Like a shot in the chest, Ren awoke from what felt like the deepest slumber he had ever experienced— taking in a deep breath, before immediately recoiling from the wretched stench in the stuffy air. Wide-eyed while gagging, Ren stared up at the concave ceiling of what he deduced quickly to be that of a pitched leather-tent— the orange lights of what he presumed to originate from a multitude of patents were casting shadows along the dark, brown surface above.

'Where am I?! How did I even…' Ren began to wonder frantically to himself at first, before being able to recall the injuries he sustained from the ambush he had been a victim of— flinching severely while on his back, as he suddenly remembered the loud crack from when his cranium had been fractured.

Quickly regaining his awareness, Ren's body tensed up upon hearing the crunching of bones and tearing of flesh from various directions around him— the cause of the smell of death in the air beginning to make sense to him, as he noticed a multitude of ravenous chomping and defensive growls mixed in with the sickly cacophony of gorey consumption.

'Have they not noticed me yet? Am I still…? Am I still even injured?' Ren wondered thoughtfully to himself— gauging his body's condition, while feeling only numbness in the parts of him that had been bitten, scratched, stabbed, and bludgeoned.

'Either I check now, and more than likely alert them that I'm still… I think I'm still alive?' Ren couldn't help but second guess himself, and momentarily began dwelling on how he hadn't died yet, before quickly brushing that off to focus on his plan.

'How complicated… Regardless, there's no point in prolonging the inevitable; at any rate, a lack of action in of itself is going to screw me over— so might as well just… Do what comes natural, I guess?'

Momentarily fixated on why that last part of his thought process sounded so familiar to him, Ren took in a reluctant deep breath through his parted lips— holding onto the stench of bodily fluids and unwashed canine fur in his lungs, before all at once exhaling as he brought his hand up quickly to his face to inspect it.

Upon seeing bits of his white sinew and torn pieces of muscle hanging out from where his left hand had been ravaged, Ren recoiled in disgust while hearing the sounds of wet chewing and crunching come to an immediate halt. 'SHIT! Why the hell did I think they'd magically go away?!'

All at once, the large tent became filled with loud barking and vicious growls. Knowing that whoever had used weapons to attack him would be drawn to the alarms that their eight-foot long companions were sounding, Ren threw caution to the wind by kicking his feet upward— lifting himself several feet from the bloodied mud, before standing up on his two feet.

Spinning around on his heel to face the pack of wolves that were advancing toward him, Ren took immediate notice of the piles of partially eaten corpses that were stacked upon each other— with some being humans, while most of them were either feral prey, or anthropomorphic animals.

Surrounded by a crudely made fence made out of six-foot tall polls sticking out from the ground, Ren made his back was facing away from the pack of ravenous animals while the closed in him— his mind desperately attempting to conjure up a plan of action, while his body seemed to move into a defensive position on its own accord.

Heart racing, and mouth growing drier by the second; despite being afraid of what would transpire, not a single muscle in Ren's small body shivered as he raised his hands out— his back foot sliding back, as his knees crouched down while the largest of the wolf pack charged him head-on.

'Just do what comes natural! Just do what comes natural!' Ren repeated to himself like a mantra, and watched while his perception of time seemed to slow down, as his arms shot upward fearlessly toward the agaped jaws of the beast.

Locking eyes with the alpha wolf, Ren saw in slow motion that transition of confidence within the creature's silver gaze— a bloodthirsty glare soon became a look of bewilderment, and fear, as he gripped the monster by its throat.

"Hurrgh, KAAAAHH!" Ren shouted with defiance in his low voice, as choke-slammed the alpha wolf with an unbridal amount of energy coursing through his small body— shocking himself not only by his herculean feat of sudden strength alone, but by the fact that the wolf had hit the ground hard enough to completely sever its head from its neck.

Spraying himself in the blood of his first enemy, Ren immediately wiped his face clean with the blue long-sleeve of his white shirt— clearing his eyes up, and taking notice of the sudden shift of the wolves around him. Instead of slowly crawling towards him with the intent to pounce him like they had done before, the pack of wolves began backing away from him, all while whimpering submissively.

