The Villain's Sword Is Sharp

He quickly reached the entrance to the den, but then he slowed down. The attackers might not expect him to attack so this was a golden opportunity to surprise them.

Isaac kept the Snowshoe Anima active and silently glided forwards. Then he stopped, stunned.

There were 2 intimidating skeletons outside then den. One bear skeleton stood guard on either side of the entrance, not willing to let anyone pass.

Fortunately, these skeletons had lost the sense of smell they had when they were alive. Their senses had severely diminished after becoming skeletons and they hadn't noticed Isaac yet.

He quickly realised that staying stealthy would be impossible. The moment he engaged with the bears, anybody in the passage would become aware of his presence.

He also couldn't sneak past the bears. Their senses might've diminished, but they would still notice if somebody tried to walk right past them. That left only one option.

Isaac activated his Snowshoe Anima on full speed and shot forwards like he'd been fired from a cannon. The bears noticed him – it was impossible not to – but he'd already reached the den's entrance before they could react.

However, there was no snow in the passageway. Isaac's Snowshoe Anima ceased to work the moment his feet touched dirt instead of snow, but he was still travelling at an insane speed. He couldn't control his momentum and tumbled down the passageway head over heels.

The two men in the passageway heard him, but they couldn't even turn around in surprise. The human projectile crashed into the back of the muscular man and he was sent flying. Meanwhile, the man in the brown coat was caught in shock for a moment as he processed what had happened. Isaac took advantage of this moment and scrambled to his feet.

He created a spirit sword and attacked the man, but he'd already recovered by now.

He screamed, "Fuck! Die!" and fired a barrage of icicles at Isaac. It would be impossible to dodge all of them at such close range, but Isaac pushed his sword towards the man's outstretched hand. The blade blocked most of the icicles and only 2 got past; 1 struck him in the thigh, while the other grazed his left arm.

Meanwhile, Isaac's sword continued its path towards the man's arm. The man was astonished to see Isaac block his icicles and was too flat-footed to react. The sword pierced through his palm and the man howled in pain,

"Arghhhh!!"

Isaac withdrew his sword and slashed again, aiming for the man's head this time. However, a wave of ice appeared underneath the man and carried him backwards. Isaac's movement Anima didn't work in here, so he could only let Langley retreat.

Langley stood there, staring venomously at Isaac and clutching his injured hand. Blood dripped through his fingers and stained the brown earth.

However, Isaac ignored the man's poisonous gaze. He looked past him to see what was happening in the chamber.

Bjorn, the muscular man, was back on his feet. He'd heard his companion's scream so he commanded the skeletons to change directions and head back towards the passageway.

Then Isaac saw Eva, Johan and Abbie. There were several snow walls behind them, but a bone wolf smashed through one of them as he was watching. It took mere moments to calculate what had happened and give his directions,

"Attack the wolf now!"

The team looked surprised as they heard Isaac's voice, but the wolf pounced towards them from behind and their joy was short-lived. They began to fight, but Isaac couldn't watch any longer. He had other things to deal with.

His eyes were drawn back to Langley, who had raised his uninjured hand. A semi-transparent skull emerged from his palm. It was about the size of a fist and had a disproportionately large mouth.

The screaming skull flew towards Isaac at moderate speed and he would have no problems dodging it. Isaac didn't feel threatened by the skull, but that all changed when it opened its jaws wide and began screaming.

The skull's screams echoed through the passageway and shook Isaac's mind. He felt dizzy and disoriented. Then, 3 icicles shot towards Isaac.

Isaac dealt with the dizziness better than Eva had. He fought off his nausea and ducked past the icicles, but the skull was getting ever-closer and its effects were becoming stronger.

Isaac's eyes widened as he realised the skull's effects and he made a snap decision – he decided to retreat. He backpedalled furiously, not taking his eyes off his opponents as he tried to escape from the passageway.

