Book 5: Chapter 75: A Force of Nature

The silence stretched across the battleground as Winter and Shassra squared off, the air thick with a blend of frost and poison. Winter's hackles rose, his massive body radiating a cold so intense that frost spread underfoot, forming an intricate lattice of ice beneath his paws. Shassra's tongue flicked in and out, tasting the biting chill but unbothered by it. His scales shimmered under the sun, each blue scale seemingly imbued with a dark, oily sheen as a toxic vapor began to seep from his body.

With a guttural roar, Winter lunged forward, his massive paws thundering against the frozen ground and leaving cracks in the ice with each step. Shassra reacted with lightning speed, tightening his coils as he slipped sideways in a flash, his body a blur of scales and sinuous muscle. Even this casual movement was enough to uproot the surrounding trees, shattering them into pieces in their fragile, frozen state.

Yet, Winter anticipated Shassra's move, altering his trajectory mid-lunge by creating a wall of ice and swiping a paw across Shassra's side. His claws, sharp as crystal shards, raked through several scales, leaving deep gashes that oozed thick, dark venom. The liquid sprayed violently, causing the nearby ice to sizzle and even melting the underlying rocks.

Shassra retaliated instantly, whipping his massive tail like a bludgeon, smashing Winter back and sending him skidding across the frozen ground. Without missing a beat, Shassra opened his jaws, unleashing a thick stream of light blue poison that hissed as it splattered onto the ice. Winter dodged to the side, but droplets of the venom grazed his coat, the fur hissing and singeing as it made contact.

The venom wasn’t just lethal—it corroded anything it touched.

Winter bared his fangs, his eyes gleaming with cold fury, and released a blast of icy wind that froze the venom in mid-air, crystalizing it into jagged spikes that shattered upon contact with the ground. Shassra narrowed his eyes, his tongue flicking, but Winter gave him no time to react, lunging once more. This time, his jaws clamped down on Shassra’s midsection, his fangs sinking deep. Shassra hissed in pain, his body writhing, but then his scales began to secrete a new, viscous poison, slicking Winter’s fangs with the dark, oily substance. Winter released him, snarling, the poison burning as it seeped into his gums.

But Winter did not retreat. Instead, he exhaled a deep breath, and with it came an arctic gale. The frozen air crystallized Shassra’s venom where it seeped from his wounds, trapping it in a brittle shell of ice. Shassra twisted his body, shattering the ice but realizing Winter was forcing him to keep his venom close, unable to spread it across the field without it freezing upon contact.

Enraged, Shassra coiled tighter, raising his head high, eyes locked on Winter. His gaze flicked to Winter’s fur, noting the dullness in his coat, the strain of each heavy breath. Sensing an opportunity, Shassra lunged forward, aiming to coil around Winter and squeeze the life from him.

Winter moved, but not fast enough—the snake’s powerful coils wrapped around his body, constricting with crushing force. Winter’s ribs strained, the pressure unbearable as he struggled to break free. Ice erupted from his body, forming spikes along his fur that pierced Shassra’s scales, but the snake only squeezed harder, ignoring the damage.

With a snarl, Winter tapped into his dwindling strength and summoned a surge of icy power, forming a thick armor of frost along his body. The freezing cold forced Shassra to uncoil, unable to keep his grip as frostbite numbed his scales. But as he withdrew, he lashed out with his fangs, sinking them deep into Winter’s shoulder, injecting a venom so potent it could fell a hundred lesser creatures. Winter howled, stumbling, his leg momentarily buckling under him.

Yet even as the venom surged through him, Winter stood tall, defiance blazing in his eyes. His body trembled momentarily, ice forming at the wound and spreading through his veins to slow the toxin’s advance. He took a single, steadying breath, and then, with a swift motion, he slammed his paw against the ground, sending a shockwave of ice that erupted beneath Shassra, encasing the serpent in a prison of jagged, glacial spears. Shassra roared, twisting and thrashing, his venom corroding the ice as he struggled free.

Their first clash had come to an end.

The two titans stared each other down, battered and bleeding, the air thick with frost and toxic vapor. The land around them lay in ruin, once-pristine ice now marred by venom seeping into the ground, turning it into a barren wasteland. Entire forests, lakes, even hills lay shattered. It was hard to believe this was the work of just two creatures. To any onlooker, it would seem more plausible that a natural disaster—or an army of thousands—had caused such devastation.

In stark contrast to the ruined landscape, after only a brief moment of respite, the two god-like beings had already recovered from the worst of their injuries. New scales emerged on Shassra’s serpentine body, and the torn, punctured areas on Winter’s hide also appeared healed. They seemed only slightly ruffled by their recent clash, as if the fierce life-and-death struggle moments before had been nothing more than a casual greeting.

Shassra, in the form of a giant snake, even seemed rather high-spirited as he observed his opponent. “You're quite weak.”

Winter’s expression remained unreadable, and he didn’t comment on the insult. His glowing red eyes remained calm as he stared emotionlessly at his opponent.

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“In your prime, you would have already torn me in half,” Shassra continued, emboldened by the wolf’s silence. “But now? I can barely feel any strength in your bite.”

Winter chose not to comment, as he seemed solely focused on recuperating. Seeing this, Shassra chuckled, his serpentine mouth stretching into an unnaturally wide smile. “Still faking composure, I see,” he said mockingly. “However, there is no need to put on a strong front, is there? After all, we both know that in a battle of attrition, you have no chance against me.”

