"I thought you were leaving right after helping out." Fi sighed as she walked over to where the four sat.

"I planned to..." Chikyū mumbled.

"Still stuck on that?" Fi inquired.

"You don't have to worry about that," Chikyū replied.

"Fine, as long as you are not sad," Fi sighed with a shrug. "So–" she turned to Kurai– "how did things go?"

"What do you think?" Kurai inquired as he leaned back.

"I expected as much, exactly why I sent you with her." Fi shook her head with a sigh.

"Do you know about the letter?" Kurai questioned.

"Yes, I have seen it already," Fi answered.

"What do you think?" Kurai questioned.

"She didn't seem like that to me when I last her," Fi sighed, her eyes looking far away.

"I know, I am quite certain I met her after you did, and I did talk to her about it," Kurai sighed.

"Did she actually..." Fi mumbled.

"Yes, she has killed thousands, mostly people who weren't involved in any of it." Kurai informed as he shook his head.

"I don't understand why she would do that..." Fi sighed.

"It's simple, really. She doesn't understand how human society works, or that its illegal to capture other sentient species and enslave them in most kingdoms. According to her, it's a common act for humans, and she is acting according to her beliefs." Kurai explained, looking at the ground in throught.

"Why didn't you explain it to her?" Fi questioned, hints of anger noticeable in her voice.

"I didn't think think she would get this powerful this fast, or this murderous. From when I met her till when I parted ways with her, she seemed like an innocent little kid too kind to hurt anyone unless necessary," Kurai answered reminiscing. "I can't just go on trying to explain things unless I know what part of her thinking made her do all of this, and it still doesn't explain why other Midnight Wolves attacked Ceal, a kingdom known to have maintained a good relation with Winter Wolves for the last five centuries."

"Kill them," Fi commanded.

"Excuse me?" Kurai questioned, startled by the sudden order.

"They have done far too much, I will take full responsible for every wolf you kill, just end them, in a painless way if possible, it's a request." Fi bowed her head.

"First of all, let's put that aside for a moment. Explain to me why did you decide to just rain hellfire on an entire city earlier?" Kurai questioned.

"Enslaving wolves was legal there, they deserved it," Fi answered. "If you still feel like I did something wrong, feel free to kill me, I will not resist."

"Too cute to kill." Kurai shrugged as he rested his head in his hand. "And fine, I will accept your request, I planned to go and deal with Sapphire anyways," Kurai sighed.

"Don't make her feel any pain, or I will use one of the strongest arts on you," Fi warned, blushing slightly as she did.

"First of all, I won't be fighting, secondly, why are you blushing?" Kurai questioned with a slight tilt of his head.

"Don't pretend like you didn't just call me cute, and who in the world is going to be fighting then?" Fi questioned, blushing even more, and a pout on her face.

"Kesshō will be fighting, and I only stated a fact." Kurai shrugged with a smile.

"You plan to make her fight Sapphire? And you still did call me cute," Fi mumbled.

"Yes, because she wanted to fight Sapphire for a long time. Apparently according to Kesshō, against Sapphire she will have the most fun. A pity it has to happen in these circumstances," Kurai sighed. "And yes, you are adorable and beautiful so just calm down for a bit and let me think." He diverted his attention from Fi, looking at the table deep in thought.

Fi fell silent instantly, glancing to the other three till then. Chikyū sat between Opal and Kesshō, both clinging to her and sound asleep. "They seem to like you," Fi observed with a smile.

"Thank you for stating the obvious, and I should get going so can someone please remove them?" Chikyū sighed.

"Just wake them up?" Fi suggested.

"But," Chikyū mumbled, "they are sleeping so peacefully. It feels like a sin to wake them up."

"Well, just wait in that case, Kesshō should wake up in around four to six hours, and Opal shouldn't be asleep longer than three more hours," Fi replied.

"Why do you even know that?" Chikyū questioned.

"One is my daughter, the other is a princess I have observed for five years," Fi answered matter-of-factly.

"So, you are a stalker too," Kurai sighed.

"Well said by the manipulator," Fi shot back.

"I still care about them," Kurai responded.

"So do I," Fi replied.

"You two sure get along," Chikyū sighed.

"Unfortunately," Fi sighed. "Well, whatever, rest here for a month, and help the people preferably, then you will have to depart to deal with her, otherwise the army that is going there won't ever be returning."

"I know as much. I am not necessarily worried about it, just thinking where exactly things went wrong," Kurai mumbled.

"She has taken after you I will certainly say, are you sure you are not her father?"

"Nor am I a Midnight Wolf, neither am I old enough to be her father," Kurai replied.

"Fair enough, need something to eat?" Fi inquired as she prepared to leave.

"No, just need to think." Kurai replied with a shake of his head.

