The Void Wolf

A commotion took place in the Dark Elf Palace. Servants and attendants rushed back and forth with urgency. Outside of a large chamber, Jydar paced back and forth nervously. Sitting near him was Ira who had his eyes shut, seemingly asleep.

“How is it that you’re so relaxed?” Jydar suddenly asked.

“It’s easier to be calm when it doesn’t concern you,” Ira replied. “Plus, I’m still thinking about all of those angels.”

“I see.” Jydar twiddled his finger with anxiousness.

The door to the chamber opened and Sylun stepped out.

“Keeper. Jydar. You can enter,” Sylun said.

Ira finally opened his eyes and stood up before gesturing for Jydar to enter first. “After you.”

Jydar took a deep breath and entered the room to find Sylvia holding an infant that was bundled up. Sylvia had undergone a noticeable change after ingesting the Origin Tree Essence and the same could be said for the child inside of her. Her eyes held a type of pureness and clarity that was uncommon for, well, anyone in the world.

“Our daughter, Suvi,” Sylvia spoke happily.

Jydar peeked at his silver-haired daughter who was swathed in red cloth. She had pale skin that lacked the distinctive grey pigment the Dark Elves were known for. Her eyes were red but the fox-like pupils she inherited were apparent. Instead of having ears atop her head like Jydar, Suvi had pointy ears just like all Elves. The most concerning thing would have to be the quality of spiritual energy being emitted from her.

“Keeper,” Sylvia called out. “Thank you for coming.”

“It was no problem,” Ira responded.

“Then...If it isn’t too much to ask, could you bless her, Keeper?” Sylvia asked.

“Bless her?” Ira repeated, seeking elaboration.

“Ah, a few words or a small gesture would be enough. Of course, if you don’t want to I will take no offense, Keeper.”

Ira thought to himself for a few seconds and then came up with something. He approached Suvi who was clearly aware of his presence.

Ira raised his hand a traced a finger over his palm which drew blood. He covered his index finger in his own blood and then made three small red dots on Suvi’s forehead. The infant squirmed a bit but she didn’t cry.

“There we go,” Ira smiled.

Suvi, even though she was only a newborn, showed an instinctive cautiousness while Ira was close to her.

“Thank you, Keeper,” Sylvia showed an incredibly grateful expression.

“Yes, thank you, Ira– No...Keeper.” Jydar said awkwardly. He usually called Ira by his actual name but he had been reprimanded as even the Queen didn’t do so.

“Don’t worry about it, just take care of your daughter.” Ira smiled and then stepped back before disappearing.

…

The Grenitian Kingdom moved busily. With traces of Divine Power nearly covering every inch of its border. Angels spoke of Ira’s “evils” and further bolstered their numbers, not that they needed to do much persuading. At the center of it was the Capital, the place where Gavreel headed the growing force that would deal with Ira. Of course, the one who became the most prominent was Randolph. He would be the driving component to Ira’s subjugation.

At the moment, the person in question knelt in front of Gavreel who had her back turned to him. They were outside of the Capital’s walls and stood right under the massive stone sphere.

“I don’t…” Randolph started. “...I’m not sure if I can beat Ira.”

Gavreel remained silent which prompted Randolph to continue.

“I can still clearly remember that day in the desert. I’m not sure what it was but the sky went black and I only felt fear. I don’t think I can contend with that.” Randolph spoke bitterly.

“Fear not, the Gods have bestowed you with a great power. You’ve experienced tremendous growth over these last three years. If Ira is still able to surpass you, then you’ll be given an even greater power.” Gavreel said reassuringly. She was, of course, referring to Divine Possession and she most notably failed to inform him of the infinitesimal odds of surviving after it finished.

“Thank you, Lord Gavreel.” Randolph’s expression brightened considerably. He looked up at the stone sphere floating above them and the group angels with eight wings who hovered next to it.

“...What is it exactly?” Randolph asked curiously.

