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Huuuu...

The wind maliciously shrieked as it rushed past the rocky terrain of a cold, snowy mountain. The late-night blizzard simultaneously bit at the skin of every living thing while burying the world in white. Dense, rapid winds rendered it almost impossible to see past a few feet ahead, the few rays of moonlight that struggled through, the only solace to any creature stupid enough to remain outside during the terrible blizzard.

Even though it was undoubtedly suicidal to remain outside during the blizzard, three silhouettes could be seen seated close to the mountain's summit. The profiles, one large and two small, reacted differently to the tormenting wind. The large silhouette was calm, without a single shift in its muscle, whereas the little silhouettes trembled, often curling up in a futile attempt to conserve their body warmth.

Upon closer inspection, the silhouettes were revealed to be that of a bare-chested young man with his eyes closed, accompanied by two young kafu cubs. The young man's scattered hair danced freely in the wind, occasionally revealing a gnarly scar that ran down his face. The scar lent credence to the cold, unfeeling aura that chilled the already frozen tundra around himself. The cub by the man's left's beautiful white fur blended with the snowy blizzard, whereas the cub to his right’s bright brown fur was barely visible through the snow collected over him.

The white cub, teeth chattering, looked up at the stoic man with fear in his eyes. He'd managed to hold back so far out of fear of retaliation, but at the moment, his desire trumped his fear. "R--R-Razznik-san." The stoic man's eyes snapped open. A pair of irritated blood-red eyes fixed on the little kafu. The cub's spine instantly chilled beyond anything the cold winds could bring. Paradoxically, despite the cold, the cub's fur immediately soaked with thick sweat.

Indifferent to the little kafu's plight, Razznik coldly demanded, "What?"

The cub hiccupped, his answer caught in his throat as Razznik brows slightly furrowed. Still, despite his fright, the cub was aware that if he did not speak up, he would most likely not live through the night. Mustering up his courage, the cub stammered, "I-I-I'm cold."

Razznik glared at the young cub, then turned to his right to inspect the other kafu, only to realize the brown cub was even worse off. Sheets of ice had formed on the child’s fur, the young cub too weak to even shake off the ice.

However, despite the deathly trembling and sickly pallor, the young cub had a ruthless stubbornness in his eyes. It was apparent he had no desire to rest despite the torment.

Razznik looked from the brown cub to the white. With a slight shake of his head, he lightly tapped the earth. A large mandala spread out from his fingertips to occupy an area of roughly 20 square meters. A dome-like, stone structure rose from the ground and enclosed the trio within. Razznik got to his feet and tapped the dome's roof, causing another mandala to spread over the walls.

With a red flash, the mandala blended into the walls. A second later, the walls began to emit heat, instantly warming the inhabitants of the dome.

Razznik glanced at the white cub who had quickly snuggled up against a wall. He walked over and nonchalantly grabbed the cub by the scruff of his neck. He unceremoniously dropped the cub at the center of the dome next to his brother. Razznik glared at the white cub. "Cathek, what is your brother's condition?"

Cathek glanced at Razznik with question in his eyes before taking a good look at his brother. As expected, just like Cathek himself, his brother suffered a severe shiver. Upon closer inspection, however, Cathek's heart nearly leaped to his throat. His brother's situation was far worse than his own.

Cathek’s brother's fur had begun to gray at its roots, belying his terrible fever. Cathek's brother's violently chattering teeth rendered him incapable of speaking a coherent word. Even worse, the young cub's eyes were glazed over and unfocused, as if he could not see anything. However, even though the cub looked like he was only a second away from death's door, the stubbornness in his furrowed brows revealed his obstinate resolve to power through, through sheer force of will.

Cathek shrieked in fright as the reality of his brother's state dawned. Tears poured down his eyes as he grabbed Razznik by the hem of his trousers and pleaded, "P-please save him! Don't let Barthul die, please! You can save him!"

