"The dust in the region's air has finally cleared."
"However, despite the effort produced by our knights, this region still looks like an abnormal cross-breed between the natural forest and desert biomes!"
"This is all because of that unusual merge that stitched completely different parts of tens of worlds together! I didn't even know that many other planets with thriving sources of life existed, except for Earth…"
"But anyhow, with a clear hierarchy, we can finally manage this region's complex political affairs, not that I care about them though. The Crimson-Bladed King shall be extremely proud of us!" Suntaunter declared, with pride stricken all over his unnecessarily annoyed face.
He sat in a kingly office that purposefully attempted to look as aristocratic as possible. This was the first fully completed building in the expanding desert city of Langton, which had since replaced Vatein.
It didn't take much time to finish building it, it had only been a week, even, as the Chief General who oversaw the entire city gathered the assistance of many Magicians and such, but if they wanted power, even Suntaunter knew things needed to progress faster.
"The other regions have already started gathering political power… I guess they didn't completely ravage and conquer their cities as we did but instead did peaceful takeovers. Meanwhile, a few of the Lesser Kings are already starting to plot in secret."
"Hah, but they can't do anything directly to us! They're tied with the other forces vying for this region, all the while we have amassed the most land in the country, and are preparing for our king to sit on his throne after his Conquest."
The Suntaunter General put his head on his large palm and sighed.
"I'm done waiting."
"…I also wonder what Specter's doing right now. When I saw him last in that secluded area, he just said a few ridiculously silly things and left afterwards. I know the elves have an insane amount of arrogance, but he was just plain rude!" Suntaunter yelled.
He seemed more frustrated than ever before, with his constant yelling. His serrated blade even fell out of his sheath as he raged.
"I would've killed anyone else for speaking to me in such a tone!"
"…"
"But perhaps I need to think on the bright side…, I'll finally be able to do something of importance like my fellow Generals, rather than just watch over the construction progress. Does the Chief distrust me that much?"
"Well, I guess, in that case, it's good that so many enemies are vying for us and our lands. I'll need to deal with some of those rats before we get closer to taking over the entire country."
"Hah, and what better thing is there to do than just slaughter them all!"
…
After William thrust his blade through the werewolf's flesh, the werewolf's eyes grew an unnatural resentment in them.
"…An enlightenment? In this scenario? How bold of you." The Werewolf uttered.
"It's even more bold of you to try and kill me!" William replied.
The Werewolf chuckled but then grimaced. It felt the wound on its shoulder and shuddered in disgust.
"You know, I've always despised you humans, no matter where you came from. During the peak of our empire's bloody reign in the Desolate Lands, you received blessings from the Moon God, yet you abandoned it all!"
The Werewolf charged at William, its attacks far more furious than before. It didn't waste any time and tore William up, causing large gashes to bleed through his leather armour.
"Our old glory was lost more than ten thousand years ago, and your race of traitors was the cause of it. And then, to rub salt into the wound, the so-called glorious eras ruled by humans came, through the Era of Kings and Knights!"
The beast rushed at William again, but William, while gritting his teeth, used his Art Form once again and pierced the Werewolf's chest, making it kneel and groan in pain.
"Ah… Meanwhile… during that time, we were hunted for our sacred hearts that carried the Moon God's blessings…"
"…Why…"
"WHY?!?!" The werewolf roared in rage.
The Werewolf quickly broke its strange bracelet, and suddenly leapt and aimed its claws for William's heart, with a speed that far surpassed what it had shown before. A foreign power boosted the beast's strength as if it had gone berserk.
But, before it could reach him, the beast dropped down, exhausted of strength and blood.
"The power held within any Werewolf's heart… the ability to become a berserker… it's a shame I didn't use it the second you unleashed that powerful thrusting move…"
William panted heavily, as the Werewolf's corpse remained below him. Even he was surprised that he could match a Werewolf in a real battle. However, from what he could tell from its last words, it wasn't one-sided only because of the dumb luck that came from the Werewolf severely underestimating him.
At that moment, he began to spout some words that had once belonged to Divine Descent's main character, Tan Xuan.
"…I don't have anything else other than this single technique I managed to create by luck. I can already tell that the way I've been fighting before was poor, and I had a severe lack of understanding of my ability. If I want to reach a high level, I must create efficient techniques, and eventually surpass the heavens!"
William looked up at the underground ceiling, a grey sky, and imagined it was the heavens, calling for him.
He still didn't know exactly what the future held, or what was waiting to come for him, but as long as he breathed and lived, the Gods would tell him the purpose of everything eventually.
"I just need to continue what I've been doing. It's been working for me so far, looking at the corpse in front of me and my newly created technique!"
"There may be other werewolves, but as long as I continue to learn from my fights, eventually I'll become as strong as Tan Xuan, and nobody will be able to defy me!"
William paused.
"Damn. I can't believe all that crap came out of my mouth sincerely. …Am I slowly maturing?"
He looked over at the labyrinth's entrance and began to approach it, hoping that it wouldn't take too long to get to wherever he needed to go.
But, as he walked, he noticed he was walking above a small line carved in the stone ground, seemingly intentional. He followed this line to the labyrinth, and it seemed to lead inside the labyrinth, giving William a clue as to what it was.
'The werewolves… they created a guide…!'
"Yes! I won't have to spend months searching for the right way to head towards!"
"Haha! So, your first thought is to think that those dumb brutes did it?"
"Huh?!"
William turned around upon hearing a mysterious voice but saw nothing. Then, a hand tapped on his shoulder and he turned around again to be met face-to-face with a black-haired woman with rock-solid abs, wearing nothing but brown trousers and a patched-up vest. She looked tough and had the slightly mature face of someone who belonged at university, but she was not ugly.
"Who are you?!"
"Leslie. But, as you see me right now, I'm a clone made of ash." She replied, adjusting her vest as she walked around.
"…You're coming with me, right? Because I need some support before I can handle them."
"…Handle who, exactly?"
"Heh. You'll find out at the centre of the labyrinth. And, when you get there, don't get too nauseous, or else the ones I'm fighting will take the opportunity to deteriorate your spirit and use your body as a puppet."
"…What…?!"
She waved her hand dismissively.
"It'll be fine."
"I'm the coolest gal around, after all!"