All my life, the only thing I ever knew was war.
My master used to tell me stories — about how, for hundreds of years, humanity fought. Against beastmen, elves, orcs, even each other.
The first battles were for land, for riches, for some meaningless pride.
But now?
We fight to survive.
Two hundred years ago, the Heavens decided to take matters into their own hands. They sent their armies down upon us — angels, divine soldier, even Him. They didn't care who stood beneath them, who burned in their light.
They called it Divine Justice.
I call it Divine Bullshit.
Right. My name's Reindell. I'm a soldier of the Kingdom of Hervatu — one of the most powerful kingdoms in these lands.
At least, that's what our king says. Probably just a psychological trick to keep us marching.
My father once told me the king used to be his general, long before I was born. Maybe that's why he knows what to say — what soldiers need to hear when they're staring down the impossible. Maybe he remembers what it's like fighting something you can't kill.
Right now, we're marching toward Niflstraff, one of the Elven territories. They've been expanding these past few years, and the king wants them pushed back.
Three battalions.
That's how much it takes to 'keep them at bay.'
Oh, looks like we're stopping.
Finally... we've been marching all day, the sun's almost down, and my feet are fucking sore.
Ah, the captain's coming.
"We'll continue our march at dawn! The enemy camp is just over the base of the Scaled Mountains! Rest well!"
"Yes, sir!"
Damn... tomorrow's the big day, huh.
I wonder what's for dinner. A large steak? Yeah, right. No way meat would survive the journey.
***
Thank fate—yeah, not god—thank fate my camp's right beside a river. I've been dying to wash my feet.
"Del."
It's the captain! Shit, did I leave my stuff out again?
I scramble to my feet. "Yes, captain!"
"Ahh, fuck the titles. There's no one here."
"Ah... yes, Master Gil."
Master Gillfan's always like that. Agreed to lead my unit, but never liked being called Captain.
"I told you, no titles."
Right.
"It's weird not calling you Master, you know."
And… he's staring me down.
I'm not wrong, you know. He is my Master.
"Scooch over."
Looks like he wants a wash too.
"Ahh… I've been dying to wash my feet." He stretches like a cat.
"Heh. Even though you were on your horse the whole time?"
Ah—he splashed me!
"Pffft! What the—?!"
It got in my mouth! I could taste his fucking feet!!
Ugh… he's just laughing it off. Like we're not about to go up against immortals.
"Del."
Huh. He's using his serious voice now.
I glance over. "Yeah?"
"You nervous?"
And there it is — that damned grin again.
Hah… what the fuck is wrong with this old man.
"Of course I am. I've never fought Elves before." I look down at the water, watching it ripple.
"Ahh, you'll be fine! Elves are stiff. Break their lines, and they crumble."
I give him a side-eye.
"Easy for you to say."
Honestly, I don't know what he sees in me. I'm just another spearman. Yet here he is, talking like I could break through Elven defenses.
Ow—he hit my shoulder.
"You're doing it again."
I blinked. "Doing what?"
"Doubting yourself. You're thinking, 'How am I supposed to break through Elven defenses,' right?"
"Well, duh? We're going up against five-hundred-year-old soldiers."
He just stared at me.
"Del. How many battles have we been through together?"
"Huh?" How many was it… "Five?"
He smiles.
"And how did you think we survived those battles?"
I stare up at the amber sky. It's more violet than amber now.
"We got lucky, I guess?"
"You stupid fuck."
I flinch. "What—where did that come from?"
"It's because of you!"
...What? What the fuck did I do?
"A normal soldier usually dies in their first or second battle. Though I lasted just long enough to meet you."
The fuck does that even mean?
"Was that supposed to be a compliment?"
He scoffed. "Kind of. Don't get cocky now, you little shit."
We just stare at the water for a while.
"You're a smart piece of shit, you know that?"
"Really? I don't feel like it."
"Because you're a little too smart for your dumbass."
"So am I smart or dumb?"
He sighs, shaking his head.
"You see flaws better than anyone. But that's all you ever see, even in yourself, Del."
"…Huh?" I can't help but just stare.
"If I hadn't met you—let alone trained you—I would've died back in Straffut."
Straffut? Isn't that… "My first battle…?"
My hand moves to my shoulder, to the first scar I ever got, hidden beneath my clothes.
"Did you realize?" he said, pointing to the scar on his face. "This is the last big scar I've had since Straffut. And we haven't gotten any new ones since."
I move my gaze away. "But if you weren't there—if everyone weren't there—I wouldn't have made it."
"Of course you wouldn't," he scoffs. "But if you weren't there… everyone else would've been dead."
Hah... what is this old fuck saying? I can't just turn the tides of battle. Everyone was there doing their part. We got lucky, the enemy's formation was unstable.
Oof— He pat—no, slapped my back.
"There you go again."
"I'm not wrong. Everyone did their jobs. I just did mine."
He sighs again.
"If you can't believe in yourself…" He stood up, water dripping off his boots. "Then believe in me. Because I believe in you."
