Both sides stood opposite each other, waiting for one of them to make the first move.
Unfortunately, during their fast-paced exchange earlier, Lilith had failed to kill the leader and had not gained important information about it.
Her ambush gave the wolves many losses, but they were still threatening her.
Lilith kept eye contact with the wolf leader, her eerie eyes meeting its predatory fury.
After a few tense moments in silence, she made her decision, not willing to abandon her momentum.
[Output Overload]!
Her power surged, and she unleashed her presence.
All the wolves flinched, her aura was subtle in their earlier exchange, but she had fully released it now.
A suffocating pressure reached their souls, nearly making them crumble. The Rank 1 trembled in fear, while the Rank 2 became tense, far more cautious of the hunter before them than before.
They now knew that they were in the presence of a Calamity.
She didn't give them anytime to adjust, and blurred out of existence with [Soul Flash].
Slash!
She directly attacked the vanguard, beheading two wolves with a single swing of her spear.
Lilith shot past them and broke through the formation like it was made out of paper. Her agile feet almost gliding through the snow, subtly changing her path to throw off any attempt to block her.
Three other wolves tried to stop her, but she simply sidestepped the claws of one of them, severed the front limb of another, and killed the last one with a single punch to its head that sent it barreling to the left.
By now, there was only a single group of three Rank 1 wolves that separated her from the Rank 2. And she didn't intend to stop her charge.
At that moment, the leader finally decided to make its move.
Its spectral body glowed in an ethereal blue glow, and the other Rank 2 did so as well immediately after.
Lilith frowned at the scene, and her Nightmare Elf instincts screamed at her. Without hesitation, she invoked [Soul Flash] and her figure blurred out.
Just when she used her movement spell, the place that she occupied earlier exploded into an extremely cold cloud of frost. An area with a diameter of 60 meters was frozen in an instant, with a cold that made even the snow shiver.
Lilith clung high up to a tree with her nails and looked down, a cold shiver running down her spine.
The leader and its strongest underlings glanced up at her, and their cannon fodder followed suit.
She couldn't help but take in a cold breath when she saw the place that she had just escaped from.
The dust cleared, and many jagged pillars of ice rose up, sharp as death.
The wolves that were there to block her were nowhere to be seen, even the ones that she had killed.
The leader used the bodies of the other wolves not just as a meat shield, but it quite literally blew them up to create a powerful spell.
[Well, that's what you get for cornering a beast...]
Her brother commented, his voice more cautioning her than being smug.
He wasn't wrong, and Lilith had to reconsider her next moves.
She at first thought that the Rank 1 would flee after she had unleashed her full aura, but that wasn't the case.
Brushing it off, she continued killing them, and they didn't budge. And finally, they killed themselves to protect their leader.
The alpha had full control of the pack.
She could've quickly reached the leader with [Soul Flash], but she decided against it and decided to play it safe for this very reason.
Now that she knew that the wolves would just kill themselves to stop her, she was glad that she didn't instantly come near the Rank 2...
[Noah, what type of mental spell did you use on it?]
[I used just a straightforward spell when I realized that it survived. The spell is disorienting its senses and making it confused about reality, but not enough to criple it.] He answered instantly.
The alpha didn't wait for her next attack and chose to start the offensive this time.
This time, the remaining Rank 1 glowed as well. The place was already way too cold before, and now Lilith started to feel her blood flow slow.
The leader opened its terrifying maw, and a whirlwind of frosty wind gathered between its jaws.
The whirlwind formed into a blue energy orb that radiated a suffocating pressure. Then, it released a blinding light that illuminated the area and chased out the shadows, making them hide in fear behind the trees.
Lilith cursed under her breath and didn't hesitate to use [Soul Flash].
The glowing orb released a concentrated beam of energy that made an ear-piercing screeching sound.
The energy beam traveled far faster than sound and hit the tree just when Lilith left.
Boom!
The tree was cut like butter from the wide beam, regardless of its towering height or overwhelming weight. It split in half, and the upper part fell down.
Lilith swiftly covered dozens of meters with [Soul Flash] and came back to the ground, but she disappeared again as the beam was concentrated on her place almost immediately.
The beam was too fast, and the wolf appeared to be able to change its direction quite easily.
Lilith's vision blurred and everything moved with a terrifying speed past her, and she traveled more than twenty meters with each blink as she spammed [Soul Flash] to save her hide.
She encircled the pack, like a terrifying phantom raising a cloud of snow wherever it passed. The wolf turned its head to make the beam hit her, but it was hard to do since Lilith was moving erratically despite her obvious path.
The trees behind her were the unfortunate collateral damage that were easily destroyed and cut down by the beam.
Although her situation wasn't good and her time on [Output Overload] was running by the moment, Lilith maintained a cool state of mind.
She continued to observe the pack as she ran around them, maintaining a terrifying speed.
They weren't doing well either.
Some of the Rank 1 died, and the others weren't that far either. The Rank 2—leader included—were relatively better, but they were a little exhausted.
Casting a powerful spell wasn't free of cost.
She noted that, and a plan formed in her mind.
[Noah, it's time to end this...]