Morning came without sunlight.
The skies above Creldoster were heavy, clouds hanging low as if the realm itself sensed what was about to happen. Fenrik stood near the shelter entrance, cloak pulled tight around his shoulders, the Wolf Slayer Axe resting against his back. The wound on his chest still burned, but he ignored it.
Pain was familiar now.
What wasn't—was certainty.
Behind him, Taro Hyun adjusted the grip on his Tiger Reaper Scythe. Aoi stood quietly to Fenrik's left, eyes sharp, expression calm but guarded. None of them spoke.
Footsteps approached.
Eryx emerged from the corridor, expression relaxed, almost bored. "You're all awake early," he said casually. "Something wrong?"
Fenrik turned slowly to face him.
"No," Fenrik replied. "We just wanted to talk."
Eryx's eyes flicked briefly to the axe on Fenrik's back. "About?"
Taro stepped forward, voice even. "About you."
Silence followed.
Not tense.
Not explosive.
Just… still.
Eryx smiled faintly. "That's vague."
Fenrik met his gaze. "You talk to shadows when you think no one's listening."
The smile didn't fade.
But it stopped reaching Eryx's eyes.
"I wondered how long it would take," Eryx said softly. "You're sharper than you look, Fenrik Hayashi."
Aoi's breath hitched.
Taro's grip tightened.
Fenrik didn't react. "You're not human," he said. "Not fully."
Eryx sighed, rubbing his temple. "I was hoping to walk away before this part."
Then—he stepped back.
The light around him bent.
His shadow peeled off the ground, stretching unnaturally as black veins crawled across his skin. His eyes darkened completely, swallowing the whites, his voice dropping into something layered—echoing.
"You're right," he said.
"I am a Shadow of the Devil."
Aoi drew her weapon instantly. "Fenrik—"
"Now," Fenrik said.
They moved together.
Taro struck first, his scythe carving a crescent of pressure through the air. Eryx vanished—reappearing behind him—but Fenrik was already there. The Wolf Slayer Axe swung in a brutal arc, silver fur flaring as it scraped against shadow.
The impact cracked the stone floor.
Eryx hissed, stumbling back. "So the rumors were true."
Shadows erupted from his body, forming blades, chains, claws—each one striking fast and without mercy. Aoi countered with precise magic, barriers snapping into place just in time. Taro pressed forward relentlessly, his movements sharp, controlled, like a predator refusing to retreat.
Fenrik felt the axe grow heavier.
Stronger.
The fur along the blade glowed brighter as he pushed through the pain in his chest. With a roar, he slammed the axe down, cleaving through shadow and stone alike.
Eryx screamed—not in pain, but in frustration.
"You don't understand what you're fighting!" he shouted, launching one final surge of darkness.
Fenrik stepped through it.
One strike.
Clean.
Decisive.
The shadows shattered.
Eryx crashed to the ground, body flickering, form unstable.
Silence returned.
Eryx laughed weakly. "So… this is how it ends."
Fenrik stood over him, breathing hard. "No," he said. "Now it starts."
Taro lowered his weapon. "You're going to tell us everything."
Eryx's form began to crumble, shadow leaking like smoke. "Careful," he muttered. "Some truths… wake things better left asleep."
Fenrik's eyes narrowed. "Then start talking."
Eryx looked up at them—at the wolf, the tiger, the mage.
"…The devils are already moving," he said. "Not as conquerors."
"But as observers."
His smile returned—thin, dangerous.
"And when they decide to act…"
The shadows swallowed him whole.
Gone.
Only his words remained.
The wind howled outside the shelter.
And somewhere far beyond the realm—
Something listened.
Eryx's body flickered harder now, shadows tearing away from him like smoke in a storm.
"You think this was just about spying?" he coughed, dark mist spilling from his mouth. "No… this realm was only the beginning."
Fenrik leaned forward. "Then talk."
Eryx's eyes locked onto the Wolf Slayer Axe.
"The devils don't fear you," he said. "They want your weapon."
Everyone froze.
"They've seen what it's becoming," Eryx continued hurriedly. "A beast-bound relic that survived death. Their plan was never to destroy it—"
His voice dropped.
"—but to steal the Wolf Slayer Axe and corrupt it."
The axe pulsed violently.
Taro's eyes narrowed. "How?"
Eryx opened his mouth to answer—
Suddenly, the shadows around his body snapped tight.
"No—wait—!" he shouted.
His form collapsed inward, swallowed by darkness in an instant.
Elsewhere.
A vast hall of black stone and crimson light.
Eryx slammed onto the cold floor of a towering mansion. Pillars carved with devil sigils loomed above him. At the far end, a throne shifted.
A presence rose.
"You spoke too much," the devil said calmly.
Eryx struggled to stand. "I was loyal—!"
The devil stepped forward, eyes burning like dying stars.
"Loyal shadows do not improvise."
With a single gesture, the darkness crushed inward. No scream echoed for long.
When it was over, nothing remained.
The devil turned away, voice cold.
"So the wolf lives… and now he knows."
The mansion trembled.
"Prepare the next phase."
Far away, the Wolf Slayer Axe howled softly.
And Fenrik—though unaware—
had just stepped onto a path the devils could no longer ignore.