What do I say to that?
He's just standing there, staring at the fading light like he didn't just say something stupidly dramatic.
The river keeps moving — quiet and cold.
"...Right," I muttered.
He glance down at me, then smirks. "Don't 'right' me, brat. Get up. Let's see what those fuckers made for dinner."
I can't help but chuckle under my breath.
For a moment, it doesn't feel like we're marching to war.
***
"SHIELDS!"
What?
I look up—arrows blot out the sun.
I yank my spear from the Elf sprawled at my feet and slam my shield up. Another volley? Aren't they worried about hitting their own?
The arrows rain down. Iron tears through the air, clattering against shields, screaming past. It's like standing in a storm of blades.
"GET BACK IN LINE!"
I scramble, chest pounding, mud and blood clinging to me. The Elves are pulling back—retreating? Not a single arrow hits one of them. How the hell is that possible?
"ADVANCE!"
I lock shields with my comrades, a wall of metal and grit. Step by step, we push forward. Through mud, through blood, through the stench of war.
There they are. The Elves regrouping, preparing for another clash.
Closer… closer…
Here they come.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!!
"Hold!" the captain roars.
The ground shakes as the Elves charge — fast, silent, terrifying. They move like water, their blades glints in the dim light.
"NOW!"
We crash.
The world explodes into screams and steel. The first impact rattles my arm to the bone. My spear drives forward, hits something soft — an Elf collapses, twisting the shaft out of my hands.
I yank it free, parry a strike that nearly splits my skull, and bash my shield forward. The crunch tells me I hit bone.
Someone to my left goes down — I don't get to see who. Just blood spraying across my face.
"KEEP THE LINE!"
We're getting pushed back. Their formation is tighter, cleaner. For every Elf we cut down, two more take their place.
An arrow grazes my helmet. Another pierces the man beside me.
He screams. I shove him back with my shoulder, hold the shield wall. My arms are shaking, my breath ragged.
Then I see him — Master Gil — cutting through the Elves like he's slicing wind itself.
"Del! Forward!"
I grit my teeth, lower my stance, and charge. My spear finds a gap between armor plates, drives through. The Elf's eyes widen, then fade.
We break through the front.
For a second — just a second — it feels like we're winning.
Then the wind shifts. The air hums.
The ground trembles — soft at first, then violent enough to rattle my bones. The air thickens; each breath burns in my chest.
What the fuck was that?
Every sword stills. Every shout dies. For the first time today, both sides freeze — soldiers and elves alike staring at the same horizon.
Then I see it.
Beyond the Scaled Mountains — a blinding pillar of light tears through the clouds, carving the sky in half.
A second later, the beam scrapes across the mountains.
Then—
BOOM.
The world erupts. The shockwave slams into us like a giant's hand. I drop, shield first, as dirt and heat blast over the field. The air turns white with dust and flame.
I press down, teeth clenched, the roar of the earth drowning out every thought.
Then, silence.
I lift my head. Slowly.
The horizon is gone.
Where the Scaled Mountains once stood—is nothing but fire and ruin.
The mountains... are flat.
"COVER!" someone screams.
Cover?
I look up—and my stomach drops.
The sky is falling.
Chunks of stone, shards of mountain — massive boulders trailing smoke and fire — raining down like the wrath of the Gods.
Cover?? Fuck cover!
"RUN!!!" I scream, voice tearing from my throat.
Men drop their shields, tripping over corpses and mud, sprinting for anything that even looks like shelter.
The ground quakes with every impact — deafening crashes that split the air, the smell of burnt earth and blood mixing into something unholy.
I don't even know where I'm running.
Just that if I stop — I die.
Then it hits—
A sound so loud it doesn't even sound real.
If thunder was loud, this was a million times worse.
The world tears open.
My ears ring. My vision blurs. I stumble—fall—mud fills my mouth.
Get up. Get up. RUN!
THUUMMM!!!
Something massive crashes nearby.
The shockwave hits me like a wall of steel. For a moment, I don't even feel my body — just motion, wind, and pain all blending into one.
I slam into the ground, roll, dirt and blood filling my nose.
Silence.
Am I… still in one piece?
My arms shake as I push myself up.
"...Master Gil?"
Nothing. Just the sound of fire and falling stone.
And then—From the crater, something rises.
No—someone.
The light is blinding. The air burns against my skin.
And for the first time in my life—
I feel true fear.
Radiant wings unfold, each feather glowing like molten gold. His hair gleams brighter than the sun. In his hand, a weapon—a halberd—that splits the very sky when he lifts it.
My throat locks up. My lungs refuse to move.
It's Him.
The Wolf of Heaven.
He stands just a few paces from me. The ground melts beneath his presence.
I can't breathe— I can't fucking breathe!
The pressure alone feels like it's crushing my chest. My vision swims, my lungs claw for air.
What… what the fuck is happening?!
Why—why is The Wolf of Heaven here?!
