"Elaine... Elaine... Elaine..."
Inside the empty, freezing building, its walls in ruins and filthy water flowing everywhere.
Hank paid no attention to Cain leaving, nor did he care about Charles being taken away.
He merely held his lover's cold corpse tightly, murmuring her name again and again.
For him, this process was too cruel.
At first, he had believed Elaine had died under Cain's gun that night.
Over the past few months, the pain in his heart had eased somewhat with the passage of time.
But the instant he saw the figure inside the tank, hope that she might still be alive rose uncontrollably within him.
Yet reality, through Cain's words, told him that Elaine was dead after all.
It directly shattered Hank's mental defenses, plunging him into a dazed state.
The feeling filled him with fury and despair, making everything in the world seem gray and bleak.
If not for Charles's earlier cry—"Mr. Hank, you can't do this! Don't lose yourself!"—still echoing in his mind.
He would probably have completely gone berserk by now, transforming once more into that day's 'King of Beasts: Fenrir Form.'
[Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!]
Suddenly, accompanied by several rapid sounds of air splitting, three figures swiftly appeared around Hank as he held Elaine.
"Who?!"
Hank instantly entered his werewolf form, his face twisted as he scanned his surroundings, his eyes filled with vigilance and ferocity.
Like a lone wolf trapped in desperate circumstances, baring its fangs and ready to fight anyone to the death.
"Heh, don't be nervous, Hank. We mean no harm."
Ruri Kohaku, dressed in a black ninja flak jacket and wearing a Sea Ninja forehead protector, spoke first as the team captain, using the gentlest tone he could to soothe Hank's emotions.
"Who are you people?!"
Hank gently laid Elaine's body on