[Chapter 03.1 - Silver Wolf]

"I can not sleep..."

Now what time is it? I'm pretty sure it's already past midnight.

Right now, I'm lying in my bed, doing something very important: Staring at the white ceiling of the room given to me by the hospital.

"Is that some consequence of having slept for two years?"

My body had put on weight, that's a fact. But I don't feel like there's anything wrong with him, even though he's sick. On the contrary, I feel as if my body is still the same as before (with the same strength, speed and endurance), but just a little bit fat.

Honestly, I wanted to sleep...

Today was a very exhausting day and tomorrow is an important day, so I've been wanting to sleep, but my body doesn't seem to want that.

"I'm turning nineteen tomorrow, huh? Wait... is it past midnight?"

Normally, I wouldn't mind my birthday. Since I don't have any friends to celebrate this festive date with. However, there is one thing I particularly like about this day: It's the only time of year I get to talk to my mother, Gallia D. Solly.

If I'm not mistaken, the surname "D." means Demord. I used to have the last name Demord too, but she changed it and now I just have Solly. It's not like it matters, right?

Anyway, she's always busy with her work, although I have no idea what it is. I mean, Mom has told me about her work a few times, but I've always ignored it. When she starts talking, she doesn't stop...

"If I'm not mistaken, she works in such a.... What was the name again? World Worm? No... Ah! I remembered! It's [World Serpent]! Weird name..."

Anyway, this morning I asked people about the date, whether patients or nurses. I asked everyone, just to make sure what day it was. And as I recall, today is the 15th of September 2016... my birthday is tomorrow, the 16th of September.

The last time I spoke to my mother was two years ago. She had sent me an email telling me to move to Nagazora temporarily, and I accepted, as I move countries annually.

Also, I had another reason: According to her, I could discover the origin of "K." in my name! Is it weird that I don't know the meaning of the "K" in my name? My father's name was Alessandrie Solly and my mother's name was Gallia D. Solly.

In other words, there's no where the fuck this "K" comes from!

... Or at least, it shouldn't.

According to my mom, she and dad made a deal with another woman and.... Well... Now... I'm engaged to a girl I don't even know! In morals, my mother was always weird, but sometimes she crosses the line!

"I went to Nagazora looking for my fiancée and ended up being unconscious for two years... What a fucking day, huh?"

[Someone is coming.]

"– !"

That voice again. It's a deep voice, but I can't tell if it's a male or female voice.

There's no denying it... it came straight from my head. Whoever this person is, they're speaking directly through my head. Telepathy?

"Who the hell are you--"

Before I could finish speaking, I heard the sound of someone walking outside my room. It was accompanied by the sound of something sharp being dragged across the floor.

...this is not going to end well, right?

*** * ***

Even though it was the middle of the night, the hospital corridors were visible thanks to the light of the full moon, which entered the corridors through the large and wide windows of the place. The moonlight wasn't the only thing that was entering the hospital, the penetrating cold of the night was also present everywhere.

In that same corridor, located on the third floor of the six-story hospital, it was possible to see three people running as if their lives depended on it. Perhaps this is really their current situation.

These three people were two nurses, who worked at the hospital, and Arthoka Pendragon, the child who sympathized with Soldreil in the cafeteria.

"Keep running!" said Arthoka, who quickly saw them nodding their heads. "Don't let fear take over you! Keep your breathing under control and focus on keeping running! Watch your step, we're not in a horror movie, so don't be silly!"

They were on the run.

"No matter what, don't stop running!"

It was strange to see what was happening now: A child saving the lives of two adult women.

In fact, it was surprising how Arthoka, who appeared to be a twelve-year-old child, managed to maintain control in such a situation and guide other people on top of that.

They ran through the hallways until they reached a staircase that could lead upstairs or downstairs. Obviously, they planned to go down to the lowest floor so they could escape.

"We need to get out of here—-"

SeSurprised as he spoke, a silhouette appeared in front of the boy and ready to attack him.

It was a girl. A beautiful girl, but with a strange feeling of...death.

