[Author's Foreword: In this book, all I've written is a mix of Truth and Imagination. The thing I love about writing is adding my own complex thoughts into something that was general knowledge, creating my own new original.
With that, disclaimer, I've earned inspiration in countless myths, urban legends and books; however, I wrote everything here in my Point of View. Everything here doesn't really always go along with the real thing, that's why it's my fantasy–but it also has logic in it that I hope you would enjoy. So, I hope you won't get too confused comparing what I wrote with real myths, legends, etc.
What I love about book is letting your imagination go wild and enjoy the feeling of being free in the World of Imagination~]
Staggering and ignoring the pain he felt, Sho stood up. Seeing both Alpha and Miya struggling even when they are heavily wounded or almost looked like they could die any second, made him think of only one thing.
He would be an asshole if he put all hopes on the two. They could barely keep their life alive. It would be inhumane for him to burden them further!
Only he was the least damaged. Only he could do this.
*What headache?! Can't you see they are already a pool of blood all around them?! How can I even complain about just some damn headache?!*
He put the pain at the back of his mind as he stabilized his trembling body.
No one would blame him if he continued lying down grasping his head and savoring the moment to recuperate from the pain. No one… except for himself.
He didn't think he was chosen. He didn't think he had what it takes to be a hero. He agreed with the original Sho that not everyone was a hero. He also agreed with Gouki that being a hero was just courting death.
But nevertheless, all he could think was help those two and survive with them.
He wasn't fully confident, but he chose to trust his skill. His skill showed him things that made his instinct move.
Sho assumed the combat position Alpha taught him. Even with his minor wounds, he felt comfortable to swing his knife, dodge around and defend. It was a combat position that maintained his balance whatever the situation was. But that didn't mean he was invincible. It was just that he could move better even if he was hurt.
He swayed around, avoiding the tail of the wolf king. He had been doing it earlier with the same posture, however, there was something different that he couldn't pinpoint. It was not an easy fit, but he felt he could somehow see where it would go. Or maybe, he just got used to the rhythm of the tail as it swayed and whipped its way towards him. He didn't know, but he kept moving forward. He danced towards the rhythm his body was telling him to.
The tail whipped to his left, he ducked down.
The follow up sway of the tail coming at his back, he dodge towards his right and continue to push forward.
The tail end changed direction and was now stabbing towards his back. Once more, maintaining his center of balance, he propelled forward then used his knife to bounce the tail away.
If Sho wasn't too focused, he would discover that every movement he did was so polished that a shiny shoe would be ashamed.
He looked like a knight taunting and playing with a giant cat.
However, he was too focused to think about other things. He was just following his instinct, and even if his body couldn't catch up with what he wanted to do, thanks to Alpha's guidance, he was more flexible with handling everything. He had planned two or three different tactics to avoid just one attack of Fenrir even before the giant wolf attacked. He continued dancing forward until he reached the wolf's body.
The wolf king glanced at him and he felt that it sneered at him.
No matter how graceful or beautiful Sho's execution, for the wolf king it was just child's play.
*Was it thinking I'm being arrogant for trying to hit him?* Sho didn't know. But when the wolf king smugly looked at him and continued his assault on Alpha and Miya, Sho was given the chance to attack.
Yet he knew he didn't have much time. The wolf seemed to want to prove how useless Sho is, so he fiercely attacked Miya. It keenly wanted to kill her. Just as Miya saw her life flashed in front of her, Sho hastily attacked.
He put every force and energy he could muster into his knife. His target wasn't the steel like fur of the wolf king. His knife unexpectedly hit something else, shocking the three that were fighting intensely.
He hit the chain.
~Tiiiing!~
The clash of steel to steel echoed inside the underground. However, this time, there was something different. The sound didn't seem like steel bouncing off suffering no damage from a confrontation.
There was a sound of something that left a crack.
The wolf king, seeing how Sho attacked its chain instead of itself, looked visibly shocked and confused. It even stopped attacking Miya. Its paw was suspended midair and was eyeing Sho with a complicated expression.
***
On a bright sunny day, there was a giant woman who was giving birth.
Her last push brought the cry of a cub echoing the whole world. The cub had gray fur with amber eyes, he was as huge as a three. As the cub cried, the sun slowly dimmed. In the world of strong beings, everyone stopped and looked at the sky, fear was visible in each and everyone's face as the sun was slowly swallowed by darkness.
A full eclipse emerged.
Shivering and trembling, countless people collapsed on their knees. They begged God not to fulfill the long foretold prophecy.
The prophecy that has left a mark in each child to adult. It has even been made into songs by countless bards, sung as a rhyme by kids.
~Oh, bright sunny day
It was peaceful holiday
Oh, the cub was born today
He who shall give destruction hooray
The sun that would be swallowed
And darkness that would descend
Oh hey, the most evil creature
The most vile that would do torture
Only destruction he would ever know
Run, run, run, or death would follow
Hide, hide, hide before you wallow
Oh, we couldn't run or hide!
No, no, please don't eat the sun
Oh, please, don't kill our God
Hooray! A savior would come!
Fret not! Son of God will come!~
"The monster had been born!"
The wolf cub trembled on his bed. He was being seized by countless eyes. He who has just been born was casted hatred look. He couldn't understand what he had done.
Where are his parents? Why aren't they protecting him?
He cried and cried, calling for them, but it was to no avail.
