Wolves of Hader

Kwoooaaaar—

The Guardian roared, but it didn't matter.

Yuri charged at the creature without hesitation.

The Guardian of flame, resembling a bear, tried to swat Yuri away with its burning forepaw. But Yuri casually blocked it with her left hand—thud—and grabbed the Guardian's forepaw, then threw it aside.

Kueeegh—thud—

The Guardian crashed helplessly into the wall. Even its intense flames had no effect on Yuri. On the contrary, the fire seeped into her body, strengthening her.

"If you won't become my underling, you'll be punished!"

Yuri ran up again, seized the Guardian's hind leg, and hoisted it up before slamming it hard into the ground. She continued to bash it up and down repeatedly.

Boom! Smash! Bam—

It wasn't much different from a naughty child grabbing a frog by the hind legs and slamming it on the floor. The only difference was that the one doing the slamming was much smaller.

The Guardian flailed, striking at Yuri, but she didn't budge, as if the blows were nothing but pebbles. Yuri was extremely strong when enveloped in powerful flames.

After about twenty rounds of slamming,

The Guardian's strength seemed to wane, then suddenly its body shattered and scattered apart.

"Oh? It's dead."

It wasn't a Guardian.

It was a kind of Golem made of flame.

This proved it was the Lord of Flame.

This was indeed the island of flame, and rumor had it the Lord of Flame resided here. The Lord of Flame was said to have a fierce rivalry with the Red Dragon, meaning it was an existence on par with a dragon.

"I request an audience with the Lord of Flame."

I offered a polite bow.

Even after a pause, no answer came.

I spoke up again.

"I heard you can break the seal placed on Yuri. We have come here for that reason; please respond."

There was still no answer.

Just as I was about to ask once more,

Lava began to rise quietly from the bottom of the pupil. Then, the lava started taking on the shape of Yuri. It probably had no true form of its own.

― Are you the one who came here before?

"That's correct."

Just as I expected.

It had intelligence and emotions.

The lava shaped like Yuri radiated flames as it looked around at us. It was my first time seeing a Spirit Lord. Clearly, it was an ancient being with a personified nature.

― Elin, who walks with Arma, is here as well.

"Yes. She was a great spirit."

It seemed Arma was the legendary guardian spirit who accompanied Bellen.

― That child must be of Astelber's line.

"Huh? That's my family name."

Astelber was both Yuri's family name and the name of the Red Dragon. I hadn't expected much, but to really meet the Lord of Flame—maybe we could break Yuri's seal after all.

"Do you know Astelber well?"

― I know. She was a mischievous dragon obsessed with taking away my power.

"Don't insult my mother!"

The Lord of Flame laughed.

― I refuse your request. If that child grows, he will become a great nuisance to me.

"Astelber and Yuri are different. Yuri will never trouble you."

But the Lord of Flame remained silent.

I spoke again.

"The devils may yet return to this world. Didn't you create the Guardian of Flame here to stop the devils?"

The mention of devils prompted a different response.

― The devils will return, you say?

"They already have. The civilization of humans is being destroyed. This is only the beginning."

Yet the Lord of Flame did not look at me, only at Eilin. He must have seen the immense holy power within her. I had heard only a rare few were at the level of Spirit Lords.

― Long ago, noble Dignity visited me.

"Noble Dignity?"

A massive and great dragon.

His name was Noble Dignity.

― He told me, when the devils return again, the incarnation of a god would come to find me.

Everyone looked at Eilin.

The incarnation of a god? What did that mean?

"Are you saying Eilin is the incarnation of a god?"

― I cannot be certain. However, I know that the will of the gods is with you and that woman.

The Lord of Flame looked back at me.

― He also said this: the woman would revive a dying Apostle, and the man would resurrect a dead Apostle. It seems you two are those people.

"Who are the Apostles?"

― The seven gods you serve.

So that meant,

Eilin would heal the sick god.

And I would resurrect the dead god?

"Can gods even die?"

― The Apostle of Yan among the seven is dead.

"And some Apostles are sick?"

― Did I not already say so?

I looked around at my companions.

Something flashed through my mind.

It was astonishing.

"Where did the Creator go?"

― Apeon is protecting the dying Apostle in Elin's land. Only the Tree of Osu in Aindel can communicate with Apeon.

My companions' mouths dropped open.

I asked again.

"What must we do to revive the sick and dead gods?"

― I do not know.

"Didn't Noble Dignity mention anything?"

― The answer lies on the path you will walk.

That made sense, in a way. I never could have predicted we'd learn all this about gods on this island.

The Spirit Lord looked at me and Eilin.

― I will break the seal on the child.

The Spirit Lord approached Yuri.

I nodded at Yuri, reassuring her with a look that it would be all right. Yuri seemed to sense the Spirit Lord's presence as well.

The Spirit Lord offered a hand to Yuri.

Yuri hesitated briefly, then took it. Flames from the lord passed into Yuri.

― Noble Dignity also knew.

"Knew what?"

― That this child would come to me.

"Huh?"

― The one who placed the seal has already undone it. The only thing was, this child did not know the spell. I will now pass on all I know to the child.

At that moment,

Yuri's body went limp and she floated up into the air. The Spirit Lord began muttering something.

It must have been the process of passing on magic.

Anyway,

We could not hide our surprise.

There was a seal-breaking spell in the candy Yuri had eaten. I never imagined the one who gave her that candy was Noble Dignity. I had sensed greatness in him but never guessed the truth.

"What kind of god is the sick one?"

― They cannot be called gods.

"Then what kind of Apostle is the sick Apostle?"

― Elin's Apostle.

"What about the departed Apostle?"

― The Apostle of humans.

"There must be other Apostles who followed the departed one."

― Dran. Gadisil. Tak.

