https://youtu.be/UygRR3HRig0

With the pillar of light in sight, Oz kept moving, making the most of his naturally-high agility to try and get there as quickly as possible. As he sprinted, he remained focused on his goal, keeping the destination in his sight.

Thor, watching from the heavens, took note of how eager he seemed to be, and knew it was justifiable. With all the lives at stake, and the young man's aversion to death in general, he'd predicted a response like this. But he knew that anger could be a warrior's greatest weakness, so he decided to try and calm his apprentice's nerves before he reached the place.

"How are you feeling right now, Oz?" he asked him coolly, leaving Oz to look up a little as he continued running. Offering a bright smile, he told him,

"I'm alright."

"That's good. I presume doing as well as you did in that battle just now was quite the ego boost." Thor continued. "You were brilliant, Oz."

"I couldn't have done it without your help." Oz shook his head quickly. "So I think the real lesson to be learned is, we make an excellent team."

"You've got that right!" Thor chortled heartily. "Tell me, have you ever taken on a monster before?"

"...a couple. Why?" he asked, looking back ahead of him as his way of averting his gaze.

"Well, in the end, you'll be fighting a monster, and likely many more. So it would be useful to look back on your past experience." Thor pointed out. "What was it like, if I may ask?"

"It was lots of fun, I must say." Oz replied. "Back when I was a human, I wasn't quite as strong as I am now, nor did I have nearly as much magic. If not for my friend, Anwin, I never would have been quite as successful."

"Oh? You two fought together often, then?" Thor asked curiously, this evidently news to him. "I bet he must've been a real keeper if he was able to match up to your high standards."

"My standards aren't that high." Oz protested. "But, yes, he was great, and he certainly made every passing day as enjoyable as it could be."

"Well, I'm glad the two of you were happy together." Thor smiled from up above, before clearing his throat. "Your prior experience should help you somewhat, but do keep in mind that unlike most monsters on Midgard, Fenrir is not only very angry, but also fully sapient. He is smarter than most monsters - but you're smart, too! If you try, you should be able to win!"

"I hope I can." Oz smiled. "That'll show Svafrlami, for sure! And the town will be saved, too."

"Naturally."

"Speaking of, how badly-damaged is the town right now? Can you tell?"

"Hmm..." Thor mumbled, looking over Peuma Town with a scowl. "It's not unsalvageable, that's for certain, but you may find there is quite the death toll."

"Then I have no time to waste! We must make haste!" Oz yelled, seeing the town grow closer with each second. His heart's pounding did nothing to deter him, and instead only reminded him of how much he wanted to get his duty done. With the support of Thor, he would surely prevail.

.........

And soon, he arrived at Peuma, instantly picking up on the foul scent of blood and smoke. As he saw the humans evacuating from the front gate and heard their screams, he peered inside, seeing the scene ahead of him. On a brown, pebbly soil stood many beige brick buildings - but it was plain to see that it was devastated. For every building still standing, there were two reduced to mere rubble and ash. Even now, he could see a great smokey flame burning, and a giant monster standing next to it, watching it burn and stomping on the ground, silencing a few of the screams. It was terrible, truly, but Oz reminded himself that he had seen worse and stepped in boldly, looking at said beast.

Yes, the wolf himself was there, wreaking havoc. His quadrupedal body was covered from head to toe in ash-grey fur, and his paws were tipped with black claws, though the paws themselves were stained with red blood. Looking up to the height of its head, which was about the same size as the house that had been destroyed, one could see his amber-coloured eyes, consumed by rage, and his maw, filled with dangerous blade-like teeth.

"It's...horrible." Oz murmured. He knew there had been survivors, since he had seen them evacuating, but there were also people dying there. It was worse up-close, as splattered against the surfaces of the houses, he could see the visceral remains of those who couldn't escape in time. Steeling himself, he kept the target in sight and continued to advance.

"It is, isn't it?" Thor agreed. "The Fenrir of old would have obliterated this town already and moved on to the next."

"How reassuring." Oz murmured, unsure how much he meant that as he called his mask to his hand and put it on his face. Now feeling a little more placated, he flew up to a house to get a better visual on his enemy, before continuing his pursuit from above. At some point, however, the wolf stopped its attack, looking directly at him with his enormous eyes as it stood like a statue. It unsettled him, but he didn't let it stop him.