"He should be killed!"
"That's unfair! Just imprison him while we do trial!"
The setting was changed, the giant wolf cub came to learn his name. Fenrir. A cursed monster who only knows how to destroy.
He had learned everything while being imprisoned. He grew as days passed by and the strong beings who kept discussing what would happen to him grew scared of his monstrosity. He was already bigger than the average tree.
"But he hasn't done wrong!"
"Are we going to wait until he kills a God?!"
"This is against my principle! He is still innocent! He's just been born some days ago!"
"Enough Goddess XXXXX! Look at the bigger picture! We know you are kind and you love justice, but the future this monster would bring is something you can't afford to handle!"
The arguing stopped.
Fenrir, as the days went by, came to learn that his existence was nothing but gloom for everyone. He was at loss. But his intelligence was so high he understood everything that was happening. With the argument of those strong beings, he came to understand the world he was in.
He was Fenrir, son of Loki–God of Trickster and Angrboda–a giant who gave birth to other monsters beside him. His two siblings were troublemakers. They had killed countless people, brought disaster after disaster, however, they already grew in power that prevented the Gods from taking action. His father was the greatest headache of everyone there. He was hated by everyone. As for his mother? She really didn't care. The moment he or his siblings were born, she vanished. Even the strong beings couldn't waste time looking for her.
What is right? What is wrong?
Fenrir knew that his birth was wrong.
He heard it every single day.
And then, the fateful day came. One of the associates of God Odin came to him and assassinated him. Only the outcome came in reverse. He had killed the assassin without doing anything.
His furs spit poison the moment he felt threatened. And so, he unwittingly killed the assassin.
"Do you see! He killed someone already even when he's just one week old! Are we going to wait for him to kill everyone else?! He's just like his family! He doesn't have any shed of responsibility in him!"
Fenrir couldn't talk. They cast a curse for him to stay silent. They feared that even the noise he would make would kill anyone.
He wanted to defend himself, but couldn't.
"How can we kill him?"
Even those who defended him were just silent this time. The heaviness of killing someone dawned into him. He regretted that he accidentally killed the assassin. But he didn't even want to do it. How could he correct his mistakes?
He was scared.
He felt lonely.
He wished he didn't get born.
Many others tried to execute him. But they all end up with the same fate as the assassin. He couldn't stop the poison in his fur the moment he felt his death.
"Bind him with chains!"
He whimpered begging for freedom but everyone just saw him as an evil creature.
Because of his rapid growth, he unintentionally broke chains after chains.
"This won't do! Call the dwarves! We have to commission them to make a binding restriction on this monster!"
"The cost?"
"It doesn't matter what they want! We would give it to them! Summon the master dwarf immediately."
"At your command."
And so, the chain that held and restricted Fenrir was born. The chains stopped his growth and also compressed his giant figure. And with those chains, he gained his freedom. He was thrown to an unknown place with lots of dangers trying to go his way.
For the first time, he was able to control his body to do what he wanted.
For the first time, he was able to run as far and free as he could.
***
It had been many years since he was thrown into the forest. Tens? Hundreds? Thousands? Millions? As for how long, he had no idea, he just knew that the forest had changed countless times. And this time, the forest changed, intertwining with various bricks of walls.
He had seen many different living beings in this forest. He had even tried to follow some intelligent species, trying to find out if he could get out. But alas, he couldn't. He accepted that it was better to stay there than just die if ever he reached where he was born.
After adapting to the forest, fighting for his life, he became the leader of the wolves. He became their ruthless king.
Only ruthlessness could be accepted in this forest.
He had no interest in anything. He just knew he was destined to kill… kill and destroy. It was his destiny.
The chains kept reminding him of that. And now, for the first time, he felt the chains cracking.
Countless emotions he had buried deep started to surface all at the same time making him experience mixed feelings.
Sho wasn't aware why the Fenrir was looking at him with a complicated look. However, he was happy that Miya was safe.
Miya fell down on her butt. She just thought she was dead. Thus, all her energy vanished when the wolf king suddenly stopped. She literally just saw her life flashed before her, all regret and strong will to live seemed futile. But then, suddenly, she was still alive. She knew that her life was just one claw away from the giant wolf.
However, Alpha wasn't like that. He used the distraction of the wolf king to attack it. But it was still in vain. The steel fur wasn't damaged. Even when Alpha tried for its eye, the baton just shattered. But even so, Alpha didn't give up and continued his assault. He refused to give up seeing Miya almost die.
He was their leader. And the responsibility for their safety was his responsibility.
Sho who met the eyes of the wolf was feeling something. It felt like something eventful would happen. Still he had little time to analyze everything. Given the wolf king wasn't moving, he continued his slash on the chain. More than anything, he was shocked how the chain vibrated, as if taking damage, each time he hit it with his Soul Crusher.
Sho felt himself slipping already. He was too tired. And even with the deathly situation, he was just fighting for his consciousness. But his fight was proving it hard.
As he continued to attack, he also felt weakened. And when the chain finally snapped. His body collapsed. He couldn't lift himself anymore. He couldn't even move any muscle. His face fell facing Alpha and Miya. But even when he tried to lift his gaze to the wolf king, he didn't have energy for that.
But he felt something happened. An immense, heavy and scary aura released in the wolf king.
*It's over. But I did my best…* he felt bitter. But he was too weak to do anything else.