The Rise of the Winter Wolf - Book 7 - Chapters 71-73 and Epilogue

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Don't mind this fluff. It's so that free readers can't read half the chapter.

And Book 7 of The Rise of the Winter Wolf is officially complete!

I hope you enjoyed! Winter Wolf will be going on a brief break since I am currently on vacation right now seeing family in a different state.

At the same time, my other primary stories will continue. Albeit with only a chapter or two a week.

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Table of Contents

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Chapter 71

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The Spectators

Within the Progenitor’s Special Dimension

Fenrir grits his teeth and narrows his eyes as he watches the battle from within the Progenitor’s Special Dimension. With dozens upon dozens of other Progenitors watching along with him in silence all throughout the dimension.

And Fenrir would be surprised if almost all the Progenitors of the multiverse weren’t watching the battle.

Because this is the first genuine battle between Wolf and a Progenitor. Where a Progenitor is trying to kill him without holding back in the slightest.

So it will mark a turning point in history and the Progenitor Games. One deciding if Wolf is truly worthy of becoming a Progenitor.

It’s become an unspoken agreement throughout most of the Progenitors at this point. That if Wolf wins this battle and continues through the Beta Dungeon, all of the Progenitors will officially welcome him into the Progenitor Council on a probationary period lasting until Wolf clears the entire dungeon.

Since defeating Phoenix’s clone when she’s going all out is proof that Wolf is worthy of his status as a Progenitor.

And with that, he will also be upgraded in the minds of the Progenitors from entertainment to a real threat.

Marking an end to the Progenitor Games, where the Progenitors treat him as an amusing anomaly.

So they all watch Wolf and the Progenitor clones fight against each other. With Phoenix trying to burn all three with her Domain only for Wolf’s Domain to fight back along with the help of the other two Progenitor clones assisting him. And the three armies on Wolf’s side clash with the army of butterflies and birds. Creating an incredible sight that many of the Progenitors in the dimension appear to enjoy in Fenrir’s eyes.

But despite his irritation at that, Fenrir doesn’t blame them. Because it’s not every day people get to see the sight of numerous Progenitors fighting each other.

Even if the Progenitors are limited in their actual strength.

One clash after another, the Progenitors continue to battle it out.

Loki locks Phoenix into illusions that she quickly burns to find Beelzebub and Wolf both attacking her body outside of the illusion. Decreasing her energy in the process before she retaliates, sending a powerful solar flare outwards filled with the energy of her Domain.

A solar flare that burns away at the energies of all three Progenitors attacking her.

But Wolf quickly deals with the fire energy by devouring it, and Loki reveals that she was actually an illusion and wasn’t hit by the solar flare in the first place. Leaving Beelzebub to fight directly against the fire energy without as much success as the other two.

With the end result of the clash always ending up in Phoenix’s favor every single time, leaving Phoenix losing energy at just a barely faster pace than the others. Despite the number of them attacking her at once.

And that doesn’t matter much thanks to the drastic difference in energy between them.

Fenrir looks around the dimension to find Loki and Beelzebub’s real bodies watching the livestream in the dimension as well.

But the two of them have very different expression on their faces.

Beelzebub shows a look of complete indifference. Almost as if he doesn’t care what outcome results of the battle.

Which Fenrir understands to a degree. Since Beelzebub doesn’t care too deeply about Wolf.

He just respects him and nothing more.

So while he is an ally, he isn’t a very firm ally.

Meanwhile Loki shows an ecstatic expression as she eagerly watches the battle raging on the screens.

And just like that, all the Progenitors watch the battle raging on. With the Progenitors in the battle gradually losing their energy.

But that only lasts until Beelzebub’s clone finally begins to run almost empty on energy. At which point he fires off a powerful blast of curse energy throughout the entire dimension around them. Using up the last of his energy to do so as he knocks out a large chunk of Phoenix’s energy in his death throws.

Fenrir glances as Beelzebub’s real body when Beelzebub’s clone falls to pieces with an indifferent expression on his face. Only to find Beelzebub lightly nodding his head once before continuing to watch the battle.

After Beelzebub’s clone’s death, Loki’s clone and Wolf continue fighting against Phoenix’s clone. Slowly whittling her away bit by bit.

But after losing their ally, their progress drastically slows down. And Wolf himself is forced to use his Energy Reset to completely reset his energy back to its maximum capacity after a while.

Which is still doubled from his previous Void Store purchase.

One thing in particular about the battle though surprises Fenrir quite a bit.

