The Rise of the Winter Wolf - Book 6 - Chapter 68 - Thoughts and the Swarm
Added 2025-02-06 17:20:46 +0000 UTC----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Within the Beta Dungeon
Moments prior
Beelzebub’s clone feels nothing more than gratification as he fights The Winter Wolf with all he has. Because this is the very first time he has been able to go all out in ages. After all, even if he is a clone, he still has all of Beelzebub’s memories. And he even shares a small part of his consciousness with his original so that he and his original can sense how the other feels and share in the sensation.
At first when he was cloned by the System without his permission, he was furious. So furious that his original immediately declared war on Grim for the System’s actions.
And while he is still angry at Grim for the System doing it without his permission, he is genuinely happy that it happened.
It’s been millions of years now since the last true battle he has been in. One with everything on the line where he fought to the death.
Where he risked everything.
Even if all he’s risking is his clone's life.
But that’s exactly it. He is a clone.
So it’s his life he’s risking.
Of course, he knows full well that none of this would have happened if not for his own interfering in teaching The Winter Wolf numerous different things. On top of training him with his structure for the floor, which the System left entirely up to him.
Beelzebub’s clone continues grinning widely even as Wolf tears him to shreds faster than Beelzebub can return the favor. All because Beelzebub’s stinger and one of his arms are completely unusable.
Because Beelzebub is genuinely joyous about this battle. And he can tell through his connection that the original and the other progenitors are genuinely enjoying this as well.
Enough that many of them will likely request the System to let their own clones enter the Beta Dungeon as well. Just to get a chance to experience a true life and death battle themselves without having to go to war.
Beelzebub continues to enjoy the battle for as long as he can. All the way until Wolf – who has earned his place as a progenitor in Beelzebub’s eyes at least – finally tears him down to his last resort.
So Beelzebub lets out a joyous laugh before beginning the Call of the Swarm.
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Wolf
Just a few seconds after Beelzebub’s eyes begin to glow, and he laughs this rather eerie sounding laugh considering the fact that he’s a bug, I immediately begin to hear incredibly loud buzzing. Which makes me turn my gaze towards the sky, only to see millions upon millions of those soldier bugs forming out of all the curse energy nearby.
They even take curse energy directly from Beelzebub’s body, making him shrink significantly faster than he was before. All the way until he reaches his original size. But with only a small drop of Domain energy left in him.
So little that it actually won’t be that hard to finish him off now, even with the small amount I have remaining.
Because my small amount is still a lot more than his.
All thanks to my lunar winter beasts.
But to do that, I first have to deal with his swarm. A swarm that is all flying straight towards us, completely blocking out Beelzebub from my view in the process.
My eyes narrow a little bit, but I can’t stop the grin that’s fully spread across my face.
‘You’re enjoying this,’ Sapphire says through our bond, sounding rather amused despite the clear worry in her voice.
I watch the swarm approach as I lunar winter beasts all glance back and forth between me and the swarm. Then I answer through our bond, ‘I guess I am.’
It’s the greatest hunt of my life after all.
Even if it’s about to end soon.
With that thought in mind, I order my lunar winter beasts to all rush straight at and clash with the swarm. Meanwhile I spread out some of my Domain from my body again. Not all of it, but some of it. Enough to clash with the portions of the swarm that aren’t being struck by my army.
And once again, a clash as big as an entire war on a battlefield happens and one bug after another is frozen solid before being devoured and added to my power. Even if my energy is still depleting.
One after another, the swarm begins to shrink.
More and more, all while my own army starts to shrink a bit. Mostly because these bugs are far stronger than a lot of the previous ones.
They’re all just monsters from this floor rather than the viewers who were turned into bugs that my army was facing earlier.
We continue striking at each other until the swarm is finally thinned out enough to see Beelzebub smiling with a content look on his face as he watches from the middle of the swarm.
I return his smile before clearing out more of the swarm. Then, once it’s cleared out enough that I think my own army can handle the rest, I return my Domain fully to my body and fly straight through the swarm to appear in front of Beelzebub.
The clone of the Progenitor of Insects and Curses smiles at me – I think – and says, “If you beat me, be warned that more will come. You have piqued the interest of the rest of the Progenitors of the multiverse, and not all of them are willing to give you a fair fight like me.”
I glance down at my claws at his words before flexing them a little and then looking back at Beelzebub again as I declare, “Let them come.”
A look of what appears to be approval flashes across his face before he says, “Then let’s finish this.”
And one last time, his eyes begin to flare with a pure white light. But this time it quickly begins to spread all across his body instead of just his eyes.
I tense up as I sense the sheer power behind his attack. Power that is far greater than anything I’ve ever been able to muster, making me quickly back away while ordering my lunar winter beasts to come to me.
Looks like his final gambit has arrived.
