A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

Where so far nothing had been able to put a pause on the fighting, it was this howl that finally did the job.

Every single first and second ranker who heard it felt a chill of fear running down their spine, and they all halted in their tracks. Weapons hung uselessly in mid-air, claws suddenly stopped mid-swipe, and magic circles crumbled before realizing the intended spell.

A lull hung over the battlefield, as everyone wondered where that howl had come from. Fortunately, they weren't forced to wonder for long, when a bloodthirsty laughter followed right after. "Hahaha!" a deep voice echoed. "I see I've come just in time to join the fun!"

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Before the voice even fully ebbed away, a massive, white-furred werewolf clad in a sleek, ebony black armour, leaped from one of nearby treetops, and crashed down near the third ranker face-off.

A small dent formed in the ground, lightning crackled along the lengths of his armour, and a strange brown core pulsed in his chest. A massive hammer was casually slung over his shoulder, held in place by his right wrist resting on the shaft.

He righted himself, before smirking confidently at the four combatants and stalking closer to them.

"What the hell?" Aaron muttered with a confused gaze fixed on Erik, and his head cocked slightly. Then he turned to his partner Abigail with the same expression, "Who the fuck is this guy? He acts so dangerous, but he's just a second-ranked mut… And what's with that armour? I've never seen anything like it."

Abigail scowled and scoffed. She permitted Erik a flicker of her attention because of his theatrical entrance, but now, that flicker was over. "Who cares?" she snarled, focused back on Naeku, and conjured her magical circles in a hurry. "We need to deal with this suicidal bitch first."

With Abigail's reminder of the current threat to their lives, Aaron shook his head and scowled as well, before conjuring some magic circles of his own, and narrowing his gaze at the determined werepanther.

By now, only a few seconds had passed since Naeku began overcharging her runes, and her death now became the highest priority for these two Arcanist, regardless of any randomly appearing werewolves.

During this time, Naeku showed a remarkable level of discipline and focus, by simply continuing to overcharge her runes without paying attention to Erik at all. Her eyes remained laser focused on the two third rankers in front of her, which was exactly what caused Abigail and Aaron to ignore Erik as well.

At first, it was the werelion who paid the most attention to him. He appeared to sense something that the others weren't. His instincts were far better honed then any of the other three, and they were screaming at him that this werewolf was not merely a second ranker.

He didn't feel threatened by his presence, however. Even if Erik was more than he appeared, there was no way he was allied with their enemy. They would never allow an unbranded shapeshifter to walk free like that, and no sane shapeshifter would work with them willingly.

Yet, he had no time to think any more about it. The enemy was attacking, and his niece screamed at him. "Uncle! Focus!" she exclaimed nervously when faced with imminent death. She may have been ready to sacrifice herself, but only if there was a point.

Which meant she had to explode near one of the Arcanists.

Instantly, her uncle ripped himself away from Erik's quickly approaching figure, and roared. His body continued to be burning brightly with red-hot runes, as he had yet to put a halt to his own overcharging.

Several mud missiles and grey sickles of wind were flying towards Naeku at breakneck speeds, and her uncle quickly put himself in their path with a furious expression.

Roaring, he swung both his club, and his claws, which send a shower of scorch sparks flying out in front of him. The sparks exploded with immense power thanks to the the werelion's overcharged runes.

He watched with satisfaction as his measure defeated both attacks, yet his expression fell when a spasm of pain went through his body, to remind him of the price he was paying.

His expression became complicated. Without turning back, he addressed his niece. "Little Naeku, are you sure you want to do this?!" he exclaimed desperately, while cursing inwardly when he realized what their opponents were planning next. Meanwhile, with his focus elsewhere, he barely noticed the sound of lightning striking just behind him.

Deciding that getting past the uncle would be better served by attacking from two sides, Aaron used his mud slide to skate all the way to the other side, while Abigail was charging a particularly powerful attack.

The two Arcanists were aware they were now up against two suicidal maniacs, who could easily get at least one of them killed if they weren't careful, despite their power advantage, and they weren't willing to sit and wait to see what happened.

Yet, what happened next surprised everyone.

The two Arcanists were the first to see what was happening, as the werelion had his back turned towards his niece in an effort to protect her. Yet, when he noticed his opponents were suddenly slowing down in their attacks and looking behind him in surprise, the werelion frowned anxiously.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

He realized his niece hadn't answered him yet, so quickly turned to Naeku… just in time to see her unconscious in Erik's arms, before disappearing into thin air.

* * *

Just before, a calm and confident Erik had reacted with amusement at the fact that everyone appeared to be ignoring him. He certainly didn't care. Being underestimated was advantageous in most cased, and he'd make his presence known soon enough.

In fact, it made his next action that much easier. The moment the dark-skinned, middle-aged man was distracted with protecting his niece from the other two third-rankers, Erik made his move.

Lightning struck, and he used his previously charged lightning flash to almost instantly appear behind Naeku. Of course, just like before when she was commanding her troops, the werepanther was somehow perfectly aware of everything happening around her.

Thus, her eyes widened when she realized who had appeared behind her.

She opened her mouth to speak while turning around with the presumption of having to defend herself, something she didn't expect to have much trouble with considering their similar power level.

Yet, the truth turned out to be very different.

Before she could even turn halfway, or utter a single vowel, Erik grabbed her neck. Instantly, he and Elora both bombarded her with pure power, overloading her senses and causing Naeku to faint without a single word. At the same time, her overcharging came to a quick end.

"You'll thank me later," Erik then chuckled softly while taking her into a princess carry.

Meanwhile, the uncle was turning around, and the two Arcanists were looking at him with strange expressions. But Erik didn't pay them any mind, and quickly tossed the werepanther into his dimension, before taking up the hammer resting on the ground behind him and looking at his surroundings.

"Now, let's get to the fun part, shall we?" he grinned with a combination of fury, bloodthirst, and excitement.