Aria’s eyes widened in shock as she watched Alaric’s body begin to change before her very eyes.
It wasn’t a violent transformation, not something grotesque or horrifying, but rather an eerie, almost seamless shift. The wooden tendrils from the ground slowly coiled around his legs, crawling upward like living vines, wrapping around his body until he was fully encased in wood.
He looked less like a man now and more like some ancient, monstrous entity born from the very forest itself.
Except for his head.
There, atop his head, a wooden crown formed, its twisted branches curling upward like the gnarled roots of an ancient tree. It sat on him like a symbol of power, as if he were some kind of forest king, a ruler of nature itself.
“What the hell is this…” Aria muttered under her breath, her brows furrowing.
Alaric smirked a dark glint in his eyes. Without warning, he yanked his leg forward, and the earth beneath them trembled. Thick, sharp tendrils of wood burst from the ground, cracking through stone and soil, twisting and writhing as they surged toward her.
His tongue, which had been severed earlier, was now fully healed by the trees itself, and he sneered at her with a voice dripping with venom.
“You will witness my wrath firsthand, you filthy slut!” he snarled, his voice echoing as he slammed the tendrils into the ground. The impact sent shockwaves through the battlefield, the monstrous vines lunging toward Aria at an alarming speed.
Aria gritted her teeth. Her instincts screamed at her to move, and she leapt backwards just in time. She barely landed before the tendrils struck the spot where she had stood a second ago, stabbing into the ground with terrifying force.
Stab!
Stab!
Stab!
Stab!
Each strike followed her movements, relentlessly hunting her down. She couldn’t afford to let them corner her. Her hand reached for an arrow, drawing it swiftly before firing straight at the nearest tendril. The arrow soared through the air, slicing through the wind before hitting its target—
But the moment it made contact with the wood…
It shattered.
Aria’s eyes widened slightly as the remnants of her arrow scattered into tiny shimmering pieces. The sheer toughness of the wood was beyond anything she had anticipated.
Alaric chuckled darkly, his lips curling into an arrogant grin as he took a step closer.
“You truly have no idea what I am capable of, do you?” he taunted, his voice laced with amusement. “You’re nothing but an insect before me, slut.”
Meanwhile, among the crumbled remains of a broken structure, a wounded figure stirred.
“I… I need to help her…” Kaelen muttered under his breath, his voice strained with pain. He tried to push himself up, but the searing agony that spread through his body made it nearly impossible.
His body screamed for rest, but his mind refused to listen. He couldn’t afford to wait, not when everyone was fighting.
Not when they expected something from him.
If he faltered now, if he allowed himself to remain weak, they would look down on him. He could already feel the gap widening between himself and the others.
Aria, Alaric, and the rest— they were all strong, pushing forward, evolving. And him? He was still struggling, still lagging behind.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
A calm, unreadable voice stopped him.
Kaelen turned his head, his breathing ragged. The hooded figure who had helped him earlier stood nearby, their expression unreadable beneath the shadow of their cloak.
“You can’t win against them,” the figure stated plainly as if speaking a simple truth.
“B-But I have to…” Kaelen’s voice wavered. He clenched his fists and forced himself to his feet, despite the pain screaming through every inch of his body. His legs trembled, but he didn’t care. “T-Thank you… whoever you are… but I can’t just sit here and do nothing.”
The hooded figure didn’t move, simply observing him before speaking once more.
“If you go now, you’ll only hold her back,” they said, their voice carrying a weight of undeniable reality.
Kaelen’s body stiffened.
His fists clenched tighter, his nails digging into his palm as he bit his lower lip in frustration. He wanted to deny it. He wanted to scream that it wasn’t true. But deep down, he knew. If he ran in now if he recklessly charged into the battle in this state…
He would only be a burden.
He would get injured again.
And if that happened, Aria—who was barely holding her own against Alaric—would be distracted…. She would be forced to protect him.
His presence would make things worse.
Kaelen’s shoulders trembled as his emotions swirled into a chaotic storm.
“W-What the hell am I supposed to do then?!” he snapped, his voice laced with desperation. “I need to prove myself! I need to meet my father’s expectations!!”
His chest heaved as he continued, his frustration pouring out. “He believed in me… He trusted me to fight alongside them… to be strong enough to help! I… I can’t lose that. I can’t disappoint him.”
His voice softened, his expression twisting into something more pained.
“And Mother… she’ll be disappointed if she sees me lying here, won’t she…?”