As Oz drew near, Fenrir waved his bloodstained paw, and at once the fire was snuffed out, leaving a pile of ashes where the poor building had once been. Looking at Oz, who was on top of a nearby building, he gave him a stern look, and at once the warrior heard a gravelly, telepathic voice in his mind.

"Halt, einherjar."

https://youtu.be/5OU_A4-48zE

And at once, he stopped, summoning his gun to his hand and facing Fenrir, not attacking yet as he stared at the slowly-approaching wolf. "...hello, Fenrir." he told him, hiding his nervousness as best as he could.

"State your name, einherjar." he commanded. "And answer me this; are you here on Odin's behalf?"

"I am Oz Abendroth." Oz replied, not feeling very much in the mood for his usual theatrics. Twirling his gun, he then added, "And in the name of Asgard, I'm here to take you down!"

At that, Fenrir bared his fangs, clearly displeased with this answer. "Pitiful Odin. Always commanding others to fight his battles for him."

Oz noticed Thor's silence, but chose to concentrate more on Fenrir's words, finding them curious and confusing. "A grudge against the king..." he murmured. "Why are you doing this?"

"...you truly know nothing, do you?" Fenrir asked, staring at Oz and recognising that he really was in the dark here. Understandably so - he was just some soldier - seemingly about first-class, maybe stronger? The rest of the warriors sent after him hadn't shown such curiosity, though. They had only tried to kill him, whereas Oz had yet to claim first blood. "Very well, then. I shall humour you."

"Uh, please do." Oz bowed his head, keeping a close eye on Fenrir. "There has to be a reason why you're doing this. I'd like to hear it."

Fenrir eyed Oz curiously, before using his senses - listening for footsteps and the flapping of wings, trying to pick up the scent of einherjar from anywhere but Oz, keeping his paws on the ground to feel any vibrations and just plain looking around - to ensure that Oz had come alone and this wasn't some distraction. And, as he had hoped, by now the town was entirely empty, save for these two.

Figuring it was safe, he then looked back at the warrior with somewhat calmer eyes. "Once, I was an ally of the Aesir." he explained, his voice calm, with a palpable anger bubbling underneath. "Under Asgard, and in the name of Odin himself, I fought a great many battles."

Oz listened closely, feeling a little strange about it. "In a sense...you were like a knight, right?"

"You could say that." Fenrir agreed. "I couldn't conceive of a future where I was not at his side...but he thought differently."

"What did he do to you?"

"A prophecy...that damned prophecy." Fenrir growled, the anger beginning to boil over. As Oz gazed sympathetically at him, he began to try and set it aside, with little success. "One day, Odin received a prophecy. Fate decreed that I would be the one to kill him. Back then, I thought it ridiculous, but now, he should consider himself lucky if it doesn't come true!"

As he raised his voice, Oz frowned and bowed his head respectfully, closing his eyes and allowing him to continue. He and Thor both knew how much the idea of fate meant to Odin - after all, all of Asgard had been taught of its importance. As for Thor, he, too, listened in knowing silence. "Odin, in his paranoia, sent his men, his warriors and gods, to slay me, but none succeeded. When that failed, he himself arrived with those accursed chains, and the next thing I knew, I was restrained and left all alone."

"But...would he really take such extreme actions based on just a prophecy?" Oz said, more musing than asking, wondering whether or not to believe it.

"You don't know how deep his marriage to fate runs..." Thor commented quietly, once again audible only to Oz. "But it makes sense. The prophecy was about his death..."

"He would! He did!" Fenrir snarled, staring at a slightly startled Oz. "Five hundred long years I was held in those chains...but now, I know freedom once again. All thanks to the Hel's Angels."

"The Hel's Angels?" Oz quirked an eyebrow at the unfamiliar name and looking back on the events of the last chapter. "You mean those robed mages?"

"They go far beyond those four cannon fodders." Fenrir stated. "They are an army, a legion."

"And you're working for them...out of gratitude?" Oz questioned, taking off his mask and meeting his eyes head-on. "I understand where you're coming from, but I can't stand by if helping them means killing the innocent."

