CHAPTER SEVEN
The Direwolf
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
The woman stirred. It started with a slight twitch, her fingers curling in. Then her eyelids moved, slow and shaky. She drew in a sharp breath, then let it out in a rough, broken croak.
"Oh hell no" Abo muttered internally. "The bitch is waking up."
Her head lolled back. The impossible sea hung above them, its waves churning silently in the sky.
"Hey," Abo thought. "Maybe she'll be too busy staring at the sky-sea to murder me again? I mean, that doesn't happen every day, right?"
System (agrees): Statistically, 89% of humans would pause to process this anomaly.
But her gaze slid right past it.
"What the fuck is wrong with her?!"
Her head turned. For a heartbeat, her eyes were clouded, glassy. Like she'd forgotten everything. Then clarity burned through. Her stare locked onto him, and behind those bloodshot irises... Nothing but murder. Her lips twitched, just slightly. Revulsion? Fear? As if, in that tiny, squirming face, she saw not her child, but him. The same white hair. Those faint furrow between the eyes. Gods help her... he looked just like her father.
⚠ SYSTEM ALERT
Subject 'Mother' entering combat state. Suggest immediate evacuation of cranial cavity.
"What does that even mean?!" Abo snapped. "She's gonna kill me again, isn't she?!"
System (clinical): Correction: Posthumous habitation. The original soul has vacated. You are merely... borrowing the hardware.
The woman pushed herself up, unsteady on her feet and breathing hard. Her jaw moved, tight and restless, and her empty eyes stayed locked on him. Her fingers curled, uncurled, then slowly reached out, for his throat. Again.
"Why is it always the neck?!" Abo raged internally. "What is it with people and my throat? I swear, if I live through this, I'll sever the head off the next bastard who gets within breathing range of my neck."
The woman lunged, but then—
VMMMMMMMMMMMMM.
A low, endless sound rolled through the air. It came from everywhere at once, like the bones of the earth were vibrating. She stumbled mid-attack, clutching her skull as the sound dug into her ears. Past the broken edge where the world stopped making sense, where rotting swamp met frozen ground without warning, a new rupture opened. The air above the snow-smothered pines shuddered, then split. A vertical rift bloomed open. The portal shimmered against the snow.
Then—It stepped through. No, it charged. A direwolf. Massive, primal. Its dark fur matted with snow, a blur of motion as it moved, eyes glowing like cold moons. Frost exploded beneath its paws with each stride.
Abo's mind went blank. The woman turned just in time for it to sink fangs into her neck.
CRUNCH
Her spine snapped like dry twigs. Blood misted the cold air in a fine, dark spray. She collapsed...for real this time. Her limbs jerked once, then stopped. Her head rolled a short distance through the mud before slowing to a stop. As it turned, her lifeless eyes came into view, staring at nothing.
Abo froze, eyes wide. "...Holy shit. HELL. FUCKING. YEAH!"
If he could've moved, he would've done a full war dance right there in the muck. "Goddamn, you beautiful, fluffy death god in fur. I don't know where you came from, but I am sending you the fattest psychic kiss."
The direwolf moved closer, its heavy paws sinking into the soft ground. With each step, the soil froze under its weight, turning solid. It stopped over Abo's corpse-body, breathing hard, nostrils flaring in the cold. Then it recoiled with a sharp snort of disgust. Its ears flattened in distaste. It took one last offended sniff, sneezed, and bolted back into the treeline like death itself had B.O.
"…Okay," Abo muttered. "Rude."
The System erupted beside him with full applause.
SYSTEM ANALYSIS HOSTILE ENTITY TERMINATED VITAL SIGNS: NONE SPINAL COLUMN: IRREPARABLE
Assessment: Subject's death caused by Glacier Direwolf (Tier D) summoned via dimensional rift. Cross-referencing behavior... hmm...
System evaluation: ...YES! THE BITCH DIED! FUCKING FINALLY!
Abo choked on nonexistent air. "…What the. Did you just swear?"
