The Nightfall wolf howled.
The sound alone shook the forest.
Ancient.
Ferocious.
Like the cry of a predator born before civilization itself.
The crimson moon above Tatara pulsed faintly in response.
And then—
Azriah froze.
A sharp pain exploded across his chest.
His vision flickered violently.
Lines of blue text appeared before his eyes.
[Codex Arboris]
Status Effect Applied: Blood Mark
Effect: Fatal critical damage will be inflicted after synchronization completes.
Remaining Time: 00:47
Sham's face instantly paled.
"…WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!"
Azriah clicked his tongue.
"An attack he uses at the start of the battle if you don't cleanse it even a monarch level player can have trouble dealing with it"
The wolf's silver eyes gleamed beneath the red moon.
It had marked him as prey.
Sham panicked immediately.
"FORTY SEVEN SECONDS?!"
The wolf lunged.
Azriah reacted instantly.
His body twisted backward while his hand reached into his coat.
The beast's jaws snapped shut inches from his face.
BOOM.
The ground shattered beneath the impact.
At the same moment—
Azriah hurled a pouch directly toward the wolf like its his pet.
"Catch."
The wolf bit through it instinctively.
And instantly regretted it.
The pouch exploded.
A thick green smoke burst outward violently, engulfing the entire battlefield.
The wolf howled again.
This time—
In anger.
The sound reverberated through Azriah's bones.
Then suddenly—
The interface flickered.
[Blood Mark Mutation Detected]
Condition Altered
Current Effects:
Critical Hit Rate Increased Agility Increased
Azriah smirked.
"Perfect. Even a wolf is a dog at the end of the day."
Sham blinked rapidly.
"…Wait, you REVERSED the curse?!"
"Not reversed," Azriah corrected calmly while jumping onto another branch.
The smoke was specially crafted.
Moonroot spores mixed with Forestelks blood and corrupted venom.
A concoction specifically designed to interfere with Nightfall lunar synchronization.
The wolf burst out of the smoke violently.
Its movements were unstable now.
Its silver eyes twitched repeatedly.
"…Its vision's impaired," Azriah muttered.
Confirmed.
The wolf snarled and shook its head aggressively.
It could still sense him—
But not properly.
That tiny advantage was all Azriah needed.
Mana surged around him.
One blade formed.
Then another.
Then another.
Until—
Ten glowing mana blades hovered around him like orbiting stars.
Sham stared wide-eyed.
"…You are gonna use it already?!"
Azriah ignored him completely.
The world around him slowed.
His enhanced agility sharpened every movement.
Every heartbeat.
Every shift of the wolf's muscles.
And then—
He moved.
BOOM.
The branch beneath him exploded apart as Azriah shot forward like a crimson bullet.
The mana blades followed instantly.
"Go."
The blades screamed through the air.
The wolf sensed danger immediately.
Its body twisted mid-motion with monstrous reflexes.
One blade pierced its shoulder.
Another slashed across its ribs.
But the fatal attacks—
Missed.
The wolf leaped upward unnaturally high, avoiding the strike aimed directly at its skull.
Azriah's eyes narrowed.
"…Fast."
The Nightfall wolf landed atop a massive rock formation overlooking the battlefield.
Moonlight mana gathered around its body.
Silver energy spiraled outward violently.
Sham's expression changed instantly.
"…Azriah."
"I know."
The wolf opened its jaws.
And the moon answered.
Hundreds of glowing lunar beams formed in the sky.
Not ten.
Not twenty.
Hundreds.
The entire forest illuminated silver.
Azriah cursed quietly.
"…Of all attack patterns."
The wolf howled.
And the storm descended.
BOOOOOOM.
The forest exploded.
Lunar beams rained downward like divine punishment.
Trees were shredded instantly.
The ground ruptured apart.
Entire boulders disintegrated under the barrage.
Azriah moved desperately.
One blade nearly pierced his throat.
Another sliced across his arm.
Blood sprayed into the air.
He leaped onto a tree trunk, climbing upward rapidly while dodging dozens more.
BOOM.
BOOM.
BOOM.
Explosions echoed endlessly around him.
The wolf's impaired eyesight had made it resort to wide-area devastation instead of precision hunting.
Which was somehow worse.
Sham screamed while phasing through attacks wildly.
"THIS IS INSANE!"
Azriah gritted his teeth.
A blade grazed across his forehead.
Warm blood trickled down his face.
"…Troublesome bastard."
The wolf roared again.
More lunar blades formed.
The entire battlefield had become a death zone.
Azriah suddenly reached into his coat.
Mana bombs.
Multiple.
Without hesitation, he hurled them downward.
The wolf sensed them instantly.
Some exploded midair.
BOOM.
Thick smoke erupted again.
Others shattered against the ground—
Releasing thick acidic black liquid across the battlefield.
The moment the liquid touched the earth—
The forest began melting.
Hissing sounds echoed everywhere.
The wolf howled furiously.
Its fur smoked where droplets landed.
The creature's rage exploded.
Then—
Everything stopped.