"You...I can see why you ascended to Asgard. It would be a shame to claim your second life." Fenrir gently intoned, hunching over in preparation to pounce, and Oz quickly raised his pistol. "But if you stand in our way, then so be it! You'll be the latest in a long line of fallen angels!"

"Guess we're fighting after all, then." Oz readied himself for combat, taking a deep breath and eyeing Fenrir, waiting for him to make a move. "Onward, to victory!"

"Oz, are you ready?" Thor asked, to which the angel nodded. "Then do not falter!"

"The time for prattle has passed! Carrier of Odin's will, your fate is sealed!"

And with a mighty howl, both combatants knew that there was no peace between them - not anymore. Only war awaited them, and though there were no victors in war, one of them could and would be vanquished forever.

https://youtu.be/n3EgBGqBpnA

So no further time was wasted. Fenrir lunged forward, attempting to snatch Oz in his jaws, and Oz leapt backwards, shooting his gun at him in the meantime while the area of the building he was standing on was crushed between the wolf's fangs. Continuing to fire at him, Oz began to retreat. A good call, too, as more of the building was devoured in a single bite, and he managed to escape just in time. He jumped off the building, somersaulting and shooting while upside-down before allowing himself to land.

He ran around the house, wanting to view Fenrir more openly, and jumped to his side as it was pulverised in a blast of orange flame. Seeing Fenrir peering into the fire, he threw in a discus-shaped grenade with the word "Berstan" in blue. As it hit the fire, it exploded in a large cloud of smoke, briefly disorienting the wolf. Oz, now far enough from the destruction, took out one of his arrow-shaped Flan explosives and tossed it towards Fenrir's face.

"Oz, be wary when attacking him!" Thor warned, as Fenrir's eyes met the arrow and his mouth opened widely. "With that maw of his, he can devour anything!"

Almost as a demonstration, he quickly snapped forward, catching Oz's attack in his mouth like it was nothing as his jaws hinged shut. He then turned to face Oz, his body slowly becoming cloaked in flame. The angel slowly backed away, continuing to fire sacred bullets at him. And once his body was a vaguely lupine fireball, Fenrir struck, lunging towards Oz with his claws poised to slash at him from either side.

Seeing him approach, Oz unsummoned his gun and called two Berstan grenades to hand. He waited for the right moment before jumping back twice, each one to avoid one claw swipe. Fenrir put his paws together and tried to slam Oz into the ground, but Oz sidestepped around it, slamming his grenades into one another. What followed was a loud explosion and a billowing cloud of green smoke. Fenrir coughed briefly before coming to his senses and inhaling all the smoke as though his mouth was a black hole.

In due time, it was all clear, and he could see Oz had already left him, running around the town's ground level. Fenrir gave chase, not paying much heed to the bullets he was being shot with. A mere pea shooter couldn't possibly fell him, and he was too focused on the kill. This angel was a slippery little thing, indeed. Not only did he seem to be outrunning him, but he hurled all manner of fire magic at him. During the chase, he breathed fireballs, clouds of embers and streams of flame, but Oz seemed all too ready to dodge them all and open fire in return.

"Why do you fight, einherjar?" Fenrir demanded, lunging forth in a burst of speed and finally beginning to catch up to him. "Why do you defend that man you call 'king'?"

"Because defend is simply what I do!" Oz exclaimed in return, looking back to see Fenrir rushing towards him, mouth open wide and ready to bite. "As a knight, I have duties, but at the end of the day, I just want to prevent death wherever I can!"

"Such a noble goal, wasted on such an evil king!"

As he said that, he lurched forward, aiming to swallow him whole, but Oz quickly warped forward, watching as Fenrir fell on the ground. In one hand, he held his gun, shooting him in the nose as he approached. As he heard the desperate clinking of the Forge's hammer, he formed a sabre in his other hand.

"Your anger is valid, Fenrir." Oz said, continuing to shoot him. "But surely, there has to be another way? I doubt he would act without good intentions! And killing him would bring panic to all of Asgard!"

"All of Asgard is my enemy!" Fenrir roared. As Oz drew closer, the wolf suddenly snapped at him, once again attempting to bite him. The einherjar, who had been trying to strike with his blade, had to retract it. He then tried again, only for Fenrir to unleash a flurry of biting attacks while slowly approaching him, and Oz watched him carefully. "Even if you are kind, you're merely an accessory to the villain!"

