The [Calamity Wolves Leader] was only an epic-rank boss.
That meant for Stark, killing it wouldn’t be hard.
But the real problem wasn’t the wolf itself.
The problem was that it was a leader. And leaders never fought alone.
Hoooooowwwlllll!
The [Calamity Wolves Leader] raised its head and let out a thunderous howl.
The sound rippled across the ruined streets like an earthquake.
The rumbling that followed was even worse.
Every [Calamity Wolf] in the area suddenly stopped what it was doing and turned.
They heard their leader Then they ran.
Hundreds of wolves answered the call, crimson fur bristling, crimson eyes glowing, claws raking the ground as they all sprinted toward Stark’s position.
It was numbers. Sheer numbers.
The kind of numbers that would swallow entire armies.
But Stark only narrowed his eyes.
"You think I’ll just let that happen?" His staff pulsed with power. "Let’s kill you first. The rest can wait."
The [Calamity Wolves Leader] seemed to hesitate for a moment.
Its glowing eyes flickered. Almost like it realized what kind of enemy it had just provoked.
Sharp Bone Spikes! Blazing Meteor! Vines of Fate!
The ground cracked open with bone spears, fire roared from above, and thick vines lashed out with a snap.
Several wolves that had been charging were instantly impaled, burned, and shredded.
The leader itself had no time to dodge, too busy howling, too confident in its numbers.
-270,000! -261,000! -149,400!
The numbers exploded across Stark’s vision.
The boss was badly wounded and died on the spot.
Wolves unlucky enough to be caught in the vines burned alive, reduced to ash before they even reached him.
By the time the rest of the pack arrived, most were already dead.
But there were still more. Far more.
The surviving wolves fanned out and circled him, growling, foam dripping from their jaws.
Their steps were synchronized, steady, closing in inch by inch.
Stark smirked.
’Hundreds of them, huh? Good. Easier to wipe out in one place.’
The more monsters he killed, the more lives he gained, and the closer he came to clearing his city of this nightmare.
Based on what Olikar said, no other civilization had managed to completely wipe out their city’s share of the [First Calamity].
Too many casualties. Too many dead. Only the strongest lived through it.
But maybe... maybe Stark could.
It wasn’t likely. But he had to try.
Still, he wanted to check something.
He glanced at the wolves’ status panel.
---
[Calamity Wolf (Level 25)]
[Rank: Uncommon]
[HP: 120,000]
---
Decent health. Decent strength. But not nearly enough to challenge him.
Their true danger lay in their sheer numbers.
Ding!
["Calamity Wolves" have entered a "Berserk" state.]
Killing their leader drove them insane.
Their eyes bled red light, their growls deepened into screams, and every single one of them charged.
It didn’t faze Stark.
Sharp Bone Spikes! Blazing Meteor! Vines of Fate!
His spells burst out in all directions, ripping apart dozens at once.
Slash! Boom! Slam!
Hundreds died instantly.
But the other half leapt over their corpses, swarming him from all sides.
’Too many.’
His cooldowns wouldn’t reset in time to handle the rest.
His [Invincible Magic Barrier] would shatter if he relied on it alone.
So Stark reached for the item around his neck: the [Revenant Bell].
He shook it. Just once.
Soul Shockwave!
A wave of blue light rippled outward.
It hit everything around him in a perfect circle.
Every [Calamity Wolf] froze mid-leap.
Their eyes glazed over, bodies locked, limbs stiff like puppets with their strings cut.
Since the [Revenant Bell] was a special item, it didn’t care about the level of monsters.
It could stun as long as Stark was on the same power level.
And of course, since he was much stronger, it wasn’t even close.
Three full seconds of paralysis passed.
That was all he needed.
But once the stun was out, they immediately rushed toward Stark once more.
Stark raised his staff.
Invincible Magic Barrier!
He activated his barrier, which tanked the teeths of the wolves, cracks spreading around it.
’Got you all.’
Blazing Meteor! The latest_epɪ_sodes are on_the novelFɪre.net
The meteor Stark summoned immediately slammed into the ground, right on top of Stark’s position.
Normally, the blast would have incinerated him along with the wolves.
But his [Invincible Magic Barrier] shimmered, it would protect him.
Since the barrier counted as an "immunity" shield, it could tank an attack no matter how strong it was.
And...
BOOM!
-261,000! -261,000! -261,000!
Dozens of damage numbers filled the air.
When the smoke cleared, the ground around Stark was nothing but black ash and burning fur.
Piles of wolves lay in heaps, charred and twisted.
The few that survived still crept closer, limping, wounded, eyes filled with nothing but bloodlust.
Stark didn’t even blink.
Vines of Fate!
And then... silence.
Hundreds of corpses littered the ruined street.
The stench of burnt fur and blood filled the air.
Stark stood in the center, breathing steady, staff resting lightly on his shoulder.
"Phew..."
Then the notifications came.
Ding!
[You have gained 10 Evolution Points!]
[You have gained 2,483 Lives!]
Stark froze for a moment.
"...Holy shit."
The sheer amount of [Lives] was insane.
Just from this one fight, his reserves had shot through the roof.
But it didn’t stop there.
Hand of Avarice!
He lifted his staff.
Spectral hands clawed their way out of his staff, swarming over the piles of wolf corpses.
They tore, ripped, and harvested everything they could.
More notifications poured in.
Ding!
[You have gained 7 Evolution Points!]
[You have gained 2,804 Lives!]
In addition to that, several items dropped as well!
Dozens of items rained down onto the ground.
Most of them weren’t worth much, but Stark tossed the best into his inventory.
Two in particular glowed brighter than the rest near the leader.
One glowed purple. The other shone gold.
His [Hand of Avarice] had triggered its special upgrade effect on the boss loot!
Stark bent down and picked them up.
---
[Calamity Fur Robe (Epic): Mage-type equipment. +119 Spirit, +148 Constitution, +400 Ice Element Resistance. Requirement: Level 25]
---
[Calamity Fur Backpack (Legendary): +50 storage slots. Requirement: Level 25]
---
Stark’s eyes widened.
"Oh shit!"
Both were perfect for him.
The robe outclassed his current gear, and the backpack added more space!
He didn’t hesitate.
He swapped them immediately, replacing his [Undead Soul Mage (Epic)] robe and his old [Storage Backpack (Uncommon)].
Stats rose instantly.
[Spirit: 203 (+598)]1
[Current Space: 102]
The robe toughened his body, boosted his magic, and added powerful ice resistance.
The backpack expanded his storage space massively, more than enough to hoard every valuable item that dropped from monsters!
And unlike in [Eternal Soul], items acquired in the real world didn’t need to be "extracted" as they were already there!
"Perfect."
He looked at his panel.
[Current Evolution Points: 60]
[Lives: 6,388]
’That means I can bring at least two skills over,’ Stark grinned.
Anyone else would’ve been torn to shreds by a pack this big.
But for him, it had been worth every risk.
He glanced at the battlefield one last time.
Hundreds of corpses lay sprawled, steam rising from their charred flesh.
’I wonder how strong those from the other civilizations are,’ Stark wondered, ’Oh well.’
It was a fleeting thought. He shook it off. It didn’t matter now.
Stark lifted his eyes to the sky instead.
The vortex above still churned, dark and endless, summoning monsters into the world.
His expression darkened, but he didn’t waste time brooding.
’Alright,’ he said to himself. ’Let’s extract some skills.’