Fresh food and a suited dude

Kai wasn't really sure what to think as he made his way towards Failure's cabin. The dinky little home was always cozy and relaxing to be in, but that was before Kai had his second thoughts about the charismatic man himself.

Still, he would much rather walk there than be carried in Aldred's mouth.

Dressing for the occasion, Kai wore his bodysuit, tunic and boots.

It's not like he had anything else anyway.

There was one thing bugging him about his previous conversation with Aldred, and he kept thinking back to that one thing.

If Aldred was raised in this forest for his whole life and had never been outside it...

How did he know what an apple smelled like?

Ah who cares... Its only an apple

In the distance, Kai could spot the outline of the cabin growing larger and larger, but what confused him the most was the large group of moon beasts standing around the front door of the place.

What's going on?

Eventually, Kai reached the cabin and tried to sneak a peak inside, but was unsuccessful. There was just too many beasts blocking the way, so he-

"You're here, come."

His thought was cut off by the sound of someone speaking near him. Turning his head, Kai saw a ash gray wolf trotting towards him.

Majority of the other moon beasts in the area turned to face the sound of the noise also. Most of them had looked of reverence and respect when they say the wolf, their eyes widened in awe.

Aldred did not respond to the silent praise, Kai wasn't even sure if the wolf noticed it.

"Yeah, what is it that you wanted me for?"

Kai fidgeted slightly. If he had the choice, he would have much rather stayed at his waterfall and continued his training. He still hadn't finished swapping his stats after all.

Aldred grunted softly before turning around and making his way to the right of the cabin, walking away from the front entrance.

"You'll see, but follow me, we will enter from the back."

Inwardly sighing at yet another ambiguous response, Kai followed the wolf.

Honesty, how many attempts is it going to take for someone to just give me a straight answer one of these days?

Oh, I said it was unimportant who owned the soul, not that the one who owned it was unimportant. And then there was Failure going on about Catalysts and all that.

Grumbling slightly, Kai continued to follow behind the gray wolf as they made their way around the cabin.

It didn't take long as the cabin wasn't really that large in the first place. There would've had to have been some magic involved in its making though, the inside was much larger than the outside made it out to be.

The wolf and teenager arrived at another door, only there was no one standing outside of this one.

Nonchalantly, Aldred walked straight into the door, the wooden opening swinging open with no trouble.

Kai hesitated for a moment before allowing himself to enter. If he was really going to grow and get stronger, he couldn't exactly let bad relationships with people hold him down.

But when he saw what was inside the cabin, Kai had no idea what to think.

Inside, the room which had served as a cozy living room, which then served as an army command meeting room, was now even larger than both of those combined.

It was absolutely massive, and also filled with moon beasts. There were countless spread around the open room, and there was a small stage where...

... Kai was standing.

Inwardly panicking, Kai turned to face Aldred but the wolf gave him a reassuring shake of the head and said.

"It's not for you, I just didn't want you wait outside."

Kai sighed in relief, then quickly hopped off the stage onto the floor below. He nearly crashed into the side of one of the beasts, but caught himself right before the impact.

Aldred swiftly followed behind Kai, but had a much more graceful landing in comparison.

"What's all this about?"

Kai asked the wolf. He wasn't worried about anyone else as all the moon beasts were having conversations themselves. There was a wild cacophony of howls, growls, shrieks and other animal noises.

"You'll see-"

The wolf's response was cut short by a loud bang and all the candles which illuminated the room went out.

The room fell silent as all the moon beasts turned towards the stage.

Now, Kai was extremely confused. Everything that was going on reminded him of a circus or cinema show, but he was sure no one was going to go on stage and start juggling or something.

... Right?

Suddenly, a beam of light fell onto the stage. The beam was much stronger than any of the candles could have ever hoped to have been and had Kai shook.

While it reminded him of that dreadful night under the moon, the one where he was chased and managed to get a lucky kill on that quarter moon abomination, the other reason that the beam had him confused was that it reminded him of a floodlight.

Kai looked up to the roof, but couldn't spot where the the light was coming from. Curiously, he kept trying to look for the source.

Until he heard steps coming from stage.

