In a world where the strong ruled and the weak were disdained—reputation is the sharpest blade. Sothing intangible but palpable through real benefits and consequences. A driver that could make many delve into madness.
But the madness was sothing natural, an understandable reaction.
Reputation, if sculpted right, could bolster one to the absolute peak of power.
One successful action would make a nobody into a sobody overnight, however, as fast as it could bring one to power, it could also, drag one down. It was akin to a fragile mask—once cracked, it remained shattered forever.
A tarnished reputation is the heaviest chain, it drags one onto rock bottom.
Riona had lived for generations—and she had tasted the benefits of reputation, and also saw many being dragged down by it. She knew how hard soone could fall and she wouldn't let herself fated to that fall.
In order to maintain her reputation, she must not lose face to Adhara.
Not sparing Adhara another word, Riona leaped sky-high with her kingly energy flaring.
Driven by the need to uphold her dignity, in front of her packmates—Riona leaped with lethal intent. Her right arm blazed with yellow kingly energy, crackling like a storm about to unleash its fury.
Her aura, hidden underneath by her arrogance, exploded outward.
Adhara bears witness to a blinding yellow light, a cataclysmic power that Riona exuded.
A height of power that dwarfed entities Adhara had fought before.
Swoosh!
Upon exposure to the kingly energy, the very air around Riona sizzled with raw energy as her presence, threatened to crush everything, in its path. Even Adhara saw the ground under her feet cracked under the weight.
It splintered from the sheer intensity of her power.
Even the sky darkened as if bowing to her might while she glared at Adhara intensely.
"Moon Ability, Celestial Sanctum!"
Adhara's pupils dilated as she saw Riona, with terrifying speed, hurtle from the sky, aiming to obliterate her with a single—devastating punch. In that split second Adhara's instincts kicked in, her body moving almost on its own as she leaped backward.
She narrowly evaded Riona's deadly strike.
CRACK!!
Riona's fist slamd into the ground with earth-shattering force—creating a massive crater that swallowed the entire duel grounds. Its edges crumbling dangerously close to the steep drop—the impact sent shockwaves rippling through the earth.
But the destruction didn't end there.
Above them, the Honey Moon blazed with a sudden, ominous light.
As if answering Riona's will—it unleashed a powerful ray of energy that smote the ground, further decimating, the battlefield. Unlike Riona's punch, this ray of energy struck only the edges, and it was scorching hot.
Similarly to Adhara, the others, including the mbers of the Dancing Striple Pack, did the sa thing. All of them leaped away from the center of destruction, landing at the edge of the steep drop.
Each one of them barely escaped the crashing wave of energy, dangerously close.
Kyran landed on his feet, looked ahead, and found himself confronted, by a colossal wall of lemon light. It stretched from the ground to the heavens—an impassable barrier created by the Honey Moon's might.
Because of this, the dueling ground was now sealed off by this radiant wall.
"Should we intervene?" Gistella asked, peering inside the barrier.
Reaching for the wall, she couldn't penetrate her hand through the barrier regardless of how hard she tried. Even then, she could still view the condition beyond the barrier—Adhara, and Riona were clear in her eyes.
Upon hearing this, Flunra shook her head, "No, Riona wanted her battle to be the first one"
"You don't seem to be worried," He added, casting a glance at Kyran.
Despite being sealed off and having refrained from basically helping Adhara if she did get into trouble—Kyran was gazing ahead with his arms crossed, his expression, was relaxed. "Why do I need to be worried? She's much stronger now. She's hiding the full extent of her power, exactly like we did"
Listening to this, Flunra's lips curled into a smirk.
It seed like Kyran also had realized that.
All of them had beco stronger for this particular duel, reaching a new height in power.
Similarly, all were waiting to showcase their breakthroughs.
Flunra nodded, before his eyes were pulled to sothing behind, sothing familiar—and it was coiling on a tree, almost perfectly hidden by the leaves, "Isn't that Adha-" His sentence was cut short when his senses picked up another thing.
Unlike the first one he solely noticed, this second one was noticed by all of them.
Kyran and Gistella also looked back after sensing this weird sensation.
It was an indescribable sensation, akin to the vertigo of falling from a great height.
All three of them felt it deep within—as if an invisible string had suddenly attached itself to their very core, pulling tight with a force that made their breath hitch. The constriction was suffocating, leaving them gasping for air, each breath more labored than the last.
Glancing over to the duel grounds, Kyran squinted his eyes and found Adhara gazing his way.
Despite the threat from Riona, she stole a few glances in his direction.
'She felt it too, and I don't think it ca from the other pack' Kyran pondered inwardly.
Such an unnatural sensation, it was hard to imagine this coming from the other pack.
However—despite the overwhelming discomfort, there was no trace of malice or any kind of sinister intent within the pull of the string although that was barely an assurance for them. It was only then that Kyran frowned, 'No, I have felt this before but I forgot when...'
"Odd, it felt like I'm connected with another person," Flunra thought aloud.
Kyran's eyes then widened as he ca to the realization, 'It's... It's the tenth mber?!'
'But why did Rex do it now...? And this connection seed to be stronger' He added.
On the other hand, within the duel grounds.
Rushing ahead with a powerful stomp, Riona flared her claws that were crackling with yellow kingly energy. In a swift, dangerous swipe, her claws grazed Adhara's front—tearing through her outfit with ease.
Though the fabric split, it began healing almost instantly.
It was one of the effects of the outfit Rex prepared for them, self-healing.
