My Devourer System: Rise of the Bastard Son

The wolves reaped many lives after their leader's howl debilitated the humans. Lucen watched the simple soldiers getting ripped apart by claws, bodies and limbs cast through the air in a bloody shower.

Lucen danced around a Stalker wolf and thanked Helie for whatever spell she used to clear their minds. Using [Sinking Sand], he was able to slow down the wolf and deal damage, but Stalkers were too powerful.

He swung his body away as a claw ripped through the air, and rolled away when the wolf shot forward for a sudden snap.

It was more powerful than usual. He barely had any time to plant bone shards. Lucen cursed and simply threw five on the ground. They expanded into bone spears instantly and pierced the wolf's legs. But most missed, and the bones broke trying to pierce the powerful hide.

Lucen circled back to his group in that time and found Helie fully awake.

"Stalker incoming!"

They all jumped up and gripped their weapons tighter. The wolf barreled towards them, but with a Fiend wolf behind him, Lucen suddenly felt it was a bit small.

The beast was, of course, almost three meters tall on all fours. But it wasn't ready for this.

Hither's fireball soared up into the air, the wolf slowed down to watch where it would land.

But Hither wasn't aiming for this wolf; he never fired a spell too close to the team. Rather, it was Kon's [Gasflame] that it should worry about.

Helie's whip soared towards it, and the wolf dodged like a blur. But the whip slapped against itself, and sparks flew.

The air around the wolf exploded. Lucen and Kon closed in before the dust settled. He aimed his spear and let go, relying on mana sense to see the wolf through the smoke.

A white bolt of light shot from his hand, and blasted through the smoke, straight into the wolf's neck. Lucen missed the artery he was aiming for.

The wolf shot from the smoke, howling furiously, and tried clawing at Lucen. He dodged, and used a sink hole to hold the wolf down as Kon's sword slashed into its back legs.

The wolf howled, and spun to snap at Kon, but he was already retreating. It tried chasing but stumbled. Kon had cut its tendons just a little.

Lucen repositioned himself and called his spear back at an angle. It turned back into a beam of light and tore the wolf's flesh as it soared back to him. He got the artery, and blood sputtered from the wolf like a broken pipe.

But that wasn't enough to kill a Bull wolf; given enough time, the bleeding would stop. Now, however, it wobbled and slowed down.

Helie's whip sang through the air and slashed over the wolf's eyes, briefly blinding it.

Lucen was already moving. Enchanting his spear with three breaths, using the stored energy of [Surging Flames], and partially activating his spear's [Starfall] ability to shoot forward.

The wind roared in his head as his body tore through space, and his feet landed on the rough, red fur of the Bull wolf. He stabbed his spear into the space between its skull and spine, accurately hitting his target this time.

He leapt off the wolf as it tried snapping at him, and Helie's whip wrapped around his waist and pulled him to safety while he fully activated [StarFall].

The air was split with a momentous crack, and the wolf lurched for a moment, and then fell to the blood-soaked earth.

Lucen landed next to Helie, who silently high-fived him, and Elle put up a shield as Kon also returned, so they could quickly talk.

"What next?" Hither asked, eyes flicking around. "Do we help Brock?"

"I'm not letting Brock die," Elle insisted.

"That's a High-rank, Elle," Kon muttered, "We'll just slow him down"

"We can all keep our distance and attack. Elle keeps watch and reserves the shield for us," Helie commanded, "Lucen, are we doing this?"

Lucen's eyes were fixed on the High-rank wolf. "Take the shield down. Brock is getting pushed back."

Elle's shield disappeared, and they erupted immediately. Lucen pushed his sore lungs and enchanted his spear with five breaths, the most he could conjure for now.

Brock was using the two rock hands to try and slow down the wolf, but a simple slash decimated the stone, like it was made of playdough. The impact of between the claw and stone shook Lucen's bones. Even [Traveller's Aid] struggled to keep his feet on the earth.

The claw blasted past the stone and towards Brock, who raised his glowing shield and clenched his teeth.

Lucen yelled and threw Barth's treasure spear. His mana surged, not only to save Brock, but also stirred by the dark hunger for the wolf's power in his belly.

The spear turned into a beam of silver light moments later. The air around him boomed, and he was thrown back by its force.

The silver beam slammed into the High-rank's claw and pushed it away from Brock. The claw shattered the earth as it landed beside Brock, and Lucen paled when he saw the damage the spear did.

It barely sank into the wolf's wrist, which was the size of a carriage, and didn't even draw much blood as it returned to his hand.

Its durability was unbelievable. That was more mana than he had ever used in a single attack, and it barely grazed it.

Brock turned back, eyes wide. "Get back! You'll die!"

"You will too," Lucen said simply. The wolf form rose over them like a dark cloud. "Then we'll join you shortly."

"Then run, children—"

"Knights don't run from danger when their allies are behind them," Lucen quoted, "isn't that the reason you gave us for staying in Castaway?"

Brock clicked his tongue and focused on the wolf. "Shouldn't have let you hear that. Get behind it and try to take out the legs. Don't die, boy, or I'll curse you."

"Right back at you."