The fact that Phoenix has barely spoken throughout the battle.

Ever since the battle itself began, Phoenix’s clone has been silent without saying a word.

Isn’t she going to tell him the truth?

Fenrir frowns at the screen, only to shake his head.

Regardless, I’ll be telling him after the battle even if she doesn’t.

With that thought in mind, he continues watching the battle as Loki and Wolf work together to fight against Phoenix. Still whittling her away until Loki’s clone goes out in her own explosive manner.

By releasing a bright shining light and locking Phoenix in a maze of over a thousand illusions stacked on top of each other.

Giving Wolf a chance to deal immense amounts of damage to her before she manages to break out of the illusions.

And the last thing Loki’s clone does before dying?

Fenrir can’t help but grimace when Loki sets up an illusion to remain after her death.

One of Loki blowing a kiss at Phoenix the moment she breaks out of the illusion maze.

Everyone in the dimension gives Loki a look after seeing that on the screen. But Loki herself just sticks her tongue out and giggles.

Fenrir turns back to the screen as Phoenix’s clone looks like she’s about to lose it in anger. Only for him to pause when he sees the item Wolf pulls out.

“Now it’s time for this to get more interesting!” Loki exclaims while clapping her hands.

But Fenrir just ignores her and continues watching in silence.

 Chapter 72

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The Overload

Wolf

The moment I pull out the item, I activate it without any hesitation. Deciding that I need as much help in this battle from here on out as I can get.

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You are now under the effects of the Star of Fortune!

The user’s luck has now been drastically increased and will remain so for three months.

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I don’t know how much this luck will actually help me, but it’ll probably help at least a little. And there isn’t a better time to use the item than now.

After using the item, I go ahead and summon Loki’s clone once more. Making her reappear while holding her hand in front of her face, with her middle and index fingers pointing out like scissors and her eyes looking through the gap between them.

Almost like some sort of idol doing a pose.

Her actions make me want to face palm in embarrassment. But I hold back and instead focus on blocking Phoenix’s next assault. With her attack piercing through my Domain even as I devour her energy in return.

Then Loki’s clone rushes in and attacks her from behind, knocking her energy down another level.

But the problem comes in a different form when her army of butterflies and birds begins to overwhelm our armies. Since Beelzebub’s army vanished the moment his clone died.

And so did Loki’s army.

Leaving just my army left, even if Loki quickly begins summoning another army of her own to join mine.

Phoenix and her forces begin to push closer and closer before forcing me to fight against her army as well with my Domain. All because her army is made out of her variant wildfire energy and can’t be destroyed in any other way besides our own armies.

Something I’ve noticed that’s very different about Phoenix’s battling style as opposed to the last two Progenitor clones I’ve fought. Other than her power being greater and her not holding back in the slightest.

The biggest difference is that Phoenix is going all out and using as much energy as possible with every attack. Beating away at me and my energy in the process. Meanwhile the other Progenitors all tried conserving their energy.

Which is apparently the normal thing to do in battles against Progenitors.

But Phoenix is immature for a Progenitor from everything I’ve seen. So that’s not her style.

And this becomes increasingly clear when Phoenix suddenly jumps backwards and spreads her wings to her sides. Then she sends out a bright solar flare far hotter and brighter than any of her previous ones.

I grit my teeth as the light and flames slam into me, rapidly draining away at my energy.

It doesn’t just stop at a single hit though as Phoenix rapidly sends one powerful attack after another at me. Draining away her own energy far faster than I would be able to.

With Loki using her illusions to protect me as much as she can. All the way until Loki ends up being killed again.

Leaving me alone once more against Phoenix. Even if that doesn’t last for very long before I summon her last clone.

But only after I use several energy restoratives and even use the Temporary Safe Zone to give myself a three-day-long break to recover.

I use everything I managed to save up over the past hundred floor.

With the sole exception of the item from Chronos. The former Progenitor of Origin and Time.

Right as I’m preparing to return to the battle of attrition with Loki appearing again, she does something completely unexpected.

She begins overloading her Domain.

My eyes widen in shock and Phoenix does the same. But then Phoenix just narrows her eyes and begins to overload her own Domain.

Unfortunately for me though, I don’t know how to overload my own. Plus I’d probably die if I tried.

Overloading a Domain is a very dangerous thing for a Progenitor to do. Since the process of doing it is through condensing their Domain so much outside of your body and firing it off in a single attack.

But the main issue is that to overload it a Progenitor has to use at least half of their energy to do it.