Soon enough, the once fearsome canine started scattering in all directions— cowering in their own respective corner of the wooden pin with their tails tucked behind them. Wincing while experiencing a strange wave of guilt flowing through him, Ren turned his eyes downward to the bloodied neck stump of the alpha wolf he had just decapitated with blunt-force alone.

Unable to wonder how or why he had done what he did, Ren felt a momentary sense of disgust at what he had done before immediately feeling all that guilt wash away in an instant— his crimson eyes darting over to the makeshift gate along the wood-pole fence.

Upon seeing three nine-foot tall anthropomorphic wolves in loincloths and blank tribal paint staring at him with spears drawn, Ren's body once again reacted on its own when he suddenly found himself in need of a weapon.

Desecrating the alpha wolf's corpse by using what was left of his bloodied, torn foot to kick its large head up in the air like a ball, Ren grabbed it on midair before ramming his right hand through what was left of its neck— cringing, as he felt its warm blood pouring down his forearm and hand.

'Just do what comes natural, just so what com- what the actual hell am I even doing?!' Ren asked himself in an exasperated manner, while fitting his hand through the back of the wolf's mouth— stabbing the roof and tongue of the beast with his fingers and thumbs, until hooking his digits securely enough inside its now mutilated head to create a makeshift weapon.

The three sudden growls of contempt from the three muscular furries signaled for Ren to look up from his organic weapon. Seeing them approaching him in a triangular attack formation, with their spears held outward in front of them, Ren sidestepped out of the way from the lead wolf's pole-arm.

Hearing a baffled cry of confusion from the lead wolf as he grabbed the length of his spear's pole handle with both his hands, Ren once again shocked himself at just how powerful he had become since awakening from what felt like the dead.

"W-What is-?!"

"-SHAIII!" Ren roared out furiously, as he swung the pole-arm along with the lead wolf to his side— flinging the furry at his companion on the right, and launching them both backwards into the wooden wall.

Left with only one more spear-wielding wolf, Ren managed to duck beneath the counterattack attempt launched by his opponent— who had tried pivoting himself toward the gray-haired child, after having used his forward heel to spin himself.

Using his mangled left hand to grab a hold of the wolf's spear, Ren proceeded to fling himself upward toward the mortified furry— cocking the alpha wolf's head back over his shoulder, before punching and clamping down the jaws of his weapon, onto the tribal wolf's throat.

Cringing yet again at the horrifying gurgled-cries of the wolf, Ren not only eviscerated his opponent's neck via the alpha wolf's head, but the force from his strike was enough to completely decapitate the anthro wolf's head— shattering his vertebrae, and snapping his spinal cord as his dismembered head flew upward and bounced off of the tent's ceiling.

Having destroyed the bone structure of his prompt-to weapon, Ren spun around with his arm up before flinging it off of his right hand— sending the mangled head of the alpha wolf toward his two other opponents, who managed to avoid being hit by the boy's poorly aimed attack.

Exchanging nervous glances at one another, the confidence that the anthropomorphic wolves once had seemed to evaporate in the wake of their comrade's gruesome death. And though he wanted to show compassion toward them, all Ren could think of while staring menacingly at the two wolves was how they had tried killing him, and feeding him to their lesser kin.

Righteous anger began burning away at what mercy Ren would have had for his attackers, and soon enough he felt the same fire within him beginning to radiate from what felt like his left eye-socket. Staring them down, as though their roles had reversed, Ren inhaled a sharp breath of air as he kicked the deceased wolf's spear up off of the ground.

Charging towards them similar to how they had done earlier, Ren's mangled and bloodied body along with his burning red eye was an intimidating enough sight to terrorize the two furry warriors into turning tail, and retreating out of the feral wolves' tent.

Suspecting that they were trying to lure him out in the dark, Ren made sure to grab a torch from one of the pole lanterns that had been stuck in the ground around the feral wolves' pin. Holding a burning piece of wood that had burning crude oil smeared on its tip in his torn hand, Ren sprinted out through the leather flap of the large tent— where he was immediately ambushed by a large pack of thirty armed anthropomorphic wolves.

