A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

"What the hell did you do to Naeku!" the werelion roared furiously while instinctively taking a threatening step closer to Erik. He'd just seen this unknown shapeshifter make his niece disappear into thin air, and if he had any idea how it happened, or how to reverse it, he likely would have already attacked.

Erik, however, looked unimpressed, and instead pointed somewhere behind Naeku's uncle. "Bad time to get distracted, friend," he said nonchalantly.

The werelion's eyes flashed, and with a frustrated roar, he swung his body around, just in time to deflect a lance of swirling metalwind shards coming his way. Unsurprisingly, Abigail was all too happy about Naeku's disappearance, and didn't refuse the chance to attack her opponent while he was distracted.

"Dammit!" the werelion cursed, his face twisted in frustration. "I don't know who you are," he snarled furiously, clearly addressing the werewolf behind him without taking his eyes off Abigail. "But if you don't return Naeku, I will take you down regardless of these monsters' interference!"

"Don't worry," Erik's calm voice came from behind him. "The girl is fine, I merely stopped her from doing something brave yet unnecessary. Regardless, how about you deal with the metalwind lady, and I'll take the mud-man, and we talk afterwards, huh?"

If possible, the werelion's face became even more annoyed and frustrated. "You're a second ranker! How are you doing to—" he spat without taking his eyes off Abigail, who was preparing her next attack. Yet, he interrupted himself when he used his omnisense to check the situation behind him.

A massive missile of mud exploded violently against Erik's thundersnow shield. Fortunately, while the shield trembled and fluctuated heavily, it did hold, and Erik only slid back a few meters.

Unsurprisingly, it had been fired by Aaron, who figured he'd take down the strange werewolf and his interference with one quick blow.

Erik's action of taking down Naeku may have been favourable for Aaron and his partner, but the Arcanists made themselves no illusion about whose side this werewolf was on.

His actions may seem somewhat contradictory, but that meant nothing in the face of his words and the clearly hostile gaze he directed towards the two Arcanists.

"You were right, my little Ember," Erik grinned widely through his bond with Elora, the blood thirst practically dripping from his words. His eyes fixated on Aaron. "He's only marginally stronger than Sigurd was. I can take him."

"Then do it, my love," Elora smiled indulgently and with a hint of excitement. "Show these people what happens when they anger our family… Your— No… Our revenge begins here! Remember, Erik, none shall stand in our way, and any who offend us must feel the sting of our retaliation!"

* * *

A little earlier, it had been Anne who was running through the forest at breakneck speeds while in her werelynx form. Erik's three servants, Anne, Nora, and Seraphina had been sharing the burden of carrying the black metal orb that Erik had linked his dimension to, and currently, it was Anne's turn.

In this way, their group had been on the move for 48 hours or so, traveling across the African mainland and through its rainforests.

Not that they minded. Both Nora and Anne had found happiness in their service to Erik, becoming fiercely loyal to him. As for Seraphina, she'd known what she was signing up for, and believed this to be just penance. Plus, the gift Erik had given her after her first run helped…Nôv(el)B\\jnn

As for Erik and his family, they'd remained in the dimension, where they focused on their training and spending time together as their servants brought them ever closer to their goal: Runa.

Yet, before they reached the destination that the piece of Runa's soul—which Elora pulled out of Frostfang—was guiding them to, Anne ran across this battlefield in the middle of what was once Ethiopia, on the border between desert and forest.

And she instantly recognized the symbol of a sun and two crossed spears.

It was the symbol adorned by those who decimated the area around Kirkenes in the North. Those who did unspeakable things to her mother and killed Erik's father. Those who betrayed Audumla and corrupted the guardians. And, most of all, those who harboured Edda.

In the past, they were known as the hunters, and most people in Erik's family, and among his servants, had plenty of reason to hate them.

When she realized the truth, hatred and anger threatened to overwhelm Anne, yet her newfound loyalty, in addition to the Bond of Service, compelled her to reach out to her master first.

Of course, the reaction was immediate. It was no surprise that all of Erik's wives were entirely on board and even wanted to fight with him. While Elora, Emma, and Emily didn't have any personal grudges against the hunters, they naturally weren't squeamish about supporting their husband in his revenge. As for Astrid, she had her own bone to pick with Edda and her ilk.

Thus, the family marched to war.

* * *

At the same time as Erik's appearance, several other familiar faces showed up across the battlefield.

While they were still stunned by Erik's terrifying howl, the defender's contingent of Arcanists suddenly got reinforced by the two beautiful figures of Emma and Emily, wearing their elegant, yet seductive dresses.

Before these Arcanists even realized what was happening, Emma and Emily both tossed a sigil stone on the floor, each of which quickly began to create an interconnected pattern of glowing circles on the forest floor, with one circle at the very front. Emma and Emily stood in those.

With this sudden change, the defending Arcanists were finally pulled out of their previous confusion and fear, to look down at the patterns of the ground, and the two women now standing in front of them.

"What the hell…?" one of the second rankers among them muttered, before quickly avoiding the circle he was previous standing in and looked at the two women with hostility. "Who are you?! What's going on?!" Read new chapters at empire

Others quickly conjured their magic circles and aimed them at the two women. "Are you with those devils who lost their humanity?!" another exclaimed. "Quickly answer, before we blow you to dust!"

Neither Emma nor Emily was very concerned about their threats, but since Emily was more likely to escalate matters, it was Emma who took the word.

"Please calm down, everyone," she smiled softly at them, her motherly aura already spreading wide to make her seem more trustworthy. "We are with the werewolf who just appeared, and we are here to help."