*This is impossible!*
As he tried to close the gap, the tsunami of smoldering air thickened. Hyeon held his hands up to minimize the contact to his face. The incinerating vapor started to burn the fleshy parts of his palms. If he went any closer, he'd be roasted.
"Master!" Hyeon yelled. It was difficult since his throat was sore from the smoke. Fenrir didn't react.
Tiptoeing closer, Hyeon could feel charring skin and curling arm hair. His body reacted fast to heal the burns, but it wasn't quick enough to subdue the agony. The clothes he wore were sticky like melting plastic.
The distance between them was a mere twenty feet, but it felt like miles. Falling to his hands and knees from the shaking floor, he could only choke out the name, "Master."
Hyeon was panicking. It reminded him of when he was burning in the pit of Hell after briefly dying from the centipede's venom.
His inner animal whispered in his head, *Why don't you depend on me?*
Fear of what happened before throbbed in his stomach. He didn't want to go crazy again or return to that fiery place.
*You won't,* it said. *At least not today.*
After a few moments of hesitation, he made a choice.
*Then help me.*
Complying, heat circulated through his veins. Since his core temperature skyrocketed, the scorching intensity from Fenrir didn't affect him as much. It was like a steamy sauna room rather than a forest fire.
Since his surroundings were dark, the smoke particles zooming in front of his face glimmered lightly from his glowing irises. The soot releasing from his upper back contributed to the polluted air. His ability still couldn't fully release itself for some unknown reason, but it was better than being defenseless.
Having more confidence that he wouldn't be cooked alive, Hyeon stood up and continued walking towards the uncontrollable Lord of Festr Castle.
Fenrir finally acknowledged the stronger presence. A human Hyeon wasn't enough to be noticed, but now he was a potential threat.
And Fenrir didn't like that.
The embedded, yellow ribbon in Fenrir's skin gleamed brighter. An eruption of smoke burst out of his body.
The force from the small explosion made Hyeon go flying. His body rolled until it settled on his backside. Sliding over ceiling fragments left long, nasty scratches.
After coughing, he stumbled back up with ringing ears and protesting joints, Hyeon saw just how powerful the blast was. It detonated the corner that Fenrir stood at before. Bricks piled everywhere. The dust and smoke escaped into the stormy sky. With the surging wind and loss of a supporting wall, it was only a matter of time before the remaining ones crumbled.
There were no other people there. The others must've reached safety.
But where was Fenrir?
Going to the newly-made hole, Hyeon squinted to see through the hammering downpour. There was no sign of him.
He looked into the destroyed arena behind him and then at the storm.
*Should I go out there without knowing when my ability will disappear? Is this worth it to risk my life?*
Hyeon mulled over his predicament. Accepting this job, which he thought was an ordinary gig, was meant to be a fresh start. Being here has caused him nothing but trouble. How was he supposed to use this experience for future employment anyway when his contract expires?
The image of his odd friends slipped into his self-critical thoughts. Sparring with Shika. Going on silent walks with Haruma. Informative conversations with Sani, if you could count him as a companion. It's been a long time since he let people into his bubble. After the car accident, people wanted to get close with ulterior motives.
And there were those amber eyes. They were full of hidden suffering that Hyeon recognized all too well. He reminisced their first time meeting, intimate moments, and their most recent conversation about miscommunication. Hyeon didn't know what he and Fenrir had exactly, but...
*I like him.*
When he admitted his feelings, he exhaled and took a step outside. The soil couldn't absorb any more rain. Water pooled around his feet. Quickly getting soaked, the black grime coating his body slid off into the puddles.
He figured Fenrir might've run into the tree line. It made the most sense to go hide, but something was nagging him. His instincts felt off. The feeling could be described as a deer realizing it was being watched by a dangerous thing.
*The wolf is behind you.*
Hyeon only had a split second to react to the voice's warning. In milliseconds, he tried to dodge to the right, but knifed teeth sunk into his left shoulder. The weight of the attacker shoved him to the slick ground. The target was obviously supposed to be his neck.
Hyeon cried like a wounded beast. Any struggling movement made the teeth grind further into his sliced muscles. When he reached around to pry off the predator's locked jaws, he stopped. The beat of his heart pumped out the storm's thunder from his eardrums.
A giant black wolf was clamped onto his flesh. Its hot, dog breath smelled like a recent kill. Golden eyes stared back with feral ferocity. There was no humanity in them. Before, Fenrir disclosed how his inner demon can take control of him during unprepared moments. Was the person who helped him in the Jeep trapped inside?
"M-Master Fenrir?"
When he spoke, Fenrir released his grip. Hyeon thought the god had finally come to his senses.
...Until the wolf snarled and made a new bite by chomping into a different area of Hyeon's shoulder. This time, it crunched through bone. Veins popped. It wouldn't surprise him if his heart was punctured, too. The beats became erratic.
As he wheezed out a scream, his fist weakly pounded against the furry chest. The sparks that have shot out of his palms in the past didn't appear when he needed it.
"White flag. I surrender," he whimpered.
Hyeon's blood soaked the wolf's muzzle. The red liquid drizzled and mixed into the slushy grass. There wasn't anything he could do to make the monstrous wolf let go.
His body was becoming numb from either bleeding out or internal damage.
Fenrir went into position to rip out the meaty shoulder. Hyeon groaned when the shredding started.
*So this is how I go, huh? Being eaten alive by my boss.*
The animal that made itself at home in Hyeon's mind didn't agree. Again, you won't perish on this day.
