The wind returned.
Gentle. Cold.
It whispered through broken branches and blood-slicked roots, carrying the scent of fire and iron.
Axel stood alone amidst the wreckage, smoke curling from the cracked edges of his armor. The Black Wolf suit, now silent, simmered as if exhaling.
Bodies lay scattered like cursed offerings. Broken machines. Torn flesh. Static still fizzled from sparking visors and severed cables. The night was quiet.
Behind him, the children watched with wide eyes.
No tears. No fear.
Just belief.
Absolute belief.
"Begin absorption," Axel murmured.
"Confirmed," Black Wolf replied. "Initiating Auto-Absorption Protocol. Harvesting."
He stepped to Mekk's corpse first. The rogue's shattered body twitched slightly from residual charge. Axel knelt and placed a hand over the core embedded in the chest of the Flicker Fiend armor.
The suit pulsed.
Data streamed.
Ability Acquired: Echo Phase
Short-lived illusion decoys during dodging.
Class: Rogue-tier Phase Disruptor.
A ripple passed through Axel's spine. His HUD blinked as the ability rooted itself deep into the Black Wolf's neural array.
Next came Sylessa. Her crushed limbs crackled with acidic residue. Her spider-limbs flicked once like dying nerves.
Ability Acquired: Wraithdrop
Total silence upon descent from any height.
Class: Assassin-tier Stealth Module.
Halrix was next. His body was barely intact, draped over the base of a shattered tree. Axel touched the glowing spinal mount on his Lurking Coil suit.
Ability Acquired: Pulse Echo
15-meter radius heartbeat tracker. Perfect for hunting hidden enemies.
Class: Sensor Suite Upgrade.
From Vorn, he retrieved the sniper's cloaking matrix and cryo-threaded targeting core.
Ability Acquired: Frozen Veil
Nullify all ambient detection for five seconds. Perfect sniper stance.
Class: Cloak-Tech Sniper Field.
Finally, he stood over Drexxon.
The Grave Tyrant.
Headless. Massive.
Still oozing void-core blood from the neck cavity. The suit had locked into its death-state, trying to preserve whatever dignity it had left.
Axel's hand pressed against the breastplate, fingers sinking into the voidstone weave.
Ability Acquired: Silent Verdict
Eliminates sound and thermal signature while motionless.
Class: Siege Ambush Engine.
"Absorption complete," Black Wolf said, voice low and reverent.
"Five new abilities acquired."
Axel looked down at his hands. The residual energy on his gloves shimmered briefly, adapting. Hungry.
"Catalog updated," he said. Then quietly... "They won't be the last."
He exhaled and turned toward the Exterminator dropship, parked like a wound in the forest's body, silent, patient, unaware that its masters would never return.
The children gathered behind him.
He as he begins carrying the bodies to the ship.
One by one, he lifted and dragged the remains, cybernetic limbs, shattered helmets, torso halves and melted armor, into the ship. It wasn't clean. It wasn't fast.
But it was final.
Drexxon's headless corpse was the last to go.
Axel stood at the bay ramp, the children clustered at the edge of the clearing behind him, watching.
He reached for Iron Howl on his back.
The blade detached with a low howl of recognition. Ember lines crawled up its length.
Fire Rune Mode: Activated.
With one smooth arc, he swung it upward toward the open hatch.
A wall of fire roared through the vessel's interior. Flames poured like liquid heat, eating through walls, igniting fuel lines. The ship screamed, internal cores detonating one by one.
The bodies inside were swallowed.
Ash spilled out the open bay, carried on wind.
The Pale Servants were gone.
Iron Howl cooled.
Returned to its silver-steel form with glowing embers licking its edge.
Axel twirled it once.
Clicked it magnetically back to his spine.
Behind him, one of the druid children stepped up and took his hand.
Her voice was small.
"You sent them to the stars."
Axel looked down.
Then up at the burning wreckage.
"No," he said quietly. "I sent them where demons go."
The fire rose.
The forest watched.
So did the stars.
Meanwhile in...
