The empires and republics of the Old World are at a precipice. Centuries of rivalry and warfare have begun to make a marked toll on the stability of these proud nations, all the while the discovery of a new continent brings an unprecedented era of prosperity and abundance for these nations. The New World, however, is vast and unknown. Rumours of unholy men-like beasts plague the ears of colonials. Perhaps, it would have been best if the New World had remained undisturbed.

Ever since she entered the Reverie Libretto, Lin Sanjiu retained a certain degree of command over her own actions but for one thing—the environment. She couldn't make the weather warmer, she couldn't turn herself into a titan, and she couldn't even activate her abilities. Posthumans were restricted by their dreams, so that's why most of them regarded this pocket dimension as a "semi-lucid dream".
She couldn't comprehend why Mayor Orlean was an exception.
"You're leaving now?"
Mayor Orlean's voice came sliding into her ears and snapped her out of her thoughts. She raised her head and saw Mayor Orlean's large face pressing against hers. There was a smirk playing on his fleshy lips as he said, "Before you went, can you show me the phrase on your wrist first?"
He had made himself pretty clear: if he found something wrong with her phrase, he wouldn't let her go easily.
Lin Sanjiu heaved out a long sigh and forwent her attempt to alter the environment again.
She had been trying her best to change the environment, yet aside from bringing pain to herself, she couldn't alter anything. The sunlight continued its journey and speared through the window relentlessly, illuminating the dust motes that spiraled through the air.
In contrast, Mayor Orlean was able to change the direction of the town hall with a mere swipe of his hand. 
'Is the black mountain giving him that much power?' Lin Sanjiu wondered
"Hurry up, let me see your phrase," he urged Lin Sanjiu again and pointed at the tattooed man. "Don't waste my time. I still have a lot of questions for him."
'I guess it's the only choice I have…'
Lin Sanjiu exchanged glances with the tattooed man and slowly raised her arm.
Craning his head forward, Mayor Orlean narrowed his eyes and studied her wrist meticulously. When his two fleshy lips parted asunder, her heart somersaulted. Then, she heard him mumble, "Good night?"
He smacked his lips and retracted his neck.
"What does that mean?" He turned to the tattooed man, asking, "Why are all your phrase options so weird? Good night, white gloves… What do they all mean?"
For a moment, Lin Sanjiu was too stunned to speak. She withdrew her hand quickly and hid it behind her back. She looked at the tattooed man, bewilderment written all over her face. 
'Can he give two different phrases to one person?'
"She is a girl, and I thought this kind of mildly-toned phrase better fit the vibe she exuded." The tattooed man stepped two paces back and sat lackadaisical on the window sill. "Haven't you heard about "Good Night"? It's a famous poem, and because of one particular line in the poem, I decided to pick the phrase for her."
"Uh-uh. What was it?"
"'Walk gentle into that good night'," he raised his head and began chanting the poem, "'Look, look at the dying light'… It's written by Dylan Thomas."
Mayor Orlean compressed his mouth, looking unconvinced. After that, he looked at Lin Sanjiu again. 
"I don't care what you think," she took the chance and chimed in, "I'm leaving anyway. I need to go out and search for clues about the storyline in my libretto."
Even though she looked calm on the surface, only she knew how nervous she was deep under. If Mayor Orlean refused to let her go, she didn't know how she was going to escape. However, after a moment of hesitation, he nudged his chin and said, "Alright, then."
It appeared to Lin Sanjiu that he did not want anyone to get into his way either. To prevent him from changing his mind, Lin Sanjiu took one last glance at the tattooed man and then stormed down the staircase. 
The poem felt familiar, yet strange at the same time. Lin Sanjiu was torn between two feelings until the tattooed man mentioned the name of the writer of the poem. 
She had heard the poem before. 
The sunlight cast a halo of light around her the moment she stepped out of the town hall. She realized she was now facing the street she escaped from. Turning her head, the town hall had returned to its original direction. Initially, she thought she would come out of the back of the town hall. Little did she expect that she would run straight into the group of townsfolk and police officers. 
"Act normal. They don't seem to recognize you," Mrs. Manas whispered, "But there are several police officers watching you."
Lin Sanjiu quickly calmed herself down after she heard what Mrs. Manas said. She glanced around the town; she didn't know why, but she felt the town had changed again. The number of police officers had doubled to the point that she thought there was a sea before her eyes. They barricaded all the exits and entrances, and aside from several buildings, the townspeople couldn't go anywhere.
Mrs. Manas was right. None of the police officers could recognize her, and she felt that a long time had passed after she went into the town hall. 
One of the most striking changes was the size of the black mountain. It had become a lot bigger than the last time she saw it. It had moved from the corner of the town to the center, and she could see some remnants of the crushed houses under its base.
Nevertheless, nobody was looking at the black mountain; it was as if they did not care what was going on behind them.
Standing stock-still, she looked at each person that stomped past her, but she didn't see anyone she knew. The air percolated with their heavy breathing. They were all as massive as walruses, and their vibrant shirts had become so thin as if they would burst at any time. Glancing across the street, all the adults and children looked the same and it was hard to tell apart their genders. 
Then, as she surveyed down the town, a pair of massive, swollen feet, which did not go very well with their flip-flops, appeared in Lin Sanjiu's sight. 
"Oh my god, you look just like a stick!"
'Woman?' It was only now that Lin Sanjiu realized the person was a lady. She angled her head towards the direction of the voice and met the lady in her eyes. Lin Sanjiu noticed that years had left some marks on the woman's face, and there were locks of premature grey hairs dangling in front of her forehead. Her eyes, which deeply sunk in her jowly face, were gleaming with suspicion. "Why are your hands empty?"
"I've already finished them," Lin Sanjiu said as she measured the older woman up and down. She did not know why, but she felt as if she had seen the woman before. 
"You've finished all your food? Why didn't you stuff more food in your pockets if you knew you were going to finish it fast? You see, there is still a lot of space here, here, here and here. I don't understand why you are so stupid and careless," the fat lady chided as she licked her lips. "This is Peanut Town, and you are as thin as a rake. Mayor Orlean has prepared so many resources and made our lives blissful, yet here you are, behaving like a poor, malnourished girl with a pathetic body, who is willing to wear more clothes than bring more food. You are such a disappointment. I despise you." 
Lin Sanjiu frowned.
Even though the fat lady criticized her, she kept her voice extremely low. 
"What do you have in mind?" Lin Sanjiu continued to stare at the fat lady's face as she inwardly tried to match her face with the list of people she previously met.
The fat woman licked her lips again. 
The angry light on her face ebbed away like melting ice. She glanced at the police officers and then around her. After she found that nobody was looking at them, she giggled. "I didn't bring much either, but I can't bear to look at your heart-rending body anymore."
Before she finished her sentence, she extended her hand and hurled a hefty bag into Lin Sanjiu's embrace. "Here, take this. If you don't like it, just throw it away." After that, without waiting for Lin Sanjiu to say something, she turned around and deftly squeezed herself into the crowd of people despite her large body size. 
Suddenly, an image clicked in her brain when the fat woman turned her back on her. It was only now that Lin Sanjiu realized that she was the high school girl who reported her.
For Lin Sanjiu, merely a few hours had passed, but for the high school girl, she had spent most of her life.
Feeling that this might be her only chance to know more about this town, Lin Sanjiu took a few quick steps and followed after the girl. When she was within her reach, she stretched out her arm to reach for the high school girl and tapped on her shoulder. "Hey!"
The girl jumped out of shock. She turned her head around, and when she saw Lin Sanjiu, her brows raised up. As the angry look on her face intensified, Lin Sanjiu hastily said, "I know you!"
"So?" The high school girl sneered coldly.
Lin Sanjiu took a glance at the few bags of food in her arms and talked to her in a hushed voice, "If you can talk to me and answer a few questions of mine, I will take all of these."
Perhaps the townspeople of Peanut Town felt it was a burden for them as well to consume such large amounts of food daily. With that thought in mind, she thought her plan was going to work and the girl was definitely going to take up her offer. However, little did she expect that the high school girl's face suddenly went white as she snapped nervously, "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Aren't you tired of eating the food?"
"What? Do you hear yourself?" It seemed like the girl had gotten really mad this time. "Isn't it normal to be tired when eating? We just need to take a small break and then we can eat again! Don't think you can speak nonsense just because I showed you some kindness. Mayor Orlean has worked very hard for our town, and I am more than willing to eat as much as I can for him even if it will cost my life!" 
After she finished speaking, she stretched her arm forward and tried to snatch the bag away from Lin Sanjiu. It was at this moment that the police officers finally noticed them. They yelled at them, "Hey! What are you guys doing? Disperse! You can't walk together!" 
As if she was struck by lightning, the high school girl retracted her arm. After giving Lin Sanjiu a menacing glare, she scurried away.
Standing still like a ramrod with a bag of food in her hand, Lin Sanjiu's eyes darted from one person to the next. The smell of the smoked ribs, fried chicken, and spices that lingered in the air assaulted her nostrils. However, instead of working up her appetite, it nauseated her.
The scene when the tattooed man made up the poem once again surfaced in her brain.
'Do not go gentle into that good night,
'Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
'Do not go gentle into that good night,
'Rage, rage against the dying of the light.'
As the correct version flitted across her mind, she raised her wrist and looked. The royal blue tattoo ink reflected the sunlight and emitted a strange light. It seeped into the lines of her skin as if she had been born with it. 
Freedom. 
This was her true phrase.


Lin Sanjiu is a normal woman in modern-day society. Everyone admires her outstandingly handsome, gentle, and rich boyfriend. However, Lin Sanjiu feels vaguely afraid of this "perfect" boyfriend. She's always felt that her boyfriend looks at her like she's a tasty piece of meat...

The transformation happened one night. Sanjiu got into an argument with her boyfriend, and he finally revealed his true colors. As it turns out, he was a being with special abilities from an apocalyptic world who wanted to eat Sanjiu to help him evolve. To his dismay, he ended up being the one killed by Sanjiu with her hidden abilities instead.

However, Sanjiu's troubles don't end with her dead boyfriend. In fact, the world she resides in is starting to go through unusual changes. This world is becoming a scorching hot hellhole...

"It was a very brave thing you did, Leona, defying Anastacia like that…Guess that's why I was so sure you are the one at the first sight."

The first thing Garrett did in Leona's dream, was to offer her acknowledgement.

Last second, she remembered herself falling asleep in Mercurio's sports car, and now she was standing under a cloudless, sapphire sky, safe and sound in day light, facing the entrance of a beautiful rustic mansion with Garrett at her side, wearing a summer outfit typically seen on Victorian gentlemen. Behind them, was a fairly mowed lawn and a fountain with blooming flower bed in the middle.

She realized this was the house where she was embraced…no, to be more precise, these two estates looked exactly the same.

"I must be dreaming…" Leona murmured, "Where are we?"

"My ancestral residence in London, where I was born. I built the one in Beverly Hills based on my memory of it." Garrett stepped onto the porch and pushed the front door opened, "Why don't you let me show you around? Last time we were too…hasty to do a proper tour."

And so they walked in. Instead of the dark ritual preparations Leona remembered, she saw a lovely, well-lighted hall with impressionistic, decorative oil paintings on the wall and a wonderful collection of china vases in the cabinet, and the smell of lilies was in the air, bringing the joyful scent of nature. Apparently, in his human life, Garrett was born with quite a status.

"Of all people…I dream about you." Still, with the horrific image of Garrett's head being separated on her mind, Leona felt a little bit…uncomfortable seeing dead come back to life like this.

