Shadow Breaker flew through the night sky, with his friend Aurora in his arms.
As he moved in an incredible speed, he tried to ignore the sobbing coming from the girl in his arms, and at the same time, tried to hold back his own tears.
They were devastated.
Losing two close people in a row had taken a toll on them. They held back while in the capital as they still had to fight the demons, but now that the war was over, they couldn't anymore.
"Dad... He..." Aurora kept sobbing.
Shadow Breaker wanted to pat her head, but couldn't.
{MP in the negative, forcing immediate descendence}
"What-"
Before Shadow Breaker could understand what the voice had suddenly said, his whole body tilted downwards. Shadow Breaker looked down, only to find a deep forest. It was the forest separating the Zuan Kingdom from the beast kingdom Alfurah, the great Magnum Forest.
While remembering the words of his tutor, he gradually descended on the ground. Just as he stepped on the soft grass, his body collapsed.
Aurora fell down beside him, but the soft grass lessened the impact.
Shadow Breaker's hands and legs started breaking down. His black hair turned silver, and soon he was back to his withered, weakened form again.
"Maybe I should have listened to the voice..." Val muttered. There was still a few hours left till morning, but he was already depleted.
{Heh.}
Wait, did the voice just make a smug face?
It did, didn't it?
Val ground his teeth while thinking such thoughts.
As Val kept lying down on the ground helplessly, Aurora stood up and looked around.
"Er... Help?"
She then looked at Val again, who was lying down on the ground in his birthday suit.
His clothes were made of magic, so they disappeared once he reverted back to his old form.
"Ooh, even when you are weak, your holy place is still strong... It seems enjoyable..."
For one moment, Val thought that he heard something ominous and frightening coming from Aurora's mouth, but then thought that it was just his delusions speaking.
Aurora removed her cloak and covered Val's body with it. She then squatted down in front of him.
"Which way is the Alfurah Kingdom?"
"Er... To our north." Val answered her question with a bit of hesitation.
"Hrm... Well then, let's go!" Aurora suddenly showed her usual cheery smile.
Val shivered for some reason. How come she was already smiling even after losing her dad?
Val didn't know, but he didn't dare ask. He instinctively understood that it was something he shouldn't ask about.
"How are you going to move me?"
He naturally didn't ask her to leave him alone and escape by herself. He wasn't a hero. He was scared to be left alone in this dark, deep forest. And he wasn't a suicidal maniac like Charles.
"Hmm... Wait, let me make something!" Aurora suddenly pulled out a bloody knife from her pouches.
Wait, why did she have a bloody knife?
Wait, how can she wield it like it wasn't anything?
Chill ran down his spine, and for some reason, he felt scared for his something, though he didn't know what it was.
Aurora briskly walked towards a nearby bush and started cutting down branches and leaves. Soon, she came back with hands full of old and light branches, and green leaves.
Soon, she created something akin to a makeshift stretcher. Then with a 'heave-ho', she pulled Val's body on it.
"Now we can go!"
"Wait, like this?"
"Yup!"
Aurora began pulling the stretcher with all her might. Sweat appeared on her face, evident that it was really tough for her to pull the stretcher.
But she didn't stop. Slowly, she kept pulling the stretcher, deeper and deeper into the forest.
Val gritted his teeth in frustration. He never wanted to become a burden like this. But he couldn't say anything now, or else it would be like him mocking Aurora's resolve.
Suddenly, they heard a growl. Soon, that one growl was replaced by countless others. Glowing yellow eyes appeared in the shadows of the trees.
Aurora stopped, frozen in fear.
Why did she fear whatever there is in the forest when she could wield a bloody knife and recover from shocks like, in a few moments?
Her actions made zero sense to Val.
Maybe she feared death?
The creatures stepped out of the shadows. Shiny silver fur, glowing yellow eyes, toned bodies. They were the white wolves, the most fearsome predators of this forest.
"Val... I'm sorry..." Aurora smiled weakly and held up her knife. The wolves didn't panic, instead stepped forward.
"No... My life was about..."
"... I am sorry that I couldn't bear your son..."
"Don't be sorry about that!!! Or rather, be sorry but don't ruin a dramatic moment like this!" Val retorted loudly while groaning.
The wolves, for some reason, snickered. Maybe they understood human language? Who knew.
The pack of wolves suddenly separated into two groups and a large black wolf appeared in the middle.
"How do you do, hoomans."
The creature grinned.
"It talked," Aurora spoke up with a blank look on her face.
"I talked, yes." The wolf confirmed.
"It confirmed," Val said, shrugging.
