The Mage of Primordial Chaos

Chapter 508 – Solo Battle

After gaining the Shapeshifting ability from Aerim, the girls and I prepared to head home. Now with two Empyrean lairs down, there was only two left to complete—Aquira's, and Ignis'. The only problem was… both of those were dozens of times harder to reach than Terrarim and Aerim's.

Oh well. Better not think about it now.

For now, I just wanted to take a break. Go home, get some rest. Today's been a tiring day. Some sleep sounded great to me.

"So, she's safely in my soul now as well?" I asked in my head.

"Yes," Terrarim responded. "Although unlike me, she can materialize in physical form when she wishes."

"Well, don't, unless I tell you to," I said in a stern tone. "I don't need you constantly annoying me."

"Huh?! I'm a god! A god, you hear!"

"Yes… a god, that is afraid of getting tickled, am I right?" I snickered evilly.

"E-Eek… Terrarim, protecc me!"

"Uh… sorry, no can do."

I chuckled out loud, but our conversation was soon cut short by a voice from behind us.

"Oi!"

We were just planning on flying off the edge of the balcony, but suddenly, the doors behind us bust open, and out came a familiar face.

"… You again," I muttered, and the man snickered before cocking his neck left and right, then cracking his knuckles.

"Heheh… short time no see, huh? The boss gave orders that we were free to get rid of you now, so here I am. I liked ya, kid. Pity one of us has got to die, eh?"

Indeed, it was the wolfman. There was no way out of this. But before we fought… I wanted to get a few questions clear.

"… How did you trace me here?"

"Oh, that was easy. I went back to that lair, checked out the map, and one of the other Cardinals solved it with a simple glance. We each went to a separate lair to see who would have the most luck, but… heh. Turns out fate is fate indeed. It was me who found you first last time too, so naturally it'll be me again."

With a smirk, he smacked his fists together, ready for battle.

"But enough of the talkin'. What'll it be? Four on one, or one on one? I'm fine with either… the outcome will be the same."

"Oh? You're not going to call on those other three Cardinal buddies of yours?" I raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Nah," the wolfman replied. "I'm enough to take on you guys. And besides… we four Cardinals have an unspoken rivalry between us. We all serve the same boss, but we each operate on our own. That's how it's always been."

I see… this is valuable information. But it seems like I won't be able to get anything else out of him, so… if a fight's what he wants, a fight's what he's going to get.

"We'll do this one on one," I stated at last, much to the girls' surprise.

"Heh… as expected, kid. You're a fighter," the wolfman chuckled.

"Master… there is no need to do this," Mei Gui murmured, not understanding my thoughts, but I shook my head.

"Take Lin Luo and Flaria back. They're useless against antimagic."

"But I can st-" Mei Gui began, but quickly realized my intentions and fell quiet.

"… I see. Understood, Master."

I sent a brief nod her way, and the three retreated, although hesitantly. Flaria especially was screaming and wanted to fight, but if they stayed, they would only be liabilities. If the wolfman took them hostage, the game was over. I also sent Mei Gui with them in the off-chance that other Cardinals were targeting them.

Of course, I did all of this with the confidence that I knew I could beat this guy one on one. I didn't know his abilities in detail, but if he hated magic, then he definitely wouldn't use any. And since his antimagic is useless against mine…

… Well, it was clear I was already at an advantage. Now, to push that advantage some more…

"The area up here is too small for a fight," I said. "Let's move somewhere else, down on the surface."

"Sure," the wolfman said with a grin. "I was just thinking the same thing."

Together, we descended from the castle and soon found an uninhabited island below us, perfect for hosting our battle. 

"This place good?" The wolfman asked, and I nodded. Now that we were on solid ground tied to the earth's surface, Terrarim's blessing of constant healing would apply to me.

That's right—I had no intention of fighting fair. Never was that kind of person. I wanted every tiny bit of advantage I could get, and all that mattered was winning.

"Alright. Then let's get started…!"

Without any warning, the wolfman dashed towards me at lightning speed that should've been impossible without magic, but my reactions were still a tad faster. Managing to narrowly dodge out of the way with a sideways evasion, I pulled my gun Ace out of its holster in a single smooth motion and unleash a bullet aimed directly at his waist. 

Unfortunately, however, he twisted his body and spun 360 degrees in the air like a drill to avoid it, and landed back on his feet while I rolled backwards and stood back up as well.

"Oh…? A gun user, eh?" He chuckled, as if intrigued.

"Not just a gun," I replied, smiling as I drew out one of my Chaos katanas. "… A sword, too."

This was the fighting style I had chosen to employ against this man. Judging from the little information I had on him, based on his fight with the former Council of Arcanity representative of the Demihumans. I knew that this wolfman was exceptionally fast, but that was it. As such, I decided to play safe and use a gun for fast strikes, with a sword to defend myself if he ever got too close.

And… I had a gut feeling the power he displayed back when facing that Demihuman woman wasn't even his full strength.

The wolfman jumped at me again, this time with his steel claw gauntlets activated, and I parried with my sword while unleashing another few shots from my gun. Once again, he retreated, avoiding them and squaring up for round three. This time, however, I was going on the offensive.

Lifting my gun, I unleashed two shots—one to the left of him, and one to the right. The wolfman seemed confused at my aim for a second, but I instantly dashed towards him using the Space Magic spell Blink and cut towards him with my katana.

"Wha—?!"

The wolfman, clearly surprised at my sudden speed, instinctively dodged to the right since he couldn't jump backwards due to my momentum, but as a result, he was struck by one of the two bullets I fired off earlier in preparation for this.

I had timed everything perfectly.

Square in the head, my Chaos-infused bullet struck, and the wolfman fell backwards into the sandy ground, making a dull landing sound.

… He's dead? Already? That was easy.

After inspecting his body for a while, I turned around and prepared to fly off, but just as I did so…

"Oh… oh… now, we're talkin'."

I stopped, and turned around to see the wolfman rising from the ground, like a living corpse returning from the dead. His skin was no longer Demihuman, and now looked like silver steel. The gaping hole in his forehead was covered by this new layer of protection, and as it would seem… my current weapons weren't going to work on this anymore.

"… Finally showing your true strength?"

"Heh… you'd best toss those weapons away if you want any chance at hurting me. I'm warning ya."

"… Oh? And why is that?"

"You'll see in a second… right after I kill you!"

He suddenly dashed forward towards me on all-fours, no longer like human but more like a beast. A wolf, in particular. The 'human' part of Demihuman was now pretty much gone, and his battle instincts had reverted to that of a beast in the wilderness.

I shot a couple of bullets at the stampeding wolf, but they only ricocheted off the surface of his skin and did no harm whatsoever.

It's even capable of resisting Chaos-infused bullets…? Looks like I'll need to try something else then.

Level Three Time Magic — Chronofreeze.

In an instant, the world turned greyscale and all motion froze, but the wolfman only slowed down. Still, it was enough for me to turn the situation around, circling around behind him and kicking him on the back, thrusting him into the ground.

"AROOOOO!" He let out a loud howl, and resumed at normal speed as he kicked me off of him, and the world around us returned to colored.

What… he canceled my Chronofreeze with that howl?

The wolfman laughed under his ragged breath and lumbered towards me.

"Heheheheheh… it's been too long since I've last had a fight this good… let's FINISH THIS!"