He's not supposed to be real! He's not supposed to be HERE!
My eyes meet his—
gilded, divine, unrelenting.
And in that instant, I feel it—
my soul tearing itself away from my body.
This isn't happening. It can't be happening.
Every nerve, every instinct screams RUN!
But my legs won't move.
My heart's pounding so loud it drowns out the world.
It hurts—it actually hurts.
I'm going to die.
The Wolf spreads his wings— and the air itself bows to him.
The ground trembles, pulling me down, harder and harder— like the earth itself is kneeling before its god.
"Move."
The word isn't shouted. It isn't even loud. But the air shudders.
My soul hears it before my ears do.
And then—before I can even think—my body moves on its own. Thrown backward, like the word itself had struck me.
For a split second, I'm weightless. And in that heartbeat of stillness, I see him— the Wolf lowering his stance, wings flaring wide.
Wait—what the fuck is he—
BOOM!
The air detonates. And I'm gone— tossed into the sky like a ragdoll, the world turning into blinding light and screaming wind.
***
Pain floods back all at once—my ribs, my lungs, my everything. The ringing in my ears fades just enough for me to hear it again—
"Del!"
That voice—hoarse, desperate.
"Del, get up!"
I force my eyes open. Everything's spinning. Smoke, fire, broken steel.
"Reindell! For fuck's sake, get up!!"
Master Gil's voice cuts through the haze. I try to move, but my body feels like stone—my fingers twitch, barely.
"Master…" It comes out as a rasp, dry and weak.
The world's nothing but chaos, but his voice—his anger—keeps me tethered to life.
I look up.
Beyond the shattered remnants of the Scaled Mountains, the world itself seems to shrink beneath them. A colossal wolf towers above the jagged rocks, fur glinting like molten gold, Its eyes burn with a light that doesn't just illuminate—It demands attention, reverence, fear.
Across from It, a three-headed serpent writhes, each head massive enough to crush a battalion, scales shimmering in deep, sickly hues, venom dripping from jagged fangs. Its roar splits the sky, sending a shockwave that rattles my bones and tears the air with its sheer force.
The ground trembles beneath my feet, throwing dirt and shards of stone into the air. Birds scatter. The river curls into a violent frenzy. The smell of ozone and scorched earth stings my nose, my lungs struggling for air.
"Master… what the fuck is happening?" I choke, my voice cracking under the weight of awe and terror.
Master Gil stands frozen, a silhouette against the chaos, eyes wide and unblinking. His usual confidence is gone. He doesn't move, doesn't shout—he simply watches.
"So…" I can barely hear his voice, trembling like the earth beneath us. "…this is what Gods look like when they fight."
The wolf lunges. The serpent coils. Lightning arcs through the air, fire and ice colliding in a spectacle that turns the sky into a battlefield.
I stumble, my shield useless, my spear nothing against the magnitude of what's unfolding.
And all I can do is watch.
***
The air—no, the world—began to tremble. Every step, every heartbeat, every breath seem to sync with the colossal energy radiating from the two behemoths. They face each other, titanic and immovable, and I can feel it in my bones: they're preparing something.
Something enormous.
"Big" is an understatement. "Huge" barely scratches the surface. My stomach churns, my chest tightens. Am I… am I witnessing the end?
Then it came: Light. So blinding it seared through my eyelids, even as I raised my hands to shield my face. Every nerve in my body screamed.
BOOM!
The shockwave hit. The world itself seem to explode around me. The ground buckled, rocks hurled into the sky, and the sound—it wasn't just sound—it was a force that crushed the air and rattled my very soul. My ribs screamed; the air was ripped from my lungs.
And then… silence.
The kind of silence that wasn't peace. It was the calm after a storm that could end worlds.
***
The wolf. The serpent. Gone.
I blink, disoriented, and the sky opens above. Golden light spills down, illuminating the shattered land below. And then… voices. No, not voices—I feel them. They resonate inside my skull, vibrating through my very soul.
"The Wolf has fallen. Let darkness consume his light."
The words echo inside me. The Wolf has fallen?The Wolf of Heaven?
I look around. Humans and Elves alike stand frozen, their faces pale, their eyes wide. Everything else—the battles, the blood, the chaos—fades into irrelevance. All that remains is the weight of the moment, the awe, the terror. We do nothing. We cannot do anything. We simply witness.
Slowly, almost reverently, the sky begins to close. The golden light fades. The world becomes silent once more.
And then—without warning—the world shatters. Reality itself cracks, splintering into fragments I cannot comprehend. The ground, the sky, everything I knew—gone.
I'm falling, floating, suspended in nothing. Darkness stretches in every direction. Silent. Cold. Infinite. Absolute nothingness. My chest tightens; my lungs burn.
And then—light.
A single, piercing brilliance cuts through the void. It's not the sun, not the stars, not even fire. It's pure. Blinding. Radiant. It burns through the darkness, through my mind, through me.
And in that light… I feel something awaken.
Something vast.
Something waiting.