Her snow-white hair and fluorescent orange eyes, lacking an ounce of life or will, were truly impressive, but what caught her most attention was the large scythe that remained in her right hand.

This girl was not human. She was a Honkai Beast, meaning one of the forms used by the Honkai to try to destroy humanity.

She belonged to the lowest class among all the Honkai Beasts, that being the [Zombies]. They are like expendable pawns created from Honkai Energy. There were nine classes of Honkai Beasts, and the Zombie is the weakest of them all.

When an ordinary human being, whether male or female, is exposed to a certain amount of Honkai Energy and has no adaptability* (ability to adapt) to it, they end up dying and, in most cases, become pawns. of Honkai, known as Zombies.

Although they are only slightly stronger than normal humans, they are still problematic. A well-trained person could handle one of them, but if the number increased to more than two, the result could easily change.

Women are much more apt to become Zombies, as men rarely have any Honkai adaptability, so their bodies just rot or are used for food. In complete contrast to this, women's bodies are able to adapt to Honkai and become more powerful.

There is a big difference between the Zombies presented in movies and the real Zombies created by Honkai energy: They all know how to handle some kind of weapon and they don't want to use you as food, they just want to kill you!

"Arthoka!"

"Caution!"

The Zombie had raised his scythe and was ready to cut him in half. With the heightened strength of the woman in front of her, who was now a Zombie-Class Honkai Beast, Arthoka would literally be ripped in half.

Anyone would be scared or afraid of such a situation, but Arthoka was not just anyone.

"Hmph! Finally you've reached..." he muttered.

The orange haired boy just smiled like a child would when playing with a friend. In fact, it was as if he was waiting for something.

And something really happened.

The glass beside them broke. This made everyone look towards the window, even Zombie did it for reflex and safety.

It was nothing. The glass had just broken, or so everyone thought.

Arthoka quickly noticed something: There are no shards of glass inside, so someone broke the glass from the inside by throwing an object at the window with surprising force.

Noticing that no one was there, the Zombie advanced on Arhoka again, or at least tried to.

Before she could even take a step forward, something hit her face, forcing her to back up a few steps.

Both the zombie and the other people could only see a dark and unrecognizable silhouette jumping from the top of the stairs towards the Honkai Beast, falling directly in front of him.

"It doesn't matter if you're a Honkai Beast...", pronounced the stranger. "Your body is still the body of a human being!"

Before the Zombie could react, she was hit by two more blows: The first came straight towards her chest, passing between her breasts and hitting her heart in the process, the second hit came vertically, hitting her jaw and ripping through his neck in the process (no doubt that was a left jab and a right hook).

The Zombie fell straight to the ground, but remained alive.

Wanting to finish this quickly, the unknown person raised his right fist and prepared the final attack, which was a powerful and precise right punch to the undead's throat.

In the meantime, as the person raised his right fist, Arthoka could see that his hand was wrapped in bandages and cloth, with a scalpel neatly positioned between each finger.

Arthoka thought this was a great idea. There was no denying it.

As Zombies were enhanced by Honkai Energy to be slightly stronger than humans, their skins and bones also became stronger and tougher. So a great way to overcome this problem would be to use something capable of cutting them... A scalpel!

"I knew you were strong!" said Arthoka, an excited smile on his face.

In response, the person turned towards the small, orange-haired boy.

"Really?" It was a male voice. "I'm glad to see that my training hasn't been thrown away!"

The two nurses accompanying Arthoka were stunned by what they had just witnessed. What surprised them was not how easily the undead was defeated, but rather how easily he was defeated by a man!

The person in front of the three was none other than Soldriel K. Solly.

"I'm glad to see you're okay," Soldriel commented, a sincere smile on his face.

"Lord Fat Knight, besides being strong, he is also smart!"

Arthoka's excited smile was contagious to Soldriel, who also smiled even in such a risky situation.

"H-How...?", asked one of the nurses, still not believing what she was seeing. "Shouldn't men be useless against the Honkai?"

The question made Soldriel's brow twitch in displeasure.

