Chapter 144 – END OF MAIN STORY

Clang!

The knights’ swords, struck by Ysildus’s claws, went flying through the air and plunged into the ground. His razor-sharp teeth and claws, which looked capable of ripping anything to shreds, inspired such terror that some turned tail and fled.

Someone pointed at Ysildus and Violeta, shouting that they were monsters. But far more people were saying that at long last, the Wolf God had come to punish them.

The wolves of Thersion did not harm those who surrendered. Unlike the rumors of bloodthirsty fiends, they did not chase down those who fled. Contrary to the tales that they tore people apart indiscriminately to feed, they showed mercy. Those who dropped their weapons ran away unharmed.

“Anyone who flees will be punished under imperial law!! Protect the Imperial Capital!!!”

Led by Depier, the nobles shouted in rage, grabbing fleeing knights and hurling them before Ysildus.

‘The Wolf God has surely abandoned us!!’

Otherwise, the wolves would never have set foot inside the imperial capital.

“That cowardly Wolf God has broken our pact!! Kill the godless wolves and reclaim the capital!!”

The wolves turned their gaze toward Depier, who was yelling from the safety of the rear, with no intention of stepping forward.

“Hahahaha! Pathetic.”

Violeta burst into wild laughter as she crushed a fallen sword beneath her foot and bared her fangs at Depier. He pushed aside his modified knights and scurried backward like a rat caught in a trap, eventually collapsing against a wall, trembling.

“Was I wrong?! The Wolf God made us a promise!! He said the wolves would never interfere in imperial affairs!! But here you are, breaking that promise and entering the capital! You’ve betrayed the Wolf God Himself!! You’re the ones who broke His vow!”

Ysildus let out a short, bitter laugh. As expected, there was no hope for Temperchi. Crushing these people underfoot like ants would be no difficult task. They were fundamentally different from Jeremiah, who had been raised in Thersion since childhood.

Or perhaps… they had simply been born different from the start.

“What the Wolf God promised was peace between you and me, not peace for you alone.”

Ysildus’s voice rang out, heavy and resolute. Just as he was about to strike the final blow, a gentle, unhurried voice echoed through the air.

“Ignorant Temperchi, still bound by the phantoms of the past.”

It was a voice laced with melody, as though it belonged not to this world, but to the heavens. A tall man with silver hair and blue eyes walked across the sky itself. Moving through the wolves, he smiled softly. 

Depier whispered, his face pale as a sheet, “D-Dephensores…?”

Just as the legends described. A divine energy flowed from Dephensores, overwhelming every living being in its presence. He tilted his head at Depier.

“You never change. Always believing your own justice to be absolute, while looking down on others’. But tell me, have you ever been right?”

Dephensores bared his teeth.

“Not once. You hid behind the Red Clan’s cloak, preserving your own life while spewing lies!”

But even Dephensores had been ignorant. It had not been the Red Clan who betrayed him, it had been humans. The knight he had once trusted to protect him. The Temperchi he had believed could be entrusted with this country was the very one who betrayed him. And yet Alexandria took the burden of it all and left.

[“Those who were unjustly sacrificed shall return!”]

Those were the last words he had left behind. They became shackles, binding the souls of the innocent to this world. And thus, Dephensores returned. And Alexandria returned. Proof that Alexandria’s death had been unjust!

The moment he set foot upon this earth and breathed in its air, the truth of the past struck him like a blow. Alexandria had died to protect both him and Temperchi, and still, Temperchi was repeating the same mistakes.

“I gave far too much to those who were never worthy. That is the price I have paid.”

Dephensores stepped toward Depier. He placed his hand on the trembling man’s head, who had collapsed to his knees.

“All that the knight Temperchi enjoyed in Thersion’s place shall be returned.”

Clang!

A shattering sound rumbled beneath their feet. It was the sound of all the loyalty and faith once offered to Dephensores by the knight Temperchi, and the divine blessings the god had bestowed upon that knight, being broken into pieces.

“I withdraw every word I’ve spoken in defense of the knight Temperchi. From now on, you shall live as what you were always meant to be: nothing.”

Depier, with a hollow expression, clutched at Dephensores’s sleeve.

“You-You can’t do this!!”

“What gave you the confidence to meddle in my children’s affairs? What made you think you could defy me?”

Dephensores asked slowly, his eyes sweeping over the ruined courtyard. Seeing the modified knights, he let out a faint laugh.