"Amir would be the Apostle who went into hiding, then."

― Amir's Apostle is in the As tree.

"I see."

That enormous tree in Hairopro.

That was where Amir's god was. Through him, guardian beasts and the tree of Osu were all connected.

I still didn't know which god was guiding us. Either way, we had been chosen to save the dying and dead gods—or to prevent the world's destruction.

The grand duke's god was the god of humans.

The god who betrayed the Creator Apeon.

Hanuk, who followed the human god. Rod, who followed the god of Yan. The split among the heroes must have been closely tied to the gods' betrayal. The human god must have killed Yan's god.

The grand duke's god was still a god.

But not a devil.

However,

"Why do you call gods 'Apostles'?"

― They were simply the first rulers of the seven races, apostles to the god, and became immortal. You might see them as gods, but I do not.

So they were not gods, but beings who had become godlike.

Their descendants came to worship them as gods.

A wry laugh escaped me.

Right before fighting the grand duke, I had asked him:

What was it he truly wanted?

He had answered:

It wasn't about 'doing,' but about 'becoming.'

And that 'becoming'—

He might have meant becoming a god.

The god of the Holy State.

― It is time for you to leave.

"Is that all?"

― The child will come to realization on her own.

I lifted Yuri into my arms.

― I have told the spirit with you—should you need me, I will help you. All the spirits of flame will fight at your side.

And as the Lord finished, lava poured down.

The flaming monsters we had seen at the entrance must have been spirits. There could be only one Lord of Flame.

I carried Yuri outside.

Only then did everyone let out the breaths they had held.

It was as if we had all been holding our mouths shut by force.

"That old man on the arctic island was Noble Dignity."

"Yeah. The candy he gave Yuri broke the seal magic on her."

"He did call it magic candy at the time. He said when Yuri grew up, she'd understand what kind of magic it was."

Eilin asked as well.

"So the story the old man told about family was actually about the gods?"

"Yes. He said, after the eldest left, one died, one fell ill, and one hid away. The rest followed the eldest."

Donnie chimed in.

"That eldest would be the god the grand duke serves. He said it was the human god, and Hanuk is the human hero."

"That's right. They're Apostles now, not gods."

Eilin asked again.

"Will Elin's Apostle be in Aindel? The Lord of Flame said he was in Elin's land."

"I'm not sure. He said Elin's land, not Aindel, so perhaps it's somewhere else."

The old man on the island—Noble Dignity—had described it like this: a parent taking a sick child on a long journey, to revive their dead child.

That long journey might not be physical distance. It could be a journey lasting a thousand years or more. Apeon must have had a reason for protecting and saving the two Apostles.

I wasn't sure if I could truly revive the dead Apostle, but I did believe Eilin was the incarnation of a god. She had been chosen as the wielder of the holy sword.

"It seems Apeon intends to use us to battle the traitorous Apostles. Now that they have made themselves gods, they seek to destroy the world and turn it into hell."

"Will we be able to win?"

"We will. Because they're not true gods."

They were beings fearsome enough to be called gods.

They would possess great holy power and authority.

The grand duke was trying to become such an existence.

And yet the grand duke had joined hands with the devils.

The devils were scheming in this world, through the grand duke or the vampire Kas.

That was the will of the renegade Apostles.

Those Apostles had sided with the devils.

The Apostles of the gods likely possessed primordial holy power. That's why they could hold both light and darkness. They could even take devils as underlings.

We will win, no matter what.

What is really the difference between an Apostle and a high devil?

Donnie said,

"It looks like the traitorous human Apostle is supporting the grand duke. I feel like he supports the grand duke even more than the devils do. Maybe because the grand duke is of Hanuk's bloodline."

"That's very likely."

"Would those Apostles carry the holy power of light?"

"They would have primordial holy power. The human Apostle could have become the Demon King and built a hell of his own."

Eilin agreed.

"It feels like the holy power of the Order or the zealous Holy Knights is theirs. It's hard to distinguish between primordial holy power and the holy power of light."

Eilin was right.

Light and darkness were opposites, but light and primordial holy power were similar. Primordial holy power was a bit stronger.

The ancient Holy State had worshiped the human Apostle as a god, but that god became a Demon King. As a prince of the Holy State, the hero Hanuk had no choice but to serve the Demon King.

Because of a slip of the tongue by the hero Dran, the heroes split. It probably related to what these so-called gods truly were. Rather than just splitting, they divided into light and darkness.

"We need to go to Yan at once."

"Will we find any trace of Rod?"

"We'll have to look."

The hero Rod spent his later years in Yan. If he remembered the day he was possessed by his friend. He must have hidden the essence of the devil and left some kind of clue.

If we could determine the exact time,

We could go back and see the truth with our own eyes.

The discarded history someone had tried to erase.

Still carrying the sleeping Yuri, we headed for where Asgard's bones lay. Yuri seemed restless as if dreaming, tossing and turning repeatedly. Suddenly, she opened her eyes.

"Mm?"

"You're awake."

I set Yuri down.

"Did you have a dream?"

"Yeah. Grandpa kept mumbling in words I couldn't understand, but for some reason, now I do."

"What did he say?"

"He said I could return to my true form."

"Do you want to try it here?"

Yuri nodded.

Then, quietly, she chanted,

"Lund Anark... Astelber."

At that moment,

A small hole of light appeared in Yuri's body, and her entire body was instantly sucked into it. Then,

That hole of light flipped inside out, and a crimson body suddenly burst forth, swelling rapidly in size.

We all had to jump back at once.

The suddenly erupting crimson body expanded furiously, forcing us to retreat even further. It grew to a massive size, then stopped.

Kuoooo—Whoooosh—

Amid a surge of magical aftershock—

A giant red dragon appeared.

It was Yuri's true form.