The aura of the giant gray wolf kept on expanding. At first, the aura was just glimmering darkly where the wolf was standing, but slowly it grew and was consuming them.
The duo felt the pressure as Alpha fell down on one knee while Miya was trembling uncontrollably before losing her consciousness from her fear. As for Sho, he had long lost his consciousness, he was not able to feel any more fear.
Nevertheless, other living beings lacked that luxury. Many were wide awake.
Every awake creature in the forest trembled as they felt the ominous aura that the wolf king released. Unrest was suddenly felt in the forest that even in Ross' group or the Alpha's camp were able to feel it.
"I-I suddenly feel fearful…"
"Y-you two? M-my knees are trembling."
Those hush talk slowly scattered throughout the camp making the unrest becoming prominent no matter what the assigned leaders tried to appease each and every person.
It was not just them. All the scattered humans around the forest felt the change. Individual or in group, they shivered and walked or ran as fast as they could to distance themselves from where the source came from.
As for the Savior Gang, they kneel and pray. Their behavior was very unusual. They utter strange sentences that an ordinary human wouldn't be able to understand.
A voice suddenly echoed. It was the giant wolf king. The wolf was talking as if it was natural.
Only Alpha was able to witness the changes to the wolf king. The king that stood twice as tall as two humans became as tall as three humans and became as wide as a bear. The size wasn't the only thing that made the giant wolf dangerous. Even his presence couldn't be ignored anymore. There was a deathly aura that no life could counter.
It was too suffocating that one would wonder if there was still air around the wolf.
Alpha, who considered himself to know more than any others, was really scared by the wolf king. It wasn't just because of what he was seeing. His instinct was screaming for him to run. To never enrage the being in front of him.
He felt he was standing in front of a God. It was a creature no entity in the Forest of the Eternity Zone could handle.
He was visibly shocked by everything. He felt everything was answered, but he also felt he had more questions now.
The voice continued. His voice was mostly laced with amusement.
Pawsteps could be heard in the underground as the giant wolf retreated. He barely fitted the underground now, but he still refused to bow down. He was born not to bow down. He was the wolf king, after all.
After that, Alpha was left in his own thoughts.
***
Sho felt the cold floor once he regained his consciousness. He weakly opened his eyes and was greeted by a blurry scene. He blinked for a while, waiting for his eyes to adjust, before finally seeing the familiar scene of the underground passageway with tree roots, branches and trunks on the ceiling.
Sho automatically tried to get up when he recalled that they were fighting the wolf king, but try as he might, he was unable to.
"Rest. You need it." Alpha said when he noticed that Sho was awake. His voice came to his right side. Sho was quick to see the guy because he was standing up.
"Alpha… a-are we alive?"
"Idiot! Of course we are. Don't you feel any pain?" Miya interjected. Her voice was hoarse and one could hear her suffering just from it. Her voice came on his left side.
Sho was shocked. Not because of her cursing him. But by the way Miya talked to him. It felt like she was talking to a long time friend. Even when she said that, there was a taint of respect for him.
"What happened?" He cleared his throat when he realized how unnaturally rough his voice was.
"Rest. You both need it," Alpha paused. As if knowing what the thoughts of both of them were. "I'm fine. I have a stronger self-healing ability. But I can't heal others. It's complimentary with my buff skill. After a few hours of rest, I'm fine. Too bad, the Healing Potions I bought were destroyed when Fenrir joined the fight. It should've been enough to heal you both faster.
"However, I already did first aid. Miya had it worse but she would be fine. We should be glad that even without self-healing abilities, our body got enhanced the moment we activated the System."
"W-what…" *do you mean?* Sho wanted to ask but he felt too weak to summon his voice once more.
He struggled to look to his left where Miya was also laying down. He was actually shocked how she didn't seem like someone who would die any minute. It was contrary to what he could remember that he thought he just hallucinated when he saw Miya's bloody figure while fending the wolf king. Even so, seeing the bloody floor that had been roughly cleaned, he knew it wasn't an illusion or dream.
He thought it was peculiar. Yet, when he remembered he also felt that his wounds on the murloc zone healed quickly, he realized what Alpha was trying to say. The System gave them self-healing far surpassing what they previously knew.
"Anyway, the wolves are gone. And after what Sho did, Fenrir would not bother with us. He probably wants you to survive and no wolf would attack us. He might even prevent the Savior Gang from attacking you."
Sho really wanted to ask questions, but he was unable to. He was still too weak. And even using his voice was too tireful. But he was glad when Alpha continued.
"Fenrir is the wolf king. The last wolf we encountered. He was bound by the chains. If you know Norse mythology, maybe you would've heard of it."
Sho just gave a wry smile. In Sho's memory, there was indeed Norse mythology and it was the reason he was able to find the information he needed concerning the wolf king.
"Fenrir was a wolf. He was said to be cruel and evil. So, the Norse Gods decided to bound Him with chains. I'm not sure how long it has been. But when you cut off one of His chains, some of His powers were released. He was thankful to us and left us alone, saying he wanted us to survive."
"The wolf can talk?" Miya asked. Like Sho, she fell asleep amidst Fenrir's transformation.
"Yes. He is a demi-god after all. He is the son of Loki, he should have tricks up his sleeves. Just think about Zeus who can summon lightning or Poseidon who can summon the waves. He should be half as strong as them."
