SoullessDiaz

  [You gained a level! 11/20][You learned Magic Barrier Lv 01][You obtained a Great Ether Stone!]

  That was our first battle against the King’s forces. Done with more ease than I ever anticipated. Of the 65 that attacked us, believing we were weaker and scared of them, only 36 remained standing.

  We suffered not a single loss.

  The majority were my kills; I overdid it with the attack.

  I felt no remorse, although if I was sincere, I did not like killing without need. A war for me was and is something entirely pointless.

  Drops of blood flowed down the edge of my metallic body. I felt no remorse for the sughter of these wolves, even if I despised the idea of ending one's life without reason, but at this moment, such reasons presented themselves in front of me.

  This war is pointless.

  No, I take it back. I did feel bad for them. They came in to attack us because the King ordered it. Didn’t they? Forehead was an idiot who schemed to kill people and grow, but at least he dirtied his own hands in the process.

  We gathered them by the edge of the territory to decide what to do with them. Faced by us, showing we were going to defend if they tried anything stupid. But we knew they were injured, and we were stronger than they predicted.

  “Anyone who wants to go, is free to go,” I floated in front of the wolf army.

  “Are you sure about that?” Aspen walked forward, “They will return to him and…”

  “Hehe… so all of you are cowards? Not willing to kill? When more of our cn come in, we are going to…”

  “Heh…” Luna ughed, “You are either naive, or you believe yourself immune to the King's anger.”

  “W-what?”

  “I cannot believe you are that stupid.” Fir shook his head, “She knows that if you go back, most of you won’t live.”

  “Hehehe…” one in the back ughed, “That would be the best excuse for us. All of you heretics call yourselves his arm, and you don’t believe he is the one that will bring us to the promised nd…” His ugh was retorted, annoying even.

  “Y-you damn asshole.” The first one looked at him and growled, “What makes you believe you will be safe?!”

  “Because I don’t have any doubts on this… so all of you can do whatever you think. I am going back to the King, and inform him about everything I have been hearing from all of you. How you ugh at him, calling himself the one sent by El herself.”

  I was sure that, within me, El was screaming she had nothing to do with him. The poor woman didn't even know she was trapped inside a cave to begin with until I told her. What could she even have to do with him?

  “I can see that the King still believes that prophecy.” Ade appeared between my wolves.

  “H-high priest Ade? What are you doing here?” The loyal Wolf eyes were shaking.

  “I have been making my part in the search for the promised nd,” Ade sat in front of them, “prophecies and the word of the spirits are so powerful, they brought a wolf mad.”

  “What did you say about him?!” another barked.

  “Isn’t Ade El’s priest?” I interjected, “Her helping us wouldn’t mean something is a miss with the King?”

  “Y-you…” he growled at me. “When he comes here to kill you… You false symbol…”

  He was lost.

  A portion of them growled at me. The others seemed afraid, whimpering and looking at each other. Perhaps they knew they were cking options.

  The King had people believing he was the messiah, or something simir, but not everyone did. The majority that followed him blindly were delusional enough to reject the words from the one who spoke with her.

  “The choice has been made.” I pointed away from our cn ruins, “Leave, go back to your King, or disappear. I don’t care.”

  The wolves were divided between those loyal enough to return and those who valued their lives more. The tter ones stared at us for moments longer before departing.

  That talk made it clear to me. All the mess caused by the King, someone whom I have yet to meet, was due to conflicts over access to the surface and their desire to leave the caverns.

  If I desired truce between the wolves, then I had to move forward and search for a way out.

  }------------------------------------------o~o------------------------------------------{

  After a couple of hours, I met up with Fir, Luna, Ade, and Aspen to decide our next steps.

  “You are pnning to go further north?” Fir, sitting in the middle, tilted his head.

  “Yes. I believe we need to get this topic about the exit sorted out as soon as possible.” I let out a sigh. “Have any of you ever gotten closer?”

  “Fir and me. We dared to go north when we were younger.” Luna replied, “But we stopped when we reached the nd of the spider people.”

  “Are they that dangerous?”

  “Yes. There is more than what you can imagine to them.” Fir nodded, “They have arms like humans, spit poison, y traps with their webs, and can use weapons.”

  Evolved spiders, just like Ade said.

  “My predecessor spoke to me about them." Ade commented, “And she told me their name sounded like one of the races that inhabit the surface. The Arakin.”

  “The Arakin?”

  [Analysis… the Arakin. One of the intelligent species, with an arachnid origin, they usually live in nests that grow in size as time passes. They are advanced enough to use and make tools, but are incapable of using magic.]

  “Intelligent…? Are they intelligent?”

  “I am not sure.” Fir shook his head. “Our only interaction besides fighting was them constantly repeating ‘protect our queen’.”

  “When my predecessor spoke to me about them, she used the word ‘corrupted’” Ade closed her eyes.

  [Analysis… The Arakins usually have a hive mind when living in a nest, but not always, often limited to a psychic connection between members. If there is any corruption within the nest or the Queen, then the entire brood may also become affected.]

  Great, we had zealots on one side with corrupted, evolved hivemind spiders on the other.