However, 2 new enemies appeared behind him. The bear skeletons outside the passageway had stepped inside and would stop Isaac from leaving.

He desperately covered his ears and tried to form a plan as the skull approached. Langley saw how the skull was affecting Isaac and smirked maliciously. He struggled to raise his injured hand and bombarded Isaac with more icicles.

However, a smile tugged at the corners of Isaac's mouth when he saw this – he'd been waiting for this moment! His expression morphed from desperation to confidence, and he bobbed his head to evade the icicles.

They flew past and struck the bears behind him. There were loud cracks as the bears' bones fractured, then Isaac turned around to deal a sweeping blow with his sword.

That was the finisher. The bears collapsed into piles of broken bones, and Isaac sprinted past them.

2 steps later, he was back outside the den. He activated the Snowshoe Anima to flee out of the skull's range, then breathed a sigh of relief.

'That skull's screams directly damage the will! I need to evade it at all costs.'

Isaac's maximum-effort style of meditation had helped strengthen his will. His will was already strong to begin with, so that was like giving wings to a tiger; the skull's screams had a reduced effect on him. However, that didn't mean he was immune to them – direct contact with the skull was still extremely dangerous. Fortunately, it flew slowly.

Isaac decided to fight outside, where he had room to move freely and avoid any skulls. However, his opponent wasn't going to do what he wanted. Langley realised he was at an advantage inside the den, so he stood at the entrance and launched projectiles at Isaac. Meanwhile, Bjorn went back to trying to deal with the team.

*************************

Earlier, in the den...

"Was that Isaac?!"

Johan exclaimed in joy and disbelief. The skeletons were moving towards the passageway and the team felt a weight lifted off of their shoulders. However, the wolf charged at them from behind, reminding they weren't safe yet.

They'd all heard Isaac's words, 'attack the wolf now', and realised this was their best chance to kill the beast. Abbie used her dwindling Qi to raise another snow wall. The wolf crashed into the wall and destroyed it, but it lost its momentum.

*Vwoom* *Vwoom* *Vwoom*

3 icicles flew through the air. The wolf couldn't see through all the snow in the air so it couldn't dodge the icicles. They struck it squarely in the head and 3 cracks spread across its skull.

The wolf shook its head violently then stared at its two attackers. Wait... two attackers?

Eva was already next to the wolf, aiming a palm towards its jaw. The strike connected and the wolf's head was hit upwards. Then another series of icicles hit its exposed neck.

The wolf was furious – I mean, it probably was. It's hard to tell how a skeleton's feeling after all.

It spun in a circle and lashed towards Eva with its tail, but she'd seen this attack too many times already. She raised both hands and caught the tail. The sharp bone cut her hands, but her wounds were immediately frozen by the Palms of Northern Frost Anima. The strike also made her slide backwards, but she dug her heels into the ground and kept hold of the tail.

Then she tightened her grip on the tail and her muscles bulged. With a loud grunt, she pulled the skeleton towards her. The wolf, which was about to attack Johan, panicked. It thrashed about and lashed its tail back and forth, but it was too late. Eva gave one powerful pull and the wolf couldn't stop itself from being flung backwards.

As the wolf was propelled towards her, Eva let go of the tail. She stepped forwards to deliver a palm strike, hitting the same part of the wolf's jaw she'd struck previously. The strength of the blow caused cracking noises, and more fractures appeared in the wolf's skull. Part of its jaw broke completely and fell off.

Eva anticipated the wolf's retaliation and backed away. However, the wolf didn't come after her.

No, it stood there forlornly for one helpless moment. Then the bones of its body fell to the floor with a clatter: now the Sarcevic Wolf had died twice.

The trio breathed a collective sigh of relief, especially Eva who was glad to finally vanquish her foe.

They took a few seconds to catch their breath and reorganise themselves, then they got into formation with Eva at the front and the others behind. They still needed to support Isaac; the fight wasn't over yet.