《Solitude in the Dark》


 Episode 0: Zero Next to One

    Thousand years ago, a horde of demons and monsters appeared in the human world, an army of shadows. These creatures call themselves Menschen des Schattens, led by an Archon named Astaroth, Archon of the Shadows. Craving human flesh, they begin to massacre and deliver destruction on humans. Many Lives were taken. Many archons joined and declared war to stop them. An Archon named Aither the Archon of Light created the Radiants and gave rise to the Seraphim, Cherubim, and the Seven original Archangels. On the other hand, Schwarz, Astaroth''s right-hand man responded to Aither by bringing the Seven Deadly Sins into existence. Named after the sins of mankind they were; Pride, Greed, Lust, Envy, Gluttony, Wrath, and Sloth. The war was endless. The people of present times called it "The Great Cataclysm".


    The Schattens are gaining the upper hand in the war and the Radiants are losing thousands of lives. Schwarz, the second in command, grew progressively arrogant and selfish, and he rebelled against his master, believing that he no longer needed his master to win the war. Schwarz commanded the Seven Sins to end their master''s life so that he will reign as the new Sovereign of the Schattens.


    During a battle, Astaroth led his legion for a battle.


    Pride the fastest of the Seven Sins, sprints and easily slips through the legion of the Archon. Astaroth was caught off guard. With his sharp claws, Pride pierced his heart and ripped it away from his body. Astaroth''s legion instantly turns its back away from the battle to protect its master. Greed, Lust, Gluttony, Envy, and Sloth, on the other hand, charge and slaughters his legion without breaking a sweat, crushing their heads, and ripping their body apart, piece by piece. There was blood everywhere.


    Without their source of power, the legion grew weaker until they crumbled into dust. As the conflict begins to rest, Wrath appears out of nowhere in front of the weakened Archon.


    Wrath draws his sword right into the neck of the Archon and quickly slashes him. But Astaroth evades it and grabs Pride with him. Astaroth snaps and cuts Pride''s arm and hurls it towards Wrath violently, obstructing his sight. Wrath deflects it away, but only until he returns his attention to the Archon. Astaroth was furiously standing with intense ominous presence of mana that defines him as an Archon, he stands with his spear ready to behead Wrath. Astaroth swings his spear full force to Wrath. Wrath blocks it with his greatsword, but it''s not enough. The blade was shattered into bits. The Archon grabs Wrath in his neck and throws him to the other Seven Deadly Sins.


    He glares at them with his godly purple eyes "Such inferior creatures," the literal heartless Archon mocks the Seven Deadly Sins as he collapses into the ground. Although he was reaching the end of his life, he left a message for the Seven Deadly Sins and Schwarz that they will never forget.


    "You betrayed the god who bestowed authority on you. What is given will be taken."


    The dying Archon''s heart released a massive surge of energy, and as a result, the Seven Sins are driven away by strong power.


    .....


    .....


    .....


    Present time...


    "Cloud wake up, you''ll be late for school!"


    Laying in his bed, he looks at the time and he''s near late for his first class. "Huh?... oh, no--" Cloud immediately got up to take a shower. After He gets dressed and prepared for school. He was about to leave but his mother said to him "Bye Cloud, make sure that the sun is still up when you go home."


    "Yes, mother."


    "Be safe, okay? I love you." his mother replied.


    He leaves and heads to his school. It''s been months since the last school year, so he finds his classroom and went looking for his friends whom he also met last year; Miguel, and Rennji. Cloud sees Miguel at the back row of the seats and he right away sits beside him.


    Miguel saw him too and greets him immediately. "Yow! How was your vacation?" he asked.


    "It''s fine, I explored the whole house ten times and played video games with Rennji. How about you?" Cloud replied.


    "Not bad. I took my time to travel around the world," Miguel replied.


    Then one of their peers jumps in with high energy. "YEAH! I WISH I CAN GO TO SOME OTHER PLACES!" he yelled to Miguel.


    "Oh hell, Rennji!" Cloud and Miguel said to Rennji.


    Rennji and Cloud are often together since their houses are close by, unlike Miguel. They talked a lot specifically with Miguel since he was away during vacation, hopping country to another while the two stayed here in Korea. Their talks were shortly interrupted by the school bell ringing as the classes is about to start.


