The Void Wolf

Chapter 234: The Lone Wolf Was Meant To Be Alone

Are you here to kill me, Avarus? Said a God wearing a straw hat.

He looked over a field of grain but he didnt seem to be paying any attention to it. It wouldnt be wrong to say that he was looking past the seemingly endless field.

Depends, Ira answered, approaching the God from behind before moving to stand next to him.

Kara kept her distance but summoned her sword and stuck it into the ground, using it as support to lean on.

...I was under the impression that you were a bloodthirsty fellow. The Gods thin grey hair swayed in the wind as he spoke.

I didnt say I wasnt, but I only really have a problem with a select few Gods.

The ones that slaughtered the Avarus, I take it? The straw hat wearing God inquired.

Yes.

If Im not mistaken youve killed other Gods who didnt participate.

Well, they gave me a reason to. Ira shrugged.

Ah, The God let out a low exclamation of understanding. "I see."

Youre awfully calm, you know?

What, should I cower away from my death or perhaps resist just like the others? That would be too troublesome, The God said indifferently.

Guess youre right about that. Ira turned and began to walk away when the God spoke again.

I understand why you hate them, Avarus.

Do you? Ira scoffed.

I truly do, I was once a human, and even more importantly, a mortal. I understand the nature of those who were born Gods and those whove lost themselves to the lure of Godhood. There is no hope for the Mortal Realm if things were to continue as they have.

As nice as that sounds, Im really only doing this for myself, Ira replied while placing a hand on Karas shoulder.

Your reason will not change the result. The God in a straw hat managed to say just before Ira disappeared.

He continued to watch the grain field as if nothing happened at all.

Ira quickly became a calamity in the Divine Realm as he attacked many Gods who remained solitary. Not all of them suffered a terrible fate since he was set on those who had wronged the Avarus in the past or those who attacked him out of fear. In the end, hundreds of other Gods who had either remained hidden or distanced themselves from the rest of the realm, emerged to join Xandes leaving very little Gods left for Ira to pick off.

Kara became concerned as the number of Gods who wanted Ira to die were more than a thousand strong. With that much divinity and power concentrated on one target, it didnt seem Ira would be able to survive even with his black flame.

Youve mentioned it before but, is the Void you spoke of really strong enough to defend against hundreds of Gods?

Who knows? Ira responded as they walked through a snowy forest before stopping in the center.

All the beasts had long since fled due to feeling Iras presence which was now too hard to hide. He absorbed multiple divinities and used the rest to feed his flames. The amount of power flowing through him would be noticed by any being in his vicinity.

Heres good, Ira said with a satisfied smile.

You havent answered my question properly, Ira. Kara grabbed his shoulder and tried to turn him around forcefully but he remained rooted without exerting any strength.

Hmm? Ira turned to look at Kara. If itll help put you at ease, Ill let you know my plan, but first...

Ira clapped his hands together and a ripple spread through the air. A clear bubble surrounded them but everything outside it became distorted in Karas view.

Through compiling spatial, matter, and dimensional related divinities and gaining the memories of Gods who created domains, Iras comprehension of space was probably only second to the presence who balanced both realms.

Kara stared outside the bubble and then jumped in shock as she looked at a copy of her own body outside the bubble along with a doppelganger of Ira.

What is this?! She asked in pure disbelief.

Listen closely, Ira said as he snapped his finger in order to get her attention.

I...Im calm...continue Kara said. She occasionally looked toward their copies.

...Now that I think about, its harder to explain than I assumed itd be. Ira held his chin and after a long moment of silence, he began his explanation.

The Divine Realm and the Mortal Realm, Im going to change it all.

...Thats impossible-

Who do you think enforces the laws of the realms?

The will of the divine realm acts on its own, Kara replied but as she looked at Iras confident expression, she felt her answer was wrong even though it's what the Gods believed since the beginning of their existence.

Your half-right. Though the truth is there is no will that governs this realm but rather an entity that maintains the balance between the two.

If thats true then...Wait, how would you even know that? Unless you personally met with it-

I did and it isnt satisfied with how things are currently. It wants me to restore the natural order or something along those lines.

And youll accomplish that by altering the two realms? That's preposterous.

I don't plan on doing things its way. Id be stupid to trust an entity like that. You think it would just let me be after everything? Ill probably be the biggest threat to both realms by the time I kill the rest of those Gods. So my plan is to be the first one to act. And since the tainted lands should cover a decent portion of the realm it will be easier.

