Return (Part 2)

"Jay? Hey, what's wrong?" Rodrick slapped Jay in the face to snap him out of whatever trance he was in. For some reason, Jay stopped moving and just knelt down as he looked at the skies with a cold gaze. It was as if he was dead.

Fenrir, the gigantic black wolf in front of them sighed as he looked at the pitiful sight of Jay. Since this was the case, he knew that it was pretty useless to speak to Jay.

"The Chicken Hero must have suffered a fatal blow to his mind or soul... I wonder what happened to him and the rest. And the biggest question I should ask him is why are there a new group of people with him?"

After thinking of this, Fenrir growled, causing almost all of the wolves to disperse. There were only three gray wolves that remained by Fenrir's side.

"Woof." ("Take these three back to my cave.") Fenrir said as he looked the gray wolves.

The moment the gray wolves heard this, they immediately approached Rodrick, Cidney, and Jin.

"Stay back mutts! Do you think I will let you kill us that easily?" Rodrick shouted as he fired his right hand which was currently transformed into a plasma rifle.

The moment the plasma beam struck the gray wolves, Rodrick quickly gestured Jin to grab Jay and prepare to run. But the moment he looked at what was supposed to be the corpses of the gray wolves, he was shocked that nothing happened.

"Did they dodge? No... that wasn't it..." Rodrick thought to himself and he fired again. But after firing a couple of shots, he saw that there was no effect whatsoever and the gray wolves continued to approach them.

"Idiots..." Fenrir said in human tongue before turning his back. He then used his tail and grabbed Jay before running away. Everything he did was so fast that the only thing Rodrick and the rest saw was a black blur and Jay suddenly disappearing.

"JAY!!!"

Before Rodrick could even try something else besides his plasma cannon hand, one of the gray wolves whacked him with its tail and used its head to throw Rodrick in the air, causing him to land on its back. The two gray wolves also did the same thing with Cidney and Jin without the tail whacking part.

"Grrr..." ("Goddamn. Why is this human in black clothes smell like piss?")

"Hrrr..." ("At least that's better than carrying this fatass human.")

After talking among themselves, the gray wolves ran and used their tails to make sure that the ones riding on top of them won't fall off accidentally.

...

--- Fenrir's Cave

Located at the tallest and widest mountain in Aexelor, Fenrir dug out a large hole on its base which served as his home for a couple of years now. But even though his homemade cave was so large, compared to the size of the mountain, it looked like a small and insignificant hole.

The walls of Fenrir's Cave was filled with precious ores and something called Moondust. In Aexelor, since the only living beings here are the wolves and some plants, Fenrir imposed an order throughout the entire plane that cannibalism was forbidden.

In order to live without eating meat, the wolves in Aexelor were trained to eat Moondust, a grayish powder that glitters when exposed to moonlight. For some reason, it tasted like flesh, which made it a staple food for the wolves.

Due to the location of the cave and the abundance of Moondust, there was no need for Fenrir to create an artificial source of light.

...

Right now, on the center of the cave, Fenrir lied down like a lazy dog as he observed Jay who he placed in front of him and made him lean on the wall.

"So, what happened at Ashnakara? And who are the three people you've brought with you?" Fenrir asked Jay.

"Nothing happened..." Jay tried his best to speak, but he felt as if his voice was stuck down his throat. He was slowly losing is sanity and did not even care anymore.

Fenrir suddenly growled and suddenly licked Jay with his large tongue.

Jay did not even had a chance to move away as Fenrir licked him. He even got drenched in Fenrir's saliva afterwards.

"What the fuck!??" Jay shouted loudly as he stood up and looked at Fenrir angrily.

"Feeling better now?" Fenrir said and took out his tongue again. It looked as if he was threatening Jay and was telling him that if he does not get his shit together, he will lick him again.

"If I tell you, will you promise not to kill me?" Jay said as he looked directly at Fenrir's eyes. It felt as if looking at death itself.

"Depends on my mood. Now speak..." Fenrir said as he retracted his tongue and closed his mouth.

Jay took a deep breath and quickly reiterated the events that happened to him so far. From the moment he arrived at Ashnakara, his experiences there, how he committed suicide after learning about Hellson using him to clean up his mess, how he ended back on Earth, the Gatekeepers, and how he ended back here again.

It took around an hour or so after Jay finished. Throughout the time Jay spoke up, Fenrir just listened patiently but his facial expression kept changing for some reason. There was a time when he looked happy, angry, sad, and he even wagged his tail sometimes.

"...and that's it."

When Jay finished up, Fenrir sighed and he suddenly whipped Jay with his tail, sending him crashing towards the opposite wall where he was located.

"What the fuck..." Jay felt all of his bones cracking while blood dripped down from his nose and mouth.

"I never seen someone as stupid as you! No one knows of this, but I have been secretly watching the Fatelord Plane ever since I left it and came here to Aexelor. I seen all of the things you did! I saw how you made a promise to those people back there that you will save them! And look at you now! A spineless coward who ran when he realized how insignificant he is compared to the mess that Hellson did!"

Fenrir suddenly stood up and growled at Jay before continuing to speak with an angry tone.

"All those people you've rallied, your friends, allies, and even past foes, all of them shed their blood for a better tomorrow and a brighter future. Did you even consider their thoughts and feelings when you decided to back out?!!"

Jay slowly remembered the times he spent back at the Fatelord Plane with everyone in the Golden Phoenix kingdom. He remembered how they started out as a guild, how they faced challenges head on. He remembered how they told him that he was not alone and they will always be with him and his burdens are not his alone.

Fenrir saw that Jay was starting to get his shit together and decided to say something before leaving Jay to his own thoughts while he goes to sleep.

"I can kill you here if you want. Everything will come to an end and you won't have to worry about anything anymore as you drift into nothingness. But let me ask you, is that the kind of ending you want for yourself, Chicken Hero?"

Jay wiped the blood off his face using his hands. He then propped himself up by leaning on the walls since his body still hurts due to his cracked bones.

"Give me some time to recover and send me back to Ashnakara. I need to tie up some loose ends with Roasted Boar and the rest." Jay said as he tried his best to walk as he left the cave. It took him a couple of minutes to do so since his body really hurts but he still felt as if he needs a breath of fresh air.

Before falling to sleep, Fenrir yawned and a random thought appeared on his mind.

"Bloody idiot. With that weak body and limited power of yours, why did you even try to shoulder the fate of our entire world? But this is indeed the first time I've heard of the name Levendricus..."