Calis shot out from the ground with his trident pointed upwards. The wolf jumped out of the way, sliding against the broken concrete. The red-black wolf growled as a small glimpse of darkness closed. The wolf could feel something moving. It began to turn, when Calis launched himself at the wolf.
The wolf threw its head to the trident, releasing a blade from its neck. Blade and trident connected, giving the wolf enough time to conjure more blades. The wolf sent the remaining blades out to Calis, watching the intruder disappear into nothing.
The wolf jumped backwards, pulling the blades back as it waited. A quiet pop came from behind it, turning its attention in an instant. Two blades moved and blocked the trident. Calis pushed through the floating swords, missing the wolf's head as it ducked. He pulled the trident back, deflecting swords as they came at him. The sword flew to the side, leaving two swords with the wolf.
"It seems like the humans are as stupid as I remembered them being." The wolf finally spoke. "You're not bad, but I'm still better." All of the swords in the ground ripped from the ground, coming back to the wolf's side. It threw its head forward, letting the swords fly forward in a spiral formation.
'Strange.' Calis thought as he held the trident in both hands. He slammed his foot forward and conjured darkness into the trident. He swung at the spiral formation, letting out a blast of energy that scattered the swords in different directions. The wolf narrowed its eyes. This human was different from the others… The way it fought and the scent coming off of him was different - it was foreign.
"What are you?" The wolf asked. The blades shook as its fur began to shake. "You're not human, are you?" Calis stood up straight, breaking his stance. He held the pointed end of the trident upwards, using it like a walking stick.
"Human? No. I'm not human." Calis answered. The wolf narrowed its eyes. Curiosity grew within it, but it didn't allow curiosity to run amok. It had only one mission - to stop anyone from going onto the land. "I think I bought enough time… so I'll finish you off in the next attack." Calis lifted his trident, looking at it. "There's a lot I don't know about you Failed Ones… but it seems like whatever you're doing is breaking the balance of things."
Dark energy swirled around the trident, changing the trident's tip into a glaive head. The wolf growled and barked, rushing forward. Each blade flew into the wolf, changing its form. It grew three times larger. Large blade protruded out of its body at odd angles as a crown of blades grew on top of its head. A number grew out of the crown of blades, forming a 14.
"Failed One 014, They Who Howls. Prepare to meet your end!" They Who Howls introduced themself. They Who Howls rushed forward, blurring and slamming its sharpened paw down onto Calis. Smoke exploded underneath the sharpened wolf's paw. It had killed the strange humanoid. They Who Howls smirked. They turned their head to focus on the other matter at hand - finding the strange energy the humanoid had let pass They Who Howls.
A rumble grew from They Who Howls paw. It began to look down when it was thrown into the air. Calis's energy swirled, shooting into the sky. They Who Howls watched as Calis's legs were replaced with a large tail.
"A tail?!? A fish?!?" They Who Howls yelled. "That's what you are?!?"
"Jiri Clan Technique: Ever-shrouded." Calis swung the glaive downwards, letting the built up energy out. A large line of darkness flew downwards cutting They Who Howls in half. The darkness moved inward wrapping around They Who Howls. Calis lifted a hand and moved it downwards, watching the ball of darkness fall to the ground.
The dark orb cracked, letting They Who Howls out. The large bladed wolf launched large blades out of its body,. Chains rattled, swarming Calis and closing in on him. More blades fired out, stabbing through the chains.
"Tssssssss." A sharp hissing noise came out of the chains where the Merman was. They Who Howls narrowed its eyes, watching blood drip. They had surely gotten the strange creature.
"Juri Clan Technique: Infectious Shadows." Darkness flew out of the chains, snapping them. Darkness filled the sky while metal rained down. They Who Howls ran forward, launching more chained blades upwards into the sky. Calis's glaive head faded, being replaced with a spearhead.
Calis twirled the spear, deflecting the first three chains. The fourth and fifth chains flew past him, pulling back and wrapping onto his weapon. They Who Howls pulled with all their might, sending Calis downwards. Calis slammed onto the ground, listening to the earth rip all around him.
The chains pulled, dragging Calis forward as the large wolf rushed forward. They Who Howls opened its jaws, biting down onto Calis's spear and hands. Calis howled and made eye contact with the Failed One. He smiled before letting the spell he had put on the spearhead out.