"First of all, that was really rude of you!" Soldriel replied, which made the nurse cringe unconsciously. "Second, this result was obvious!"

"O-Obviously? This seems unusual...."

"Clear. I've been training to fight Hokai for over five years!"

This surprised almost everyone but Arthoka.

"It is clear! You are a great knight!" replied Arthoka. "As expected!"

"No. I'm not."

"–-!!"

With that, Arthoka covered his mouth quickly. He seemed to have remembered something very important.

"I-I forgot... It's a secret mission...", murmured Arthoka in a way that reminded him of a son trying to hide something from his mother.

Faced with such a reaction, Soldriel...

'No, it has nothing to do with it. You should seek help, your imagination goes overboard.'

... Just answered mentally.

'Serious. Why does he think I'm a Knight?'

A long, heavy sigh left Soldriel's mouth.

Ignoring the presence of the other three people, Soldirel stares at the zombie lying on the ground.

'So I haven't really lost my muscles, huh? This is very strange. There's definitely something wrong with me. I still have the same strength, speed and reflexes as two years ago, even though I slept for two years.'

Unconsciously, Soldriel smiled in relief. For him, it was actually very good and satisfying to know that he hadn't wasted his many years of hard work and training because of the Honkai. All those years training your body and your mind were not in vain! The road in search of realizing his main dream had not been prolonged!

"I'm glad you helped me," said Arthoka. "But I could handle it easily."

The amount of pride present in the child's voice was truly impressive.

"..."

Soldriel just stared at the child with an unreadable expression.

"How about you go play with your legos, huh?"

In response, Arthoka just laughed at Soldirel's answer.

"You have a lot of courage, Mr. Fat Knight! It's like you don't even know me!"

Soldriel just sighed.

"H-Huh... Excuse me.", said a female voice.

It was the other nurse.

"Who are you, sir...?"

'Oh, of course! I haven't introduced myself yet— Wait! This is the perfect moment! I can charm them through my presentation! Hehehe... The first members of the harem. Of course, I have to find out if they're worth it, but I'll leave that for later...'

Soldriel lowered his head and took a deep breath.

"S-Sir...?", asked the nurse, a little worried.

Lifting his head suddenly and puffing out his chest... and his big belly too, Soldirel introduced himself.

"I am Soldriel K. Solly! The person who will prove to the whole world that men can fight Honkai!"

"..."

"..."

"Ohhhhh!" cried Arthoka, eyes shining with admiration.

The two nurses were looking at Soldriel as if he was the stupidest person in the world, but in contrast to them, Arthoka was looking at Soldirel as if he was a great idol.

Honestly, Soldirel didn't seem very trustworthy. Maybe it was her fat appearance and her messy hair? Very likely.

"This is amazing!" commented Arthoka.

"This is stupid.", the nurses commented.

Soldriel and Arthoka were getting along very well.

"We will! We better leave soon—"

Arthoka pushed Soldriel...

] BOOM! [

...and the sound of gunfire resounded throughout the hospital corridor.

"Huh?" was all Soldriel could manage. "A shot?"

Looking in the direction he had been before, Soldriel could see that a bullet had hit and went through the floor.

Looking around, Soldirel soon noticed that Arthoka was standing in front of him and the two nurses. He was wanting to protect the three of them, so he put himself in front of the group. Surprisingly, he was also holding one of his scalpels in his right hand.

'When did he get there? Wait! When did he take my scalpel?! Was it during the fall?'

"Looks like it was all set up.", Arthoka was no longer enjoying himself. "You were sent here to kill Lord Fat Knight, right?"

Honestly, Soldriel doesn't know if he should be more surprised by what the boy did in a matter of seconds, or if he was surprised by the sudden change in the boy's way of acting. He gave off a completely different aura than before. Instead of looking like a child, he looked like someone much more imposing... as if he were a true king.

Looking in the same direction as him, Soldriel noticed a silhouette approaching through slow steps. All he could see were eyes that glowed a fluorescent blue color.

'W-Who is this person?'