Entrusting his newfound power and spatial awareness to carry him through battle, Ren's growing enthrallment of what he had become capable of was more than enough to drown out any lingering fears that were within his mind.

'Do what comes natural… Do what comes natural.'

With speed and momentum unparalleled, Ren launched himself towards the nearest wolf tribal— catching them and the rest of their kin off guard, as he skewered them in their abdomen hard enough to puncture their leather armor.

Bisecting them and spilling their entrails onto the ground upon ripping his spear out of their furry body, used the shock given by his terrifying presence to begin mercilessly slaughtering the rest of the nearby wolves— decapitating, dismembering, and disemboweling his way through their pack of thirty warriors.

'Unbelievable… Simply unbelievable,' Ren's calm and composed mind thought to itself, even as he felt himself getting stabbed in the back before being lifted up by the spearhead in his upper shoulder— close to where his spine was.

'What is this power? Why was I given it? Is this… Is this some sort of miracle in the works?' Ren wondered to himself with an astonished smile spreading across his blood-soak face— maniacal ecstasy flowing through in veins in lieu of agony, as he was flung forward into the air.

Position upside down while soaring high above the pack of wolves, there was one wolf in particular that caught Ren's psychotic eye: a female canine with white and gray fur, a pair of yellow eyes glaring back at him, and a mane of white voluminous hair that had green bangs swept to her side.

Unsure whether it was the adrenaline pumping through him or the fact that his brain was exposed to the elements with how much air he was feeling coursing along his bleeding scalp, Ren couldn't help but find himself staring at the strong furry body of the wolf— her leather cuirass showing off her impressive bosom, while her bikini-esque bottom that fit snugly around her hips left little to imagination.

In short, Ren felt a sudden flurry of emotions that began making himself both excited and confused at why his gore-covered and bloodied-damp trousers felt like they were growing tighter. Mistaking what he was experiencing was his body's natural way of telling him who his next target should be, Ren threw his torch at the female wolf who had launched him into the air.

Turning his back toward her just as she began screaming as her entire body became engulfed in flames, Ren managed to parry to upheld spear that an opportunistic wolf was trying to impale him on— kicking its sharpened tip to the side, before cushioning his fall by impaling his own spear down the throat of the shocked wolf.

Skewering him like a shishkebab— with the tip of his own spear puncturing through the unfortunate tribal's anus— Ren used the momentum of his fall to redirect his body by swinging horizontally along what remained of his pole, before launching himself feet-first into the head of a nearby, mortified tribal.

Caving in the skull of his latest fallen opponent, Ren made sure to grab the mutilated wolf's spear as he rolled onto the ground to break the rest of his fall. Leaping up and onto his feet, Ren used the side of his good foot to skid around in circles— kicking dirt and rocks into the air, until finally slowing himself down to a halt.

From the dying light of the fire still engulfing the remains of the once attractive wolf illuminating his surroundings, Ren couldn't help but notice the change in demeanor from those who had once appeared confident within their numbers.

'They've begun to realize the futility of this… Maybe this doesn't have to lead to any further bloodshed,' Ren reasoned to himself, as the look of submissive fear along the faces of the tribals sparked mercy within the eleven year-old's fiery heart.

Tightening his grip along the elongated handle of the pole-arm he had just kicked up off of the ground and into his hands, Ren lowered his stolen weapon down to his waist slowly— his eyes darting from wolf-to-wolf, so as to look for the slightest hint of one of them potentially rushing him mid-speech.

"T-This has gone on for long enough— no one else needs to die tonight!" Ren shouted out in a gravely, low voice; his throat feeling dry, and his lips parched, as he reluctantly breathed in the dry, hot air filled with the charred stench emanating from the burning wolf's corpse.

Having hoped for the best, Ren was met with disappointment the moment he began hearing the wolves around him shouting out hateful insults and remarks towards him.

