Chapter 32: The Awakening
A thin amount of the rune barrier was placed on the area surrounding Sol and the others. This was primarily used in order to ensure that their part of the cave would not collapse. Hence when the explosion finally came, the area where they stayed was completely safe.
The howling winds was finally able to reach the group. And so did every other nightmarish sound brought about by the storm. Lightning gave them flash speed images of what was beyond the explosion while, the thunder was entirely audible once again.
Sol was shaking at that point and, Alice took notice of this. She thought that it might be because of the storm but, there was something entirely different with Sol's aura. And as another lightning struck, Alice saw nothing but rage engraved on Sol's face.
"Ethan, grit your teeth."
"What?" He didn't even have time to understand the words as Sol threw one solid punch to his cheek. Making it the third time he was attacked by his teammate.
"H-hey why are you hitting me! It's not my fault you jackass!" Ethan furthered, still not accepting his fault in what happened.
"This is entirely your fault!" Sol screamed and, before he could even continue beating Ethan up, the voice of the maze spoke once again.
[There are wolves remaining within the area. The level is yet to be cleared.]
"S-sol what are we gonna do now?" Jake asked and, at that moment Solomon finally snapped.
That was exactly the reason why he didn't want to get associated with them too much. He knew that they would become his weakness. At that moment, he had a mix of emotions. Rage towards Ethan, Anger on his incompetence and his lack of insight. Sorrow on the death of a good man that could've been prevented. Annoyance on Jake. It was all mixing inside of him.
Soon enough they heard it; the howling of the wolves that were able to survive. And this was the perfect opportunity for Sol to release the emotions that were making his blood boil.
"Alice, give me your daggers."
"But Sol…" The boy gave her a cold stare, lit by the lightning that continues striking down. The air around the remaining titans thickened and, for some reason, they felt that Sol was changing.
"Now Alice." Solomon commanded and, the weapon was finally handed to Sol. He then took the remaining wind crystals and, on his waist was the knight sword.
"Stay here. I'm tired with having to deal with you." Sol said and, with that, the boy disappeared into the darkness.
The storm was still heavy. Parts of the cave were destroyed, leaving an opening which Solomon could only see through the flashes of lightning. The eyes of all the wolves were gleaming and he could hear them gnarl at him.
Thunder and lightning didn't have any effect on him anymore or, more accurately, he didn't seem to hear the thunder any longer. He wasn't scared and, the only reason his hands were shaking was because of the rage that he needed to let out.
"You wanna have a go? Okay you assholes, let's have a go." Sol said finally dashing out of the cave and towards the group of wolves.
It is said that the human brain limits the amount of force one can actually use. This is because, going beyond that would put too much strain on a person's body, causing it to get destroyed after the rush.
Sol didn't think of this concept at the moment and simply pushed through. Evading every lightning attack with unbelievable speed and, slowly cutting down the ten lightning wolves that remained.
The wolves were beginning to feel frightened. They could only see the opponent after the lightning gives a split-second light and, this wasn't enough for them to think of anything. Yet Sol was different, with every illumination, his brain would go into overdrive. Showing him the patterns that he needed to make and the attacks that needed to be executed.
In one fluid motion, Sol would zoom all around the area and after a minute of this, one wolf was finally taken down. Sol stood on top of it, with the blood of the monster spraying out, mixing with the rain that fell from the sky.
"Nine more."
The lightning wolves all charged a spell and attacked at once. Yet all they hit was corpse of their brethren as Sol once again vanished.
Slowly and meticulously, Sol targeted all the weak points of the monsters. He was memorizing their rhythm, their attack patterns, the change in behaviors depending on the situation, the possible anomalies, and everything else. It was like he wasn't himself anymore. It was as if he was possessed by a being higher than himself.
"Keep moving you useless orphan." Sol dodged another lighting strike, sliding below a wolf and cutting open its belly, releasing some of its organs as Sol stabbed through the heart. Killing yet another monster in the process.
"Don't stop until you've avenged him! You have no right to stop!"
Another wolf ripped through the body of the fallen using lightning claws. The lightning wave spread through the ground; making the other wolves think that they have killed the boy. Yet Sol actually wrapped himself in the wolf's skin which, was immune to lightning. And as he emerged out of the corpse, he threw the two daggers on the eyes of another wolf as, he finally unsheathed the knight broadsword.
With one strong wind up, he leapt midair and used the blunt of the weapon's blade to stick the daggers inside the wolf. Piercing its brain and killing it immediately.
"You can keep it." He said, proceeding to the other seven.
Solomon seemed to be immortal at that moment but, his body was still human. He was an underdeveloped boy and, the price of his body taking of its limiters was finally taking its toll. But he forced it, to the very last beat of his heart, until his body gets torn apart, Sol offered everything to that fight.
Quickly and methodically, Solomon slaughtered the wolves who have realized a fact all too late. That the boy was an anomaly. That it was a beast greater than anything they have ever imagined. That a true predator was before them and that…they were the prey.
The inevitable soon came. There was only a single lightning wolf that remained. And, with all the odds against it, the creature made a piercing howl. Lightning struck from the heavens, pinpointed at the wolf which, emerged in an evolved state.
But it wasn't the only one that evolved. Sol, who was only half conscious at that point, began seeing strange things around his enemy. The terrain was finally clear and his eyers seemed to be gazing from a third-dimension perspective. Understanding all that he needed to do in order to win at that moment.
The Direwolf howled and its body glowed with the streaks of lighting that covered it. The monster went into stance, and so did Solomon. It was time for the finishing blow, for the curtain closing attack to be made and, as soon as the next lightning bolt was drawn on the sky, the beast and the boy finally clashed.
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[Congratulations! You have cleared the maze.]