Is this really a Game?!

As soon as the rider shouted and Reign and the others moved, the battle was initiated. Arrows rained down on them immediately as they scattered, each of them moving to their respective opponents. Reign, Wolf, and Tank moved together, fully focused on the Alpha and the rider, who didn't move and simply stood there, waiting for them to come to them.

Reign's lightning crackled around him as he closed the distance between him and the rider. The Alpha, however, growled deeply, its massive form brimming with dark energy as it stared down Reign with predatory eyes before lunging at him and slashing through the air with blinding speed.

Reign narrowed his eyes at the attack, narrowly dodging it as he twisted his body mid-air and delivered a swift counter-strike, his two swords glowing white and black respectively.

Meanwhile, Wolf ignited his chaos flames and launched a barrage of slightly red fireballs at the rider while Tank charged forward, his shield ready to stop the Alpha in its tracks and allow Reign to fight against the rider by himself.

The rider glanced at the fireballs that Wolf had launched and scoffed, easily deflecting the fireballs and glancing down at Reign. He stared at the battle between the Alpha and Reign before cranking his neck and lunging at them, joining the fray.

He attacked Reign, stabbing with his spear. At the same time, Tank arrived slamming into the Alpha from the side, causing the beast to slide, growling at Tank while Reign quickly twisted his body and crossed his swords, catching the spear between them and pushing it down.

"Yo." Reign told the rider who simply stared at him before pulling his spear back and then jumping backward to create some distance. Of course, Reign wouldn't allow him to do that easily, and he quickly charged at him, not letting him widen the distance between them.

Suddenly, a wall of flames appeared behind the rider, forcing him to stop for a moment and glance toward the side with anger. Wolf, who had gotten close to them, used his flames to help out Reign, smirked at the rider, and then joined the battle with the Alpha wolf, leaving Reign and the rider to battle alone.

None of them would have it easy, especially not Reign, who was going up against an opponent who was superior to him and would most likely force him to use his mark during the battle.

That was quite obvious to Reign in the first couple of exchanges he had with the rider. Thanks to the wall of flames that had appeared behind the rider, he had to stop, and Reign immediately went on the offensive, black and white lightning exploding around him as he lunged at the man, lowering his body and slashing with both swords.

He placed his arms on his waist, and then slashed forward, utilizing two backhand slashes in order to try and quickly wound the rider, utilizing his immense speed, as well as the fact the rider used a spear, and they were close to one another, which gave Reign an advantage.

And yet, his slash was blocked, which caused him to slightly widen his eyes.

The rider had taken a step back in the last moment and placed his spear right in front of him, placing it vertically, catching both swords with the spear, causing them to cross one another.

The rider then moved, his hands clenching the spear, and in that position, he jumped up and pushed himself forward with the spear, quickly appearing behind Reign.

He was no longer facing the wall of flames, instead, it was now Reign in that position.

The rider quickly stabbed Reign with his spear, using the blunt side to hit him as quickly as possible. Reign blocked with his swords, and was immediately pushed back.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Thankfully, the wall of flames disappeared as Wolf noticed what happened, thus saving Reign from some nasty burns.

But the rider was not finished yet.

He lunged at Reign, and right as he was in front of him, he again struck the ground with the blunt end of his spear and vaulted over Reign, hitting from above, forcing Reign to go down on one knee as he blocked the attack.

Upon landing, the rider quickly did a sweep with the spear, aiming at Reign's legs, only for Reign to stab one sword in the ground and block the attack, but then he was forced to block a sideways kick with his arm and was quickly thrown down on the ground from the force of the kick.

The spear came right after that, and Reign rolled on the ground, evading multiple stabs that came from the rider before he moved his legs and pushed the ground with one arm, doing somewhat of a breakdancing move to lift himself off the ground and kick the rider who was barely able to place an arm next to his head to block the kick, and even then, the strength behind the kick was so immense that he was thrown to the side, falling on the ground, but quickly doing a roll and standing back up.

Both men were now again standing up and staring at one another, clearly aware that they were equally matched in terms of skill.

Meanwhile, Mia, Shadow, Beast, and the others were locked in their own battles against the wolves and hunters. Mia conjured massive walls of ice to block incoming arrows while launching deadly ice spikes at the hunters who dared get too close. Her magic was potent, but the hunters were quick and nimble, dodging her attacks and retaliating with precise strikes of their own.

Shadow danced through the battlefield, his twin daggers a blur as he weaved in and out of the hunters' attacks. He felt the familiar pulse of darkness within him, but the way the hunters fought felt unsettling as they, too, had a mastery of shadow manipulation, making it difficult for him to gain the upper hand.

For every strike he landed, they retaliated with equal skill, forcing him to constantly adapt.

"These guys are good," Shadow muttered as he deflected a spear strike aimed at his throat. "Too good."

Beast was handling the wolves with his summoned creatures, Blackie and the Flood Dragon, who wreaked havoc across the battlefield. The two beasts tore through the ranks of the wolves, their superior bloodlines allowing them to dominate the lesser creatures.

However, the sheer number of wolves made it difficult for Beast to cover everyone, and he was constantly shifting his position to assist his teammates.

"Reign!" Beast shouted through the telepathic link. "This is getting out of hand. These hunters aren't ordinary fighters—they're well-trained and dangerous. We're going to need more than brute force to win this."

"I know," Reign responded, narrowly avoiding another slash from the rider's spear. "But we can't use our marks yet. We need to get through this without using them, only if the situation turns truly dire can we go all out!"

Suddenly, a massive surge of dark energy exploded from the Alpha wolf. The ground beneath them shook, and the shadows in the forest deepened. The wolf's body seemed to merge with the darkness itself, becoming an even larger and more terrifying form. Its eyes glowed with an even fiercer intensity, and its growl reverberated through the air like thunder.

"It's powering up?" Reign cursed, feeling the immense pressure coming from the wolf.

But it wasn't just the wolf as the rider raised his spear high, and dark tendrils of energy extended from his body, connecting him to the Alpha wolf. Their auras intertwined, growing stronger as they drew on each other's power. Reign could feel the overwhelming force of their combined might, and for the first time, he realized just how dangerous this enemy was.

"They're linked," Wolf shouted, dodging a spear thrust from the rider. "They're feeding off each other's power!"

"We need to separate them!" Reign called back. "If we don't, we'll be overwhelmed."

"We have no idea how far away they need to be separated though!" Wolf shouted as he blocked a claw with his sword, the immense power of the wolf causing his back to bend as he pushed his sword forward with both arms in order to try and push the wolf away from him.

Tank arrived, the phantom of a bull appearing around him as he tackled the wolf from the side, throwing it away from Wolf before stopping and staring at it.

"I don't think we'll be able to get them far away from one another, the best course of action is to quickly kill one of them." Tank stated as he clenched his axe.

"We still haven't been able to deliver any significant damage to this thing, and now it's even stronger than before."

"Wolf, can you hit it with something strong if I hold it in place for a couple of seconds?"

"Yeah, leave it to me," Wolf told Tank who took a deep breath before letting go of his axe and equipping two shields.