Chapter 18: Lightning in a Cage
"The time starts now," Rael said.
The last word had barely left his mouth when the Silver Shadow Wolf King moved.
He shot forward at the speed of light, claws crackling with electricity, air exploding behind him. In a blink, he was in front of Rael, claw swinging down to tear him apart.
Rael raised one hand lazily.
He tilted his wrist.
The attack missed by a hair.
Rael hadn't even moved his feet. He was still standing in the same spot.
The wolf flew past him and slammed into the far edge of the domain. The moment his legs hit the ground, the impact carved a massive crater into the earth, the shockwave shaking the entire barrier.
He turned instantly and dashed again—but this time, he didn't go straight.
He circled.
Lightning wrapped around his body as he ran in loops around Rael, faster and faster. Sparks flew with each step. Wind howled, twisting with the electricity.
Rael watched calmly. "Ah. Flash Step to create an electric tornado… then use the wind pressure to shoot yourself in a blind spot. Clever."
The air above them twisted into a spinning storm of electricity, wind, and mana, mixing into a deadly vortex.
Rael's eyes narrowed with interest. "Never thought a beast would use this much brain."
The wolf king's body suddenly launched out of the spinning current like a bullet—his speed jumping past even his original dash. In less than an instant, his claw was about to hit Rael's neck.
But the moment it was about to touch—
Rael vanished.
The wolf crashed headfirst into the barrier this time. The entire domain trembled, and a long crack spread across the invisible wall like broken glass.
Rael appeared beside him, looking up at the fracture.
"Well, creating the barrier was a good idea," he said casually. "Otherwise, that would've destroyed at least this region. Maybe even shaken the whole solar system a bit."
He placed his hand on the crack. Light flowed from his palm, and the fracture began to slowly repair itself, sealing cleanly.
The wolf king turned his head and saw him.
Rael was focused on fixing the barrier, calm and completely exposed. Behind him, the wolf's tail was wagging unconsciously—like an excited puppy watching its owner.
Just as the tail was about to sweep toward him, Rael stepped back without looking.
"You're clever," Rael said, still not facing him. "But you still can't hide your intention. You have one hundred seconds left. Come."
The wolf king gritted his teeth.
He sucked in mana from the domain, from his body, from every cell. Lightning swallowed his form completely.
He unleashed one of his strongest techniques—
Electric Burst.
The entire domain turned white.
Lightning filled every inch of space, tens of billions of bolts crashing down from all directions at once. Each one had enough power to destroy a city, and now they were layered on top of each other, roaring nonstop.
In the center of it all, Rael stood still.
He didn't raise a guard.
Didn't move.
Didn't flinch.
The bolts smashed around him like a storm trying to erase a mountain.
When the light finally thinned, the wolf king was already charging mana again. He raised his claw and swung.
Five massive arcs of compressed electricity—
Electric Slash.
They cut through the domain, each one strong enough to level a fortress. Rael stepped aside, stepped forward, leaned slightly, and walked through them all like he was taking a stroll, every slash missing him by a breath.
"You're leaking a lot of mana in your attacks," Rael commented calmly as he moved. "Too much waste."
The wolf didn't answer.
He didn't have time.
He gathered everything he had left for his fastest move—
Electric Pierce.
Lightning wrapped tight around a single claw, concentrating to the point the air broke, sound vanished, and only white light remained.
He moved.
Even Rael's eyes widened a little.
Fast, he thought. Faster than before.
For the first time in this fight, Rael didn't dodge lazily.
He stepped seriously.
The claw grazed where he had just been, the force tearing open the space behind him. The blow didn't hit Rael—but it slammed into the barrier.
This time, the barrier shattered.
Cracks exploded outward, then broke completely—like a glass dome being punched from the inside. The domain collapsed in a burst of light and force.
The chapter ends.