"Demon child! You fool no one here, with your FALSE intentions of peace!"

"Child of man…! You are evil, wicked, as you are VILE!"

"You desecrate our hunting grounds with your foul presence… And murder our kin on top of trespassing onto our land… And yet, you have the GULL to believe WE'RE the ones who should lay OUR weapons down?!"

"No! NEVER! BY FENRIR'S FANG, WE SHALL NOT SUBMIT TO YOU!"

Rallying themselves together under the banner of avenging their fallen, Ren's attempt at trying to break the tribal warriors' spirits only resulted in the opposite of what he was hoping for.

Hardening his resolve once again, the gray-haired child with crimson light radiating from his left eye let out a low sigh, before quietly uttering out, "So I see… None of you are going to listen to reason after all…"

"… What a shame." And with that spoken, Ren kicked up a cloud of dust behind him as he rushed across the dimly illuminated ground— closing the distance from him, and the nearest wolf, before parrying their attack and plunging the tip of his spear through its heart.

Ripping out viscous chunks of blood and bits of its cardiovascular organ from the wide-eyed tribal chest, Ren's already bloodied face received a new coat of crimson fluids as he spun around and dashed toward his next target.

Clenching his jaw shut, the battle ready child continued on his onslaught of wolves— believing himself that he'd be able to defeat all thirty of them, until suddenly feeling every ounce of divine vigor within him fade away upon stabbing his latest opponent in their abdomen.

Attempting to pull the spear of the tribal's body, Ren tugged at the handle of his weapon, while the fatally injured wolf's body was spazzing out as it stumbled backwards. 'What… What the hell's happening?!' He wondered dreadfully to himself, as he tried again before stumbling forward as the weight of the fallen wolf pulled him off balance.

Upon turning around to face his next opponent, Ren took immediate notice of the jolt of pain he felt coursing through his body from his stab wound along his upper back— causing him to seize up and go wide-eyed, and let out a whimper of pain that was immediately taken notice of by the remaining sixteen wolves.

"H-His eye…! It stopped glowing red!"

"You're right! Perhaps he is weakened?!"

"Perhaps?! Don't be blind— his injuries are finally catching up to him! It's as apparent as the full moon itself!"

"Enough talk, brothers and sisters! Let's end this nightmare, and send this child back to hell where it belongs!"

Although it was absolutely excruciating to move, Ren felt as though he had no other choice but to continue what he had been forced to start. Groaning and seeing stars popping up in his disorientated vision, Ren's breathing grew sharp and rapid as he knelt down to pick up the fallen wolf's spear from the ground— no longer having the coordination nor agility to effortlessly kick it up off of the ground and into his hands.

'Shit, fuck— shit, fuck…! Fuck, fuck, FUCK!' Ren's agonized mind screamed alongside him, as did his best to fight through the pain to maintain his focus on the lead wolf who was rushing toward him with his raised spear.

Attempting to parry the oncoming attack, all Ren managed to do was buy himself some time by successfully pushing the spear away from him— leaving him open to be punted several meters away by the experienced tribal warrior.

Skidding across the ground and getting his open wounds battered, Ren's eardrums began ringing loudly as he scrambled his way up onto his feet and hands— his tunneled vision barely able to see another oncoming attack, which resulted in him having to dive out of the way.

After trying to roll his way from a somersault onto his feet like before, Ren cracked his forehead against the floor upon putting an excessive amount of pressure on his mangled left foot.

'Something's wrong! This! This isn't right— this is too… Too much like how I was before...?!' Ren panicked thoughts trailed off, while scrambling to figure out where his sudden burst of power had gone off too.

Involuntarily shedding tears of pain, Ren's vision became blurred from both the stress he was putting on his critically injured body, and from the water in his eyes themselves. Only getting as far as to roll onto his back, Ren laid on the floor as he heard the wolves advancing towards him— all of them growling hatefully, with the eager intent of ending his life.

And as he braced for what he expected to be a painful death, Ren found himself thinking about Bethany's smiling face once more— subconsciously attempting to find comfort, while beginning to see vivid memories of him with his older sister as well.