"Sire and Childe are known to be…tightly connected, both mentally and in bloodline. Since I'm already dead, I suppose…this is how we are connected now."

"In dreams?"

"More like…in subconscious—or souls, in a more abstract way of speaking, and it manifests in dreams."

As if talking to Garrett gave her a feeling of everything hadn't gone too far—like it already had—Leona got back to her old self in front of her Sire, or to be specific, her old self she presented in those night therapies with Garrett: sharp, and cleverly humorous.

"Well, at least I still get sessions with my psychiatrist…for free." She joked.

Garrett laughed: "Indeed."

They walked pass the dining hall and living room, and Leona marveled at the details recreated in this dream mansion: the teapot and cups that were giving out warm fragrance, burning woods in the fireplace, scattered pillows on the carpet and sofa, like…someone was still living there a moment ago.

"I was the third-born in the family, quite lucky if you asked. My two big brothers were both assigned with responsibilities—to become new nobles with both title and wealth, and to breed a legitimate heir…they were secretly fighting over every penny."As they proceeded upstairs, Garrett was indulging in his memories, "But no one expected anything from me, so I got the freedom to go to college, teach in a foreign university…and meet Anastacia afterwards."

Upon that name, Garrett's expression darkened a little. Leona had a wry smile on her face, thinking about how sarcastic the fate of them three played out to be: "I'm sorry Garrett, I have to kill her…now you both died because of me."

"Don't feel sorry about that, what you saw was not her—at least not all of her. She died long before that, killed by one of those lethal…traps when we were exploring an ancient site." Garrett patted Leona's shoulder and explained, "And I felt those changes in her, too…being too excluded by Kindred society and too absorbed in pursuing knowledge, she lost her grasp of humanity."

But the more he explained, more confused Leona got. With so many questions piling in her chest, she had to silently reflect for minutes to pick out the one question she had to ask—the one that could only be answered by Garrett:

"Why?"

It was only one word, but Garrett clearly knew what she was asking:

Why, did he do all this and…get himself killed? To what end?

So Garrett answered the same thing his Sire gave to Leona: "It doesn't matter."

"No. Don't you use that sentence on me, too! I deserved to know the truth!" Leona was genuinely angry and stopped following him in the corridor, "For you it's so easy to flush it away because you are already dead, but I'm the one who lived to see this! And all those…versions of why you died I've heard from all those people…"

"Then don't you think it's time I have a saying in my own death?" Garrett said, stood in front of a family portrait, watching the face of the human, youthful him under the painter's strokes, "I have every reason to die, for others: I violated their interests, I knew too much, I stepped on their toes, I went against the traditions, or they simply didn't like me—but those were for them.

"I wanted to die, Leona, that's my way of saying no to Anastacia…and Kindred like her. I wasn't so vigilant like you, identifying the…dangerous truth behind the regal quest of my Sire on first sight, I was just a hot-blooded young man, blinded by the ideal of finally having an endless lifetime to know everything about this endless universe…and by the time I realized, it was already too late. I knew, sooner or later, if I played by the rules and survived like others, I would become just like Anastacia—using my knowledge as a vengeance against everyone who wronged us, and a castle that made ourselves feel good about watching our Kindred waring against each other condescendingly, which was the total opposite of my original intention.

"I started learning because I loved this world, with the pure curiosity of a new-born child…not out of hatred and pride. When I realized I couldn't sustain this against that darkness in our world, I…I panicked, Leona. I was so scared. I guess that's what you humans call 'existential crisis', isn't it?"

Garrett turned around to look at her, grinned at this ridiculous self-diagnosis. Leona noticed his eyes becoming foggy and watery, and realized those were tears he tried to contain—he didn't want to lose control of himself in front of his Childe.

Leona didn't know what to say. She couldn't accuse him for fearing repeating the path of Anastacia, after witnessing what she had become. However still, that didn't justify everything:

"But why me?" She asked, "why getting me involved?"

And her question aroused that guilt on Garrett's face. He remained quiet for a while, and replied: "I will have to call it an old, dying man's eagerness of leaving inheritance behind, then…and you are the one I put my faith in."

"Your faith in what?"

"In you…breaking this endless cycle of tragedy."

He didn't say anything more.

"So that's why you…you lied and kept me in the dark about the big dangers to just make sure…what? I would…be willing to be embraced?" Leona's voice started quavering.

"Yes…I know I'm not a good guardian of you, Leona, not like Zack." Garrett sighed in shame, "So don't feel sorry and responsible for my death…I'm the one who did this to myself…and to you, too."

It's still not right…something still doesn't feel right. A more rational part of Leona observed that Garrett was still hiding something, but she didn't have the energy to care about it at the moment—right now, she was overwhelmed by emotions.

"That's just…so…unfair…" She said, with her head hanging down, in the voice of nearly whimper.

Maybe it was the feelings too strong for her to handle, or maybe it was almost time for her to wake up from this strange dream, Leona suddenly felt a strong lassitude burdening her body and mind, stumbled and almost fell if Garrett didn't hold her arms in time.

"What happened?" Lying on Garrett's chest, panting, Leona asked in an extremely debilitated voice.

"You are talking to a part of me left in you through the Embrace, so it's not a natural dream, and it will be exhausting to your mentality. Come, let's get you to someplace to rest."

While telling her what was going on, Garrett took her to a master bedroom, lay her down in the luxurious silk beddings, stroking her forehead and hair gently and said:

"Before you wake up, as your psychiatrist, I have an advice to give to help you adapt better in this new…unlife." He paused and bowed down, "Do a real human hunt for blood, don't just drink the bags."

"Why?" 

Leona couldn't understand. She survived perfectly on blood bags, and she hadn't got the impression that Garrett was the bloodthirsty type that took pleasure in hurting innocent lives.

"If you rely too much on…packaged food, it would be very easy to lie to yourself that you are not a monster. Like I told you, there's a constant battle between humanity and beast inside us, so to battle the beast…you have to face it first."

Finishing this sentence, he stood up, looking at Leona who was already half-conscious, and started to recite a poem out of the blue:

"Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light…"

It was Dylan Thomas' work, guiding her back to sleep like a peaceful lullaby. When Leona woke up again, she was back in her haven, 7 p.m. at another Saturday night, and the first thing she heard was her phone ringing for a notification. She unlocked it, the latest one she saw was from Mercurio, with a "Rise and shine" and a string of emoticons of moon and star behind, and the second one was an email arrived last night, written in a much more professional fashion. It was from the Prince:

To Leona:

Congratulations on your accomplishment on the test, I've read Mercurio's report and he spoke quite highly of you, and both me and Regent Strauss are looking forward to your membership in Camarilla, North America. Please notify us and get to LaCroix Group Tower after you recover.

S. LaCroix

After lying in bed for a while, staring at the bug buzzing around the light above her, Leona didn't delay further, picked up the phone and called Mercurio:

"Merc, I'm ready. Let's go to the LaCroix building."

*A rewrite based on the White Wolf video game Vampire: the Masquerade Bloodline, but with major adaptations and is intended for readers who don't know the series, be advised to treat it as a brand-new work instead of Fan Fiction.

Chasing after a shadow from her past, Leona entered the world of the mystical blood-thirsty undead, but the awaiting danger is far greater than she could ever imagine: the grand game of politics, the battling sides of humanity and beast in their nature, and the brutal Jyhad in the modern nights...Lost and afraid in this chaos, she has to continue on this path--because there is no going back.

*Violent and Sexual Contents.

*Cover Painting and Design by 2cyan, All Copyrights Belong to the Artist.

Dylan, Albert and the staff were summoned by the hospital director. None of them spoke a word while the owner was sitting down on the chair, looking at the documents.


Director Thomas was a 50 year old man. His face showed the signs of pigmentation on his brown colored skin with white hair. Other than that, he was a heavily built with bold voice and piercing look. He had the elegance of a leader and dominant aura. 


"Hm! So you guys have failed a cesarean case. The hospital bill is paid and the parents did not make a scene. So I guess we can let it slip."


"However! Two months of your pay will be deducted for this mistake." He concluded as he tapped end of the paper bundle on the desk to arrange the papers in order.


No one dared to say anything. Everyone remained calm while Dylan just lowered his head like a culprit.. "B-But sir, it was a small mistake from our side and two months pay is a little too much for us, please reconsider it." A voice was heard from beside Dylan.


It was Albert, he got pretty restless while gripping the pen in his hands squeezing it. He didn't want to be blamed for something that was done by his co-worker.


"Hmmm small mistake, eh?" Thomas got out of his chair to grab his suit from the hanger beside his desk. "Do you have kids, Doctor Albert?" He asked as he bent down to his desk to gather his stuff from the drawer busily.


Albert was puzzled by his question? And many thoughts passed in his head. Why did having kids matter if I want my monthly pay? Did he give pay to people who have kids? What kind of ridiculousness was this?


And with this mess inside his head, he momentarily answered "No sir" while his face is pale.


"Well, you would understand how small it is, when you have kids, Doctor Albert. So, I'll be deducting three months of your pay to make sure you won't ask me such stupid questions next time. You are all done for the day. I have a family waiting for me at home so I will head off. You guys are free to do what you want." Thomas walked out hurriedly after saying what he wanted to.


Albert, on the other hand, was agitated with number of expressions being displayed on his face at the same time. 


Dylan, too, walked out of the room following Thomas. He quickly caught up with Thomas who was in a hurry and walked alongside with him.


"I did not expect this from you, Dylan, you never failed a case before in your entire career working in our hospital. I had high expectations on you." Thomas started.


"I'm sorry sir, I thought the baby is alive, but due to my mistake alone…" he paused before continuing, "I just wanted to apologise to you." Dylan agonized.


"It's okay, I'm not going to comment on it. But stop taking that freaking phone inside an operation theatre. What urgency did you have to take your phone inside that day anyway?" He asked while being loud but considering.


There was a brief silence for a moment, Dylan did not reply back anything. After watching his pitiful face Thomas couldn't help but get annoyed. "Ah ah it's ok, go home and take the day off for today." He said while his teeth were grinding against each other in anger and he went on his way.


Dylan left after a while, but the feelings of guilt crushed his heart, he could not think about anything but the mother and her child.


He kept seeing images of the baby without being able to erase them off his head.


His house was at a fancy skyscraper of 40 floors with the whole 37th floor being one house which belonged to Dylan.


He parked his car in the basement and jumped into the elevator to go to his flat, he leaned forward with his hands on the resting bar inside and enjoyed the view of the city while the elevator was going up

The elevator was glass on its three sides. The  light orange colored sky with tall buildings illuminated with lights, he watched the entire scenery before him. But his head was tilted upwards as if he was searching for someone.


The restlessness was clearly shown on his face. It had barely been a minute, but for him it felt like an hour. 'how much more longer' he thought to himself.


Finally, he walked out as soon as his floor is reached. He took off his black blazer revealing a well fit white shirt that flaunted his cuts and muscles with slim waist.


His eyes searched inside the house; setting his eyes on a door. He reached the double door 8 feet refrigerator, pulling out a bottle of vodka hurriedly. The silence in the hall wondered what he was so urged for.


He unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt, shoved the door of the refrigerator closed. He walked towards the door that his sights were set on. The neon lights on the ceiling automatically lit up with his presence following him wherever he went. 


He wrapped his lips around the bottle nib; taking two gulps. He liked how his throat burned as the raw vodka warmed his heart.


He opened the door and found women's garments lying on the ground beside his bed. He shoved the full height glass door to a side.


