Chapter 219: 219. Carl makes his move
The sudden attack left everyone, including the wolf, in stunned surprise. The beast, caught off guard, quickly retreated, wary of another assault from her.
Just as it sought distance, the silver-haired man's attack followed—a red spear-like projectile, spinning rapidly, flew toward the wolf with deadly speed.
This time, however, the wolf's agility was on point. It deftly evaded the spinning spear, narrowly escaping its lethal trajectory.
Before the wolf could fully recover, Ethan appeared in a flash of purple. He extended his hands with a swift, fluid motion.
In a dazzling display reminiscent of a light show, ten purple beams shot from his fingertips, speeding toward the wolf like guided missiles. These beams were faster and more precise than those he had previously unleashed against Alice.
The wolf reacted with impressive speed, dodging eight of the beams. But the remaining two struck their mark, eliciting a pained growl from the beast as it staggered from the impact.
"OOWWWOOO!!!!!"
The wolf howled in agony, its eyes glowing red with rage as it stared at Ethan.
"Attack, everyone!" Ethan commanded. The long-range attackers, jolted into action by his shout, unleashed a barrage of projectiles. Lightning arrows, fire swords, wind blades, and simple throwing spears all shot towards the wolf at high speed.
Orion joined in, hurling bombs made from the curse of Detonating Flesh. He didn't want to be the only one not participating in the assault.
As the attacks hurtled towards it, the wolf attempted to dodge. To its dismay, it found itself trapped in the corner of the barrier, surrounded by peak platinum rank experts.
"OOWWOOO!"
Despite its predicament, the wolf let out a desperate howl. It seemed to activate a power within itself, causing its color to shift rapidly: from blue to red, then orange, green, and black, before finally returning to its original blue.
"Crap!" Ethan cursed as he realized something. "Everyone, step back!"
However, his shout came too late. A surge of elemental attacks erupted from the wolf's body, as if unleashed by a bolt of lightning. Fireballs as large as the wolf itself, lightning bolts, wind blades, stone spears, and ice spikes all shot towards the peak platinum rank experts blocking its path.
Emily reacted swiftly, appearing a short distance away from the wolf as if by teleportation. Ethan, in a flash of purple light, also zoomed back, leaving behind the silver-haired man, the middle-aged man, and the others.
Though they couldn't move as quickly as Emily and Ethan, they weren't entirely helpless. Instead, they used different approach to protect themselves from the oncoming onslaught.
The silver haired man shouted, "Everyone, punch the ground."
As if they understood something, all the Platinum Rank experts simultaneously punched the ground, causing the entire arena to quake violently.
The tremor disrupted the wolf's footing, making it stagger and falter. In its disoriented state, the wolf's attacks, previously aimed with precision, spiraled erratically in all directions.
The elemental attacks from the wolf collided with the barriers, some even veering towards the Silver Rank and Iron Rank experts.
However, these individuals lacked the speed of Emily and Ethan, and their defenses were no match for these attacks. As a result, they were unable to withstand the onslaught and ended up dead.
Not only them, the attacks of the blue wolf reached each and every corner of the arena and all the people swept by the attack of the wolf died not one survived.
Among them included a significant number of Iron and Silver rank experts. There were also numerous Gold rank experts who fell victim, caught off guard by the wolf's chaotic onslaught.
Ethan scanned the scene, his expression darkening as he took in the devastation.
Their plan had been to use the wolf to eliminate Orion, but it had disastrously backfired. With so many casualties, they would undoubtedly face intense scrutiny from their superiors. Ethan's face twisted with worry as he pondered how he would explain the catastrophic failure to them.
'Damn, all of this is that kid's fault,' he cursed under his breath. 'But I can't afford to lose my composure.'
He forced himself to calm down. One major oversight had been the upgraded Diamond Rank monster's strength, which far exceeded his previous expectations.
'But it's still killable,' he reassured himself, glancing at Emily and the other Platinum Rank experts.
"Let's not give it any time to rest!" he shouted to them.
They nodded and quickly readied themselves for another attack. However, as before, the wolf vanished from their sight and reappeared among the Iron Rank and Silver Rank experts.
"Carl, hold that beast off for a while!" Damian shouted from across the arena, as the other Platinum Rank experts hurried to his position.
Carl nodded grimly. His previous encounter with the wolf had left him battered and scarred by lightning, but the memory of his failed attempt to kill Orion fueled his renewed determination.
"Come at me!" he roared, drawing the wolf's attention as it appeared in his vicinity.
The wolf charged at him without hesitation. Carl responded by transforming his hands into enormous, formidable black hands. He advanced toward the wolf, all the while keeping a wary eye on Orion's position.
Because Carl took the initiative, the wolf couldn't channel its elemental attack, and its assault collided with Carl head-on.
Boom!
However, it was Carl who got blasted back, and strangely, he stopped near Orion, looking at him with a sneer.
Orion understood Carl's intention and a look of panic crossed his face.
But it was too late.
The wolf attacked once more, this time conjuring a red flame in its maw as it lunged toward Carl and Orion.
Carl swiftly dodged the attack with his platinum rank speed, but Orion remained defenseless, standing there in shock.
"Orion, move!!" His sister's urgent shout pierced through the chaos.
Orion saw the blue light emanating from her body and realized she was about to use her talent.
'No! I have to act fast,' Desperation gripped him.
He quickly retrieved the space tear from his space bracelet and held it up for everyone to see. Then, using the curse of Detonating Flesh, he caused the space tear to glow intensely. Following that, he activated the curse of Dimensional Dissonance to shift into his dimension and vanished from the boss room.
As the blinding purple light of Orion's disappearance faded, the blue wolf's attack arrived, followed closely by Emily. They were a moment too late.
The attack missed Orion and struck the barrier, disintegrating into nothingness.
Emily frowned as she surveyed the empty spot where Orion had vanished. "He used the Space Tear!" she said, surprised but relieved that he had such a powerful artifact; otherwise, the situation could have been much worse.
"That was the Space Tear, right?" Carl asked, appearing in a flash of purple light.
Emily nodded. Though she was curious about where Orion had obtained such a treasure, she was glad he was safe.
"It's good that he escaped," Carl agreed, but inwardly he cursed Orion. He couldn't believe they had gone to such lengths to kill him, only for him to escape while so many had died. He felt bitter and frustrated that their target had managed to slip away.
"OWOOO!"
"Let's kill his beast and get this over with," he spat in anger as he saw the wolf running towards them.