    As time passes by, during the afternoon class someone knocks on the door.


    "Cloud can you open the door, and who is it?" said his teacher.


    Cloud stands up to open the door, and when he opened it, he was speechless... and loses the ability to speak. Wow, she''s lovely. Who is this girl? A short-haired girl with a slender but not too skinny face with spectacles big enough to cover her sparkling eyes. Gladly they''re not big enough to cover her contagious smile.


    She waves at Cloud and introduces herself "Hi, I''m ******," with a follow-up question "Is there a student named Cloud here by any chance?" She asks, seeming as if she can''t control her joy at finally seeing the person she''s looking for.


    Miguel slaps the dozing off Cloud out of nowhere. "Oi Cloud! wake up!", he also said.


    "Ouch! You bastard, that hurt!! " Cloud said to Miguel.


    "I told you man, not to stay up late last night." Rennji said to Cloud. During the vacation, their nights are occupied with video games all morning ''til night. "Did you even sleep last night?" he asks because he did not play with Cloud last night.


    "No obviously. It''s not afternoon yet?" Cloud confusedly asked.


    Rennji points at the teacher. "Dude! the teacher is not even starting to speak", He replied. "Don''t fall asleep, dude,"


    "Alright when I fall asleep again, don''t hesitate to slap me." Cloud jokingly said to his friends.


    "With pleasure, hehe" Rennji happily said as he caresses his hands ready to whoop Cloud''s face anytime.


    "You want me to slap your head this time?" Miguel jokes.


    Cloud spaced out again after his morning class while his friends were eating lunch and talking about the new girls at the campus, he''s contemplating and remembering an old friend once told him before...


    When I get back, you better not have a girlfriend!


    He had a friend since he was a kid and they both grew up together, but this friend of his left Korea when she was 8 years old.


    "Who was that girl, I didn''t hear her name," He mutters.


    Rennji looks at Cloud silent and not paying attention to them at all. He snaps his fingers at him "Yow! Cloud, do you have a crush?" He asks.


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    "Hmm? No, I don''t have one."


    Rennji is not buying it. "Really? I mean who wants to date you anyways," he roasts to Cloud.


    Cloud slaps him with his notebook straight to his face. "Fuck you! I''m attractive, girls just don''t see it!"


    "Every girl just doesn''t see it, huh?" Miguel also said.


    "You too, Miguel, fuck you,"


    The school bell rings, marking the end of lunchtime. As they walk, Rennji prowls behind Cloud, looking for the perfect time to slap him back for revenge. "That hurt you bastard," he said as he waits for his payback.


    But he avoids him and runs ahead escaping to Rennji. "Nice try," he said as he laughs at him.


    Their afternoon class is the literal definition of BORING. The three sit in the back row because they don''t want to listen, but not Cloud; he listens to the teacher at the front even if he doesn''t understand what the teacher is talking about. But the two gaze out the window, wishing to go out sooner and feel freedom, despite the fact that it is the first day of school after a long vacation. During their class, someone knocks at the door interrupting what the teacher is explaining on the board. The door opens and a girl leans inside looking for someone.


    "Yes? Can I help you, miss?" the teacher asks.


    Rennji turns his head to the door and caught his attention. He nudges Cloud "Dude..."


    "Yes? What?" Cloud looks at Rennji.


    Rennji points at the girl outside the door. Cloud turns at the door looking at the girl, and he was completely silenced by her unique simple beauty. A not so tall short-haired girl that you could see that she''s is purely kind with those wide smiles, those big round glasses that could cover her dazzling brown eyes. He was in love at first sight. Cloud''s attention totally went to the girl. "My gosh... She''s beautiful" he said.


    "Who is that?" Rennji asked.


    Cloud shrugs, "Who knows? She is somewhat familiar though," Cloud also taps at Miguel and the three gazes at her, but Cloud''s eyes shine like a million stars at how he''s literally charmed by the girl. "She looks like... She looks like my old friend back when I was a kid," Cloud said.


    "Good afternoon, do you have a student named Cloud?" The girl politely asks the teacher.


    "Sheeesh broo!!" Rennji is freaking out more than Cloud and he continuously hits him for the hype "She is looking for you!"