Razznik looked down at the snot-nosed kafu. It seemed that fear was a strong motivator for this one. First, it was the fear of his own death. Then the fear of losing his brother. Though, judging by how he was grabbing Razznik's pants, the fear of losing his brother was a stronger motivation.

"No." Razznik coldly rebutted as he brushed off Cathek's grip with a light kick. Razznik's cold eyes bore into the young cub's terrified, pleading gaze. Razznik grunted and turned his back to the devastated kafu. "Do not fret. Your brother shall survive."

Cathek's eyes widened, sparkling like large goblets filled with water. "Really!? He'll live? He'll be fine?" Cathek questioned excitedly as he looked to his forever stubborn elder brother.

"This Time ," Razznik grimly stated. He turned around and glared at both cubs. "If you two are to survive this period, you must learn a few things." Razznik gaze fixated on Cathek. "First, you. Your talent far surpasses that of your brother, but you are mentally weak, and you often cower behind fear. With that attitude, you will not survive long in the world. Your fear also mandates you remain so self-absorbed, so you failed to realize the plight of your kin until it was too late." Razznik glanced over both cubs. "You must understand this. I am not your babysitter. If you do not watch out for one another, you will surely perish."

"In your case," Razznik said as he looked at Barthul, who struggled to keep his gaze fixed on the larger man. "I can understand your drive to be strong—even more so when you have a brother as talented as yours. " Razznik gave a rare, approving nod. That quickly turned to a hard frown. "Your willpower is exceedingly strong. But, if not handled well, it is a double-edged sword. You must learn the difference between tenacity and stupidity, or you will end up either dead or crippled with nothing to show for your efforts." The future demon lord crossed his arms. "I could heal you, but I shall not. Suffer. Remember this pain. It will guide you while you seek your body's limits."

Razznik looked at the silent children. Both had managed to maintain eye contact so far because they were vehemently fighting the subconscious pressure he exuded. Still, for children their age to be able to meet his gaze for so long, it could be seen just how seriously their mother took their training.

With a snort, Razznik made a series of gestures with his hand, and a bag appeared in his hand. He threw the bag onto the floor then turned to leave. "You will find food in there. Eat, then sleep. We leave at first light." Razznik touched a section of the wall, and it crumbled to the earth to form a small open door. The blizzard never got a chance to enter the shelter, however, as a timely translucent mana shield occupied the little doorway. The shield was designed to keep the blizzard out but let in fresh air every few minutes.

Cathek sat by his brother's side as he watched the intimidating frame walk into the snowstorm, doubtless to continue his training. The young cub looked at his brother, at the stone dome, the food satchel on the floor, then to the doorway. A small smile lit up the side of the little cub's shivering lips. Indeed, although that back was scary, it was just as, if not more reassuring when it protected you from the world's terrors.

This was a back the little cub was confident he would follow for a long ti-

"No! Come Back! Don't leave us!"

Within the snowy blizzard, a weak, shaking, white-furred arm reached out to a familiar silhouette. The arm owner's vision dimmed, his world slowly turning dark. He let out one last desperate cry at the cold, fading back before he slumped to the earth and succumbed to the darkness.

???

Within the corridors of a certain palace, the eyes of a white-furred kafu sprung open with a start. Cathek, dressed in a modified, white priest armor, raised his head and pushed off against the wall he had been leaning on.

"I must be getting old," Cathek muttered with a resigned smile. "To think I would dream of him again. Must be because the time is near." The kafu shook his head, then proceeded to walk down the corridor.

Cathek observed the cracked and broken walls with mirth. The cracks and holes in the palace walls told the story of a place besieged numerous times over the centuries, yet somehow holding its ground. However, most of the visible cracks were as recent as a few decades to a decade ago.

However, perhaps because of the paintings placed next to the cracks, or the sculptures along the corridor, Cathek found something about the palace inviting—warm, even. The kafu greeted many warriors and priests along his path, most of whom were daeben. Despite the daeben being the vast majority of the population, the warriors and priests from the other races only had broad, satisfied smiles on their faces when chatting with their daeben counterparts.

