Laughter echoed across the camp like the cries of scavengers feeding upon a corpse. Soldiers drank from stolen barrels, their boots stomping against the muddy earth while flames from scattered torches painted the battlefield in shades of orange and black. They celebrated suffering as though it were victory. They celebrated pain as though it were entertainment.
And in the middle of it all…
Narito Tiza remained chained.
Bound inside the massive iron cage meant to hold monsters, his body hung low beneath the weight of rusted restraints. Thick chains wrapped around his wrists, neck, waist, and ankles, digging so deeply into his flesh that blood had dried along the metal like old paint. To them, he looked broken.
Drugged.
Defeated.
Exactly what they wanted him to be.
But they failed to notice the truth.
The poison no longer controlled him.
At first it had been subtle.
A twitch of his fingers.
The slow movement of his neck.
The slight tightening of muscles beneath torn skin.
His body was still weak, still damaged from everything they had done to him, but the drugs inside his veins were fading rapidly, consumed by something far older and far more dangerous than anything their science could suppress.
The Hollow.
It was waking.
Tiza kept his head lowered, hiding the change from the soldiers surrounding the cage. He remained motionless, pretending weakness while his senses sharpened with every passing second. He could hear everything.
Every laugh.
Every heartbeat.
Every distant scream.
And worst of all…
He could hear Lara.
The sound shattered something inside him.
Not because she screamed in fear.
But because she screamed in pain.
Real pain.
The pain of a woman who had just given birth.
The pain of a mother whose body had barely survived childbirth before cruelty dragged her back into hell.
Inside Jeremiah's command tent, the newborn child rested somewhere unseen. A small fragile life brought into a world of blood before she had even been given a name.
Unnamed.
Unclaimed.
Innocent.
But Jeremiah was not satisfied.
No amount of suffering ever satisfied men like him.
Tiza had not broken the way he wanted.
He had not begged.
Had not cried.
Had not surrendered his soul.
And because of that… Jeremiah wanted more.
He wanted to crush whatever humanity remained inside the Marked Wolf.
"Bring her to me," Jeremiah ordered coldly.
Moments later, soldiers stormed toward Lara's cage.
Tiza's body tensed violently.
"No…" he whispered weakly.
The chains rattled softly.
The soldiers grabbed Lara without mercy.
She screamed as rough hands dragged her across the dirt by her hair, her weakened body barely able to resist. Blood stained the cloth beneath her legs. Her breathing was uneven, fragile, broken by exhaustion and agony.
Still they dragged her.
Still they laughed.
"Tiza!" she cried desperately.
The sound pierced straight through his chest.
His vision blurred.
Not from weakness.
From rage.
Pure.
Uncontrollable.
His entire body trembled violently against the restraints as he watched them throw her near Jeremiah's tent like discarded trash.
Something inside him began to crack.
For so long he had resisted it.
Fought it.
Buried it beneath chains of willpower and fear.
Because he knew what would happen if he let it free.
But now…
None of that mattered anymore.
The world had already taken everything from him.
His peace.
His home.
His child.
His wife.
His humanity.
And suddenly, deep within the darkness consuming his soul, Tiza stopped fighting.
A strange calm spread through him.
Not peace.
Acceptance.
At last, he gave himself fully to the Hollow.
One thought remained inside his mind.
Protect them.
Destroy the man responsible.
Then—
It began.
Darkness leaked from beneath his skin like smoke escaping cracked stone. At first it crawled slowly across his arms and chest in thin black veins, twisting unnaturally through his flesh.
Then it spread.
Faster.
Violently.
The soldiers nearby stepped back in confusion.
"What the hell—?"
The shadows consumed him.
His hands trembled as black fur burst violently through his skin. Bones cracked loudly beneath the pressure of rapid growth. Muscles expanded. Veins bulged beneath flesh now turning darker than midnight itself.
Tiza lifted his head slowly.
And his eyes opened.
Red.
Not human red.
Not natural.
They burned like eclipsed moons drowning in blood.
The air itself became heavier.
Soldiers staggered backward as a wave of pressure exploded outward from the cage.
The forest responded instantly.
Far beyond the camp…
Wolves began to howl.
One after another.
Dozens.
Hundreds.
The sound echoed through the mountains like an ancient call finally answered.
Tiza's body continued changing violently. His claws tore through the iron restraints around his wrists. Fangs extended from his mouth as his jaw reshaped itself into something both human and beast.
His hair darkened completely, blacker than the night sky itself, flowing wildly around him as shadows spiraled from his body like living smoke.
The cage groaned.
The massive iron bars bent outward.
They were no longer large enough to contain what stood inside them.
The soldiers stared in horror.
"No… impossible…"
"That thing… isn't human…"
Tiza slowly rose to his full height.
Towering.
Monstrous.
Majestic.
Neither man nor animal.
A creature born from two worlds.
The Son of the Moon.
A true werewolf.
Not the mindless beasts from old stories, but something far older. Far more terrifying. A living force of wrath and darkness shaped by pain itself.
The Hollow had fully awakened.
The chains binding his body shattered apart violently.
CLANG!
Iron exploded across the field like fragments of glass.
His clawed feet crushed the ground beneath him as he stepped forward, posture low and wolf-like, every movement radiating raw predatory power.
Then—
He roared.
The sound erupted across the battlefield with enough force to shake the earth itself.
Nearby soldiers collapsed instantly, clutching their ears as blood poured from them. Torches flickered violently. Horses screamed in terror. Even the flames seemed to recoil from the monstrous force released into the night.
The roar carried beyond the camp.
Beyond the mountains.
Into the forest.
Into the heavens themselves.
And for the first time in centuries…
The Shadow Wolf had returned.
Panic spread instantly through Jeremiah's army.
"Stop him!"
"Kill it!"
"FALL BACK!"
But fear had already consumed them.Tiza moved.No—He vanished.One second he stood before the shattered cage.
The next—
Blood exploded across the battlefield.
Soldiers were torn apart before they could even react. Claws ripped through armor like paper. Bodies flew through the air like leaves caught in a storm. The sheer speed of the beast made it impossible to follow.
Screams filled the camp.
Chaos erupted completely.
The Shadow Wolf tore through Jeremiah's men with unstoppable fury, every movement driven by a single purpose.
Protect his family.
Kill Jeremiah.
And before the soldiers could reorganize…
Before commands could be shouted…
Before anyone could truly comprehend what had been unleashed—
Tiza burst through the center of the battlefield like death itself…
And charged directly toward Jeremiah's tent.