A howl reverberated.

It reached for miles upon miles—searching for those who can understand it. Searching for those of the same race. Searching for the monsters of the night that would be able to match the beastly mind of these crimson wolves.

Far away, a massive fifteen-foot-tall werewolf averted his gaze from the bonfire and looked up.

He heard a howl. Faint, but he could hear it.

Ever since the war against the Clarentium Empire began, he had been waiting for his turn to fight. But the command never came. It seemed the war had taken an unexpected direction, one that went further away from his position.

Finally, he heard the call.

It was Princess Selene’s howl. A call to war.

But there was a message inside that call, one that forced something inside him to come out.

Aooouuu—!

A howl was forced out of him.

Unlike Princess Selene’s howl, his was rough and heavy. It reached even further than the princess’s howl could ever reach. And like a domino effect, more and more howls came from the distance. Every single Alpha Prime answered.

"What did she say?" Another werewolf, almost as big as him, asked. "Is it the Clarentium Empire?"

Despite also hearing the howl, this werewolf couldn’t decipher the message.

It was made of a special frequency that only the Alpha Primes seemed able to understand.

"It’s a distress call from the princess," the Alpha Prime growled, baring his sharp fangs in excitement. He could smell it in the air. A battle far greater than almost all the battles he had participated in. And he was eager for it. "Grab the totems. It’s going to be a beautiful bloodbath."

A maniacal laughter rumbled inside his throat as the Dark Moon King Mark manifested.

Miles away.

Another Alpha Prime stood on the tip of a big stone spire, watching the Alphas under him leading their Betas in a strong charge. On his forehead is the pale-yellow glow of the Hunter Moon King Mark, one that dyed the tips of his fur with its color.

"Who is it?" A Luna stood beside him. "Who are we fighting?"

"That..." the Alpha Prime pointed at the Blood Moon above. "A new era is beginning."

Across dozens of miles, countless legions of werewolves led by an Alpha Prime charged through the vast world, answering the call of their princess. Under the Blood Moon, their physical strength had gone up a notch.

Despite the distance, they were rapidly approaching the location of their princess.

From above, these werewolves looked like swarms of ants.

Slowly but surely, the legions combined into one massive swarm of tens of thousands of werewolves. It’s a fierce gathering of power that could spook any forces in the entire world. And there are only a few races that could stop this kind of force.

And even then, the swell isn’t over.

"Prince Alaric!"

A werewolf barged into a room and faced Prince Alaric, who had been sitting in the darkness.

Prince Alaric had spent the long wait bracing for the news of his sister’s death. And when the werewolf finally stepped through the door, his heart had already hardened into steel. He was ready. Selene was gone. She refused to surrender and was eventually killed by Empress Evelynn’s forces.

He would not flinch.

But the werewolf didn’t bring that news.

"It’s a distress call from Princess Selene," He said with urgency. "She’s using the King Howl!"

"She’s desperate. She wanted us to help. Tell the Alpha Primes to stand down."

"No, she’s not calling the Alpha Primes to fight the Clarentium Empire. She’s calling us to fight against the Blood Moon!"

"What...?" Prince Alaric recoiled—not expecting to hear that. Princess Selene is one of the royals who uphold the traditional virtues more than others. She wouldn’t ask that. But there’s no reason to lie right now. "Summon everyone and tell them to answer the call."

Like a madman, Prince Alaric dashed outside and landed on the roof.

"Your Highness, what are you going to do?!"

"I’m checking what’s going on. Summon everyone and follow my scent!"

...

It was done.

Princess Selene looked back at the horde of crimson and narrowed her eyes, ’I called them all. This all started because I refused to surrender to the Clarentium Empire, and now, I’m calling the others to fight for the very force I was resisting.’

Her heart throbbed inside her chest.

Not because of regret, but because she knew many of them were about to die.

She refused to surrender mainly because of her emotions.

But thinking clearly, the Silverstar Pack also upholds the core of the werewolf race.

Most of them don’t consider themselves werewolves, but they no doubt have werewolf traits in them.

Princess Selene could see it in the way they fight, the way they carried themselves—and now, the way they resisted the Lunirich Gods. Werewolves will never be slaves to others. That’s what the Origin had instilled into them.

Even during the Ancient Humans’ reign, the number of slave werewolves was the lowest.

Many would rather die than become slaves.

In the new era, Princess Selene promised to herself that she would never let history repeat itself.

Now, there’s another force who wanted to make them slaves.

She had thought it was the Clarentium Empire that wanted to enslave them, especially when the one leading it, the Emperor, is also half human. But she was wrong. The one who wanted them to be slaves was the Lunirich Gods.

Now she understood what Prince Alaric had seen in joining forces with the Clarentium Empire.

Joining the empire isn’t bending the knees.

None from the Silverstar Pack ever demanded that from them.

It was an investment instead. One that would lead them to a better future.

And seeing how those under the Clarentium Empire thrived—be it Elves, Orcs, Dwarves, and all other mid-rank Supernatural races, she knew that whatever sacrifice she and the Scarlet Banes Kingdom made in this moment to protect the empire’s capital would be repaid tenfold by the Royal Black Prince.

As dangerous as this moment was, the opportunity was there.

