The Void Wolf

Ira stood in a dark room and paced back and forth with a troubled look.

“I wonder how much Ria has grown…” Ira ran his fingers through his hair with frustration before turning to someone sitting in a chair.

“Do you think she’ll still recognize me?” Ira asked.

“Please...Just let me...Go.” A man with reptilian eyes was tied to a chair with blood covering his entire body.

“Answer the question.” Ira narrowed his eyes coldly.

“I don’t know...I don’t know who that is…”

“Answer it.”

“I don’t even know–”

“Answer. It.”

“I don’t fucking know! I don’t know! I don’t know!” The man gave a hoarse scream.

Ira inhaled deeply before approaching the man. Each step he took reverberated around the room as he slowly moved closer. The restrained man subconsciously trembled when Ira finally stopped in front of him.

“Yeah, you’re right.” Ira’s laughter broke the tense atmosphere before it trailed off and nothing but silence was left between the two.

The man began to sweat as he thought back to earlier in that day when he ran into Ira. What mistake led him to get involved with such a demented person? He simply didn’t like that Ira was walking in front of him and called him out. Ira simply smiled and gave way to the Blessed One without much of a response. In reality, Ira decided to trail him back to his home where he snuck in and attacked. The guards were killed in an instant, leaving just Ira and the Blessed One together.

Ira suddenly sighed before shaking his head, “I just miss her too much.”

Without the slightest warning, Ira raised his fist and struck the Blessed One directly in the head, killing him instantly. It was quite a merciful death when one considered all of the things Ira could’ve done to make him miserable.

Ira looked at the molten red ring on his hand and let out another sigh.

…

The next morning, the murder of a Blessed One didn’t go unnoticed. Security was tightened and a curfew was put in place. There were random searches for the individual fitting Ira’s previous appearance especially his yellow eyes. Still, the person in question could change his eye color in an instant so he could easily avoid detection. He sat on the same rooftop where he confronted the two Vulpes.

Ira’s eyes stayed glued to the floating palace in the distance. In his point of view, it was just begging to be destroyed. He lazily reclined on the roof and thought of all the ways he could bring it down.

Not too long after he emerged, the two Vulpes appeared shortly after and made their way to him.

Once Ira sensed they were close enough he spoke up, “So?”

“They’ve managed to find some small leads on the one you’re calling Gicae but since it exceeds a few hundred years the best bet is to find the records the Lares keep on hand,” One said.

“But they are looking for it...In the meantime, they would like to personally meet with you.”

Ira hopped to his feet and stretched before speaking, “Alright.”

“Really? That’s great.”

Before they could continue to get excited, Ira waved his hand to stop them, “First, I’m going to get rid of that floating palace.”

They weren’t able to even say anything as Ira leaped away before being carried by the wind toward the palace.

…

The floating palace was quite the marvel of existence seeing as it wasn’t something commonly found in the world. It was only a few hundred feet off the ground but nonetheless, it was an impressive sight. Before the collapse there were dozens of other floating cities, mainly the ones used by Valkyries but after there weren’t many left. The ones that remained were all valuable and were to be cherished at all cost.

Ira soared through the air before crashing into the palace with a loud boom. He raised his arms and began to forcefully bend the space around the entire palace.

“You’re the one, aren’t you?” A dragon with dark green scales and vicious amber eyes raised its head toward Ira.

“Hold on,” Ira said as he focused all of his concentration on the task at hand.

“Arrogant! To think someone as small and as weak looking as you could threaten us. Kill him.” The dragon roared to the dozens of guards who rushed forward with spears in hand.

They stabbed the spears into Ira’s body but found that he didn’t even flinch.

“What!?” Then it became clear that the spears pierced his skin but weren’t strong enough to tear through his muscle fibers.

“What are you waiting for just kill him!” The dragon bellowed.

Suddenly, Ira smiled before he spoke, “Done.”

The palace was hit with a shockwave and those inside were sent tumbling into the air. From the outside one would be able to see that the palace had vanished from the sky and crashed into the ground while kicking up a cloud of dust. Like that, another city was met with the death of the dragon that ruled over it.

The mountain of rubble shifted as something crawled out from the top of it. It was Ira who was caked in dust but didn’t seem to mind at all. He stood up and patted himself before teleporting again.

Ira arrived back on the rooftop in the middle of a city full of panic. The two Vulpes were speechless as they looked at him so he snapped to get their attention.

