Chapter 17: Terrifying Speed
After hurried footsteps, Esdeath arrived, and the cave fell into silence.
"We missed. This giant wolf is fast."
Su Xiao's sword draw wasn't slow, yet even so, the giant wolf Fenrir had dodged at the most critical moment.
"How fast exactly?"
Esdeath had fought Su Xiao before; she knew how fast his blade was.
"Fast enough to leave afterimages."
Esdeath's pupils contracted.
"That exaggerated? Fenrir used to be..."
Whoosh~ A violent wind howled, lifting Esdeath's ice-blue hair as the giant wolf Fenrir appeared right before her.
A wolf claw wrapped in cyan energy raised, fine wind blades swirling around it.
Boom.
An air blast erupted, and Esdeath was sent flying by a single swipe from Fenrir.
The speed was so extreme that Esdeath didn't even have time to react.
Seeing this, Su Xiao's eye twitched. This beast was even more monstrously fast than he'd imagined.
Whoosh~.
The same sound of breaking wind came again. Su Xiao instinctively held Dragon-Slaying Flash horizontally in front of him, blade edge outward.
Boom.
Su Xiao was also sent flying. Blood splattered onto his clothes. Fenrir's claw had struck the blade of Dragon-Slaying Flash, cutting a wound in the wolf's paw, staining its white fur red.
Su Xiao was heavily struck by that claw. The dangerous creatures of the Chopping Red World were terrifying.
"Cough, cough, cough~."
A dull pressure filled his chest. He forced himself to stand despite the discomfort. The neural reflex speed rewarded by his 20-point Agility had just proven its worth; without it, he wouldn't have reacted in time.
Whoosh~. That distinctive sound of wind appeared again. Su Xiao instinctively held Dragon-Slaying Flash horizontally in front of him.
A furry, sharp claw stopped just before the blade.
Whoosh~. Fenrir vanished from the cave, turning into a cyan afterimage.
Crack, crack, crack.
The crisp sound of freezing came. Su Xiao glanced with his peripheral vision and saw an ice wall sealing the cave entrance, turning it into a sealed chamber.
This woman Esdeath was ruthless enough. Blocking the exit meant it was either kill or be killed.
A figure radiating cold mist approached. Su Xiao could sense it was Esdeath.
"This won't work. I'll draw Fenrir's main attention; you take the lead on the attack."
"No problem. This giant wolf's defense isn't strong. At most two strikes at the right moment."
The giant wolf Fenrir was the type of dangerous creature with extreme speed but weak defense.
Such creatures were hard to deal with; one mistake meant death.
"White Ice Plain."
Esdeath stomped her foot, and a thin layer of ice spread rapidly around her. This ice wasn't meant to injure, but it created an exceptionally smooth, flat surface.
Boom.
A loud crash rang out as large chunks of rock flew. The giant wolf Fenrir had actually slammed headfirst into the rock wall.
Fenrir, having hit the wall, looked somewhat dazed. It shook its head, trying to stand, but the smooth ice beneath its paws caused its limbs to splay outward. This majestic giant wolf lay sprawled on the ice, looking utterly ridiculous.
"That's a creative move, but now I can't move either."
Su Xiao's posture was awkward. Dragon-Slashing Flash was stabbed into the ice layer. He gripped the sword tightly with both hands, his feet constantly slipping.
"I'll release the ice under your feet in a moment. I'll go exhaust that beast's stamina and wait for the right moment."
Esdeath stabilized herself with an odd stance. This sadistic queen's pose was also quite amusing.
Despite the humor, it effectively limited Fenrir's speed.
Fenrir wasn't stupid. Its claws extended long, the metallic gleam piercing into the ice.
Even so, Fenrir's speed was no more than that of an ordinary person walking slowly.
The scene, once bloody and brutal, shifted. Esdeath moved with strange steps, and Fenrir stumbled and fell every few steps.
Su Xiao struggled to keep a straight face, maintaining his cold demeanor. He had almost laughed out loud.
Putting aside the humor, Esdeath's combat intelligence was high. Without this clever trick, the two of them would have faced an extremely brutal fight.
"A beast is just a beast. It can never match human intelligence."
Fenrir tried to approach Esdeath, but its speed advantage was neutralized, preventing it from getting close.
Before it could close in, Esdeath attacked repeatedly with her ice abilities, forcing Fenrir back step by step. The scales of victory began to tip.
Pfft, pfft, pfft.
Three ice spikes deeply embedded themselves into Fenrir's body. The giant wolf staggered backward, hot blood dripping onto the ice and quickly freezing.
With a total of eight ice spikes piercing it, Fenrir was nearing its limit. The ice path was stained red with blood.
Su Xiao had only struck once with his blade, and now the battle was nearly over.
Aoow!!
A wolf howl echoed. Though Fenrir was a wolf, Su Xiao felt this giant beast had intelligence no less than a human's.
As Fenrir's stamina was nearly drained, the giant wolf's gaze shifted to the rock wall. Its vicious wolf eyes held the look of a sentient being.
Su Xiao's heart sank. This giant wolf might be about to launch a desperate counterattack.
Sure enough, Fenrir barely pushed itself up on its four limbs, its claws digging into the ice. It leaped toward the rock wall.
Fenrir's claws hooked into the rock wall like blades, and its entire body hung there.
Esdeath also sensed the danger. She immediately dispelled the ice on the ground and charged toward Fenrir.
The moment the ice was gone, Su Xiao pulled out Dragon-Slashing Flash and also rushed toward Fenrir.
But Fenrir ignored them both, using its claws to quickly climb higher up the rock wall.
The cave was at least twenty meters high. Fenrir reached the top in just a few seconds.
At the peak, Fenrir glared hatefully at Esdeath. This human had hurt it the most.
A surge of cyan energy enveloped Fenrir's entire body, making the giant wolf appear majestic and mysterious.
Swoosh~.
Fenrir leaped down from the rock wall, its body shooting toward Esdeath like a cannonball.
In Su Xiao's vision, Fenrir transformed directly into an afterimage. By the time his eyes caught it, Fenrir was already in front of Esdeath.
Ice surged around Esdeath, but compared to the speed of the ice forming, Fenrir was more than ten times faster.
A dozen claw strikes flashed in an instant. Several blossoms of blood bloomed on Esdeath's body. Fenrir wasn't just fast in movement; its attack speed was terrifyingly extreme.
The wolf claws slashed wildly. A cyan claw strike aimed for Esdeath's throat. If it hit, Esdeath would be crippled at best.
Crack, crack, crack.
The ice finally spread over Esdeath, freezing her into an ice sculpture.
Crack, crack.
Fenrir continued its frenzied clawing, sending ice chips flying.
Just as Fenrir was clawing with gusto, it suddenly felt a sharp pain in its throat. Then its body was uncontrollably flung to the side.
Clang!
A long sword pierced through Fenrir's throat, pinning it to the rock wall. The wolf's body hung in midair.
The searing pain made Fenrir struggle, blood gushing out and staining Dragon-Slashing Flash red. Pierced through the throat by the sharp blade, the more it struggled, the faster it died.
Su Xiao was still holding the pose of having thrown Dragon-Slashing Flash. This large-scale flying knife move was a stroke of genius.