Fenrir and the World Sovereign

The wolf’s body remained unmoving for what felt like an eternity for Seth and the girls standing by its side.

Despite its frozen body, the chaos energy around it kept growing stronger with each passing second at a fast and steady pace.

The energies forming the fabric of the simulation around the wolf kept getting consumed by the chaos energy, causing an eerie mist to spread around, replacing the space energy and forcing Seth and the girls to increase their distance from the wolf.

Eventually, the wolf’s body shook, and the mist growing from it was absorbed back inside its body. The pressure it released also slowly diminished as its gigantic size decreased to that of a normal wolf.

“Stay here. I’ll go closer and see if we can speak to it now that it’s no longer under Yggdrasil’s control,” said Seth, floating toward the wolf.

“Be careful.”

The closer Seth got to the wolf, the more he was in awe at the beast’s power and majesty. The strength he took pride in, his achievements of reaching the peak in six energy types, and his divinities in two all felt like a joke when measured against the power radiating out of Fenrir’s body.

“Who are you?” a strangely melodious and awkward voice resounded from the beast’s direction, making Seth pause in his tracks to look into the silvery-black eyes staring back at him.

Compared to his previous confrontation, Seth quickly noticed there didn’t appear to be any more malice or hunger inside them.

Those eyes that seemed only to contain madness and hunger now appeared filled with intelligence, confusion, and hesitation.

“My name is Seth, and I’m known as the God of Creation and Destruction,” said Seth, staring straight into the beast’s eyes. “A pleasure to finally meet you, All-devouring Wolf, Fenrir.”

“Hmm…” Fenrir released a sound of acknowledgment, and its eyes moved to scan the space around it, “Where are we?”

Seth blinked a couple of times in surprise before saying, “We’re in what was formerly known as Gaia’s domain. It was also the world which housed Yggdrasil, the world tree.”

“Hmm..”

Fenrir replied the same way once again as it turned its eyes back on Seth, its confusion slowly fading away, “So, god of whatever, what business do you have with me?”

Faced with the wolf’s straightforward question, Seth felt awkward and decided to give it an honest answer, “Now that you are free from Yggdrasil’s control, I needed to make sure you won’t turn your eyes on my world and people.”

The wolf nodded and said in a dangerous tone, “And if I were, do you believe you can stop me?”

“I was hoping to talk my way out of this issue, but if you threaten my plans for the little time I have left in this place, I will still have to try. And to answer your question, no. I don’t think I can stop you,” said Seth with a long sigh.

“Haha,” a peal of laughter came from the wolf’s direction as it nodded again before continuing. “I do owe you for helping me break out of that curse, so I won’t seek to consume this small world for now. It can exist for a while longer.”

As Seth heaved a sigh of relief, the wolf continued, a trace of gloom in its voice, “But that might change with time. Like all the others, this world and everything inside it are fated to end up devoured by me. Your pardon this time is nothing but a small delay for your inescapable fate. The same fate the whole world has. To be consumed by me.”

After it finished its words, the wolf turned around and floated away, ignoring Seth and the women behind him.

“Why?” asked Seth before the wolf could disappear into the distance. “Why do you have to consume the world?”

Fenrir’s paws stopped, and it turned to look back at Seth, tilting its head to the side. “I don’t understand. Why not?”

“You’re already more powerful than every being I have encountered, so why do you need to consume more to increase your power? Can’t you grow stronger alongside the rest of the living?”

“Increase my power?” asked the wolf, pausing to look into Seth’s confused eyes. “You understood me wrong. I never cared about strength or the likes of it. I consume because that is what I was created to do.”

“From ages untold, just as she exists to create, I exist to devour. You should understand our purpose the best of everyone else, seed of destruction. Aren’t you also walking the path that was paved for you?”

“Path paved for me?” asked Seth with a frown.

Fenrir’s eyes had the trace of a smile as it turned its head back around and continued staring into the space ahead, its words drifting into Seth’s ears.

“Two conjoined seeds have been planted.”

“One will spout and bloom like a majestic tree, creating worlds upon each of its branches and leaves, ushering the promise of an eternal age into creation. New seeds will sprout from its youthful worlds, full of vigor and life, seeking to grow into ever more magnificent trees but doomed to always grow into the shadow of their mother tree.”

“One will wither and decay, but in the end, the fate of blooming will also find it. It will bloom into a ravenous wolf, its hunger for creation insatiable for eternity. It will hunt and devour the seeds of creation until the wolf is the only one left.”