  They might be able to spit venom, but I was a sword, so possibly I could do something about them. And they sound way stronger than how they were described back then.

  [You are immune to poison. Unless it is a strong acid, it wouldn’t kill you.]

  Well, that covers that.

  “I believe we need to start preparing. We are going north. I will need at least Aspen to come with me since she can cover the most ground in the least amount of time.”

  “You got it!” Aspen saluted me with her paw.

  “Good to see you are taking the leader role seriously,” Fir ears perked up, and his tail wagged a couple of times.

  “Yeah… being real, I don’t like the idea of a war, even less when everyone wants the same thing. They were willing to kill and die for that, and the King could attack us again after this group fails to return with us. So we need to prepare ways to defend ourselves and remove the reason for the fight. We are going for the exit.”

  “In that case, our objective is to find the exit and lead everyone to the surface?” Luna asked.

  “Yes. I want to leave this pce fast; just killing the King will only bring more problems.”

  [Estimating… killing him might cause some wolves to fight against you with much more aggression in vengeance. If the group of wolves who were still loyal to him, even after facing evidence he was not favored by El, they will try to frame you for taking their destiny from them. However, providing them with the exit might wake them to reality.]

  “Interesting choice… I personally thought you were going to attack him first.” Luna smiled proudly.

  Ade nodded in agreement. “I felt the same way, but it seems our young leader has other pns.” She smiled, “Instead of forcing them to join you, you want to prove that you will deliver.”

  “And hopefully, avoid bloodshed.” Although, being realistic about it, I had my doubts, “With Aspen’s speed, we can reach any spot fast. But what follows next can be worrisome.”

  “What do you mean?” Aspen tilted her head.

  “The demon that guards the door.” Fir’s expression turned sour, “We know little about it.”

  “Not even my predecessors managed to get a glimpse at it, but we can all feel an odd concentration of Ether coming from there. Too different from the one that gave us magic and form.” Ade closed her eyes, perhaps remembering her predecessor, “But… I think we might have a clue, provided by a known friend.”

  “Clue?” I asked. “What clue?”

  “The book I brought you, with the magic stones.”

  Right! She mentioned she brought them! I completely forgot about them. Although if they made Forehead go crazy, would the same happen to me?

  “Is that book dangerous, by any chance?”

  Not in the mood to deal with demons, to be honest.

  “It is a strange book, but I cannot transte it. It is in an odd nguage, which I assume was used by the people who inhabited these ruins before us.”

  “To think he found something like that here…” Luna’s ears leaned back, while her eyes looked at the ground, “If I were more careful, he wouldn’t have committed those crimes.”

  “I think… something visited him when he was investigating it, and managed to extract the information. Young Alice, if you are going to read them, I recommend you do so with care.”

  That warning only amplified my existing unease. If it were a book that summoned a dangerous being when you access its knowledge, or melted your brain upon reading, I would be extremely angry.

  “I will check it out. That book and stones have been piquing my curiosity for a while now.”

  “Just be careful,” Luna looked at me with worried eyes.

  “I will. If that Ramad guy appears again, I will make sure he doesn’t hurt anyone.”

  “Then we should go ahead. Though nothing happened when I tried to read it, we still need to be ready just in case something does.” Ade got up on her four legs. “I will be nearby in case something comes through.”

  “I will prepare the defenses,” Fir nodded.

  “Uhhh… can I ask you two to go out to hunt from time to time?” I approached Fir and Luna.

  “Hunting?” Luna tilted her head.

  At their age, wolves were not expected to hunt due to how votile the environment can be. But they were young once more and had more energy than they ever felt like having. So, I wanted them to continue gaining XP so they can reach max level and evolve when I reach my next Rank.

  “Yeah, just to make sure you two are ready to fight.” I nodded with my bde. “I guess that is all for this meeting.”

  “So, want to go hunt with me like the old days?” Fir turned to Luna.

  “Cut it, old man,” she rolled her eyes and began to walk out, “see you ter, Elder Alice. Be careful.”

  “Uhu.” I answered.

  They both left, Fir leaving behind her at a distance.

  “Ade, do you happen to know why they broke up?” I got closer to her, “I mean, I am a mess romantically, but I still feel there is something between those two.”

  “Yeah, sometimes they don’t seem to take their eyes off each other.” Aspen nodded, then tilted her head, “I have caught both of them looking at each other when the other is not looking.”

  “Long story, and maybe you should ask them yourself, but you can see what the search for the exit has brought to us. Constant war and fights.” Ade did not look at me, and sat again, “and the loss of a child… or many of them, can be the worst pain someone can feel.”

  “Huh? Wait, they separated because they… lost their children?”

  Ade nodded. “This was when the King appeared and began to look for control. They were leaders of their own pack, just like they did when you met them, but together. When he demanded submission and they answered with rejection, the King responded kindly by killing their children. Since their loss, things changed for them, and one day decided to part ways, each with their own pack.”

  “What?” Aspen’s ears perked up, “then just like… damn, I can tell why they never speak about their retionship, I tried to ask them but they never tell me anything.”

  “They dodge the question. Is obviously hurting them.” I said.

  I was going to end that. The path to finally ending the war between wolves was beginning that day.