CHAPTER 966: EMPERORS OF THE NIGHT (1).

The god ash that hung perpetually in the sky, already replacing the heavens that existed above this world, was a rather strange and unique phenomenon.

Within it, was the legacy of thousands, upon thousands of dead Celestials.

The thousand millennia war had been a long, grueling period in the history of the universe.

During this battle, countless Devils, Celestials, beasts, astral creatures, and even the abyssal entities that dwelled between realms, died.

However, the most prevalent of those that had washed up on this planet, were the ashes and remnants of Celestials.

Both Celestial Deities and Heavenly Beasts.

Within the hierarchy of the heavens, there were several pantheons.

Each pantheon was assigned to oversee a certain portion of the universe by the Golden Emperor himself.

All sorts of gods could exist within individual pantheons.

A god of wind, a god of fertility, and even gods of craft and wisdom could be within the same pantheon...

When a Celestial is killed, they remain in a state that is not death, but also isn’t living at the same time.

A weird state of limbo.

In this state, they could communicate their thoughts and wishes to their followers.

The more followers a dead Celestial could gather, the quicker it can be reborn, while living gods had to gather more followers to increase their pool of divinity.

In a way, the immortality of the Celestials and Devils were similar.

But they still shared a fundamental difference.

And that was the most basic nature of it.

As he stared at the enormous face of the Direwolf before him, Cain couldn’t help but marvel,

’Could it be that a god remnant has the power to influence the direction of a creature’s evolution?’

Within the clouds of god ash, of course, were lots and lots of these god remnants. It was very clear the wolf had picked one up and had become the Celestial Deity’s champion.

Creatures such as this one were usually even more impressive than their peers, possessing great powers and physical abilities.

The real question however, was what kind of god this man-wolf was shackled to.

A Heavenly Beast, or a Celestial Deity...

’I can find that out later...’ Cain thought to himself.

Just as he was about to open his mouth and say something, he felt the waves of bloodlust washing off the {Willow Direwolf Lord} ebb away like the tide.

He grimaced.

The Direwolf Lord growled and barked loudly,

"Stand down!"

One of the larger Direwolf snarled,

"Back down?! When there is a succulent meal in front of us?"

Saliva dripping from its mouth, it launched forward and pounced at Steve who still didn’t seem to be paying any attention to their current circumstances with its maw stretched out wide.

The Direwolf Lord’s eyes widened and flashed with a chilling light.

Cain’s brows shot up.

The body of the Direwolf that had launched itself at Steve fell to the ground, itself head rolling to the side with a series of loud thuds.

The other Direwolves seemed to take the hint much better now. They all took a step back. However, the bloodlust in their eyes and the growls brooding in their throats showed that they were not very satisfied with the outcome.

Cain sighed,

"This would have gone much better if you had just ordered them to attack us. I would have told these guys not to harm them to much."

The Direwolf Lord stared down at him for a moment before speaking,

"My name is Roc. I am the one blessed by the Silver Moon, the offspring of the Guardian Dog of the Night Sky, Sentry. May I know what God you serve?" The {Willow Direwolf Lord}, Roc, said with a curt bow.

Cain clicked his tongue in annoyance.

However, after thinking about it, he decided to scrap his previous idea,

"You are smart. I knew there was something interesting about you. However, I do not serve any gods. But I am curious about you and your god."

Roc nodded,

"I see. We can certainly make conversation. However, it will be best to do so in a more... comfortable setting."

Cain raised a brow,

"You mean?"

The silver Direwolf raised itself snout to the sky and let out a loud howl.

The other Direwolves did the same.

Cain squinted as there was a sudden flash of light.

When he opened them next, he was shocked to see that the enormous silver bipedal wolf was gone.

And in its place, was a small humanoid male.

Although it looked every human, he could tell that there were several physical differences with just a glance.

’If anything, he looks like a beastkin now. Although I guess that is that and this is this.’

Still, he wasn’t surprised in the slightest.

Roc, now transformed into a creature that looked like a human boy glanced up at Cain with a frown and folded arms,

"Well? You wanna come with or what?"

Cain couldn’t help but be a bit stumped,

’Did his attitude change with the transformation?’

He looked around.

The rest of the Direwolves had changed as well. However, their transformation had not been as drastic as that of their leader.

They had become much smaller, but they still stood taller than him by at least an entire head.

Then there was the widr mouth filled with fangs, the elongated snouts, and the sharp claws that looked more like bloodthirsty razors than anything else.

They all stood around them, watching in silence.

The beastly forms has disappeared, and so did a fair bit of bloodlust. However, Cain could very clearly see and feel the distrust and ill will in their gazes.

Although the transformed Roc did look like a little kid, he was still almost as tall as he was so he didn’t have to tilt his head down that much.

"Why did you change your mind?"

Roc narrowed his eyes,

"My instincts tell me that your blood is foul and unfit for consumption. Plus..."

He turned around and began walking away,

"I’d probably before I even get the chance to take a bite anyway."