Oz backed away from him, blade in hand, and unsummoned his gun, firing off a green lightning bolt from his hand, which was promptly swallowed. "Fenrir, Odin isn't the villain here, and you don't have to be, either!" he told him. As Fenrir made a sudden jump forward, Oz stepped to the side, winding around the attack. Then, he thrust forward, harshly striking his tooth. Recognising his advantage, he then performed a rising slash to his face. Though in the process of summoning his wings, he was quickly repelled by a powerful ring of fire surrounding Fenrir as the wolf began to stand up.

"Silence! You understand nothing!" Fenrir protested, watching Oz land on the ground before rushing over to another house. "You don't understand what five-hundred years of isolation feels like!"

As he said that, he reached the house and immediately began tearing chunks into it. At once, he faced the now-standing Oz and opened his mouth, firing from it chunks of debris that clearly came from the house he'd bitten into. Spreading into the air like rounds from a machine gun, they began to fall down to the ground in waves, as Fenrir repeated the attack several times. Oz stepped forth, gun in one hand and a Flan grenade in the other, and summoned his wings to once again take to the skies.

He began to fly towards the rapidly-attacking Fenrir. The debris was difficult to dodge, and some stray pieces nearly knocked him out of the sky, but he only barely regained his bearings. Reorienting himself, he began to find his way around the random patterns and fly above Fenrir, hurling the grenade into his back. Fenrir flinched momentarily as it hit him, and what looked like a glowing green reticle emerged on his back.

Now it was his turn to go on the attack. As Fenrir looked up, Oz covered his body in green lightning and pulled out his second pistol, quickly descending as he unleashed bullet hell from both guns, every bullet aimed at the glowing target.

For the wolf, this was not a pleasant experience. Each bullet hit like an arrow flying at the speed of light. He began to retreat from the onslaught after a while, with Oz on his heels as he kept a steady offense. "You're right, I don't understand what you've been through. But even so, I still believe you can change for the better." he told him, landing on the ground after a while and putting his hands together, the dedicated clinking of the hammer ringing laboriously in his head.

"What could you possibly know about me?"

"That you're a person. I know that everyone has good in them." he said, working the Forge as hard as he could. "I don't know what about your goals leads you to attack people on Midgard, who did nothing to deserve this...but I can get my answers after I've defeated you."

Fenrir turned around to face him, watching as a ring of light shone around him while a weapon slowly formed in his hands - an elaborate, ornate bow formed from the same holy magic that the rest of his weapons had been. Naturally, the same could be said of its bowstring. Twirling the bow around before posing with it, he announced, "I call upon the sacred arrow of redemption; Sanctum Sagitta!"

As he took to the skies, he entered a battle stance, forming a sacred arrow and nocking it into his bow. Fenrir bared his fangs and leapt up, only for Oz to remain out of reach as he flew above and behind him. Turning around, he fired a shining arrow into the reticle, causing the wolf to cry out in pain as it dissipated into a wave of force on contact.

Nocking in three more arrows, he fired them at the enemy, who was too startled to dodge, his arrows like mighty javelins on his enemy's back. But after this, his head snapped up in rage as he opened his eyes widely, said orbs glowing a bright red as a ball of searing flame generated within his mouth. Glaring at a mildly terrified Oz, he opened his mouth widely and fired a great beam of flame at him.

The scarlet flames that flickered up towards Oz were too wide to dodge without the use of his teleport magic, but he chose to stand his ground, focusing his energy on one large arrow. Focusing on the centre of the blast, he took his shot, and the sparkling white winged arrow pierced through the flames. Though still burned by the fire, Oz managed to pull through, less affected than he would have been otherwise.

Fenrir was less lucky. Not expecting the sudden, fast arrow, he wasn't prepared to swallow it when it landed in his mouth. A brilliant explosion of fire and shimmering light was seen as the arrow hit its mark, and at once, the flames surrounding his body were snuffed out. Fenrir, unable to withstand much more, fell to the ground on his side, closing his eyes.

Oz landed, his eyes on the explosion as he put his wings away, heart beating in his chest as he panted heavily. The light show cleared up quickly enough that he could see what laid ahead of him; an unconscious Fenrir. And he stepped closer to the body, a huge smile slowly emerging on his face.