"Fair enough, I will near the gate leading to Ceal if you need me." Fi informed with a wave, walking towards the door of the guild. "Chikyū, come there when you can, I might need your help with something."

"I will as soon as they wake up," Chikyū replied.

"See you two later." Fi waved before closing the door behind her.

"What do you plan to do?" Chikyū questioned Kurai.

"My initial plan has already fallen apart, nothing much left to do anymore, seems like I will just have to play along with someone else's plan," Kurai sighed.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"Fi's plan isn't that bad," Chikyū replied.

"It would have been fine if it was just her plan, I have a feeling all of this was planned by someone else from behind the scenes," Kurai responded. "It makes no sense for Midnight Wolves to attack Ceal, so far away from their rainforest. The wolves are all working together, and so if they did plan an attack on Ceal, it would have been far easier for Winter Wolves to carry it out."

"You think someone is trying to shift the blame to Midnight Wolves? Why would they?" Chikyū questioned.

"So there will never be another like her," Kurai answered, glancing towards Kesshō. "Do you know what the first species of wolves ever was?"

"Spirit Wolves?" Chikyū inquired.

"Yes, do you know what happened to them?" Kurai questioned.

"They were split into many different species by the Goddess of Wolves," Chikyū answered.

"Yes, just like how Spirit Wolves were split into the many species, if you combine parts of the genetic structures of all those species back together, you will get a Spirit Wolf, but it's mostly based on chance. The chances the many different genetic structures will mix well is very low, it's a one in a trillion chance, which happened for her." Kurai explained, tapping the table with one finger.

"So someone wants to erase any possibility of more Spirit Wolves springing up, but how?" Chikyū questioned worriedly.

"The Spirit Wolves absolutely need the four main wolf species, the four they were split into. Many legends will say it to be more than four, but they only split into four, the rest just evolved from those four over a long time. Midnight Wolves, Blood Wolves, Winter Wolves, and Storm Wolves. Winter Wolves and Storm Wolves are the closest descendants of two founding species, which only existed for a very short time themselves. If even one of these four species is wiped out entirely, there will never be another Spirit Wolf."

"But why Midnight Wolves?" Chikyū questioned.

"They are the easiest to eliminate as they only exist in this single world, and even in this world there are not that many," Kurai answered. "To wipe out any other species would mean travelling between worlds to do so, which would attract the attention of higher beings, meaning whoever planned this is powerful, but not powerful enough to be careless."

"Do you think they will go after Kesshō if their target is to keep Spirit Wolves extinct?" Chikyū questioned.

"I don't think their plan is to keep them extinct, but to make certain that there exists only one, and that is her. It would be reasonable to think they will come after her sooner or later if they need her for something, or maybe they will simply pull the strings from behind and make us follow their plan." Kurai sighed as he lowered his head.

"That is scary," Chikyū mumbled as a shiver ran down her spine. "I would want to help but as the only Primordial left in this world now, I would not want to engage in battles against higher beings," She sighed. "Still, feel free to ask one of my other selves for help."

"I didn't think earth dragon bonds will stretch over worlds," Kurai mumbled.

"I am a Primordial so mine do, only for other Primordials though. They will know they can trust you, and they will see her as their own blood too," Chikyū shrugged.

"I will keep that in mind," Kurai sighed. "I really do hate having to play along with the plans of others."

"You are just a human so I don't think you should push yourself too hard," Chikyū advised.

"Thank you for the concern, but I will not be listening to your concern, there are things I need to do, and 'I am just a human' is not a good enough excuse if I fail," Kurai replied.

----------------------------------------

"You are leaving now, right?" Opal questioned, a tiara made of silver, studded with sapphires and rubies sitting on her head.

"Yes, I planned to leave over a week ago, I only waited till you were crowned as the new queen," Kurai replied.

"I really feel like you don't trust me," Fi sighed.

"Yes, I do not," Kurai shrugged with a smile.

"Sure," Fi sighed. "I will join you after a few days, I need to make sure Opal will be fine first." She informed as she pulled Opal in an embrace.

"I will be fine, I am a queen now," Opal mumbled.

"Exactly why I am even more worried. There's assassins, other kingdoms, your own people, so many things that can go wrong now. I will be too worried if I just leave," Fi sighed.

"Get there whenever you want, not like you planned to do anything anyways." Kurai sighed, getting in the back of the wagon beside Kesshō.

"I will see you two after some days, be careful." Fi waved to them.

Opal also waved to them as the wagon, already standing near the city gates, crossed them and continued up the road. They were to meet with the main army and continue with them, only because the army needed to show them something they can't quite explain perfectly through a letter.

Kurai did not worry about this being a trap, well aware both him and Kesshō could wipe them all out within an hour if they wanted to. Being attacked by the wolves did not concern him either, Kesshō would easily sense them long before they get in any position to attack the two.