The hooded figure remained silent for a moment before finally reaching up, and pulling down their hood.
Kaelen’s breath hitched.
“F-Father?” he stammered, his eyes widening as he recognized the face before him.
Aether.
Or at least…
“Not exactly,” the man corrected, giving a small half-shrug. “I am merely Master’s clone, nothing more.”
Kaelen blinked, his mind struggling to process it. ‘He can do that too…?’
He had always known his father was strong, but this… creating a living, breathing clone of himself? It was beyond anything Kaelen had expected.
But then again… it was his father.
Kaelen let out a weak chuckle, shaking his head, “Well… I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. It’s Father we’re talking about, after all.”
Still, he couldn’t help but ask, “So… why are you here? Why aren’t you helping us fight?”
A2—Aether’s clone—remained indifferent, “Master ordered me to intervene only in cases of extreme danger. Otherwise, I am not to interfere.”
“I see…” Kaelen exhaled slowly. He wasn’t entirely sure what his father was planning, but if there was one thing he had learned over the months, it was that Aether always had a reason behind his actions.
“Anyway,” A2 continued, extending his hand. “Here.”
Kaelen glanced down and saw a shimmering rainbow-coloured crystal resting in A2’s palm. It pulsed with energy, three stars embedded within it, glowing faintly.
Kaelen hesitated before asking, “What… is that?”
A2’s expression remained neutral, “It will grant you the power you need.”
Kaelen blinked before a small smirk tugged at his lips, “I suppose Father really does plan for everything, doesn’t he?”
He reached out to take it, but just as his fingers were about to grasp it—
“Also,” A2 said suddenly, his tone shifting, “Master has ordered me to tell you something…”
Kaelen froze, his gaze flickering to A2’s face.
The clone’s expression darkened, his voice carrying a weight Kaelen hadn’t expected.
“Expectations… huh?”
Kaelen was slightly taken aback. Something felt… different. His sharp ears twitched slightly as he suddenly noticed A2’s voice. Unlike before, it carried an eerie sense of life.
It almost felt… real.
A2 let out an irritated sigh, his expression shifting from the usual blank indifference to something sharper—almost human. His eyes gleamed with something deep… It wasn’t anger.
It wasn’t frustration.
It was something heavier.
“Let me warn you, my son…If you keep trying to live up to everyone else’s expectations… then you will never, ever reach them. No matter how strong you become, no matter how much you bleed, no matter how much of yourself you tear apart… it will never be enough.”
Kaelen’s breath hitched.
“Nobody can meet them. NOBODY! Can satisfy every demand placed upon them… I know how it feels more than anyone to keep up with others’ expectations and certain of it…. it’s just painful!”
Kaelen blinked, his shoulders tensing, his fingers tightening into fists as he lowered his head.
A2 extended his hand, the soft glow of the rainbow crystal pulsing gently in his palm, “Take this,” he said. “If you want to push yourself beyond your limits… if you wish to gain power and prove everyone right about their expectations of you… then take it. Use it.”
But then, just as the temptation of power reached Kaelen’s ears, A2’s voice suddenly softened, turning almost… warm.
“Or…” A2’s eyes held something inexplicable, “You could just do what your heart tells you to do.”
“Huh?”
“It’s fine, Kaelen.” A2’s voice was gentle, but firm.
“My son… It’s really fine not to meet others’ expectations.
It’s not a crime.
It’s not a weakness.
And it is certainly not something to be ashamed of. It’s not wrong to step back when you know you cannot win. It’s not wrong to run when your life is on the line. There’s no shame in it.” His eyes bore into Kaelen’s, unwavering,
“A life with the name of a coward is still better than no life at all with the same name.”
“B-But Mother will—”
A2 sighed deeply, his expression shifting from frustration to something closer to exhaustion as if he’d been holding these words inside for far too long, “Mother this. Mother that. Sigh…” He pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head,
“I am truly exhausted from hearing you chain yourself to her expectations.” His voice held a strange, melancholic weight. “Yes, she may be disappointed if she sees her son run away. But… she would also be relieved that her son was still ALIVE.”
A2 suddenly caught Kaelen’s shoulder, his grip surprisingly strong, firm—real.
“My son…” A2’s eyes burned with something deep, “I have always believed in you. I have never doubted you. But what matters is—do you believe in yourself?” He patted, “So, decide. Do you want to keep chasing others’ expectations… or do you want to follow your own heart?”
Kaelen’s lips parted, but no words came.
