The Rise of the Winter Wolf - Book 6 - Chapter 40 - A Nuisance

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

This is Sunday's chapter. Also, disregard that :/ in the last Winter Wolf post. I copy pasted the usual Patreon 'don't mind this' stuff from the previous chapter and the fluff stuff, which included that. And I forgot to delete it. So it was just kinda left there.

Click the following link if you want to read this chapter on a googledoc with formatting:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RPMff1Bd2677iCz4a6sELEX257CxSl4hdYYkp7eNFVo/edit?usp=sharing

Or just keep scrolling down to find the chapter further down this Patreon post without formatting.

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Table of Contents

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Wolf

It happens over and over again for several minutes. And with each occurrence of it, his speed grows more and more. All the way until I can no longer completely dodge his attacks.

Fortunately for me, it turns out that lunar ice in its lunar form seems to be powerful against the commentator’s curse energy. Probably because the radiance element itself is relatively strong against the curse element. Something about the radiance purifying the curse.

So the curse energy doesn’t break past my barrier of lunar ice around me. Even if his physical strength does, and the curse energy still affects the areas broken around each hit before I can repair the ice.

Another bonus for me though is that the curse energy doesn’t seem to be transforming me into an insect like it is the others. Meaning that whatever requirement the commentator’s variant element has isn’t met for me.

It still isn’t pleasant though, and it’s still slowing me down and draining my energy.

To make up for it, I begin to grab onto all of the lunar ice elemental energy in the stadium, including the energy within the lunar winter beasts since they’re rather useless right now, before directing it all around me and the commentator. And the commentator quickly realizes what I’m doing and begins to do the same. Except with far less curse energy than I have lunar ice energy.

Which makes this a rather simple battle thanks to that.

One where the victor is decided by the one with more energy.

And I have quite a bit more than he has simply because of the lunar winter beasts I’m taking it from. Leading to his curse energy dome around him being shattered rather quickly before my energy reaches his body at the center of it.

But even when my lunar ice energy begins to freeze his body, the commentator doesn’t just stand there and take it. Instead he jumps straight at me, startling me in the process as he literally tears off one of my arms.

Then he proceeds to hit me with my own arm, stunning me when he does so. Both the mere act of doing that and the fact that it sends me flying and almost breaks my concentration on the lunar ice elemental energy I’m freezing him with.

Almost being the key word.

I regrow my arm through some of the lunar ice energy around me before focusing on freezing the legs of the commentator whose species I will never bother to learn how to pronounce. Just to slow him down to the point that I can deal with him.

And the rest of the battle after that becomes a simple one.

I continue to freeze him while he chases after me. But with his legs partially frozen, he can’t move anywhere near as fast, letting me dodge almost entirely every single time. With me dodging better each attempt due to him being more and more frozen as time goes on.

And eventually the commentator is turned entirely into a frozen statue as the audience and the copy commentator that’s been blabbing on about whatever above me finally go silent.

I breath out in exhaustion while glancing at Sapphire, who appears from my shadow with her own exhaustion clear on her face. Simply because I’ve been using some of her stamina to help me in this battle.

Well, that and she was rather exhausted from the fourth fifth of the Fifth Centurion Quinzel. Where she had to fight off an army of spiders on her own while I solved a puzzle. Since she wasn’t strong enough to make a barrier needed for the puzzle.

I turn my gaze towards the copy commentator in the sky, only to frown when I realize the notification for the special boss’s death hasn’t arrived yet. So I turn my attention back to the frozen popsicle.

At which point I realize the guy is still glaring at me through the ice. All while his curse energy slowly tries to drain away at my ice from within with very little success.

He’s still alive?!

That’s… a surprise.

Then again, he is a harbinger. And while a harbinger alone isn’t as dangerous as a devourer was before I become a pseudo progenitor, they are still quite dangerous.

I should know, considering my past as one.

Right as I’m beginning to walk over to the frozen popsicle though, the commentator begins to vibrate at incredible speeds. Speeds so fast that it’s starting to damage my ice a little bit.

Enough that a couple cracks actually form in it.

But that’s fine, because I go ahead and begin creating more ice around it to fix the seal before sending spears of ice through the ice already around him.

Then I’m left gaping in shock when the commentator inside of the ice suddenly turns his entire body into curse energy.

Making this one of precious few enemies I have ever fought capable of elemental shifting like me.

It’s still fine. The commentator is still stuck in my ice, so he can’t get-

My thoughts pause when my ice suddenly cracks as the curse energy flares outwards with a bright purple light. Then it happens again. And again. With each flare of the light cracking my ice a little bit.

“Sapphire, go back in my shadow,” I warn her, and this time she does it without hesitation. Probably because she’s exhausted and knows for sure she wouldn’t be able to help.

I try to force more lunar ice all around the commentator, but the curse energy gradually begins to break my ice almost as fast as I’m building it up.

My ice still manages to hold it though, giving me some time to figure out how to deal with the special boss.

Until the special boss somehow slips through a crack in the ice and frees himself without even breaking it all.

Shit. I didn’t think about that being a possibility.

Time for round two, I guess.