In front of him was the sight of a setting sun which, half of it is sunk in the clouds in between two perfectly placed skyscrapers. He watched the sight that he wanted to since he was in the elevator. He started drinking as tears roll of his eyes.


'I have committed an unforgivable sin' is the thought running in his head as he chunked the vodka even though it hurts. Pain could only be soothed with pain.

The world isn't a simple bubble to survive in with turmoils like lying, killing, hitting, fighting, fighting and fighting endlessly . What you see is nothing but an illusion. A rockstar singing at a concert is a werewolf hypnotiser,  planning to catch girls and sell them. A writer of a good crime novel, is actually an elf murderer himself, writing to ease off his guilt. A rich female charity donater, is actually a fraud vampire, giving money in the name of charity for publicity, while getting fresh young children transported to her mansion as blood banks.

Nothing you see meets the eye in true sense.

In such a selfish world, a woman with hair coloured gold and pure heart, does her best to survive, against the abuse of her so-called  husband.

Forced to marry, she held back her tears. 
Raped on her wedding night, she bore the pain. 
But losing her child? She would never forgive the doctor who caused her misfortune. 

"Dr. Dylan, hear me out clearly. I won't rest until I get justice. Your carelessness is what took away my sweet poor baby. Unless you apologise publicly, or give me a proper explanation, I refuse to stop my accusations." Her kaleidoscopic eyes gleamed with unshed tears, as they glared at the handsome man before her, who sighed helplessly.




๛ Co-author - Yui.

The words of 'I am you'.

Since he had been exposed to the Black Heart, Jin-Woo could understand the meaning behind those words.

He looked to his right.

Suddenly, a massive tree the size of several dozen skyscrapers bound together rose up to pierce the heavens above.

He looked to the other side next.

When his head turned to the left, a maglev train suddenly emerged from the distant darkness and shot past his position in the blink of an eye. These two appeared out of nowhere simply because Jin-Woo wished to see them.

In other words, something was created from nothing.

[That's right.]

The Shadow Sovereign addressed him.

[Within my territory, you can do anything you want.]

"Because you and I possess the same power?"

The Shadow Sovereign nodded his head. His gaze shifted over to the giant tree Jin-Woo created. In an instant, the tree's size decreased and changed to a single little flower commonly seen everywhere.

Although this power to create and change worlds was limited to the Shadow Sovereign's territory, Jin-Woo still ended up letting out a sigh of admiration.

This omnipotent power had become his now. Jin-Woo briefly closed his eyes before opening them up, and that prompted a field of flowers to bloom before his feet and spread out in all directions.

It was the same type of flower as the one the Shadow Sovereign created by changing the tree.

Was this the result of the excellent Perception, or because he was connected to the Shadow Sovereign? Jin-Woo could sense the Sovereign feeling satisfied while looking at the field of flowers.

The Sovereign shifted his gaze over to his human counterpart.

[I have been looking forward to this moment, this meeting with you, for a very long time.]

The Shadow Sovereign officially introduced himself.

[I am the Shadow Sovereign. I am the King of the Dead, ruler of death's power, and an administrator of the deepest part of the darkness.]

Awesome, dignified presence oozed out from the Sovereign. However, Jin-Woo didn't feel scared even though true death capable of reducing any living being into a shuddering mess was right before him.

This being was him. He felt his emotions soar higher after meeting another version of himself.

Finally.

Finally, he could ask that one question stuck in his head, not wanting to let him go ever since the System became a part of his life.

"Why…. was I chosen?"

Why did the System choose him as the 'Player'? Was it because he managed to survive the dual dungeon that day?

No, it couldn't have been. He believed that there had to be another reason. And this was the moment that his question might get an answer.

[I shall show you.]

The Shadow Sovereign slowly extended his hand towards Jin-Woo's forehead. The moment that forefinger touched him, the entire world changed.

[This is our beginning and the end. And also, your beginning.]

*****

Would there ever have been a moment in history that so many people in so many countries screamed out at the same time?

In that cruel moment when the monster's dagger penetrated Hunter Sung Jin-Woo's chest, people held their heads or screamed their lungs out. What came to visit them after the screaming was silence as heavy as blocks of steel.

Grief-stricken gasps escaped from the lips of everyone watching Hunter Sung Jin-Woo powerlessly crumble to the ground.

"Ah…"

First, it was the Special Authority-rank Hunter, Thomas Andre. And now, even Sung Jin-Woo had fallen.

If so, who else was left?

There was no one.

Knowing full well that there was no one else left to stop these monsters, the expressions of people began hardening like stone.

And then, a short while later.

– Uh? Wha-what's going on here? Uh? Uhhh??

Shortly after the cameraman cried out in panic, even the transmission got cut off.

The super-massive Gate floating above the skies of Seoul, and then, the monsters that appeared out of nowhere to continuously murder the top-ranked Hunters in the world. The viewers around the world couldn't erase the thoughts of 'Are we seeing the advent of the world's end?' out of their minds.

In the midst of all the shock and panic, people couldn't move away from the front of their screens even though the transmission had been cut off for a long time now.

 

*****

The filming helicopter, now frozen solid and smoke pouring out from the side, crashed back to earth. The Sovereign of Frost withdrew its hand, having successfully destroyed the annoying flying contraption.

Its gaze shifted over to Jin-Woo next. The creature's ice-covered lips bobbed up and down to announce Jin-Woo's status.

[His life has come to an end.]

The eyes and the ears of the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs confirmed the death of his prey. It could not sense any hint of life from the subject at all.

They managed to succeed in stopping one of the most powerful kings from turning into an unwelcome variable in their plan. Their eyes were now swimming in the ecstasy of victory.

However, this wasn't the end of their work. Not yet.

The two Sovereigns raised their heads and their glares simultaneously locked onto Thomas Andre, currently evacuated a good distance away.

Lennart Niermann flinched nastily after sensing their gaze.

"D*mn it…."

He had to prepare himself to lose his life just from trying to fend off one beast-like humanoid creature, but now, there was an Ice Elf on a similar level as the beast to contend with, too….

'How did Hunter Sung Jin-Woo manage to fight against them….?'

His heart rate got faster and faster. The thing was, he was the only Hunter capable of buying even a second of time against those two monsters.

Lennart took a deep breath.

"Hey, man…. Hunter Sung's presence vanished just now. Can't you tell me what's going on?"

Thomas Andre, his wounds not even half-healed yet, threw out a question.

Lennart forced his unwilling lips to part.

"He's…."

It was then.

The two Sovereigns walking leisurely over in Lennart's direction simultaneously looked behind them.

[…..!!]

[…..!!]

Something impossible happened, just then. From the body of the human whose heart was confirmed to be destroyed, they could hear vigorous, pounding heartbeats.

But, how?

How could such a thing be possible?

The two Sovereigns exchanged disbelieving gazes with each other. And then, the absolute worst possibility entered their heads next. They had been overlooking this crucial fact until now.

[Can it be….?]

These two thought that, by killing the human host, they would also get to extinguish the Shadow Sovereign within, too. Just like how they themselves would die after taking over their hosts.

However, their opponent this time was the King of the Dead. There was no guarantee that death, supposed to treat everyone equally regardless of who, would be applied to him in the same manner.

The end of one could also become the beginning for someone else.

[No…! We can't let this happen!!]

They had to stop this at all costs.

They had to stop the descent of the true king via this fake death.

Their expression turned utterly pale before they reacted almost instinctively. Two Sovereigns instantly closed the distance to Jin-Woo and reached out with their long claws and ice spear.

In order to completely destroy the body that'd act as the tool of the King's descent, they poured in their entire magical energy into their weapons.

Unfortunately….

A figure hidden in 'Stealth' lightly landed on the ground before them and his shortswords blocked the claws and the ice spear quite ably.

The Shadow Sovereign hadn't regained his consciousness yet. In that case, who could this being be?

[…..??]

The two Sovereigns couldn't hide their shock and fluster after their desperate attacks were defended against.

The owner of the shortswords undid his Stealth and finally revealed himself. It was a figure cloaked in a hood. A pair of eyes gleaming in pure golden light were glaring at the Sovereigns from below the hood.

"From here on, none shall touch this child."

*****

In another world.

Light and darkness existed in an age where nothing else yet existed.

The Absolute Being split the light and created the Emissaries of God. As for the darkness, it was split to create eight Sovereigns.

Heeding the command issued during their birth, the Sovereigns born to destroy worlds and the Emissaries born to maintain the worlds began killing each other's soldiers over and over again.

At the end of the lengthy war.

Fatigued by the constant and unending war, the most bright Fragment of the Brilliant Light asked the Absolute Being.

'Oh, our Absolute Ruler.'

Why does thee not aid thy most faithful subjects fighting in thy honour?

Why does thee ignore thy subjects' pain?

Doth thee really not hear the screams of countless soldiers dying for thy honour?

Aid us.

Lend us the strength to extinguish our opponents. We shall cut off their heads and offer them as the tribute to thy glory.'

However, the Absolute Being didn't reply back to the Fragment.

It was at that moment the Fragments came to a realisation. And that would be the truth of the battle between themselves and the Sovereigns being nothing more than a form of entertainment to the Absolute Being. And that their Ruler didn't wish for the battles to end.

Now knowing that the war would never end as long as the Absolute Being continued to exist, the Fragments fell into despair. The despair they felt transformed into rage, and rage soon morphed into hatred.

To end this meaningless war, they unsheathed their blades.

It was the start of the rebellion.

Jin-Woo witnessed the endless march of the soldiers spanning the cosmos itself.

"Oh, my god…."

However, a group of soldiers suddenly appeared from the distance and blocked the march. The Shadow Sovereign next to Jin-Woo pointed at the Fragment of the Brilliant Light with six wings, standing in front of the blocking group.

[That was the me of the distant past.]

He was the sole Emissary of God who stood up against the rebellion of the other Emissaries. In the end, though, the pitiful number of soldiers he led powerlessly fell before the united armies of the Emissaries.

The Fragment of the Brilliant Light never lost his absolute loyalty until the end. He died watching his brave subordinates get swept away by their enemies.

He thought that this was the end.

But when he reopened his eyes within the embrace of the darkness, he came to realise that the Absolute Being had hidden a certain power inside of him.

For that eventuality when everything went wrong, the Absolute Being had hidden a truly fiendish power capable of ending everything, inside its most loyal slave.

And so, floating within this endless abyss of darkness, the Sovereign of Death had finally opened his eyes towards his power. He tore off the remaining traces of his wings, all burnt away from the battle, and crafted brand new armour out of the surrounding darkness.

[ARISE-!!]

Souls sleeping within this abyss heard the call and swore eternal allegiance to their new king.

He led his brand new army and made his return. But when he finally came back, everything was already over.

The remaining Fragments of Brilliant Light had killed the Absolute Being and called themselves the new gods, thus assuming the position of the 'Rulers'. And using various tools containing the might of the Absolute Being, they hunted down the Sovereigns.

When the King of Giants, the Sovereign of the Beginning, Reghia, was captured, the balance between the two sides collapsed and the remaining Sovereigns realised the severity of the situation.

It was at that moment that the Shadow Sovereign extended his hands to them. To combat their common enemy, every existing Sovereign combined their forces.

And in this manner, the war between seven 'Rulers' and nine 'Sovereigns' continued on, forever.

The longer this war continued on, however, the greater the army of the Shadow Sovereign grew. Time was on his side.

Thanks to his brilliant achievements, it seemed as if the victors of this long, long war would be the Sovereigns.

However, it wasn't only the Rulers fearing the might of the Shadow Army that had grown, unbeknownst to all, to equal the Army of Destruction led by the King of Berserk Dragons.

