The wolves had already formed a semicircle around the bear. Their muscles were coiled, ready to explode at any moment.
As Wannabe and the bear stood there having a standoff, Leo was still processing what he saw.
'Magic, that was fucking real magic.'
Up until now, everything he saw was already fantastical enough, but this was the first time he got to experience it directly.
'Let's focus for now, I'll think about it later.'
He then turned his focus back to the Wolves and the bear, but the smile on his face couldn't be hidden.
The ice coating on the bear's throat was fading away.
The bear let out another roar, louder this time.
The message was clear: Leave, or die.
Wannabe answered with a growl, its muscles tightening.
Then it moved.
It lunged forward, a blur of grey and gold shooting across the ground.
The other wolves followed half a heartbeat later, streaks of motion fanning out as they darted around the bear's sides.
'So fast.'
Leo's eyes widened; he could barely make out their movement as they closed in on the bear.
The bear, however, reacted with shocking speed.
A massive paw swung out in a wide arc, aiming for Wannabe. However, Wannabe was faster as it twisted aside at astonishing speed and continued forward.
The paw hit the ground with a heavy thud as dirt and rock exploded, leaving behind a small crack.
Leo, who was watching, couldn't help but swallow.
'Fuck if that hit me, I would probably turn paste in an instant.'
Wannabe lunged towards the exposed flank, its claws clinging to the bear's fur as it bit down hard. Three other wolves dove in at the same time, aiming for the legs.
The bear reared up, its shadow engulfing them as it let out a painful growl.
Wannabe sensing the shift, let go and moved back.
The other wolves also hurriedly moved back. However, one of them wasn't fast enough.
As the bear came crashing down, the wolf was flung away at incredible speed. Its body hit a tree hard as it came to an abrupt stop. Its lifeless body slowly fell back to the ground, leaving a patch of blood on the tree.
Leo watched all this in silence. But still, he felt something in his chest. Although he didn't feel much towards the wolves, after all, they had just met, he still felt a sense of helplessness.
He had thought about stepping in and lending a hand, but the more he watched, the more he felt that he would only be a burden.
He could barely make out the bear's movement, and the wolves also seemed to have their own fighting style.
His involvement would just cause more harm than good.
Leo couldn't help but click his tongue, a bit frustrated.
The wolves, however, hadn't broken focus, but they also seemed more agitated than before. Especially Wannabe.
Without wasting time, they lunged forward again, faster and more ferocious.
They constantly harassed the bear. One bit its leg, another clung to its back, while others clawed at its side.
The bear felt helpless. Wannabe kept the bear busy, preventing it from attacking the other wolves. Whenever it tried, Wannabe would lunge for its vitals, making it forgo its attack.
It seemed the wolves were winning, but Leo knew better. The bear still hadn't used its ice elemental power.
The bear was now covered in wounds, and its black fur was stained red.
The bear was starting to feel overwhelmed. It realized that the creatures in front of it were starting to become a threat. With a sudden conviction, the bear's eyes sharpened as the temperature dropped significantly.
The air felt cooler.
The sudden shift alerted Wannabe as it let out a howl.
The wolves, which had been attacking the bear, hurriedly moved back.
Ice spikes erupted where they had been standing, freezing the ground around them.
The bear's body was now fully covered in ice, leaving only its eyes visible.
It let out a deep roar, its breath creating a slight mist.
The pack spread out further, creating a considerable distance between themselves and the bear. However, Wannabe remained standing just a small distance away from the bear as the pack continued moving back.
White mist puffed out of the bear's nostrils as its blue stripes flared, flooding its fur with eerie light.
Cracks of frost spiderwebbed out from where its paws met the ground.
Thunder cracked above as a slight drizzle started pouring down.
'Shit, why now of all times?' Leo thought as he looked up.
From all the games he played, especially one specific gacha game, he knew that ice powers especially shone in wet places.
Suddenly, Leo felt the temperature increase rapidly.
'Now what?'
As he turned back to the battlefield, he was shocked to see Wannabe's fur start to glow red.
Heat rolled off Wannabe in waves.
Its fur bristled, every strand standing on end as a faint glow flickered beneath the wet coat. Its golden eyes brightened.
A small flame sparked to life on its front paw and then spread out.
Leo blinked.
In the span of a breath, fire surged across Wannabe's entire body.
For a moment, it looked like a wolf molded entirely out of flame. The rain that touched it turned to steam with violent hisses.
Even from where he stood, Leo felt the heat.
'You have got to be kidding me…'
The bear roared and charged.
Wannabe met it head‑on.
It became a streak of orange and gold, tearing across the frozen ground. Ice cracked under its paws as it slammed into the bear's side.
'It's faster than before.' If before Leo could see an afterimage, now it felt as if Wannabe was telerporting.
The bear's ice armor flared across its ribs, thick plates forming in an instant—but this time, the result was different.
Where Wannabe's flaming body hit, the ice hissed and shattered, chunks of steaming crystal bursting away. The smell of burned fur and scorched flesh filled the air.
The bear bellowed in pain.
Wannabe, however, didn't get away unscathed.
A paw came down, the claws raking across its back. Leo saw the fur split, flesh opening in a long, deep gash.
