Chapter 52: Evolving
The sickles had cut through both spectral wolves, and while the poison hissed deep into their forms, it did little to slow them down.
For normal beasts, the wounds Vlad had delivered would’ve crippled and killed, but these were not creatures of flesh and soul.
They were constructs of spectral magic, lifeless puppets bound by the Moon Wolf’s will. So even with their bodies torn and one of their skulls nearly split in half, they didn’t falter, didn’t reel back, didn’t hesitate.
The one with its skull pierced still leaped claws flashing forward, but Vlad moved with it, stepping back and dragging his blade with him, ripping the embedded sickle free and tearing open the face of the second wolf in the same motion.
As he slid back, Vlad planted his foot, heel grinding into the ice, and swiftly pushed to his left away from the mad rush of the spectral wolf, while also snapping the chain taut.
The sickle buried in the first wolf was ripped loose, pulling the beast off balance and sending it tumbling to the ground.
Vlad hadn’t even regained his balance when a flash of silver light appeared mere feet away from him, a maw of crystal fangs snapped through the space where his head had just been.
The Moon Wolf had closed the distance in a blur of silver, crossing nearly ten meters in an instant without a sound, its silver eyes locked with emotionless hunger.
Vlad didn’t think. He didn’t need to, as the Moon Wolf’s body lunged to follow him, he whispered the command and flooded his legs with reinforcement.
His muscles tightened like drawn cords, power compacting through his bones, and at the same moment, his form shimmered and twisted, vanishing into ghosted movement.
Vlad used ghost weave combined with the dash skill, escaping the wide claw swing in a blur, ice cracking beneath his feet. The chain slid through his hand as he took hold of the sickle, driving the blade into the pristine silver coat of the giant wolf.