God's Tower System

Chapter 18 (XVIII) Defense

?Jackson quickly got to his feet, staring down the charging Hollow Wolf. He crouched his body, raising both swords, crossing them in front of him. Hellish green flames fluttered out the back of its eye sockets as it charged closer, leaping through the air toward him.

The young man pivoted quickly, spinning out of the trajectory of jagged fangs and claws, thrusting his blades down, slashing the defenseless Hollow across the side of his body.

The Hollow, unfazed by the accumulated damage, spun through the dirt, turning to face its opponent, snarling before it raised its head and unleashed a blood-curdling wail-like howl.

Jackson's eyes went wide as he dashed forward, trailing one sword behind him as he held the other horizontally over his shoulder. He quickly ran ahead, weaving left with a large bound forward before rapidly leaping to the right, slicing the Hollow's throat as the sound immediately came to an abrupt end, followed by a dense thud.

Jax huffed, looking around as a myriad of ethereal wails began ringing throughout the jungle, "That strange power didn't return..." His mind started racing, contemplating various scenarios before a large smile returned to his face.

He turned, looking at the corpse of the Hollow. He stared at it for a moment, returning his swords to their scabbards before clicking his tongue in frustration, "Tch!"

He turned, instantly bursting into a sprint, running away from the battle scene. He threw caution to the wind as he rapidly darted around palm trees, crashing through the large plants. His heart began pounding as the thunderous roar of paws thudded against the grass behind him.

He tried to recall that fleeting feeling when he was surprised by the Hollow Wolf earlier but couldn't remember it precisely due to the copious amounts of adrenaline coursing through his veins.

Snarls began surrounding him on three sides as he sprinted around the small island, keeping the beach to his left. The charging paws grew closer as Jax withdrew both swords, smirking, "Time to test a theory!"

He looked to his left and saw a Hollow Wolf chasing after him. He bolted behind it as it turned its head, snapping its jaws violently, narrowingly missing him as the remaining pack quickly altered their course chasing after the young man.

Jackson spun in the sand, kicking it up as he cautiously backed into the tide as the water gently rushed around his boots. With the ocean to his back, he crossed his swords in front of him, his eyes darting around the six Hollow Wolves slowly approaching in a large semi-circle.

Jackson's heart was pounding in his chest; he took a deep breath, trying to slow his heart rate down as his eyes darted between each of his pursuers, gauging which one would attack first.

The wolf on his left pounced when his gaze was elsewhere, but rather than a shocked expression on his face, Jax smiled. He spun in the water, narrowingly avoiding the attack and kicking as hard as possible, launching the Hollow over the rest of the small pack and crashing into the sand.

Two wolves from his ten and two charged together, jumping toward different parts of his body. Jackson spun, raising his leg to avoid the jaws of one wolf while bending forward, preventing the attack toward his neck as he reoriented himself quickly, plunging both swords through both wolves, impaling them to each other.

The leader instantly lunged toward him as Jax was disarmed momentarily. He grabbed the skull, falling on his back and kicking the wolf far into the ocean as the remaining two wolves saw their chance and launched themselves at him.

Jackson rolled out of the way, quickly spinning his leg out as he rose to his knee. The third wolf returned from the beach as Jax narrowingly avoided the claws and fangs flying in front of his face.

Jackson backed away down the beach, his eyes locked on the three wolves in front of him as the fourth slowly paddled its way back to dry land.

Jackson's ears perked as he heard another pair of paws charging him from behind. He gritted his teeth as his eyes remained focused on the three in front of him, anticipating the sneak attack from behind.

A seventh Hollow joined the attack as it leaped toward the nape of Jackson's neck. The young man flicked his wrist as he failed to notice the electricity crackling against his fingertips.

His hair stood on end as he felt the breath from the Hollow's mouth on his neck, reaching up and grabbing the head, flipping the wolf over him with a massive explosion of sand flung into the air.

'It couldn't be...' Jackson thought to himself, recalling the maneuver from one of his father's tomes. The three wolves began to rush toward him as their leader returned to the beach and ran to rejoin the fight.

Jackson began to follow the motions of the 'Twenty Moons Under the One Sun Path' engrained into his body. His body flowed like water as he slipped between the three attacks.

His every move kicked up water, creating a veil that rose into the air, preventing the Hollow's attacks from striking him. Despite the fact their attacks were barely off-target, Jax remained calm as he controlled the fight, returning to the two impaled corpses and retrieving both of his weapons.

The four wolves quickly converged, each targeting one of his limbs as the young man continued to fluidly avoid each of the attacks, parrying with his swords and dodging the flurry of fangs and claws.

Jackson felt something inside him stirring to life. His repeated continuation through the poses revealed a long-dormant ability within him.

As his body autonomously flowed through each of the twenty movements, his mind had located that feeling and attempted to grasp it. It slipped away from him but simply interacting with that sensation triggered something within Jackson's mind.

Kicking off the sand with all his might, lightning arced from each grain to the bottom of his feet as he retreated a few dozen meters away from the wolves, staring at them with ferocity in his eyes.

"Three dead... One's severely injured... Four aggressors... Two unknown..." Jackson muttered as he changed his stance from a defensive position into one more aggressive, "Time to go on the offensive!"