The Void Wolf

Time passed for the Underground City as well as the rest of the world. Over the course of three years, many things happened.

Lauren occasionally returned to the city to see how things were progressing as well as see her great-grandchildren, but for the most part, she stayed in Yeramesh with Ustia and Lyra. It seemed that the leadership of the Thynne Family would move to Casey very soon. In fact, many had already accepted her as the next matriarch of the family and Lauren did nothing to deny it as it was her intention to leave matters to Casey.

The Grenitian Kingdom had become deeply religious, far more than they previously were. It helped to have an Angel spreading the “will” of the Gods. Ira’s name which had been a source of pride for the Grenitians until his departure faded from their minds. Ira didn’t know about his fading relevance in the eyes of the citizens and if he did he wouldn’t care.

The only person who constantly kept Ira on his mind was Randolph. He could never forget the scene in the desert where Ira became something else. Though he still remained focused on getting stronger under the guidance of Gavreel and deepening his relationship with Juliana. Clark had moved past his troubles with Amy, or at least he told himself that. After rising to prominence with Randolph and receiving attention from Gavreel who gave him the title of “The Protector Of The One Chosen By The Gods.”

It rolled off the tongue better than Divine Meatshield since Clark’s abilities weren’t centered around combat. In fact, the reason Clark received his specific abilities in the first place was due to his closeness with Randolph. It could be said the Divine Power given to Randolph rubbed off on Clark.

Gavreel grew slightly frustrated at that time since rumors about Ira’s taste for mischief proved false. If what she had heard about him was true then he would’ve shown up to see her at least once. It would be hard to get him to violate another taboo of the Mortal Realm if the current pace continued so she kept contact with the Divine Realm via Juliana and adjusted her plans. For the Gods, three hundred years wasn’t worth mentioning let alone three since time passed differently for them. Gavreel was instructed to continue to build up her support and wait until further notice which she complied with.

The country that came out the worst during the three years that had passed was the Tel’vane Empire. They were faced to pay for their attempt to oust King Windsor, which half-succeeded. Gavreel personally went to Tel’vane Empire and slaughtered those responsible including the famous inventor, Artor Tate, who brought the mana cannon and airship into existence. Strangely enough, Gavreel didn’t use her scales to judge him she just outright killed him. She claimed that there was no need for him to be judged since he brought so much destruction. Only her true intentions were to ensure that Artor, the talented inventor, wouldn’t accidentally break a taboo.

Orlov’s abrupt death and Gavreel’s execution of most government members caused massive destabilization to the country but it was almost back on track until the rumors of walking corpses came about. It should be added that, for the Tel’vians, the rumors proved true. A tide of lifeless bodies brought the stench of death as well as ruin to the outskirts of the country. The Tel’vane Empire which previously kept worship of the Gods to a minimum split into two factions. There were those shaken by the recent events and called the horde of undead a divine punishment and those who remained steadfast in their ways. A civil war brewed within the country and the army of undead didn’t exactly help tensions lessen.

The Diavol, Dwarves, and Elves had nothing notable occur. The Diavol quietly trained soldiers to replace the massive loss incurred by the City-Eater which they believed to be dead. The Dwarves continued to profit from selling weapons and armor and the Elves stayed confined to their forest.

The Underground City saw the most progress. Charles’ experiments that bordered on taboo and the rigorous training designed by Valkyries helped to change the army into one of that could rival the former dragon armies in Yeramesh. There was also the remains of the Behemoth that served to outfit that army. The bones of the Behemoth were used to make armor and weapons. The bone armor was then soaked in Behemoth’s blood which reinforced it further while causing it to take on a dark red color.

The main weapon of the Dark Elves and Beastkin with martial talent became swordspears which allowed for different combat styles and shields made with the Behemoth’s leather stretched over its surface for added protection. Vampires and Lycanthropes were of course, given different equipment. The Lycanthropes, who could now change into Werewolves thanks to Charles, wore simple and light leather armor which consisted of a cuirass and a belt of leather strips which functioned as a battle skirt. There was no official weapon for the Lycanthropes who would essentially be the cavalry.

The Vampires wore a full set of leather armor which was dyed repeatedly until the naturally dark greyish behemoth’s hide became a charcoal black color. The Vampires were to serve as assassins since they were naturally fit for such an activity. Their weapons consisted of all kinds of daggers, shortswords, knives, and various other weapons but there was no poison being used. The only thing they could use as a pseudo-poison were vials of unrefined Behemoth’s blood. It was the only thing that Ira would allow.

Another thing that should be mentioned was the person who worked the most to create things for the army was Harper. Her ability to make bone armor became very important for production and she spent a large portion of her day making the basic shapes out of the Behemoth’s bones which were then worked on by other people. Though, that type of thing only lasted for a short while since Ira stepped into help. With his abilities, the creation of basic parts was done in an instant which left the craftsmen to work on making the actual armor and weapon sets.

The potential food crisis that came with an unexpected amount of half-dragons was fixed by him. He let Raveria place a time-loop a large chunk of crops and fertile soil. So the Dark Elf Empire would be able to grow unlimited food in theory. Unfortunately, if they took too long to harvest the yield it would revert back into seeds for a period of time.

The religion centered around Ira was one of the things to grow the most and it was amazing how much culture came about. Ignoring the monthly festivals which celebrated each full moon. The Dark Elves moved onto body markings and made the practice more and more common. Since Ira had a sigil located under his wrist and used to have the sigil of four wolves on the back of his hand, it made sense the Dark Elf Empire would proceed to copy him. No one dared to copy his exact sigil but each race within the Empire made their own permanent mark except for the Beastkin who, as a result of Charles work, grew fur that covered most parts of their bodies.

The female Dark Elves had the three moons as their mark which was inspired by Harper. The male Dark Elves chose to have something similar with each of the three moons depicted on the points of a triangle.

The Lycanthropes opted for a wolf claw mark that they usually wore on their shoulders or chest. It did well to reflect their animalistic nature which grew once they unlocked their potential to transform into Werewolves.

The Vampires chose a red half moon as their designated mark.

Finally, the Beastkin who couldn’t place permanent marks on their fur decided to use animal blood to temporarily dye their fur for certain occasions.

The half-dragons had yet to fully develop thus they were without a mark, but the talented individuals were quickly shaping up to become the leaders of the newest faction and it was likely they would receive a mark at that time.

The short passage of time was extremely kind to a few, damaging to some, and indifferent to the feelings of all. The conditions that allowed for time to pass without worry were fading and trouble would soon come to not only Ira but the everyone since the Gods didn’t care for the lives of mortals. What would be unexpected was Ira’s growth, it was something the Gods themselves failed to predict as he was never supposed to have the slightest notion they were planning something. In the short three years that passed, Ira had been able to develop his Reality Separation ability to a monstrous level.