The Void Wolf

After Indras went beyond the Origin Realm he reached a place unheard of by anyone. An infinite expanse of darkness that pulled him in and in turn he attempted to consume it. His entire being was split and he became something else. The knowledge and memories he obtained were ripped out of him and disappeared to some unknown destination as if they had their own will.

…

“You’re the Wolf?” Ira asked quietly as he digested the memories Indras showed him.

“...Yes and no. He’s his own entity while I’m a fragment, a piece of what I used to be. It's the reason for my childlike appearance and somewhat mischievous disposition. ” Indras smiled. Before the Avarus were wiped out he was quite easy going and had a playful personality.

“What does that mean?”

“You know firsthand what the Void does to you, right? I gave you your name and guided you because of how familiar your emotions were to me or rather certain aspects of my former self.” Indras explained.

“...Thank you for that,” Ira spoke seriously. The little interaction with Indras he had while in the Void prevented him from completely getting lost in it.

Indras laughed while shaking his head, “No need for that, Ira.”

The boy stood up and pushed the chair in before looking at Ira, “After I remove the final sigil you need to make a new one as soon as you can. You’ll instinctively understand how but you may be overwhelmed by what you’re going to feel...Be careful, once you have greater control there is no limit to what you can do.”

“I got it,” Ira said.

Indras nodded and then the surroundings began to darken, “...You have a beautiful daughter, Ira. I know I don’t have to tell you to protect her, but her ability is bound to draw attention and not just from the Mortal Realm. Keep that in mind and never get too comfortable with your current level of strength.”

“Alright, Indras,” Ira chuckled warmly. No matter how many millions of year past it seemed as if he still had parental tendencies inside of himself.

The room grew dimmer and the silhouette of Indras could barely be seen, “Since it's your last time seeing me I should tell you that what happens next is going to hurt for a little while.”

“What?” Ira looked surprised as he raised his hand but Indras just snapped once and sent him away.

Indras sighed once before his surroundings went completely dark. Then, he heard a rumbling voice speak in an empty tone.

“Are you done?” Ira would surely recognize the voice as the Wolf who watched over the Void.

“Just about,” Indras replied.

“Then l will send you on your way,” The Wolf said.

“...Do you plan on helping him if things get out of hand?” Indras asked with curiosity.

The Wolf remained silently contemplated before answering, “No.”

“I doubt he’ll need it anyway,” Indras laughed faintly before it became silent.

…

The word pain wasn't really able to describe it. It was similar to having his entire being erased while in the Void but it was like something was tunneling into him. Still, surrounded by blood Ira could do nothing but float in agony before he remembered what he had to do. He focused on his left hand and a new sigil of a wolf eating a black circle emerged under his wrist. Then, the pain subsided and then his bones and muscles began to shift while a new sensation washed over him.

The Behemoth’s blood was being absorbed and he had gained a connection the Void so it was a lot to process.

A smile crept up on Ira’s face as he continued drifting through the stagnant blood while his body continued to create rough snapping sounds. He tunneled his way to the Behemoth’s lungs in order to breathe. Although he could hold his breath for a long time he’d be in a bad situation if he left it alone for too long.

…

It had been three days since the Behemoth died.

On the outside of the Behemoth’s body, everyone was gathered. There were those who tried to collect its blood that was spilling into the sand but it was too potent. As soon as the blood made contact with the skin of an ordinary person it acted as a poison. Their skin would turn scarlet red before their bodies swelled and they died. For safety measures, everyone maintained a safe distance away from the body.

Ira’s absence didn’t go unnoticed and the Dark Elves knelt in the Sun and offered prayers while enduring the unbearable heat.

The Valkyries weren’t different and would maintain a constant presence at the Behemoth’s body. Seeing an opportunity to get on their good side, some dignitaries were sent over but all that they received was a swift beheading. After seeing the heads of their diplomats get dropped in their camp, the three human countries and everyone else chose to stay away.

Although they had arguably overreacted, they were growing increasingly temperamental. The reason? Raveria became more and more upset as the days went by without Ira and the Valkyries were the ones to suffer for it. Their armor would be frozen in place essentially locking them in. Their weapons would often disappear only to be found where they had placed them an hour prior. Their hair growth would even reverse and they would be temporarily bald.

Avery remained unaffected by all the events and probably was the only reason Raveria’s actions stopped at being harmless. Harper who stuck to Raveria while waiting for Ira’s return had aged about two years in appearance due to her persistence.

The most incredible part was that Raveria demonstrating increased control over her abilities. It was impressive to Casey and Lauren who made sure to avoid Raveria when she seemed grumpy.

...

Inside the Valkyries Hall, Raveria who had grown after consuming so much fire and using her abilities on herself stood in front of her mother with her brows pinched together.

“Mum!” Raveria looked up angrily but it could only be seen as adorable.

“Yes?” Avery responded as she went to pick Raveria up.