    Cloud stands and approached the girl to ask. "That''s me, what do you need?" He said as he scratches his head in shyness.


    The girl pulls him outside surprising Cloud.


    The girl peeks into the classroom again and asks their teacher "Can I borrow Cloud for a minute, sir?" She requests the teacher.


    "Yes, go ahead," responded the teacher.


    When Cloud closes the door, the girl instantly hugs Cloud firmly. He was so surprised and didn''t know how to react to a random stranger who suddenly hugs him out of nowhere. "I miss you so much," the girl said.


    "Woah! I don''t even know you", Cloud said while trying to break out.


    "Are you ki-- You don''t even have the faintest idea? It''s me Yunika!"


    Without hesitation, Cloud pulls her back and his grumpy I-don''t-know-you-attitude changes and embraces her tightly like the world is about to end. "I knew you''ll come back," Cloud said to her and looks like he was about to cry. Seeing her in a long time really puts joy in his heart.


    "Oh? I thought you don''t know me?"


    "How can I recognize You? It''s been 10 years and you''re wearing different glasses now, you four-eyed woman,"


    At the same time, finally, the school bell rang to indicate the end of the class for the day. "We''re going home. Nice!" Cloud shouted.


    Miguel came out of the classroom breathing the air of freedom away from school. "By the way Cloud, we have an assignment." He said to Cloud.


    "Ok Noted, I''ll just copy yours," Cloud said in sheer confidence.


    Miguel frowns at him "Wow, the audacity,"


    Cloud and Yunika left school to take a walk. Since they never saw each other in a very long time, their conversation was filled with stories and memories when they were kids, their conversation was felt like endless.


    While they were walking, she dropped down a surprising question "Oh, by the way, you have a Girlfriend?"


    "No, I don''t have one," Cloud replied


    "hmm..."


    "Remember what you said? I''d better not have one,"


    "Ah.. yes..."


    The two just stand in silence and awkwardness. They enjoyed their conversation and lost track of time. Night has caught up to them. On a distant building rooftop, a man silently watches them from above. Covered by ominous black mist, he leaps and vanishes in thin air.


    The two are strolling together, laughing about the times they spent together when they were kids. Then there, their lives flash before their eyes as a threatening tall man in black mist holding a gleaming sword. The man charges at them with the intention to take their lives. He swings his sword at them, but surprisingly Cloud has a good reflex and reaction time that he pushed himself and Yunika away from him. The two stumble and falls into intense nervousness about the supernatural man standing ahead. The man tilts his head and shows a faint of disbelief at how a mere human can dodge that attack "Oh?? You''re different," he said and he attacks again with now stronger force. Yunika and Cloud, nothing they could not do but accept their end.


    Then a stray dagger flies to parry the sword, sending the man a few steps back. Miguel arrived just in time. He holds two daggers and is dressed in white with accents of armor in gold. Miguel and the mysterious man start to clash their blades. Violent attacks, swings, hard punches and kicks are delivered and exchanged by Miguel and the man covered in mist. He is able to keep the man to take some distance again from them by blasting him with magic.


    The man flawlessly flips backwards. He grins at Miguel "I''ve never imagined that I will meet an Archangel here in this place!" The man shouted with excitement to Miguel. The mist surrounding him clears, exposing a slender face a non-threatning one, a manipulator, his long hair stretching down to the ground, and a mischievous look in his eyes centers on Miguel "Let me introduce myself, Envy of the Seven Deadly Sins."


    "Yes, I know you, we''ve attempting to kill you people for long as I can remember, I''m not an idiot"


    "Oh, so you do remember me? I''m just tryna jog that memory of yours if you ever forgot what my name is,"


    Miguel points his daggers to him and asks "What are you doing here? Your face has not been seen for a decade."


    Envy shrugs and grins as he stops himself from laughing, he impales his sword to the ground and rests his hand on it "For a decade? Damn, to me that''s just a few days."


    "Answer. My. Question."


    Envy points his fingers to Cloud and Yunika behind Miguel "Those two, I need them dead. Wrath told me to,"


    "Wha-- What do you want from us?" Cloud is anxiously asking.