The closer the person got, the more visible they became. Gradually the eyes of fat young Soldriel widened in surprise and disbelief.

The person who tried to shoot Soldire... was tiny. It actually looked like a child.

'A little girl?'

Coming just a few meters from the group, the person became visible. She was a little girl. Her hair was a peculiar color, grayish with light shades of brown, and tied in a side ponytail on her left side in the shape of a drill. She was wearing something resembling a black high school school uniform with blue accents overlaid by a black coat.

What most caught Soldriel's attention was the coat the girl was wearing over her uniform. It was a black and blue coat, with a special hood, as it had rabbit ears on it. However, what attracted Soldriel's attention the most was the fact that the coat was much larger than her, and could even be used as a blanket by the girl. At the same time, the coat also seemed to be fitting her perfectly, maybe the girl was using some kind of technology to keep the coat from getting in her way.

...she gave Soldriel a strange sense of déjà vu.

In the case of Arthoka and the nurses, what caught her attention the most were the two pistols that were floating around her and surrounded by a strange, almost imperceptible blue glow. Both were similar to a black glock, with only a few fluorescent blue lines as decoration.

It didn't take long for the Pendragon heir to notice a symbol on both pistols.

"That symbol... You work for [Anty-Entropy], right?"

The girl didn't respond.

'Her eyes... look so empty and without feelings...', were Soldriel's thoughts as he looked at that girl. 'What happened to her?'

Silence was the only thing that remained between them for some time.

"You're Anty-Entropy's executioner, aren't you? I've heard of you. Many nicknames have been given to you. [Silent Killer], [Master of Weapons], [Unstoppable Hunter], [Death Under Moonlight] and, most famously, the [Silver Wolf]. But those are just nicknames you've been given, aren't they?" Although a naive, childlike smile formed on his face, his murderous intent didn't disappear for a moment. "What will you do now that you've been discovered, Bronya Zaychik?"

'Pendragon-kun, I just have one small question: HOW THE FUCK DO YOU KNOW SO MUCH ABOUT A MURDERER?!' Soldriel mentally asked as a cold sweat broke out on his face. 'Who the hell are you, Pendragon-kun?'

Bronya didn't respond, in fact she didn't have any kind of reaction. The girl's cold, hard eyes just stared at the boy. Those eyes seemed to have seen things that a person of that age should never have seen.

"Let's get this over with soon—"

A shot interrupted Arthoka.

] BOOM [

Instead of blood, sparks flew around the place.

] TSRIIN! [

In normal cases, Arthoka should have died, but that's not what happened. He redirected the shot using the scalpel blade.

"...What?" was all Soldriel managed to utter.

A child had just redirected a shot using a scalpel... A CHILD had just redirected a shot using only a scalpel!

That was insane! Very insane!

For someone to be able to do this, they had to be fast enough to keep up with the bullet and strong enough to change its trajectory. Of course, knowing how to handle the weapon in his hands was also important in this.

...Soldirel was beginning to think that the Honkai Disease was making him delirious.

"You stay there, Lord Fat Knight." Arthoka said, with extreme confidence in his voice.

"I am not a knight!" he contradicts.

"This is not the time for that."

Arthoka and Bronya continued to stare at each other, but something didn't go unnoticed by Soldriel: Arthoka was muttering something.

Then, something surprising happened. Something Soldirel never imagined he would see in his entire life.

"...I am he who accepts death and embraces life, the King of Knights, Arthoka Pendragon; The Lion King's Shining Blade!"

The scalpel blade, which before was nothing more than just an ordinary blade, was completely consumed by a strange and viscous orange liquid. Right after that, the scalpel blade grew more than a meter, but it was a blade made of pure orange energy. White-colored electricity began to surround the newly mounted blade, and even traveled through the air and hit the floor or walls.

Soldriel couldn't do anything but just watch what was happening in front of him. Was that magic...? Soldirel couldn't even say what was happening.

Faced with such a situation, only one thought crossed the boy's mind.

'I think this is the most troubled birthday I've ever had in my entire history...'