Equilibrium

The Wolf King's pupils contracted sharply. It clearly sensed that Phoebe's aura had already reached its level, and was even faintly surpassing it.

It was filled with astonishment, completely unable to understand how, in just the brief moment it had unleashed its full power, the woman before it had undergone such an earth-shattering change.

The only explanation was that she had been deliberately hiding her strength from the very beginning. Even if her true level wasn't higher than its own, it was absolutely on par.

Realizing it had been toyed with the entire time, a wave of monstrous rage instantly swept through its mind.

Fury completely consumed its last shred of sanity. The Wolf King let out a ferocious howl and lunged forward, pouncing straight at Phoebe.

Phoebe neither dodged nor avoided it, meeting the charge head-on with absolute defiance.

The slender silver figure and the massive, pitch-black demonic beast collided violently in the center of the ruins.

The Wolf King's right claw, wrapped in biting wind-element magic, swiped directly at Phoebe's head, hoping to end this struggle in a single strike.

Phoebe raised her axe to block. The face of the axe clashed violently with the sharp claws, and the resulting sparks illuminated the dark battlefield as the ground beneath her feet cracked and collapsed.

The immense force forced her posture to sink slightly, but she did not retreat even half a step.

With a swift flick of her wrist, she swept the blade of her axe upward along the Wolf King's forelimb.

The Wolf King hurriedly twisted its body to dodge, sweeping its left claw in a counterattack.

Phoebe had no time to pull back her axe to change her stance, so she could only block the heavy blow with the sturdy handle of her weapon.

The dull, ear-splitting thud of bone slamming against metal rang out, and the massive impact sent her skidding backward, her boots carving two deep grooves into the stony ground.

Yet she regained her balance in an instant and charged forward fiercely once more.

The Wolf King's thick tail swept out like a steel whip, carrying immense weight as it lashed violently.

Phoebe leaped into the air to dodge. The whistling tail-whip grazed the soles of her feet and smashed heavily into a boulder behind her, causing the solid rock to shatter and collapse.

Using her momentum, she landed firmly on the Wolf King's back, raising her heavy battleaxe high to strike down at its spine with all her might.

Agony surged through its body, and the Wolf King thrashed and rolled frantically, forcefully throwing her off its back.

Phoebe rolled as she hit the ground to disperse the impact. Dropping to one knee, she held her battleaxe horizontally in front of her, every muscle in her body tensed in a state of absolute vigilance.

The Wolf King seized the opportunity to pounce, its massive jaws opening wide as its sharp fangs clamped down.

Phoebe jammed the face of her axe firmly against the wolf's maw, letting its razor-sharp fangs gnaw at the metal blade in a continuous, ear-piercing screech of scraping metal.

Exerting force with both arms, she pushed the Wolf King's head away, then rose to her feet and brought her axe down hard onto its shoulder blade.

Hot blood spurted out, splattering all over her blood-stained cheeks.

The Wolf King retreated in pain, but in the next instant, it pounced forward again with an even deeper madness.

It completely abandoned all defense, every single attack savage to the extreme, with the sole purpose of tearing apart this human girl who had repeatedly wounded it.

Phoebe likewise cast aside all defensive stances, entering a desperate, life-for-life mode of combat where she traded blow for blow.

When the Wolf King swiped its claws, she would swing her axe to hack them off; when the Wolf King snapped its jaws to bite, she would thrust the handle of her axe straight into its throat.

New wounds continuously spread across her body.

The flesh on her left shoulder was torn open, a deep, bone-revealing gash was sliced into her right leg, and the blood trickling from her temple blurred her vision, yet her eyelids did not even quiver.

Her laughter grew increasingly hoarse and manic, stripped of all human warmth, leaving only the feral fanaticism and violence of a wild beast.

The last trace of gold in her eyes was completely extinguished, leaving only a pure, crimson glare as she stared at the Wolf King.

She no longer saw it as an equal opponent, but with the ultimate greed and predatory desire of a hunter eyeing its prey.

Bai Xuan stood quietly on the treetop, silently looking down at the brutal, silver-and-black clash below.