Turning his head towards the elevated platform, Kai couldn't keep his jaw from dropping in shock.

What Kai had been used to seeing Failure in was a simple cotton shirt and a normal pair of pants. His hair would be fine, nothing to comment on really, and his face would definitely be described as attractive.

But then there was the other times when the man looked like a walking corpse that was going to drop dead for the second time at any moment.

Now though, now Failure was neither of those things.

Walking onto the stage, Failure flashed the crowd a smile, his teeth shining in the light.

What had Kai even more shocked than the entrance was what Failure was wearing.

Clad in a black tuxedo, Failure looked like a celebrity. No, he would have been even more attractive than those celebrities back home.

Where on Earth did he get a tuxedo?

The only one who could maybe compete with his beauty would have been Ryan Reynolds, but comparing the two of them just felt wrong.

Failure's hair was also well kept and looked as if it had been combed. As to where Failure had gotten a comb, Kai also had absolutely no idea.

In other words, Failure was absolutely stunning. The sight of him captivated beasts and humans alike. Humans for the fact that they wanted to feast their eyes on the man before them, and beasts because he was one of their protecters along with Aldred.

Failure coughed slightly, clearing his throat, as he tapped the side of his neck twice.

Then when he spoke, his voice was carried throughout the whole room, reaching the ears of everyone present.

"Humans, kin. Old, young. Men, women, undecided."

Failure gave a nod towards one of the beasts in the crowd, the bear who Wa'rak had recruited into his team. The bear promptly let out a growl in approval at Failure's words.

"I have gathered you all here for one reason and one reason only.

Tomorrow is the day of our Aldred and the Demon of the Dark side's duel."

The room was silent. It wasn't that they didn't know what to say-

Well, it partly was, but it's also because what are you meant to say to that?

"I have already given a speech like this before. One where I advocated for the hope and the blooming reality of us winning this dreadful war.

And I stand proud with my words. We will win, we will be prosperous, we will be the survivors.

But that does not mean we will not suffer losses."

Failure winced. It looked as if it was a wince to show his pain for the losses that have already happened and the losses that are soon to come, but Kai caught something else.

It looked as if Failure truly was in pain.

"There is no one who knows who will and who won't survive tomorrow's battle. But I want everyone here to try their absolute hardest to.

Every loss will hinder the inevitable work we will have to do to return the forest to its former glory after all."

This elicited a few chuckles from the humans in the crowd and various noises from the moon beasts, even Kai couldn't help but crack a small smile.

He quickly caught himself though. The way Failure could steer a conversation was truly masterful. One moment he was talking about the sad reality of the upcoming deaths, the next he had the mood uplifted with a small yet genuine joke.

It was a terrifying thing to be aware of, but Kai knew it was what was needed.

As previously stated, morale was everything in a war. Terrified and unwilling soldiers would do a lot less than those with motivation or desires.

Still, Kai didn't know what to think. Everything was just so complicated.

"Since tommorow could potentially be the end of us all, which it won't, we will win after all. Still, if there is the chance, I want to make sure we all go out with no regrets.

Regrets are the worst thing one could possibly live with, and it would be even worse to die with them. I should know after all."

A few more chuckles and animal noises echoed through the crowd and Failure smiled in response.

"So if we were all going to die tomorrow..."

Failure then looked towards one of the corners of the vast hall. For whatever reason, the corner had been completetly empty up until this point.

Now, Kai knew why.

The wooden floor trembled and peeled apart, creating a massive hole in the ground.

The whole floor shook even more as a long wooden table emerged from the hole, and what Kai saw had him about as shocked as Failure in a tuxedo.

Spread out on the table was various foods and drinks.

Meats, fruits, vegetables, biscuits, any basic type of food you could think of was there.

"Tonight we enjoy ourselves. Live tonight with no regrets. Confess to your loves, copulate, gorge yourself on these foods. Enjoy yourselves!"

Kai blinked at a certain part of that last part.

While it was true that moon wolves didn't produce children normally, Kai had failed to account for all the other moon beasts.

Kai inwardly sighed as he watched beasts and humans alike make their way to the food table.

Tonight threatened to be a truly wild night.