The wind howled against the empty, destroyed city, as if it was wailing for the dead.
It screamed through broken streets and shattered towers, carrying dust and ash with it.
Buildings were overturned and split apart, roads were completely destroyed and cracked open, and the sky was filled with thick gray smoke rising everywhere, choking the world beneath it.
Suddenly, a huge shadow fell over the ground. The light vanished as a massive creature winged through the sky above the ruins.
It had a long, towering neck and enormous blue wings, glowing faintly as if infused with ancient power. The air trembled with every beat of its wings.
A dragon.
From the other side of the city, a gigantic golem stood among the ruins, its stone body towering over what remained.
With slow, merciless movements, it crushed every single building it could see beneath its massive fists. Even after destroying almost everything, it kept moving, as if destruction itself was its only purpose.
Amidst all the chaos, only one person stood upright, facing a figure floating in the sky, staring down at him from above.
The figure had black, bat-like wings spread wide against the smoky sky, and glowing red eyes with deep black irises that felt cold and merciless.
His skin was as pale as a ghost, standing out sharply against the complete black robe he wore, trimmed with thin lines of crimson. His long black hair fell past his knees, drifting and swaying as he flared his wings slowly in the air, commanding the space around him without a word.
"Fray Fenrir." His voice was a low growl as he looked down at the mortal standing in front of him.
The mortal, Fray…was completely wrecked. He no longer had his arms, and there was a gaping wound where his heart should have been. Yet he still stood. Blood poured endlessly from his open wounds, dripping onto the shattered ground below, but his legs did not bend, and his gaze never fell.
His purple eyes were dimmed, barely holding any light, and he almost did not breathe. Each breath felt shallow, like it might be his last.
Why… how had the world come to this? According to the Earth's plan, the Beast Master should have been killed. So why, instead of him, had humans died instead? Why was the world drowned in human blood while the true enemy still stood?
"Stupid humans." The Beast Master hissed as he looked down at the boy, his lips curling in disgust.
"Just how long did you think you could command the beasts?" His red eyes narrowed, then slowly softened into mockery. "But you are truly brave. I will give you that." He said it with a cruel smirk, as if bravery itself was a joke.
"As the weakest hunter in the world, you managed to be the last one standing." His voice echoed through the ruined city. "How does it feel, Fray Fenrir? Your family sent you to your death… but they also died." It mocked him openly, savoring every word.
Fray's mouth slightly curled up, forming something that almost looked like a smile.
He was Fray Fenrir, the fourth-born kid of the Fenrir Clan, one of the most revered beast-taming clans in the world, within the Hart Kingdom. Yet he was the weakest of the weak. The only FFF-rank tamer in existence, bound to a beast that everyone called nothing but scrap.
But it was already too late for Fray to find out that the beast was never defective at all.
His dim eyes shifted as he looked at the Beast Master, watching it absorb the last remaining essence of his beast. The creature looked back at him with glassy eyes, empty yet familiar, as it faded away right before him.
He had ignored it.
Every time, Fray had blamed the beast for his incompetence, never realizing that what kept an FFF-rank like him alive all this time was the very beast he neglected and looked down on.
"So…rry," he muttered weakly as he watched the beast completely disappear. His voice trembled, barely leaving a sound.
A sharp pang hit his-oh… he no longer had a heart. The moment the beast vanished, the energy that kept the heartless human alive also disappeared.
Fray's eyes slowly went dead, the last spark fading away, as his body fell to the ground like a tree cut at its base.
Blood pooled around the broken human body as the Beast Master looked down at him with emotionless eyes. "Stupid human," he muttered coldly.
Then he looked at his own hand, feeling the immense power surging through his veins. His fingers trembled slightly from excitement. His gaze lifted toward the sky, and a satisfied smirk spread across his face.
Finally… he had obtained the power he had sought for tens of thousands of years. It rested in his hands at last. The heavens would finally find their true rival this time.
"Just because you gave humans the ability to tame beasts…" he said slowly, his voice filled with contempt, "…that does not mean beasts will obey them when their true master resurfaces." He chuckled darkly, the sound echoing through the ruined city.
Then his eyes returned to the lifeless figure below. "Though sometimes…" he mumbled, almost thoughtfully. He raised a hand toward the boy, and deep purple flames erupted around Fray's body, swallowing it whole. "There are some stupid beasts who sacrifice themselves for weak humans who don't even respect them back."
Fray's body was completely burned into ashes by the purple fire, leaving behind nothing but faint dust drifting in the wind.
"Damn idiots!"