Adhara's eyes flicked to the torn remnants of her outfit, a flicker of fury crossing her face.
Her jaw clenched, and she raised her gaze to et Riona's, her glare sharp and unyielding, a silent promise of returning this favor. "Don't look at as if I did sothing cheap, you were the ones who averted your attention from a battle. I'm simply taking my chances"
"I was planning on saving our fight to the last, but I changed my mind" Riona added.
Glancing at the surroundings, Adhara realized her predicant.
She saw multiple totems made of moon materials planted on the edge of the duel grounds— the barrier was sourced from these totems, and since the others couldn't get in, Adhara was the only one who could take down the barrier.
Even then, she smiled as she wasn't going to do that either way.
"A duel between the leaders of each pack, at the very start, are you sure you are making the right decision?" Adhara asked, responding with the sa vigor. Her body also began to burn with purple flas, shooting her power to the ninth-rank realm. "After all, if you die, you'd be the reason your pack loses..."
Upon hearing this, Riona cackled, her eyes began to lose sight of sanity.
"I'm going to take pleasure in wiping that confidence, Female Alpha!" She roared excitedly.
Riona and Adhara charged at each other, their steps wide and swift—until they collided with the force of Titans. A clash between primal fury, and elental wrath erupted. Riona lunged, a blur of muscle and sinew, her savage power crashing against Adhara, a searing wall of fire.
Flas curled around Riona's fur, but she tore through the inferno with raw force alone.
Adhara retaliated—taking a step back and creating a circle of fire on the ground before her.
Upon Riona stepping into that circle, a spiraling vortex blasted from below.
Riona was engulfed in scorching flas that lit the night with an ominous glow.
She unleashed a barrage of fire vortices—each explosion more intense than the last, without a glance to check Riona's condition. Due to her achievent in evolving her fire mana into its apex form, arcane mana, her spells beca incredibly destructive.
Her flas even threatened to engulf the entire duel grounds.
But then, Adhara's eyes widened in shock, Riona's relentless aggression broke through the fiery onslaught, her fur unmarred—as her jaws snapped inches from Adhara's throat, fangs glinting wickedly in the firelight.
Adhara's eyes locked on Riona's gleaming yellow claws.
Each movent is a harbinger of doo.
She could sense the imminent danger radiating from them and did everything in her power to avoid, their deadly arc. Even though she managed to keep pace with Riona, while maintaining her human form, it didn't co with an evident risk.
'If I get hit once, I will be extrely wounded' Adhara pondered at the height of the fight.
Glancing upwards, she clicked her tongue, 'It's not ti yet, I shouldn't turn'
Her heart pounded as she danced around the feral onslaught, her teeth greeted in resolve.
But then Riona's kingly energy surged—a pulse of raw power, that made the air around them shiver. Adhara was too slow to react, Riona's clawed hand clamped down on her arm—and a brutal smirk twisted the Werewolf's lips.
Desperate, Adhara raised her free hand above, "Arcane Spell, Fire Scimitars!"
Now that her mana has evolved, her spell also evolved.
She summoned big fire scimitars the size of houses and commanded them to strike Riona.
Each blade descended with all the force she could muster and struck—a savage downswing that was capable of cutting of the limbs of even ninth-rank realm beings. But even under the threat, Riona didn't flinch.
Swoosh!!
Naturally, the scimitars clashed against her skin.
But to Adhara's surprise, they barely pierced an inch into Riona's thick flesh.
Adhara's frown deepened as her eyes flicked upward to the glowing Honey Moon, casting a second glance at it, and gritting her teeth. She knew she was in deep trouble. Then, Riona's grip tightened, her grin widening with sadistic pleasure.
Making a swift yank, Riona pulled Adhara closer, her other hand gripping Adhara's neck.
Feeling this tightness, Adhara struggled.
However, before she could react, Riona's fangs sank into her arm.
Brutally, Riona twists her head, tearing Adhara's limb off—blood spraying from the wound.
Agony shot through Adhara, but she refused to relent.
Roaring in defiance, she elongated her fingernails into claws and drove them into Riona's left eye. The Werewolf didn't even flinch at this retaliation, but before Adhara could reach for the other eye, Riona slapped her aside.
Bam!
Under the force, Adhara was sent hurtling through the air, crashing into the rocky edge.
It was a bone-shattering impact, powerful enough to shake the duel grounds.
Across her pathway were trails of gory blood, pooling where she finally lay.
"Quite strong..." Adhara mused as she gazed ahead at Riona, a silhouette with a pair of lethal golden eyes. She rose to her feet slowly—and smirked—holding her non-existent left arm, "It seems I might've underestimated you a little bit"
Listening to this, Riona looked at her pridefully, "I'm still holding back,"
"Go on—show your full power, turn into your Werewolf form" She added aningfully.
She knew that Adhara was also holding back in the initial battle.
Instead of heeding her command, Adhara spat blood to the side and channeled her mana.
"Although I want to play with you with onlookers—it would be unfair for to hog the entire mont for myself," She replied, arcane fire mana coalescing around her remaining arm and followed by several exploding sounds.
Upon hearing these explosions, Riona looked around before she frowned.
All of the totems were destroyed, and the barrier fell.
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In that exact second, three figures appeared beside Adhara as the others joined.
Similarly, the Dancing Stripe Pack also ca seeing the other pack make their move.
Adhara spreads her arms to the side, "This is a pack duel so let us begin this duel properly!"
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