Here, strength was key. No one discriminated based on race. The strong were respected and acknowledged. A few orcs could be seen chatting with other warriors in some select places, without the suppressed inferiority often found in their kind's eyes.

Cathek often wondered what it would be like if the Chaos Order achieved their ambition. Would the world be like this island, utterly rid of discrimination and war? Would all the bloodshed and lives lost be worth the couple centuries of peace they would have bought?

Cathek did not have much time to ponder further as he came to a halt in front of a massive double door. The door had a mural of a gargantuan drider, the patron goddess of the daeben tribe.

The drider species were beasts with the upper body of a human (often female) and the lower body of a spider. The species were cunning, vicious creatures adept at shapeshifting and traps. Skills they often used to lure in unsuspecting prey before sucking them dry.

A pair of ruby gemstones placed in the mural's eyes shone with a red light. The red light scanned the entity that stood before it. Finding no problems with the identity, it flashed once again, and the doors slid open.

Cathek looked down at the red carpet with the drider sigil. He took a deep breath, then stepped on the carpet and made his way to the throne at the end. The atmosphere instantly warped as soon as he walked past the threshold. The air was heavy with an innate suppression forced upon all within the halls by an unknown entity.

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Cathek was fortunate in that the suppressive atmosphere had no hold on him. He was far too strong for anything on this material plane to suppress him. He had the luxury of freely examining the throne room, a deep melancholy in his eyes as he looked at the crumbled pillars and cracked walls.

Traces of the former beauty could be seen in the beautiful marble floors, with finishing so exquisite that they could reflect the entire room perfectly with the right amount of light. Unfortunately, pale green light from will-o-wisps lanterns were the only source of light in the throne room.

Cathek's gaze narrowed as he looked up. A mural of a colossal spider occupied the entire ceiling, eight will-o-wisp lights ominously watching over the proceedings within the room. Cathek shook his head and turned his attention to the throne itself.

The daeben were a matriarchic community, a fact duly affirmed by the young woman who laid on a sinister throne fashioned from the husk of a dead drider. The dark throne evoked ghastly images of what it would look like if a person 'laid' within the abdomen of a drider. However, to the daeben, it was a talisman that promised their rulers, and in turn, their kingdom would always be in the embrace of their patron goddess, Arachne.

Arachne, unlike Gerber, Mera, and the others, was not a progeny of Ferulic and Aethir. Hence she was not a real goddess by the strictest definition. Instead, she was one of the demons created by Ferulic during his 'little jealous tantrum.' Arachne was created to embody the treachery, cunning, and wickedness of humes, her horrifying lower body meant to be a play on the humes' penchant to follow anything beautiful. In this case, following her gorgeous upper body would land humes within her lower body's mandibles.

"It never ceases to amaze me how you always appreciate this art despite being older than this entire building."

A soft sultry voice drew Cathek's gaze down to the beautiful daeben who laid on the throne, clad in a sensuous, revealing cloth black cloth armor. The young queen's ashy black skin had a subtle glow, dull yet inviting beneath the green will-o-wisps. Long locks of snow-white hair, indicative of pure-blooded daebens, rested on her exposed midriff, the queen's penchant for individuality subtly revealed in ruby red highlights made to match her steamy gaze. Dark red lips curled up in a smirk as she regarded the powerful kafu.

"Some things are better appreciated with time," Cathek replied with a warm smile. He came to a stop five meters from the throne. "Your Majesty," Cathek greeted with a polite bow. "I, Cathek, request a private audience."

The queen's lips curled up in a smile. She nonchalantly waved and ordered, "Leave us."

It was very faint, but Cathek's sharp ears easily picked up the instantaneous sounds of feet hitting the floor. A trained eye would have noticed the darkness in the areas not reached by the will-o-wisps shift ever so slightly.

Moments later, confident that the shadow guards had retreated, the queen rose from the throne and walked to Cathek's front. A mischievous smirk formed on her lips, and before Cathek could react, she wrapped her hands around his waist and buried her head in his chest. "Uncle Cat! Where have you been? You haven't come to see me in weeks!"

