The cheers celebrating Raven’s victory had barely subsided.

The smoke was still hovering above the destroyed port.

The hunters were resting against the broken walls; they were too tired to even speak about their ordeal.

The healers were running from one seriously wounded defender to another.

And for the first time since the Black Tide started...

There was hope.

The Guild Captain lowered his sword and smiled.

"...We survived."

Jennie silently glanced at the sea.

"No..."

Her voice sounded calmly.

"...We survived the first wave."

She almost immediately...

Felt the presence of Leviathan inside her head.

"It isn’t over yet."

The cheerful voice of Excalibur had vanished.

"...Something stronger is coming."

The sea suddenly fell silent.

No wave hit the shore anymore.

The wind had stopped.

The gulls that returned just minutes ago flew inland scared.

Snow slowly stood up.

His blue eyes narrowed.

"I know that presence..."

Jennie turned toward him.

"You recognize it?"

Snow did not respond.

Instead of it...

He looked at the black horizon.

In the distance...

The sea began to divide.

At first...

It seemed that it was only a regular current.

Afterward...

The water started rising.

Not forming a wave.

But forming a mountain.

The water bent aside under the influence of something huge.

All people of Azurewind were watching silently.

"What..."

"...is that?"

The sea exploded.

BOOOOOOOOOOOM!!

The colossal being broke from the depths of the sea.

Its body was looking like a monstrous crocodile merged with the ancient whale.

The towering black scales were covering the back of the creature like mobile cliffs.

It had six red eyes behind the enormous coral-like horns.

Its jaws were big enough to swallow a ship.

The seaweed and anchors were hanging from its body.

Dark mana was pouring out of the cracks on its scales like black rivers.

Every breath of the monster contaminated the water.

Just the presence of the creature destroyed the remaining windows in the port.

Even the experienced hunters stepped back instinctively.

The Guild Captain whispered with pale lips,

"...Impossible..."

"...An Abyss Makara."

Snow’s ears flatted.

"It shouldn’t exist."

Roxy glanced at the colossus.

The staff was slipping from the trembling hands of the girl.

"...That’s..."

"...that’s bigger than the city wall."

The monster roared.

The noise was shaking the very heavens.

The clouds dispersed.

The sea split apart under the roar of the monster.

The surrounding corrupted monsters bowed their heads.

They were afraid.

Not of the hunters.

Not of Raven.

Of the monster standing there.

The Abyss Makara had become the King of the corrupted sea.

Suddenly...

The Makara attacked.

It hit one enormous claw toward the port.

The air was screaming.

The buildings were collapsing even before the attack reached the ground.

Jennie’s eyes widened.

"Everyone!"

"Get down!"

She disappeared in the burst of golden light.

BOOOOOOM!!

The Excalibur met the descending claw.

The explosion of golden mana went off above the sky.

The impact pushed Jennie backwards for the first time during the battle.

Her boots were digging trenches in the stone.

She stopped only several meters before the evacuation path.

The gigantic claw was hovering over her sword.

Jennie’s arms were trembling.

Not from fear.

From the immense force.

The Makara slowly lowered.

Cracks appeared in the stone under Jennie’s feet.

The Leviathan whispered,

"It has the power of the ancient calamity."

Jennie gritted her teeth.

"I noticed."

She hit the monster with the wave of holy mana.

The claw was forced away.

The colossal monster stumbled back only for one step.

But...

Just one.

It was not hurt.

It was only looking at Jennie with growing interest.

Then...

It smiled.

The horrifying smile full of the endless number of sharp teeth.

The Makara raised its head.

The black mana was gathering in its throat.

Snow’s eyes widened.

"...Move!"

Jennie immediately understood what he meant.

She turned toward the city.

The thousands of civilians were still evacuating.

Too many.

Much too many.

The monster opened its jaws.

The beam of the condensed corrupted mana hit Azurewind.

Jennie instantly crossed the swords.

The burst of the golden and blue lights was shining.

The barrier appeared before the city.

The beam crashed into it.

BOOOOOOOOOOOM!!

The explosion illuminated the coastline.

The buildings were shaking heavily.

The barrier started cracking.

Jennie’s breath became heavy.

She poured more mana into the swords.

The barrier resisted.

But barely.

The Excalibur was speaking urgently.

"You can’t keep this forever."

Leviathan agreed.

"The ocean itself is fueling it."

Jennie looked at the frightened civilians behind her.

She could not move.

If she moved away...

The whole city would be destroyed.

The new monsters kept climbing the shore.

The hunters were desperately fighting with them.

But without Jennie...

The front line was starting to collapse.

She bit her lip.

"I..."

"I can’t protect everyone."

For the first time during her journey...

Jennie felt powerless.

Snow quietly walked past her.

His steps were slow.

Solid.

Calming.

Jennie looked over her shoulder.