And overloading a Domain sometimes forcefully locks the Progenitor’s Domain down to their original body. Basically making it so that they can’t use energy outside of their body.

Limiting them to just physical strength.

And if Phoenix is overloading her Domain…

I purse my lips while moving back as fast as I can. Only for Loki to suddenly spread both of her arms outwards with a wild laugh, forcing her Domain out of her body and into a single orb that she shoots straight at Phoenix.

Meanwhile Phoenix matches it by creating a copy of herself made directly out of her Domain that she fires at Loki’s own overloaded attack.

Making the two of them clash in space between us, sending shockwaves all throughout the space around us.

Only for Phoenix’s Domain to break through and shatter Loki’s attack. Following which it continues straight towards me.

My eyes widen as I quickly realize that the attack will kill me. Even after breaking through Loki’s attack.

So without hesitation, I activate another Tier 10 item I got from Sponsorships. One from the four hundred and fiftieth floor I believe.

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You are now under the effects of the End and Beginning of Night!

Thanks to the effects of the End and Beginning of Night, a powerful barrier is now covering your body and Domain.

This barrier will remain in effect and block everything used against it until the energy placed within the item is used up.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

And a mere few seconds after using the item and making a barrier seemingly made out of darkness and stars appear around me and my Domain, the Phoenix’s attack reaches me. Crashing directly into the barrier and sending shockwaves of flames flying all around us while pushing me backwards.

Far away from Phoenix.

And the attack continues to push me away as the energy in the barrier very gradually begins to fade bit by little bit.

All the way until cracks begin to form on it and the item itself.

I grit my teeth as I realize the attack still isn’t weakened enough for me to survive.

The barrier shows one crack after another as I send my army to rush at the attack before it eventually shatters along with the item itself. But right as the attack strikes me, making me let out a roar of pain, I keep a close eye on my condition. Even as the pain radiates all throughout my body.

So when my energy is just about to reach below ten percent, I use the item.

The Midnight Reset.

Which, luckily enough for me, happens to be right at midnight.

Most likely thanks to the Star of Fortune.

And whether it’s because of that same item or not, the overloaded attack finally fades away to nothing after bringing me down to about half of my remaining energy.

Which is equal to my normal energy without my energy doubled.

After barely surviving her overloaded attack, I pant in exhaustion and finally take a look at my surroundings.

And what I see has a grin stretching across my face.

Because it’s Phoenix with her Domain withdrawn all the way down to her body, and her energy even lower than my own.

And she’s livid.

Chapter 73

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The Truth and The Sacrifice

Wolf

“You filthy little mongrel…” Phoenix murmurs, her voice echoing ominously throughout the floor. “So my predecessor wasn’t enough for you? You ice mutts feel the need to kill me too?”

I blink at that in surprise and confusion.

Phoenix narrows her eyes a little as she slowly flies closer towards me with her Domain clearly locked to her body thanks to her overloading. Proving another benefit of the Star of Fortune, since there’s only a chance this could happen.

Thank you Fortuna and Nyx.

“That father of yours didn’t tell you anything about how he killed the first Progenitor of Fire and left me with that stigma all these years?” Phoenix practically shouts as her voice fills with intense rage. “The stigma of being one of the second Progenitor born of one of the primal elements?! Constantly compared to my predecessor and told I’m inferior to the Progenitor of Ice for no other reason than my predecessor’s loss to him and our ages?!”

Oh. Wow.

She’s angry.

Far angrier than I’ve ever seen her before.

And to top that off, it looks like there was an actual reason for her hatred other than just us being fire and ice.

She hates Fenrir with a passion.

Still. Something about all this bothers me.

I tilt my head in my enormous hunter form and ask, “Why are you talking as if I’m planning to kill you? I’ve never had any plans to do that. You’re the one who has been bothering me ever since you first heard about me.”

Her eyes flare with even more anger as she shouts, “Don’t even try to hide it! I know you’ve been plotting with Fenrir to kill me ever since you became a Progenitor!”

And without hesitation, she rushes straight at me with her wings closing in as she dives through space.

I block her attack with my claws, feeling briefly surprised by how her physical strength is actually about the same as my own. Probably a bit weaker in fact.

“I didn’t even know you existed until someone mentioned you long after I became a Progenitor,” I state, but no matter what I say to her, she just continues attacking me while shouting.

One thing after another.

Claiming that Fenrir hates her when in reality he doesn’t really care about others and feels indifferent towards her if not slightly irritated by her attitude.