Raveria avoided Avery while shaking her head, “Where is Dad!?”

Raveria was finally able to form somewhat coherent sentences which would’ve caused Ira to fall apart completely.

“He’ll be back soon.” Avery carried a faint grin as she looked at her daughter.

“Not soon! When?” Raveria pouted and tears began to form in her eyes.

Being extremely sensitive to the passage of time made Raveria feel as if she was waiting for an eternity.

“You have to be patient, Raveria.” Avery went to pick Raveria up a second time.

Raveria didn’t avoid her and climbed into Avery’s arms while tears streamed down her face, “I miss him.”

Avery kissed Raveria on the forehead before wiping her eyes. She noticed that Raveria’s quick development seemed to cause some issues with her emotions and temperament that she was unable to fix.

“Do you want to wait for him with me?” Avery asked softly.

“...Yes,” Raveria nodded her head while sniffling.  

“Then let’s go.” Avery took Raveria toward the doorway and exited.

…

Lauren was speaking with Sylun as they continued to wait for Ira to emerge.

“You look as beautiful as you did all those centuries ago, Lauren,” Sylun complimented.

It was weird that Lauren was a Great Grandmother but looked to only be in her very early twenties. The air of experience and maturity that she carried helped add to her age, but if no one knew of her bloodline they may have thought she was extremely young.

“You know that we were never concerned with those things back then,” Lauren gave a rare smile.

“Still, I always wondered how you were doing after you left,” Sylun said with a sigh.

“You held a position that was too important at the time for me to stay around and distract you,” As Lauren finished speaking she turned her attention to Casey who approached her before greeting Sylun with a nod.

“Mother, Aldis asked if he could spar with one of the Valkyries. He wants our blessing so he can proceed with marrying a certain girl,” Casey said without much emotion.

“I’ll allow it.” Lauren nodded.

Suddenly several Valkyries rushed over to her, “Mother, Avery has arrived and she brought Raveria with her.”

“I’ll visit you again whenever I have the time,” Lauren said to Sylun as her wings emerged.

“Of course.” Sylun showed she understood and went back to attend to her people.

The Valkyries flew over to Avery’s location and gathered around her. Meanwhile, Raveria was looking around with apprehension and curiosity as she walked through the desert.

“Waauh!” Raveria’s jaw dropped as she looked at the massive corpse of the Behemoth.

Though it was an amazing reaction, Lauren gave Avery a questioning gaze.

“I’ll keep her close to me,” Avery said as she held Raveria’s small hand.

“Ira won’t like this at all.” Casey shook her head but knew it was out of her hands.

“Try not to take her too far away from the door.” Lauren was of the same mind and showed no resistance.

The Valkyries formed a wall around Avery and Raveria while bringing them toward the Behemoth.

“Someone get Aldis...We might as well get it out of the way right now.” Casey said.

“I’ll go,” Judith peeled away from the group and went off in search of her nephew.

A little while later, Aldis was brought back with Harper, Rhys, and Amy in tow. After arriving in front of the crowd of Valkyries, he bowed his head.

“Mother. Grandmother.” Aldis greeted them with a formal tone.

“So that’s the girl you wish to marry.” Lauren’s eyes swept over Amy causing the latter to slightly tremble.

“Good, she seems to be quite strong. If you don’t want to fight I’ll still allow both of you to get married.”

“...If I accepted that then I would never obtain your approval on the matter.” Aldis wasn’t stupid enough to accept the obvious bait. No matter what was said, the Valkyries would never look kindly at him rescinding his offer to fight.

Casey nodded at his decision and even showed a tiny grin but no more than that.

“Fine. One of your cousins will oblige you.” Lauren signaled toward a Valkyrie and she stepped out of the group.

The two took some distance and the Valkyries formed a semi-circle as they prepared to spectate the battle.

Aldis drew his swords while his cousin brandished a short sword. After seeing that the other was prepared, the two began to move and the fight was started.

…

Ira’s body had finally settled down and he began to claw his way out of the Behemoth’s chest but stopped when he reached heavily scarred tissue.There was something lodged in its muscles and when he went to check he discovered a sword but was unable to see what it looked like. Without much thought, he stored it away and continued forward until he could see make out sunlight.

Ira ripped out an opening and stuck his head out of the Behemoth’s body before taking a deep breath.

“That doesn’t smell good at all.” Ira could tell the Behemoth was already beginning to rot but he didn’t have to stay in it any longer so it didn’t matter much.

He climbed out and then fell to the ground but corrected himself in mid-air allowing him to land on his feet.

“That’s...different.” Ira found that he was slightly taller than before with his height being six feet. There was also the case of his muscle structure which didn’t seem real with how defined each muscle was. They were also far denser and more compact before but due to him restraining his strength he could adjust to it more easily.

