SHATTERED REALM: FORGOTTEN ECHOES-Chapter 185: The Lone Wolf, The Damned Wolf.

Kesha jumped, but her lithe movement made it look more like gliding than jumping.

For a move like that, the crowd expected thunder or something loud to assert dominance, but Kesha's transformation and movement didn't come with that.

When she moved, what followed her was a whispering hiss that flowed like a thick layer of snow sliding gently over glass.

Snow trailed her like a ribbon as she left the ground, defying gravity for a moment. She flipped in the air, flowing with the current, then a fragment of the cloud above her head shot down.

It smashed into the ground, exploding into tiny shards that spread across the ground, creating a thick layer of ice. The sound was delayed, sounding like a dull echo that came from beneath the earth.

She let out a howl, which sounded more soothing than frightening. The entire arena became cold afterward, and cultivators below the Gold Gate shivered in their seats. When the howl ended, all sound was withdrawn.

And when anyone tried to speak, it felt like their voices had been stolen.

She eyed Aramith before plummeting down, landing with a concussive crack.

The ice cracked under her weight, the fracture rolling towards him, groaning toward him like a great beast was moving with it.

The ripple rolled toward Aramith, and as the ripples moved, they turned and flipped the ice, forming jagged shards that could impale.

But Aramith didn't withdraw.

He firmly planted his feet on the ground, gripping the staff in a stance that meant one thing: he was going to attack.

"How's he going to attack that?"

"Is he stupid?"

"He should run."

But no one could have guessed his next move.

He waited patiently as the ripples approached him, then, when they were a centimeter away from him, he firmly planted the staff in the ground. The ice cracked sharply in a network of veins.

Then, in quick unison, he stepped on it.

The ripple unfurled beneath the staff, shooting him into the air. He grabbed the staff in the last second, launching himself upwards with it.

This startled everyone.

As he flew up, he pointed the staff upwards into the shield, lodging himself into its highest point.

For the first time, Aramith was above her, and Kesha could feel he was about to fully attack her.

Her ears twitched, and the flowing snow along her limbs moved faster, as if it had a heart of its own.

While holding the staff with one hand, Aramith whispered something to himself, testing to see how the cold affected sound.

"Perfect," he said, then he said something to Kesha.

The sound carried clearly to her ears, but no one else heard it.

For a moment, Kesha's face was one of shock, then rage filled it.

She growled.

The cloud above her head grew three times, then she bared her fangs at him.

Aramith let go of the staff, and as he dropped, something happened.

Darkness flowed out of his hands, wrapping around them like tendrils.

"What?!" Mozrael stood up immediately, not expecting that he'd do that.

What are you thinking? You're not supposed to let anyone know your attribute.

She turned to Lynnor, but Lynor just shrugged. "What am I supposed to do? It's his decision. And I don't think he's stupid, so wait."

All around, people started to notice the darkness thickening around Aramith.

It flowed like serpents, coiling around his body, growing in size and number till all one could see was his face.

"What's that? It's ugly."

Someone threw up, watching him, and the erratic flailing of the dark tendrils made many more uncomfortable.

"Is that his attribute?"

"What...?"

The confusion Aramith spread across the arena was greater than any confusion Lynnor could ever dream of causing.

His descent came with a smoke trail that darkened the air, obstructing sight.

When he was about to make contact with the ground, the tendrils covered his entire body, then constricted to form a smooth ball that further wrapped around his body like a second skin.

His body started to transform, extending and thickening.

The darkness pulsed once, twice, then thrice.

Every pulse caused his body to grow larger, and by the third time, he was the same size as Kesha's wolf form.

The darkness kept obscuring his appearance, making it difficult to figure out what exactly he was turning into.

Suddenly, all the darkness sucked into his body, and finally, everyone saw what he'd turned into.

"So he's a damned?" Someone asked, shocked.

"That's scary," another swallowed.

Aramith had transformed into his wolf form, and he was truly frightening.

Darkness flowed like smoke from his back, and his fur distorted and phased in and out of reality; it looked unreal.

He took a few steps, and the way his muscles rippled showed strength.

"Look at the ground!" Someone suddenly exclaimed.