*How do you know?*
*Because, boy, it's my turn now.*
He was going into shock as the predator waited for his life to end. Fenrir's wolf was probably waiting for him to die so he could eat his soul; something that it desired since the beginning.
The freezing downpour soaked him to the bone. That's not an understatement since rain seeped into his open wound where Fenrir chewed into his shoulder. Was his arm even attached anymore?
Hyeon was too drained to put up a fight against his animal spirit. If he wanted to stay alive, there was no other option.
It waited for an answer.
Before giving in, Hyeon weakly laughed to himself, *It's not like you asked for my permission last time.*
He went limp.
After a few moments passed, the canine let go. Hyeon's maimed body fell to the flooded grass. He was still breathing. Once satisfied there was some life left in him, Fenrir's size grew larger to gulp him down more easily.
Technically, the body doesn't need to be eaten to consume its soul, but the wolf's instinctual drive was over-stimulated to distinguish between the two. His wide jaws with dripping, hot saliva were about to chomp into the prey's head...
...When Hyeon's good arm struck out to squeeze the bridge of Fenrir's nose.
"What big teeth you have," he said. The hand gripping Fenrir's muzzle steamed from becoming scalding hot. The wolf howled and stumbled away. His paw rubbed at the nasal area. Multiple strikes of lightning lit up the sky.
Hyeon sat up and examined the injuries on his upper torso. Deep holes penetrated his back and pectoral muscles. The internal damage was going to be a problem. By the feel of it, there was a dislocated shoulder, a nicked artery, and most likely a punctured lung. With his weakened state, he wasn't strong enough to heal as fast as he'd like.
He clenched his teeth together and made a "TCH!" sound in annoyance.
"In the future, you shouldn't be so violent against this body. The poor thing is going to suffer later." He casually stood, not noticing the blood loss and mangled pain.
Fenrir circled him from afar to study his foe.
Hyeon nodded at him. "Fenrir, grandson of Odin. It has been quite a while to talk properly."
Fenrir snarled.
"Ah, right. I suppose you wouldn't remember me before being confined here, but that's probably for the best. Do you mind if we discuss the corrupted and unnatural program you started? I'd rather not quarrel at this particular point in time."
At the words, Fenrir's size increased to resemble a semi-truck. Smoke rolled off his fur. The back of his throat glowed yellow like a dragon about to shoot a belly full of fire. He lowered his haunches into attack mode before breaking into a barreling run at Hyeon.
"Ugh," he groaned at his failure to communicate. "My apologies, little half-human. This might cause you to sleep for a long period since you aren't ready to accept me yet."
He looked at the raging sky above and sucked in a big breath.
A surge of fire swelled inside of him.
BOOM!
_______________
[Shika's POV]
The trio watched the confrontation from a garden veranda. They were far enough to not get caught in the scuffle.
The centipede spirit, who remained nameless, rocked back and forth on the moist, tiled floor while singing children's lullabies to himself.
Sani and Shika were standing behind the new servant. They saw Hyeon talking to Master Fenrir, but the storm drowned out the discussion. Shika noted Hyeon's dire condition. The poor guy was always getting hurt.
"Shouldn't we step in?"
"No," Sani ordered.
Fenrir and Hyeon were obviously not in the best shape, but they could still harm each other. If people could gamble on this match, everyone would place their money on the wolf.
*I can't let this go on, knowing the outcome.*
Shika started to leave the veranda, but Sani pulled him back forcefully.
"I said no!"
Something wasn't sitting right with Shika. Sani was known to the Navajo as Áłtsé Hashké, or Coyote to outsiders. Why wasn't such an influential figure trying to keep the peace?
Nothing about it made sense. To do these initiations, an agreement was established with Mount Olympus and other big-league deities-there would be a witness. To stop the wolf from losing control like it did today, the witness should be someone with an equal or higher power to Fenrir. If this rule was broken, the gods would end Festr Castle without hesitation.
Master Fenrir would never risk that.
So who was the witness?
Shika thought about Sani's incompetence to subdue Master Fenrir in the gymnasium, who was already present when he and Hyeon arrived. Earlier, he thought it was fishy how Sani told Hyeon, who has zero real-combat experience, to walk to his likely death.
Then it clicked.
"Y-you were there to help with this demon's induction. I don't understand. Why didn't you help the Lord repress his animal when he needed your assistance?"
Sani didn't look at Shika. "Well, aren't you a smart cookie. I needed to confirm my suspicions. To do that, an extreme situation was required."
"To confirm what?"
BOOM!
There was a minor explosion. The blazing heat from the burst reached where they stood. Shika covered his face to protect himself. Centipede squealed and rolled into a ball. Sani didn't move an inch despite his glasses being blown off.
After a fit of coughing, it dumbfounded Shika to see Sani with an insane grin. His normally high-class manager had a mischievous but excited look in his eyes. He grasped his rust-colored hair and giggled like a kid who got the latest gaming console for Christmas.
"YES, I KNEW it! Everyone said it was impossible for them to return! His form isn't complete but this changes EVERYTHING!" Sani exclaimed and gleefully punched the air.
Shika squinted at the explosion's source. The torrent of ash made it difficult to see through. Hyeon's outline was barely detectable except for his small pair of fiery wings. They were a beacon of light amidst the chaos. The sparks that once erupted from his palms were now flickering with flames.
The soul energy emitting from him was overwhelming. Is this what the Lord sensed when Hyeon first arrived in the southern lights?
Sani spoke softly at the scene unfolding, "The phoenix awakens."
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