Two Sovereigns feared the Shadow Sovereign. The Two of them were the Sovereign of White Flames and the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs. They aimed for the back of the former Emissary just as the war was drawing to a close.

It was at this point that Jin-Woo got to witness again the scenes he saw within the 'saved data' back in the dual dungeon. The armies of demons and beasts joined hands with the armies of the Rulers and pounced on the Shadow Sovereign and his army.

And that resulted in him being driven to near-annihilation.

But then, the King of Beasts, the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs ran away to save its own life, while forsaking its own soldiers. Meanwhile, the King of Demons, the Sovereign of White Flames, Baran, had to pay the ultimate price.

The words Jin-Woo couldn't understand; when he heard the words of the dying Baran, his eyes shook around really hard back then.

And then, above his head – four angels with six wings slowly descended from the sky. That was where the video playback of the 'data' Jin-Woo watched came to an end.

The four Rulers soon surrounded the Shadow Sovereign, who no longer possessed enough strength to command his own Shadow Army. The Sovereign must've figured out what the inevitable result of this fight would be and discarded his sword to the ground.

But, if those Rulers had killed the Shadow Sovereign back then, how could the existence of this Shadow Sovereign even be explained?

Jin-Woo swallowed his dry saliva and paid even closer attention, to what could possibly be the end of the Shadow Sovereign.

But then….

The Rulers began kneeling before the Shadow Sovereign one by one. And a short while later, the six-winged angel kneeling in front raised his voice.

[Please, it's time that you forgive us, oh, greatest Fragment of Brilliant Light.]

(James Morgan, now known as James Howlett, POV)
It's been 12 years since I have been reincarnated as James Howlett, aka Logan, aka Wolverine, and it's been a pretty hard life.
 For the first 4 months of my new life, the only thing I could see was a fuzzy light, in black and white, and occasionally when someone held me super close to their face, I could see who was holding me, but it was still in black and white, so yeah, that sucked. Luckily, I still could hear, so that meant I was able to get a pretty good understanding of my situation, hence how I knew I was James Howlett. 
And besides the pain of being basically blind for 4 months, I was frequently sick for most of my childhood, which sucked, because 19th century medicine is horrid. And it sucked even more, because of Jeremiah Howlett, aka my grandfather. He thought that since I got sick, I was weak, and that combined with his disdain of my "father", well let's just say that me and my grandfather share a hate-hate relationship. Especially because he keeps trying to abuse me, both physically and verbally, ha, jokes on him, because whenever he would call me an insulting name, I would pretend like I thought it was a compliment, and I would say it back to him with a fake expression of child's naivety.
And besides both sickness and temporary blindness, I also had to deal with the death of my brother, John Jr.. He died when I was 5 and he was 12, and while I knew of why he died, him attacking my "mother", I am still sad. He was an excellent big brother, he "helped" me with my lessons, he played with me, and he talked with me when I was sick. He was my confidant and I was his, and the only reason why I didn't try to save his life was because I was sick when his mutant powers activated, meaning I couldn't try to calm him down before he attacked my "mother", which resulted in my "father" killing him.
And the after-effects of John Jr. 's death, well that was almost as bad as the death itself. My "mother" was institutionalized and even when she returned she was never the same, all she does now is just stay in her room, staring out of the window looking at Thomas Logan, who I really hope I'm not the son of. And the way my brother's death affected my "father" was almost as severe as the way it affected my "mother", because after his death, my "father" just distanced himself, not talking to either me or my "mother", but we did share the occasional conversation, so he wasn't as bad as my "mother". 
Honestly with this childhood, it's no wonder that the original James Howlett had issues, an abusive grandfather, traumatic death of brother, absent mother, and distant father, I am so lucky that in my previous life I had a loving and supportive childhood so I don't really care about any of my new family members besides my late brother, who I still mourn.
But, there were some good things about my childhood. One such good thing was that I had a very prestigious and wealthy background, meaning I was able to get an education of the times, connections, and most importantly resources, all things I desperately needed to get started in this new world. And knowing how I'll one day be banished from the estate, I always collected my allowance, which was equal to about $25, in future US currency, and as I got allowance every month since I was 7, right now I have $1,500, in future US currency.
Another good thing in my childhood was Rose O'Hara, my best friend, and officially, my maid servant. But, I never saw her as just a servant, I mean she was there for me whenever I was sick and she helped me mourn my brother's death, all-in-all, she was my rock. And, she was also my crush, after all she had all the qualities I ever wanted in a woman, she was smart, strong, kind, and caring, not to mention I have no doubt she will grow to be a beautiful woman, especially with her red-hair and green eyes, she was the perfect image of an Irish beauty. The only problem was she was too young for me to court her. So I plan to wait until she is 18, and until then I'll just help her become the woman I know she can be.
The only other good thing in my 12 years of living in the estate is my dog, Fenrir, I just got him last Christmas and he's been a ray of sunshine in this gloom infested shithole we call an estate. The cool thing about me having Fenrir is that I can communicate with him, well not really communicate, it's more like I can feel what Fenrir feels, but still cool, I think this is a sign of me beginning to activate my mutant gene. And there is no way that I am going to allow "Dog" Logan, to touch my dog, ever. I know that in the comics "Dog" killed Logan's puppy as retaliation for telling on him, but I trained Fenrir just like the US Military trains their Military Dogs, so I know that there is no way that "Dog"  can touch him, especially if Fenrir feels threatened.
Anyway, back to the present, I am walking around the estate, trying to find Rose so we can chat. But, I can't find her anywhere, which is odd, because she's my maid servant, officially, so there's not much that requires her to leave me. And just as I think that, I get a bad premonition and hear a cry for help. 
Running as fast as I can, I enter the stables and I see a scene that makes me tremble with rage. "Dog" is trying to embrace Rose while she is fighting to push him away. I hurriedly rush up to "Dog" and punch him across the face, dazing him and forcing him to let Rose go, which leads her to hide behind me. 
"James, come on, let's go, we have to tell your dad." Rose pulls me away from "Dog".
"Yeah, let's go." I agree and go with her, leaving the dazed "Dog" on the stable floor.
We immediately go to the main house, where my family resides, and tell my "father" of what happened. After we told him, he said that he would handle it, and on that note, I knew that my life outside of this estate was about to be starting. After informing my "father", Rosa and I then went to my room.
Once entering the room I embraced Rosa, she went still, but then returned the hug and started crying. I knew that she was shaken over this ordeal, after all, "Dog" was our friend. Even though I knew in the comics he would be bad I still wanted to give him a chance to be good, I even had my "father" speak to Thomas to stop him from abusing "Dog", that's why I'm so angry, he had the chance to do good, only he didn't use it, he even went so far as to attempt to **** my friend, so now he's dead to me, the only thing preventing me from killing him is that he's a child and doesn't pose any threat to me or Rosa, especially not after tonight.
It took a few hours to calm Rosa and assure her that everything was alright, that I would protect her, and by then my "father" had already fired Thomas and Dog, escorting them out of the premises. Once the deranged duo left, Rosa finally felt it was safe enough to leave to go to her own chambers. Leaving me to my own thoughts.
I noticed that when I saw "Dog" attacking Rosa I was so covered in rage that something within me just suddenly clicked, but since I was preoccupied with Rosa I didn't have a chance to see what exactly had changed, but my guess is that it has something to do with my mutant gene. Maybe my rage was strong enough to activate it? Guess the only thing I can really do is try to see if I can use the famed claws of Wolverine. Okay here goes nothing, concentrate James, concentrate, I just got to think of something that makes me super angry, like when I heard Rose's cry for help. Schlink… FFFFUUUUUCCCKKK, FUCKITY FUCK FUCK, YEP, I activated the mutant gene alright, GOD DAMMIT, the comics really understated the pain of popping out the claws. After a few minutes of attempting to withstand the excruciating pain, I finally calmed down enough to remember what the Logans' were planning.
I sheathed my claws and hurriedly raced to Rose's room, she wasn't there, but there was a sign of a struggle. I then rush to my mother's room, finding Dog and Thomas pointing a gun at my father, with my mother and Rose off to the side. I immediately leap to the biggest threat, Thomas. Activating my claws, I impale him in the gut, damn it hurts. Then I claw at Dog, striking him in the face, but not before he, in his fear, accidently shot a bullet off, hitting my "father" in the leg.
After killing Thomas and disarming Dog, I proceeded to threaten Dog to change his ways.
"Change your ways Dog, don't make me your enemy. The only reason your alive right now is because your a demented child, but become a demented adult, and let's just say," I show my claws, "Your life will be forfeit." I clench my fist and threateningly say.
Dog runs off, recognizing the danger, but not before shooting me a look of pure hatred, and I just know, in that moment, that I should kill him now. The only thing stopping me is that Dog is a child, I can't kill children, I won't kill children, even if I have this newfound power, I'm still me and I know I still need my morals. 
Now that the threats are gone, I go and check on my "father". I can tell that he's not going to make it, the bullet hit him directly in his femoral artery, he's bleeding out.
"Good job," he says looking directly in my eyes, "You fought for your family, more than I ever have. I know you think me a coward, and that is probably true, but I'm going to die, and I can already tell that you are going to be my greatest legacy. You are even better than your brother, you can control yourself, James. I've lived for a long time and in that time, I've made a lot of mistakes, involving both you and your brother, but will you grant a dying man a request," at my nod he continues, "kill me, end my suffering."
Thinking about his request I debate on the rightness of the action. I am killing an innocent, but he wants me to kill him. I need to keep my secrets close to my chest and he wants me to kill him. The only thing that is keeping me from killing him is that he is innocent and he is, technically, my father, but he is dying anyway and this is the least I can do for him.
Decision made, I slowly put my claws against his chest, then in one sudden movement, I puncture his heart, the only relief I get from killing him is seeing the smile on his face, knowing I did the right thing. But, right after, now that the adrenaline is wearing off, I feel immense pain, popping out my bone claws hurts, it hurts like someone just put molten lava in between my fingers. Holding in my screams of pain, I just tremble a little. Which apparently my mother thought was me grieving and thought now was a good opportunity to unleash her rage on me. 
"YOU ARE A MONSTER!! LEAVE. LEAVE NOW AND NEVER COME BACK!" She just keeps hysterically screaming that and a variety of other things at me, so I narrow my eyes at her, making her wince back in fear. I mean, I just killed her husband, my father, in front of her, and even if it was because he asked me to, shouldn't she still fear my retaliation for this unprovoked harassment, what's with this weird confidence that she seems to have?
"And you are no mother, you are no wife. You are a failure who slept with an abusive drunk instead of staying faithful to the person who provided everything for you. You got my brother killed. And you do not care for the death of my father, you only care about the death of that abusive waste. I will leave 'mother', but know, you don't fool me, you are the true monster." I say, no longer containing my anger at her. Then I exit the door, look at her one last time, and scoff.
After leaving my "mother's" room, I then go to my own room, getting my bug-out-bag, a habit that carried over from my military days. The bag contains everything I need, including my allowance and some clothes. After packing everything of importance in my room, I then go to my brother's room that's been closed off since his death.
Searching through the room I come across a silver pocket watch, a family memento he received from my father, and a steel hunting dagger, one that he used to show off to me , I equipped the dagger, no need to use my painful claws for every fight, that would just attract attention, and I put the watch in my bag. After I got myself some memorabilia of my brother's, I then left the room, saying goodbye to my last family member.
Now leaving my brother's room, I then go outside, preparing to leave and get Fenrir ready for our journey.
"Wait, wait, James, take me with you, please!" Rose cries out from behind me just after Fenrir and I exit the gates of the estate.
"Rose, are you sure you wanna come, you heard that woman, I'm a monster." I would also like for her to join me, but I have to be sure she can handle the journey I'm about to embark on and if she fears me, neither my planned relationship or my journey will be successful.
"James!" She yells, stomps up to me and slaps me, shocking me, and making Fenrir growl, at least until she looked at him, making him look away, "Never say that." She grounds out, looking back at me, " You will never be a monster. You are my friend and you are my hero, you saved your mother and I's lives, and even if she doesn't acknowledge that fact, I do, James. You are a hero, never let anybody take that from you." She says with her voice going softer in the end. After her very passionate speech, she then gives me a kiss on the cheek and whispers sweetly in my ear, "So, will you take me with you, my hero?"
"Well," I say, giving her a charming smile, "How can I say no to a beautiful girl? Let's go Rose, Fenrir the world is ours for the taking after all."

