The Saint of the Giants never imagined that his king would consider forming an alliance with such a low-ranking race. However, after thinking carefully about the king's words—and about the visions he constantly saw of a great war approaching—he agreed with his king's opinion regarding an alliance with the werewolves and said:
"Your Majesty is right. We must be cautious in the steps we take in the future, and an alliance with the werewolves will be to our benefit. Through them, we can learn the strength of our enemies and use them as pawns in the coming war."
The king smiled when he saw that the saint had understood his perspective. Although the race of the werewolves, like the vampires, was considered relatively weak, they reproduced at an astonishing rate. They were ideal fuel for future wars and could be used to escape enemy traps or avoid battle if the opponents proved too strong. For this reason, he had thought of the werewolves. However, after pondering further, he realized that he did not know how to contact them, as they had no state or fixed land of their own. He said:
"And where can I find them?"
When the saint saw his king deep in thought and heard his question, he smiled thoughtfully and replied:
"I believe we can hire some human mercenaries to guide us to the locations of the werewolves. Humans are always hunting them."
The king listened to the saint's words, reflected on them briefly, then nodded in agreement and said:
"Yes, you're right. This is the best way to find the werewolves. I've heard that the leader of the werewolves has hair as white as the moon, and rumors say his strength rivals that of the giants—perhaps even surpasses it. I want to see that with my own eyes to believe it."
The Saint of the Giants smiled when he saw his king excited about meeting the werewolf leader. Yet what truly occupied his mind was the matter of the deformed corpse. The aura surrounding it was saturated with death and capable of affecting the mind of anyone who stared at it too long or remained near it for an extended period. With a serious tone, he said:
"We must leave the cave, my king. Remaining near this cursed corpse for too long will negatively affect us. Even you, my king—despite being the strongest of the giants and having received their blessing—will not be able to escape the harmful influence emanating from this corpse."
The king looked at the saint and asked:
"And if we leave, who will guard the corpse?"
The saint replied:
"My king, we can at least secure the entrance to the cave. The important thing is to put a safe distance between ourselves and this corpse."
The king considered the saint's words, found them reasonable, and said:
"Then let us go. We will leave the cave."
The king and the saint walked toward the cave's exit, but the king suddenly stopped and looked back toward the deformed corpse. The saint looked at him in surprise and asked:
"Is something wrong, my king?"
After a moment, the king replied while turning his gaze away from the corpse and muttering:
"No… I think I sensed something wrong. That shouldn't be possible."
The saint did not understand what the king meant, but he felt that his king had begun to hallucinate from staying too long near the corpse. In a firm tone, he said:
"Come, my king. We must leave the cave. This place is not safe."
The King of the Giants looked at the saint, snapping out of his thoughts and strange feeling, and said uncertainly:
"Yes… let us go. I think if we stay here any longer, we'll start imagining foolish things."
As he said this, the king cast one last glance at the corpse before accompanying the saint out of the cave. Once they had left, guards remained outside to secure the entrance and ensure that no one entered the cave by accident—not even an animal or a bird.
When the cave was completely empty and silence filled its depths, the deformed corpse slowly opened its eyes and looked toward the direction from which the king and the saint had departed. Its lips moved, muttering incomprehensible words. Yet the only word none of the giants could have understood was:
"So… the werewolves… haha…"
The voice that uttered those words was terrifying. Had any of the rulers of the continent of Mira—especially the dragons—heard it, they would have recognized it instantly. It was a strange voice that only the dragons had heard in a distant age, an era long gone and best left forgotten. Everyone who lived in that time and heard that voice either died long ago or became a fearsome entity not to be underestimated.
That voice belonged to one of the rulers who had called for destruction and death for all races. For that reason, all races had once united to repel him and seal him away from their world. He was unlike the other rulers; even the Queen of Demons herself had not sought the annihilation of the world, only the domination of it by her race. This alone illustrated the depth of hatred the owner of that voice held toward all races of the world.
The giants did not realize the true danger lurking at their borders, nor the extent of its impact on the future of the world. They would later even consider handing over that corpse—which was nothing more than a shell of something closer to a Lord of Death tied to the werewolves—without knowing the magnitude of the mistake they were about to make.
After uttering those words, the corpse trembled slightly, then closed its eyes once more, as if nothing had happened.
But what occurred at that moment did not go unnoticed.
A few beings sensed it—among them the Lord of the Continent of Mira and the Dragon King.
The Dragon King's reaction was violent. He suddenly opened his eyes from a deep slumber in his lair and roared with a thunderous voice that shook the surroundings:
"Who used forbidden magic in my continent?!"
Meanwhile, the Leader of the Titans suddenly looked toward the continent of Mira, frowned deeply, and said:
"Something ancient… something cursed… is awakening in the continent of Mira."
The Titans frowned upon hearing his words, not fully understanding what he meant.
As for the Demon King, he too awoke suddenly from his sleep, staring toward the continent of Mira, and said grimly:
"What is that strange voice I just heard?"
None of the three knew exactly what they had sensed, but one thing was certain to all of them: a strange power had awakened in the continent of Mira. That alone was enough to raise alarm. As for the nature of that power—and whether it would affect the coming war—no one could yet know.