Chapter 43 - Randel

He continued to observe the rampaging wolves.

As they continue to berserk, Randel could clearly see the changes in their body. Their size doubled while spikes appeared as if an extension of their spines. He could see that their fangs had become longer and sharper, craving for more blood, salivating ceaselessly. 

They were ramming the barrier, to which they couldn't even make a dent. They continued to ram it with their heads, until they were all dyed with blood. They were like mindless animals only out there crave for blood. 

As to how much it is, Randel could only deduce that will never be little. 

Randel could see that at this point, they were no longer wolf mounts, but rather killing machines. Although he was curious about why these wolves turned out like this, the outcome didn't matter. He still had to kill them. 

Because now, it wasn't only a threat to Eli but to humanity! 

Not forgetting to record this bizarre encounter in a record crystal, he then entered the barrier to finish his targets.

Armed with only a dagger, he knew this wouldn't be enough to kill a wolf in one hit, as their size was already double his height. No fear could be seen in his eyes. He used his mana and enveloped his dagger with lightning. With this attribute, he was sure that his dagger could pierce a little more deeper than before. 

Growl!!!!

As soon as he entered the barrier, the wolves immediately turned to attack him. In response, he moved speedily and guarded one blow from the first wolf with a mana shield. Taking the wolf's blow he was forced to retreat ten steps back.

"Powerful!"

He immediately knew that he couldn't take every single blow these wolves give, so he immediately conjured a lightning stun spell on his right hand and threw it to the nearest wolf, while simultaneously jumping towards the head of another. 

Slash!

Using his whole body and the gravity, he poured out more lightning attribute mana into his dagger and slashed the head of one wolf. But the lightning dagger managed to slice only about twelve inches deep.

Grrrrrrr!

Hurt by Randel's attack, the wounded wolf got much more agitated and immediately bared his scary fangs, trying to swallow him whole. 

"Tsk!"

Sparks of lightning appeared on the soles of his feet as he nimbly stepped outside the wolf's attacking range. 

He was planning to eliminate the wolves one by one and test his aptitude in fighting multiple enemies at once. It wasn't often that he encountered a perfect situation where he could test his skills. The Prince's S level entrapment spell made it possible.

However, he mustn't spend a lot of time doing it. Now that he exchanged blows with the wolves, he knew that half assed attacks will not get him anywhere. 

"Master is right, nothing will happen if you never go all out…" He said, as his eyes were now filled with a cold glint. 

Lightning sparks appeared, enveloping his all black suit, as well as his hands and feet. The sparks generated a light breeze around him, as his long ponytailed brown hair swayed along. His sharp grey eyes reflected the light the sparks brought., giving him a vibe of a distant unfathomable mage.

So bright yet full of mystery.

The wolves seemed to detect the enormous power coming out of Randel's body, that they backed a little bit with caution. "Ngrrrrr," Baring their sharp canines they readied themselves to charge towards Randels direction. 

Whoosh! The wolves charged at Randel one by one. 

However, Randel only smirked as he saw the wolves were only a meter away from him. When a wolf was about to swallow Randel on the spot where he stood earlier, his figure instantly disappeared. 

The next thing that happened was Randel appearing midair directly above the head of the wolf farthest from his initial position. With his whole body parallel to the ground, as his dagger was lifted pointing towards the sky, his body dropped with great speed.

Clenching his dagger tight, he braced for impact on top of the wolf's open neck. 

"Swosh!" As soon as the dagger touched the wolf's body, lightning started to spread in its entire body and a blade of lightning sliced through the path the dagger would slice, cutting the wolf's head clean.

The damage didn't end there, as soon as Randel landed on the ground, a devastating chain of lightning flowed from the entire entrapment ground . 

Buzz!!! Not one wolf was spared with the piercing lightning strikes. 

The wolves were left bleeding and burnt, weakening their strength. They still remained standing, nonetheless, which didn't surprise Randel.

Without taking a break, Randel's body flashed near another wolf once more, and immediately gave it a powerful kick. Seeing the wolf blown away for several meters, he immediately appeared to the nearest wolf and quickly slashed its head with the same lightning. 

Boom!!! Another wolf head dropped on the ground.