"Snow?"

The Divine Wolf smiled tenderly.

"You have protected everyone till now."

He stopped several meters away from Jennie.

"...Allow me to bear the burden."

Jennie frowned.

"It is too dangerous."

Snow laughed.

"My Lady..."

"You still consider me an ordinary wolf."

He turned toward the Abyss Makara.

The ancient monster narrowed its six eyes.

For the first time...

It hesitated.

Snow closed his eyes.

His voice became gentle.

Ancient.

Filled with the silent power.

"I hoped..."

"...never to take this form again."

The air became cold.

Tiny snowflakes began falling from the perfectly clear sky.

One by one...

The ancient silver runes appeared under the paws of Snow.

They were spreading in all directions above the destroyed port.

Then...

They started crawling on the body of Snow.

The glowing patterns were running through the white fur of the Divine Wolf like rivers of the moonlight.

His mana was exploding.

The pillar of icy blue light shot toward the sky.

The temperature in Azurewind instantly dropped.

The black sea itself started freezing.

The hunters were staring in shock.

"...What is happening?"

Roxy shielded her eyes.

"...Snow?"

His body was becoming bigger and bigger.

His paws became the size of the house.

His shoulders were rising above the city walls.

The white fur was sparkling under the falling snow like the fresh moonlight.

The ancient silver runes were glowing on each muscle of the wolf.

Two magnificent wings made from the crystal ice appeared behind him.

Each feather of the wings was shining like a frozen star.

Then...

Nine huge tails appeared one after another.

Each tail was glowing with the snow mana.

They were dancing behind him like the streams of winter light.

The clouds were parting.

The moon became visible during the daytime.

Snow raised his head.

His deep howl was resonating across the heaven and earth.

AWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!

There was no anger in the sound.

Only ancient dignity.

The mountains answered.

The sea answered.

Even the wind answered.

Every corrupted monster froze.

Then...

One by one...

They were starting to shake in fear.

The Abyss Makara was involuntarily stepping backward.

Its monstrous eyes which were filled with arrogance...

Started reflecting something which it had not felt for many centuries.

Fear.

Snow slowly opened his glowing blue eyes.

His voice rolled over the battlefield like distant thunder.

"I..."

"...am Snow."

"The Last Divine Wolf."

"And today..."

"No darkness shall pass beyond me."

The majestic howl of Snow resounded in Azurewind.

The answer to his call appeared in the skies above.

The storm clouds hanging in the air froze.

Snowflakes fell down from the skies which seemed cloudless at this point, shining with the faint glow of thousands of stars.

There was the magnificent figure of the colossal Divine Wolf.

His white fur shined like the glow of the Moon.

Nine magnificent tails floated behind him, each one holding the endless flow of snow mana in their grip.

The crystallized wings spread across the skies.

Even the highest mountains seemed small compared to this colossal figure.

For a long moment...

The battlefield was totally silent.

All the hunters...

All the citizens...

All the corrupted creatures...

They all raised their heads in amazement.

One elderly fisherman slowly kneeled down on his knees.

"...A god..."

Someone whispered with trembling voice,

"The Guardian Spirit of Winter..."

Children gazed with widened eyes.

"He is so beautiful..."

Jennie smiled.

She had always known Snow was unique.

But even she hadn’t imagined...

How magnificent his true form was.

Far, far across the devastated shore of the harbor...

The Abyss Makara regained from its surprise.

Its six crimson eyes narrowed.

The black mana started flowing from all scales of the monster.

It let out earth-shaking roar.

ROOOOOOOOAAAAAAAR!!

The sea answered.

The titanic waves appeared behind the monster.

The corrupted sea monsters gathered around their king once more.

Sea serpents, Black Coral beasts, Abyss crabs, corrupted sharks.

The endless army.

The Makara charged.

Each of its steps caused tsunamis that headed toward the city.

Snow watched this approaching catastrophe without any reaction.

And then...

He gently raised one of his paws.

The ancient silver runes appeared right under the very skies.

The powerful voice resounded across heaven and earth.

"Divine Snow magic..."

The air became freezing cold.

"...Eternal Blizzard."

The world turned completely white.

The single breath escaped from Snow’s mouth.

Not the ordinary frost.

Not the ordinary ice.

The blizzard of ancient times.

The winds exploded along the coast.

Hundreds of dancing snowflakes appeared in the air.

The enraged sea was instantly frozen.

The titanic waves halted in midair.

The giant walls of the crystallized ice formed over the Azurewind.

Everyone could see the frozen fish in the ice.

Time itself seemed to be frozen.

The Guild Captain gazed upwards in surprise.

"...He froze..."

"...the ocean."

The mountains were frozen for dozens of kilometers.

The Black Tide was transformed into the magnificent sculpture of crystals and snow.

The Abyss Makara roared in anger.

