The golden light ca from the sky, striking the ground directly between the two Alphas with an overwhelming surge of energy. It was not a thin beam or a subtle glow, but a massive column of radiance that crashed down with such force that the earth beneath it trembled. Dust, loose stone, and broken soil were thrown outward in a wide ring, forcing both Jack and Steve to halt their charge instantly.
Although both of them were confident that they could survive being struck by such energy, they each understood the sa thing at once. This power did not belong to either of them. It was not Qi, nor was it the force of a Werewolf transformation. It was sothing else entirely, an outside influence, one that neither Alpha could control or ignore.
From a distance, it almost looked as if the heavens themselves had intervened, as though the world refused to allow the two of them to clash.
Every Werewolf present froze in place. Conversations died instantly. The growls, murmurs, and hostile energy that had been building between the two packs vanished in an instant, replaced by confusion and disbelief. All eyes were locked onto the glowing pillar as it slowly began to shrink, the intense light folding inward upon itself.
As the golden radiance faded, three figures stood where the beam had struck.
“What the…?” several Werewolves muttered aloud, their voices overlapping.
Gary, Kai, and Lupus stared in disbelief, unable to process what they were seeing. Steve’s pack was just as stunned, many of them taking instinctive steps back as if unsure whether these newcors were friend or foe.
Jack, however, felt his breath catch in his throat the mont he recognized one of them.
“Galdark…” Jack said, his voice low and strained. “What are you doing here? How did you even get here?”
Galdark stood hunched slightly, one hand pressed against his chest as if steadying himself. His expression was a mixture of shock and relief, and he glanced upward briefly, as though even he hadn’t expected to arrive in such a dramatic fashion.
“That’s… quite a story to tell,” Galdark replied, exhaling slowly. “I’m still trying to understand it myself.”
He looked to his left, taking in Steve, the assembled Werewolves, and the tense battlefield that had nearly erupted into war. Then he turned back toward Jack, his expression sharpening with urgency.
“It looks like we managed to make it just in ti,” Galdark said.
Without hesitation, he rushed forward, closing the distance between them, and then dropped down onto one knee directly in front of Jack. The action was so sudden that it silenced the entire field.
“Jack,” Galdark said firmly, his voice carrying clearly. “I beg you, stop this fight. Do not engage Steve or his pack. They have nothing to do with what’s really going on.”
Jack’s claws tightened at his sides.
“Galdark,” Jack replied, his voice strained with emotion, “you might say that, but do you even know what’s happening? Do you know the full story behind this?”
Galdark lifted his head and t Jack’s gaze without hesitation.
“Yes,” he said. “I do. And it’s thanks to them.”
He rose to his feet and gestured behind him toward the other two figures who had arrived with him.
“If you listen to them,” Galdark continued, “then I’m certain you’ll finally have the answers you’ve been searching for.”
Jack turned his attention to the two individuals standing behind Galdark. There was sothing familiar about them, sothing that tugged at the edge of his mory, but he couldn’t imdiately place it.
The first was an older man, his dark hair tied back into a ponytail that fell down his back. His build was strong and compact, not overly large, but dense with power. He wore dark clothing, almost entirely black, practical and unadorned, the kind worn by soone accustod to combat rather than ceremony.
Beside him stood a woman who appeared to be in her thirties. Her hair was a striking shade of blue, and she wore robes similar to those worn by mages from Roland. What stood out most, however, was the staff she held in her hand, not a weapon ant for battle, but a conduit designed to enhance magic itself.
The woman stepped forward slightly.
“Jack,” she said calmly, “it has been a long ti.”
Jack’s eyes widened.
“Bliss!” he exclaid.
Long ago, during the era when the Shadow Plague had nearly destroyed the land, the Red Wing Kingdom, and many others, had worshipped the Divine. At the ti, it had been a crystal capable of revealing visions and truths. Eventually, fragnts of that Divine power had been combined and placed within a single individual.
That individual was Bliss.
Although Jack had never openly opposed her, he rembered clearly that one of his closest friends had always warned him never to trust her completely.
“That’s right,” Bliss said with a small smile. “I thought you might have forgotten after all this ti, but it seems you haven’t.”
She turned her gaze briefly toward Galdark.
“Your friend here has been searching everywhere for a particular person,” Bliss continued. “Given the current situation, it was not sothing we could afford to ignore.”
Jack’s eyes shifted back to the older man beside her.
“Searching for soone…” Jack repeated slowly. “If you’re Bliss, then that ans the person next to you is, Lenny?”
The Lenny Jack rembered had been massive, almost giant-like, a human whose fists alone could devastate enemies. The man standing before him shared similar facial features, but his body was noticeably smaller, more compact.
Jack struggled to reconcile the difference. Had Lenny changed? Shrunk? The thought made little sense, but there was no denying the resemblance.
“I have sothing important to tell you,” Lenny said, already stepping forward. His movents were confident, deliberate. “What’s happening right now is not your fault, Jack. None of this is the result of your decisions.”
Jack took a step back instinctively.
“What do you an?” Jack said sharply. “You haven’t even been here, Lenny. You can’t just appear and expect to believe you.”
“You’re right,” Lenny replied calmly.
In the next mont, he leapt forward, landing directly in front of Jack with a controlled force that cracked the ground beneath his feet.
“But you’ll know I’m telling the truth,” Lenny continued, “because the condition your wife is suffering from…”
Jack’s breath caught.
“…it’s the sa as mine.”
Jack froze.
“You can sll it,” Lenny said quietly. “Can’t you?”
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