She had seen how Rex did what many thought to be impossible with her own two eyes.

She saw him defeat the Lunirich God of the Yule Moon in the flesh.

What’s the difference now? Nothing. Princess Selene also thought this was impossible to handle.

But she knew this was Rex’s playing field.

It’s time to take a risk.

ROAR—!

Princess Selene snapped her gaze to the side, and her eyes widened.

She could sense the air trembling violently with an energy that didn’t belong to any of the Supernatural races. Order Beasts. Several massive creatures emerged in the distance—with a thunderous roar. Seems like the quaking of the ground disturbed their hibernation, forcing them to wake up.

Due to the situation, she had forgotten that this was still the Second Breath.

Beasts are the kings of the world.

And now, these kings set their eyes on the crimson horde.

Swoosh—!

Princess Selene managed to get a ten-mile lead from the horde and quickly made a sky-high leap. She saw an expansive desolated plain ahead—and decided that it was the perfect place to make a stalling terrain to hinder the crimson horde.

She had called the others to come and help her, but they needed time to arrive.

And that’s what she’s doing right now.

Masterfully, the Honey Moon King Mark on her forehead blazed to life, flooding her with every ounce of kingly energy it could muster in an instant. She channeled it into her claws. A golden sheen spread—humming with raw force like the power was fighting to break the claws from within.

’It’s not enough.’ Princess Selene gritted her teeth. ’It’s nowhere near enough, and I don’t have time!’

Princess Selene wanted to create a massive trench that spanned at least a mile.

She could do that without any help before the Second Breath if she really wanted to, but it’s a lot harder now. The increase in the world’s energy level not only influenced the animals, but also nature in general, which includes the trees and even the ground.

Breaking a boulder would require twice the amount of energy at the current level of energy.

Princess Selene could amass enough kingly energy to create the trench, but with the horde approaching rapidly, there’s no time for her to do that. But she had helped. She was too focused on thinking of a way to block the horde’s charge that he had forgotten about the two powerful Shamans right behind her.

"Your Highness!" Miriam hovered above and helped her levitate. "What are you planning to do?!"

Against the rushing wind, she was unconsciously shouting.

"Charge my claws with moonlight energy right now!" Princess Selene shouted back.

Miriam and Sintra exchanged a look and immediately cast a spell of their own.

A small spherical platform materialized under Princess Selene, seething with light that infused Princess Selene with energy. And then ancient glowing symbols manifested on Princess Selene’s spine, infusing even more energy.

It was overwhelming.

Even as the Princess of the Honey Moon, known for speed and energy reserve, this was overwhelming.

But this at least should be enough.

"RAARGH!!"

Boom—!

Like a comet, Princess Selene dropped hard and pierced her claws into the earth.

Her concentrated kingly energy, elevated by the energy from the two Shamans, fired deep into the earth from each tip of her claws—like laser beams, reaching at least half a mile deep. "Moon Ability, Nectar Splash!"

Rumble—!

At her command, the yellow laser beams unleashed a discharge of energy.

It crumbled the earth all around it, turning it into liquid that melted to the depths.

Before the ground totally melted and brought her down with it, Princess Selene sprinted, dragging her claws in a straight line. Halfway through, she felt a sharp pain from her claws being peeled by the hard surface of the ground.

She used another Moon Ability in her mind, turning her blood into the nectar of the Honey Moon.

Her regeneration swelled, and she kept going.

From above, Miriam and Sintra watched as a trench half a mile deep, a tenth of a mile wide, and a mile long was formed. Princess Selene stopped at the other end, and her skin tore, spraying blood in every single direction.

Exerting that much energy and focusing it into the lasers took a lot from her.

It was exhausting and wracked her body, but she couldn’t stop there.

Enduring the pain, Princess Selene galloped to the other side of the trench and stood at the center. She stared ahead and saw that the horde of crimson wolves was already close. She only has about a minute, yet she still has two things to do.

Princess Selene began creating a ball with her hands before her solar plexus.

Her King Mark bled as she charged more and more kingly energy into the ball, slowly forming it into some kind of fruit. "Your Highness—are you out of your mind?!" Miriam exclaimed in horror. "If you force your King Mark any further, you’ll die! Your body can’t handle it!"

"Then help me!" Princess Selene roared without looking.

"Help you? How?! That Moon Ability can only work by using your kingly energy!"

"Suppress my Inner Fang!"

"No!" Miriam roared almost instantly. She couldn’t believe that Princess Selene would ask something like that. "If I suppress your Inner Fang, there’s a high chance it would break, especially with the Blood Moon above us! You’ll be trapped in rage forever!"

The Great Luna had given werewolves a blessing to manage their anger through the Inner Fang.

And the Inner Fang also lowered the rage so that it can be controlled better.

If anything happened to it, then the pure rage from the Full Moon would flood the werewolf.

It would be back to the Era of Might again.

Only the Origin could survive and thrive without an Inner Fang. Many had tried to become like him. Thousands of years passed, and none had ever come close. For Princess Selene to ask this was the same as asking Miriam to kill her.

"Just trust me," Princess Selene finally turned to look at Miriam. "I can do this..."

"Princess..." Miriam gritted her teeth and eventually nodded. "I’ll do it!"