Chapter 616 Solarium
"Where do we go?" Manny asked Keng as they moved to the other side of the street. Keng looked behind them, hearing the howls of the wolves. Manny pulled away turning to face Keng as they stood in front of some random yard. Manny's eyes were bulging in worry as he took glances behind Keng. "What's your plan? To lure them towards us?"
"That's why I told you to split from me. I can handle this." Keng brushed him off. He spun around, putting Starry Sun onto him. His arms lifted up, starting to write runes in the air as the ground began to shake. Manny's nerves were screaming for him to leave.
"L-Lee! Come on! We're going to be food!" Manny shouted. He stepped forward only to see a bunch of runes fading into the air. Houses exploded as Direwolves flew into view. The largest of them stood in the middle as the smaller ones created a half-crescent. They barked and growled as Manny gulped.
'What's he doing? Why can he write runes?' Manny wondered. The largest Direwolf stepped forward howling. The entire pack started to shimmer and Manny's throat dropped to his stomach. 'T-that's Pack Tactics! Oh shit… W-we gotta go!'
[Notice: Manny has been inflicted with fear due to Pack Tactics being used.]
'Great.' Keng thought. The air around him began to shake violently as he wrote the last rune. Keng let out a heavy sigh as his arms dropped. The Direwolves rushed at them as Manny screamed inside of his head.
'Move! Move! They're going to kill me!' Manny's body twitched. It wouldn't do anything he wanted it to do. Flames ignited all around Manny and Keng, quickly glowing with the runes Keng had written down. The flames rushed forwards, meeting the wolves as they morphed into foxes.
The flaming foxes slammed into the Direwolves as the Direwolves swung at the foxes. The flames ignited some of the Direwolves as the Alpha, the largest one, seemed to howl, extinguishing some of the flaming Foxes. Keng let out another heavy sigh as he lifted his hand up.
"Solarium: Dance of the Fire Fox." Keng's Starry Sun ripped apart as the runes ignited. The flaming foxes wrapped with the cosmic aura, growing bigger. Keng stumbled backwards, landing on his knee as Manny watched the starry foxes fight the wolves.
'Ever since returning, the AI's been bugging me about some sort of new Cosmos magic sub-type. To think it was Solarium it was alerting me about… A strong Fire-based Cosmos magic type only ignited by a crap ton of energy and runes…' Keng coughed, blood escaping his mouth. Manny snapped out of it, running to Keng's side.
"Are you okay? What did you do?" Manny worriedly asked. Ken's arms shook. He wanted to tell Manny it would be fine, but he wasn't sure if he or Manny would even live to see their friends. Eight Starry foxes burning in golden cosmic light and flames rushed the Direwolves. The smaller ones seemed to have a harder time fighting against the foxes as the Alpha Direwolf seemed to study its enemies.
'It's going to do something soon.' Keng thought. 'I have no choice but to do this…' His right hand slowly opened, lighting the invisible rune on it. A Void space opened up around his hand, moving up his arm as he managed to grab something and pull it out.
"W-what's that?" Manny asked. He peeked at it as Keng slowly turned to him.
"F-feed me it…" Keng told him.
"W-why?"
"J-just do it… I know… You can't… heal energy back…. Do it…" Keng told him. Manny nodded and grabbed the strange thing in Keng's hand. It looked like a roe of some sort. He moved it into Keng's mouth and watched as Keng's body shimmered. The Negative shedding itself on Keng as the Alpha Direwolf howled again.
Spiky ice pillars flew up, piercing the Dance of the Fire Foxes. Three smothered into nothing as the other five continued their attacks. Direwolves shrieked as flaming claws pierced through their thick, cold coats. Keng sighed in relief as he stood.
"W-what was that? Y-you're ok?!?" Manny stuttered.
"It's like those energy drinks." Keng told him. He pulled the katana on his side out, watching the runes glow Silver in response to Keng. "Sheds off some of the Negative while giving you some Energy back… Too bad we didn't carry any between the two of us."
"I… I didn't think we'd see Direwolves!" Manny truthfully told him. The two stood next to each other as Keng lifted his hand up. His eyes burned with Silver halos. It was the first time Manny had seen anything like it as Keng cracked his neck.
