The Void Wolf

It was clear that Ira failed to remain as his original self after leaving the Void. The Wolf, who could also be called Indras, was the first to spot the change and even informed Ira of it. So what remained of Siegfried? A deeply rooted hatred and fear of death that was so intense it couldn't be removed.

Siegfried took a step forward and the world went darker. Gicae’s psychic projections were all destroyed with that one step. After another step, the psychic barrier put in place was ripped apart and everyone close to it was pushed away.

Siegfried turned his eyes toward the corpse of the Behemoth and spoke, “There. You. Are.”

He raised his hand and the world went black but somehow the mist-like figure of Siegfried remained visible as if he was the only source of light. No matter where they stood, everyone could somehow see Siegfried as if he was a few dozen feet away from them.

…

Gicae couldn’t even move as he heard Siegfried’s voice. He knew Ira had incredibly strong senses so he hid on the Behemoth’s corpse to avoid detection but in front of Siegfried, it didn’t matter. He wasn’t able to breathe as the world turned pitch black and his control over Lyra who stood next to him diminished. Then, he became visible in the pitch black darkness as if he was being highlighted.

Due to Siegfried’s focus on Gicae, the latter was allowed movement in a small radius while everyone was more or less locked into place.

“...” Raveria opened her mouth to call out for Ira but no sound came out.

The only who was able to speak was Siegfried who stood in the endless darkness. The distance between himself and Gicae closed in an instant without any movement. Sensing the impending danger Gicae tried to take a few steps back but nothing changed. If anything, every time he ran he moved a little closer to Siegfried.

“That’s it. You know it’s coming but you can’t get away. Still. You choose to fight it with everything you have. That’s it.” Siegfried’s cryptic whispers burned into Gicae’s consciousness and caused him to scream in agony. It felt as each word was stripping away a layer of his mind.

“Run. If you can. That’s it. Run from it. It still comes to you. Run. Bleed. If you can just get away. Believe it. Hope for it. Run. It will reach you if you stop.” Siegfried continued speaking.

His voice was a burden on reality and static-like breaches in space happened around him.

“Ah!” Gicae cried out as he opened doors to escape but they all led him closer to Siegfried.

“There. Almost there. If only you were a step faster. If only you were stronger. It’s close. Run. It’s here.” Siegfried spoke slowly and as he finished everything began to shake.

The openings in space and reality caused a contrast with the darkness as flashes of white could be seen. The sound of something being ripped could faintly be heard with each flash. It was clear that Siegfried hadn’t given the slightest thought about destroying everything near him. He didn’t care about anything Ira cared about so it made no difference to him whether those around him lived or died.

Gicae saw no end to the torment and made a decision to kill the thing that had replaced Ira. The crystal eye on his forehead began glowing brightly as psychic energy filled it. Small fractures appeared in it but Gicae was filled with too much power to notice.

“Fine! I’ll make sure you die too!” Gicae screamed as he opened a massive doorway. Inside of it, the Storm Wall raged on and his intentions became clear. He hoped that the energy contained inside of the storm would rip Ira apart.

“...Then resist. If you can. It won’t change. It never does.” Siegfried was unmoved by Gicae’s declaration and took another step forward but then his body rippled and the darkness became brighter.

“No!” His voice bellowed as he clutched his head, “Dead. Die. Dying. Died. You’ve let it happen again!”

The darkness covering the sky became grey as Siegfried continued to fight something inside of himself.

“Leave. You don’t belong anymore. We almost died because of you! Leave.” As Siegfried moved forward color returned and everyone felt the hold over them being released.

“Dad!” Raveria called out as the mist began to peel away from Ira’s body.

“NO! It can’t happen again!” Siegfried fell to his knees and the mist faded and a human body could be seen.

“Ira!” Gicae seized his chance and stretched the doorway around himself and Ira before pulling them in.

“Wait! Dad!” Raveria tried to chase after them but Avery held her back.

“Raveria, don’t.” Avery held her daughter closely as it was still too dangerous. She didn’t understand everything that was happening but she knew Ira wasn’t entirely back yet.

The psychic doorway closed and the two disappeared from sight.

…

The winds in the Storm Wall seemed as if they could erode metal in a few moments and Ira and Gicae flew right into it.

“Even if I die, it would be worth it to make sure you won’t come back.”

Ira was silent as the last of the black mist covering his body disappeared before he opened his eyes and began to laugh.

“What are you talking about, Gicae? You won’t be dying. No, I’m going to keep you alive.” The space around them became closed off as they were sucked into the Storm Wall.

“If that continent is on the other side I’ll find your people and kill all the ones connected to you.” Ira reached for the crystal eye on Gicae’s forehead and pulled on it.

“After I’m finished with that, I’ll finally kill you. So until then, make yourself comfortable.” Ira tugged even harder on the glowing crystal eye.

Gicae wasn’t even able to scream as the source of his psychic energy was removed. Usually, it’s removal would cause a detonation of unstable psychic power but it didn’t happen because Ira tossed it into his mouth and ate it. Now that he had better control over the Void he could create a copy of certain magical abilities.

“I...ra...d...on’t…” Gicae entered a near comatose state as all his psychic energy disappeared. The recoil weakened him severely and the slightest exertion would kill him.