The druid village stirred like a nest of anxious roots.
Parents called out into the woods, faces pale with dread. Guardians sprinted between homes of woven bark and moss, voices rising with fear.
"They went to play near the edge!"
"They always come back before dark!"
"No one has seen them since midday!"
Kyra's voice cut through it all.
"Where is he?!"
The little goblin girl was frantic, eyes wild, darting between the trees at the village edge. "Where's Axel?! Where's Black Wolf?!"
Sylthea knelt beside her, hands on Kyra's shoulders. "Kyra, calm down..."
"He said he would never leave me! He promised! He PROMISED!" Kyra sobbed, twisting free.
Brakka crossed her arms, jaw tight, eyes scanning the treeline. "If something happened to him, I swear I'll burn half the forest finding out who did it."
Korrak placed a heavy hand on Kyra's back, voice calm but rumbling. "He's not the type to fall easily, pup. The forest would die trying to kill him."
"But what if, what if he left?" Kyra whispered. "What if… he didn't want me anymore?"
The thought shattered her. She dropped to her knees, fists clenched, tears pouring.
And then...
The trees parted.
Softly.
Like the forest had been holding its breath.
Axel stepped out into the clearing, smoke still curling from his armor, his presence heavy as a storm. One child rode on his back, arms looped loosely around his neck. Another held tightly to his left hand, tiny fingers wrapped in armored grooves. Two more clung to his legs, eyes wide and cheeks dirty.
Behind him, the wind followed.
So did silence.
The village froze.
A heartbeat passed.
And then the druid families surged forward.
"Lara!"
"Syli!"
"By the roots! My son!"
The children ran.
Axel released the hand. The one on his back slid down. The two clinging to his sides let go with reluctant fingers.
They ran.
Into their parents' arms.
Crying. Laughing.
Explaining in fragmented gasps about silver monsters, shadows, and the black-armored man who came from the fire.
"He saved us," one child said.
"He killed them," whispered another. "All of them."
"He's not scary," a little boy said. "He's our monster."
A breath passed.
Then a cheer.
A roar.
Druids gathered. Voices rang out in thanks, in awe.
"The Black Wolf."
"The monster protector."
"He brought them back."
The forest echoed their gratitude.
But Kyra didn't cheer.
She saw him.
Finally.
Standing alone at the clearing's edge, smoke rising from his shoulders like wings made of ash.
Her heart cracked.
She ran.
"AXEL!"
He barely had time to kneel.
She crashed into him with all the force her tiny body could muster, fists beating his chest.
"You said... you said you wouldn't... !"
Her voice broke.
"I thought you left me!"
Axel wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in tight, feeling her tremble.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "Next time... I'll tell you before I go."
He looked her in the eyes, voice firm but warm.
"I'll never leave you, Kyra. Never."
She sniffled, nodding against his chest, still holding him like she'd drown if she let go.
He stood, lifting her into his arms as she clung tight, small face buried against his shoulder, her breath still hitching with soft sobs.
Brakka stomped over, glaring up at him.
"You fought Monster Exterminators without me?"
Axel blinked, then offered a tired shrug. "Didn't have time. They were about to kill the kids."
Brakka growled. "I better be there next time. Or I'll punch you harder than they ever could."
Axel smirked. "Next time, I promise."
Sylthea stepped up next, arms crossed but eyes soft.
"How did the suit hold up?"
Axel's smile faded slightly, replaced with a flicker of something deeper. His voice was low.
"Extremely well," he said. "I'm… stronger now."
He didn't elaborate.
Didn't need to.
The way the trees bowed slightly as he passed, the way his eyes still shimmered faintly with residual rune-flame, it said enough.
Korrak gave a small grunt of approval. "Good. We'll need that strength soon."
The group stood together as the stars began to break through the canopy above.
Behind them, the village sang softly, an old druidic hymn of thanks to the guardian in the dark.
And for the first time in a long time…
Axel allowed himself to feel it.
Not praise.
Not glory.
But something close to peace.
If only for a night.