A devout Christian soldier of the US dies after a battle due to fatal wounds he received. After his death, he is then reincarnated in the Marvel world as James Howlett, aka the Wolverine

[I own nothing of Marvel. This is fan-fiction dedicated solely for the purpose of enjoyment.]

Raine makes a deep cut with her dagger — but the wound slowly closes.

She looks at you in frustration and you scale down the regeneration.

"Keep it at a minimum for now," she instructs. "We'll need to cut him open to reach his heart."

"The troll's regeneration might also affect the soporific," Adon adds. "You don't want your friend waking up for this."

Raine continues cutting. 

After cutting and peeling the skin — she starts to cut part of Bruce's ribs using a faintly-glowing knife.

"It's a runic blade," she explains. "It can cut bone but not flesh."

Thomas exits the cave, unable to stand the bloody scene — leaving you, Dune, and the two mages.

"You should have told him," she glances at Dune while cutting into Bruce. "I'll do everything I can so that you can tell him afterward."

"He knows," Dune answers.

"Everyone does," you murmur.

Dune looks at you for a moment then turns her gaze back at Bruce.

The two mages work close to an hour before stopping.

It's close to dusk and you see very little light coming from the mouth of the cave.  

"Ready the wolf," Raine dictated. "Once we take out his heart, we don't know how long the regeneration will keep him alive."

Dune rushes outside to talk to Thomas.

You hear the sounds of hurried conversation and then the sound of a cage being opened.

"Do it!" Dune shouts from outside.   

Raine looks at you — tension showing in her face.

You sense the binding between the troll and Bruce. You pour more of the troll's regeneration into the unconscious Bruce and you see his eyelids start to twitch.

Arwaaaooooo! 

A mournful and vengeful howl pierces the silence of the forest.

Raine starts to cut out the veins and arteries connecting to the heart — blood starts gushing out from the cuts.

Bruce's eyes flare wide open and he gasps. Pain and fear are painted in his face. He struggles with his bindings and you could see that he's doing all he can to stop himself from screaming.

"Bite on this." Adon stammers as he pries open Bruce's jaws.  He places a piece of wood wrapped in cloth into his mouth. "It's going to be over soon.

You see panic and anguish in Bruce's eyes. He looks at you as if begging to be saved — or begging for an end to pain.

Dune and Thomas enter the cave — the dying wolf slung on Thomas' shoulders.

Raine finishes cutting and takes out the heart.

Frost immediately starts forming around it and Raine drops the heart in a panic.

Bruce's heart falls to the ground — turning to ice as it falls and shattering into fine crystals as it lands.

"The wolf…" Raine snaps.

Thomas cuts open the downed wolf, skillfully cutting out its heart and placing it in the mage's hands.

Raawooooooooo!

Distant wolf cries from the forest seem to answer the mournful howl from before.

"Focus on Bruce!" Dune shouts, losing control of her voice.  She looks at Bruce as if pleading for him to hold on.

Reina nods and places the wolf's heart into Bruce's chest.

The troll's regeneration immediately starts to work. Arteries and veins start attaching themselves to the heart — creating their own passageways when there are none.

The wolf's heart slowly changes — not into a human heart, but something in between that of a man's and a wolf's.

Bruce ceases his struggling and falls unconscious.

"It's done," Reina declares.

"No," refutes Adon. "Something's not right — it should be beating by now."

Awoooooo!

More wolf cries — closer this time.

"W-what?" Reina is stunned in confusion — staring at the transformed but unbeating heart.

"The wolf core," Dune rushes to the wolf — almost ripping it apart with her dagger.

She takes out the wolf core and places it on the wolf's transplanted heart.

It starts to beat.

The orb slowly sinks into the heart as if being absorbed — its beats becoming stronger.

Reeeeeeee!

A hawk's cry echoes through the cave as Elm enters and lands on Dune's shoulders.

Her face pales.

"Five wolves," she mutters.

"We can handle five," Adon asserted.

"The hawk can only count up to five," Thomas says as he grabs his bow — preparing to go outside.

"Stay here," Dune implores, her ruse all but forgotten, "until he's safe."

You give her a nod and she heads out of the cave with Thomas.

The mages piece together Bruce's broken ribs — making sure to get each broken bone in the right place.

Bruce's breathing becomes steadier and deeper as the troll's regeneration integrates the wolf's heart into his body — even fusing his broken rib bones.

A flash of light from the mouth of the cave and the scent of burning, signals the arrival of the wolves.

Oil and firewood were placed on the perimeter of the cave as a precaution — and someone deemed it was time to use it.

"They're here!" bellows Thomas, as he and Malik carry an injured Grant into the cave.

The two mages are done replacing Bruce's ribs and the wound heals — not even leaving a scar.

"What happened to him?" cries Raine as she rushes to the downed Grant.

"Frost breath," answered Malik, "The cold pierced through his armor."

"Then take it off," she orders.

Malik cuts the strap of the plate. He grips the cold metal and pulls it off — ripping bits of flesh where the armor touched the skin.

Adon passes Thomas a flask of healing potion. He unstoppers it and gives it to Grant.

Raine looks at you her eyes darting to the troll and back.

"I can't," you answer. "Not yet."

You imagine Bruce's chest opening up and bleeding once you break the binding. No — you won't be breaking this binding any time soon.

"The fires are dying!" screams Dune from outside the cave.

Thomas and Malik rush outside while the two mages give each other furtive glances.

"Go with them," Raina tells Adon.

"This isn't part of the deal," he protests.

"There is no deal if we die here — get the hell out!"

Adon goes outside reluctantly.

You focus on maintaining the binding even as you hear growls and sounds of battle coming from outside the cave.

Raine takes out a crystal — placing it on top of Bruce's chest. 

Motes of light gather around the crystal as Raine peers over it as if discerning something.

"He should be fine," she declares.

"Are you certain?"

"Yes," she snaps. "Go help the others. I won't be dying in a damned cave."

You give the sleeping Bruce one last look before you take up your shield and head outside.

There are more than just five.

Two wolves lie dead or dying outside the perimeter. Three wolves that jumped the barricades lie entangled on a few of the traps. 

Dune seems to be holding back three wolves using her ability to manipulate beasts. One of the wolves seems larger and more formidable — with icy growths on its body serving as both armor and weapons.

To the side, you see Malik and Thomas coordinating to hold off three more wolves of their own. Malik is holding back the wolves with his shield, while Thomas strikes any wolf that comes too near with his sword.

Adon is flinging eldritch energy at one of the wolves, all the while shielding himself from the wolf's breath with a glimmering shield.

You make a decision and head towards the lone mage facing a wolf. 

The wolf charges at the mage — taking a few hits from the magical barrage. It stops a few feet from Adon and it breathes out a blast of frost.

Adon's shield of force shimmers — and then shatters.

You manage to reach the mage at that moment.

You pull the mage behind you — sending him into the ground — as you meet the blast of cold energy with your shield.

"Help the others," you bellow at the fear-stricken mage.

The mage scrambles to get up and runs — not to help the others — but towards the cave.

"Shit." 

The wolf pounces on the fleeing mage — but you ram its flank with your shield before sending Skybreaker crashing into its head.

Kharask!

The wolf ends its leap with a crash to the ground.

You rush towards Thomas and Malik, confident that Dune can hold the three wolves with her enormous magical reserves. 

One wolf is too enraged and too intent on Malik and Thomas — it fails to notice your approach.

You slam the glowing Skybreaker into its spine — forcing it down to the ground and nearly fording it in half.

One of the wolves turns to you and launches a breath of frost.

You dive to the left, shielding your body with your shield and catching the wolf's attention.

Shizik!

Thomas slashes the wolf with his baselard. Silver creates a deep gash into the wolf that would have otherwise not been fatal — had it not been on fire.

Bane of all things dark and cold indeed.

Malik manages to hold his own against the last remaining wolf. He wades in as the wolf breathes frost — his gambeson taking the brunt of the chill. 

He strikes with his broadaxe, lopping the head of the wolf.

Dhagarg!

One of the wolves manages to escape its entanglements. However, instead of rushing towards you — it aids the two other wolves, chewing on their bindings.

"This isn't good," says Thomas as he picks up his bow from the ground as well as a quiver with only four arrows.

Malik takes off his frozen gambeson, exposing his chainmail. He seems spent but he slowly walks towards Dune.

You take a deep breath and rush towards the three ensorcelled wolves.

"No stay back," Dune cries as she takes out a flask.

She throws the flask at the three wolves — creating an explosion of green smoke before she retreats towards the cave.

Malik stays by Dune's side as you and Thomas cover your withdrawal.

"I couldn't hold them for long," she apologizes. "The smoke will just delay them — maybe weaken them to some extent.

"You did well," says Thomas. "You held three wolves on your own — including that big one."

She nods and then her eyes widen remembering, "Bruce? How is he?"

"He survived," you answer. "But we don't know what'll happen next."

"We won't know if we don't last the night," stresses Thomas.

Hawoooo!

A wolf's howl forces you all to silence.

The largest wolf gathers the remaining five wolves around him — its eyes glowing with icy energy. 
They charge — mouth frothing with frost-like saliva — leaving trails of ice wherever their claws touch the ground.

Dune and Thomas start shooting their arrows — but their arrows are all but gone.

Malik has a resigned look on his face as he prepares to meet the charging wolves.

You ready your shield and lock your eyes unto the largest wolf.

One of the wolves goes down — struck by several arrows.

Thomas readies Silver as he drops his bow and Dune appears to be preparing to cast a spell.

Malik charges to meet the wolves to give the two archers space — not knowing they were out of arrows.

You follow his charge, angling yourself to meet the large wolf.

The leading wolf bounds past Malik — ignoring the warrior and heading towards Dune and Thomas.

Thomas holds Silver in two hands, but you can see the exhaustion in his face.

"Yaaaarrgh!" Thomas screams — more to fire up himself than to intimidate the wolf.

The wolf leaps —

Thagask!

— and drops to the ground — skewered by a familiar javelin.

You wake up in a strange world where magic corrupts both men and beasts. You find loyal companions who would stand by your side, weapons that would break the sky, and the makings of an army that would shake the entire world. 

Updating daily.

