Chapter 114: Mother-in-Law Moves
The two wolves didn’t waste a single heartbeat.
With synchronized, feral roars that vibrated the damp air of the ravine, they exploded forward, their massive paws gouging deep furrows into the loam.
SKRRR—!
The slightly larger beast on the left lunged first, banking off a mossy boulder to strike from an elevated angle, while the second remained low, angling to sweep Azriel’s legs with its massive jaws.
Azriel didn’t flinch.
Instead of retreating or throwing the decoupled sickle, he dropped his center of gravity into a razor-sharp pivot.
The moment the airborne wolf closed within three paces, Azriel whipped his empty left hand forward, not with the sickle, but with the loose coils of chain he had unspooled.
WUUUSH— CLANG!
The heavy iron links lashed out like a striking serpent, cracking across the airborne wolf’s snout with bone-splintering force.
The sheer kinetic shock derailed its trajectory mid-air, sending the heavy beast crashing sideways into the dirt.
At that exact microsecond, the grounded wolf lunged for his exposed ankles.
Azriel planted his lead foot and vaulted straight up, clearing the snapping jaws by a hair’s breadth.
Mid-somersault, he reversed his grip on the crescent sickle in his right hand and brought the curved steel down like a guillotine.
SHRRK—!
The blade bit deep into the back of the second wolf’s neck, severing the spinal cord with a sickening crunch.
[Corrupted Timber-Wolf (Lvl 5) Slain: +75 XP]
Without waiting for the corpse to settle, Azriel used the embedded hilt as a pivot point, kicking off the dying beast’s skull to launch himself directly toward the first wolf as it scrambled to recover.
The dazed wolf shook its head, green eyes flaring with desperate fury as it lunged forward to bite.
Azriel caught the snapping upper jaw with the reinforced vambrace of his left forearm, holding the lethal fangs inches from his throat.
With his right hand, he unhooked the fundo weight from his hip and slammed the dense iron sphere straight down into the creature’s left eye socket.
CRACK—SPLAT!
[Corrupted Timber-Wolf (Lvl 5) Slain: +75 XP]
[Current Level: 6 (155/2,000 XP)]
The wolf went limp with a final, shuddering spasm, collapsing heavily onto the stone shelf.
Azriel ripped the iron weight free with a flick of his wrist, shaking the foul black blood from the metal before turning his gaze up toward the dark canopy.
"Real subtle, Mother-in-law," Azriel called out, a teasing smirk dancing on his lips as he wiped a stray droplet of black ichor from his jaw.
"If you wanted my attention that badly, you could’ve just given me another cigarette, maybe I would have..."
[LIVE CHAT]
[Sadistic69] (Red): CLEAN DOUBLE KILL IN UNDER FIVE SECONDS!! BRO DIDN’T EVEN NEED THE FULL KUSARIGAMA COMBO!
[Battle_Maiden_Vera] (White): Look at that target prioritization. Parried the aerial leap, severed the spine on the grounded dive, then finished with a close-quarters blunt strike. Flawless.
[Nine_Tailed_Vixen] (Cyan): And he still had the breath to tease Vesperia right after...
[Moon_Priestess_99] (Cyan): Look at how cool he looks covered in monster blood... take this tip!!
High in the branches, Vesperia leaned against the obsidian bark, crossing her arms beneath her chest.
A faint, lingering flush still warmed her cheekbones as her slit golden pupils tracked Azriel, gleaming with an intricate mix of predatory appraisal and uncharacteristic hesitation.
Azriel didn’t linger to banter further. Reattaching the crescent sickle to its chain tether with a crisp metallic click, he continued his steady trek upstream along the churning acidic river.
Over the next two hours, the hunt became a relentless, calculated rhythm of blood and iron.
Iron-Claw Raptors had completely vanished from the territory, leaving only mangled carcasses scattered across the slick stone shelves, grim evidence that the corrupted canines had completely overtaken the lower wetlands.
With every encounter, Azriel’s mastery over his hybrid chain-and-sickle style sharpened exponentially.
Warrior’s Instinct acted like an ancient, subconscious blueprint, feeding micro-adjustments directly into his muscle memory.
He learned the exact rotational velocity needed to shatter an airborne wolf’s jaw with the iron fundo, the precise angle to hook a beast’s tendon mid-stride, and the minimal footwork required to slip beneath lethal claws.
He stood amidst the steaming remains of a six-wolf hunting pack he had just systematically dissected in under two minutes.
Wiping the dark ichor from his crescent blade, Azriel harvested the prized timber-pelts and soul cores, stowing them into his spatial ring.
Unlike the rotting hide of the solitary veteran from earlier, these wolves possessed dense, unblemished pelts that would fetch a handsome sum at the market.
AWOOOOOOOOOOOO—!
A thunderous roar erupted from the cavernous hollow deep ahead.
Unlike the shrill yelps of the scouts or the frantic calls of the pack, this howl carried a suffocating, heavy pressure that reverberated through the cavern walls, setting the glowing stalactites trembling overhead.
It was the unmistakable challenge of an enraged Alpha.
Before Azriel could even shift his stance, the air snapped with a silver blur, and Vesperia materialized directly in front of him.
Her breath was slightly rapid, and a vivid, crimson flush burned across her high cheekbones, making her look utterly incandescent.
Yet, beneath the obvious fluster, the fierce, predatory determination in her golden slit-eyes was palpable.
Azriel held his ground, the languid, teasing smile still playing on his lips as the tension between them wound tight.
Without breaking eye contact, Vesperia took a single, deliberate stride forward, completely erasing the space between them until her leather-clad chest pressed firmly against his torso.
She tilted her chin upward to meet his gaze.
Standing at six feet tall, she was only two inches shy of Azriel’s height, yet looking up at him like this made the proximity intoxicatingly charged.
Her slit golden eyes burned into his violet ones before slowly drifting down to fixate on his lips.
Rising slightly onto the balls of her feet, she leaned in, closing the final inch between their faces.
A warm, trembling breath ghosted across his mouth.
Then, hovering merely a hair’s breadth away, she pressed forward and planted a firm, lingering peck directly against his lips.
-x-
A/N:
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