Rebirth: Childhood friend of the heroine

"Ah!" Celestria woke up from her sleep—an audible exclaim leaving her lips.

Her breathing was unsteady, proof of the unsettling dream she just had. Sweat accumulated on her pale forehead as she stared at the duvet in a daze; unable to discern what she just saw and where she was, for a few moments.

A foreboding sensation disturbed her sleep and pushed her to look at her wrist where the beacon she planted.

She felt...danger. Alex is surrounded by danger, and Celestria is not able to help him. The intuition was so vivid that she had to double-check if the beacon was signalling anything. Fortunately, it wasn't.

'He is with the people of Steelhound...although they are infamous for their wild hunting style, I hope they keep you safe...' Joining her hands in prayer, Celestria requested every god in existence to take care of her best friend.

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Although there were two people—Edric and Celestria—praying for Alex's well-being, seeing the condition around the battlefield, it doesn't seem the prayers were effective.

The wolfkin was naturally too strong, and combined with their unique skills and a vast amount of SE, which they accumulated through numerous hunts throughout the years, they became extremely formidable.

There were about three hundred well-trained and high-ranking soldiers engaged in battle, and the rest were guarding the city and the mansion. However, despite the overwhelming number—if considering the number of beasts to be only around thirty—it seems the human side has taken quite a bit of a toll.

More than a hundred soldiers were slaughtered by the wild beasts—their skin shredded, heads removed and blood pooling all around. These hunters were ruthless and quite thirsty to reach their goal of butchering that being who dared to hunt their comrade.

Alex stood at one side after he was done dealing with another wolf. His body was bleeding and aching. It has been only half an hour and the number of beasts he was able to kill was two—in return, he received several shallow wounds and a deep wound down his chest.

As he gulped the potion, he saw that the soldiers were able to take down six wolves somehow by sacrificing their comrades and receiving life-threatening wounds in return as well.

The size of the beast, their durability, their self-regeneration and their unique skill were like a combination made for massacre.

"This looks insane..." David, who was performing the role of supportive by utilising his 'Limit Break', stood beside Alex and continued to watch the overwhelming battle between tired humans and adrenaline-boosted wolves.

"Their natural constitution is way above in comparison..." Alex heaved a sigh, this was hopeless. There were still more than fifteen of those beings alive, and on the other side, the final boss was seated with its eyes continuously fixated on Alex.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

'I need to take down the numbers, or they might end up slaughtering every soldier, and all will jump at me at once.'

Alex formed a strategy before turning his head towards Amanda, "Amanda!"

The mage, who was taking a breather after helping out a soldier to recover from a lethal blow, advanced towards Alex

"Do you have something?" She asked to which he nodded and told her,

"You see those eight wolves, they are almost aligned, right?"

Amanda looked at whom he was pointing at, and nodded, "Yes...they are. What about it?"

Alex offered her a Soul-enhancing potion and told her, "Restrict their movements and lock them with ice walls from either side. I want them to stand in a straight path even for a second."

"That's impossible!" Amanda voiced with her eyes widened, "They can easily break my ice and they aren't foolish to not understand that something is up."

Alex clicked his tongue, not because she rejected it, but rather because she was right.

Just then, the lady of the house stepped in, "Let me handle that."

Veronica narrowed her eyes, and, using her skill, 'Sensory Apex', she sent the message through the soldiers fighting the beasts at whom Alex pointed.

The only message she was able to send to many minds was, 'Lock them in a straight path'.

And the soldiers immediately began to work, pushing their limits and showing sudden aggression, They began pushing the battle to a position where they could align the wolves in a straight path.

Alex glanced at Amanda before the girl huffed and took the potion. Using her free hand to chant the spell, she consumed the potion in one big gulp before throwing away the vial.

"Here goes nothing." Taking a deep breath, she readied herself and gave a nod to Alex.

Alex turned towards the elder Lockwood and told him, "Enhance me as much as you can."

Saying so Alex dropped the extra weight from him and snatched away the dagger which he had tapped on the spear.

Veronica frowned, "What are you going to do?"