Taking in a deep, shaky breath, Ren shut his eyelids closed and tightened every muscle in his body before jolting his eyes open, the moment he heard rapid sounds of gunfire popping off from what sounded close by.

Accompanied by the high pitched howls and cries of the tribals, Ren heard body after body falling flat on the ground— prompting him to try rolling over toward the direction of where the shots were still coming from.

"S-Shit…!" Ren choked out with a gasp of pain, before flopping onto his back once more; his body no longer able to even get up off of the forest floor— leaving him to stare up through the clearing of the trees where the light of the moon shined down on his broken body.

After less than a minute, the sounds of battle had come to an end. With gun smoke thick in the warm air, and the sickly smell of death all around him, Ren continued to breathe out through his parted, dry lips— unable to do anything, as the sound of small footsteps made their way over to him.

"Hooooolyyyy, shite…! They done did a fockin' number on yew, didn't they…?!"

Hearing the stress within her voice, after she had attempted to make light of his critical condition, Ren's dusty rose eyes darted over to the goblin girl's silhouette— upon seeing her entering his peripheral vision.

Unbelievable…! Is that…? Is that really her…?' Ren couldn't help but to wonder to himself, as his sudden concussion was making it all the more difficult for him to really make out her small shape.

"A… A-Amerik-AAAAAHH,NGAHH?!" Ren's wearily voice quickly escalated into a scream of searing-hot agony, as he felt a cream being applied to his forehead.

"Tch! Don't be such a lil' bitch now, Ren! Screamin' loik a lil' princess ain't gonna make this shite burn any less now!" Amerika scolded playfully, while kneeling beside him with a large duffel bag laid out beside her.

"Now then…! Keep this shite compressed against yewr noggin' for me— I've got me bloody work laid out for me, it seems…!" The sassy goblin instructed, as she guided his good hand up to the piece of gauge that she had placed on top of his treated forehead.

Heaving through the pain with loud groans of agony, Ren did what was requested of him while Amerika began using her medical supplies to apply more healing ointment to the rest of his frontal wounds— beginning with the large, gaping crack on top of his head, while doing her best to clean away the blood with disinfectant wipes.

"W-Why…?!" Ren finally managed to coherently utter out, after nearly passing out from how excruciating it felt to have the healing properties of the ointment grow missing pieces of his cranium and scalp.

Seemingly unsure how to answer his question, Amerika kept her small hands busy with the large roll of bandages— using her claws to rip the pieces of Ren's blood-soaked clothing off of him, before using it to wrap up his newly regenerated flesh.

"Why did I do wot, exactly?" She finally asked in a voice that sounded guilt-ridden, before quietly whispering to him, "I'm gonna need to roll yew over onto yewr stomach now, okay? Just bare with me, mate."

Infuriated with the pain he was in, and annoyed at how long she was taking to answer him, Ren begrudgingly muttered, "T-That's fine," under his hitched breath, before beginning to whimper and moan as Amerika rolled him over as carefully as she could.

Allowing him to regain his bearings before treating the multitude of stab wounds along the back of his torso, Amerika let out an uncomfortable sigh before finally beginning to explain herself to him.

"I… I-I didn't want to abandon yew like that, Ren— that shite fockin' hurt me to dew," Amerika started first and foremost, before nervously chuckling as she removed the back of Ren's ruined shirt. "Obviously, it didn't hurt me as much as these focks hurt yew— but goddamnit, it sure felt like it on the inside!"

"M-My condolences…" Ren sarcastically uttered out in between trembling breaths, which caused the goblin girl to pause before beginning to crack up a bit.

"And that's wot we're after, mate: some fockin' cheers after that shite show!" Amerika rejoiced with a breath of relief fleeing from her parted lips, before beginning to wipe away the blood from his shredded back. "They dew say that "laughter is the best medicine," after all…!"

"I-I should be back on my feet in no time then," Ren uttered out with a sigh, which prompted a nervous chuckle from the goblin girl.

