It has been a long time since I saw a human who is at least as threatening as all the beasts I fought, especially the mechanical ones.

"But what could give a better fight than someone strong enough to carry a weapon that big."

Warchieftein didn't react to my words.

All he did was slowly moving towards me with his weapon ready.

The ground was shaking with his every step. That didn't surprise me, considering the size of his weapon.

I made the first move.

Holding my weapon from its bottom, I swung it like a whip towards the Warchieftein.

Draugr blocked the incoming attack with the metal part of his ax, and sound created by the clash of two metals echoed through the forest.

His move was somewhat slow, but his reaction was not.

I saw his eyes and muscles reacting to my strike as I started it, but the weight of the weapon slowed him down.

It probably won't hurt if I test him once again. Right? But let's add a little spice to that.

Once again, I am holding my weapon from its bottom but with one hand this time.

Let a small piece of mana flow through my body to gather on my hand and be ready for the time I will use it.

I raised my polehammer to the airstrike it towards the Warchieftain with all my power.

Come on, block that attack and give me a clean shot to your head.

"Hmmm." The sound came from the Draugr.

Rather than blocking my attack as I expected, Draugr slashed his weapon forward.

As the massive ax sliced the air into two with a whistle, I managed to evade the attack by jumping back.

Giant ax hit the ground and tore it into two. Created a hole at the place it landed.

Then the hole created by the ax grew a bit more as the Draugr lifted his ax from the ground.

"Reflexes sharp as a razor, and weapon that is capable of destroying its target with one hit, only slowed down by the weight he needs to carry."

I don't know if there is a better way to explain what I am currently fighting.

Until now, it was either traps, blind spots, or sheer difference in strength that allowed me to win the battles I got.

But trapped, without a blind spot I can use and no chance of winning in a contest of strength. What can I do?

"Adaptation is the only way of overcoming challenges, my grandfather said to me once. He was right, I failed to hunt a rabbit three times a row, but little stupid me, tried the same way, again and again."

I dropped my polehammer and cloak, then grabbed my short sword.

"Sometimes, you need to adapt and change your way of approaching a situation. If I cannot beat in you in strength, why not I shall try my chance in speed?"

I rushed towards the Draugr.

He was ready for me, and he unleashed his weapon forwards.

I evaded the giant ax coming towards me and kept moving.

"I found a weakness. Every time you attack, you need to recover yourself, don't you?"

I dashed forward and used the opening to my advantage for a strike.

Draugr almost had no openings because of his armor, but the keyword is "Almost."

I attacked the space behind his kneecap and cut the fibers there.

With a scream of pain, draugr collapsed into his knee and dropped his weapon.

"Now we are speaking."

I grabbed my mace with my other hand and landed a blow onto Draugrs head.

Draugrs helmet absorbed some of the damage, but the sound that echoed after my blow was proof of the damage I had done.

Warchieftein tried to get up from the ground, but he stumbled.

Before his senses came back to him, I threw my short sword towards his head.

He tried to block the incoming weapon with his hand but gave me another opening.

I bashed his head with another blow.

And another, before letting him recover.

The sounds of my mace hitting his head were echoing through the forest, and like a war drum, it is firing me up for the next attack.

And while I was getting fired up and attacking him relentlessly, Warchieftein was trying to stay up.

It doesn't matter how sharp his reflexes were. It doesn't matter how much strength there was in his hands.

He is against me, isn't he? Poor thing.

Something in my head is screaming, a voice I haven't heard for a long time.

Since the last battle, I joined back in my world.

The voice is screaming one thing.

"Wolf, here he comes, Wolf, the boogeyman you cannot hide, Wolf, the end."

The song of mine, I sang as I battled.

The song which was gone from my head at the day I dropped my rifle for last time.

Now it is screaming inside my head. Making me remember who I am. I am not a man trying to survive in this forest, not an ordinary one.

The lust for blood and battle, my two little addictions, how much I missed you!

Warchieftein tried to recover his stance, but I hit his head and put him out of his senses once more.

He is worn enough. He cannot even get up properly. It is time to finish the battle.