    "Uhh... There''s no way I''m telling you, who are you to ask questions," Envy answers.


    Cloud is trembling in fear while Yunika seems to be able to piece by piece calm herself. Black mist engulfs Envy once again, and Miguel instantaneously dashes towards him with incredible speed and strength, Envy quickly grabs his sword on the ground and effortlessly parries Miguel''s daggers with a smirk on his face.


    While they were fighting the two are so strong that black mist and light energy starts to scatter all over the place. Envy is enjoying the fight, while Miguel is not having it and prioritizes finishing the fight quickly as possible. Miguel manages to cut off Envy''s arm. Without any effort, he regenerates a new one. Adrenaline for the fight flows through Envy''s veins, he summons malicious-menacing orbs of dark energy around him and is about to propel to Miguel. Bullet of light rays comes shooting the orbs and exploding them beside Envy damaging him in the process. A gun from someone in a distance, it turns out to be Rennji arriving. He carries a dual pistol one gold and the other black, it radiates warm light and is also dressed the same as Miguel. "You can''t just have all the fun, Miguel" he said to Miguel.


    "That ain''t fair two against one? Really?" Envy cracks his neck "let''s go then." Envy said, he stretched his arms as a darker mist wraps around him. He starts to levitate, horns began to grow, wings and tail emerged from his body as his eyes lit with fire. The clinking sound of metal was heard as an armor appeared on his body.


    "Release!" Envy calls upon a blade from the ground covered in rust. Envy set his eyes on his opponents. Without saying a word, he points his blade towards the archangels and whispered, "Incinerate" Wild flames engulfed Miguel and Rennji, inflicting pain in every inch of their bodies. Envy lifted up his fingers and with just a light movement, an unseen force sends Rennji and Miguel propelling to an infrastructure. "You humans, don''t even think about escaping," He said to the helpless Cloud and Yunika


    Envy dashes to where Miguel and Rennji are thrown.


    "Both of You disappoint me, this is not even my ''Discharge'' " Envy expressed his disappointment to the archangels. He lifts his blade and mana starts to concentrate on his blade, a powerful strike that will leave a mark of defeat from a Seven Deadly Sins.


    Out of nowhere, a spear pierced Envy''s chest from an unknown source. When He turns his eyes on the humans, he sees Cloud having bright purple eyes and is enveloped by dark mist like him. Envy proceeds to approach Cloud, but Cloud summons a hundred portals and shoots a ton of spears blocking Envy''s path. The Archangels are in surprise because they observe that he is using an unfamiliar magic. Envy destroys the blockade of the spear with ease. But Cloud rapidly dashed, and in a fraction of a second, he puts a hole in Envy''s chest using his hands.


    "ARGHHH!" Envy screamed in pain.


    He leans close to Envy''s ear and whispers "Such inferior creature, you disgust me," Cloud extends his left palm and mana starts to form into a crescent shape and whirls unstable energy. "Corrupt Magic: Crescent moon." Cloud casts as he smashes the Crescent Moon on Envy obliterating his body in half.


    Bleeding to death "How? How can a human with Low Mana Concentration can bring me to the ground?" he asks as he coughs blood.


    Earlier...


    "What is happening?" In his trembling voice, he asks Yunika if maybe she knows something about this.


    Yunika did not answer him.


    Rennji, Miguel. They''re on the verge of death. I can''t do anything. They''re not human. I don''t know what I should do


    Cloud closed his eyes, and the chaos around him starts to rest. He opened his eyes and saw a void of nothing and the only that exist is darkness.


    "Where am I?" Cloud confusingly asked himself.


    "A place where you true self resides." echoes in the void.


    Cloud looks around him in panic "Whose there?!"


    An entity of a man in dark mist with threatning presence in the shadows rises in front of Cloud.


    "What are you?"


    The entity looks at him in the eye "I am you and you are me, I am feared, I am the shadow, I am the darkness, I Astaroth, Archon of the Shadows."


    "Why are you here?" Cloud asks again.


    "You want the power to protect and I want a vessel that can use my power to fulfil my vengeance on those who betrayed me. I shall lend you a fragment of my power to have the awakening of your power that you never knew. Give me your hand." As their palms collided shadows and mana of the Archon begin to flow to Cloud, screaming in the overwhelming power that could break his mind, he closes his eyes and begin to turn purple.