Those Tainted Lands offer no benefit that I can see so how does that affect anything?

Ira smiled deeply at Karas question. Think about it, that presence shouldve been able to remove the black pillar before it even caused as much destruction as it did. That also goes for the Tainted Lands. So its clear that it can't even alter what's been touched by the Void. If I make my stand within the Tainted Lands, my chances of winning go up.

You! Karas eyes widened and she became speechless. No- You couldnt! Not even you could go against something that- No, no, no. Ira, you shouldnt

As Kara realized Iras plan she immediately became panicked. Just how powerful would an entity like the one Ira described be? A fight between the Entity and Ira would lead to scale destruction that had never been witnessed before.

After her temporary lapse of composure, Kara drew a deep breath. You want to use the Tainted Lands as your domain so you can fight it evenly? Do you understand the effects of such a battle?

I do. Ira nodded. But you shouldnt worry because you wont be around for that.

...What do you mean by that?

Well, youll be seeing your daughter again. Ira grinned as he reached toward Kara.

What are you doing?! Kara tried to move back but found her body was unable to move as she wanted it to.

Stay still, Ive never tried making a God descend but it should work if I thought about this correctly. Ira grabbed her wrist and burned a small sigil of a black wing.

Aaaah! Ah? Kara screamed in agony but the pain disappeared almost as quickly as it came.

You should be weak enough to avoid detection. Now...this is the hardest step...Once you get down there, remain in the Dark Elf Empire and tell my family to do the same. Do not let anyone leave no matter what, that also includes you. Ira took a deep breath, preparing for the next step.

Ira! Ive said it once before, dont mistake my cautiousness for cowardice! There is nothing honorable in fleeing! I will stay and fight with you even if it costs me my life. I am a Valkyrie! I was born to-

Shut up, I cant concentrate. Ira lightly flicked Karas forehead, instantly knocking her unconscious.

He caught her limp body before it fell and began to focus. It would be extremely easy to let Kara remain in the Divine Realm but it made her death all the more certain. The entity seemed like an emotionless being but he felt it would go to any lengths to kill him. Whether it be luring him by threatening his family or otherwise.

Luckily enough, Ira had isolated the city as his own domain unknowingly and the Entity wouldnt be able to manipulate anything within its boundaries. The fact that the Entity didnt speak of it and even re-appeared when Ira spread the border of the Tainted Land showed it was wary of the Void and with good reason. The Void was clearly out of the entities control and it showed once it hastily confronted Ira.

The difficulty of the task came in the form of Karas arrival in the Mortal Realm. If the Entity discovered Ira had moved without its knowledge, it would attack him immediately.

I hope you dont forget what I said, Ira spoke to an unconscious Kara before a black mist wrapped around her body.

She suddenly vanished with a loud thunderclap that wouldve reverberated throughout the realm if it wasnt for Iras isolation barrier. After he sent her away, his body seemed to be filled with fatigue. He then removed the barrier instantly took the place of his copy without a single delay. There was no indication that anything ever happened and the copy of Kara looked to be extremely real.

Of course, a stolen divinity was used to create her divine signature and her body was just an assembly of altered matter made to look like her. Ira couldnt accomplish the grand feat of creating life but with his newly acquired knowledge, he could create a golem that perfectly resembled her likeness.

Ira approached the golem and placed a hand on its shoulder, beneath the fake armor it wore, a black handprint was burned onto its shoulder.

Alright, you should take some distance and wait for the time to come. Go meditate about swords or something. Ira waved Kara away.

She silently nodded before flying off. Of course, it was a false display only to trick the eyes of an observer that could be watching him at all times. If the Entity didnt detect a change in Kara, it was likely to only keep its focus on Ira.

Time to start! Ira shouted to no one in particular. He shifted into his beast form and raised his head toward the sky.

His jaw parted revealing an abyss-like black hole that was just behind his row of metallic teeth. All four of his arms were spread out and soon, something began to happen. Iras surroundings were uprooted, snow, rock, trees, chunks of dirt, and just about everything near him began to rise in the air like it was grabbed by an invisible hand.

The phenomenon spread and the pull became much violent with giant craters forming where huge piles of earth were ripped away. Everything rose into the air and then was funneled into Iras mouth, compressed into a small size, and consumed.

His actions couldnt be understood at a glance, but it would surely draw the attention of the Gods and Xandes would be sure to send a small army of powerful Gods to stage another capture attempt.