No words marked the start of the fight; Seraline simply moved first. Holding her stance, her body became utterly still. Then, with a barely perceptible shift of her foot against the ground, she vanished, leaving a shockwave in her place. The Flame Wolf reacted instantly, its head snapping to the right. As a mana beast, every function of its body was either powered or replaced by some form of natural magic, including its keen senses.

It swiped at the ground just meters from where it stood. In the next instant, Seraline reappeared directly in the path of its claws. Instinct took over before her mind even registered the danger. She pivoted to face the attack, raising her leg at the last possible moment to absorb the impact, and kicked off the Flame Wolf’s right paw. The combined force of its attack and her jump launched her into the air, while a sharp, painful pressure dug into the Wolf's paw.

It let out a low growl, glancing at the source of the pain.

Seraline’s Weapon Unity infused her aura with what she considered to be the conceptual properties of a spear—not a temporary effect like an aura style but a semi-permanent transformation. Even a simple kick held the piercing force of a spear, evident in the cracked hole now visible in the stone-like fur covering the Flame Wolf’s paw, luminescent blood dripping from the opening.

She was a living spear that could pierce through anything.

Flipping through the air, she landed smoothly as the Flame Wolf slammed its injured paw into the ground, melting and cracking it in frustration as it turned toward her. Like before, its body tensed up as flames flared across its back, forming a dozen fiery spikes that launched into the air before locking onto her. Seraline’s gaze remained calm as she watched their movements, her expression unchanging. In Weapon Unity, her mind entered a sort of forced state of perfect clarity.

As the first spike neared her, she backstepped at blinding speed. The flaming projectile struck the earth where she’d stood moments before, erupting into a funnel of flame that had enough force to upheave the ground. She continued with the same strategy for each incoming spike, her figure flashing across the ground as more funnels of fire exploded one after another, always a breath behind her. But as she dodged the last spike, a sudden shift caught her senses. Her sixth sense and her natural instincts both registered a massive presence behind one of the raging pillars of fire that was still burning.

Though she couldn’t see through the flames, she didn’t need to. The pillar was forcefully dispersed a moment later, revealing a massive wall of molten rock flying straight at her.

A distraction.

Realizing it instantly, Seraline ignored the molten rocks. As massive as they were, they lacked any form of mana and wouldn't be able to harm her through her aura. Instead, she shifted her attention behind her. The back of the neck—the weak point any predator would strike. And just as she predicted, something was coming for her. But it wasn’t the Flame Wolf.

It was a massive fireball, at least ten meters wide, tearing through the ground as it raced toward her. The sheer heat wasn’t just melting the earth; it was gouging out deep trails in the rock, and it moved fast—almost breaking the sound barrier.

She had noticed it too late, and it was too big and close to dodge, especially if it exploded, so Seraline made a split-second decision. She charged straight at it, spear aimed directly at its center.

There was no need to thrust—her Weapon Unity handled that. It was like watching a balloon collide with a needle. As soon as the spear touched the fireball, it bent inward, almost as if it were a physical ball rather than a searing chemical reaction. Then, like any balloon meeting something sharp, it burst, expanding outward in all directions as a tunnel-like hole ripped through the center.

But instead of a view of the smoky canopy of the forest appearing on the other side, she saw the Flame Wolf. She hadn’t noticed when it moved there, but it was charging even faster than the fireball had been. Without using teeth or claws, it rammed her with its head. Seraline reacted instantly, switching to defense. Raising her spear, she braced for the impact. A powerful shock rippled through her as they collided, sending her crashing into the ground. The force of the Flame Wolf’s tackle buried her beneath the earth. Her aura struck back, damaging the wolf as they made contact. But this exchange revealed the core weakness of Weapon Unity—and aura in general.

Against anything less fundamental than itself, aura and magic were seemingly unstoppable and irresistible forces, like steel against wood. The qualitative difference made them superior. But when faced with something equal in strength, the flaws surfaced. The same was true for Seraline's aura. The idealized spear concept—piercing through anything—was dulled when met with an aura or will as sharp as hers or magic strong enough to resist.

And that’s exactly what a mana beast’s body was—living magic.

Even as they pushed against each other, Seraline could feel herself losing ground. The Flame Wolf’s weight bore down on her, and she felt her aura faltering, letting a dull, throbbing pain seep into her body as her organs were squeezed by her ribs. But even in that crushing moment, her mind remained sharp. She could taste blood in her mouth, but it didn’t cloud her thoughts. The earth beneath her was softening and melting as she was dragged through it, and that gave her an opportunity. Like a car hitting a ramp, she angled her spear, using the ground as leverage, and pressed against the lower half of it, redirecting the Flame Wolf’s momentum.

