Hope was lost.

It all came down to the Dark Elves and the capital’s forces now.

Both the Dwarven and Tigerman Kingdoms have done everything they could to stop the crimson horde, but it wasn’t enough. Against the endless force of the Blood Moon, they were simply nothing. A single drop against the vast ocean.

Or at least, hope was lost until this happened.

Boom—!

A whipping shockwave blasted the land, splintering the ground like it was nothing.

Maraka laughed weakly, staring at the obstacle before him like it was salvation.

Just earlier, Maraka had been stunned when Kyran got in the way and took the attack meant for him. It shocked him to the core. The impact shattered Kyran’s bones—then the giant crimson wolf’s follow-up slash cleaved his body clean in two.

Staring at the sight, Maraka thought it was over. This was the end of their struggle.

Nothing in the area could stop the crimson horde.

All he was hoping to do was bring Kyran to safety to fight another day.

But the crimson horde was too furious at them and cut off every single path to escape.

It seemed surviving was no longer possible, too.

And then this happened.

Maraka stared at Kyran, surrounded by a roaring vortex of azure kingly energy. His eyes were fixated on the King Maron on Kyran’s forehead, forming rapidly like it was eager to manifest. Not the normal mark either.

A stretch could be seen protruding from either side of the King Mark.

One that showed Kyran doesn’t only awaken a King Mark, but a higher form of it.

Skipping the first ascension trial.

Growl—!

Hundreds of crimson wolves abruptly stopped when they sensed the heat that Kyran was emanating.

All of them growled, but not to Kyran.

Maraka looked around in confusion, seeing that the crimson horde was roaring skyward.

It was only when he tilted his head up that he saw a figure floating in the sky.

Someone else has arrived.

Judging by the King Mark blazing on its forehead—and the unmistakable silhouette it cut, Maraka was certain: this figure was a werewolf. And from the sheer presence it radiated, along with the frigid plunge in temperature, there was no mistaking who stood before him—the Ice and Snow Princess.

Like an ethereal princess from the Arctic poles, she descended like an arrow of ice.

Dozens of crimson wolves tried to attack her, but none of them could get close.

Each one could feel that the closer they got to the Ice and Snow Princess, the stiffer their bodies became.

And the moment she landed, she coiled her body low, drawing kingly energy from her King Mark until it surged across her entire form. Then, she unleashed it—a sweeping blast of freezing cold that hurled the crimson wolves backward and flash-froze the weaker ones where they stood.

A sharp wall of ice bloomed from the ground, isolating her alone with Kyran.

"We meet again." She turned around to face Kyran.

"You..." Kyran’s four azure eyes flashed in recognition. "How is this possible? How am I not dead?"

Even though he heard the voice beckoning him to close his eyes, he knew that his body was already at its limit. His regeneration isn’t strong enough to keep up with the raw power of the Blood Moon—and he should be running out of blood.

Death should be the natural end.

But he was still alive, and is not seething with energy that he never felt directly before.

At least not from his own body.

"The Goddess feels your desire to live. You’re now the Shadow Prince of the Ice and Moon," the Ice and Snow Princess pointed at his forehead. "You asked for strength to fend this invasion—and the Goddess bestowed it through that. Be grateful."

Kyran reached for his forehead.

He could feel something there. He could feel the coldness and the pulsating power coming from it.

"But how...? I’m not born under the Ice and Snow Moon."

"Your blood has been entirely drained and replaced by a new one. Blessed by the Ice and Snow Moon."

For a second, Kyran was stunned.

Just earlier, his body was a wreck, and he had been bleeding profusely.

It seemed the only path to acquiring the Ice and Snow King Mark was to have every ounce of blood in his entire body drained, to get rid of the inherent blessing from the Yule Moon, so that the Ice and Snow Moon could finally take hold of him.

And in that moment, he understood the reason the voice in his mind beckoned him to accept death.

So that he can be reborn.

Kyran began laughing.

He grabbed his face with his claws and laughed; his shoulders rose and dropped.

"Iseldra, Iseldra, Iseldra..." Kyran gazed up at the sky as though he could see her, see the Lunirich God of the Ice and Snow Moon through the fractured sky. He had met her. He had dwelled in her realm for countless years. Never once had it crossed his mind that she would one day lend him aid. "I never took you for the sentimental type."

"Mind your manners," the Ice and Snow Princess turned. "You are now tied to her. As a Shadow Prince of the Ice and Snow, you directly answer to me."

"I answer to no one but the Alpha," Kyran sneered. "And your Goddess must’ve known that already."

"Go and take out the Blood Moon’s beasts that had gone through. I’ll hold this line."

"No need to tell me twice."

Crash—!

Almost the instant their accord was sealed, the ice wall shattered outward, firing shards at the crimson wolves right outside. Like a wraith of frost, phantasmal and swift, the Ice and Snow Princess spun her body into an avalanche that tore through the horde.

Not even the stronger crimson wolves were able to get to her easily.

Unlike Princess Selene, the Lunirich God above her wasn’t against her fighting the crimson wolves.

