantly lost balance, causing her to stumble, while a fleeting look of panic flashed through her eyes.
This fleeting, subtle opening was instantly locked onto by the Wolf King.
The perfect opportunity to kill!
It pounced forward without hesitation, its sharp fangs locking onto Phoebe's injured left arm while simultaneously biting down hard on the handle of her battleaxe.
A sharp, ear-piercing screech of scraping metal erupted as the Wolf King's fangs clamped down on both the girl's flesh and her weapon.
Yet, the expected tearing of flesh did not occur.
The material of her battleaxe was incredibly hard, and Phoebe's physical resilience far exceeded that of an ordinary mortal body.
The Wolf King's frantic bite felt like gnawing on solid iron and hardwood, completely unable to inflict any severe damage.
A faint golden magical glow quietly enveloped Phoebe's entire body, sharing the same magical patterns as the sacred barrier that had defended against the wind blade earlier.
The Wolf King instantly realized it was a trap.
Phoebe had been faking her exhaustion from the very beginning, deliberately slowing her movements and exposing openings just to lure it into close-quarters combat.
It hurriedly released its grip to retreat, but it was already too late.
Phoebe clenched her right hand into a fist, a faint red ripple swirling over its surface as she gathered all her strength to smash it into the Wolf King's eye socket.
The Wolf King twisted its head desperately, barely avoiding the vital spot, but the heavy fist still slammed violently into the edge of its eye socket.
A dull crack of shattering bone suddenly rang out. The Wolf King's eye socket fractured, and its eyeball ruptured under the immense force, sending a torrent of dark red blood spurting out.
The extreme agony caused the massive wolf body to flip sideways on the spot, rolling several times across the ground.
Refusing to give her opponent any breathing room, Phoebe pursued rapidly while dragging her blood-stained battleaxe, leaving distinct bloody footprints on the stony ground with every step she took.
The Wolf King barely managed to stabilize its off-balance body. Seeing her approach, it opened its mouth and spat out a teal-green ripple of energy.
Phoebe's descending axe shadow suddenly froze, briefly bound by the wind magic.
In the blink of an eye, a crimson glow erupted from the face of the axe, forcefully breaking free from the magical restraint. Her offensive became even sharper and swifter than before.
The Wolf King dodged to the side in a hair-raising maneuver, but the axe blade still grazed its flank.
Its thick, demonic fur instantly split open into a gruesome wound. Flesh peeled back and blood gushed out, the bone-deep pain nearly causing it to howl in agony.
The Wolf King retreated rapidly, pulling back to a safe combat distance.
The fear swirling in its eyes was instantly swallowed by an ultimate, consuming rage.
It completely abandoned all probing attacks and tactical maneuvering, no longer holding back to guard against the white-robed mage atop the tree.
Throwing its head back, it let out a roar that shook the ruins. The wind magic around its body surged in waves as violent elemental energy exploded wildly, sweeping in all directions.
Its hulking wolf body suddenly expanded by a fraction, and its thick black mane stood on end like needles, looking as if it were clad in a layer of pitch-black armor.
Under the nourishment of its magic, its broken bones cracked back into place, and its ruptured eyeball reformed once more, slowly turning in its socket as it locked onto the enemy before it.
Atop the tree, Bai Xuan slowly stood up, a trace of surprise flashing in his eyes: “A second phase?”
He looked down at Phoebe, who was locked in combat below: “Phoebe, let loose and go all out.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he raised his hand and waved his staff. Two beams of pure, sacred golden light shot through the air, merging completely into Phoebe's body.
The gruesome wound on her left arm healed at a visible rate, scabbing over and peeling away to reveal smooth, pristine skin once more.
Power continuously welled up within her, and her ragged breathing quickly stabilized and calmed.
Phoebe gave a low murmur of assent. An invisible current of air lifted her messy silver hair, letting it flutter wildly in the wind.
Fine crackles of blue lightning snaked along her battleaxe and enveloped her entire body, crackling sharply between the strands of her hair.
Crimson battle aura erupted vigorously from her body, merging completely with the bloody color in her eyes.
At this moment, she resembled a combat Valkyrie descending upon a ruined battlefield—sharp, domineering, and completely inviolable.
Rate on N.U.
