Howl, Live, Grind, Ruin.
Between man and beast, there is a definite line.
A beast would bare its fang with its fragmentary reason and enormous instinct.
A man would bring down his enemies with his imprisoned instinct and husk like reason.
Thus, in the end.
He is the only one who belongs on neither side.
He goes beyond the domain of beasts and threads upon the domain of men.
However, he is not completely a beast, nor he is completely a man.
The Wolf King Lobo.
O beast who possesses the right for revenge.
Would you exercise that right of yours?
*HOWL*
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Cu Proto: Sorry. Cant do it.
Guda: I see...
Cu Poto: I'm pretty confident I can tame even a mystical beast, so long as it's a wolf. But that one is no wolf. From the beginning, his very root despises humans. Doesn't matter if one is a hero and an anti hero if one is a human.
Mash: I see.... It has been a while since we summoned Hessian and Lobo, but...
Cu Proto: Time ain't got anything to do with it. Against human, his hatred would never cease. ...But on the other hand, don't you think that two would be able to do it?
Mash: That two...?
------------------------------------
???: Oh my. You're hampering here alone in the dark as usual. You're like a gloomy, unyielding witch like that!
*GRRRRRRRRR*
Nursery Rhyme: GOod evening, big bad wolf. I am Nursery Rhyme.
*GRR*
NR: Thank you for noticing it. I am a , but at the very basic I am not human. I'm just a fragment of dream. I lack the humanness you detest so from the beginning. So? Do I pass?
Hessian Lobo: ...... ...........
???: Good grief. Nursery Rhyme, must you be so forward?
*Enkidu steps forward*
Enkidu: As per Master's order, I am left with the task of escorting you.
NR: You worry too much, Enkidu. I may not be as tough as you, but I am still a Servant.
E: Indeed. Be that as it may, Master's wish is as it is. I am a mud, but you are a book. Bitten, and you're would be beyond read.
NR: My, that sounds terrible! To be crushed, chewed, and washed away! But it's okay. Right, Wolf King?
HL: ...... ...........
NR: My, you threw away your face? It's so sad, so sad, so sad!
E: Very well, let's get to the main point. What is it in Master that you find unsatisfying?
HL: !
NR: You don't need to mind it too much. If you don't find anything unsatisfying, then we're done here! If there is, then as long as you don't kill master then it's fine!
E: Well, that it is. Master has no intention to neglect you. Still less to hate you. However, he does not understand the reason on why you responded to his summoning. He fears that he is forcing you.
*Hessian stands up*
NR: My? My my my? What seems to be the matter, slumbering headless warrior?
E: I see. Basing to the record of Shinjuku, you are in possession of your own self-consciousness. Then, I ask of you; what is wish?
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The wolf thinks that being a beast is simple.
Devours your prey, bite down your enemies, escape from the strong.
Remember their scent, lest he meets them the second time.
However, things were different when he was leading a pack.
He must think. He must torment. He must decide. He must fiercely howl that this land belongs to him.
He had his subordinates, his wive, his pups. And so he must fight.
However, a beast wisdom has its limit.
Whereas the greed of men has none.
*blood stab*
Therefore, this end is inevitable.
The beast has no reason to be bitter about it.
And then, the beast was summoned in Shinjuku as a Phantom, fused, and become a Servant.
In him, who had once been unable to reach men, dwelled the strength that surpasses human intellect.
He utilizes his right for revenge and grind them to his heart content.
There is no regret
/This is the instinct of a beast.
The wisdom torments himself
/With the concept of sin.
His comrades disappear
/He is no longer even a beast.
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The headless ghost stands there, all alone.
Mute, silent, unmoving.
Unperturbed even when threatened, unchanging even when glared at.
For he no longer has a head; thus it is obvious.
His shape is that of a man, yet he is as far as possible from being one.
And so I can put up with him, thinks the beast.
*shows Enkidu and Nursery Rhyme silhouette*
Those two are the same, for they do not stink.
...Yes. They do not stink of humans.
However, there are those who stink of humans among the Servants. Those, among all else, he cannot stand.
--------------------------------------------
NR: Let's have a tea party!
E: I am fine with just hot water.
NR: Boo. I'm not drinking such a tasteless beverage. I like them with plenty of sugar and tingling ginger. Master, how about you?
Guda: I'll have one without sugar.
NR: Fufufu. Yes, calorie is a problem indeed!
E: I do believe one should resupply when one can. You are a Master after all.
NR: Boo! You shouldn't be so thoughtless, Enkidu.
E: Mm? I see. Not differing between managing physical condition and appetite preference is thoughtless. I shall remember that.
............................
E: Thus is our impression of the current state.
G: I see.
