Our Family Has Fallen

As if by unspoken agreement, both sides suddenly pulled apart. Their tongues lolled out as they gasped for air, their bodies riddled with wounds from which fresh wolf blood dripped unceasingly onto the ground.

But neither paid these wounds any mind. Each knew the other was utterly exhausted, yet they remained facing off like two statues.

The watching warriors and wolves felt an atmosphere even more oppressive than during the earlier melee; they knew the next exchange would decide the victor.

Warwolf trusted his longtime companion deeply. No one knew the Wolf King’s condition better than he did.

Even weakened, he could easily handle a young wolf pup.

Impelled by the ritual, the final battle erupted instantly, both sides lunging to attack at almost the same moment.

The two figures clashed again, this time with even greater ferocity. They had no intention of dodging, only of tearing at each other’s flesh.

Wounds that had just staunched split open anew, the blood loss threatening to drain their Life Force entirely.

As it turned out, Warwolf’s judgment had been correct; a larger physique did indeed mean greater Life Force.

The struggle ended when the Wolf King pinned Wang Cai and sank his teeth into his neck.

Wang Cai’s consciousness was blurring, the pain from his body barely perceptible. He felt only a growing weakness, a creeping chill, as if something were siphoning his strength, yet he was powerless to resist.

His wild, animalistic nature seemed to recede with this draining force, and for some reason, an emptiness bloomed within him. The weaker he became, the stronger this feeling grew, as though he had forgotten something crucial.

A person not to be forgotten, someone very important...

Who are you? What is your name?

Why can’t I remember...

The weakness was irreversible. Wang Cai’s consciousness gradually sank into nothingness, as if drowning...

Meanwhile, the warriors outside erupted in cheers, celebrating both the Wolf King’s victory and the completion of their task. They could finally go home.

Warwolf couldn’t help but smile. He felt as if he could sense the Wolf God’s joy.

However, the ritual had only completed its first phase. The bloodline devouring was the crucial next step...

Just then, Warwolf’s keen senses flared with alarm. Before he could shout a warning, a Feather Arrow shot from the darkness.

Its target, however, was not Warwolf or any other warrior, but the Wolf King, still in the throes of the ritual.

Ordinarily, the Wolf King would have reacted. But now, utterly spent, it was only his superior constitution that had allowed him to overpower Wang Cai, to say nothing of his immersion in the ritual.

This sneak attack caught him completely off guard; the Feather Arrow cunningly struck his right eye.

Such precision! This level of archery was terrifying!

A jolt of agonizing pain shot through his eye, forcing him to release Wang Cai. He thrashed and howled in agony.

”AROOOOOO~”

As he thrashed, gushing blood splattered onto Wang Cai’s face.

Water... Drowning!

It was as if this triggered something. Wang Cai’s body jerked violently. The figure, eroded by wildness and previously vanished, now emerged once more in his mind.

Like a flash of memory, he saw the first time he met that person—the person who had held him, smiling.

The one who would gently stroke his head... who liked to lean against him in idle moments... who would playfully mess up the fur he had just meticulously groomed...

I remember! I remember it all!

Wang Cai, lying on the ground like a lifeless hound, suddenly snapped his eyes open. His unfocused pupils instantly sharpened. His depleted body, as if granted a final resurgence, surged with an inexplicable power.

Seizing the opportunity while the Wolf King was injured and everyone’s attention was fixed on the Feather Arrow, Wang Cai didn’t hesitate for a moment, bolting into the wilderness.

This happened almost immediately after the Feather Arrow struck the Wolf King. Before anyone could fully recover from the shock of the Feather Arrow’s sudden appearance, they saw Wang Cai fleeing.

No one had anticipated this. For a moment, no one gave chase; they were all stunned.

What happened? What just flew past?

Then Warwolf shot to his feet, his face a mask of horror.

The ritual, interrupted midway, had invoked the Wolf God’s wrath, and it was now manifesting in him.

His face contorted as if resisting some terrible force. He looked less and less human; his eyes turned into lupine, bestial pools, and coarse fur began to sprout rapidly, threatening to engulf his face.

The situation had indeed taken a drastic turn!

”Kill!”

The warriors and the wolf pack charged into the dense forest. The ritual’s disruption was a profound humiliation; only by slaying the enemy could they hope to earn the Wolf God’s forgiveness.

But the lead warrior was met by those cunning Feather Arrows. He barely dodged the first, only for the second, arriving almost instantly, to pierce his leather armor and elicit a cry of pain.

”AAARGH!”

The attack momentarily delayed him. By the time the other warriors rushed past, only a faint, lingering scent remained.

”Chase! He couldn’t have gone far!” some warriors urged, eager to continue the pursuit, but a shout came from behind them.

”Enough! Come back.”

Hearing the command, the warriors sulkily returned. Warwolf was truly the Wolf God’s Chosen Champion; he had managed to suppress the ritual’s backlash in such a short time.

Beside him stood the Wolf King. The arrow had been removed, leaving a bloody socket where his right eye had been. Tears of blood streamed down his scarred body. He was no longer the majestic sovereign of old; his weakness was palpable.