If any of the daeben were present, their eyes would pop out with shock. Gone was their regal, mysterious, authoritarian leader, replaced with an ordinary young woman excited to see her Uncle.

Pa!

"Ouch!" The queen recoiled in shock and pain, both hands on her smoking forehead.

"Queen Alia Tatjana Thorraid, I strongly suggest you mind your behavior as royalty," Cathek harshly scolded. However, the smile in his eyes revealed the truth.

"Tch, stingy," Queen Alia retorted with a pouty grunt. Massaging the strike zone on her forehead, she lamented, "Ah-ah, I hope this doesn't swell up."

"Not to worry," Cathek soothed with a teasing smile. " I have had the better part of a millennium to practice the forehead flick, so it leaves no mark behind. That includes swelling, of course."

Queen Alia glared at him. "Another one of your useless skills. For a thousand-year-old man, you're really boring. You know that?" Queen Alia raised her hands in protest, "A thousand years, and you haven't learned anything about a maiden's heart?"

Cathek shook his head with a wry smile. "And what purpose would that serve?"

Queen Alia's gaze narrowed. "You thick-headed relic. At the very least, it serves a better purpose than that useless forehead flick thing."

"Quite the contrary, your Majesty," Cathek jovially rebutted. "For one," Cathek stated as, much to Alia's bitter resignation, he patted the queen's head. "I get to discipline unruly royals without leaving a trace."

"Ah! Stop it!" Queen Alia exclaimed as she pushed Cathek's hand off her head. "I really wish you would stop treating me like a child. I'm already twenty-one years old. I'm an adult!"

"Twenty-one is it?" Cathek murmured with a smile. "Time flies by when you get to my age. What has it been? Ten, Eleven years since your parents passed in that final battle?" Cathek's gaze grew heavy as old memories surfaced. "I still recall it like it was yesterday. The beaten and defeated daeben army rallied around a ten-year-old girl, who against impossible odds, was able to command a safe retreat for her people to their country, and launched a staunch defensive that shook the allied nations to cut their losses and retreat." Cathek's eyes warmed as he habitually ruffled the queen's hair. "To think that little girl has grown into a fine young woman. Ah, indeed, time moves far too quickly when you get old."

"Cut it out," Queen Alia reprimanded with a short laugh as she ducked out of the range of Cathek's troublesome hand. "More importantly," she said as she raised her right sleeve to reveal a dull, glowing spider web tattoo on her upper shoulder. "What do you think?"

Cathek approached, then examined the tattoo. A while later, he nodded approvingly. "Your runecrafters are showing rapid progress. There are no mistakes here. The embedded runes as so minute yet precise. Only someone who knows to look for them will even realize this tattoo is such a complex rune." Looking up from the rune, Cathek questioned. "This is your seventh rune marking, isn't it?"

"Yes," Queen Alia confirmed with a nod. "The crafters did say at my current mental strength, I can still handle at least seven more. I've scheduled for the next rune to be drawn in two months."

"Good," Cathek nodded his approval. "Your body needs time to acclimatize to the new rune channels." A hint of melancholy drifted through the kafu's eyes as he recalled the tragedy of the previous generation of daeben. "If only your parents had heeded my advice as you do, they would not have been driven mad by the conflicting rune channels."

Queen Alia's head dropped as she, too, recalled the slow descent into madness. "My mother was under too much pressure from the ministers and the war faction. Runecrafting did appear to be the answer to all our problems. Every soldier could have the marks without the need for any special talent, and it doubled, no tripled the strength of our military prowess. " Shaking her head, she bitterly said, "If only they knew the cost. The madness and unwanted arrogance."

Queen Alia lamented, "The daeben army was feared during warfare, not for our performance in battles, but our extreme cunning and deadliness. We won battles without armies ever marching out, commanders, strategists, and captains found dead in their camp beds. No one knew where we laid our traps, where we would spring up from next." With ground teeth, the daeben queen recalled, "Yet the hubris from those marks rendered our commanders and leaders stupid and inept. Rather than promote our subterfuge and sabotage, they quickly began to abandon their strongest points in favor of open battles, to revel in the 'glory' of battle."