The journey to the army happened to not be short as they initially expected, largely due to the poorly maintained dirt path they needed to take, slowing them to half the speed they would have otherwise maintained. While there were many things Kurai expected along the way, the only things they actually encountered turned out to be deep snow, causing the wagon to get stuck and slowing them further. It did not seem to have been done by someone, just the nature trying to get on his nerves.

They finally reached their destination after eight days, expecting for it to take another week to reach the tundra with the army. A long and boring journey, more so for Kesshō as there weren't many interesting things along the way, just the white snow and the same conical trees.

They were received by the general of the army when they arrived, a boulder of a man with muscles seemingly carved out of a mountain. He easily towered over not only Kesshō but also Kurai. It seemed as if the metal armor he wore only served as a container for his muscles.

"Greetings, assassin, I am general Ludvic, and you will be working under me for this assignment, your name?" The general introduced, his voice befitting of his body.

"Kurai, and this is Kesshō, pleasure to be your acquaintance." Kurai bowed slightly, Kesshō following after him.

"You need not pay me such respect, I am well aware of your status, the reason I would like you to see something first." The general informed, gesturing them to follow.

Kurai nodded and followed the general, Kesshō clinging close to him. The army's more important personnel stayed in makeshift tents, the general leading them to one such tent. Pushing open one of the sides he walked in, Kurai and Kesshō entering right after him. Inside, in the mostly empty tent, sat a girl, a Winter Wolf based on her appearance.

She possessed white hair, tied to the back of her head. Her outfit consisted of an all white robe with snowflake patterns all over it. As the three entered she looked up at them with her greyish-blue eyes. The girl did not seem to be captive or anything, seemingly just there to meet them.

"I would like to request you to retell your story to the assassin, I will allow him to be the judge of it," the general requested the girl.

Be the judge? Kurai wondered.

The girl nodded, taking a deep breath as she prepared herself. "I believe you are aware of the past conquest of the Midnight Wolves? You can think of what is happening currently as something similar. The Midnight Wolves arrived in our territory several months ago, seeking help in freeing their lost kin. We agreed to help them, so did all the other clans, and we worked together. The topic of waging war has been raised several times by the Midnight Wolf alpha, but we discarded the idea. About two months ago the Midnight Wolves forced the other species to obey them, killing many of us who refused their rule.

"We were left without an option, and forced to do their bidding. They did this after we discovered about their attack on our allied city of Ceal and confronted them. Their plan is to start the conquest of the entire world once again, and all Midnight Wolves support the idea. I am here to seek aid from the humans as there is no other I can turn to. They even massacred the feline and canine clans who arrived at the tundra not long ago. I hope you can help us fight against them," the girl pleaded.

"What do you think we should do?" The general questioned.

"I understand the situation, but what is it that you want us to do exactly?" Kurai inquired the girl.

"As the Winter Wolf Elder, I would like to request you not to kill any Winter Wolves. They have been forced into this fight, but they will not kill any, I can assure you as much. The only Blood Wolves and Storm Wolves which will kill are the ones who are either far too afraid to rebel, or in support of the war, thus, you may do as you see fit with them, but I will prefer if you could spare them too," the elder requested.

"What about the Midnight Wolves?" Kurai questioned, staring at the elder.

"I would like to ask you to spare them as well, but I don't think they will back down till they live, and even if after several decades, they will again attempt the same things," the elder sighed.

"Do you know of a Midnight Wolf named Sapphire?" Kurai inquired.

"Yes, I do know of her, a formerly kind-hearted girl. She has been nearly captured by humans several times, and they placed some collar on her, the reason she needed to leave in order to find a way to remove the collar. She is currently near the tundra, and will reach there in just a couple days, and she is on the side of her father in this war," the elder sighed.

"You may leave, we will help you," Kurai replied.

"I will never forget this great favor of yours." The elder bowed her head low to the ground. "And yes, I should leave now, if I am not found for far too long they might get suspicious." The elder got back to her feet and walked past Kurai and out of the tent, making her way towards the tundra.

"So, you plan to help her?" The general questioned.

"Maybe, you are free to kill and spare as you will, I am only going there to deal with one," Kurai responded.

"The alpha's daughter?" The general questioned.

"Yes, tell your troops to avoid going anywhere near her, if they see her then keep their distance from her, run away if possible," Kurai ordered.

"I will." The general nodded.

"The two of us will wait on the sidelines, once she enters Kesshō will too," Kurai informed.

"What do you plan to do?" The general inquired.

"Just wait, not much point in me going there when I won't do anything anyways," Kurai shrugged.

"As you wish, we will start moving in about ten minutes, be prepared, this will be a long trek." The general informed as he exited the tent.

"We will be." Kurai responded with a sigh as he patted Kesshō's head, her pupils thin slits.