"Well, shite mate; that's unironically wot I'm bloody hopin' for…!" Amerika admitted with a half-joking voice, before clearing her throat and saying, "I know I'm pushin' me luck 'ere, buuuuuut I sorta still need yewr help with clearin' out me bunker of those sods…!"

"… A-Are you being serious right now…?"

"Unfortunately, yeah— I really am, Ren," Amerika admitted with a slight bit of growing desperation in her somewhat raspy voice, and let out an anxious breath of air before pleading to him, "Look, I know yew have every bloody right to tell me to go fock myself— and trust me mate, I wouldn't blame yew if you did dew just that!"

"I… I'm not upset at you, you know," Ren clarified to her, while feeling the tingling sensation of the burning ointment growing new flesh and muscle along his opened wounds.

"R-Really?! Yew fockin' with me, or…?!"

"N-No— ow, shit…! I-I'm serious— I-I'm not…!" Ren reassured with the sensation of his back feeling as though it was ignited in flames, and had to wait until the pain subsided before continuing.

"I still want to help you; if anything, I want to help you now more than I did before," Ren said in a low, exhausted voice. "It's just… I don't think I'm physically capable of helping you— not in the state that I'm in, at least."

"Oh...? That— that's what yew fockin' meant, heh…!" Amerika chuckled to herself, before beginning to bandage his disinfectant and freshly healed flesh up with more of her medical supplies.

"Thankfully I had the foresight to brin' with me the bloody solution we need to solve THAT lil' conundrum, mate!" Amerika announced with an anxious smile across her face, as she reached into her bag to place her roll of bandages down inside of it— carefully pushing her hand past the various sidearms and ammo she had brought with her, before pulling out a small bottle of gray capsule-pills.

Popping its cork off and shaking out three pills onto her palm, Amerika let out another nervous chuckle as she switched her bottle of pills for the canteen of water she had in her bag. "Everrrrr, uhhh…?! E-Ever heard of somethin' called "Grellsvice", Ren?!"

Furrowing his brows, what little amount of relaxation Ren was able to scrape from his treatment was sullied by the immediate whiplash he felt by the ominous question.

"Y-Yeah, I-I have…!" Ren replied nervously, while hearing the goblin girl uncapping her canteen. "It's a drug made from the grounded spiked-ends of a grell's tentacles— used primarily in battle to treat shock, and damaged nerves… W-Why? Is that what you're giving me?"

"Y-Yeah! It'll dew the trick, won't it?!" Amerika mused with hope in her voice, as she carefully helped the reluctant child roll over onto his healed back. "Figured with all that shite pump in' through yew, yew'll be able to have the enhanced motor functions to seriously fock their shite up!"

"T… That, and you're gonna need it to actually get up off the ground, sooooooo… Y-Yeah; desperate times call for desperate measures, Ren," Amerika said with an apologetic tone in her voice, as she offered the gray-haired child the three pills in her hands.

"But look at the bright side! I'll show yew how to use a double-action revolver, and soon enough yew'll be deliverin' some of that good ol' "Frontier Justice" in style— seeing as yew apparently aren't adverse to committing acts of deathly violence, it would seem~!"

Though extremely reluctant to take the grellsvice— as he knew from his mother's books what the side effects would be after the four-hours of euphoric energy would reach its end— it didn't take Ren much thought to understand how limited his options really were.

'Either I stay here on my back while she probably goes to get herself killed— which means I'll end up getting eaten alive by something else in these woods… Or… Or I get high as hell on some pain killers, and then trudging into an underground bunker to go on a killing spree, that may or may not result in both of our deaths, regardless of our efforts…'

'…'

'…'

'…'

'I… I kind of actually enjoyed all of that— fighting those wolves was pretty badass. It made me feel like an actual adventurer there, while it lasted…'

'…'

'…'

'…'

'And again, I did promise Beth that I'd ensure her safety… It would be unfortunate to have to break such a promise— especially after all I've gone through tonight...'

'…'

'… Okay. Drugs it is then.'