E: TO be frank, I do believe that things are fine as they are. Lobo is useful, and he has no reason to betray you.
NR: Yes, that is true. Everyone fight together with you while having their own circumstances. We all bear the same goal of restoring the Human Order. So there isn't really any need to get along together. You can think of it that way!
Yes. Yes, you can. But you see, you see.
That is too sad, too sad, that I can't consent to it.
E: You can accept the logic, but you can't accept the reason... is it?
Yes. Indeed, it is too sad. It would not do. As I am now, I can somewhat understand it.
So, Master. What to do?
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-----A familiar scent wakes him up.
He enters into vigilance and threat, raising a growl.
And yet the footsteps sound does not stop. It stays true and fast.
And then, the beast and the young man stands in front of each other.
G: There's a fight I'd like you to do.
He accepts the request.
No hostility. No malice.
However, the flame burning within him is his very strength.
To affirm the being before his eyes is to deny his revenge.
And so he howls. He incites malice, vigilance, keeping the distance.
Man and beast would never understand each other, for they will never be able to come close to each other.
-------------------------------------------------
*fought bikers small fries*
E: That was easy. However, I feel ill at ease here.
It is as if this very town and land itself are stained with vice.
NR: I also don't feel good. My cute dress now feels dirty.
E: Now then...
The mystical beast dwelling in seems to be spreading malice.
It would be in our best interest to search for it.
HL: *growls*
G: Lobo, can you track it down?
HL: *gruff*
He raised a growl as a mark of agreement.
He would track the mystical beast hiding somewhere in this Shinjuku, and dispose of it.
He would follow its scent and chase after it.
That is his duty for now.
Ah, but still.
This state of his is as if-----
As if I am a dog, sneered the beast from within the dark.
*GROWL*
E: We found it at last. Let us go.
The beast begins to run, as if to rein in the "mud" who was about to go ahead.
And then. As if provoking from a glimpse, the beast looked at the being who restrained of his world.
Master, Gudao.
Otherwise a being known as human.
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The atmosphere of this town feels good, think the beast.
Although it is filled with unappetizing things that are ill-fitting to devour.
Maybe because of that, he has no hesitation in crunching it down.
The shining lights are much more odious and vibrant compared to the stars in the sky he had seen.
They are not more desolate compared to the stars in the night sky.
Created by man, invaded by man.
Normally, this is the place where he should not be.
The beast had no choice but to live there.
NR: Whats wrong?
The young woman who smells like strained wood slanted her head in an innocent expression.
*GROWLS*
He growls, as if to say It's nothing, and faced forward.
Following him from behind is the Master, who continued on taking a firm distance.
Close, yet far.
If, for example.
If he gives off an indication to bite him to death, what would happen?
The answer is simple.
The "mud" and "paper" would mercilessly and thoroughly kill him.
Therefore, this distance is appropriate.
He is logically correct and rationally compliant.
His whole body trembles. He found it at last.
*HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWL*
E: Alright, we've found it. Let's bring it down, Master!
NR: This is so sad. So very, very sad.
Sheep on mountain. Lion on wasteland. Serpent on thickets.
You would've been happier staying and living there.
That's right, thought the beast.
However, he found brilliance and pride of the same kind from the grotesque in front of him.
The artificial, dreaded mystical beast.
A monster that can go anywhere it wants precisely because it has nowhere to go.
"We are strong"
The mystical beast leap, just with that one point.
E: Hmm? We did not catch up to it so much as it was ambushing us, I see.
*enemies materialize*
In front of him. A ridiculous amount of mystical beasts.
NR: My, this is bad. Now, Master. Your instructions please!
He immediately replaced a moment of sympathy into fighting spirit.
THe things coiling around the grotesque beast was once the same kin as him.
G: Hessian Lobo, can you do this?
------But of course.
Who are saying that to, Master?
*HOOOOOWLS*
With a howl. who were surrounding them like familiars.
Half of them flee in fear. The loyalty to their Master lost to their instinct as a beast.
Therefore, those who are left are not of his kin.
THey are nothing but his prey---!
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E: We have defeated its retinues, but it is stronger than estimation.
The possesses spiritual foundation comparable to the ones of my own era.
Is it the advancement of technology, or is it the accumulation of man's greed-----?
Either case, that's what comes with urban development. Perhaps for a strange beast to be born is not so weird after all.
*SHRIEK*
E: !
It's escaping! Faster than I thought as well....!
We need to chase after it, Master!
--------So irritating!
He commands to pick up the Master and make him ride.
NR: Oh my.
E: Ohh.
*HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWL*
-----Dash.
He chases the mystical beast with all he has.
He can hear a scream from on top of him, but the passenger has it covered.
