The Void

Twenty-five days later

“So we really did find him after all,” Adalbern Everhart says as he stands at the forefront of dozens of Vampires in front of a massive body. “But this isn’t how I wanted to find him.”

The large body is that of an enormous wolf radiating a dark black energy – one similar to that of Fenrir’s void element – and it belonged to the only Tier 10 void element user to have ever existed.

Each of the Vampires bow down to the corpse for several seconds before straightening up again and looking at it once more.

“The great Fenrir, God of the Void and Bringer of Calamity,” the Prince says with a respectful look on his face, “we bid you farewell and a peaceful rest in the void.”

He then turns around and teleports away, just to be followed shortly by the rest of the Vampires where they appear next to the portal, just to look confused at what they find.

“Uh, I guess the dungeon’s been experimenting,” the Prince mutters at the sight of the four void serpents wandering around the area around the portal.

Fenrir

I’m interrupted from my cultivation when I sense the Vampires returning to the portal.

I focus on them to find them staring blankly at the four void serpents I have guarding the portal.

“Uh, I guess the dungeon’s been experimenting,” the Prince mutters while staring at the serpents.

Yeah, that I have.

The Vampire Prince turns to look at the others before nodding and walking through the portal. However, after he does, he simply stops in front of it and looks directly at my core.

Is he going to…?

“Fenrir, we have found the God of the Void’s corpse and would like to know more about what happened if you don’t mind sharing,” the Prince suddenly asks, shaking me slightly at his words.

The… God of the Void?

“Why would we know anything about the God of the-” Dawn starts to ask, only to trail off and look at me.

I simply answer, “Remember my namesake?” before I focus my attention on the Vampire Prince and ask, ‘Explain to me first why you care.’

The Vampire Prince looks surprised for a moment, but he quickly regains his composure and answers, “The God of the Void was a companion of the founder of our Empire, and the founder has sent us here to find out what happened to him.”

My core flares slightly in my surprise, but I quickly ask, ‘Really? Then would you mind telling me what his name was?’

“His name was the same as yours,” the man answers without a hint of hesitation, “Fenrir.”

Hmm. Guess he’s telling the truth then.

‘Well, I met him when he was dying, so I only know the basics of it,’ I explain to him before glancing at the entrance of my dungeon where another group of intruders enters from.

The Vampire does some strange motion with his arms, swinging his hands in circles twice before saying, “Continue, if you would.”

What was… actually, nevermind. It’s probably some strange intruder hand motion that I don’t understand.

‘From what he told me, he messed with something he shouldn’t have, and it devoured his life force,’ I explain the exact words that Fenrir used to me a long time ago. ‘But he never said what it was he messed with, nor how it was powerful enough to drain the life force of a God Tier being. Would you mind explaining that for me?’

The Vampire presses his lips at that before looking down and seemingly getting lost in his own thoughts for a few seconds.

I glance at Dawn, just to see her bob up and down in the form of a human shrug before I turn my attention back to the Vampire.

Is that a yes, or is he just going to ignore my question? Because that’s just rude.

Out of nowhere, the Vampire starts speaking without even lifting his head, “We’re not entirely certain, but the founder mentioned that he believed Fenrir was searching for an item of incredible strength. One that was also being searched for by three other Tier 10 beings. So it’s entirely possible that he found it and was ambushed by them, or even that he was ambushed in the process of finding it.”

A wave of anger spreads through me; one stronger than any I’ve felt before, with the only exception being that of when Dawn was in danger a while back. It’s to the point that all of my dungeon monsters seem to pause for a moment, recognizing my anger and mirroring it themselves.

So one of the other Gods might have done this?

‘Who were the three Gods that might have killed him?’ I ask rather slowly, seemingly catching the Vampire’s attention as he raises his head to look at my core again.

“You aren’t going after them,” he explains as if deciding my actions for me, “the founder has already decided that he will protect you, so I will not allow you go do something that suicidal.”

‘Answer my question,’ I repeat to him, not giving a shit about his ‘protection’ right now.

The Vampire glares at my core for a few seconds before sighing and saying, “If you can promise you won’t go after them until you are Tier 10 as well, then I will tell you.”

Without a hint of hesitation, I answer, ‘Agreed. Now tell me who they are.’

He takes a deep breath before answering, “The three Gods that might have had something to do with the death of Fenrir are the God of Flames, Fafnir – who is a Dragon, the God of Illusions, Inari – who is a Kitsune, and the God of Lightning, Thor – a Kirin.”

The Tier 10 beings of the fire element, the illusions element, and the lightning element…

‘Thank you for the assistance,’ I tell the Vampire, ‘I won’t soon forget those names.’

The Vampire grimaces slightly at that but shakes his head any ways and then says, “Well, I’ll be bringing out the others now. Unless you have anything else to ask?”

‘No,’ I tell him while immediately returning my attention to my cultivation.

Because if I ever want to fight against those Tier 10 beings, then I’m going to have to be Tier 10 myself.

Which is a long way off right now.