And that made her far stronger than she ever was.

Dwarves and Tigermen, scattered moments before by the onslaught of fang and claw, began to regroup. Maraka, battered and bleeding, hauled himself to his feet—and unleashed a roar that cut through the chaos—a rallying call, pulling his forces back toward him so they could stand alongside the Ice and Snow Princess and hold the line.

On the other hand, Kyran drew in the rampaging kingly energy back into himself and turned.

He stared ahead, eyes tracing the frozen trails the crimson wolves had left in their wake.

Three thousand five hundred and seventy-one beasts had slipped through. They were charging now—a tide of crimson aimed straight at the capital. Kyran’s left hand raked his own face, carving fresh wounds across his flesh to remind him that he was still alive, still standing, and had not yet failed to protect what needed protecting.

The air hummed as the kingly energy of ice and snow swirled around him like blue flames.

As a pair of crimson wolves roared and charged, Kyran felt the power surging inside him.

Power that he thought he could never achieve, no matter how hard he tries.

But now that exact power he had been seeking was under his control.

And this time, with this power, he’s not going to fail again.

Swish—!

Kyran’s body blurred into motion.

In an instant, his claws raked through two crimson wolves mid-charge. They froze where they stood, ice already devouring their forms from the wounds, turning them into statues. A single sharp clap of his hands shattered the statues, which crumbled away into deep blue ash.

Kingly energy made his bloodline’s abilities stronger.

And with the compatibility it has with the Ice and Snow Moon, it became a freezing finality.

Kyran dropped down to his knees, coiling his newfound power in his legs, and charged forward.

His speed was multiple times faster than it was.

Kilometers disappeared beneath him in the span of a heartbeat; it did not take long before he caught up to the beasts that had overtaken him. A dozen of them fell before they even registered his presence. Then, the ground across heaved as two colossal blocks of ice erupted skyward and slammed together with a loud crack, crushing a hundred crimson wolves into a slick of blood and pulverized flesh.

The King Mark on Kyran’s forehead pulsated with excitement—as his claws carved through a hundred more crimson wolves. Cleaving through flesh, bones, and internal organs, turning all of them into piles of deep blue ash.

Kyran could feel the heat of blood drizzling down his claws. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Hear the painful growls that came out of the crimson wolves he passed before they died.

Like a Vampire smelling blood in the air, Kyran dashed even faster.

Just then, the terrain changed.

He plunged into the edge of yet another dark forest—and the scent that greeted him was familiar. It was a forest that he knew. A forest where the Dark Elf Kingdom lies. A cold surprise rippled through him as he came to realize a hundred crimson wolves had been lying in wait for him right there.

They had lurked in the shadows, patient as death.

And the instant he stepped into the kill zone, they lunged from every direction at once.

It was a deadly trap.

Seems like the Lunirich God of the Blood Moon had decided to directly control the crimson wolves.

And that put a smile on Kyran’s face.

As the Shadow Prince of Ice and Snow, the King Mark isn’t the only blessing he was bestowed with.

"Moon Ability," His King Mark sparkled. "Cold Stasis."

Swoosh—!

A sudden pulse of dark blue erupted from Kyran’s body. It was a wave of color that bled—into the very air, staining space for a few hundred meters in every direction. It seized the space around him as cold ice charged the space until the world within that dome became a cathedral of frozen stillness.

One hundred crimson wolves hung suspended mid-lunge.

Their maws gaped wide, fangs gleaming with lethal intent, and strings of saliva caught mid-drip like beads of glass. Their eyes moved, staring at Kyran with feral hate, but they couldn’t move. Not even a twitch. Time itself had been seized and locked in place.

As though the world had forgotten how to move.

Only Kyran does.

Undeterred by the frozen space, he moved.

His claws glistened with kingly energy as he traced arcs of pale light, flowing from one frozen crimson wolf to the next. A slash across the throat. A thrust through the skull. A savage cleave across the torso. Each strike was precise, focused on inflicting fatal strokes.

Kyran traversed the entirety of the dome in the span of a held breath. Less than five seconds.

Then, an invisible force pulled him back to his original position.

He landed at the center, feet exactly where they were before the Moon Ability, before the dome crumbled into pieces. The ice burst outward in a cascade of glittering shards, and with it, the crimson wolves, all of them came undone.

One hundred bodies sliced cleanly into pieces, dissolving midair into ribbons of crimson.

Blood rained down and pooled across the forest floor in steaming sheets as Kyran continued.

Not even one managed to scratch him.

And then finally, Kyran’s pupils dilated as he saw a familiar figure in the distance. One that he had been chasing after from the very start. About a few kilometers ahead, the giant crimson wolf was galloping like a rabid animal.

It was time for payback.

But as he was about to pick up his pace, a thunderous explosion resounded in the distance.

His ears perked up, and his face snapped to the source of the explosion.

Just then, his eyes caught sight of a fracture in the sky, and a pure white beam descended.

Instead of making an impact on the ground, something reflected it and directed it to the Blood Moon above.

And to his surprise, the Blood Moon cracked.