“Too late,” Ira said with a laugh as he opened a tear in space and pushed Gicae in.

He created a small-dimension that was around three feet wide and six feet long. Inside, Gicae’s consciousness would remain but he wouldn’t die. He was essentially trapped inside of his own body with no way of knowing what Ira did on the outside. It was the worst form of punishment possible for Gicae. He would remain in complete darkness without being able to feel the slighest sensation, all the while wondering if his people were being devoured by Ira.

Ira digested the crystal eye while looking at his surroundings. The isolated space seemed to barely withstand the force of the Storm Wall as it raged on but it didn’t break.

“I can eat this now, right?” Ira felt his thoughts getting entangled the longer he remained aware.

He undid the spatial isolation and was bombarded with a fierce storm that roared wildly as soon as he exposed himself to it. He wrapped a bubble of black mist around himself before he could take any serious damage and then he began to absorb the Storm Wall. It was unknown how long it would take but Ira didn’t have the leisure to worry. Before letting himself slip into an unconscious state, he concentrated on one last thing.

Within the sphere of black mist, Ira opened his mouth and spoke in a low voice.

...

“...I’ll come back soon, Ria.” There was a whisper riding on the wind that blew past Avery and Raveria.

“Dad?” Raveria wrestled herself away from Avery and began to stumble around.

Everyone else was silent, it could’ve been fear or something else, but they couldn’t find words to speak.

Avery was among those who were quiet but it was for a different reason. She had heard the whisper and could gain some relief in her frantic thoughts.

“...The Keeper.” Sylun spoke softly which drew Avery’s attention.

“He’s not dead.” Avery sent a cold glance toward Sylun.

“I heard Dad.” Raveria ran back to Avery and looked up with sad and confused eyes.

"I know." Avery picked Raveria up and hugged her tightly as the little girl began to sob.

“Avery...” Lauren was hopeful but she couldn’t fight the doubt growing in her mind.

“I said he’s not dead,” Avery asserted once more. Just as she finished speaking, the Godsteel ring on her finger began to rhythmically blink with a molten red glow. For some reason, she felt as if it was searching for something.

Lauren looked at the ring and took it as a sign that Ira was still alive, “I understand.”

“...Praise the keeper,” Sylun said in a low voice. If Avery and Lauren believed it then she would be blasphemous not to.

Rhys overheard the conversation and clenched her hands together tightly while breathing in. There was anxiousness in her heart but she believed Ira was alive just as much as everyone else.

It had to be said, Ira’s brief display of power which was in truth his momentary slip of control, was something never seen by anyone in the world. The sky darkened and the laws of nature seemed to be broken by him. There was also the fact that each time he spoke it threatened the fabric of reality.

For the Dark Elves, it increased their fear and reverence for Ira and there was no way of stopping them from calling him a deity. Lauren and Casey felt that Ira was something that couldn’t be classified by the standards of the Mortal Realm and after seeing his power they would increase protection of Raveria as much as they could.

As for the other countries? Ira was a nightmare. From the meeting tent, the leaders of each nation watched the otherworldly events that occurred. Everyone who was near the Behemoth’s corpse saw it. No matter if they closed their eyes or were inside of a tent, it was like they were forced to perceive what occurred. Relief. That was the only thing they could feel at the moment they found out about Ira’s departure. Prior to that, Ira was a huge threat to anyone against him but after seeing what he was hiding inside of him he was far worse.

King Windsor had his brow covered in sweat as he even suspected Ira held the potential to become synonymous with the Collapse.

“Could the Gods even show such a terrifying power?” King Windsor asked himself aloud.

No one in the tent opened their mouths to answer him as they tried to subdue the nervous trembling they felt.

…

Inside of the Storm Wall. A black sphere was currently absorbing the entire essence of the storm. The thick grey clouds and heavy rain along with the destructive winds. There were traces of energy from the Origin Forces inside each part of the Storm but it didn’t matter as it continued to be devoured.

The sphere housed Ira who was in a completely blissful slumber but inside of his mind, something different was taking place.

…

The three Ira’s represented by a number had increased to double their original population causing their total to rise to six. On a floating island that was upside down, the six of them were repairing a giant onyx-colored crystal that stretched into the clouds below them.

Of course, they didn’t seem to notice the difference as they were unaffected by the inverted island.

“We’re gonna need more people for this,” Ira Six said.

“No. Look, we brought the three of you in because we needed more. Continually multiplying will end up causing a negative effect.” Ira One shook his head.

“I hate to say it but he’s right. There are too many fragments to gather up and if we bring more of us in it’ll speed it up.” Ira Two said.

“Again, no. I know how you think, it’ll only take us a couple of years at this rate.” Ira One responded.

“That’s way too long for him to wait. There’s an overwhelming desire to see you know who and this way we can shorten it to a few months.” Ira Four gave a meaningful look.

“...Fine, but you’ll have to get rid of all of them after it's done.” Ira One sighed.

All of a sudden, more Ira’s began to appear from thin air with an understanding of what they were supposed to do. They immediately got to work on repairing the onyx tower under the close watch of Ira One.

While Ira was completely unaware of it, his mind was demonstrating autonomous qualities as it began to repair itself.