London, 1918.
The city still retained much of its old-world, medieval character.
Everything was draped in muted gray tones.
Narrow, winding alleyways stretched between weathered buildings, with cobblestone streets beneath them.
It looked like the kind of place where werewolves or vampires might step out of the shadows at any moment.
Supporting each other as they walked through the dim, gloomy alley, Logan and Victor suddenly came to a stop.
Logan turned around.
“My friend, you’ve been following us all the way here. Why not come out and show yourself?”
“Heh. You’re even more interesting than I expected.”
A figure slowly emerged from the darkness of the alley as he spoke.
“Logan. Born in 1832, the son of a wealthy Canadian family. You’ve fought in the American Civil War… and now, in what will later be called World War I.”
“And Victor—Logan’s half-brother.”
“I didn’t get any of that wrong, did I?”
By the time he finished speaking, the man had stepped into the moonlight, revealing his face.
“I remember you,” Logan said, narrowing his eyes.
“You were the guy from the bar.”
It was Duke.
Logan frowned deeply.
Who exactly was this man?
How did he seem to know everything about them?
And what was this “World War I” he had just mentioned?
Logan knew about the Civil War, of course, but “World War I” made no sense.
No one called it that yet.
“Yellow monkey!”
Victor recognized Duke as well.
In truth, neither of the brothers had actually been drunk earlier—or rather, they simply couldn’t get drunk.
“Who are you?” Logan asked, stopping the hot-headed Victor before he could charge.
“And how do you know all this?”
Who would ever believe that he was nearly ninety years old?
“As for how I know… that’s none of your concern.” Duke smiled.
“I’m here to invite you to take part in something truly great.”
“Something that will become the proudest achievement of your lives.”
“Trust me.”
“There will never be anything more worthy of your pride.”
“I’ll invite your ass!”
Victor roared as the claws on both hands shot out.
Without another word, he lunged straight at Duke.
“Victor!”
Sensing that the stranger before them was incredibly dangerous, Logan instinctively drew his bone claws and charged after his brother.
Whatever happened, Victor was still family.
“Nice spirit.”
“But far too slow.”
Duke wagged a finger with a grin.
Then—
Whoosh!
A pair of enormous black angelic wings burst open from his back as he shot into the air.
“What the hell?!”
The brothers froze.
Wasn’t that cheating?!
They exchanged stunned glances.
Between them, they’d lived nearly a century, traveled across half the world, and seen more than most men ever would.
But never…
Never had they encountered someone like themselves.
Though admittedly, this wasn’t exactly the ideal setting for such a meeting.
Duke circled overhead briefly before diving like an eagle swooping down on its prey.
His body spun rapidly.
The massive black wings slammed into Logan and Victor one after another, sending both flying.
Before either of them could recover, Duke caught up instantly.
A kick.
Then another.
Both brothers were blasted away a second time.
“Damn it… this bastard’s a bird… man!”
Victor spat blood from the corner of his mouth.
With a kip-up, he sprang back to his feet and charged again.
“Your determination is admirable.”
“But courage without strategy is meaningless.”
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“Wha… what?!”
Victor’s eyes widened in disbelief.
His claws raked across Duke’s body—
Yet failed to pierce even his skin.
Not just his skin…
They didn’t even tear his clothes.
Logan was equally stunned.
Charging in from the side, he drove his bone claws straight toward Duke’s back.
The result was exactly the same.
Nothing.
The claws simply couldn’t penetrate.
“So…”
“This is the extent of your strength?”
“I may have overestimated you.”
Duke shook his head lightly before spinning again.
His giant wings swept both brothers off their feet once more.
“What…”
“What are you?”
Victor demanded.
“You want to know?”
Duke smiled.
“Then defeat me first.”
His wings beat once.
He shot toward Victor again.
The two brothers simply weren’t his match.
At this point, Duke had already reached the late Hero Rank.
Victor, despite being the stronger of the two, had only reached the peak Elite Rank.
Logan was slightly weaker, at the late Elite Rank.
The gap between them was enormous—a full major realm and three minor stages apart.
Sabretooth possessed razor-sharp claws and fangs, the same regenerative ability and longevity as Wolverine, and surpassed Logan in strength, speed, perception, and senses.
Through years of relentless slaughter, Victor would eventually break through to the Hero Rank by the events of X-Men.
As for Logan…
He wasn’t Wolverine yet.
Only after the Adamantium bonding process transformed his bone claws into Adamantium claws would his strength leap two full levels into the Hero Rank, allowing him to surpass the brother who had always been stronger than him.
But now…
Both of them were being utterly overwhelmed.
Victor suddenly found his throat clamped tightly in Duke’s grip.
His eyes flashed.
His claws lashed toward Duke’s black wings.
“A clever idea.”
“But your perspective is too limited.”
Rip!
One of the dark angel wings was torn apart.
Yet in the very next instant…
It regenerated.
Victor froze.
The ability looked eerily similar to his own—
Only…
Even stronger.
In barely the blink of an eye, the wing that had almost been ripped in half had completely restored itself.
“…”
The Dark Angel Wings weren’t real flesh-and-blood appendages.
Nor were they connected to Duke’s nervous system.
They were magical constructs.
Even if they were severed, Duke felt no pain whatsoever.
Because Victor’s body blocked his view, Logan hadn’t seen what happened.
He came to exactly the same conclusion—
Destroy the wings.
Ground the flyer.
“Logan, no—!”
But he was too late.
Duke’s right hand shot out.
Just like before, he caught Logan by the throat.
Then his wings spread wide.
He soared upward.
Higher.
Higher still.
Even higher.
The brothers exchanged horrified looks.
Was he…
Actually planning to drop them?
Damn it!
They probably wouldn’t die from that height.
But it would hurt like hell.
“AAAAAAAH!”
“ROOOOAR!”
Communicating only through eye contact, both brothers attacked simultaneously.
Bone claws.
Tiger claws.
With every ounce of strength they possessed, they stabbed toward Duke’s neck.
Surely this time…
They had to be able to wound him.
“A wise decision.”
“But unfortunately…”
“Still futile.”
Two glowing purple runes appeared across Duke’s chest.
『Darkness』
In the next instant…
His body dissolved into black mist.
More accurately…
His entire form became a cloud of living darkness.
It retained a vaguely human silhouette, but no facial features remained.
Seeing such a horrifying sight from only inches away made both brothers’ hair stand on end.
Their claws pierced straight through Duke’s neck—
As though they had swung at empty air.
“…”
What the hell was this thing?
“Oh.”
“I forgot to tell you.”
Duke smiled.
“I’m not actually a warrior.”
“I’m a mage.”
A mage?
The hell you are!
Before Victor could even finish cursing, an overwhelming force slammed into both of them.
Duke was diving.
Still gripping them by the throat, he plunged toward the earth at terrifying speed.
Oh.
Hell.
No. The acceleration was even more terrifying than simply falling.
No matter how they struggled…
No matter how desperately they clawed…
They could never touch the strange man before them.
All they could do…
Was watch the ground rush closer.
Closer.
Closer—
BOOM!
“Agh—!”
Blood sprayed from their mouths.
The impact was so violent…
Even the ground trembled.
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(End of Chapter)