It was several minutes after healing that Wolfenstine woke up. At first, he looked confused when he suddenly found himself lying in bed. Then he heard familiar voices and he looked up to see who it was.
“Hey, Wolf!” Darian said when he got to see him.
“Hey, Wolfie!” Rumble greeted the man while standing on the opposite side of the bed.
They both were grinning as they looked at him. Wolfenstine raised his eyebrows in surprise and then he also grinned.
“Well, well, well! If it isn’t Dandy and Rumby!” Wolfenstine said cheerfully.
“Damn you!” Darian and Rumble instantly said.
The next instant, they threw their fists aiming for Wolfenstine’s head. With quick reflexes and surprising strength, Wolfenstine caught both them with his hands and held them firmly. Then he grinned up at them while they tried to hit him.
“Hey, hey! Both of you! Stop that! The man needs rest and recovery!” Marilia told them severely.
“It’s alright, madam. They are old friends of mine,” Wolfenstine said while smiling towards her.
Understanding his words, she nodded and left the room. Both Darian and Rumble pulled their arms back and shook them a little.
“Firm grip as ever,” Darian commented as he tested his hand by opening them up and down.
“Curses...! Still can’t hit you in the face!” Rumble complained while shaking his hand.
As Wolfenstine laughed, Darian asked “So, hey. What happened? Why are you so covered in bruises and injuries?”
Wolfenstine chuckled a little and said “Well... A lot happened, but mmm...! Ah! To hell with it! I’ll just start from the beginning!”
Wolfenstine then began to tell them what happened to get him injured so badly. He came home to talk to Werewolves and Vampires about recent battles. Apparently, there was news spreading of Werewolves and Vampires killing each other on a regular basis.
There was supposed to be a peace treaty between the two groups, but something caused them to spark hatred towards each other again. He was in the Mardana region when he received news. So he hurried here to see what was happening.
When he got here, he found both of the clans furious at each other. The Werewolves complained that the Vampires broke the treaty first. The Vampires complained the Werewolves broke it first. Both sides were complaining about each other and it confused Wolfenstine.
Wolfenstine eventually brought both sides to agree to meet. He meant it as a meeting to sort out the problems on both sides, but an unexpected turn of events occurred. They met and, as if they were possessed, the leaders of Werewolves and Vampires declared war on each other.
Shocked by this development, Wolfenstine tried to intervene, but was attacked by both sides. Injured and bleeding badly, he escaped since he knew he cannot do anything like that. While escaping from them, he stumbled into the village and collapsed and that was how he wound up in that current situation.
Once Wolfenstine finished telling them, Darian and Rumble were shaking their heads in amazement.
“Must be tough luck to wind with two clans that are out to kill one another,” Rumble said sympathetically.
“Not funny, Rumby,” Wolfenstine said coldly.
“Really? Then how about this? It must be hard to survive when both of your clans are out to kill you!” Rumble said and he grinned at him.
Wolfenstine glared at him for a moment. The next moment, he sat up and punched Rumble in the face. The force of impact caused Rumble to fly off and smash into the wall. Wolfenstine sighed heavily and fell back on his bed while Rumble got out of the wall.
“You still haven’t lost that strength, Wolfie.”
“You still haven’t lost your ill humour, Rumby.”
Rumble and Wolfenstine glared at each other fiercely. Then Darian got in between them and held his hands up to each other.
“Enough! Both of you! Now isn’t the time to settle your rivalry!” Darian told them severely.
Darian looked at both of them seriously to see if the message sunk in. It did, but Rumble and Wolfenstine still felt unease, but for a different reason.
“So...! How are we going to deal with this?” Rumble asked when the three of them got together.
“Firstly, we need to let the towns people know this place, their home, will turn into a battle ground. Two strong groups are about to tear each other apart and we don’t need a single human casualty!” Darian said.
“Evacuate the villagers? What do you mean by that?” asked a voice from behind them.
They looked towards the room door and saw an old man standing there. He had long white hair and long beard with a crutch he used to walk with. Now he moved towards them while wearing a puzzled expression on his face.
“Um...” Rumble said hesitantly and he looked at his friends.
He gave them a look that said “What now?”
Darian coughed and got the elder’s attention. Then he began by saying “Well, sir. The fact is...”
While slowly speaking, Darian took the elder to the side. Then he told the elder everything about the attack on the village by both the Werewolves and Vampires. He did not tell him it was actually a way because that would only make matters worse.
Hearing all this, the elder’s face turned paler and planer until he finally passed out. Someone else came in and took the elder before returning. Darian sighed and told him the same thing and the man nodded as he understood the danger his village faced.
“Understood. I’ll get the people to evacuate immediately. What will you do?”
