A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

After that confrontation, Erik and Viljar began slugging it out in close combat for a while. They both wore excited grins.

Viljar quickly found himself matched in strength but outmatched in speed, while Erik realized his uncle's defenses were much higher than his own.

For Erik, this was also a bit of a cathartic moment, as he felt like he was taking revenge against werebears for his loss against Katya. Not that his loss against Katya, as a third-rank Runebound, surprised him, but it still hurt his pride a little.

Meanwhile, behind Viljar, his team members were watching with bated breath.

"Man, despite the situation, I'm happy I get to see this," Björn said with awe in his eyes, seemingly having forgotten his earlier anger at Erik. "Just look at that guy go! He's a werewolf at the same rank, yet he's matching the Boss's strength equally! How?!"

Besides him, Nora had regained the lust in her eyes when she looked at Erik. "I know, right? Look at him going at it like a savage." She shuddered, "Gah! I want to tame him so bad! Teach that savage monster to obey me! Hehehehe"

Björn rolled his eyes, "Yeah, right. Even the boss has trouble with him, yet you're gonna make him roll over for you? With what army?"

Nora grinned confidently in response and slightly shook her voluptuous chest while caressing her mature body. "You just let me worry about that! Men like him are all the same. You saw him look at me earlier; I'm sure he'll crawl through shards to get a taste of me!"

Björn laughed loudly. "Well, good luck with that! I think he might surprise you! I mean, race aside, that human girl is even more beautiful than you, yet she seems happy to obey his every command."

Anger and disgust flashed through Nora's eyes. "You dare compare me to that human trash?!"

Björn shrugged without a care. "Say what you will, but the facts are the facts. Besides, your plan relies on this 'Silver' or whatever he's called to care about your consent. But let me ask you this: say he defeats the Boss; what's to stop him from simply taking what he wants from you?"

Nora appeared taken aback by that suggestion, causing her to blink, as she apparently hadn't thought of that possibility. "I- uh." She looked down. 'Did… I just get a little wet at that thought?' But she quickly shook her head. 'No way! It must have happened when I was thinking about taming him!'

She stammered a little, having, at least temporarily, lost some of her confidence, "I- I doubt he's such a person. B- Besides, the Boss won't lose! Right…?"

While they talked, they continued to hold back a seething and struggling Anne, who finally had enough of their conversation. "How can you two talk like this after what that traitor and his human trash did to Olaf?!"

Nora and Björn fell silent for a moment while looking a little ashamed. But after a few moments, Björn sighed and shrugged, "Well, is it so bad? The human serves the werewolf, so isn't Olaf really enslaved by Silver in the end? Besides, he truly was being an instigating asshole… as usual."

Anne looked at him with wide eyes and in utter disbelief. She hissed full of venom, almost making one believe she was a wereserpent, instead of a werelynx, "You dare, Björn?! I can't believe I ever thought of you as a friend! You know what humans did to me!"

The wereverine nodded sadly. "They did terrible things to all of us, Anne. But most of those humans are dead now. Perhaps Silver is right, and we really are pathetic…"

Anne fell into stunned silence at those words. Though perhaps mostly because her fury rose so high, she didn't know how to express herself.

Nora had a complicated expression after hearing Björn's words but decided to take a neutral stance on the matter and keep quiet.

Meanwhile, back at the duel site, Erik and Viljar had separated again. The ground beneath them trembled with the aftermath of their powers as they circled each other.

Neither of them had received any real wounds. Erik was too fast for Viljar to get any good hits in, and even when he did, Erik's icy shell was the perfect counter for his magma claws, as it not only blocked but also cooled, while Viljar's defenses proved tough for Erik to break through.

Their eyes were locked in mutual respect and determination.

The air was thick with tension.

It was as if the very environment itself was waiting for the next explosive moment.

It didn't need to wait long as Viljar, with a fierce roar, made another set of dark-red runes appear on his skin. He grinned wildly. "You were pretty good, boy. But let's see how you deal with this!"

Suddenly, four things that could only be described as magma tentacles snaked out from behind Viljar's back. The tips were now floating around his body.

Erik raised an eyebrow and couldn't help but gulp slightly despite the excitement never leaving his eyes. 'Never thought Uncle Viljar would become an octobear.' He thought as he chuckled inwardly.

"That's impressive," he said as he eyed the slowly swaying tentacles around Viljar with a sly grin. "But you know it's not about size, or in your case, quantity, but about how you use them, right?"

Viljar snorted. "That's funny, boy. Now, let me show you that you should respect your elders!" he said, just before he charged at Erik with the tentacles at the ready.

Erik howled and met Viljar's charge head-on. They began exchanging blows again, but Erik immediately felt pressured. Viljar's tentacles were no less dangerous, precise, or agile than his mighty claws.

The werebear's lack of speed had essentially been solved by increasing the number of available limbs. In response, Erik pushed his lightning enhancement to the limit, exponentially increasing his speed, agility, and reflexes. Meanwhile, he had to pump a lot of energy into his icy shell to counteract the surrounding heat.

His claws and hammer became a blur. For the first time in this fight, he began using his lightning claw spell and combining them with concussive blasts to keep the four tentacles at bay.

He had now used all four of his lightning spells and skills before Viljar, and the man had noticed.

"You know," he said, as he used his enormous claws to swipe at Erik in an uppercut movement, "I've been counting, and I think you have too many skills."

Erik grinned as he dodged a tentacle while blocking the uppercut with his hammer in one hand and simultaneously launched a lightning claw at a second tentacle with his other hand to keep it at bay.

"Noticed that, did you? Maybe I'll tell you why sometime." Erik said as he panted a little. Meanwhile, he started thinking, 'I need to go on the offensive before I'm exhausted to death or make a mistake. I need to get rid of some of those tentacles.'

Finally, he had an opening.

Viljar was reeling a little from a particularly powerful concussive blast that blew away his tentacles, causing Erik to be without any immediate threats.

He quickly charged another concussive blast, but this time, under one of his wolfish feet. Before Viljar could react, Erik jumped high into the air at the same time as the blast exploded.

Using the double momentum from his jump and the blast, Erik somersaulted through the air, right over Viljar's head. Viljar looked up with astonishment as he saw Erik's grinning face pass just over his.

There was no time for Viljar to react.

With adrenaline pumping through his body and his mind working overtime to get the timing right, Erik experienced this moment as if in slow motion.

Erik turned around midair and was now facing Viljar's exposed back, which had the four tentacles coming out of it.

'Now's the time!' he thought, taking a deep breath and opening his mouth wide. A large, icy-blue magic circle appeared in front of his face, and he released a mighty howl. At the same time, icy shrapnel blasted from his mouth straight against Viljar's undefended back.

Erik landed gracefully on his feet, and time began moving fast again. Viljar felt the impact on his back and roared in pain as he turned around, ready to enact vengeance.

Yet, he felt something was wrong on his back, though he couldn't quite grasp what it was. But he had no time to think about it as Erik charged at him with a grin on his face and his hammer raised.

Viljar roared again and attempted to move his tentacles, but instead of movement, he only felt a dull ache. He was confused but had to think fast to defend himself, so he crossed his arms in front of his face in preparation for Erik's hammer.

Yet, the blow never came.

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