My Werewolf System

Chapter 1590: The Red Dragon’s Shadow

The brutal reality of Unzoku’s persistent, multi-generational curse weighed heavily on the mountain air. Because Unzoku was unable to directly stop Steve or successfully force him to carry out his bidding, the next logical step in his terrifying plan was indeed to go to Jack, the other Alpha. Steve’s worry that his brother might now be under attack was warranted, but Kai still had further, crucial questions. He needed to understand the clear difference between the situation in the past and the circumstances of the curse in their time.

“Why didn’t Unzoku go after Jack first out of the two of you?” Kai asked, his mind dissecting the historical timeline. “Jack’s pack was always well known; they were publicly recognized in the eye of the people as the dominant Werewolves. Unzoku had only approached your pack after he found out about your existence.”

Kai paused, pushing the pieces together. “We can assume that he might just want to be imposing the will of Werewolf packs going against each other, fulfilling some ancient, unknown requirement. But there has to be something more complex than that, right? Didn’t Rogan himself state that his pack was completely destroyed by Unzoku? If Unzoku is willing to destroy a pack, why was he so cautious about Jack? This is the most confusing part for me.”

Steve nodded slowly, showing he agreed with Kai. He was a thinker as well and had wrestled with these same contradictions for years.

“I think it might have something to do with the Kingdom itself,” Steve explained, offering his deepest suspicion. “Be it the fact that the Red Wing Kingdom was linked to a powerful Divine Being or the fabled Red Dragon, there might be a level of true, ancient fear that Unzoku has. A restriction not to mess with Jack, or at least, not until he is strong enough or has carefully gathered enough power to oppose that protection.”

“Dragon... did he just say that there really are dragons here?” Gary said, his ears perking up instantly. Of course, he had fought against Harvor, the colossal, terrifying Dragon, in his own time, so he figured that in ancient times, the species would have been prevalent. But throughout their journey in this past world, they hadn’t seen any living dragons. To hear their name called out like this, with a connection to an entire kingdom, caused a primal reaction in Gary. There was a part of him that was intensely curious to really see one, but another part of him was deeply afraid of what exactly he could do if he ran into a creature as strong as Harvor, or stronger, especially while his own powers were suppressed by the temporal shift.

“Divine being?” Kai muttered under his breath, not saying it loud enough to be heard over Steve’s somber tone. How much of this world did they not know about? And how much was now permanently lost in their own future time? Perhaps the word was simply talking about some type of goddess’s protection that the people of old truly believed in. That wouldn’t be a valid reason for stopping a demon like Unzoku, could it?

“There were dragons in the past, but not so much anymore,” Steve explained, shaking his head. “I was going to say you should have known about all of this, especially the great tale of the Red Dragon Sen. I don’t think there’s one person in this entire country who doesn’t know about it.” He looked at their confused faces, a genuine look of sadness washing over him. “The way you guys speak, and how you know about nothing of our history, really makes me believe you truly are from the future... but it’s a great shame that our stories, and our values, haven’t passed on for so long.”

There was a genuine pause as Steve took a deep breath of the fresh mountain air, his mouth feeling slightly dry from the length of his tale. He could have really done with a glass of water, but the mission was more important than comfort.

“I’m worried about Jack now that time has passed,” Steve continued, refocusing on the immediate threat. “Unzoku might have been cleverly gathering power, strong enough power to finally do something definitive. The issue is with Jack, although I believe he wouldn’t want to harm us or another pack, there are multiple ways to get to him that don’t involve a direct attack on his pack.”

He began to list his brother’s weaknesses, his voice heavy with dread:

Political Vulnerability: “Jack is not just in charge of the Red Wing Pack, but he also plays a big, public part in the Red Wing Kingdom’s governance. There are more than just Werewolves that could be used against him; Unzoku could use human factions, political pressure, or even leverage external kingdom threats. There are multiple indirect methods.”

Family Weakness: “Lastly, Jack also has a family now, a wife and children. A man that’s so powerful can be easily brought down by this simple word and this basic human belief in family. I fear he might have been quietly swayed by Unzoku’s pressure, or worse, compromised. I fear that the fall of the Red Wing Kingdom is imminent.”

Now that Steve had completely finished the story, Gary was thinking about the purpose of their entire quest. Was this time-travel journey meant for them to see two conflicting points of view? It was a coincidence they had met with Steve’s pack first, but now they had learned everything they needed to know about Unzoku’s methods and the historical context of the conflict.

There was only one logical thing left for them to do.

“I think... we should head to the Red Wing Kingdom,” Gary finally stated, his eyes meeting Steve’s. The decision was firm. “We need to go and find out if something is really up. I guess it’s time for us to leave the safety of the pack, and move on.”

****

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