It destroyed the frozen ice barrier.

The chunks of ice that were bigger than castles fell down to the ocean beneath.

The dark mana burst from its body.

The colossal monster tried to leap toward the Divine Wolf.

Snow didn’t react.

Slowly he started spreading his nine tails.

They glowed brighter and brighter.

The snowstorm responded to his silent order.

Thousands of the floating ice spears appeared in the sky.

They were bigger than masts of ships.

The Makara opened its jaws.

The beam of the corrupted mana erupted to the Divine Wolf.

Snow gently waved with his crystal wings.

The whole blizzard changed its direction.

The black beam disappeared under the layers of the sacred snow.

Its corruption was instantly purified without moving even a meter further.

Leviathan whispered in the mind of Jennie.

"...The pure winter."

"Nothing can survive here."

Excalibur laughed proudly.

"I knew this oversized puppy is frightening."

Jennie giggled.

"I will tell him you called him a puppy."

"...Please, don’t."

The Abyss Makara didn’t want to admit its defeat.

It leapt into the air.

Its giant claws tore the frozen mountains.

The dark mana surrounded the body of the monster.

The whole coastline was shaken with its rage.

Snow slowly closed his glowing blue eyes.

"I wished..."

"...not to kill anyone needlessly."

He opened them once more.

The bright silver light filled the skies.

"But you are ready to threaten the innocent."

"I can’t forgive that."

He brought his nine tails together.

All the snowflakes across the battlefield obeyed.

All the frozen mountains.

All the icy winds.

All the crystals of the frost.

The whole power of the winter gathered in one single point.

Snow raised one of his paws.

And then...

Gently brought it down.

The world obeyed.

The frozen mountains collapsed.

Not downward...

But inward.

Thousands of glaciers rushed toward the Abyss Makara from all directions.

The monstrous creature fought.

Roared.

Used all its strength.

It was useless.

The glaciers encircled it completely.

The layers of the divine ice enclosed its corrupted mana.

The movements of the monster slowed down.

Its roar became weaker.

Until...

Silence.

The Abyss Makara was frozen forever inside the mountain of the crystallized ice.

The crimson eyes faded.

The dark mana disappeared.

And then...

The whole frozen prison of the monster shattered into millions of sparkling pieces.

The corruption was dissolved in harmless blue light.

The king of the Black Tide...

Was fallen.

The rest of the corrupted monsters froze in fear.

Without their ruler...

Their madness left them.

Some of them rushed into the sea.

The others just collapsed as the holy aura of the Excalibur purifies the corruption in them.

In a couple of minutes...

The battle field became silent.

The Black Tide was gone.

The sea slowly returned to its beautiful sapphire blue.

The Sea Spirits cautiously left their hiding places.

The blue lights danced happily above the waves.

Far, far away...

Whales began to sing.

The mournful tune resounded above the peaceful ocean.

Even Leviathan seemed relieved.

"The sea remembers peace."

Snow stayed for a while more in his colossal form.

He looked at Azurewind like an ancient guardian that watches over his children.

And then...

The silver runes vanished.

His nine tails melted into dancing snowflakes.

The crystal wings became the floating mist.

The body of the wolf started shrinking.

Castle-sized.

House-sized.

Horse-sized.

And then...

He returned to his usual white wolf form.

Snow slightly stumbled.

Jennie immediately supported him.

"You overdid it."

Snow smiled.

"A little bit."

She gently brushed the snowflakes from his ears.

"You were amazing."

Snow lowered his head.

"...Thank you."

All around...

Thousands of citizens suddenly kneeled.

The hunters took off their helmets.

Even the Guild Captain kneeled politely.

Nobody dared speaking loudly.

They thought they witnessed the divine miracle.

A child slowly approached Snow.

"...Are you a god really?"

Snow blinked.

He smiled kindly.

"No."

"I am just..."

He glanced at Jennie.

"...her companion."

Jennie laughed.

She hugged his fluffy neck with both hands.

"Still my good boy."

Snow froze.

All the hunters watched him.

All the citizens watched him.

Even Roxy held her mouth, trying not to laugh.

Snow slowly sighed.

His ears flattened in embarrassment.

"...Please don’t say this in the public."

Roxy burst into loud laughter.

Jennie laughed even louder.

Even Excalibur couldn’t stop laughing inside the mind of Jennie.

"Hahaha!"

"The mighty Divine Wolf defeated an ancient calamity..."

"...but can’t defeat one head pat."

Leviathan chuckled softly.

"Some things never change."

Snow buried his face into his enormous paw.

"...I preferred fighting the Makara."

The laughter of Jennie, Roxy and Snow resounded in Azurewind.

For the first time since the beginning of the Black Tide...

The city laughed.

And the people would remember this day forever...

When the White Hunter and the Last Divine Wolf stood together...

The Guardians of Azurewind.