"To me." Keng ordered the Fire foxes. They watched as the fire foxes slashed at the Direwolves and dodged a retaliation attack. The foxes jumped back, standing in front of Keng as he twirled the sword. "Two of you in here." Two Dance of the Fire Foxes turned and tapped their noses on the blade, vanishing. The blade ignited in fire as Keng twirled it, again.
"What're you going to do?" Manny asked. "A-are you really going to take them on?"
"You're good at distractions right?" Keng looked at Manny with a mischievous smile.
"N-no. Whatever you're thinking I won't—"
Keng grabbed Manny and threw him forward. The Direwolves watched as Manny screeched and landed fifteen feet closer to the Direwolves. The small wolves snarled as they launched themselves forwards. The Alpha Direwolf howled, again, releasing a rain of frostbolts down onto Manny and Keng.
"Dance without mercy." Keng ordered. The three foxes launched themselves forward, releasing flames into the air. The frostbolts and flames sizzled, disappearing as Manny covered his head. Direwolves launched forward as the third Starry fox wrapped around Manny, creating a barrier. Two Direwolves screeched in pain as Manny watched them catch flame.
'T-they can't catch flame that easy… Th-their coats won't let them…' Manny's eyes rose as the frost sword in his hand began to suck in the fire energy. The chilly sword mixed with the flames, leaving a set of runes on the blade.
Keng rushed forward pass Manny and the Foxes and swung the katana horizontally. A blast of gravity flew outwards, slamming into the Direwolves. Two Direwolves flew past their Alpha as the Alpha howled, again.
[An unknown spell has been cast by the Alpha Direwolf.]
The Alpha Direwolf rushed forward, pushing through its allies as it moved straight for Keng.
"Dance fiercely." Keng ordered. The Fire foxes appeared in front of him, merging into one as the Alpha Direwolf slammed into it. The two pushed against each other as Keng's blade pierced through one of the Direwolves leaping in for the skill. "Thanks, I needed some more of that!" The Direwolf ignited into flames as Keng shoved it away with a blast of gravity.
He turned to see Manny dealing with two Direwolves. He swung his sword wildly, watching as a mixture of strange flames and ice lick the Direwolves. A strike flew across the left Direwolf, blinding the wolf in flames and ice. The strange effect seemed to force the Direwolf backwards as the right one swung its paw straight for Manny's head. Manny ducked, listening to the wind rush above him as frost particles appeared.
Ice exploded forwards, rocketing Manny into a house. The Direwolf disappeared from its spot, appearing in front of Manny as it went in for a bite. The sword lit up in gold and silver light, releasing the Fire fox within. The fox flew straight for the Direwolf, landing a direct bite onto it as the home caught fire. Manny rolled backwards, slamming his head onto the couch.
Keng jumped backwards, watching as a bolt of ice flew straight at him. A barrier quickly formed in front of him, only to be shattered and send Keng straight into the ground. Keng grunted as the bolt of ice connected on the other side of him, leaving him defenseless and bleeding.
'Shit.' Keng thought. He grabbed the ice, shattering it in one go. The hole in his stomach slowly started to close as he stumbled. The three remaining Direwolves stood in front of him, ready to attack him as the large Fox and Alpha Direwolf continued to fight. 'I need… to heal.'
Manny jumped up, pushing himself out of the hole in the house as whiplash pounded his head. The Fire fox wrapped around the Direwolf burning it as Manny's eyes landed on Keng.
"Shit." Manny cursed. His feet pushed him into a run as his head ached. "I'm coming Lee Seng! Hold on!" Manny rushed past the flaming Direwolf, jumping at him in a last ditch effort to stop its prey from rejoining its ally. Manny rolled, narrowly dodging the roasting Direwolf as he made it over to Keng's side. "Shit, that's a lot of blood!"
Manny threw the sword to the side and moved his hands to the large hole in Keng's stomach. Keng groaned as the three Direwolves rushed forward. Keng swung his right arm in a hook, temporarily stopping two out of three Direwolves from getting to him. The leftmost Direwolf jumped, opening its jaws at Keng.