The sky was gloomy and the air was humid.
Deep in Thomas Grand Canyon, corpses were scattered all over the now quiet battlefield. The war had been alleviated and a small group of orcs was retreating towards the canyon.
The vulgar curses along with the chaotic footsteps of their invasive march had alerted and startled most of the vultures that were feasting on the dead corpses.
Crows, vultures, and undead gulls hovered around the corpses. Afraid of the presence of the orcs around, they made loud cries as an attempt to scare away other potential feeders. One of the crows that was braver than the others took its sweet time devouring a long rotten gut. Suddenly, something from within the pile of corpses twitched and scared off the crow.
A small patrol team consisting of only three orcs stopped in their tracks immediately.
"Halt! I heard something."
The green-skinned orc, whose muscular body was clad in broken metal armor and rugged leather squinted to focus on the source of the noise.
"I see something…" said the same orc as he moved closer.
"I see it now. It's a human. I'll take care of him."
The orc gripped his heavy axe tighter and paced slowly towards the pile of corpses.
"Make it quick. We don't want to fall too far behind."
Amidst the darkness of the canyon, not even the crows were capable of seeing further ahead. However, the orc could walk towards the corpse with ease as it relied on his extreme sense of smell. After a quick rummage, the orc had managed to find a living human buried underneath a pile of rotten corpses.
The human was a young male warrior. His armor was broken and in tatters. His sword was bent and chipped in all sort of places. There was something admirable about the warrior. Judging from the orc corpses around, he was the only human that was still alive. Despite that, his condition was not looking great. His weakened state had him knocking on death's door.
Crack!
Lightning struck down somewhere not too far from where the orc stood. The light from the lightning illuminated the entire canyon for a brief second and he could see that the light in the human's eyes had faded.
"Die," muttered the orc as he lifted his axe with both of his hands. With one heavy stroke, the orc swung the axe downward.
Crack!
In a split second, the flash of light beamed off the dull sword and the orc could see a cold stare from the human's eyes.
"Huh?!" The orc gasped.
In an instant, the warrior sprung up from his seemingly unconscious state and slit the orc's left shoulder. The intensity of the stroke was strong enough that it left a long trail of blood spurting out from the open wound. The orc grunted in pain and released the heavy axe in his hand. With quick footwork, the warrior made his way to the side of the massive orc and knocked him off his feet.
"Urgh!"
It all happened too fast. Before the strong orc could even react, he was forced to expel a mouthful of air as a steel-like left arm was pressed against his neck.
"Gaba."
Just when he could move his left arm, a powerful force was pressed against his chest and his neck, struggling to prevent the orc from taking in any air. The orc struggled with all his might. Panic and fear started to invade the orc's mind as his desire to breathe was overwhelming and clouding his judgment. The next thing he knew, everything went dark. Like steel, his eyes were cold.
The orc stopped struggling. There was no more noise, only the cries of the nearby crows.
The human warrior pulled out the sword and knelt beside his kill.
"Calm yourself, Joshua," thought the man. He gathered his strength and scanned the area.
All he could see was dismembered parts of what seemed to be unworldly beings. The scent of blood mixed with the rusty armor made the entire field smell like rust. Although it was not raining, the human's armor and leather hide were drenched with water. His entire arm was covered in blood, which trailed all the way down to his sword. No matter how much he wanted to calm himself, the grip of his hand on the sword refused to relax.
"Gloomy sky… Orcs… A battle?"
Joshua muttered a few words to himself. Each word was spoken with a deeper tone and when he finally came to, he shouted, "Thomas Grand Canyon?!"
The man stood up and turned around frantically.
"Impossible. I should be in the Ancient Dungeon of the Ashen! I should be in Naya Fortress! I should be fighting demons! Why are there orcs?!"
Joshua recalled the vivid image of his battle. He was fighting demons in a scorched land that rained flames and hot lava. Yet, that vivid image was replaced with a gloomy dark sky, wet and cold atmosphere. The difference was like heaven and earth. Something is not right. Something is most certainly not right at all!
Joshua gave up trying to reason with the unknown. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his abdomen and found it hard to breathe. He dropped to his hands and panted heavily.
Drip… Drip… Droplets of rain started to fall on his metallic armor and no sooner, a thunderstorm came.
The pain in his chest was not the only sensation he felt then. When the water droplets seeped into his armor, he could feel the prickly pain throbbing all over his body. It was only then he realized that he was bleeding all over. Some cuts were so deep that he could not move freely without triggering the wound's throbbing pain. Joshua turned around and checked on himself. There were wounds so deep that if he did not begin emergency treatment, they would start to fester. Joshua merely scoffed at the pain. As a legendary warrior that had survived countless battles, Joshua had been in worse conditions that one might even consider absolutely hopeless. However, out from the ashes of defeat, Joshua had turned the tides of war more times than he had tasted salt. Such a wound was nothing. A mere flesh wound or so he would say.
"Tsk!" Joshua clicked his tongue disgruntledly. "This is odd. I was sure that I was part of the war. The war that took place in the Starfall Year 853, during the third expansion of Continental War... Thomas Grand Canyon should have been flattened after the Legendary War!"
Joshua ignored the pain he felt on his body and stood up to have one last look at the surroundings. With his still shaky hands, he wiped away the blood-stained rainwater from his eyes and muttered in disbelief.
"Why… How am I here…"
The dark clouds rolled in from the top of the canyon and brought in more thunder and rain. The sound of war could be heard from all places. Crimson colored water that started to turn into rivers flowed from the cliffs.
"This isn't right."
Joshua let the cold rainwater wash the blood on his face and finally realized the truth. "I'm dead."
Memories started flooding in. It was the despicable gloomy sky that had triggered his memories.
Naya Fortress. The Wall of Maria. He stood there, amongst countless warriors battling demons that came like a swarm of locusts in a land where hot lava was flowing like a river. The sky rained flaming meteors and the only silhouettes that could be seen were the wings of rampaging demons. The number of demons that flew in the sky was more than enough to cast their shadows to fully darken the entire battleground. That, and the floating ship that belonged to the demon forces. Rocks that were covered in flames were hurled to the ground. Like a scene of hell on earth, they rained down on the fortress like a meteor shower. Rising from the ash and smoke, the legendary warriors formed an impregnable defensive formation as they charged towards the enemy.
Joshua was one of them. Just when he was about to unsheathe his sword to perform a sword drawing technique, a long blade protruded from his abdomen. Along with some curses, Joshua's memories became scrambled like eggs.
Joshua took a deep breath. He realized the truth and bellowed wildly.
"Who the f*ck stabbed me?!"
Joshua's rage exploded like a whistling kettle. He forced himself to remember everything but could not recall what happened after he saw the sword's blade extending out of his abdomen.
"I've never died… Not once. Not since I became a legendary warrior! F*ck! Just when I thought I was killed by a demon, it was by my fellow comrade!"
Right then, Joshua frowned again. Although he could not let go of the grudge he bore for the backstabber, he had something else to worry about. Whether or not he was still alive, the obvious question should have been where he was. Even if he had died, he should be within the walls of Naya Fortress! How did he manage to magically appear among a bunch of dead orcs?
Right when he was about to take a step, he sensed an ill omen. As a legendary warrior, his body's constitution allowed him to recover faster than normal humans. Wounds that would take months to heal would be reduced to several days. He should be able to walk and run normally after a quick rest yet the wounds on his legs and arms were not even showing signs of healing. Even the pain… it was throbbing like there was a splinter inside.
Did the game developers adjust the sensory settings to a whole new level?
If he was not dead, where was the wound that was supposed to be in his belly? As for the wound that was caused by the curse, he could never heal them without the help of a GM.
What is happening?! The game is not Ubisoft, where the servers are potato and riddled with bugs. 
"Move, damn it!" cried Joshua as he tried to force his muscles to move forward. He clenched his teeth to suppress the pain when he moved his right leg. All the wounds that had opened up were immediately exposed to the rainwater. It stung so bad that Joshua could feel the sound of his heart pounding in his ears. Joshua stopped walking and fell to his knees. The metal armor on his body grazed against each other and made a sharp noise. From the edge of his armor, Joshua noticed a small horizontal wound that could have only been formed from a stab.
The pain he felt was so strong that if any normal human were to be placed in his shoes, they would have fainted from the intense pain. Luckily, Joshua was not an average Joe in real life.
Joshua got back up to his feet and took a deep breath only to find that he was unable to restore his breathing rhythm. He ignored that fact and paced slowly towards the same pile of dead corpses where he was pulled out from. The sword in his hands was broken in many places and would easily crumble into dust with a gentle stroke. After so many years of fighting, he knew that it was vital for him to replace the weapon before a fight.
Joshua took some time but he managed to get used to the pain and arrived at the pile of corpses. There, Joshua started stabbing the corpses and managed to retrieve a long spear that was still in good condition. Although the spearhead had suffered a little damage on the edge, it does not affect its penetrating power. He discarded the sword in his hand and brandished the spear around to repel every single raindrop around him. After two seconds, he was certain that the spear was still in a good state and was most suited for his fighting style.
Just when he relaxed and wanted to search for a place to rest, the silence of the grave was broken by the cries of orcs coming from the darkness.
"He killed Togu!"
Two large orcs came out from the shadows and into his field of vision.
Naturally, Joshua was unable to understand what they said due to the difference in language used. However, that was not his worry at the moment. The muscles on them were so huge that the armor covering their forearms was about to burst open. The extreme bloodlust and the crave for revenge were reflected in their eyes.
Once the orcs had confirmed the enemy's position and number, the orcs did not give a second thought before jumping straight towards Joshua.
"Ourgh!" The one that attacked first was wielding a long scimitar. The usual green appearance of the orc darkened into a deeper, darker shade as if he had gone berserk. The blade was held up high in the air. The orc was ready to use his massive size and weight to cleave the weak human in half with a single stroke.
However, before the sword could even be swung, the spearhead whistled through the air like a speeding arrow. The slightly rusty spearhead pierced through the thick metal armor and leather hide, and went straight to the orc's heart. Joshua spun the spearhead clockwise. He then twisted his body and pulled the spear from behind with such force that the faintly beating heart was still attached to the spearhead. The orc fell to the ground, lifeless, while green blood spurted out like a broken fountain.
"Hm… Are you really an orc?" Joshua asked with a condescending look. He turned back to see that the other orc had stopped moving. He could see the fear in his eyes when his comrade was killed in less than a second. "Is it even possible?"
The orc grunted with rage. The wrath in its eyes was fading as he wanted to turn tail and run. However, he was too slow to make his decision.
Joshua stomped his left leg firmly into the ground and took aim. As the orc ran further, Joshua hurled the spear in his hand with such force that it flew across the air at supersonic speed.
Droplets of water in the air evaporated instantly as it came into contact with the spearhead. The orc heard the sound of the spear whistling through the air and tried to parry it. However, just as he turned around, the spear pierced through his waist and pinned him to the ground.
He grunted in pain and spoke something which Joshua could not understand. Joshua walked towards the dying orc and gave it a weird look. The orc tried to summon its strength but his actions only caused more blood to spurt out from his open wound. Within a few seconds, the orc lost its life and remained motionless.
"I am sure that all the orcs have already been extinct! The system even announced that globally!"
When Joshua went to retrieve his spear from the dead orc, he felt a sharp throbbing pain from his scar. It was bleeding.
"Ow… Perhaps I overdid it."
The injuries that he sustained were indeed serious. It was not just his muscles that were aching badly, he could even feel his internal organs bleeding from the inside. After killing three orcs, the pain he felt was so intense that not even the strongest dose of morphine could ease the pain. At that moment, all his wounds, both fresh and old, were crying in pain as though pleading for their owner to stop moving any more.
Joshua paced away from the dead orcs and towards where the light shone the brightest. However, before he could even take five steps, his hands started to tremble violently. He dropped his spear and sat down on the ground.
"Ha… Ha… Ha… Why am I panting for breath? I am a legendary warrior. Such a wound would not make me this exhausted! I should not be this breathless after merely killing three orcs!"
He tried to lift the spear from the ground. As he did, he could feel the icy cold stones on the ground which made his hands shiver.
"Such a sensation… The smell, the pain, the sight… Not even the most powerful gaming company could model such a scene. There's no way the game could virtualize this…"
As more and more doubts began to grow in his mind, the same bad omen from before started to resurface into his sea of thoughts. "Thomas Grand Canyon should have been made into a flatland. Yet, why am I seeing cliffs and trenches? I was supposed to be fighting demons in Naya Fortress yet I am awake in this place…"
The rain continued to pour like cats and dogs and did not show any signs of stopping.
"What is going on?!"
Crack!
A lightning bolt struck down and illuminated the entire canyon for a brief second. Joshua picked up a sword fragment and took the chance to see his reflection.
The face of a stranger was reflected on the sword fragment yet Joshua felt a sense of familiarity from it.
"Who is tha—is that me?! What happened to me?!"
Within a second, a sharp pain struck his brain as if he was cleaved by an axe. Immediately, he fell to the ground and writhed in intense agony.
What came next were all the memories that flooded into his mind that were supposedly his...