"T-those legends are r-real?" Miya couldn't believe it.
Contrary, Sho just accepted the fact. He had encountered Murlocs and Angels. The moment he saw the giant wolf and discovered him as Fenrir, he thought those myths were as real as they could be. He won't be shocked if the famous local urban legend of Yamato, Aka Manto or Red Cloak was actually real. Aka Manto was the most famous urban legend of Yamato he knew. It was a male spirit who wore a red cloak and mask. It roams public bathrooms and would ask people to choose between red or blue paper… Well, that was the gist of it. It was horror urban.
What fascinated him more was how Miya could talk well compared to Sho. He felt that she had stronger self-healing than him who had bought Rejuvenation skill.
"Yes, they are real. Let's just assume anything could be real. Aren't we using magic now?" Alpha joked but his voice and face didn't change so it was hard to tell he was joking. No one also laughed. "But don't even think for a moment that we are strong just because He left us alone. We just released one of His bindings, and would like you to release the rest."
Sho gulped. He really didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing to release the chains. When he used the skill, he just wanted to survive. And that was the answer given to him.
*If he was cruel and evil, I'm afraid I had released a demon.*
He felt guilty already. His survival could cost thousands of lives. If Fenrir was a really vile monster, then the death that the wolf king would inflict would be on him. However, he knew, if given the same choice, he would still pick the same route.
"Guilt is good. It's what makes us human with morality." Alpha interjected Sho's thoughts.
"What? You're guilty? There's no fault in wanting to live." Miya jested.
Somehow he felt comforted with their words.
"It's good that we survive. We can review everything that happened. So, for now, we know that Fenrir and the Savior Gang are not in a group together but are using each other to hunt. I'm not sure why, unless we meet the leader, we won't know the answer. But other than that, I want both of you to think about your battle earlier."
"I'm weak." both Sho and Miya said at the same time.
"It's good you know it. That means you can improve. Seeing yourself improve is your own task.
"Miya, in the fight earlier, you did well. But there was a time you panicked. One mistake on your part could lead to many fatal damages. If you can find a way to calm yourself even after making mistakes, it would help you greatly. However, you did great not to panic when Fenrir targeted you. You hold long enough for us to rescue you. Great job.
"Sho, your mind keeps on drifting away while we are fighting. You easily lose focus on the fight. Some of your thoughts are good. But some aren't helping. Learn to separate them. Although it's your habit, and it could be troublesome to do, try limiting your thoughts. Control your thoughts. Once you do, you'll be a fearsome foe, great ally.
"As for me, I can see my age interfering with my movement. I need to keep up again. I'm growing weak."
Sho was shocked and amazed with Alpha's judgment. All he said was true. He also saw how Alpha was somehow irk earlier in the battle. It was like him when his body couldn't keep up with his mind. He thought it was his imagination, it turned out Alpha was feeling the backlash of his age.
Yet, he was amazed by how the guy still could keep up with the wolf king.
However, there was also a poking stab he felt in his heart.
*If you're growing weak, then what am I? Trash?* He cheekily thought, wanting to cry and laugh at the same time.
"Were you soldiers before?" Sho asked hoarsely.
"It had been a long time ago. But yes. I did twenty years of service. Hah! That was all in the past. I'm not as good as in my prime. And with the merging of two worlds, it feels like even with my prime, I won't be good enough."
*Hey, please, stop being too humble. I'm feeling like my thought about me being trash is not a joke anymore.*
"I'm more knowledgeable in guns. But almost everything got destroyed with this event. We've found gun stores, but most guns mysteriously broke. It's the same as how a PC, phone or any technology we have stopped working. Even if you disassemble and assemble them back, it still won't work.
"I think the most useful thing now is martial arts. I'll try to teach you both when you're healed.
"Good thing the first aid medicine from our medical team works better than before. Though not as good as Healing Potions, it still serves as a good aid. I heard that the one who crafted it has Potion Mixer skills. Maybe that's why it was so good it saved our lives. If it was in our own world, we would be dead already even if Fenrir didn't leave us alone. Too many changes had happened."
*We would bleed to death.* Sho understood. It was really helpful that they took the potion that stopped their bleeding. Also, Miya's recovery was worth noting because she was bleeding badly before he fell asleep. In their normal standard, that much blood loss would be a cause of death already and they could only wait to declare the time of death.
"For now, since both of you are too hurt to move, I'll give you both a task. Recover enough to stand in zero six hundred hours. So," Alpha paused a bit, looking at his own System window. "When the clock ticks 132:20, both of you should be able to stand."
If Sho could move freely, his jaw would surely drop from astonishment. It felt like an impossible task. He could barely move a muscle.
"Don't worry, I'll give you a tip. I've discovered that in this merging of worlds, we have better control on our body. We can definitely help in healing ourselves. Try to meditate. Okay, I'll leave you both for now. You two should get some rest. I'll be back in six hours. I need to finish our tasks. I'll check the surroundings and make a map of the Savior Gang's perimeter."
No one was given a chance to protest. But even if they were given a chance, they wouldn't protest. They both knew they were too weak. Especially now that they are recuperating.
Hence, they wanted to be stronger.
Alpha immediately went out, Sho could hear the rustling outside as the place became dimmer. He tried his best to look at the entrance, and he could see that Alpha was covering the way with some fallen branches with clusters of leaves.
Seeing that, he felt safe.