Wolves of Hader

I dashed madly toward the last barricade.

Monsters were swarming, filling the gorge completely. It seemed as though there were even more monsters than during the previous battle.

"Hurry inside! There's no time to gather arrows!"

"We're short on arrows!"

"We have no choice! Get inside!"

We barely managed to get inside the barricade.

"Don't close the barricade yet!"

"Form up! Hurry!"

"Pour oil onto the barricade!"

The warrior I was residing in, and Rod's elder brother, mixed in with the other warriors as well. The spearmen stood at the front, while behind them, warriors wielding shields and hooked blades gathered in a dense formation.

But then, something strange happened.

Tiny lights were gathering toward my body. They were elementals. It seemed like the warriors couldn't see them at all.

That was when it started.

I began to feel myself merging bit by bit with this unfamiliar body. Was this how Father felt? Or was it just me?

The monsters were swarming in, pitch-black.

There were simply too many for three hundred men to stop.

It felt as if the world was collapsing.

Thoughts of playing with childhood friends, worries about the family I'd helped evacuate, regrets about such a short life—all those feelings spun through the mind of this 18-year-old warrior named 'Shiko'. Along with memories of the desperate battles fought daily for the past three months.

Kuooooo—

The roar of the approaching monsters echoed through the gorge.

"Everyone's inside!"

"Close the barricade!"

"Pour the oil!"

"Ready the fire arrows!"

Crash.

We could hear jars of oil breaking outside the barricade. The air filled with the stench of oil and burning.

The barricade would catch fire, but that was how we defended ourselves. The demon monsters used their own bodies as ladders to climb over the barricade.

Then the captain standing in the front shouted.

"Even if we all die, as long as the children survive! Warriors, will you protect our children?"

"We will protect them!"

The captain looked at every warrior.

The warriors' eyes were red with tears.

There was no fear of death.

"You have fought well till now! I am proud of you!"

"We are proud of you too, General!"

"We'll meet in the next life!"

"Aaaah!"

A hot surge welled up from my chest.

And right at that moment!

The arm holding the sword moved as I wished.

Had I completely merged with this warrior?

My body moved according to my will. The warrior found nothing strange about it at all. As if we had always been one.

"Loose the fire arrows!"

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—

Fwoooosh!

Flames burst up outside the barricade. The fire was so hot that it could burn your body to a crisp. Even so, the monsters rammed into the barricade.

Thud-thud-thud—

As the monsters slammed against the barricade all at once, many of the archers on top tumbled down.

Even with the inferno raging, the devils started climbing over the barricade. Still burning, they tumbled down mercilessly. Those that made it over immediately attacked.

It was a suffocating battlefield. The howls of monsters, the screams and shouts of warriors, the searing heat in the air. Biting, slashing, blood spouting, and flesh flying everywhere.

For ordinary people, this was what war was.

Right now, I was just a single, ordinary warrior. I had no magic, no techniques. Even fear of death gripped me.

"The barricade's falling!"

Thud—

The burning monsters kept coming, and at last, the barricade began to tilt inward. Monsters started pouring in all at once.

"Don't give ground!"

"Hold your positions!"

"Aaah!"

Around a hundred monsters charged at once. Some were skewered on spears, some leapt in, and I desperately knocked away and cut down those I could see with sword and shield.

At first, we managed to hold, but not for long. When a few spearmen fell, the warriors' lines collapsed in an instant, and it became a chaotic melee.

Khaaaah—

I swung my hooked blade madly.

Even as monsters bit into my arms and legs, I kept hacking down any I could see.

Sccrunch— Splaaat—

Black monster blood splattered everywhere. Before I knew it, the inside of the barricade was filled with monsters. Half the warriors had already fallen.

I poured every bit of experience and technique I'd gained until now into my movements. I picked up a fallen warrior's hooked blade and even unleashed Whirlwind. But my wounds kept piling up.

Maybe some muscle was cut—my left arm barely moved. Even so, I kept fighting. Only about a hundred warriors were left. The back was blocked; there was nowhere to retreat.

