Just as Snow Hill was draining the young man’s blood, Wolf King Gallo could no longer hold back. He let out a roar. “You keep popping up one after another to get in my way. I’m sick of it! Perish!”
Gallo’s voice drew the attention of both Snow Hill and Sang.
The two of them immediately looked up. They saw Gallo transform into a streak of white lightning, hurtling toward them at terrifying speed. It was clear he had truly grown weary of the fight and wanted to end it all right here.
Snow Hill hurriedly set Sang down and raised her sword again. She barely managed to block Gallo’s thunderous iron fist as it exploded on impact—no, she blocked it, but not completely. Gallo showed no signs of relenting. He kept pouring on the pressure, the lightning growing even more savage.
It was simply unbelievable.
Gallo’s razor-sharp claw, empowered by divine thunder, sliced into her blade like a lightsaber from Star Wars. Sparks flew in all directions, accompanied by piercing crackles.
This was the Rose Blade Sword, forged in the same era as soul weapons. Though it lacked the First Generation House Head’s enchantments, it was still a legendary holy sword.
It was going to break!
Sang noticed the snow beneath Snow Hill’s feet cracking at a visible rate, spiderweb fractures spreading outward.
No!
Even after drinking his blood, Snow Hill was still outmatched—like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.
That made sense. How could Abandoned Child’s blood possibly compare to the Philosopher’s Stone?
Sang couldn’t stand by any longer. Gritting his teeth, he gripped his sword with his left hand—his right was ruined—and wedged it against Snow Hill’s blade.
“Snow, let me lend a hand!”
Snow Hill glanced at the blue-haired youth beside her, then at the silver longsword now layered atop her own. She froze for a moment, then her expression hardened.
In that instant, the ice-blue knight’s sword and the silver-white knight’s sword crossed in an “X” formation. Together, they held back Wolf King Gallo’s power.
While everyone else stared in stunned silence, Sang felt a miraculous surge of power. It resonated with some unknown entity. His eyes blinked, and a vast, brilliant path of starlight unfurled before him—an icy blue starlight avenue, an experience like none he’d ever known. He marveled at it.
What… what is this!?
It was simply too wondrous.
“Human, don’t lose focus!”
Snow Hill’s voice yanked him back to reality. Sang was mere half a meter from Gallo, whose eyes burned with feral killing intent, like a mad beast. At the same time, the [Philosopher’s Stone] on his back glowed brighter than before, as if answering its master’s call.
Amid his rage, Gallo felt a twinge of confusion.
His power clearly overwhelmed Snow Hill. Yet the addition of one silver-rank youth had somehow brought their combined strength to match his own. Why?
How could one plus one equal so much more than two!?
At that moment, Snow Hill shouted, “Human, attack his back! The [Philosopher’s Stone] is there. Destroy it, and he won’t be able to maintain his youth—his strength will plummet!”
Sang had no idea what a [Philosopher’s Stone] was, but if Snow Hill said so, he’d do it. The two of them pushed together, sending Wolf King Gallo flying back.
“Tch… more of this inexplicable power…”
Gallo hadn’t held back. Empowered by the Thunder Emperor Armor and the [Philosopher’s Stone], he should have been unstoppable—yet he’d been repelled.
Never mind Snow Hill. As Inu’s descendant, her strength was to be expected. But what about this human youth of unknown origins!?
He sensed no great power from the boy, yet he was proving exceptionally troublesome…
Snow Hill gave Gallo no chance to recover. The next second, she slammed her blade into the ground. Her eyes turned red, her expression turning grim. “Great Avalanche—Flower Sea!”
As the name implied.
The moment the words left her lips, the earth trembled. A wall of ice and snow, dozens of meters high, surged toward Gallo. Her power hadn’t fully recovered, but this was the strongest attack she could muster for now.
Gallo sneered. “An attack like that? You think it’ll defeat me? Watch me shatter it with a single bolt of thunder!”
His right claw clenched, muscles bulging as endless lightning gathered in his palm. Without hesitation, he unleashed a punch. Vaguely, a massive thunder dragon seemed to coil and launch forward, barreling unstoppable toward the avalanche.
As Gallo channeled his spell, Snow Hill suddenly called out, “Now!”
Gallo realized something at her words. A blue figure shot from the flank at astonishing speed, circling behind him like an assassin—Sang. Though she hadn’t spelled it out, he’d grasped her intent and gotten into position ahead of time.
Sang poured every ounce of strength into reaching Gallo’s back. His target was singular: the [Philosopher’s Stone].
“Destroy this thing, and you won’t be hopping around anymore, huh!?”
“You bastard!”
Gallo was no fool. Risking mana backlash, he aborted his spell and spun around, intent on dealing with Sang first.
But Sang was no pushover. With no wasted motion, he raised his knight’s sword high with his remaining left hand and brought it slashing down toward the [Philosopher’s Stone] on Gallo’s back.
The youth roared, “It’s over!”
“No, I won’t lose here!”
Despite Gallo’s bellows, Sang’s blade struck true. Cracks spiderwebbed across the red crystal, on the verge of shattering.