    And Both said at once...


    "For we are one, we are unstoppable!"

 Episode 1: Stranger Danger

    Those with ''Low Mana Concentration'' have a relatively low amount of mana in their bodies. As a result, they can''t properly use magic. The vast majority of the world''s population falls within the LMC classification, without sufficient mana unlike people that are classified as HMC (High Mana Concentration), these people must heavily rely on other ways such as tech, physical power, or advanced tactics in fighting someone specially a creature who have supernatural abilities.


    Cloud only responded with a loud screech. While Envy heals after being cut in half. The feral Cloud grabs his neck and throws Envy to a nearby building, he instantly sprints to Envy''s location to throw him again and again. He throws Envy into the ground like he''s nothing but a rubber ball. His sheer strength is strong enough to make the ground tremble.


    As he drowns himself in the overwhelming power of the Archon, he screeches like a wild beast, and his hair transforms into white. The two Archangels hurry to get up from their feet, seeing a ton of crowd being gathered creating panic and commotion.


    "This is getting out of hand! summon the veil." Concerned Rennji said to Miguel.


    Miguel waves his hands in a circle and creates a magical circle and raises it towards the sky. "Purifying Magic: Veil!" The mystical circle scatters in the sky creating a dome to separate the battlefield from the bystanders.


    The Veil is finished to cover up the area. Cloud opened his palm to gather energy for an offensive attack again. He leaps to Envy and he screams "CORRUPT MAGIC: CRESCENT MOON!" Cloud''s solid attack on Envy is successful. But it''s not his face was scratched nor his body but he caught the Crescent Moon with his bare hands.


    Envy looked him in the eye smirking and said "That''s all you got? A mere infant¡¯s play"


    Envy starts to vanish like dust, and Cloud is perplexed about what just happened.


    A slow clap of sarcasm was heard from someone sitting on the side. Cloud sees Envy on the bench unscathed with no scratches, and no wounds, he is in his normal form like earlier. Very different from earlier, and looks like he''s not even moving an inch of his body, with no signs of fatigue from a fight. "This is my Mastral; False Reality"


    Radiants and Schattens referred to their mastery of mana as Mastral, Their mastery of harnessing their mana allows them to amplify their output techniques, and also have the ability to create their unique forms of magic. The more they master their mana, the stronger their magic and techniques are.


    Envy sitting explaining. "Well, that was a show, watching you fighting your own shadow for three minutes. As the Archangels arrived earlier to save you two idiots, that''s where I began to cast an illusion. The whole fight was an illusion, the released blade and the transformation are all fake! Tail, horns, armor, pfft... I''m not that edgy. This was supposed to be a quick-in-quick-out-boom-kill but it was compromised because of you, Cloud, whatever your name is. You managed to sense my presence in a short amount of time and even managed to react to it. Wrath will surely kill me... I''m keeping you alive, you amuse me. How about this? Since I''m not gonna kill you, for now... Someone will take your place to die. How about that?


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    The agitated Cloud grows fiercely...


    Envy lifts his finger at a distance and mana starts to concentrate on his fingertip and darts a concentrated energy of mana in a specific direction.


    "This night is worth fighting for. Thank you, Cloud, I have high expectations for you, take care of yourself, your friends, and most important; FAMILY." Envy said to Cloud with a devilish grin.


    Envy strikes the fabric of reality, shattering it like glass, creating a portal to the unknown.


    Cloud contemplates the words left by Envy. Snapping into realization. He instantly rushes to their house. He is so fast that he leaves a large crater and breaks the Veil which is a type of magic that has the ability to contain such magical forces. Miguel, Rennji, and Yunika also followed Cloud with haste.


    Worried Cloud begins to lose grip on the Archon''s power, his eyes start to flicker back to normal, hair reverts to brown. "ARGHHHHH! NO!" Cloud shouts to himself as he loses control stumbling in the process.


    The powerless Cloud cries in despair as he senses his mother''s presence of mana starts to disappear. The two Angels and Yunika finally caught up to Cloud. Yunika was about to approach Cloud to calm him down. But he glares at the three. Without saying a word, he slowly gets up from the ground and starts to screech louder deep from his lungs. His eyes lit into bright purple again and his hair turns into white.