Looks like I won't be able to see Rod.

Was it a mistake to choose this timing?

Was I sent at the wrong time?

The monsters bit into both my legs, shaking their heads madly. Some even attacked wielding human swords. It was getting impossible to hold out any longer.

"Rod! Where are you?!"

Amid the monsters' howls,

my cry echoed meaninglessly.

But then—

Something dark began surging down from the top of the gorge. At first I thought monsters were falling from above.

But no.

They were wolves.

Over a hundred wolves!

Even the monsters seemed unsettled as they noticed the wolves. Monsters that seemed oblivious to fear now looked afraid. For reasons I didn't understand.

The wolves rushed down like a gale, leapt off house rooftops, and sprang down in unison. One was the size of the Hader wolf I knew.

The others were a bit smaller than the Hader wolf—but still much bigger than ordinary wolves. On the lead Hader wolf's back, there was a person.

It was Rod!

The hundred-strong wolves began stomping the monsters, biting and tossing them aside, headbutting and clearing a path.

The largest wolf charged right toward me, battering down monsters. Rod leaned over and held out a hand. Was he trying to pull me up behind?

"Shiko! Grab my hand!"

Without thinking, I took his hand.

Rod hauled me strongly up onto his back. Then we immediately dashed down the gorge.

The other wolves followed right after us.

Were there always this many Hader wolves?

Weren't they smaller before?

I looked at Rod's back.

He had an honest face and an average build. The impression of Rod's grit as he reached for me stayed in my mind.

Gray hair and gray eyes.

Was that because he was a great hero? Or because we were of the same bloodline?

His back looked truly immense. It felt as dependable as if the whole world could rely on him. Even though he was just a young man right now.

It was astonishing to meet an ancient hero and ride a wolf together. It makes sense that a hero could be an ordinary man, but Rod was a bit different. He was like [Nature] itself.

"How did you meet the wolf?"

"This guy's a wolf I befriended ever since I was a kid! We grew up together! But one day he just up and left, then came back with wolf companions!"

"What's the wolf's name?"

"Hader! I named him!"

It was spoken in the ancient Yan tongue.

"You're the king of the mountains!"

"Yeah! Cool, huh?"

So it was always Hader from the start.

No one else named him.

The rest of the wolves still followed.

Having nearly a hundred in the pack was an incredible sight. Most of them would probably die, though.

We dashed on for quite a while.

The Hader wolf led us out of the gorge and across the plains. It looked like we were heading toward the basin in the distance.

"Where are we going?"

"Otu!"

That basin's name was Otu.

Did the devils appear there?

"Why there?"

"We're going to capture the demon general!"

"How are you going to capture the demon general?"

"We're going to fight with the wolves! I had a dream last night! If we all join forces, we can beat the demon general!"

So the demon legion commander was at Otu.

That would mean Rod defeated the legion commander and took the demon's essence. I wondered if that essence still existed.

"The demon general is incredibly strong!"

"I know! But this time will be different!"

"How?"

Then, something astonishing happened.

As the wolves ran across the plains, countless birds flew in from the eastern sky.

But that wasn't all.

Thud, thud, thud—came a tremor through the ground. From the left and right, herds of thousands of deer and bulls came charging, kicking up dust.

Far to the north, horses, sheep, and wild boars were pouring into the basin. From the south, countless lion-like giant creatures were also surging in.

It was unbelievable.

An enormous host of animals was converging on the basin from all directions. And among them—

There were divine beasts!

The branches I'd seen on the way up Hairopro. There were divine beasts with horns and some with wings. The winged ones were the lions coming from the east.

And the horned divine beast.

That was the Hader wolf, with three spears stuck in its back.

Rod had said he commanded the seven divine beasts.

Was that Rod's power?

He really was nature itself.

Kkieaeeaek—

With a cry that shook the plains, a huge shadow began stretching over the sky. A staggering number of birds.

I couldn't close my mouth in awe.