Joshua woke up in the middle of a battlefield one day only to discover that he has been transmigrated into a popular MMORPG, Continental War. Discovering that he has not only been displaced in space but also in time, Joshua realizes he has knowledge of the events unfolding around the world as he had played through them as game events. Read on to discover how Joshua forges his path toward becoming a legendary warrior embroiled in the struggle of Order and Chaos!

Spirits have been at an all-time low among the surviving members of the hellboken crew, the death of Johnathan weighs heavy on them. While the others were down, prince Helios with Kill-shot have been trying to devise a plan to find Acheron before he slipped into the shadows, they returned to Gilgamesh so as to use his resources to aid in the man hunt but what they had found was beyond shocking. Gilgamesh's entire community was in complete chaos, homes had been destroyed and countless men and women had been injured and killed. Kill-shot rushed to Gilgamesh, hoping to find his friend unharmed, unfortunately Kill-shot would have no such luck for what he found was Gilgamesh on a hospital bed, using all his strength just to maintain his breathing.

Kill-shot: "what happened here? don't tell me the shoguns managed to find their way here. no, they were other men who loured them deep into the caves and slaughtered them, without the aid of a breeder there's no way they could have found their way up here".

Gilgamesh: "this creature was no shogun but who were the other men?"

Kill-shot: "it doesn't matter, tell me Gilgamesh, did Acheron do this to you?"

Gilgamesh: "Acheron? you found him?"

Kill-shot: "yes, he…. Wait, that bastard didn't do this to you?"

Gilgamesh: "no Kill-shot, it wasn't Acheron, you see my friend we had been visited by a stranger. He wore a black cloak that completely hooded his face, he claimed that he was injured and needed to be healed, he asked for our dear Rose to help him."

Kill-shot: "why Rose?"

Gilgamesh: "she is famed for her healing abilities, it only made sense for the stranger to ask for her. The two had been left in the healing room alone, for a while nothing seemed out of the ordinary until a large scream came from the room. Boremont rushed to the healing room to see what had happened, what he found in there was beyond shocking."

Kill-shot: "tell me, what did he see."

Gilgamesh: "it was a man whose body was completely made of shadows."

Kill-shot: "what? That's not possible, are you sure Gilgamesh?"

Gilgamesh: "yes, Kill-shot, am sure, Boremont was locked in a vicious battle with that creature, the destruction you see around us is the result of that battle. Boremont fought as hard as he could but he was no match for the shadow creature. The creature took Rose and opened something that looked like a gate made completely out of snakes, with Rose on its shoulders it went through the gate and disappeared. Boremont was absolutely crushed by his failure to protect Rose, he left the silver caves and headed for the holy mountain in hopes that the heavens may help him find Rose."

Kill-shot: "well that was a stupid thing to do."

Gilgamesh: "my thoughts exactly, I sent a few scouts to retrieve him but they claim that when they reached the summit of the holy mountains they saw Boremont being taken by a ray of light from the sky that broke through the dark cloud."

Kill-shot: "your scouts wouldn't be by any chance retarded?"

Gilgamesh: "this isn't a joke Kill-shot!!! Something beyond strange as happened here and I…. wait, you said you found Acheron, didn't you?"

Kill-shot: "yes, we…..."

Gilgamesh: "my daughter!!! Where is my daughter Kill-shot?"

Kill-shot: "calm down Gilgamesh, kiva's fine, she just needs to spend some time with the others but we did lose Johnathan, Acheron killed him as he tried to save Vanessa."

Gilgamesh: "so, that bastard is still on Rovahn."

Kill-shot: "yes, me and prince Helios hoped to use your scouts to help us track him."

Gilgamesh: "did you just say prince…."

Helios: "Helios of the phoenix's legion, at your service lord Gilgamesh."

Gilgamesh: "so, I can only assume that Dante and Kazuya are the other men you were referring to Kill-shot."

Kill-shot: "yes, we aren't for off from Acheron, that's why we're hoping you could..."

Unknown: "I didn't know we were going to be visited by royalty."

Kill-shot: "who the hell are you?"

A woman had entered the room, she was very old and she had this strange sinister smile on her face, it was as if she enjoyed to see Gilgamesh in pain, she walked in the room so casually, ignoring all the calamity around her.

Unknown woman: "oh, were are my manners, my name is Catalina, I just so happen to be this old fool's wife."

Kill-shot: "am sorry what? Gilgamesh, I didn't know you were married."

Gilgamesh: "this isn't the time for your foolishness woman."

Catalina: "thank god I convinced my children to leave this place before you robbed them of their youth like you did with me. If only you just gave up on your damn beliefs, we would have lived our lives to the fullest, not spending our time waiting for a rose to sing and…."

Gilgamesh: "enough!!!! This isn't the time for this, Acheron has been seen, this is no time for bickering, now leave this place at once!!!!"

Catalina smiled at Gilgamesh and left the room in a slow and joyful manner, prince Helios who is desperately hungering the chance to face Acheron chooses to ignore the old couple's moment and focus on the issue at hand. With the aid of Kill-shot, Helios began devising a plan with Gilgamesh on how they may find Acheron. Back at the hellboken, an injured Ragna sits outside in a state of deep depression, he had recently eased dropped on a conversation between Thomas and Vanessa. Thomas was attempting to comfort Vanessa by trying to relate with her situation, he knew that he had no way of telling her that the pain would pass, how could he? When he himself has failed to let go of the pain that Acheron had inflicted on him many years ago. The conversation went like so:

Vanessa: "I was too weak, the moment my brother needed me the most and I was too damn weak to do anything, now his gone and it's all my fault I…..."

Thomas: "no Vanessa, there was nothing you could do against a vampire by yourself."

Vanessa: "don't talk to me like you have a clue what am feeling, you don't even feel anything!!!!"
Thomas: "I do know what you're going through Vanessa, there was a time when I to had a brother, a son, three beautiful daughters, and a wife whose beauty made me truly believe that she fell from heaven. At that time, I was nothing more than a black smith, just a simple black smith providing for his family, that was my life until I met… him."

Vanessa: "Acheron? I remember now, he kept calling you black smith."

Thomas: "we first crossed paths about two hundred ago."

Vanessa: "how? Are you one of the silver hunters?"

Thomas: "no, you see the stone on my chest has kept me from turning into something that deserves to be dead, something that should have never existed."

Vanessa: "Thomas, what did Acheron do to you and your family?"

Thomas: "my daughters as usual were playing outside, the noise they made was beyond irritating, it drove the whole house hold crazy but we did get used to it. Then mysteriously, they had become completely silent, when I went to go check on them I saw a man speaking to them. To this day I have wandered what he whispered to my little girls, they drew closer to his lips to hear what he whispered, they giggled at his words and then there was a silence. What followed the silence was the sound of my daughter's screams. I charged towards them as fast as I could but before I knew it the strange man was standing wright in front of me, far from my daughters who now rested on the ground covered in blood. His eyes whereas red as the blood that dripped from his mouth and skin as pale as a corps, he smiled and said to me, "this is the price of your existence"."

Vanessa: "why would he do something like that?" 

 Thomas: "I guess he did it simply because he could, he just smiled at me with his mouth dripping with blood, I suppose he just felt like destroying my whole world."

Vanessa: "so he did to you what he did to me."

 Thomas: "yes, he seems to like to leave his victims helpless to the horrors he shows them, I watched as he locked the rest of my family in our once beautiful home and set it ablaze, I heard the screams of my brother, my son and my wife, I heard how the flames feasted on the flesh of my family until there was nothing left of them, nothing but the black ashes of their bodies. I wanted to stop him, I wanted to save my family but Acheron had compelled me to stand still and listen, he wanted me to hear my family's screams until there was nothing but silence. I had hoped that he would kill me, so that I could be reunited with my family but he smiled and said "no, death would be an act of mercy, who would carry my little story if you died" he said, so he bite's me and he injects his venom in my neck. He wanted to turn me into a vampire so that I could forever live with my pain but he had no intentions of allowing me to join the immortal family, instead he threw me in a deep canyon with my legs and arms broken."

Vanessa: "wait, if he did that then doesn't that make you a vampire?"

Thomas: "no, I am what you call a vampire in transition, a would need to drink human blood in order to turn into an actual vampire but the stone in my chest seems to have maintained my humanity. It's because of this why I choose to keep as much distance from you all as well as hide the stone from sight. If it were to run out of energy I would be a threat to you all but so far the stones power appears to be limitless, I should be comfortable but I just can't overcome the fear of this stone dying on me."

Vanessa: "so without blood you couldn't have climbed out of the canyon, so how did you leave the canyon?" 

 Thomas: "well it's like you just said, without blood I couldn't heal, without blood I would go completely mad with hunger and grief, with the vampire venom within me I would remain in the great eastern canyon forever. I had stayed down there for twenty years, I had relived the horror of losing my family over and over again, Acheron's face forever haunting me, then a day had come when the ground began to shake. An earth quake had occurred, it caused the canyon to collapse and as a result I was buried by the large boulders that fell. I thought the boulders would end my misery by crushing me but instead it only prolonged it, one of the small pointed rocks had stabbed my heart and the rest knocked me out, I thought I had finally died, I thought it was finally over. I woke up and found myself on a grass field far from the eastern canyon, I had lost the hunger for blood and had regained my thirst for water as well as my hunger for food. As I felt the warmth of my flesh I found this red stone on the right side of my chest."

Vanessa: "what is that thing on your chest, I have seen glimpses of it but I never really had an idea of what it was."

Thomas: "to be honest I don't know, I just woke up and found it stuck on me, it started to pore knowledge into me, it's how I gained the knowledge to build the hellboken and everything else. I built all this in hopes that one day I would wrap my hands around Acheron's neck and squeeze the very life out of him but that proved to be harder than I thought, I wasn't ready to face him."
Vanessa: "so that's why you don't feel anything, you feel nothing because all you feel is hatred and pain."

Thomas: "listen, we all made mistakes out there, Ragna choosing to attack the queen and provoking the hive without…."

Vanessa: "Ragna did this."

Thomas: "don't jump to conclusions he…."

Vanessa: "he killed my brother!!! If he didn't provoke the hive we wouldn't have been attacked, I wouldn't have faced Acheron alone, I will never forgive him for this. First he kills Luke and now he kills my brother, if that boy gets back on this train I'll kill him, that boy has been a curse to us from day one, he can't be one of us, not anymore."