"Yes, lead confirmed." One of the other wolves spoke up.
A moment passed in silence. Aurora stood at her place, knife at ready. Val looked at the pack with a confused look, and the wolves looked at them with feral grins.
"So... You guys talk?" Val decided to speak.
"Yeah." The leader replied.
"Do all wolves talk?"
"Apparently not."
"Ah, I thought so."
"Mhm, indeed."
"So, can you let us go, Mr Wolf?"
"Nope."
"I thought so."
Val closed his mouth with a sigh. Aurora kept glancing between him and the wolf, then again readied her knife.
"By your smell, you two are virgins, aren't you? Gahahahaha, it's been a while since I bathed in the blood of a virgin girl, muhahahaha!" The wolf laughed.
"Ah, lead, you are getting into your vampire roleplay again-"
A subordinate wolf spoke up wryly.
"Ack. Oops. Yes yes, I am a wolf now. Yes."
"You've always been a wolf."
"Gah! Don't break my delusions like that!"
"So you admit that you are delusional?"
"Ack-"
"Kekekekekek..."
The subordinate wolf let out a weird laugh. Val and Aurora watched their comedic exchange in silence. Then Aurora slowly stepped back and closed the distance between her and Val.
Just as she was about to pull him and run, the wolves suddenly snapped back to their senses.
In a mere moment, they surrounded the two friends.
"Tsk."
Aurora clicked her tongue and looked at the animals surrounding them.
The wolves grinned and prepared to leap at them.
Then suddenly...
"Hahahahahahah! So you are here, Mr Chuckles!"
A loud voice came from the forest, startling both the wolves and the humans. The alpha wolf especially looked like it had seen a ghost.
"Mr Chuckles~"
The delighted voice called out from the forest, and the alpha wolf shivered again.
Then a lone man stepped out of the forest. His long shiny silver hair fell down his waist, his beautiful well-proportioned face was now drooling in an ecstatic expression, his pointy ears were red, as if they were blushing.
It was undoubtedly, an elf. And quite an 'interesting' one.
"Mr Chuckles!" The elf said happily as his eyes fell on the alpha wolf.
The alpha wolf, who's name was apparently Mr Chuckles, took a step back in fear.
"D-damn you, elf. You found me, even here."
"How could I not find the girl I love!"
"I am male!"
"Even better!"
The elf licked his lips, and both Aurora and Val felt a chill running down their spines.
"Y-you are not sane!" Mr Chuckles took another step back, and the elf stepped forward in response.
"A talking wolf calling a presumably horny elf insane? Who's face did I see today after waking up?!!" Val snapped, looking at the duo.
"Mine."
Aurora replied with a glare.
"Ack. It's just a superstition-"
"It better be."
"Yes-"
The elf and Mr Chuckles didn't pay any heed to their conversation. Suddenly, Mr Chuckles exploded.
"Wolves! Surround him! Tear him apart!"
He commanded, and the wolves surrounded the elf in an instant.
"I'll destroy you here! Attack!"
Mr Chuckles gave the command, and the wolves attacked at once.
Whatever happened in the next moment was too fast to follow. But a moment later, Val, Aurora and Mr Chuckles just looked at the scene with wide-open jaws.
All of the wolves were lying down on the ground, groaning. No, that wasn't the problem. The problem was, colourful ropes were binding their bodies in weird ways.
Val was sure that if a girl was bound like that, it would become an R-18 scene.
However, instead of girls, wolves were bound in the ropes. And the elf stood in the middle of them, still drooling.
"All of them were good, but as I suspected, except Mr Chuckles, no one can satisfy me."
"G-god, you are a broken man!" Mr Chuckles yelled and started retreating in full speed.
The elf tried to chase him, but then finally noticed Aurora and Val. He stopped and wiped the drool from his face.
"A-ah, it seems like I have shown you an embarrassing scene."
He chuckled while scratching his head in embarrassment.
"You are a threat to all wolves."
Val gave his honest opinion, and the elf looked hurt.
"Rude! I only want to love them! Physically, mentally, spiritually!"
"I-"
Aurora tried to say something, but then stopped.
"Oh, pardon my rudeness. I haven't introduced myself, have I?"
"Er, no. You were too engrossed in your bondage play with the wolves."
"Gah!"
Aurora's words stabbed his heart like flaming spears. But a moment later, he recovered his usual smile.
"E-eh, well, let me introduce myself then."
The elf slightly bowed, and looked at the two friends in front of him with upturned eyes.
"I am Khal Chroma, the leader of the elven guard order, Polaris."