The eagles were unbelievably large. Bigger than wyverns. Could living things that huge really exist in this world?

"Rod! Did you summon them?"

"No! Hader did!"

"Hader is their king?"

"I think so!"

So Hader was the king of the divine beasts.

Not just a commander, but king of all the divine beasts.

If so......

Was time up now?

My vision began to blur.

I wished I could see a little more.

"Rod!"

"What!"

"Can I ask you a favor?"

"What is it?"

"You probably don't know, but when the demon general dies, there'l be an orb of power left behind! Take that orb!"

"There's such a thing?"

"Yes! And someday, hide that orb at that place! I want to obtain it too!"

"But that's the demon's power!"

"It works as human power too!"

"I don't get what you're saying!"

"You'll understand someday!"

Rod looked back at me.

He had a puzzled expression.

"Who are you?"

He'd realized I was another being.

Rod had a spirit as well.

"Roger Hader!"

Rod stared at me.

"You're a Hader too?"

"Yes! My wolf's name is Loki!"

Rod's eyes sparkled.

Mixed with confusion.

It was time to return.

But right now.

Wasn't I interfering in the past?

I became drowsy again.

I just felt sleepy.

Was this really the soul magic?

* * *

How long had I slept?

It actually felt as if I'd just woken up from sleep.

"You're awake?"

"Yes. I feel like I've slept deeply for the first time in a while."

It was Eilin's voice.

Had she been watching over me the whole time?

"How long did I sleep?"

"It's been two days."

"I slept for two days?"

"Yes."

It really felt like I'd dreamed.

Maybe that's why. It didn't really feel like magic at all. I hadn't sensed any magic power during the soul connection, either.

"Did you see how the connection worked?"

"My father placed an orb on your chest. Then, light came out from you and imbued the orb."

Did the dragons really send me to the past?

It felt more like my elemental and the ancient elemental had connected, rather than the dragons. Besides, dead beings can't make magic orbs.

If that's the case, then the dragons tricked us.

Using orbs created by someone else.

What was their real intent?

"Did the dragons see what I saw?"

"I don't know. My father and Viscount watched for about two hours, then went to rest."

Come to think of it, I was lying in a different room.

Though I didn't know why, the divine sword Eilin had brought was placed at my side, wrapped in cloth.

"Eat something first."

"Yes, please."

Eilin left the room.

I immediately began organizing my thoughts.

First, the place with the demon's essence.

Surprisingly, there's a Guardian there as well.

That means the legion commander emerged through a demon gate. If the essence is there, the commander died as soon as he emerged, killed by Rod and the divine beasts.

There are six places where demon's essence has been found: two in the west and north of Arshaire, two in northeast and south Beltern, somewhere on Ta-iki Island, and the Yan continent.

Three of these match the Guardian's locations; the other locations are a bit farther away. That suggests the legion commander came out of a demon gate and died after moving a short distance.

Rod took the demon's essence in Yan, and it seems it remained there afterward. I don't know if the essence is still hidden there, or if someone has taken it over the generations.

That aside.

Just like a few days ago, something feels wrong.

The dragons said they made the soul orbs to learn how they died. That they couldn't remember how they had died.

But is it really possible the dragons themselves don't know?

How could every one of the seven dragons not know?

Dragons were not beneficial beings for humans.

Some called them lords of calamity, and there are records that say they enslaved Dran.

Would such beings really fear the devils' invasion?

They're already dead.

When I went to the past, unlike Father,

I could move the body with my own will.

I'd interfered in the past.

So whatever I did in the past—

Everything would be reflected in the present.

The past produces the present.

But if I do something in the past, things that exist now might end up never existing. The present would become something completely different.

I almost did something like that.

Thankfully, I didn't.

Because I didn't, I'm here now.

It's honestly ridiculous.

No wonder I felt something was off.

The dragons didn't leave after death.

They made a risky magic for traveling to the past.

There's only one reason.

The dragons want to change history.

To a history where they didn't die.