“The eternal age of creation will end and start anew as new seeds will sprout from the belly of the beast, destined to usher a new tree and a wolf to hunt it.”

Seth’s frown deepened as he listened to the wolf’s eerie worlds. Once she stopped, he asked, “Are you speaking about the All-mother? What does that have to do with the path ‘built for me’?”

“The seed of destruction…” muttered Fenrir with a sigh. “A seed that bloomed out of all our desires to escape this cycle imposed on us… A seed that at one time symbolized our greatest hope. A hope that never came to fruition…”

Seth kept trying to understand Fenrir’s words, but the more he thought about them, the more the meaning behind her words escaped him.

After a long silence, the frown on Seth’s face disappeared, and he turned around, starting to float back toward his wives with a blank expression.

Fenrir felt his departure and lowered her head as she muttered, “Maybe there was never any hope to begin with. How could we hope you carry our dreams when you can’t see them? Tower, let me out. My purpose here is done, and I want to return to my main body.”

Following Fenrir’s words, a massive Tower appeared before the wolf, but its door remained tightly shut.

The apparition of the Tower made Seth’s body shake, and he turned around, a trace of struggle appearing on his blank, frozen face.

Fenrir looked upward from the closed Tower doors, asking, “What are you doing?”

A shadowy silhouette appeared before the tower, hovering a few feet above its door, its hazy eyes fixed behind Fenrir onto Seth.

“You will be the last trial for the seed of destruction, Fenrir. Only after you defeat him will you be allowed to return to your body.”

Fenrir followed the shadowy silhouette’s gaze back to Seth and asked, “What for? You can’t believe he will be able to do anything. He is not even in control of his thoughts… Also, don’t speak like I can’t simply eat my way out of here.”

“He might appear so to you, Fenrir, but he’s the one who came the closest to ever leaving this world. He only needs one more push to break free and see the truth.”

Fenrir stared unblinkingly at Seth before shaking her head, “I disagree, Administrator. He will never see the truth. He will always end up the same as all bearers of destruction before him. Consumed by the duality of his non-existence, he will wander as a broken will until a new seed comes along to release him from that nightmare.”

“That’s what you might think, Fenrir, but he already broke from that fate. He has created bonds with others and has an anchor to pull him back when he gets lost. All he needs is to open his eyes and accept the truth. Once that happens, he can open the path for all of us.”

Fenrir turned toward the shadowy silhouette and lowered her head before eventually saying, “I’ve never heard you speak about any of them this way. Are you sure your desire to leave has not clouded your judgment? Also, even if he is everything you say he is, this cycle is already reaching its end. Once my main body awakens… it will be too late.”

“We still have time. Please, Fenrir. Fighting you at your strongest is the best push I can give him in this simulation, the closest I can bring him to true despair. That’s why I ensured he would end up standing opposite Yggdrasil to awaken you. You’re the only one who can do this.”

“Sigh… Fine. I suppose there’s nothing for me to lose in giving the boy a true fight, but first, can you tell me if there’s been any news from The Outside?”

The shadowy silhouette shook its head and answered with a sigh, “I wish there were. Ever since her latest stunt, the barrier has grown firmer with each cycle.”

“You’re the one who wanted to teach her emotion. You can’t fault her after everything you have done after that,” said Fenrir mockingly.

The shadowy silhouette manifested Krum’s body out of the palm of its hand and threw it toward Fenrir as it spoke regretfully, “I never did blame her. It was my fault for trying to leave without telling her about it… whatever… the past is the past… Consume this empty vessel to gain access to the network. I’ll leave everything to you, Fenrir.”

Fenrir’s wolf body started turning slowly; the hair covering her body was absorbed into her skin as she stood up on her hind legs. Her claws slowly turned into hands as her beastly facial features retracted inside her body, turning into a woman with silvery-black hair and pure black eyes.

Chaos washed over her body, slowly taking the form of a long black dress that reached down to her ankles. After returning to her human form, Fenrir placed her hand over Krum’s head, and his body was quickly devoured by the vortex spinning in her palm.

After devouring Krum, Fenrir remained still, not even blinking for bout a minute before clarity returned to her eyes, and she turned to look at Seth and his women, who appeared still frozen in time.

Her lips arched into a slight smile before parting ever so slightly.

“It’s time to see if you are worthy of the Sovereign’s high opinion of you.”

“System, remove simulation time-lock.”