Seeing that the two of their companions had already fallen, the wolves began to coordinate their attacks, attempting to limit Randel's movement. When one would attack him, two would try to block his movement.

Slash! A drops of crimson blood flowed out of Randels right shoulders. A deep wound appeared between the ripped fabric of his all black suit.

He was caught off guard by the sudden coordination of the wolves. All this time, they acted like mindless bloodthirsty creatures, he never thought that at one point, they would communicate with each other and do a coordinated attack. He let his guard down. 

Crackle! Learning his lesson the hard way, Randel quickly conjured a ball of lightning in his right arm and quickly dashed towards the wolf at the back. 

Bzzzt!!! Upon touching the targeted wolf, its body was wrecked by a powerful surge of electricity. 

Like a sentient being, the ball of lightning infiltrated the wolf's vital organs, destroying them once and for all.  It didn't take long for the wolf to collapse lifeless. 

Without checking if this lightning bolt had reached his target, Randel twisted his body to charge at the direction of another wolf, the same homing lightning ball. 

However, unlike his first attempt, his attack was delayed by a second, which enabled the target wolf to claw his chest area. It was fortunate that he was able to jump back with the speed spell in time, or else his vital organs would have been sliced too.

Claw wounds appeared in chest area, staining his pale white skin. The contrast of the ripped black suit, his fair skin and the unceasing blood flowing from his wounds made him look like a fallen dark angel.

Randel involuntarily winced in pain. His wounds were deep enough to impair his movement and the blood loss would endanger his life.

'I only have one enemy now, I could still hold on!' He told himself. 

The last wolf, upon seeing the last of his comrades dead, let out a howl of anger and immediately charged at Randel. Although  grimacing in pain, Randel gathered mana once again to use a speed spell to evade the last wolf's attack. However, he failed to gather enough mana to do so. 

"Receptor Fatigue!" He exclaimed in panic. 

Everyone had their limits. A body's mana receptor could only convert and channel a certain amount of mana depending on class and natural talents. Once a receptor reached its limit, it would shut itself down and would not be able to channel mana for a certain time. 

If one forced to use the fatigued receptors, they would jeopardize their physical bodies, as the mana receptors were attached to the circulatory and nervous system. Once the fatigued receptor was forced, it will burst inside the body and damage the nearby arteries, vein or nerves.

Randel who had been using the speed spell at the maximum three times itoday would surely have his receptors give up. 

Now Randel was in great danger!

Without the speed spell, he could not perfectly evade the wolf's attack. Desperate in evading his impending doom, he clenched his teeth to contain the extreme pain from his wounds and ran as fast as he could. 

However his attempt was futile. A malevolent shadow covered Randel's body. He lifted his head up and saw the enormous mouth of the last wolf open, ready to swallow him. 

"Doom!" He said in despair. The only thing he had on his mind was the smiling face of his master who took him in since childhood and gave him a bright life. 

"Master.. I'm sorry.. Thank you.." Admitting that he was already in his last moment, he closed his eyes and accepted his sealed fate.

Ding!!! 

The anticipated pain didn't come to Randel's body as he heard an ethereal sound of a bell.

Opening his tightly shut eyes, what he first saw made his entire body feel goosebumps. 

He saw the malevolent body of the wolf, slowly disintegrating as soon as it touched the surface of the pure golden light covering his body. While he was witnessing this, Eli's voice kept reverberating in his mind, 

"You, Oh Father, are the one who gave me and my companions our lives, 

I trust with all my heart that you have a purpose and you will keep us alive…"

It was Eli's prayer that allowed him to receive the creator's blessing and protected him from death. He promised to keep on protecting Eli as a sign of gratitude.

Seeing that the last wolf was gone, he heaved a sigh of relief. He couldn't help but smile self-mockingly as he had barely managed to put up a fight against multiple enemies even after going all out. 

Randel limped towards the bounds of the trap array.

As soon as he stepped out of the entrapment spell, Randel weakly fell in the ground, looking at the skies wearily. He was now bloodied, his suit ripped, his long hair was no longer tied, far from the prim and proper version of himself.

"Alas...I need to train more..." He uttered weakly as his consciousness started to fade away.