Just as she planned, the force pressing her into the earth lessened as the Flame Wolf’s body began to tilt forward. Every muscle in her body tensed as she pushed harder. The Flame Wolf let out a cry as it was flipped onto its back, slamming into the ground with a bone-rattling crash, as if she’d tossed it with a hip throw.

For a moment, everything went silent. Still lying in the ditch the Flame Wolf had carved out with its charge, Seraline started to stand but was met with a sharp pain shooting through her chest, causing her to stumble. One of her ribs was fractured. Handling something that powerful and magical in nature had been too much for her aura defenses, allowing some of the force to break through and damage her body. But she couldn’t stay down. She needed to get up before the Flame Wolf did.

Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to move through the pain.

At the same time, the Flame Wolf kicked its legs, flipping onto its feet in one smooth motion. Unlike Seraline, it hadn’t taken any major damage and was up in an instant.

Flames flared from its mouth as it locked its gaze on her. The moment it opened its mouth, Seraline moved, vanishing as it unleashed a concentrated beam of heat. The blast tore through the earth, burning a hole straight down. But even as Seraline reappeared a few dozen meters away, something felt off. The Flame Wolf wasn’t stopping. In fact, the beam was growing more intense, condensing into an even finer point, and a high-pitched sound filled the air.

Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

That's when Seraline felt it.

Looking down, Seraline felt the ground beneath her feet rapidly heating, even through her shoes. She raised her head, scanning her surroundings as the ground bulged in random spots, reaching a critical point. Like plastic stretched too far, the bulges exploded one by one, sending pillars of fire mixed with lava shooting into the sky as the earth trembled violently.

Seraline quickly backstepped, narrowly avoiding an eruption just a meter away. She could feel it—the lava wasn’t just hot; it had become magical, infused with the Flame Wolf’s mana. Now she had to dodge not only the fire but the massive blobs of lava raining down like meteors. Her blurred figure moved like a snake, weaving through the searing columns of heat, but she was moving noticeably slower than usual. Her vision turned into a blur of oranges and reds as the intense heat distorted the air around her.

Normally, a knight could rely on their other senses when sight failed them. But right now, Seraline couldn’t hear anything but the roaring flames, couldn’t feel anything except the tremors underfoot, and the sulfuric scent clogged her nose. Her sixth sense screamed at her, warning of danger from every direction as more pillars continued to erupt around her.

This sensory overload quickly became a fatal weakness. As she dodged another erupting pillar, Seraline failed to notice the shadow stalking her from behind, hidden just out of sight. It wasn’t until it burst through a column of fire that she realized its presence. Turning her head, she saw the Flame Wolf charging toward her, jaws wide open. It had used its resistance to its own attacks to ambush her in the chaos. Reacting on instinct, Seraline kicked off the ground to try and dodge.

But as her foot made contact with the earth, a sharp pain tore through her body.

Her fractured rib flared, delaying her movement by a fraction of a second. Combat between Adept-levels happened at high speeds, and even a split second was costly. Just as she was about to escape, the Flame Wolf’s jaws clamped down on her right leg. Her aura shielded her from the full force of the bite, but the wolf’s sharp teeth began stretching and thinning her defenses. Seraline had no choice but to concentrate most of her aura around her leg.

At the same time, she lashed out with her left leg, repeatedly kicking the side of the Flame Wolf’s head, striking the same spot over and over. Each impact was like driving a nail deeper, and despite the wolf’s resilience, a hole quickly formed in its cheek, piercing into its mouth and even breaking off a tooth. The beast growled in fury, biting down harder on Seraline’s leg and shaking its head like a dog with a chew toy.

The violent motion threw off her next kick, and with one last shake, the Flame Wolf released her. Seraline’s body was flung through one of the fiery columns, and for the first time, her expression changed—she grimaced. Without her aura evenly distributed, the heat broke through, scorching her body directly while ignoring her clothes. As she flew out from the pillar, her body was marked with burns. Twisting in midair, she managed to land on all fours, but the impact caused her entire body to tense in pain.

Weapon Unity allowed her mind to stay sharp, but it didn’t block out the pain. And it certainly didn’t stop her body from reacting to it.

Seraline stayed crouched over the ground, trying to even out her breaths as they had grown ragged. Blood soaked through the fabric of her pants, but the Flame Wolf had no intention of giving her a moment to recover. Ignoring the sea of flames around it, the wolf charged through the same fire that had just scorched her, swiping with its right paw while she was still grounded. Seraline cut her recovery short, pushing off the ground with her arms, launching herself into a backflip without putting strain on her injured leg.