    As he continues to screech demons and monsters emerge from the shadows and surround them. Rennji and Miguel draw their weapon for a battle and suddenly a flock of ravens envelops the area. Thousands of black feathers pour like rain above them and a man emerges from the cloud of ravens.


    The man appeared from the ravens and charged head-on to Cloud, the man one-handedly pinned Cloud on the ground, stopping the emergence of the demons, and leaving the two Archangels to extinguish what was left. Cloud and the mysterious man start to fight with their fist. Even though Cloud never has a piece of knowledge about fighting he manages to keep up with the speed of man. Overwhelmed by anger, despair, and desperation he releases chains of punches. But Cloud''s punches are easily dodged by the man. Cloud is giving a strong punch but the man dodges it again and chokes him lifting him from the ground. Cloud begins to screech again and a few of the demons that appeared start to swarm to attack the man. The man releases him, teleported in the middle of the demons, crosses his arms and recites...


    "Order Magic: Divine Push"


    A strong shockwave pushed all the demons including Cloud, Yunika and the two Archangels.


    Cloud immediately gets on his feet to channel his mana to his palm, but the man teleported behind his back and whips him unconscious with ease.


    .....


    ¡­..


    Waking up from a beatdown, chains to his arms and legs. He looked up and saw eight warriors above him. As he comes to his senses, he recognizes one of the people, the man with ravens is one of them.


    " Do you have anything to say about the catastrophe you have caused in Busan?" the man asks Cloud.


    "What...What do you mean by "catastrophe"? What did I do?!" Cloud answers in confusion as he sways his attention around to understand the trouble he¡¯s been through.


    "Cherubim, looks like he doesn''t remember anything that happened." Said by one of them.


    The Cherubim descends towards Cloud and he places his thumb on his forehead. He recites... "Let...Him...See"


    Cloud''s eyes turn pitch black. Cloud saw and remembered the events that happened from the appearance of Envy to the death of his mother. He begins to scream due to shock. Cherubim removes his thumb preventing him from showing further events that happened.


    "My-- My mother¡±


    "Your mother is gone, I¡¯m sorry, there''s nothing we can do to bring her back from the dead," Cherubim said to Cloud.


    "So, what now? Do I go home and pretend that this never happened? All this, my mother is dead because of the fucking demon, ENVY!"


    Cherubim lays his hands on Cloud gently, "You can''t go back to Busan. After all of that, Schattens will be hunting you. You will be hidden far from here to keep you safe." he said.


    "Then where?"

 Episode 2: Marked Coin

Purifying Magic: Spiritual Bind!"


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 Episode 3: Iron Sharpens Iron

    Release" mana starts to materialize into Wrath''s hand forming his broken zweih?nder, "It¡¯s either you¡¯re blind or stupid, Lord Astaroth--" Wrath hitting the ceiling with a shout and anger suddenly interrupted by the man on the throne.


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 Episode 4: Boundaries Part 1

    Alarming cases of Aswang sightings and killings are beginning to terrorize the country again, why did they return after ten years of freedom from them?


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    "BEWARE!!" Then everything vanishes as if nothing happened.


    Proinothos, a pleasure to meet you."

 Episode 5: Boundaries Part 2

    In his bright purple eyes, he declares with absolute solemn, "I will kill all the Seven Deadly Sins and burn them to the ground¡­"


    His words didn''t surprise Hayan, his anger and desire are justifiable. "No, it¡¯s not your responsibility,¡± Hayan said.


    "Then I''ll join the Radiants. Together, we''ll kill them all, for our family!¡±


    All the talks aside, Hayan felt some exhaustion too and he brushes off the heavy talk "I''m going inside now, I need some sleep, and you should too. Again, there''s no place for worrying." He picks up Cloud''s cup "And I''m taking this. Goodnight, Cloud."


    Now that he is alone on the balcony, quiet in the middle of the night. Wondering if he could do such magic, recalling the events from Busan. How the hell did I do any of those?