For a powerful finishing blow, I grabbed my mace with both hands.

"I am the Wolf, the almighty, the pride of the nation which he fought for, and you? You are nothing against me, like the thousands of enemies before you shall die in front of me!"

I shouted these words as I landed a blow so powerful almost dislocated my shoulders.

But the results were excellent.

The mace tore both the helmet and skull of the Warchieftein and killed him for good.

The bluescreens, as I expected, appeared, but I just closed them immediately.

"I don't need little gifts given to me by whoever you are. I need answers, but first."

I began walking towards the crowd of draugrs.

"Then who will be the next one."

As I took a step forward, draugrs took a step back.

Our game until they began running away without even looking at their back.

"Just as I thought."

I moved back to the place I dropped my weapon and cloak.

"Now, Voice, guideline, or who the hell are you. Give me answers. Who are you, why I am here, and how can I go away from here."

I waited for a minute or more. There weren't any answers.

"Then why should I even try."

As the words came out of my mouth, a gentle voice echoed throughout my head.

"Sorry for keeping you answerless dear Wolf, but you can ask what question your mind is so eager to learn."

This tone wasn't the one of the Voice.

It is a different being. A woman with a voice so soft, she can easily manipulate the most man with only two words.

"Who are you."

"I am nothing but a goddess of an old religion. The very own goddess saved you from the hands of ones wanted to corrupt you."

"How exactly did you save me?"

"For that question, I need to explain why you are here, Wolf. Or should I call you the Lich King, as many will know you by that name?"

"Since when I am a Lich or king of them? Please do not mind explaining things to me."

"Pardon me. People summoned into this world know many creatures and titles of this world. We forgot how you don't read fantasy stories as others."

"Then please explain to me."

"As you need knowledge, let me tell you the story. We, the twenty gods and goddesses of this world, got into a fight between each other for a reason mortals cannot understand and dragged our believers into it."

"And?"

"Ten of us lost the war, and the balance of this world changed since then. The ten evil gods are currently seeing this world as a gameboard and bringing mortals from different worlds as characters for their games, and they choose you to play the role of Lich King, a threat the heroes sent by the gods need to overcome."

"And what is about the corruption you saved me from."

"Ten gods want to be sure that every piece plays their part, but unlike many others, there is a change that you might rebel against their will, so they tried to corrupt you into a battle loving beast who will raise armies of death and try to destroy every living being."

"But, you saved me from that? Now I am only a battle-loving beast who cannot raise armies of death and who doesn't want to destroy every living being."

"Depends, but if it wasn't for our intervention, you probably already lost your free will."

For fucks sake! What do they drag me into it? God help me, or not after this talk.

"Then what should I do? As I see, I am not an asset of you, but looking at your words that I must still have my free will."

"Yes, dear Wolf, yes you do. I am the goddess of Mercy, and in my very long life, I found the enjoyment in helping the mortal creatures in their lives, but I will ask something selfish from you."

I got into all these things already. At least I can see how it ends.

"Tell me."

"After the battle, a person from this world received powers so strong that only a handful of creatures could be a challenge for it, and that person created the single largest and strongest human Empire."

"You want me to demolish, or at least weaken the Empire, so there will be a chance for you to bring balance back."

"Yes!" She was excited. "Yes, dear Wolf, but don't worry, you will not need to fight the Empire with all of his strength, your journey doesn't even need to be successful, showing that we still have a remarkable effect on this will world will be enough to shake the Empire."

"Wait! You are not answering many questions I asked!"

"Sorry, Wolf, but I can only explain one more thing, my time is limited."

"Then tell me, what will be my reward if I do what you said?"

"What your heart desires."

Once again, an open gate, but I don't know.

"Goodbye Wolf, may the luck be with you."

The sound of the goddess is gone.

"Now everything is much more complicated than it was before."

I moved towards the giant ax used by the Warcheiftein.

"Only one of them is left."

Be strong Wolf, it doesn't matter how ridiculous or impossible things sound, but it doesn't matter long as you keep fighting.

At least I will try to keep these words in my head.