“You call us monsters, yet you’re the ones who created these abominations.”

“I was only trying to protect what’s mine!!”

“That is your justice. But mine no longer aligns with Temperchi’s. So I will cast you away without hesitation.”

The moment he returned, he realized that centuries of anger and vengeance were meaningless. Alexandria’s sacrifice had sown hope. Even if he destroyed the world or exacted bloody revenge, those who once lived in the past would never return. But Dephensores had recovered everything he’d lost, including his friend Alexandria, and his lover Lunailliah.

Once he let go of his futile, petty emotions, all that remained was regret and guilt. Blinded by rage, he had failed to see the values Alexandria had died to protect.

Temperchi wasn’t the only one who was human. Alexandria was human too. Not all were like Temperchi; there were those like Alexandria as well. How had he failed to see that?

Dephensores retracted all of his protection from the Temperchi. At his side, Ysildus raised one massive paw.

Thud!

With just a single blow, Depier was hurled into the wall and died on impact.

“Death is always a hollow thing.”

Dephensores murmured as he watched.

“I lift every curse I have laid.”

So ends vengeance, so ends rage. The curse, entangled with death and blood, was lifted at last.

* * *

Ruella gasped and raised her trembling hand.

‘The curse is broken…!’

Power surged within her. The curse that had bound the Red Clan to this land was gone. At the brink of death, she had finally achieved what she longed for. Light magic returned, restoring them to their true forms.

Tears trickled down Ruella’s bloodstained cheeks. Perhaps the reason her stubborn life had endured so long was to see this very moment. The days she had struggled to seize Thersion and break the curse had not been in vain.

Ruella was finally released from this land. The door opened for those who had been trapped here, unable to return to their original world. A door to go back had opened for those who had forgotten who they were and where they came from.

Of course, everyone from that era was already dead. The Red Clan living in the present had no world to return to. But they had been given a chance to leave this place and begin anew. If they wished, they could cross over to where their ancestors once lived and start a new life. Perhaps Ruella, too, would find peace there.

Cough!

Ruella vomited blood. Jeremiah’s sword had pierced her abdomen. Death was close, her body knew it.

‘Alexa…’

The only one of the Red Clan to accomplish all of this. Ruella had believed that if anyone were to break the Red Clan’s curse, it would be her. But the stage hadn’t been prepared for her. She let out a faint, self-deprecating smile. She would die as a nobody, but perhaps, one day, she would be born again as someone who was loved.

Ruella exhaled her final breath.

* * *

Alexa dashed down from her bedroom, face glowing.

“They’re coming back!!”

She shouted with joy. Essellia, who had been preparing to leave through the front door, turned her head.

“Ysildus is coming back!! We won!!”

Essellia’s eyes crinkled in a radiant smile. Thersion had succeeded. And just as they had hoped, they had protected Alexa’s peace. Her joyful smile became the light of Thersion.

“We did it!”

Alexa bit her lip. Tears welled up in her eyes. She had succeeded. The world she had reshaped, Thersion, was reaching the happy ending they had all wished for.

Her heart swelled. Alexa had once been just a speck in this world, utterly insignificant. And yet, she had helped build it. Now, she was a part of Thersion, steering the very flow of the world.

She was no longer insignificant. She had carved her own path, and at last, she had become the protagonist. If this were a novel, it would be a happy ending.

* * *

“Hah… Where the hell am I?”

A man raked his hands through his hair, spouting curses. Just moments ago, he had been running away after stealing money from Han Yu-hee. Sleazy and cowardly, sure, but he’d sworn to live well. And yet, of all things, he had to get hit by a car. He thought he’d died, but when he opened his eyes, he was in a strange place. His reflection in the lake was unfamiliar: red hair, blue eyes, and a foreign-looking face.

“This is nuts. Is this punishment or something? Ah… there’s someone!”

The man ran up to a passerby.

“What’s the matter?”

“Sorry to bother you, but… where am I?”

The passerby looked him up and down, suspicious.

“What, did you fall out of another world or something? You don’t know where you are? This is Thersion! The Thersion Domain! You even smell like a wolf…”

What the hell was he talking about? The man didn’t understand. But fate kept moving forward. Everything eventually returns to its rightful place.

And now, it was his turn to receive what was due.

— END OF MAIN STORY — 

T/N: So this is where the main story ends. Happy ending! But don’t go yet, we still have side stories!