Gavreel smiled gently as she turned to face Randolph. “A divine prison crafted by many of the Gods. It’ll hold Ira until he’s judged accordingly by the Gods themselves.”

Of course, that was a lie but Gavreel was unaware of it. The Gods who coveted the secrets around Ira and the Wolf wouldn’t say it plainly. Saying they were going to judge him was a just a cover story as they planned on extracting every little secret hiding inside of Ira.

…

Back in the Underground City, Harper, Raveria, Zephyr, and Valeryn were sitting together inside a large room. Valeryn was busy inspecting a random sword while Zephyr was playing with the metal marbles Ira gave him. Raveria watched over the two of them dutifully while Harper slept soundly on a nearby chair.

Valeryn picked up the steel sword and pinched the tip of the blade before breaking it and eating it.

“Ryn!” Raveria rushed over and squeezed Valeryn’s cheeks but he continued chewing. “Why’d you do that?!”

“I want to make my own sword,” Valeryn replied.

“...You can’t just eat things randomly, Ryn. Just ask Dad to help make you one.” Raveria reprimanded him but he shrugged.

“It won’t hurt me but if it bothers you I won’t eat it, Ravi.” Valeryn grabbed the sword and absorbed it into his body.

“How does a sword taste?” Zephyr asked from the side.

“Like metal,” Valeryn answered simply.

“Blegh.” Zephyr went back to controlling the marbles. Although he could control metal easily, he had no desire to eat any of it.

Suddenly, Ira appeared and his children immediately lit up.

“Dad!” Raveria hugged him and he laughed cheerfully.

“Ah, Ravi,” Ira said warmly.

Zephyr and Valeryn also jumped out of their seats to join the hug and Harper who had awoken to see Ira ran over and included herself in the group hug.

“Aren’t you a bit too old for group hugs, Harper?” Ira asked.

“I’m not,” Harper protested. “Not yet.”

“If you say so, Harper.” Ira’s smile didn’t diminish. “So, do you all want to go do something?”

“Do what?”

“Yes!”

“Hm.”

“Yeah.”

Raveria, Zephyr, Valeryn, and Harper answered respectively.

“I’m sorry to interrupt but you have other things to do, Ira.” Avery’s voice resounded.

“Mom!”

“Mother.”

Raveria and Valeryn spoke in tandem.

“Avery.” Ira’s approached his wife.

“Those angels are about, Ira. I don’t know what you plan on doing but it’ll have to wait.”

“Wait? Why?” Ira asked.

“We need to plan.”

“But planning is so damn boring,” Ira said with exasperation.

“Then are you confident that you’re strong enough to face them should they attack?” Avery asked.

Ira was put at a loss for words. He knew he became stronger but he couldn’t exactly test it out since his Reality Separation was immensely destructive. It was definitely a puzzling situation as not many people could say that they became too powerful to actually know where they strength stopped at.

Eventually, Ira answered. “I can probably kill all of them as long as they’re in one place.”

“Probably?” Avery raised an eyebrow.

“Well, I can’t exactly sustain my reality separation for very long. Maybe fifteen or so minutes at the very maximum.” Ira pondered.

When he first tried using his ability a few seconds put him into a comatose state. So to reach fifteen minutes in total was quite the feat. There was another danger that Ira was somewhat aware of and it was the fact that if he rejected reality it may end up rejecting him. What did that mean? He would exist and wouldn’t exist simultaneously, phasing in and out of existence without a corporeal form.

“We’re going to create a plan, Ira,” Avery stated.

“Alright,” Ira replied with an exaggerated sigh. He turned to look at his children and Harper who stood with them and looked somewhat out of place because of her age.

“You all can come with me but it’ll probably be a bit boring to you. If you don’t want to go, you can wait until I’m done and we can go get mooncakes.”

Although his children wouldn’t be interested in long discussions about possible enemies, they all seemed intent on following.

“I guess it’s settled.” Ira shrugged and then turned to Avery. “Lead the way.”