At the same moment, the Great Avalanche born of Snow Hill’s final reserves crashed toward Sang and Gallo. Just as it threatened to bury Sang too, Snow Hill burst from behind and scooped him up once more.
Alright then.
How many princess carries was this now? The youth had gone numb to it. A bit embarrassed, but still thrilled, he exclaimed, “We beat him!”
He waved his arms excitedly, grinning like a child.
Snow Hill gazed at the boy in her arms, her face as expressionless as ever. She descended slowly to the ground and asked, “How’s your right hand?”
In the heat of battle, with nerves on edge, the pain hadn’t registered much.
Now that the fighting had stopped, agony flared through his entire right arm. It was intense but bearable.
Sang bit his lip and nodded. “Yeah, much better. Actually, it’s gone numb… no feeling.”
“Good. If you can still talk like that, you’re not in critical condition. I’ll have someone take you back to the mansion… Hufer will treat you.”
Once the battle ended, Snow Hill reverted to her usual aloof demeanor. Even as the Knight Order members around her cheered in jubilation, she showed no change in expression or emotion.
Sang was used to it by now. He just asked, “I’ll go get treated, but what about you?”
“First, I’ll free Brother from the prisoner cart over there. Then dig Gallo out from underground and force him to hand over the soul weapon—Sekarona…”
Right.
Yes.
Don’t forget, this battle wasn’t just about stopping the Werewolf Clan from reviving the Ancient Titan. It was also to rescue the imprisoned Hesos Hill and the soul weapon Sekarona.
However.
Before Snow Hill could use her ice powers to unearth the buried Gallo, the ground began to quake once more.
Worse, amid raging thunderous light, the snow started melting…
Sang and Snow Hill exchanged a glance, both sensing the danger. This time, Sang hopped straight into her arms. There, no need for a princess carry—I’m jumping in myself. Satisfied?
But this was no time for jokes. Something stirred beneath the snow, biding its moment…
The instant she scooped him up, a flicker of surprise crossed Snow Hill’s face, but she rocketed away regardless—twenty meters… fifty… a hundred…
No matter the distance, unease lingered.
“What is it?” Sang asked tensely.
Snow Hill’s face grew grave. “I don’t know… but something terrifying is about to emerge…”
To their shock.
Before she finished speaking, a pair of enormous, white-furred arms erupted from the snow. They clamped down on Snow Hill. In the split second before capture, she hurled Sang away to keep him safe.
Then the ground split wide. A colossal figure burst forth—Gallo. Now fully werewolf-transformed, he towered seven or eight meters tall. Though still bipedal, he was pure beast now, a [wolf] in truth, no longer [human].
Snow Hill was trapped in his massive grip like a toy. No matter how she struggled, she couldn’t break free. Frowning, she demanded, “This… this is werewolf transformation… It’s not a full moon night. Why can you do it…?”
Full Moon Night—the time of wolf transformation.
Werewolves could only unleash their true power on a full moon night. At other times, they relied on their own willpower to achieve at most a semi-werewolf transformation.
However.
Why had Gallo broken this biological trait, forcibly achieving full werewolf transformation on a night that wasn’t a full moon!?
Gallo heard Snow Hill’s words. A terrifying grin spread across his ferocious face as he said, “Heh… First off, I have to praise you two. You actually forced out my final trump card… This is a secret technique of the Werewolf Clan. It consumes one’s lifespan to achieve werewolf transformation… I never imagined that after a thousand years, someone could push me to use it again—and a team-up between a human and the Blood Race, no less… How utterly fascinating…”
While Gallo spoke, Sang had already rolled across the ground several times. He struggled to his feet, squinting at Gallo in disbelief. “How can this be? I clearly struck the Philosopher’s Stone on his back…”
A closer look revealed that the Philosopher’s Stone hadn’t come loose. Though cracked, it was still exerting its effect.
Sang gnashed his teeth. “Damn it. I used my left hand just now—the strength wasn’t enough. I couldn’t destroy it completely…”
Indeed, Sang’s dominant right hand had taken the full brunt of Gallo’s strike right from the start, shattering it in a compound fracture. The blow he’d just landed had come from his left hand, so its power had fallen short.
He couldn’t stand by and watch Snow Hill fall into the enemy’s clutches. In the next instant, ignoring his injuries, Sang gripped his sword with his left hand once more. He charged toward the enemy’s back at top speed, determined to pull off the same trick again.
This time, he would shatter the Philosopher’s Stone for good!
“Behold my Ultimate Technique: Great Power Creates Miracle!”
Snow Hill, however, spotted the young man’s movements a step ahead. A dreadful premonition flashed through her heart, and she cried out in haste, “No! Don’t!”
Sang ignored her and pressed on.
Just as he was about to reach the Philosopher’s Stone on Gallo’s back, the Wolf King—who had kept his back turned to Sang—revealed a strangely eerie smile. He murmured, “I really underestimated you. A mere human, sneaking up on me twice… Who the hell do you think I am? I am the Wolf King!”
