Chapter 14: The Wooden Sword’s PowerKuro’s hand hovered over the hilt of the wooden sword. Its pin appearance belied the depth of its significe, a on that seemed far too simple for the task at hand. Yet, as he stepped forward, his panions—Reika and Xero—fnked him, each of them preparing for aable frontation.

  The square was eerily silent, save for the growls of the meical wolves surrounding them. The wolves, on impressive dispy of engineering, were now more like shadows of their former selves—iron-armored, three-headed monstrosities, with snarling, snapping jaws, ready to devour anything that came too close. Their metallic bodies shimmered uhe harsh sun, and eaent seemed to hold a deadly precision. They had e for blood, and nothiharu would satisfy their ravenous hunger.

  Kuro khis would not be an ordinary fight. After all, those Fire Fly bunches are involved, so he must use his top power to get-go.

  Reika, eyes narrowed, g Kuro, whose face remained unreadable. “What’s your pn?” she asked, voice heavy with skepticism. “You don’t even have a on—how are you going to deal with these things?”

  Xero, standing beside Reika, folded his arms, his gaze flickering to Kuro. “He’s right, Kuro. These things are formidable. You’re telling me we’re supposed to believe that you, with a wooden sword, defeat them?”

  Kuro’s only response was to raise a hand, signaling his panions to hold off. “Let me hahis,” he said, his voice calm but filled with a quiet authority that made them hesitate. her of them were used to Kuro being so fident, especially not in the face of such danger. Reika opened her mouth to protest, but a subtle shake of Kuro’s head silenced her.

  Instead of pulling out some legendary on, Kuro reached behind him, ung the leather strap that held the unassuming wooden sword. He drew it slowly, allowing the on to rest lightly in his hand. It was a simple piece of wood—unvarnished and rough around the edges. No ornate carvings ical sigils marked its surface. It looked nothing like the finely crafted swords of skilled bcksmiths, nor did it resemble the energy-infused ons of the warries they had entered iravels.

  Reika’s expression twisted into one of disbelief. “Are you serious? That thing’s nothing but a stick!”

  Xero’s eyes narrowed, suspi creeping into his voice. “I don’t like this, Kuro. There’s something you’re not telling us.” But in the end, he smiled anyway.

  Kuro did not answer. He merely stood tall, his feet pnted firmly in the dirt, eyes fixed on the wolves that circled them like predators preparing for the kill. He felt the pulse of energy gathering around him, a quiet hum beh his feet, and with a steady breath, he drove the wooden sword deep into the ground.

  The moment the bde sank into the earth, something profound happened.

  A deep rumble seemed to reverberate from the core of the earth itself, as if the nd was awakening to an a, fotten song. The very air seemed to darken, thiing with an unseen power. Reika and Xero exged wary gnces, unsure of what was happening, when they felt it—the unmistakable feeling of a presence far older than anything they had known.

  Without warning, the grouh them split open, jagged tendrils of thorn-covered vines breaking through the earth. Bckthorn trees, twisted and gnarled, erupted from the soil like monstrous giants. Their trunks were dark and rough, their branches adorned with long, curling thorns that seemed to pulse with life. The trees’ movements were far from natural; they were alive, aware, and responding to some primal instinct.

  Before the meical wolves could react, the bckthorn trees began to sh out. Thick vines shot forward with unnatural speed, striking at the wolves, their thorn-covered whips crag like thunder against the metallic bodies. The wolves yelped and snarled in surprise, their iron hides creaking uhe pressure. They attempted to retreat, their three heads snapping in unison as they tried to evade the vines, but it was no use—the trees were relentless.

  The vines ed around the wolves, strig them with terrifying precision. The metal of their armroaned as the thorns pierced through, splintering the maery and causing sparks to fly. The wolves growled, their movements being sluggish as the energy seemed to drain from their meical bodies. The bckthorns weren’t just ensnaring the wolves; they were feeding off them, siphoning whatever energy they had left.

  The once-feared pack of Cerberus wolves, so formidable with their three snapping heads, was being slowly reduced to nothing. The meical creatures’ movements slowed, their bodies bug as the trees draihe life force from them. They howled in agony, their attempts to break free growing weaker with each passing sed. And just like that, the once-mighty wolves fell silent, their bodies crumbling into nothingness, reduced to lifeless husks of metal and dust that scattered in the wind.

  Kuro slowly withdrew the wooden sword from the earth. The bckthorn trees, their purpose fulfilled, began to wither away, their vines retreating bato the soil, leaving nothing behind but the faint echoes of their a power. The air returo its normal state, the ominous weight lifting as the world around them began to settle.

  Reika and Xero stood frozen, their mouths slightly agape, struggling to prehend the se they had just witnessed.

  “What… what was that?” Reika whispered her voice a mixture of awe and disbelief. “That was no ordinary trick. You just… you just took down the Cerberus wolves with a stick. What kind of devilish stick is it, that releases branches of trees from it?”

  Kuro stood silently for a moment, his gaze distant as he looked over the remains of the wolves. “It’s not just a stick,” he said, his voice low and measured. “It’s an a on, like 7 swords of the mist. This wooden sword is not just a simple piece of wood—it’s a duit. A duit for the earth’s power.”

  Xero’s brow furrowed as he took a step forward. “A duit for what? You’re tellihat sword is lio the earth?”

  Kuro nodded slowly. “Yes. The wooden sword taps into the life force of the nd itself. It’s a magic—power tied to the earth, to nature, and to the creatures that oned these nds. The bckthorn trees are part of those living beings' remnant soul power.”