He has no hesitation on killing one of his own kind.
However, he does feel anger.
Without thinking what might be the source of that anger, the beast run at full speed.
He treads in into woods with rotten smell. However, his gait does not stop.
He will kill that mystical beast. With just that one determined purpose, he searches for it.
-----Why do I loathe it?
-----Why do I resent it?
That's because that mystical beast resembles him.
It must have never wished to be born. Never wished to kill.
However, at some point that mystical beast lost its self.
From a mystical beast, it changes into a monster.
As far as the beast is concerned, that is a taboo.
-----The beast remembers. Of the killing that once had happened on this Shinjuku.
From a beast into a mystical beast, from a mystical beast into a monster.
Even if his heart stays a beast, the flames of revenge mercilessly encroaches him.
-----Yes.
From the time that he had answered Moriarty's summon, he had already become a monster.
And the end for monsters had already been settled since the era of myth.
They would scatter calamities towards their surroundings, and meets death in either fear or grief.
Before that mystical beast completely changes into a monster, he would dispose of it.
--------Found it.
Facing each other, he bares his fangs and amasses his strength.
The passenger puts down the Master. Now he has nothing holding him back.
*HOOOOWLS*
*SHRIEEEEK*
They leap.
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He re-bounce by recoiling from a large trunk, slashing as he twist his frame.
*SHRIEEEK*
*SLASH*
THe blade of darkness and the fangs of the lion gleams, clashing in the air over and over again.
One who is as but a wolf mutated into a mystical beast and------
The chimera
grotesque mystical beast
extolled as itself.
The beast fangs cannot reach due to the goat's horn.
The passenger was pushed by the fangs of the lion.
All the while the serpent's tail continues to snap at his whole body.
Its surging blood accelerates its ferocity.
Its boiling hatred wakes its evolution even more.
----------So? Can you do it?
Was that the voice of the passenger, or of the Master?
Either way, he responds to the question in affirmation with a howl.
But of course.
The Master gives off a sign.
With a nod, he invokes the Command Spell.
He basks in magic energy, all the while it makes his body tremble.
----------So? Can you do it?
He affirms the question a second time.
And then he realizes that the question comes from within him.
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes-----
Kill.
The passenger lets go of the grim reaper scythe-like blade, and the beast readily bite at it.
Simultaneously, the passenger's overcoat turns into blades.
Rush-----like a flash or like a bullet.
Slash-----that is the grim reaper itself.
Namely.
Frieren Scharfrichter
Decapitation Towards the Distant One
...!
*WHOOOSH*
The passenger completely protects against the horn of the goat and the tail of the snake, while the head of the lion was severed by the blade before its fang even reaches him.
The battle ends in an instant.
What follow are nothing but silence and the scent of blood.
Without a howl, the beast lords over the remains of the mystical beast.
There is no happiness in this, yet there is no sorrow either.
However, he feels a slight sentiment.
G: (while running) You two!
The Master rushes over to him.
With a dangerous gait, yet trying to get there as soon as possible, the Master hurried over him.
HL: !
*hugs*
How carelessly worrisome, sighed the beast.
G: ...I'm glad you're ok.
This is no big deal, the beast turns away its face.
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-----Afterward, he looks up upon the sky faintly.
Neither the moonlight nor the flickering stars are suitable for him.
What suits him now is the vivid light glimpsing from the crevices of the trees, the man made neons.
And that's fine, sneered the beast.
Even if he could never go back to that wilderness, it is impossible for him to lose it.
Never.
He will never forget it.
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G: So the reason why he responded to the summon is?
E: For his children, most likely.
The children of Lobo and Blanca.
THey had perhaps survive well enough, maybe even becoming parents of their own.
It may be that they managed to raise their numbers, escaped North America, and managed to reach a different country.
The possibility is low.
The wolves descending from him might already be no more. It's more valid to think of it that way.
NR: However, be that as it may, the possibility is not zero either.
Even wolves have the right to dream!
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The beast sees an impossible dream.
Of him, Blanca, and his pups, cheerfully running across the plains.
It may be foolish to wish upon an impossible dream. Miserable, even.
However... even it it is impossible.
It is not a yoke that forbids him from wishing it.
Therefore, he would believe in that dream, and sacrifice himself for it.
Just that one thing, just one, was the reason he responded to the summon.
The reason why he would protect this exceedingly frail human whose weight is leaning on his body.
THe beast in the moonlight, in reminiscence of the wilderness.
Over the distance.
Yet without hesitation, without bewilderment, the wolf king continues to walk.
And then, he suddenly realizes.
THe weight of the Master leaning against him is.... not unlike an innocent embrace of a pup.
Howl, live, grind, ruin.
---------------------Protect.