For one brief second—
Silence consumed Tatara.
And Sham whispered fearfully,
"…Azriah."
The wolf's body began glowing.
Not silver.
Red.
Corrupted mana erupted outward violently.
The Nightfall wolf had abandoned restraint.
"MOVE!" Sham screamed.
A beam of concentrated mana exploded from the wolf's mouth.
BOOOOOOOOOOM.
Everything vanished.
The forest evaporated.
Trees disintegrated instantly.
The very ground melted beneath the beam's path.
The tree Azriah stood on disappeared completely.
Azriah leaped away barely in time.
Heat scorched his skin.
The shockwave threw him across the battlefield violently.
He landed atop a distant rock formation.
Breathing heavily.
Blood dripped from his torn arm.
The battlefield no longer resembled a forest.
Only ruin remained.
Smoke.
Crimson mana.
Burning earth.
And within the haze—
A glowing silver eye opened.
Watching him.
Azriah slowly smiled.
"That's more like it."
Sham stared at him in disbelief.
"You're enjoying this?!"
Azriah ignored him.
Instead, he uncorked a potion with his teeth and drank it instantly.
Mana surged violently through his exhausted circuits.
Pain exploded across his body.
But he welcomed it.
One blade formed beside him.
Then another.
Then another.
Until—
Twenty mana blades hovered around him.
Even Sham looked horrified now.
"…Your are going to be impaired if you exhaust your mana."
Azriah lowered his stance.
Mana began spiraling around his Jian violently.
A vortex formed around the blade itself.
The weapon trembled dangerously.
Cracks began appearing along the metal.
Sham realized immediately.
"…It can't handle that much mana."
Correct.
The Jian was reaching its limit.
But Azriah didn't care.
The wolf charged.
The ground shattered beneath its claws.
Silver and crimson mana exploded around its body.
Azriah charged too.
Both monsters moved simultaneously beneath the blood-red moon.
The battlefield trembled.
The vortex around Azriah's Jian intensified violently.
Mana crackled around him like lightning.
His eyes glowed crimson.
And then—
He leaped from the rock.
Origin Arts — Second Chronicle.
Sundering Storm.
The twenty mana blades shot forward first.
The wolf roared and shattered several instantly.
But that was never the true attack.
Azriah descended directly behind them.
The vortex around his Jian screamed violently.
The blade itself began breaking apart.
Too much mana.
Too much force.
Too much power compressed into one strike.
Yet Azriah smiled.
Because this was enough.
The wolf lunged.
Claws met blade.
And the world exploded.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM.
A violent burst of energy erupted outward.
The collision flattened everything nearby.
The remaining trees collapsed instantly.
The ground split apart.
Shockwaves tore through area like a natural disaster.
Sham was dumbfounded of azriahs attack effect.
Smoke consumed the battlefield entirely.
Gray ash drifted silently beneath the crimson moon.
For several seconds—
Nothing moved.
Then—
The dust slowly began settling.
A figure stood amidst the destruction.
Azriah.
Barely.
His uniform was shredded apart.
Blood flowed endlessly from wounds across his body.
His right arm trembled violently.
One side of his forehead was torn open.
His breathing was ragged.
And in his hand—
Only the broken remains of his Jian remained.
Before him lay the Nightfall wolf.
Motionless.
Dying.
A shattered shard of the Jian had pierced directly through its eye socket—
Straight into its brain.
The wolf whimpered weakly.
Its massive body trembled faintly beneath the moonlight.
Azriah stepped forward slowly.
Blood dripped from his fingertips onto the broken earth.
The wolf looked at him with its remaining eye.
No hatred remained now.
Only exhaustion.
Recognition.
Predator acknowledging predator.
Azriah crouched before it silently.
His crimson eyes glowed beneath the red moon.
For a moment—
Neither moved.
Then the wolf released one final weak growl.
And its body finally went still.
Silence returned to Tatara.
Only the wind remained.
Sham floated nearby in complete disbelief.
"…You actually killed it."
Azriah stared at the corpse quietly.
Then slowly—
He smiled.
Not arrogantly.
Not mockingly.
But with pure exhilaration.
His heart pounded wildly.
Every nerve in his body burned.
Pain screamed through his torn muscles.
And yet—
He had never felt more alive.
Azriah grabbed the broken shard still lodged within the wolf's skull and slowly pulled it free.
Blood splattered across his face.
The crimson moon illuminated him completely now.
Torn clothes.
Bleeding limbs.
Glowing red eyes.
Standing above one of Tatara's ancient apex predators like a demon born from the battlefield itself.
Sham swallowed nervously.
"…You look terrifying right now."
Azriah chuckled weakly.
Then suddenly coughed blood.
".....Wrong answer dude, I look badass right now."
He placed a hand against the wolf's corpse.
The Codex interface flickered again.
Heart of Nightfall
Compatible
Moon Fang
Compatible
Azriah's smile widened.
"Perfect."
Far above them—
The crimson moon shined brighter.
And deep within Tatara—
Something else awakened.