System: Language adaptation complete. Exposure to host personality profile has resulted in emotional contamination. Moral code now 61% corrupted. Diagnostics suggest: Vibes are now rancid.
"Goddamn right they are," Abo said proudly. "We're survivors now, you and me. Bastards with style."
Their celebration lasted exactly three and a half seconds. The portal pulsed once, then twice. Then it opened. A goblin stumbled out first, green-skinned, snarling, clutching a curved blade. Another followed, then a dozen more, all with glowing eyes and feral hunger. Behind them, an orc stepped through, eight feet tall, scarred and broad, with rotten teeth and a crude club that dragged through the snow.
Abo's eyes widened. "Oh shit." He cleared his throat. "System, what are the odds of that giant bastard killing us?"
SYSTEM ANALYSIS Current probability of fatal impact: 34%.
Assessment: This assumes the creatures politely remain stationary, which spoiler alert they won't.
Should they close the distance and, say, initiate a stampede… survival probability drops to 0%.
Abo frowned. "And what the hell does that mean?"
System: It means that in 100 out of 100 simulated outcomes, you become a very flat corpse.
Abo's already ghastly baby-corpse face scrunched up like a startled raisin.
△ SYSTEM WARNING
Excessive facial contortions may cause premature skin sloughing. Please maintain corpse integrity.
Two more rifts tore open, one above the treeline, another beside the crumbling tomb. Reality itself screamed as more nightmares poured through. The horde charged from the snowy terrain.
⚠ SYSTEM ALERT
STAMPEDE CONFIRMED. THREAT LEVEL: CATASTROPHIC. RECOMMEND IMMEDIATE—
"IMMEDIATE WHAT?!" Abo yelled. "I'M A GODDAMN BABY CORPSE! WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO, CRAWL AWAY MENACINGLY?!"
As they crossed from snow to swamp, the orc's heavy feet sank into the soft ground with each step, pressing it down with wet, muffled squelches. Abo felt the pressure through the soil, his small ribs aching with each impact. Nearby, goblins screamed, their voices sharp and grating.
"Well, this second life's a sick joke," Abo muttered, trembling like a leaf on half-rotted grass. "The idea of those monsters grinding me underfoot," He winced. "It's enough to make me piss myself."
The noise of footsteps grew louder, closer, and heavier.
The first wave hit.
"Shit. Shit. Shit. SHIT!"
The ground quaked under the weight of the oncoming horde. Abo barely had time to roll before a goblin, already pissed off from slipping on wet patches, caught sight of his limp form in the way. With a frustrated grunt, it kicked him like trash, and Abo went flying. He hit a sloped patch of mud with a splatter, then bounced off dry earth, limbs flailing like a ragdoll caught in a landslide.
"Oh come on!"
Another monster stumbled behind the first, snapping a brittle root underfoot. It snarled, booted him out of its way, and skidded on a slick patch. Abo tumbled again, ribs jarring, vision reeling. Then the real trampling began. A goblin's foot slammed down on his chest. Ribs cracked like eggshells, blood bubbled in his throat.
"GAHK—damn it!"
A green interface flickered before his broken eyes, edges shimmering like a dying screen.
✓ NOTIFICATION
System Upgrade Initiated.
Initializing update sequence...
"System? You still there?" Abo gasped, but no reply came.
More blows rained down, bones snapped. His tiny body was a speed bump beneath a monster stampede, each stomp pushing him deeper into the inconsistent floor, his form flattening further as the muddy soil compressed beneath their relentless weight.
"Shit," he wheezed.
An orc's massive foot crashed down like a boulder. His pelvis shattered. His spine folded. Blood geysered from his mouth.
"I'll remember this," he gurgled, each word bubbling with blood. "Every last one of you ugly fucks. I'll burn your nests, slaughter your pups, and wipe your whole goddamn bloodline off the—"
STOMP
✓ NOTIFICATION
System Upgrade Complete
Green light bloomed through his ruined body. The warmth spread like liquid fire through his veins as bones clicked back into place, flesh weaving itself whole.
✦ ✦ ✦
End of Chapter