A2 leaned in, his gaze piercing straight into Kaelen’s soul.
“I said it before and I will say it all again….
You are a man.
Think for yourself!
Decide for yourself!!
Act for yourself!!!”
Then, A2’s expression softened. He patted Kaelen’s shoulder, a small, warm smile forming on his lips—one that carried more emotion than anything Kaelen had ever seen from him before. “No matter what path you choose… as long as you come back alive, that’s all that matters to me, my son.”
Then, as if a switch had flipped, A2’s tone instantly reverted to his usual blank monotony. “That is all. Master has finished his message,” he stated flatly, raising the rainbow crystal toward Kaelen.
Kaelen stood frozen. His mind spun in chaotic confusion, his emotions twisting in ways he couldn’t even begin to understand. He stared at the clone, then at the glowing crystal, then back again.
His throat tightened.
Took the crystal…
Yet,
“My heart…” He muttered as he stared at the crystal before placing it back again
Then, he turned away.
He walked forward.
A2 tilted his head slightly. “Are you not going to take it?”
Kaelen smiled faintly but didn’t answer. Instead, his feet carried him toward the battlefield—toward Alaric.
And toward Aria.
Aria struggled, her arrows striking against the monstrous tendrils, but Alaric’s dark roots lashed out, keeping her at bay, refusing to let her move forward.
Her body was riddled with whips as if the tendrils were able to whip her!
Kaelen clenched his fists. His body tensed, and
“YOU FUCKING BASTA—!”
CRACK!
Before he could finish, a massive tendril struck him, slamming him down like an insect being crushed underfoot.
His body hit the ground with bone-crushing force.
“KAELEN!!” Aria screamed, her voice breaking with panic. She pulled back her bow, firing arrows desperately, but Alaric’s tendrils wrapped around her, forcing her away.
Kaelen gasped, his lungs burning.
Pain.
Pain like fire, pain like ice, pain like his very existence was being torn apart!!
His vision blurred.
His limbs felt disconnected, weightless.
His consciousness hovered on the edge, slipping… slipping…
‘I… I really can’t…’
Just as he was about to let go—
‘I have always believed in you, my son.’
Kaelen gritted his teeth, blood pooling between them. His fingers twitched. His body screamed. His mind fought against the overwhelming darkness…
To Alaric…
Kaelen was nothing more than a bug.
Even in the past, Alaric had never seen him as anything more than a tool. A pawn. A disposable asset, something to be used and discarded.
A nobody.
‘You need to believe in yourself.’
Kaelen’s lips curled in pain.
Believe?
How?
How could he believe in himself?
The words struck him again, deeper this time.
Kaelen didn’t even know what that meant. How could he believe in himself when no matter what he did, no matter how hard he tried, it was never enough?
‘Follow your own heart’
What did his heart want?
Nothing—
Ba-dump.
Suddenly, his heartbeat thundered in his ears, loud and insistent, like a drum signalling war. It was saying something.
Something he had never listened to before.
Never noticed.
Never understood.
‘My heart? What is it telling me?’
Kaelen’s breathing grew ragged. His body… it was heating up. Something deep inside him pulsed, raw and primal, as if a natural force had been sleeping within him all along—waiting for this moment.
It wasn’t fear.
It wasn’t desperation.
It was something else.
His instincts roared in his mind…. as if something whispering in his ears!
Smash the man who treated you like a weak, pathetic puppy.
“I…I… can?”
Kaelen’s lips curled back, his teeth grinding together.
Tear apart the one who used you as a disposable pawn.
“Y-Yes… Tear him”
His fingers twitched violently, his nails digging into the earth beneath him.
Kill the man who sees you as nothing more than a bug.
His vision pulsed red.
Meanwhile, A2 stood at the edge of the battlefield, watching Kaelen lying motionless on the ground and Aria caught by the Tendrils… His fingers twitched slightly as if considering something. “Master… I believe I should interfere—”
Before he could finish his sentence—
“HOW DARE YOU TREAT ME LIKE A BUG?!!!”
Kaelen’s furious roar shattered the air.
[Desired Weapon has recognized its Master’s Will.]
[Kaelen Darkfang shall be accepted by the Desired Weapon.]
[Request: Modification.]
[…]
[Affirmative.]
[Initiating Origin Weapon.]
“I am…” his voice was low, dangerous, filled with primal rage.
Alaric flinched.
“KAELEN DARKFANG”
The sky turned bright white light,
“Prince of the Wolves.”