“Let’s go,” Ira said plainly.

The two of them gulped loudly and then nodded with a clear sense of awe.

…

Virgil was creating a plan to systematically disrupt the activities of the Gods when he was met with a surprise.

“Sir, please come quick.” An attendant approached.

“What is it?” Virgil asked.

“There are two Vulpes who claim to have brought the one we were looking for but…”

“What?”

“Another dragon on the outskirts of the Dragon’s Wing province was killed a few hours ago. The distance they would have to cover doesn’t line up.”

Virgil had a look of understanding but nodded his head, “Bring them in and call the others.”

If he was powerful enough to kill dragons then crossing a great distance wouldn’t be an issue.

A few minutes later and Ira was brought into the center room where those involved with the uprising discussed their next moves. It was a plain, dimly-lit, looking room full of dusty tables. Of course, Ira could hear a lot of movement underneath the floor which told him the appearance of the main room was just for show.

Virgil entered the room and saw someone younger than himself. Ira looked to be in his late teens and carried an air of casual apathy around him.

“Hello, I’m Virgil, the leader of the human faction involved with the uprising...I’m guessing you’re the one who killed two dragons?” Virgil sought confirmation.

“Ira.” Ira took a seat without being offered one.

“I’d like to thank you for that, Ira.” Virgil didn’t mind Ira’s lack of manners and moved to sit at the table with him.

“Gicae.” Ira replied.

“I’m sorry?”

“I’ll help you if you find every Lares connected with that name.” Ira didn’t waste any time in stating what he wanted. They might’ve tried to negotiate favorable terms and squeeze Ira for all they could but he decided to consume them if they did.

“Ah, yes, we currently asked a few Valkyries looking into it. Apparently, the name dates back to quite a few hundred years ago.”

“I’m not interested in old history, I just want a location or a few names. Once you get them I’ll kill a few people for you.” Ira maintained his stance and showed no signs of wavering.

“What is it you mean by a few people?” Virgil inquired.

“A dragon or anything else. I’ll kill it.” Ira seemed quite arrogant but it wasn’t as if he couldn’t easily kill a few dragons.

“I think that we–” Virgil stopped speaking as the other members of the Uprising walked in.

“So he’s the one?” A Valkyrie with dark grey hair asked.

Ira didn’t even turn around to face the person speaking he just leaned forward and rested his chin on his palm.

“He doesn’t look like much.” The towering Haykul man spoke.

“He’s just as my ancestor described so there’s no mistake. It would be wise to treat him as someone who deserves respect.” The Vulpes woman retorted.

“Yes, he’s the same one from that time.” An androgynous man with silver hair and blue eyes suddenly appeared behind the three. The fox ears sitting on his head gave away the fact that he was Vulpes.

“Ancestor!?” The Vulpes was about to bow but she was stopped by his firm hand.

“There is no need. Anyway, I believe introductions are in order.”

“The Valkyrie is Hildred, the Haykul is Bertrand, this young Vulpes here is Riel, and I am Jydar. I’ve heard quite a lot about you and if it isn’t too much trouble I would like to hear your name.” Jydar spoke with a politeness that couldn’t be faked.

“Ira.” But it didn’t cause any real change in Ira. He barely looked over his shoulder to reply to him.

“How dare you!” Riel grew angry and began channeling her mana but she was quickly stopped by her ancestor who clenched her shoulder tightly.

“No, this brat is pretty full of himself,” Bertrand chuckled heartily but his eyes narrowed.

“I wonder if you’re willing to have a quick bout with us in order to demonstrate your skill.” Hildred’s hand was busy resting on the pommel of her sword.

“It wouldn't turn out well for you,” Ira responded without much enthusiasm as he finally stood up and turned around.

“Is that so?” Hildred asked.

“Don’t you know what happens if your wings get pulled off? I might end up killing you because it's way too easy to tear them off,” Ira said with a faint smile a flash of aggression filled his eyes.

Before Hildred could respond Jydar interjected with a grave countenance, “...What are you?”

He suddenly felt a sense of danger emitting from Ira that pricked his skin. Those of beast-related races all had some sort of bloodline resonance but those who were from direct lineages were more in tune with it. That’s why when Ira began to show his hostility, Jydar was the first one to feel that they were playing with fire or, to be more accurate, a monster contained in human skin.