Ragna heard the hatred that fell from Vanessa mouth, he knew he was the one who provoked the shogun hive, it was because of this that he felt that he needed to leave the hellboken crew. He packed up his things and silently made his way out of the silver caves on foot. As he walked in complete darkness he began to hear a strange laughter, it grew louder and louder as he progressed, he finally began to see a man wearing a sleeveless robe, his arms were completely covered in tattoos. He's robe hooded his face but it exposed enough to see that like his arms his face to was tattooed, immediately Ragna picked a bad vibe from the man so he chose to simply ignore him and keep walking but as he crossed paths with him the tattooed man began to speak to Ragna. 

Tattooed man: "hello my child, my name is Michael, I am the serpent priest and you my child seem to be in great distress."

Ragna: "look mate I don't know what kind of religion your trying to sell me but am really not interested so..."

Michael: "religion? Oh no my child, am not here to force feed you a religion, am here to demonstrate the serpent God's power to you."

Ragna: "excuse me?"

Michael: "allow me to elaborate, I serve a god that has existed long before the birth of the immortal family in fact, long before the birth of the imperialists."
Ragna: "what the hell is an imperialist?"

Michael: "don't concern yourself with something that is beneath our god."

Ragna: "our god?"

Michael: "where are my manners? You can't except a god you don't know. You see my boy in my hand are three black seeds from the serpent God, Solomon."

Ragna: "and this Solomon has given you these seeds because?"

Michael: "because my child, he has heard the peoples cry, he has felt their desperation and he has seen all you have lost."

Ragna: "yeah right, listen this has all been interesting but I need to...."

Michael: "find a way to make the vampires pay without the aid of your crew."

 Ragna: "what? Have you been following me?" 

Michael: "I can see this has made you upset, so here's what am going to do, am going to leave these three seeds for you and give you some information that may help you."

Ragna: "and you're going to do this why?"

Michael: "to prove to you that the power of Solomon is real my child, Ragna I swear to you, the only thing Solomon wants is to give his children the power to reclaim this world."

Ragna: "where was Solomon when my mother and my father were being butchered by shoguns."
Michael: "Solomon has been weakened from the countless wars he has experienced but time and patience has made him wise and strong and now, now my child, he is preparing his children to reclaim this world. Take the seeds Ragna and you will see the gift that your father wishes to give you."

Ragna: "how do you know my name?"

Michael: "in time Ragna, in time you will know, when you have taken the last seed, I will return. Ow, I almost forgot, go back to the hellboken crew, it is through them that you will get your vengeance, fare well my child, I look forward to seeing you reclaim your throne."

The serpent priest literally vanished right before Ragna's eyes, all that was left of him was the three black seeds that he held. Ragna picked the seeds and actually ate one of them, with all that had happened he thought that there would be nothing in this world that could possibly make his day any worse, so what the hell. When Ragna had eaten the black seed he felt this massive force unleashed within himself, his sense's had been heightened, so sensitive that he could hear the steps of the soldier ants passing beneath him so clearly that the noise actually irritated him. All his fears, doubts and guilt completely disappeared, the only thing he felt was rage, this rage soon sunk and turned into hatred. This hatred began to trigger Ragna's ears and before he knew it he could hear Vanessa's voice still cursing his existence, as he took time to focus on his hearing he began to hear a conversation between soldiers outside the silver caves, they were speaking about a source that claimed they had seen Acheron with a large convoy full of children. Ragna looked to the direction the soldiers were claiming Acheron had been seen and focused his hearing there.

As he focused he could hear a calm voice boasting about killing a young archer without lifting a finger, he never saw or heard Acheron but somehow he knew, he knew who he was, his rage had surfaced and it had compelled him to roar like a wild beast. From the distance Acheron could feel a strong presence looking at him, he could feel a deep rage far from the silver caves he had left, he stood with a deep smile on his face and looked to the direction the angered presence was coming from.

Acheron: "do you hate me? Well then, I think it's time to stop being rude then, don't you think? If you are so eager to face the river of sorrow then come, come and face me mortal, I look forward to meeting the fool that believes he is worthy enough to face me, come mortal fool, come!!!!"

The invitation had been made, Acheron had challenged Ragna's rage and Ragna was ready to except it, Ragna charged out of the silver caves and began to advance to the vampire's location, the black seed had turned him into the perfect fighting machine, a machine so powerful that it believed it could face Acheron. Ragna believed that he was ready to face this monster head on without the aid of the hellboken crew as Michael had suggested. All the suffering, all the despair, it would all end if Ragna could accomplish this impossible task, such an opponent shouldn't be charged after without preparations but with his new found strength Ragna believed. Ragna believed that despite his inexperience that you could do it, he could face Acheron, he could defeat the odds, he could avenge Johnathan, he could win.

Michaels thoughts: "well, well, well, his is a lot stronger than I thought, usually the first taste makes you go berserk but this boy seemed to have gain an abnormal amount of physical power as well as focus. Am not sure what the boy is but his definitely not an ordinary human being, that roar he unleashed is proof of that, his body will make a beautiful addition to lord Solomon's underworld army, so go Ragna, go and show the world your new found power. Such power, such confidence, such a gift that we are beyond unworthy of. You were so involved in your guilt that you were incapable of realizing the great gift Solomon has given to you. Oh but be warned young Ragna, as generous as the black serpent may be, a price must be paid for receiving such an amazing gift, a price that all who except his gift, must pay."

this is a story of man and his battle to gain freedom from all the immortal and ascended beings that rule over him with an iron fist

"Good news Mr. and Mrs. Phelts, we have good news! Your son has 2 quirks, his first quirk is strong, its called Haki. He can reinforce his body to increase his attack and defense, view a surrounding area withing 5 feet but can be increased to incredible ranges, his last one pressures people weaker than him into being unable to move or knocking them unconcious. His second quirk has even more variety, he can create fruits that grant him powers, only 2 every two years though." I felt my dads hand on my back, "Hey bud, you wanna try to use your power and make a fruit, see what you get." I nodded and focused, I wanted to be strong, and, even as a 4 year old, I knew that DIAMOND IS UBREAKABLE! A fruit with jagged edges came out. It was a clear-blue color, I also wanted to have a great offense and a fast attack. A blue fruit (Looks like the Yami Yami but blue.) I bit into both and yucky!

It tasted horrible, I tried to rub the flavour out of my mouth but a smooth hard material rubbed over my tounge, I looked at my hand and it was diamond encrusted, with lightning arching out of my hand, "Woah..." It was reflecting light of my diamond encrusted body. It slowly died down, "Goro-Goro no Mi, Kira-Kira no Mi. Lightning and Diamonds." My parents looked proud and the doctor looked on in shock, he thought the fruit would provide small powers, not stuff like this! I felt my hand numbing and my power deactivated. 


I was enveloped by my parents embrace. I hugged them back and we left the hospital, "Hey bud, in celebration of your quirk, lets get whatever you want to eat." I thought about it for a second and said, "Can we eat at Beris' diner?" My parents nodded. We got discounts there because my dads brother owns it, even so we rarely went there. We drove to the diner and walked inside, 

"Whats up Ben, Caroline?" That was Thomas, the cook that made the best hamburgers. "We're celebrating Dariens' quirk reveal." Thomas looked at me, "Oh? And whats your quirk lil man?" I quickly start talking, "I can make 2 power giving fruits every 2 years, and I have another quirk, I don't know how to explain it though..." My dad spoke for me, "Damiens other quirk is called Haki, he can make armor that manifests as a black coating on his skin, he can see the surrounding area within 5 meters, and stun or render people weaker than him unconcious." Thomas gained a proud look, "Well look at that, what do you wanna be in the future Damien?" I reply quickly, "A hero! So I can help people!" Thomas patted my head, "Well with a quirk like yours I don't doubt your dream will come true." He got us seated at a table near the kitchen, "The usual right?" Thomas said, "Yes, thank you Tom." Thomas nodded and walked to the kitchen.


I played chess with my dad, I was way better than I was before for some reason. My brain was processing the game much faster now, I have no idea how. I was good at chess for some reason, it was natural to me. I got a close match but after a while, "Checkmate. Oh, our foods here." We moved the board and put the pieces away. I dug into my burger and finished in 10 minutes. I ate a lot quicker than usual for some reason too. We finished our food and paid, "Bye Thomas! Have a good night!" I said as we left, Thomas spoke back, "Night Lil' Guy, see you sometime." We closed the door to the restraunt and walked to our car, I was super sleepy when we got in the car and fell asleep immediately.

-??? PoV-

I was getting really warm hiding under here, I shrunk so small that I can't even get warm, that japanese bastard better pay me enough for this bullshit, I mean, a kid? Why does he want me to kidnap a kid? I feel my partner wiggle in my shirt pocket, "We just need to get him, we do this job and we can retire from this life of crime, just get me close to him and I can keep him unconcious, bit fucked up we have to kill his parents too, though." I nod, "Yeah, wait till we get somewhere there isn't a lot of traffic, give them a peaceful death. We need to get away with the kid." I waited for the kids parents to get to a rural area, they lived in a country house so they had to go to a area like that eventually.

The car had finally gotten a decent distance into a rural area and we made our move, I could have killed them by invading their lungs and then growing larger to explode them but too messy, could leave DNA evidence, and I promised them a peaceful death. "Marcus, disable their conciousness so I can kill them while they enjoy their dream and never feel the pain." The now identified Marcus was grabbed by me and grew, "Logan, make it quick, we need to leave. I sent a location signal to Dylan so he should be here at any moment." I nodded and grew, I slit their throats and grabbed the kid, I buried the knife in the nearby corn field at a deep part. It was wiped clean and I walked back to the street. There was a black van with black tinted windows. Marcus was looking at me and signalled for me to run as quick as possible to the van. I did and got in, the van and us became invisible as a clear field surrounded the car, this was Dylan and Claire using their abilities in conjunction to erase the sound and make the car invisible at the same time.

We sped off and heard sirens in the backround where we used to be. The kid was laying asleep on a seat. We sped off to the airport, we parked in the back of the building. Marcus and the kid were shrunk into my pocket and I walked into the airport, I gave them a single first class ticked to Japan and boarded my plane. I walked into the fancy plane. Alpha Air was painted in bright green on the side of the plane. I sat down in the comfy chair and reclined it, this ticket was 3 grand so it was obviously very luxurious. I ordered a bottle of whiskey and downed a glass of it. It eased my guilt, 'After this, we retire from this life of crime, maybe I can settle down, find me a girl, have some kids.' I glanced at my pocket. 'I'm sorry kid, there is now way to atone for this, I somehow hope you find a way to forgive me.' I put on headphones and listended to podcasts. I closed my eyes and let my self fall into the warm embrace of sleep.

After being shaken awake from the flight attendent I thanked her, grabbed my bag (they let you carry it on board, quirks made us more secure), and left. I hopped into another black van which took off to a abandoned building. We entered and a handsome man with black hair and red eyes greeted me, "Have you brought the child?" I nodded, "Here." I reached in my pocket and pulled out Marcus and the kid and made them normal sized, "Now, we would like our paym-" I see the bastards arm raised. I feel a gap in my chest, I looked down and see my chest now has a large hole in it. Marcus had lost his entire torso, just legs, arms, and head. The kid was uninjured, "Y-Y-You Bas-Basta-Bastard!" I fell backwards as my body fell into the depths of death, enveloped by the cold. 'I hope the kid escapes.'

-End-
I know, Logans character is wierd, but hes dead now so no worries.

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The Enduring Warrior of Marvel

The Day You Conquered the World

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The Phoenix's Legion(freedom cry)

Boku No Hero Academia: Devil Fruit

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