In midair, the Flame Wolf's paw swiped just under her, close enough to graze the edge of her hair. That was when Seraline struck. She thrust her spear downward, aiming at the back of the Flame Wolf's right paw. This time, she didn’t channel the piercing property of her aura—it was a raw strike, carrying all the force she could muster without a foundation. Upon impact, the wolf’s swipe suddenly accelerated instead of slowing down. It was as if Seraline had created an artificial haymaker, causing the Flame Wolf to lose balance as its front right leg tangled with its left.

But she wasn’t finished. As she landed, Seraline adjusted her grip on the spear, holding it near the end. In a low voice, she muttered, "Grounded Arts: Seismic Cleave."

Her spear swung out in a wide arc, growing into a shimmering line of light that carved through the rough ground. Even the pillars of fire around her were severed for an instant. The spear connected with the Flame Wolf’s remaining three legs—its right leg still caught on its left. While it didn’t cut through them, the strike was enough to capitalize on its off-balance stance and sweep it off its feet.

The wolf toppled forward, gravity pulling it down to where Seraline was ready. At that moment, her aura shifted, condensing around her legs. Her eyes narrowed in focus. What followed didn’t even resemble a kick—it was too fast, too precise. Her left leg shot upward in a perfect split, as if lightning were striking back toward the sky. But instead of air, her foot collided with the underside of the Flame Wolf’s head as it plummeted toward her.

The impact echoed like thunder, sending a deafening shockwave through the air. A massive hole tore through the bottom of the wolf’s mouth and out through the top, its crimson, glowing blood splattering into the air. But as Seraline’s strike connected, she felt something give in her already-injured right leg, the one the Flame Wolf had bitten into earlier. The ruptured wound sent another surge of pain through her as more blood spurted from the wounds, staining her entire pant leg red.

Her blood dripped onto the ground, sizzling from the heat. A moment ago, the Flame Wolf had been falling forward; now, it was being hurled backward from the force of her kick. Seraline, on the brink of collapse, stuck her spear into the ground to catch herself.

Not yet. It’s not dead yet.

Despite everything, Seraline's eyes remained locked on the Flame Wolf. Her right leg wouldn’t move naturally anymore, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t force it. Her aura shifted once again, flowing from both legs to mainly the injured one. This time, her aura didn’t just outline her body—it solidified as if forcing itself into a mold. With the support of her aura, she stood, pulling her spear from the ground and adjusting her grip like she was preparing to throw a javelin. Her hands tightened around the weapon, the tension so intense it seemed like the metal might snap under her grip.

Her legs shattered the ground beneath her as she twisted her waist and hurled the spear directly at the Flame Wolf’s chest, aiming for its heart. Its chest was also covered in that armor-like fur, but it wasn’t nearly as thick there as on the rest of its body, and that was what she was counting on.

The moment the spear left the meter radius around her, the aura surrounding it began to fade as she exited the state of Weapon Unity. Instantly, the clarity that Weapon Unity had granted her dissolved, and the full weight of the pain and exhaustion crashed over her. Seraline’s face twisted in agony as she grit her teeth, struggling to stay conscious as she watched the spear tear through the air.

The Flame Wolf, mid-fall, slowly craned its head down, locking eyes with Seraline. Time seemed to slow as they stared at one another. The wolf didn’t howl, but its gaze revealed its agony and rage. Its mouth began to fill with flames—too familiar now to Seraline. Without a second thought, it prepared to roast the human who had wounded it. Seraline, realizing its intent, tried to rally her aura once more.

In her current state, she couldn’t dodge; defense was her only option.

But most of her aura was still concentrated around her injured leg. At that moment, the crossfire occurred. As Seraline's spear came within centimeters of the Flame Wolf’s chest, the wolf unleashed its concentrated beam of flames. The two attacks streaked past one another.

On impact, Seraline's spear—imbued with the last remnants of her intensified aura—shattered the thin layer of armor-like fur on its underbelly. The spear drilled through, the force of impact fracturing the wolf’s bones, which then pierced its own organs. The spear embedded itself deep into its body, reaching its heart. Simultaneously, Seraline’s form vanished, engulfed by the blinding heat of the wolf’s fiery beam. A massive explosion erupted, the twisting shockwave from the spear’s impact combining with the explosion of fire to form a colossal pillar of flames, larger than any of the ones surrounding them.

The blazing spectacle shot into the sky, a sight so massive it was visible even from the farthest districts of the village.