His meaning was clear: while they could both heal quickly from superficial wounds, Shassra’s poison would linger, building up within Winter until he once again reached the point where he couldn’t even control his own body. Therefore, it was paramount for the wolf to end the fight as soon as possible. He would have to aim for a decisive strike.

The question was: Could he?

Their last clash made it clear: while Winter had come out slightly ahead, it wasn’t enough to make Shassra feel threatened. In fact, the snake ancestor was pleasantly surprised at how well he had fared. The way the battle was going, he could endure dozens of such exchanges before he would feel threatened. But what about Winter? At that time, there would be more poison than blood inside his body, and he would not even be able to move a single muscle.

Ignoring the snake’s words, Winter charged once more, his speed unaffected by his injuries. Shassra quickly attempted to evade, but his path was blocked by a wall of ice that erupted from the ground. This was unlike any spells cast by the other members of the tribe; instead, it seemed as if a mountain had suddenly risen before him. Even with all his strength and tricks, Shassra knew he couldn't break through the thick walls of ice in the short term. And before he could escape in an other direction, three more walls emerged, cutting all paths of escape. �

It had to be said that even though Winter's body was far from its peak, his control over ice remained as strong as ever. If he were facing any other creature, he would hold a tremendous advantage through that ability alone. However, against Shassra, who was also attuned to the cold due to the nature of his poison, Winter's abilities were significantly diminished.

With no quick way to escape, Shassra chose to confront the wolf head-on. They became entangled once more, limbs and coils entwined as they fought for dominance, biting and clawing at each other with wild ferocity. Only after a long struggle, as the walls of ice melted away from the noxious gases, did they finally disentangle themselves.

This time, the two beasts couldn't recover as quickly; some of their injuries were quite severe. Shassra had several deep lacerations across his body, along with a bone deep bite near his neck. These wounds had frozen over, preventing his body from healing—a clever use of Winter's power that left him without an easy counter. He could only slowly dissolve the ice with his acidic poison, but that would take time.

Winter appeared relatively less injured, but that was only because the snake had focused solely on injecting as much venom as possible. The most potent toxin he could produce was stored in his fangs, and the dozens of bite marks scattered across the wolf's body bore testament to the sheer amount of such injections he had suffered.

For a second time, the two enemies stared at each other, assessing their own situations and the damage their opponent had suffered. Shassra, despite faring worse than in their first exchange, was still in a good mood. Given a bit of time, he would fully recover from his injuries, and even now, his combat power wasn't significantly affected.

But would the same hold true for Winter?

The wolf stared at him with an emotionless gaze, seemingly unfazed by the poison coursing through his veins. Shassra sneered at the sight. It was the same as always—Winter's arrogant pride, unbroken and unyielding, even in the face of imminent death. During their last fight, when he had been ambushed and gravely injured, Winter had still maintained his aloof demeanor, as if everything was under control.

Last time, Shassra had been deceived by this facade, unwittingly allowing Winter the chance to recover. But he would not fall for that trick again. This time, he saw through his opponent's mask, knowing it was a hollow confidence unsupported by true strength. He had made sure of that.

“How is it, wolf?” he taunted fearlessly, “Dare to come at me again?”

His words seemed to strike a nerve, and Winter immediately charged at him again. This time, their clash was even fiercer than before. Shassra, who had been confident that Winter couldn't seriously injure him in his current state, grew solemn. It was clear that the wolf was giving it his all, attacking with every ounce of strength he had left.

Even for him, a Progenitor beast with a strong affinity for the cold, the chill seeping into his bones during this exchange was hard to ignore. He hadn’t expected Winter to have this much strength. A shiver ran through him at the thought of what might have happened if they had clashed at full power—he would likely have been torn apart in an instant. But that fate would never come to pass.

With each bite he inflicted on Winter’s body, his tense nerves began to relax. With every injection of venom, victory drew closer. He didn’t care about the numerous injuries he had sustained; he was solely focused on his task. Yet a small, nagging voice in the back of his mind kept telling him that something was off.

For a long time, he couldn’t pinpoint the source of his unease. He sensed something was off, but the more he thought about it, the harder it became to identify. Everything was going exactly according to his plan.

…

Everything was going exactly according to his plan.

…

Everything… was going… exactly… according to his plan?

Why? Why did Winter allow himself to be bitten over and over? It almost seemed as if the wolf didn’t care about the venom building up inside his body, freely trading injuries without a care in the world.

Shassra’s eyes widened as he stared at the wolf across from him, who met his gaze with that same, emotionless expression. It couldn’t be. This was impossible! No. It couldn’t be!

“You… you… are…” he stuttered, unable to finish his words, though now that the thought had infected his mind, he could not get rid of it.

For the first time since the fight had started, the expression on Winter’s face changed. A wide, ferocious smile spread across his maw, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth stained with blood and guts. “So, you’ve finally noticed?”

Shassra tried to force the words out, but his mind refused to give voice to his suspicions. He swallowed hard, suddenly feeling a rawness in his throat. He reflected on their previous exchanges, and his doubts turned to certainty as he observed his opponent's unyielding posture.

Finally, he spoke the truth he had realized but was reluctant to acknowledge. “You aren’t affected by my venom…”