Water and darkness flooded the space in an instant. They Who Howls was pushed backwards, ripping its jaws away from Calis and his spear. The water and darkness moved upwards, creating a closed-off space.
They Who Howls slammed against the dark water wall, jerking forward. Calis shook the spear, releasing a shadow blast down the chains. The wolf howled in pain as the shadow blast loosened the chains even more.
"How dare you, fish!" They Who Howls yelled. The wolf pulled on the chains, pulling Calis towards it. They Who Howls' mouth opened wider than possible. The sounds of bones snapping grew as a large black-red sword shot out of its mouth. Calis released the spear, pointing two fingers at They Who Howls. Darkness and water fell from the dome's ceiling, blocking the attack.
Calis weaved signs together, finishing his quick signs with both hands wrapped with each other. Black tattoos grew all over Calis's body as a smirk grew on the Merman's face.
"Juri Clan Technique: Shadow Unbind." Calis finished the spell. A layer of tattoos flew off of Calis's body, zigzagging straight for They Who Howls. The wolf tried to move, only to meet the condensed energy.
"Argh!" They Who Howls grunted. Blood perfumed the waters in a blotchy cloud. Calis opened his hands and another set of tattoos flew off him and impaled the wolf.
"Consume." Calis commanded in Merfolk tongue. The dark waters collapsed while the tattoos pulled the Failed One towards him. The tattoos rejoined on Calis's body, pulling the Failed One into Calis and absorbing it by the time the waters disappeared. Calis's body changed, growing legs in place of his tail and landing on the wet ground. Clothes began to appear, wrapping around him as his tattoos pulsed.
Calis sighed. He checked his wounds, noticing they were gone. He shook his head, knowingly. The set of spells he had just used were the Juri Clan's biggest secrets. The weight of it pressed down on Calis, but he ignored it.
"That was annoying." Calis rolled his neck. He moved over and grabbed his spear and lifted it up. The spearhead switched back to the trident and Calis made his way towards the home. "That was flashier than I anticipated. I don't think nobody should've known because of this." He moved to the edge, ripping something invisible from the air. A paper formed and quickly burnt. "Who knew the seals would come in handy?"
Ritsuka and Lee Seng popped up from within the house. Lee Seng peeked outside and noticed nothing out of the ordinary. He should've seen and felt Calis, but he didn't.
"He'll be fine." Ritsuka reassured Lee Seng for the millionth time. "He said he would take care of it."
"I should feel his energy but I don't. I don't feel either of their energies." Lee Seng replied, turning to face the home. He had tried his best to ignore the nostalgia. His nerves were everywhere. The nerves were apparent enough because Ritsuka moved over and gave Lee Seng a reassuring pat.
"It'll be fine." Ritsuka smiled. He looked out the window and noticed a strange veil lift. He could see Calis walking over. Lee Seng's face lit up, turning.
"He's alive." Lee Seng sighed in relief. He couldn't feel the wolf's energy anymore. Lee Seng focused and couldn't see a speck of the wolf. "Did he kill the wolf, too? I don't see it."
"Isn't that a good thing?" Ritsuka asked. A door opened, drawing their attention to the back.
"We've been digging for days and still haven't found it." Deimon 1 spoke. They sounded exhausted. The door closed and two sets of feet moved closer.
'Hide!' Ritsuka grabbed Lee Seng and moved over to the staircase.
"Do you think we can make a run for it?" Deimon 2 asked 1. The two Deimons entered the living room and stood in view of Lee Seng and Ritsuka, who were crouched on the stairs.
'Shit.' Ritsuka cursed telepathically. 'If we move we're done.'
"I don't think so. 014 would kill us before we could even run… I don't like the idea of being used by those monsters. I can't believe we're working for them now. The leaders are crazy about working for them…" Deimon 1 complained. "And not to mention, this 'Son' or whatever… He's the craziest of them all! He's crazy strong! One wrong move and he'll know!"
"Thankfully we were sent inside here. Let's go up and find whatever they're looking for." Deimon 2 motioned.
'Crap! We gotta move!' Lee Seng told Ritsuka. The two panicked, unmoving as the front door jiggled.
"What's that?" Deimon 1 asked.
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