And when they looked, they felt a shudder. "Is this even real?"

The ice that lay jagged all over shattered under his steps, and if that wasn't enough to send a chill down one's spine, the arena's ground itself was left with cracks wherever he stepped.

Purple runes glowed around his body, and his eyes were bloodshot.

Kesha was elegant, beautiful, graceful, and lithe, but when they looked at Aramith, he was a direct contrast.

His form screamed power through and through. Pure aura emanating from him made breathing a tedious task for those closest to him.

Both were wolves, but one looked like the master, whereas the other looked like a princess.

"You will lose today," Aramith growled. Wisps of darkness curled around his mouth when it opened.

"Whoa..." From their seats, some could feel the vibrations from his voice.

Mozrael finally calmed down after seeing that Aramith was using this form.

Lynnor tried to be carefree, but seeing Aramith's damned form, she couldn't help but be confused. When did he become so powerful? I don't remember him looking like that last time.

The rest of Forsaken Peak couldn't believe what they were witnessing.

They felt fear above all the awe and surprise.

They'd ridiculed Aramith and hated him, but this...this was a different story altogether.

"Imagine he was our opponent..." someone whispered.

Kesha didn't wait to be told she had to attack.

The cloud above her head tightened suddenly, spinning faster until it screamed sharply, like glass being scratched. Her tails flared outward, crystalline light racing along their length.

The air around her compressed, then she struck.

A wave of frozen pressure tore forward. It didn't take the form of any of her earlier attacks, but like the sky itself had been shoved toward Aramith.

The ground cracked as it passed, ice crackling as it was peeled upward and flattened again.

As it approached, it sounded like suffocating thunder that pressed against the chest and rattled teeth.

Aramith did not move. He waited until it was close—then, in one quick motion, slapped it aside.

The moment his paw made contact, the noise folded in on itself and dispersed.

The impact produced no bang. Ears weren't needed to notice this attack, for it was felt more than heard.

The deflected force shot upward instead.

The shield above the arena rippled like water struck by a boulder, concentric waves racing outward as the entire barrier groaned in protest.

The crowd cried out.

"That was a finishing attack!"

"And he just—"

Kesha's eyes narrowed.

She didn't hesitate.

Mist surged violently around her limbs as she lunged, tails snapping forward in a blur. Blades of compressed ice screamed through the air, twisting and curving.

They struck Aramith head-on, and he opened his jaws.

The blades vanished between his teeth.

For a split second, there was silence.

Then a sound like mountains grinding together echoed across the arena as he crushed them. Shards sprayed outward, striking the shield hard enough to make visible cracks spiderweb across its surface.

Gasps turned to panic.

"That barrier—it's cracking!"

Kesha's breath fogged heavily now. He made me exhaust most of my power.

She leapt again, higher this time, mist screaming as it spiraled beneath her. From above, she drove a condensed mass of glacial force straight down—a falling star of frozen pressure.

Aramith closed his eyes and lowered his body as the attack struck him.

The impact was catastrophic.

Ice detonated outward in a blinding white explosion. The ground around him cratered, cracks racing outward like lightning scars, ice shattering into jagged spires.

Even with the protection of the shield, the shockwave knocked people back in their seats.

When the mist cleared, Aramith was still there. The ice at his feet had shattered, but beneath it, the ground itself remained unbroken—pressed flat by his presence alone.

Dark wisps curled lazily from his shoulders.

Kesha stared.

Aramith finally lifted his head.

"You should stop," he said calmly.

His voice wasn't loud, yet it reached her ears as if he were standing right beside her.

"The outcome is already decided."

Kesha snarled, rage flickering through her elegant form.

"You're heartless!"

The cloud above her churned violently, tails whipping as frost spiraled outward again.

She attacked once more.

This time, Aramith didn't block.

He simply tilted his head.

The strike glanced off his shoulder and detonated behind him, tearing another crater into the arena floor.

Still, he did not move.

The crowd had gone silent.

All who had doubted or badmouthed him found it difficult to believe this was the same person they'd looked down on so much.

Kesha howled once again, and two outgrowths rose from the ground.

They materialized into mirrored versions of herself.

Aramith looked at them, then calmly smashed the ground with a paw.