The Soul Crushing Bone Staff erupted almost against the Snow Wolf King's back with its most dazzling radiance!
Yet this brilliance appeared as abruptly as it vanished. Ye Zhongming grunted and staggered back into the energy gate.
Everything happened too fast for anyone to see what had occurred clearly.
If replayed in slow motion, one would witness rapid clashes between two formidable beings.
Ye Zhongming emerged silently from the energy gate, not stepping forward but using a teleportation ability to appear behind the Snow Wolf King with the Soul Crushing Bone Staff raised. Even in that brief moment, the staff had already begun charging.
By the time it almost touched Snow Wolf King's body, the charge was more than halfway complete. After a slight pause, the blinding light erupted.
In the span of a breath, the King of Cloud Peak had completed his attack.
Against any other creature, this would have been an unavoidable deathblow. No being of the same level could survive a direct hit from the Soul Crushing Bone Staffâespecially when all its engravings were fully lit!
But the Snow Wolf King survivedâbecause it was a level nine lifeform.
To maximize the staffâs power, Ye Zhongming had paused briefly when closing in. That split-second hesitation gave the level nine creature just enough time to react. Its body, mid-landing, twisted unnaturally forward, avoiding a fatal blow to the head.
The thick beam from the Soul Crushing Bone Staff struck its midsection instead.
A gaping hole appeared in the Snow Wolf King's torsoâa complete through-and-through wound. Had its body not been so massive, the beam could have severed it in half.
Or, had Ye Zhongming fully unleashed the staffâs power, it might have annihilated the Snow Wolf King outright, level nine or not.
But the Snow Wolf Kingâs reflexes truly showcased the prowess of a peak-tier being. Sensing danger, it lunged forward, then, twisting its body unnaturally, lashed out with its uninjured front paw, striking backward at Ye Zhongming.
It couldnât directly hit Ye Zhongmingâs body at that angle and distance. Instead, its claws struck the raised Soul Crushing Bone Staff, knocking it off course.
Simultaneously, the other Snow Wolf King appeared beside Ye Zhongming with terrifying speed, slamming a paw into his back.
The dual blowsâto both staff and bodyâcut the attack short.
Ye Zhongming immediately retreated into the energy gate.
The second Snow Wolf King hadnât aimed for his head because, at the last instant, the King of Cloud Peak had arched his back, thrusting his head and arms forward to protect both his vitals and the staffâs attack angle.
From Ye Zhongmingâs perspective, this was the right move. Whether through the Lightning Sand Monster, Red Hair, or his Hell Envoyâs Gates, his strategy revolved around controlling the fightâs tempo.
He knew all too well that if he let the level nine creatures attack freely, even he and Red Hair together couldnât withstand their assault.
This strike with the Soul Crushing Bone Staff was a calculated gambleâa single decisive blow to kill a level nine enemy. Otherwise, with his depleted mental energy, the battle would inevitably turn against him, risking fatal defeat.
So he refused to abandon the opportunity, taking the hit on his back.
Yet from the Snow Wolf Kingâs perspective, whether its claws struck his head or back mattered littleâeither could tear a human apart.
The outcome, however, showed Ye Zhongmingâs defenses withstanding the level nineâs strike, though the impact still disrupted the staffâs attack.
The Snow Wolf King landed beside its severely wounded counterpart, its eyes burning with fury at the near-severing injury. Throwing back its head, it unleashed a piercing howl that shook the entire ice field. Every creature outside the battlefield trembled in terror, frozen in place.
The injured Snow Wolf King met its companionâs gaze and nodded.
The other abruptly stopped howling, jaws widening impossibly before clamping down on its counterpartâs tail. In seconds, it swallowed the wounded wolf whole.
As its body convulsed violently, ignoring the remaining thorn lashes, a crimson stain spread across its fur, exactly where its counterpart had been wounded.
The Twin Lives ability was terrifying precisely because it allowed the Snow Wolf King to exist as two fully independent entities temporarily.
The earlier two wolves werenât clones or projectionsâboth possessed complete combat capabilities.
When the Five Ring Money first uncovered this ability, theyâd been shocked.
One level nine lifeform was nightmare enough, but a second identical one?
This ability ranked among the most formidable ever documented in mutated creatures.
Yet such power inevitably came with trade-offs. Twin Lives halved the userâs defense, and all damage was shared between bodies.
This didnât mean injuries were split evenly during separationâeach body bore its own wounds. But upon merging, the accumulated damage combined.
If one body died while separated, the survivor wouldnât perish but would permanently retain halved defenses.
With one now critically wounded, the Snow Wolf King had no choice but to end the ability. Otherwise, its defenses would be permanently crippled.
After merging, the survivor inherited its counterpartâs injuries. Though restored defenses lessened the impact, the wounds remained severe.
Since its early evolution days, the Snow Wolf King hadnât suffered such damage. Now, the pain reignited its primal ferocity.
This time, it didnât howl its rage. Instead, head lowered, it panted with guttural growls before suddenly rearing up, front paws slashing frantically at empty air.
It mightâve seemed like desperate flailing to an observerâthere was no target before it.
Yet what happened next terrified the children hiding in the snow pits beyond belief.