Or that Fenrir and I have been working together for years now to take her down. And that part of why I was made into a Progenitor in the first place was for this very reason.

But the thing that stays in my mind the most is when she slips a little and says that it was Grim who told her all of this.

When I hear that, I let out a sigh.

Because it’s obvious that she was set up by Grim to hate me. With him taking advantage of her hatred of Fenrir to target her hatred towards me as well.

This is ridiculous.

But regardless, Phoenix and I clash over and over again using our physical strength. Sending shockwaves throughout the entire floor that completely erase our armies. Especially when my attacks are infused with my Domain and her Domain is locked down.

I tear off dozens of her feathers, she rips out patches of my fur. I tear off one of her feet, she bites off three of my fingers.

One trade after another.

Half of her right wing for my left foot.

The bottom half of her left wing for my left hand.

But unlike her, I find my own injuries regenerating very slowly. With her injuries not regenerating thanks to her locked Domain. And thanks to her being the Progenitor of Fire.

Which isn’t known for regeneration.

Bit by bit, we tear each other apart.

All the way until I finally manage to stab my remaining clawed hand straight through her chest and into her heart. At which point her form begins to burn to ashes.

Finally marking her death and letting me release a breath of relief despite all my numerous injuries.

She’s dead…

I finally won…

A smile begins to stretch across my face, only for it to suddenly slip when a notification appears in my vision. A message warning me about a detail of Phoenix’s species.

And reminding me that there hasn’t been a message about her death.

I hurriedly turn around, but it’s already too late.

Phoenix revives from the ashes in her humanoid form with barely any energy left while rushing straight at me with a hand full of talons instead of humanoid fingers.

But right as those talons are about to cut right into me, Sapphire suddenly appears from my shadow. Breaking through the protection I have on it blocking her from entering the dungeon thanks to my abysmally low remaining energy.

And forcing me to watch as Phoenix’s talons tear straight through her chest, slowing Phoenix down just enough to allow me to dodge her attack before grabbing her by the throat.

Then I drag her closer to me with pure rage – far more than I’ve felt in a very long time – before grabbing her by the scalp and her hair with my jaws.

And ripping her head off entirely.

Finally giving me the system notification I’m looking for.

Beta Administrator Dungeon Notification

Congratulations! You have officially cleared Phoenix’s Hellscape!

As a reward for defeating a clone of the Progenitor of Fire and Birds, Phoenix gives you a ring that is only usable by those capable of manipulating the fire element.

Furthermore, Phoenix has declared herself to be your eternal enemy from this day forward.

I ignore the notification as I rush towards Sapphire just to find her smiling sadly at me before the last of the light in her eyes fades away. With the remaining fire of Phoenix’s body burning away at her until Sapphire turns into nothing but ash.

And as if mocking me, another notification appears in my vision.

Beta Administrator Dungeon Notification

Congratulations! You have cleared the five hundredth floor of the Beta Administrator Dungeon!

As a reward, you shall be given up to one entire month of rest between the five hundredth and five hundredth and first floors!

In order to enter the rest floor known as the 500.5th floor, simply receive your reward from the Centurion Boss Chest and enter the exit that appears afterwards!

You have also been given an additional reward for completing half of the Beta Dungeon!

Epilogue

Wolf

I completely ignore the notifications as I open up my System Menus and navigate to the Soul Bound Companion section. At which point I don’t hesitate to pay the enormous price set by the System to revive Sapphire.

Which is apparently required to revive her since she’s the Soul Bound Companion of a Progenitor.

Far more than the last times I revived her.

Fortunately for me, I’ve built up a massive fortune thanks to everyone across the multiverse watching my livestreams. So Sapphire soon reappears in front of me while sleeping. Leaving me heaving a sigh of relief.

But despite that, I still can’t get the sight of Sapphire burning to ash out of my mind.

No matter how hard I try.

I grit my teeth so hard they chip. Even as my wounds from the battle gradually heal at a visible but not too fast pace.

Even though we won, I can’t feel any happiness from it.

Not after what I just saw.

So I push through the rest of the events I need to deal with after the boss battle in order to get to the rest area as quickly as I can to take care of Sapphire.

Especially since it’s clear the revival didn’t revive her at a hundred percent.

Because apparently it’s too difficult to revive her as good as new thanks to my status.

I open the Centurion Boss Chest given to me for defeating Phoenix, only for my mood to grow even worse.

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Item | Phoenix Feather | Tier 10

This item can only be used by a Phoenix or someone with Phoenix’s bloodline.