Queen Alia's hand shook with rage, her clouded eyes hidden from sight. "It's no wonder we lost battle after battle. How could we beat the allied nations at something they had polished to perfection with sheer brute strength? We lost, lost, and kept losing until that final day—the final battle in G'orath. I will never forget the despair in the soldiers' eyes as thousands of pillars descended from the skies, only to land in the allied army. We had both used summons, but virtually none of the Summoned answered our call. We were seemingly doomed to extinction that day."

Cathek smiled. "But then the pillars did come."

Queen Alia's head rose, her eyes shining with light. "Yes, yes, they did. All twelve of them in total." She clenched her hands as she traveled back to that blood-soaked battlefield, the silent despair, and the euphoria when the first pillar of light appeared at the front of the daeben army. "I will never forget that first man. Blue shirt, dark pants, and boots. The mantle fluttering silently in the wind. His firm, unwavering grip on his sword. That bold, unflinching first step." Queen Alia sighed. "Even when the other Summoned landed, all but one flinched at the sight of the enemy's army. Only that beast-like little girl followed the man as he charged into the enemy's ranks without so much as a backward glance.

"The girl was terrifying, no doubt, but it was that man who gave us the strength to do what we had to do. The way he surgically cut through the enemy's ranks, seeking out and eliminating commanders and captains without worrying about the regular soldiers, reminded us of what we daeben were feared for. I will never forget the horror in the enemy commanders' eyes when that man picked up a bow from a fallen soldier. The speed at which captains dropped was just too terrifying. But it was that terror that saved us."

Queen Alia's soulful eyes dimmed as she grasped her left arm. "My mother, granted a rare moment of clarity, removed the Wreath of Spiders, and bound it to me. My mother, the generals, the soldiers, they all looked up to me. They wanted their next orders, even though we all knew what it was going to be."

"Attack," Miote stated with a sigh. "No matter what it takes, strike down as many commanders as possible."

"Do not return until they are all dead," Queen Alia murmured. "I willingly sent my mother, her generals, many of whom practically raised thousands of kinsmen and me to their deaths."

"And saved thousands more," Cathek consoled. "You made the right decision that day. In a perfect world, sacrifices are not necessary. Unfortunately, we live in an imperfect world. As such, we must continue to make hard decisions every day."

Queen Alia let out a wry smile. "I know that. You've repeated it so many times that I could not forget it even if I wanted to." With a wistful sigh, she added, "I just wish I could meet that Summoned once. I need to thank him in person for saving us."

"Last I heard, he was captured by the allied forces and put in a jail to rot for life," Cathek stated. "No one knows the location of this cell. Apparently, the order letter was burned immediately after it was carried out."

Queen Alia sighed. "At least we managed to find the little beast-girl. Though she's gone missing since Froy was killed. I at least hope he was able to help her regain herself even if by a little."

"I am sure he did as you ordered," Cathek affirmed.

"Yes, I am sure," Queen Alia said with a smile. "Now, tell me, Uncle Cat. Why are you really here? It cannot be just to reminisce, surely."

"Of course not," Cathek replied. "The deathsworn boats are finally ready. We can depart at a moment's notice."

Queen Alia nodded. Her gaze wavered, revealing a moment of weakness. "We are doing the right thing, right, Uncle Cat?"

"There is no right or wrong," Cathek stated. "What we do now will be judged not by us, but by generations to come. They will decide if our actions are just or not-"

"-By then, we'll be too dead to care," Queen Alia finished. "Another one of your little quotes you've repeated to death." Queen Alia folded her arms and closed her eyes. Moments later, she opened them, slight exhaustion evident in her creased brows. "A storm will come tomorrow and last for two days. We leave after that."

"As you wish."

Queen Alia looked up at the ceiling mural, her gaze meeting those of Arachne's. "At last, I can return to the world..."