The night descended fully into chaos.
What had once been a military encampment now looked like the entrance to hell itself. Fire spread wildly across broken wagons and shattered tents while smoke swallowed the sky above the battlefield. Blood soaked the muddy earth beneath countless bodies, both human and beast alike.
And from the darkness of the forest…
The wolves came.
Not one pack.
Not two.
An entire tide of them.
They burst through the tree line with terrifying speed, their glowing eyes cutting through the night like spirits summoned by death itself. Massive black wolves leaped over barricades while gray-furred hunters tore through fleeing soldiers with savage precision.
The Hollow's call had reached them all.
And they had answered.
The soldiers who once stood proudly as hunters quickly became prey.
Screams echoed endlessly across the battlefield.
"GET THEM OFF ME!"
"FALL BACK!"
"THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!"
Rifles thundered desperately into the darkness, but panic had already shattered military formation. Wolves crashed into groups of soldiers before they could properly reload, tearing through flesh and armor alike with brutal efficiency.
Blood sprayed across the campfires.
Bodies disappeared beneath snarling jaws.
Death moved faster than fear itself.
Ironically…
The safest place in the camp was no longer freedom.
It was imprisonment.
The villagers trapped inside the cages huddled together in stunned silence as chaos unfolded around them. Though prisoners, the iron bars now protected them from the slaughter outside. Wolves ignored the cages completely, their instincts focused entirely on the armed men responsible for the destruction of the forest and the massacre of innocents.
Outside those bars…
The battlefield belonged to death.
Some villagers cried quietly.
Others simply stared.
Because for the first time since Jeremiah's invasion began…
The soldiers were suffering the terror they once inflicted upon others.
And still the wolves came.
One massive wolf lunged onto a soldier's back, crushing him into the mud before ripping into his throat. Another tore through an entire supply line while smaller wolves hunted down the wounded trying desperately to crawl away.
The night had become a feeding ground.
Then—
Gunshots echoed from beyond the forest.
Sharp.
Coordinated.
Different.
Several wolves collapsed instantly as bullets tore through their skulls with deadly precision.
The remaining soldiers froze.
For one brief moment…
Hope returned.
More footsteps thundered through the darkness.
Commands followed.
"Advance!"
"Hold formation!"
"Light the eastern flank!"
Torches emerged through the forest alongside heavily armed troops moving with disciplined precision unlike the panicked remnants of Jeremiah's shattered forces.
Reinforcements.
Sudden.
Unexpected.
But not accidental.
Far beyond Jeremiah's authority, deeper patrol divisions had remained stationed throughout the outer regions of the forest, operating under direct command structures untouched by Jeremiah's reckless ambitions.
And leading them—
Was a man who never trusted him.
General Campbell Jedidiah.
Even before this night of bloodshed, Campbell had long questioned Jeremiah's judgment. Among Zoro's oldest commanders, he was known not only for his battlefield intelligence but for his ability to read men clearly.
And Jeremiah…
Was a man he never believed fit for command.
Too emotional.
Too impulsive.
Too hungry for cruelty.
Campbell saw weakness where others saw ambition.
Because of that distrust, he maintained hidden patrol routes near Jeremiah's operations without informing him fully. Quiet oversight. Silent observation.
A decision that now became Jeremiah's only remaining salvation.
The forest trembled as Campbell and his men stormed into the battlefield with ruthless efficiency.
Unlike Jeremiah's soldiers, these men did not panic.
They adapted.
"Form lines!"
"Keep distance from the alpha wolves!"
"Shoot the legs first!"
Campbell rode at the center of the formation atop a massive black horse, his silver-gray coat flowing behind him as gunfire erupted around him. His expression remained calm despite the carnage unfolding before his eyes.
Because unlike the others…
He understood wolves.
Campbell was an expert on wild animals.
A veteran hunter forged through decades of warfare against beasts, rogue tribes, and creatures born from the wilderness itself. He knew pack behavior. Knew attack formations. Knew fear was the first thing wolves exploited in battle.
And most importantly—
He knew how to kill them.
"Left flank!" Campbell shouted sharply.
The soldiers responded instantly.
BOOM!
Explosive rounds tore through advancing wolves, scattering several bodies across the blood-soaked ground. Others rushed forward with specially forged blades designed to pierce thick hide and muscle.
The battlefield shifted violently.For the first time since the wolves arrived…The slaughter slowed.
What followed was not merely battle.
It was war.Pure.Violent.Unforgiving.
Wolves lunged through gunfire while soldiers countered with steel and flame. Men were dragged screaming into darkness while beasts collapsed beneath barrages of bullets. Blood flowed endlessly beneath the burning sky as both sides fought with primal determination.
To ordinary people…It would have looked horrifying.But to soldiers born for war—This was glory.The raw beauty of survival.
Fight.Kill.
Bleed.Survive.
That was the only law the battlefield respected.
Campbell himself cut down wolf after wolf with terrifying precision, his movements disciplined and efficient. His men followed closely behind him, regaining control of sections of the camp inch by inch.
By the end of the night…
Half the wolf pack lay dead across the battlefield.
The survivors finally began retreating into the forest, their howls fading gradually back into the darkness from which they came.
Silence slowly reclaimed the camp.
Broken.
Heavy.
Filled with smoke and death.
The soldiers who survived stood exhausted among the corpses scattered across the ruined battlefield.
Some stared blankly into the distance.
Others laughed weakly from relief.
But General Campbell said nothing.
His sharp eyes moved slowly across the destruction surrounding him.
The torn bodies.
The shattered cages.
The unnatural claw marks carved into iron and stone.
And then…
His gaze settled upon the massive broken cage once meant to contain Narito Tiza.
The chains were destroyed.
The metal bent outward from the inside.
Campbell's expression darkened slightly.
Because deep within himself…
He realized something terrifying.
This destruction…
Had not been caused by ordinary wolves.
Something else had awakened in the forest that night.
Something far more dangerous.