When it is used, it will completely reset the user to their peak condition, healing any and all wounds and restoring their energy in the process.

System Favor: This item is not safe to use and was made by Phoenix, the Progenitor of Fire and Birds, herself. Furthermore, the item has a note from the Progenitor of Fire and Birds for the user:

We will meet again, filthy mutt.

And next time will be different.

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It’s identical to the item Chronos gave me. Except that I can’t use it and it’s clearly cursed. Albeit without the System telling me exactly what the curse does this time.

Anyways, I freeze the phoenix feather in ice and toss it into space without a care.

Because I don’t even want that shitty thing near me.

It would just serve as a reminder of this battle.

After that, I move on to the rather massive chest that’s nothing like anything I’ve ever seen before. One with the System’s own symbol on the front and center of it.

And when I open the box, a faint smile spreads across my face.

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Item | Reality Chronicle Tap | Tier 10

This item can only be used by the Progenitor of Lunar Ice and the Blue Moon.

When it is used, it will tap into the energy of the Reality Chronicle and will feed its energy to the user for any use the user wishes to use it for.

However, there is a maximum amount of energy that can come out of the tap at any point in time.

System Favor: This item is made directly by the System itself to reward you for your hard work.

Great job.

You’re proving your worth.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

I can use this to heal Sapphire the rest of the way.

Good.

I raise my head before muttering out loud, “Thank you, System…”

My smile grows a little wider, only to vanish again as I quickly carry Sapphire towards the exit and then set up my expanded system store in the rest area I find myself in. After which I use the new item – which ironically enough looks like a faucet – to draw energy from the Reality Treasure and heal Sapphire the rest of the way.

And when I finish, she gradually blinks her eyes open before smiling at me.

“Thank you, Dad…” Sapphire mutters while still blinking. “Thank you for surviving.”

I feel tears begin spilling unbidden down my face as I move forwards and pull her into a hug.

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All Across the Multiverse

Cheers echo from one corner of Grim’s universe to another, and even in parts of other universes that were allowed to watch the livestreams. All thanks to The Winter Wolf’s successful slaying of the Progenitor of Fire’s clone.

Nations begin hosting festivals and parades to celebrate, meanwhile the Lunar Church designates the day as a holiday.

And at the same time, Sapphire’s popularity instantly skyrockets all throughout the multiverse as more and more people make figurines, plushies, and other types of merchandise of her after seeing her heroic sacrifice.

Even if she has already been revived for all to see.

Meanwhile all the hidden allies of Phoenix who were helping her hide immediately begin deciding on their next plans of action. With more of them than not deciding to abandon her.

Both mortals and Progenitors alike.

And Phoenix herself?

She just sits perched hidden deep in a volcano with a blank look on her face. Feeling lost at the result of all this.

Because she did absolutely everything she could to deal with the welp of Fenrir. And all she managed to do was serve as a stepping stone for his own growth.

On top of that, she knows all her allies are in the process of abandoning her.

So she will most likely be killed in the future.

Just like her predecessor.

And all because she couldn’t hold back her temper.

The last thing she thinks before closing her eyes and falling asleep for a time is that she hopes she’ll survive long enough to face off against the mutt again.

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Within the Void

Grim lets out a sigh of regret.

He can already hear news about some of his Progenitor allies abandoning him. All because of what they saw on the livestream.

Because of Phoenix’s admission that Grim was the one who directed her anger at the boy.

“Now why couldn’t you have just been a good little girl and keep quiet about that?” Grim eventually mutters to himself, making chills run down the spines of the void creatures around him.

She didn’t even manage to win in the end… how utterly pathetic.

Still, Grim doesn’t plan to abandon her just yet. Since she’ll make for a good ally against the boy when he eventually leaves the Beta Dungeon.

And at this rate, he’s pretty certain that the boy will clear the dungeon.

After all, there will never be another Progenitor who tries as hard as Phoenix to kill him in the dungeon. Nor one whose element perfectly fits his own element.

Grim soon begins to make new plans for the boy. Ones that will handle him after he clears the dungeon.

But for now, one thing is clear in his mind and the minds of many others after seeing the boy claim victory against Phoenix’s clone as she genuinely tried to kill him.

And that thing is that the Progenitor of Lunar Ice and the Blue Moon is no longer a mere source of entertainment.

Marking the end of the so-called Progenitor Games.

Silence fills the void before it trembles again from another attack by Titania.

“Such a waste…” Grim mutters as he merges with his Domain and begins to retaliate against Titania again.