Blood welled up.
Then the flames surged brighter.
The wound sizzled, the torn flesh knitting itself together in seconds before Leo's eyes. When the fire dimmed again, only a faint line remained.
"…Regeneration?" Leo whispered, surprised.
He stared at Wannabe, mind racing.
'So that's why it can afford to rush in like an idiot. The flames are healing it.'
Wannabe's breath came a little faster now. The flames around its body wavered, thinning before stabilizing again.
Every time it took a hit and healed, the fire's brightness dropped just a bit.
Wannabe darted around the bear, each movement leaving streaks of fire on the icy ground. It burned away the smaller ice spikes, melted the armor wherever it could reach, leaving blackened patches on the bear's legs and chest.
The bear fought back with all the fury of a cornered beast.
It slammed the ground, sending more jagged ice jutting upward. It exhaled freezing mist in sweeping arcs, trying to smother the flames clinging to its fur. It layered ice over every wound Wannabe burned into it, creating thicker and thicker armor.
Wannabe accumulated bruises and cuts that took longer to heal. The bear's movements grew harsher and more desperate as burned flesh and shattered ice piled up along its body.
The wolves played a supporting role, striking when they saw an opening and backing off when the bear turned on them.
Wannabe went in again.
This time, it didn't hold back.
The flames roared to life around its body, brighter and hotter than before. Steam burst out in all directions as the rain hit it, briefly obscuring it from view.
When it shot out of the cloud of vapor, it aimed straight at the bear's throat.
The bear, already anticipating the attack, snapped its head down. Ice surged across its neck, thicker than any armor it had formed before, layering over itself like translucent stone.
Wannabe crashed into it.
Fire exploded outwards. The armor cracked, then shattered under the heat. Fragments of glowing ice spun through the air.
But the bear's counterattack was already in motion.
Its paw, encased in jagged ice, hammered into Wannabe's side.
The wolf was hurled away, smashing into the ground and tumbling through mud and slush. The flames around its body flickered violently, nearly going out.
Leo's heart lurched.
Wannabe struggled back to its feet.
The wound where the paw had connected was ugly—flesh torn, ribs likely cracked. The flames crawled over it, trying to close it, but they were weak, sluggish. The gash shrank, but didn't fully vanish this time.
The golden‑eyed wolf stood there, legs trembling.
Its flames guttered around its body, reduced to thin lines along its spine and legs.
The bear staggered as well.
Its throat was a mess of scorched flesh and half‑melted ice. One eye was swollen shut, and the fur around it burned away. Every breath it took came out as a ragged wheeze.
But its eyes were still bright and furious.
It planted its paws in the ground and roared.
Blue light flared along its stripes, much brighter than before, almost blinding. The temperature plunged.
Frost raced outward in a ring from its body, climbing trees and freezing grass solid.
Ice swelled over its body in thick plates, forming a final shell of armor.
Leo could feel it: this was the last attack.
The bear lowered its head, jaws parting as cold mist spilled out between its teeth. A jagged spear of ice began to form in front of its maw, growing longer, sharper, denser.
It aimed at Wannabe.
The wolves hesitated.
Even they knew that stepping in front of that would mean instant death.
'Shit, I gotta do something, or we're all screwed.' Leo's mind churned as he tried to come up with anything.
'Fuck, I can't think of anything, I'm too weak.'
A sense of despair washed over him. Leo suddenly bit his lips hard.
'Focus, you idiot.'
Regaining his clarity, Leo thought for a while until something clicked.
'This better work or I'll just feel like a chuunibyou.'
Clearing his thoughts, Leo sent a mental command to the bear.
'Freeze'
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then the world shuddered.
An invisible weight slammed down onto the battlefield.
The ice spear in front of the bear's jaws stopped growing, its edges still dripping with cold mist, suspended mid‑formation.
The bear's muscles locked.
Its eyes widened, veins bulging in its neck as it tried to move. But no matter how much it tried, it couldn't move a muscle.
Leo's head throbbed. It felt like someone had driven a spike between his brows and was slowly hammering it deeper. His mind felt like it was being pierced by needles.
He gritted his teeth and refused to blink.
'Just… a little… longer…'
The bear's claws dug furrows into the frozen ground as it fought against the unseen pressure, its own ice straining and creaking.
Wannabe, seeing the opportunity, moved.
Fire burst around its jaws and paws. It was more concentrated than before.
It streaked across the distance between them in a single, desperate lunge.
Leo felt his command slipping, his vision blurring at the edges.
Wannabe hit the bear's throat, right where the armor had cracked from the previous assault. Its flaming fangs sank into scorched flesh.
For a second, there was silence.
Then the ice shattered.
Fire and blood exploded outward as Wannabe tore through the weakened armor. The bear's roar cut off in a wet gurgle.
The massive body convulsed.
The half‑formed ice spear crumbled into shards that clattered harmlessly to the ground.
Leo's legs buckled.
The pressure vanished all at once, leaving behind only a pounding headache and a ringing in his ears. He dropped to one knee, one hand braced on the ground, breathing hard.
'Damn, that was pretty epic.'
His vision was slipping. The last thing he heard was the wolves howling.