His ears were filled with the sounds of the axe blade splitting flesh and sharp claws tearing through fabric, mingled with the Wolf King's furious roars and Phoebe's manic laughter. Yet, he did not intervene.

With a heavy crash, the Wolf King gathered its strength and whipped its long tail, striking Phoebe hard across the waist.

Her slender body flew backward like a broken kite, slamming heavily into a decaying tree trunk, which snapped and collapsed under the impact.

She struggled to her feet from the debris of shattered wood, coughing up a mouthful of warm blood, but the grin on her lips only grew wider and more ferocious.

Dragging her heavy, blood-stained battleaxe, she charged at the Wolf King once more without a second thought.

With her messy silver hair fluttering wildly and her face covered in blood, she looked like a crimson warrior breaking free from the abyss.

The Wolf King's breathing was already heavy and ragged, its fur covered in axe wounds of varying depths.

The wound extending from its shoulder blade to its foreleg was the most lethal, dark red blood soaking its pitch-black mane and flowing continuously.

It could not understand why the human girl before it refused to fall.

It held an absolute advantage in level, strength, and speed, and every single one of its attacks was powerful enough to shatter stone and metal.

Yet this person only grew stronger the more she fought, refusing to fall despite her numerous injuries, like a war machine that knew no pain or fatigue.

“Roar—!”

The Wolf King threw its head back and let out a furious roar. The magic around its body surged once more, its mane standing on end like needles, and its eyes were completely flooded with blood-red color.

It completely discarded all combat techniques, wanting only to use the most primitive and violent strength of a beast to crush this troublesome lunatic.

Sensing the terrifying surge of her opponent's aura, the crimson in Phoebe's eyes burned even brighter. Licking the blood from the corner of her lips once more, she gripped her battleaxe, kicked off the ground, and charged resolutely.

At the exact same instant, the Wolf King also lunged forward with explosive, violent force.

The two figures collided violently, and the ground beneath them instantly exploded into a crater nearly a hundred meters wide.

Phoebe's battleaxe struck the Wolf King's shoulder with precision, while the Wolf King's claws simultaneously embedded themselves deep into her shoulder.

Neither side backed down, locked in a fight to the death.

Phoebe forcefully tore herself free from the claws piercing her flesh. Enduring the agonizing, tearing pain, she swung her axe with all her might, directly shattering the bones of the Wolf King's forelimb.

Howling in agony, the Wolf King collapsed to its knees, its remaining claw slamming violently into her chest.

Phoebe was sent flying several meters by the immense force. Rolling twice as she landed, she struggled to her feet using her battleaxe. Coughing up two mouthfuls of hot blood, she still laughed out loud maniacally.

With its broken forelimb, the Wolf King could no longer stand. It could only crawl on the ground, its remaining single eye locked onto the girl as she approached step by step.

Stepping along a trail of blood, Phoebe slowly walked up to the Wolf King and raised her blood-stained heavy battleaxe high.

The Wolf King had completely lost all ability to resist and slowly closed its eyes.

The battleaxe descended.

Bai Xuan leaped down from the treetop.

Phoebe stood quietly beside the Wolf King's corpse. Her battleaxe was embedded deep within its skull, her hands tightly gripping the handle, her body leaning forward slightly.

Her messy silver hair fell forward, obscuring most of her face.

Bai Xuan walked over slowly, only to see that the crimson, violent aura in her eyes had not yet faded. The wild, arrogant grin on her face was frozen, as if carved into her skin.

Yet her eyes were unfocused and hollow, having already lost all clarity.

“Phoebe,” Bai Xuan called softly.

Phoebe's body swayed slightly, her tightly clenched fingers slowly releasing their grip on the handle of her axe.

Bai Xuan stepped forward quickly, catching her swaying form and pulling the weakened girl into his embrace.

Her body was light, like a dry leaf. Her breathing was shallow and weak, and her heartbeat was rapid and erratic.

A golden light emerged from his hand, and the wounds on the girl's body began to heal at a rapid pace.