To test it out, Ira lowered his body and then jumped into the air without much effort. He instantly soared hundreds of feet into the sky before looking at the scene below him. He could see Aldis fighting with a Valkyrie to what looked to be a stalemate. Ira laughed to himself after seeing no one noticed him yet and began to speed up his descent.

…

Aldis breathed heavily as he evaluated his cousin’s state. There were patches of frost on her armor and a few wounds on her arm and leg. He was in a similar state with blood running down his forehead and a small gash in his side. There was underestimation on both sides as his cousin didn’t expect much from him. Aldis, on the other hand, didn’t realize that Valkyries had the ability to wield nearly any weapon so they could also predict their opponent's attacks to some extent. Especially seeing that Aldis was using the Thynne Family’s own swordsmanship which hampered him.

Since Aldis couldn’t exactly use his power to the fullest extent, the fight remained at a draw. If he were to freeze his cousin to death it might’ve been impossible to revive her which would lead to him being killed.

“That’s enough.” Lauren could see that the fight wasn’t going to progress and ended it.

“You did well, Aldis.” Casey spoke with a sincere tone.

Inwardly, both Lauren and Casey were impressed with the fact Aldis fought his cousin to a draw. Although it wasn’t a victory the fact that he could hold his ground was good enough.

“Thank you.” Aldis sheathed his swords.

His cousin nodded toward him before using healing magic on herself and moving toward the group of Valkyries.

Then, without warning, something dropped in front of the group. Covered in blood from head to toe, it couldn’t be anyone else but Ira.

“Dad!” Raveria rushed out toward Ira before her nose wrinkled, “You’re smelly.”

She raised her hand and the blood seemed to instantly evaporate along with the strong scent that came with it.

“Better?” Ira asked as he knelt down with his arms outstretched.

“Yes!” Raveria jumped into his arms and smiled brightly.

“You’ve grown.” Avery approached and it was hard to tell if she was speaking literally or not, because of his small but noticeable increase in size.

“Let me see your wrist,” Ira said as he reached for her arm.

She let him inspect her wrist but felt something invade her body which caused her to examine the source. A tiny black sun appeared right under her palm and she felt her divinity stir, it tried to exert itself but nothing went through the black sun sigil so it eventually settled down.

Avery clenched and unclenched her fist to adjust to the new limit on her power but she didn’t feel much of a difference.

“Now we don’t have to worry about you randomly ascending.” Ira smiled.

“Can I control it?” Avery asked and Lauren and Casey seemed to also want to hear the answer.

“If you need to you can ease it back a bit but try not to take it off completely,” Ira answered before waving his hand and producing a metal sword with a red tint and handing it over to Lauren.

"This is..." Lauren instantly recognized the sword even though the color was different from what she remembered.

"You know it?" Ira was going to see if she knew what it was made from but seeing that she was familiar with it he didn't care if she kept it.

"This is the sword my mother used before she ascended."

"Then you..." Ira trailed off as he turned his attention to the sky.

A shadow passed over the group, followed by another, and another, and dozens more. Dragons filled the sky and circled the area.

Then, a turquoise doorway opened up and the group of higher races stepped out, but a few notable figures were missing. Namely, Lyra and Ustia who had warned Ira to be careful if they were absent.

Ira gently put Raveria down before turning his attention to the new arrivals.

“You’re late to the battle, we already killed it so you should find Gicae and get him to bring you back to your island.” Ira still agreed to open the Storm Wall so he didn’t automatically attack them.

“We’re not here for that,” Thessia said coldly.

“Oh?” Ira’s eyes slightly narrowed as he took a step forward, “Then you really need to tell me what you’re here for?”

“To see how strong you’ve become,” Kesver responded.

“I wonder if your daughter will grow to be as strong as you,” Myr spoke with a taunting grin.

Ira’s bones suddenly made cracking sounds as he unconsciously relaxed his body.

“Harper.” Ira turned around and smiled.

“...Yes?” For some reason his bright expression caused her to feel unsettled but she still answered.

“Could you take Raveria to the Valkyries Hall?” Ira asked before turning to the Valkyries, “Also, can some of you go with her?”

“We’re talking to you!” Thessia shouted but Ira didn’t even turn to face them.

Lauren nodded to him before signaling for nearly all the Valkyries to escort Harper and Raveria away.

“You think they can leave?!” Thessia was about to spit a breath of fire but Ira appeared in front of her with no sign of ever moving.

He grabbed her by her jaw and slammed her into the ground with enough force to make a crater in the sand. Myr, Lua, and Kesver all were on guard but felt that Ira would kill Thessia if they moved.

“Come on, Raveria.” Harper escorted the little girl who was still in a daze after seeing Ira’s actions.

“Woah,” Raveria exclaimed quietly as her eyes shined.

The entire area was still as Ira held Thessia down while waiting for Raveria to be moved to a safe place.

“Now…” After Raveria was gone Ira’s smile vanished.

He moved his face closer to Thessia's and looked directly into her eyes before finally speaking, “...I’m going to kill all of you.”