"There is no time to tell," Turning towards Amanda, Alex said, "When I say 'Go' lock them." The green-haired immediately nodded

David took a long breath before he directed his SE in Alex's direction—making the latter feel a sudden surge of heat penetrating through his skin and wrapping around his body.

Alex didn't have to check his stats to tell that his Soul Energy and his physical stats had been boosted.

'But still....this will inflict considerable damage...' There was no point in pondering since, from what Alex could see, this battle would favour the opponent if they continued at the same tempo.

Holding the dagger tightly, Alex bolted toward the far side of the mansion, his abrupt retreat startling Veronica and David.

"Where did he go?!" David exclaimed, his tone a mix of confusion and urgency.

Amanda, standing nearby, merely smirked. She had seen Alex's methods during his trials. "Trust him," she said simply, her confidence unshaken.

David hesitated but didn't question his sister. Instead, he focused on channelling more enhancements into Alex, trusting her words. Veronica, however, expanded her senses, her eyes narrowing as she tracked Alex's rapid movements.

"He's circling back," she murmured, astonished by his blistering pace. She stepped aside instinctively, ensuring there was enough room for his return.

Amanda readied herself, her spell circle glowing faintly, her focus unbreakable. Then she heard the signal.

"GO!!"

The atmosphere shifted violently.

The air turned frigid in an instant, frost creeping over the ground. A deafening rumble shook the earth as every allied soldier instinctively leapt back in perfect unison, their movements almost too smooth to be coincidental.

Before the advancing beasts could comprehend the sudden retreat, towering ice walls erupted on either side of them. The narrow pathway left no room to manoeuvre, trapping the creatures in a frozen corridor.

"GRRRR..."

"What's happening?!" one of the beasts snarled.

"Cheap tricks won't save you!" another spat.

But their taunts faded into silence.

A suffocating wave of energy blanketed the battlefield, thicker and heavier than any they had encountered before. It wasn't just magic—it was pure, unfiltered malice. The wolves stiffened, their instincts screaming at them to turn.

Behind them, Alex stood could be seen airborne, his silhouette bathed in the pale moonlight. His arm was cocked back, his hand gripping the dagger so tightly his knuckles whitened. Soul energy coiled around him, surging into the weapon like a storm brewing in his grasp.

Then, he launched.

"TEMPEST DART!!"

The air howled as the dagger tore free from his hand. The force of the throw wrenched his shoulder violently, tearing at his muscles and cracking bones with an audible snap. But Alex didn't falter—his gaze burned with unyielding determination.

The projectile erupted with a deafening boom the moment it left his hand. It moved with terrifying speed, slicing through the air like a meteor, leaving a searing trail of destruction in its wake. The ground beneath its path burned, the sheer force carving deep scorch marks into the earth.

The first wolf had no chance to react. The dagger struck its skull with devastating precision, the impact so violent that its head exploded in a spray of blood and bone.

But it didn't stop there.

The blade's momentum was unrelenting, each strike an echoing boom of death. It tore through the next wolf, and the next, each time punching through skulls, snapping spines, and shattering bones as it carved its way down the line.

Blood painted the icy walls, staining them crimson as the dagger continued its rampage. Limbs flew, and howls of pain cut short before they could fully form. The once-coordinated pack was reduced to chaos, their formation crumbling as the dagger claimed one life after another.

By the time the dagger finally buried itself deep into the frozen ground, silence reigned. The beasts lay motionless, their bodies strewn across the battlefield like broken dolls.

Alex staggered forward, his arm limp at his side, blood dripping from his fingertips.

His vision was blurry, and the numbing pain was shutting off his senses—when suddenly he found several other wolves, with much more aggression, advancing towards him.

Alex's breathing was shallow, as he tried to grab something to attack them...however, he failed.

'Fuck...where is my backup?'

"Here I am!" Like the person heard his whisper, someone dropped before Alex, containing similar features as the wolves, but Alex knew that this one wasn't a foe.

Reinforcement has arrived.

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A/N:- Thanks for reading.