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Darian looked towards Rumble and Wolfenstine. When they nodded at him, he turned around and smiled as he said “We do what we do best; we’ll fight!”
The man nodded in understanding and left. As soon as he left, Marilia, Lakshman, Ondine, Tetra and Sevedant entered the room.
“What’s going on?” Marilia asked as they came to the bed Wolfenstine was lying on.
“Before we get to that, we need introductions!” Rumble said cheerfully.
“Right! Marilia, this is Wolfenstine. Remember the guy I’ve always told you about? That’s him!” Darian said as he indicated Wolfenstine.
Marilia and Wolfenstine greeted each other curiously. Darian then introduced Lakshman to which Wolfenstine raised his eyebrows. Then Ondine was introduced which caused Wolfenstine to raise an eyebrow with a puzzled expression on his face. When Darian introduced Tetra as the Phoenix Blade, he nodded as if he already knew that beforehand.
“Guys and girls. Wolfenstine is an old friend of mine and Rumble’s. We fought together and he used us as his gunuea pigs for his scientific research,” Darian told them.
“So he’s a scientist?” Ondine asked curiously.
Darian nodded and said “Yes, but here’s one more thing you have to know about him. That is... Wolfenstine is a hybrid!”
“H-Hybrid?! Do you mean like he’s born from... different racial parents?” Lakshman asked in a voice full of surprise.
“That’s right! His father’s a Werewolf while his mother’s a Vampire. Being born from the two races makes him the strongest.”
“Wow...” Ondine said in awe.
“My parents escaped from this community and brought me up in the Mardana region. Then, when they heard about the flaring battles between the two races, my parents came to stop it, but unfortunately died ten years ago. That’s when I stepped in and created the peace treaty between the Werewolves and Vampires,” Wolfenstine told them and he looked unhappy.
“That’s good! You managed to stop two whole races all by yourself!” Lakshman said and he sounded impressed.
“Yes, but that didn’t last. It seemed like their old habits die hard. So I came to settle the issue, but I don’t know what happened. They suddenly declared war at each other and ordered my death! I was so shocked I didn’t defend myself when I was suddenly attacked from all around as if it was premeditated!” Wolfenstine said and he looked really angry.
“Oh! So you weren’t the one the towns’ people were alarmed at? It was the Werewolves that were chasing after you?” Ondine asked in amazement.
“Um... I have a human face, a human body and spiky hair. How the heck would you think I look like a Werewolf or a Vampire?” Wolfenstine asked in disbelief.
“You have fangs, right?”
“What?! You think I’m a wild beast because I have fang-like teeth?! That’s so stupid! Besides, they aren’t even noticeable most of the time!”
“I don’t know, Wolf. Sometimes, humans take daring and risky actions when they deal with non-human creatures. Look at Rumble here. He’s always being praised as the Monkey King and all back at Calmitira!” Darian said before laughing.
“He should be named the Monkey Loser for being a pest!” Wolfenstine said and Rumble glared at him.
“In any case, we’ve got to be ready whenever those two groups attack! Go and get yourselves ready!” Darian said and they all nodded before leaving the room.
They left which left Darian, Rumble and Sevedant in the room. Sevedant had been staying away from them to not disturb them. Once they left, he moved forward to greet Wolfenstine.
“Who’s he, guys? I can feel an extremely powerful dark energy emanating from him!” Wolfenstine said and he indicated at Sevedant.
“He’s Sevedant. Although his name is not known, he usually goes by the title Death Titan,” Rumble said with a smile on his face.
There was a moment’s pause as those words sunk into Wolfenstine. Then he began laughing as he said “Now, really! That’s a bad joke, Rumby. Come on! There’s no way the Death Titan would be here of all places!”
As he laughed, Rumble looked at Sevedant. He nodded and quietly said “Death by Destruction.”
In an instant, the wind in the room became wild as dark energy flowed everywhere. Wolfenstine instantly stopped laughing and widened his eyes in shock as he felt the immeasurable power pulsing within the room.
Once everything settled down, he stared at Sevedant in disbelief. Then he slowly said “N-No way... The Death Titan... As in the fifth ranked of the Nine Pillars of Power...? No way...!”
Sevedant extended his hand of bones out and shook with the slacked hand of Wolfenstine. The hand shake seemed to shock Wolfenstine even further as he realised Sevedant did not have flesh like the rest of them.
Sevedant nodded at them and quietly left the room. Once the door shut, Wolfenstine began demanding them for an answer about why the Death Titan was there. Both Darian and Rumble hesitated before telling him about everything that happened.
It shocked Wolfenstine about their plan, but he understood the reasons behind it. So he decided to join them once they settled the war between the two groups; Werewolves and Vampires.
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