"We’re not leaving without her," Es declared, cutting off Atticus before he could urge her toward the carriage. She wasn’t going to leave Revana behind, and she hadn’t intended for Revana to get the book herself. Es knew she was more than capable of getting her book herself, she believed she was, but Revana still clearly doesn’t have faith in her.
Around them, half the warriors had shifted into their wolf forms, tearing down any demon wolves that dared to attack. While Atticus stayed by Es’s side as her defense chanism, Orion led the charge, his movent precise and ruthless.
Watching as the demon wolves got slaughtered, Es couldn’t stop herself from recalling Revana’s words. These people... it was hard to believe that only minutes ago, they were ordinary travelers resting within the inn’s walls. Now, their bodies lay lifeless across the bloodstained ground, their humanity stripped away without them knowing the outco of it. Her heart clenched as she thought about how these people must have families waiting for them, dreams they hoped to fulfill, and as deeply as the sight stung, she knew there was no reversing what had been done. No way to turn or bring them back.
Instead, the sight only deepened her hatred for the true bearer. Not only was he endlessly tornting Donovan, but he was also toying with innocent lives, sacrificing them and twisting them into monsters to further his own selfish ambition. The more she thought about it, the more a chilling realization took toot.
For the true bearer to have transford these people into monsters, he had to be nearby. He had to be here. Was he sowhere around the inn even now?
Oh no!
Beside Es, Atticus let out a low growl, an attempt to persuade Es to retreat. But she barely registered it. Her gaze was locked on her chamber window, her heart pounding as she continued to wait for Revana to co out before the entire building collapsed.
’Why is she taking so long?’ Es couldn’t help but wonder, her unease intensifying with each second that passed.
Then, the walls cracked, and Es flinched, her breath catching in her throat as everyone else froze. In a sickening instant, Revana was rcilessly hurled from the window, her body flung into the air like a discarded doll. The glass windows shattered from the impact, the sound splintering through the chaos.
Es’s hands flew to her mouth, and horror twisted her face as she watched Revana fall. She wanted to move, to do sothing, to save her, but then her legs, for so reason, refused to move a single muscle.
Thankfully, Orion had seen it too. He imdiately moved on instincts, lunging forward and shifting into a human mid-air. In a blur of motion, he caught Revana in his arms before she could hit the ground.
"Revana!" Es was already starting to run toward her, to confirm if she was alright, when sothing else— or soone else, dropped from the sa window where Revana had been brutally thrown out of.
The earth shook as the figure landed, forcing Es to stop in her tracks. Craters ford where the figure stood, with dust billowing in its wake. Silence imdiately ensued, and even the demon wolves stopped attacking all at once.
The very air seed to shift drastically, pressing down on them with an unbearable weight, like an unforeseen force intent on grinding them all to dust.
When the dust finally settled, a man stepped forward from the chaos, holding the book Revana had gone up to retrieve. Clad in a long, raven-black coat with a hood that cast shadows over his sharp features, the figure moved with an air of quiet confidence. Everyone simply backed away as he stepped forward, and Es noticed how the demon wolves got equally scared of the man’s presence, but instead of fleeing, they lowered their heads in a bow.
"Well, well," the strange man uttered, a smirk playing on his lips. "Guess I’ll be holding onto these after all."
Es’s pupils dilated when she saw him holding the book that contained her family’s secret. However, it no longer mattered as much as it did before, because Revana was hurt, and that was all she could think about at the mont.
"Did you seriously think you could take down?" The man sneered, his attention fixed on Revana, who was clearly in agony. But despite the pain twisting her features, she held his gaze with unyielding defiance, as if already plotting her revenge for what he did to her. She gritted her teeth and attempted to rise.
"Don’t." Orion’s disapproving tone was sharp, and he held Revana back. "You’ve broken more than a rib. If you move any further, you could start bleeding internally."
Hearing this, Revana let out a sharp breath, cursing under her breath, but she didn’t try to get up again. To be honest, she didn’t have it in her to rise this ti. Her body had been ruthlessly damaged.
"Pathetic," he tsked, turning his head toward Es with eerie precision. A slow, knowing smile curled his lips as he watched over wolves surround her, as if to shield her from him. "You have what I want, and you know what it is. Right now, you’re the only thing standing in the way of achieving true god mode. I have a feeling that little goddess will co protecting you the minute I touch you. I’m curious to see how far she’ll go to ensure I don’t succeed in finding her."
"Who are you?" Es demanded, her hands curling into fist at her side. "What are you talking about? And what do you want from us?" While Es was busy questioning the intruder, another warrior had sneaked over to help Orion take Revana away from the scene.
"Who am I?" The figure felt insulted. "Very well, I am what everyone calls the true bearer, the wielder of the demonic curse, and in other words, Ultima." His lips curled into a grin, sharp fangs glinting in the dim light, whilst he stretched his arms out. "And as you might have guessed, I’m here to propose a deal, Esray Montague."
-_-_-♡-_-_-
"Found it!" Leonardo exclaid as he uncovered another answer in one of the books Cora had recomnded. "The true aning of Ultima. Turns out, it’s not actually a na, like we thought."
He glanced at Donovan, who seed sowhat lost in thought, but was snapped back to reality at the sound of Leonardo’s voice.
"What?" He blinked.
"Ultima," Leonardo repeated slowly. He then rose from his seat, crossing the room to approach where Donovan remained seated. He dropped the book in front of him so his brother could read what had been discovered himself.
Donovan let his gaze linger on Leonardo for a mont before turning his attention to the book, his gaze skimming through the passage.
’Ultima—one who stands equal to an Alpha in strength and intelligence, yet is denied the title until they prove themselves worthy of it. Their power is formidable, too dangerous to be entrusted with leadership, forcing them into a separate role beyond the traditional hierarchy. Neither Alpha nor Beta, the Ultima is a force of their own—more vital to the pack than a Beta, yet always standing at the threshold of true command.’
Leonardo exhaled sharply when his brother was done reading the paragraph. "It makes sense now— why no one ever spoke of Father having a twin. Our father beca the Alpha, and since he had a twin, the role of Ultima was given to him, which is why he continues to call himself Ultima. He handled the dirty work outside the pack, and no one knew about it."
"No," Donovan shook his head. "Everyone knew," he corrected, his expression darkening. "The accusations were just misplaced. Es’s father ntioned sothing else, that the pack that our father led was different from the ones in the Damned. I hadn’t thought about it back then because I equally believed Father was the culprit. But now, It makes wonder— what if it wasn’t Father all along? What if his twin was the one who truly caused all the chaos? Father may have played a part, Leo, but Father didn’t spread the curse to everyone, it was all the true bearer’s doing, Ultima’s doing."
Donovan’s voice suddenly quieted, but it weighed heavily with conviction. "Father took the bla for Ultima’s doing, and we never noticed the truth. As insane as it sounds, Father must have loved his twin enough to do sothing like that. He got rid of every family portrait, or maybe it was Ultima who did. But who knows how long he had been exploiting the love our father had for him. He made them kill Father, and fooled everyone into thinking it was over. Conniving bastard."
Leonardo simply leaned over, staring at the pages on the book. "Isn’t it strange, how Alpha Thadius made sure to note down what he knew about the true bearer, as though he knew that at so point, he won’t survive. I guess I can understand why the people of the North never underestimated him."
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