Rael turned away again, hands in his pockets, walking like nothing important had happened.
Behind him, the Silver Shadow Wolf King was still frozen, heart pounding. His body screamed at him to run, to vanish into the shadows and never come back.
But he couldn't.
I didn't come here to run away, he thought. I came here… to save my throne.
His voice trembled as he spoke, head still bowed, eyes fixed on the ground. "M-My lord…"
Rael didn't stop.
"My lord," the beast said again, forcing the words out. "I… request you… please fight with me."
Rael glanced back, bored.
The instant their eyes met, every instinct in the wolf's body roared at him—Run. Hide. Submit. His legs shook. His throat tightened. But he remained where he was.
He wasn't here for pride. He was here for his people.
Rael sighed lightly. "I'm not in the mood to play with you. You can't even look me in the eye, and you think you can defeat me?"
He turned a bit more toward the wolf.
"Don't throw your life away here. Go live with your people. I doubt you could even stand against me at my full strength. So what made you think—" He waved a hand lazily. "Don't bore me."
He looked away again.
"And even if I say 'let's fight,' what do I get from it? I'm already hiding my power. I can't even properly protect—"
He stopped mid-sentence.
Then, unexpectedly, Rael said, "…Okay. Let's fight."
The wolf king's ears twitched. "R-Really… my lord? You will fight me?"
Rael nodded once. "Yes. But I won't attack."
The beast blinked. "What?"
"I'm working on a new technique," Rael explained calmly. "Something that lets me fight while holding back literally ninety-nine percent of my power. So instead, you will attack me, and I will only dodge."
He looked the wolf straight in the eye.
"Even if you touch me once, you win. If you win, I will fulfill your every wish."
The wolf's heart leapt. "A-And if I lose…?"
Rael's eyes turned sharp. "Then you will be my familiar."
Silence.
The wind blew between them, carrying dust and the faint scent of blood from faraway memories.
The Silver Shadow Wolf King's chest rose and fell slowly. Then he lowered his head again.
"…Yes," he said. "I accept, my lord. Thank you for giving me this chance."
Rael nodded. "Good."
He glanced around the mountain area. "How much space do you need?"
The beast tilted his head. "What do you mean?"
Rael answered, "Six hundred meters should be enough, right?"
He snapped his fingers.
The world shifted.
A dome of invisible energy spread out instantly, covering a six-hundred-meter radius around them. Inside, the scenery looked exactly the same—same trees, same rocks, same sky—but outside sound and presence vanished completely.
A domain.
The wolf king stared, stunned.
Domains were alternate spaces—small personal dimensions created through absurd amounts of mana and control. Only a handful of beings in all history could open them. And this one covered six hundred meters… effortlessly.
"This…" the wolf thought, "this is impossible…"
Rael spoke calmly, as if this was normal. "Now. You have one hundred and fifty seconds."
The wolf king was lost in thought. "Huh?"
"I know you can fight for months without running out of mana," Rael said. "Silver Shadow Wolves are built for stamina, after all."
The beast's eyes widened. "How… how can you know that, my lord? We Shadow Wolves are extremely sensitive to mana. We can see someone's mana the moment we look at them. And when I saw you, I only saw a very tiny amount of mana. Yes, it's a larger pool than many I've seen on the way… but I have seen bigger."
Rael smirked slightly. "I'll answer that after your defeat."
He pointed ahead.
"I'll let you charge your mana for the first attack. When you're ready, the timer starts."
A massive hourglass appeared in front of them, made entirely of crystalized light and shadow—sand slowly dripping from top to bottom, frozen for now.
The wolf king stepped back, teeth gritted, and began to gather power.
Lightning crackled across his fur. Shadows thickened around his paws. Mana shook the air, distorting space itself.
By the time he was done, the hourglass began to glow.
The chapter ends with the Silver Shadow Wolf King fully charged, ready to launch his first attack.