A colossal figure appeared behind Alex. He was dressed in an ancient purple robe, and his face was blurry and difficult to make out. The specter bore an aura that belonged to mythological times, and a wave of pressure came over everyone in the valley, causing them to drop to their knees. It felt as though a god had descended to Earth.
"Who… what is this?" the Diabolic Wolf King gasped.
Asher could barely understand what he was seeing. "I think it's the Emperor of Time," he mumbled.
His whisper gradually spread among the crowd. They had all heard stories of this emperor, a legendary being who controlled time. He could travel through time and space, and he was eternal and invincible. The figure behind Alex seemed to be merely the ghost of the emperor, but nobody dared to look directly at him. Even the werewolves were compelled by an invisible force to bow down, while Asher fought hard to remain standing.
The Diabolic Wolf King felt a growing sense of danger. He let out a fierce howl, and the energy of the cry caused his blood vessels to bulge. Slowly but steadily, his body began to swell. Within moments, he had grown to almost twice his usual height, and his life-threatening injury healed up within seconds. His aura grew with him and became twice as powerful as before.
He stomped one foot on the ground, creating a large hole in the shape of a wolf's paw. There was an ear-splitting noise as the air was torn apart, and he broke through the boundary of time and space and rushed toward Alex.
Alex didn't even flinch. "I'm afraid this is a useless effort," he called. "You're forgetting my divine ability."
The king was shocked to find that the air around him seemed to have frozen, blocking his advance. The closer he got to Alex, the more he slowed down. He stretched out his claws and tried to swing forward with all his might, yet he was barely able to move.
"Time is a great divine ability," Alex said. "I may not be able to tap into the same power as you, but as long as I stay right here, I'm protected. You can spend the next ten thousand years trying to reach me, but you'll never get within an inch of my body."
The king thought that Alex was devoid of emotion and appeared to be looking down on everyone around him. Suddenly, he realized that Alex and the Emperor of Time had merged into one, and it seemed that the mighty emperor from ancient times had crossed into the mortal world.
I must get out of here immediately, he thought. With a roar, he managed to break free of the frozen air. For a moment, he spun in the blizzard that surrounded him. Then, taking on the form of a dragon, he shot up from the valley and began to fade into the distance.
Everyone was shocked to see him retreat. The werewolves couldn't believe that their invincible leader had given up the fight and intended to abandon them.
"I told him it was pointless," Alex said, sighing. "Nothing can compete with my divine ability."
He sighed and slowly extended his left hand. At the same time, the Emperor of Time followed Alex and raised his left hand. Everyone was stunned as they watched this ancient creature overlap with Alex.
"Time!" Alex shouted as he clenched his fist and pulled it back.
The crowd heard a clanging sound as the Emperor of Time also drew his hand back, now holding a long, thin blade that was like nothing anyone had ever seen before. The blade's surface shone brightly, and the emperor appeared to hold the power of the entire universe in his hand.
With the Sword of Time drawn, the entire world instantly stopped. Leaves that had been falling just seconds earlier hung motionless. Water stopped flowing. The Diabolic Wolf King, who had been trying to fly away, froze in the air.
With Alex at the center, it seemed that anything within a radius of several miles had stopped. Alex's hair was turning gray, but it didn't seem to worry him. His eyes were expressionless and merely reflected the figure of the king, who hovered in front of him.
Alex took a step forward. Holding his left hand in the air, he made a slashing motion, and at the same time, the ancient emperor slashed down with his sword.
The booming crash caused a tremendous shock wave, and it felt like the world had been split in half. A shapeless light shot toward the king and slashed across his body.
Once the flash had subsided, the shadow of the Emperor of Time seemed unable to withstand the power. Starting from the tip of the blade, along the hilt, and over the emperor's body, both the sword and the creature slowly shattered into pieces before scattering and fluttering away.
Alex wiped a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth. His aura dipped, and he began to sway, but he managed to hold his position in the air.
So, I'm not ready to conquer that divine ability just yet, he thought. Still, that slash was worth it.
Then, looking more closely at the Diabolic Wolf King, who was still suspended in mid-air, Alex got a surprise. Somehow, the earth-shattering slash appeared to have had minimal effect on the leader of the werewolves.
On the ground, people were slowly regaining their senses from the time warp. As they looked up to the sky, they were shocked to see that Alex appeared to have been seriously injured and that his aura had faded. Then their eyes turned to the Diabolic Wolf King, who looked completely unharmed.
"That slash froze time," one man said in disbelief.
"I know," a woman next to him responded. "That guy must have sacrificed his soul to summon the ancient god to his side. How can the king be unharmed?"
At the same time, the wolves noticed that Alex's attack had failed and that their tribe leader had not been harmed in the slightest. Once they overcame the initial shock, they started to howl with joy.
Just seconds later, their chorus came to a sudden halt. The black fur all over the king's body turned a grayish white. Then every strand of hair fell from his body, and his powerful muscles began to shrink. The crowd watched in horror as his thumping heart appeared to slow down to almost nothing. Then he began to shrink back to his original size. It was as though, in an instant, he had lived through hundreds of years, and now he had been reduced to a frail man, unable to move a muscle.
"You!" the king said, wheezing as he turned his head with great difficulty. He raised a trembling paw and pointed it at Alex. He was desperate to speak, but he couldn't find the strength. The mere act of turning toward Alex had exhausted the last of his power.
The Diabolic Wolf King had roamed the world for over a thousand years. He had fought in two world wars and had encountered many a fierce enemy. How can it all end here… and so easily? he wondered.
He took one final short breath before his body fell to the ground, sending up a cloud of dust. All around him, people stood with their mouths wide open, afraid to move. The wolves were speechless and could not believe what they had just witnessed.
Across the entire Valley of the Buried Heart, the only sound to be heard was Alex's coughing.