The Divine Wolf... or?

As he was making his way back towards Atar and Ephine, Ark couldn't help but ponder a little himself. This war that had just broken out was bound to affect the commoners, and although they were innocent, the commoners on both sides were bound to die gruesome deaths by being caught in the crossfire.

Seeing such a thing happen in front of him, Ark felt compelled to do something, but knowing that the same thing was probably happening all around the continent, he felt uneasy. He wanted to do something about it, but he didn't really think there was anything he could do.

After speeding back through the forest, Ark soon arrived in front of Atar and Ephine again. As he arrived, he could smell a thick scent of blood, and after taking a look around, he was a little surprised. He could see a few unfamiliar humans next to Ephine and Atar, and not far away, a few dead demons lay on the ground, evidently killed by Ephine.

"What happened here?"

Without letting his guard down, Ark asked Ephine, whilst keeping his eyes on the human family that was right next to them. Although he didn't really think two parents with their kids would be able to do anything, especially considering their lack of mana, he wanted to know the specifics from Ephine before he came to conclusions.

After her short explanation, Ark felt some anger surge in his heart again, but since the demons were already dead, he had no choice but to calm down.

Seeing the family of four standing around uneasily, Ark realised that he probably unconsciously released some soul pressure because of his low mana. After restraining himself a little, he noticed that they were able to breathe with ease, Ark sighed to himself. He had been too caught up by the horrific sound of people being burned alive earlier that he had yet to calm down.

"What... what are we gonna do now mom?"

With some tears in her eyes, Cecily tugged on her mom's shirt. Earlier in all the chaos, she had seen her neighbours, relatives, and friends all dying one after the other in the battle for the city. Sharon could feel her own eyes growing wet with tears.

She hadn't really processed the situation earlier, since she had been so focused on making sure that her kids made it out alive, but now that they were all safe, she didn't know how to react.

Ark realised that they probably had nowhere to go since there wasn't really any safe place on the entire continent at this point. Any city, town or village could be attacked any day of the week, and they could easily pass away in the chaos before they even made it to another city. Ark also knew that Moonhill was far from safe.

Even though he had given them a warning, they would probably only tread a little carefully for a while, before resuming their battle. Ark couldn't stick around to protect them forever either.

After thinking it over for a bit, Ark decided to consult with Ephine. With the help of a soundproof wind barrier to isolate them, he also used time magic to slow down time so that they could talk without looking suspicious. He could just talk with telepathy, but he didn't want to make the family uncomfortable by just standing there silently.

"What do you think we should do with them?"

He asked, not entirely sure what Ephine would think.

"I think we should help them!"

Hearing her righteous answer, Ark was a little surprised, but he only nodded and thought for a while.

"Do you have any specific solution in mind?"

"Not really, I just don't want to leave them here."

With a sigh, Ark told Ephine about how these sorts of situations were probably happening all around the continent right now. She seemed mortified by the news since she felt like it was unfair to all the normal people who had nothing to do with the battle, and that had to suffer the repercussions of their superiors.

"I have an idea, but I need to know that you are on board with it before I decide anything."

Ephine listened intently, and Ark told her the plan that he had come up with on the spot. After taking everything into consideration, Ark decided to create a shelter. A city of sorts, where anyone who wanted could seek refuge from the ongoing battle. No matter if they were monsters, demons, animals or humans, anyone would have a place to live safely.

It was an ambitious plan, and something that Ark would never have considered normally, but after having seen the fate of all the common people today, he felt obligated to do something, since he had the power to make real change now. Building a place that could house so many people of different races, required both manpower and resources, but that was something that Ark could probably acquire.

In all the cities that were suffering from war right now, Ark was sure that he would be able to find carpenters, blacksmiths, architects, engineers, and all kinds of people that he would need. Preferably, he would also need some competent fighters that could protect the people in the case of an emergency, and that could enforce the rules he would eventually need to set.

Although Ark himself was enough to settle pretty much any threat that could come at this point, there was no guarantee that he would always be around.

Ephine liked Ark's plan very much, and she agreed in a heartbeat. After hearing her confirmation, Ark heaved a sigh and cancelled the time magic, before it drained any more of his mana.

"Your name was Edward, right? What is your occupation?"

Suddenly hearing Ark's question, Edward was a little taken aback, but he quickly answered.

"Yes, that's me. I was originally a city planner, but I'm currently working as a carpenter in Moonhill."

Ark was pleasantly surprised by his answer, it seemed like he had already found a fitting talent for his new project. However, there was one hurdle to be cleared before he could explain his idea to anyone, and that was Ark's race. If he wanted people to settle down with him and follow him to build a city, then they needed to know who he really was.

For some people, it would be hard to accept following a monster, but if that was the case, then there was nothing Ark could do about it.

"Don't be too surprised."

"What do you-"

Before Edward could ask what Ark meant, Ark suddenly transformed into a massive wolf that was more than five meters tall. A suffocating aura was released by his majestic body, even though Ark didn't do it consciously. Before the small family of four could get too surprised, Ephine and Atar followed suit and transformed into their wolf forms, both growing a lot bigger.

Although their size was incomparable to Ark, they were still big enough to frighten normal humans out of their wits.

"I'm sorry for suddenly doing this, but I thought you guys should know that we're not really humans."