    He looks at his hand, and moves his fingers, waiting for something to happen as he waves like an idiot. Surprisingly, purple energy flows through the tip of his fingers "Woah... Heol!" He fiddles with it and the energy slithers to his hand at his will. He faintly chuckles as he plays with it. An idea sparks, he manipulates the energy to his palm and presses it with both of his hands, and the energy compresses forming a sphere of unstable energy. Cloud was so mesmerized that he could do magic. He tries to do something again, he spreads his fingers, then the orb of energy unravels back to flowing energy, as he plays with it, it transforms into a black mist swirling in both hands uncontrollably. Out of nowhere, the golden bracelet on his wrist glows and shakes vigorously, and the black mist slithers around his hands, he flinches and shakes the black mist out. The bracelet absorbs every drop of the uncontrollable dark energy. "Shibal!... Wh¡ªwhat was t-that," He checks himself if something is lost on his body and what else the bracelet took. As he went inside, a voice echoed, the same voice earlier. This bind will not hold you back!! He flinches again and rushes inside, miraculously not disturbing the two from their sleep.


    ...


    Deep in the dark on the mystical mountains of the Sierra Madre, Archangel Raphael brushes through outstretched vines, tall grasses and towering trees in the middle of nowhere accompanied by ten Radiants.


    Hours after meeting the Seraph in the central city of Eden, he was straight away sent on a mission to track down and neutralize a horde of Aswangs in the mountains.


    He draws both of his pistols and merges them together, forming a sniper. Pitch black and only the bright full moon from the night sky is the source of light, he climbs an enormous tree and scopes a broad area hoping to spot their target. In a dark place with no human in sight, away from civilization, a perfect place for a Schatten to roam around. Raphael commands his team on the ground through his comms "Stay alert, we don''t know what''s out there, it''s too dark we can''t see properly.¡± Then he drops down from a 65-foot tree without creating any sound, quietly landing on the ground like a soft feather, he disassembles the sniper reverting to black and gold pistols and holsters it. Why the sudden emergence, especially the Aswangs, are they back or is it just because of Envy''s orders? Or because of¡ª


    As Raphael silently ponders, one of the Radiants carelessly casts a bright orb to light up their surroundings "The hell... it''s so dark in here. How can we conduct the operation if we can''t see properly in the first place?"


    With that careless action, they are risking their stealth and chances of the element of surprise if an opponent is sighted, as well as gambling their lives in the mountains with no backup. Raphael snatches the source of light and immediately crushes into bits, angered by his careless actions, he grabs the ensign¡¯s hand, "Have you lost your mind?! We don¡¯t know if this place is crawling full of Aswangs¡­"


    All the remaining Radiants behave themselves, his eyes alone petrified them.


    "Use your mind, guns and swords will not be sufficient in a battle," Raphael says. He lets go of the hand of the novice and looks around their surroundings, assuring if they are compromised or not. He climbs once again and attempts for another recon through the dark mountains "When are you parasites going to show up? Now that you¡¯ve seen a beacon¡­" he mutters.


    He slowly draws his gun out as he senses an aura that he cannot get a grasp of. What is this? Are we in danger? Where? While holding his pistol, stunk and viscid sensation he felt on the grip, he took one good look, stained in red and smelled like iron. A reek of blood.


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    As the moon shines on the ground once more giving enough visibility from below, Raphael aims his gun at the novice¡¯s head. Without saying a word, he put a bullet straight through his head. He leaps down with guns raised, "Draw your weapons!! They''re here!!" The body of the dead Radiant on the ground morphs into a heinous indescribable fiend and crumbles into dust.


    Loud wailing noises come from every direction; they have been cornered. "Get down!!" Raphael shouted, crossing his guns and an immaculate quantity of mana concentrates "Godaim: Crimson Dance..." In a flash, he spins himself with his arms stretched outwards shooting his gun in every direction of the Aswangs, dancing with guns blazing. Powerful bullets in red trails made everyone scramble in fear, it was useless, and their number decreased drastically as bullets poured rain upon them.


    One of the assailants jumps at the Archangel. Raphael takes action by blasting him with bullets, but the bullet is repelled. Teleporting in front of the Archangel, the Aswang with a morphed face and diverse patches of animal skin around its body, sharp teeth, and drooling in blood bites Raphael.


    Before it could even touch his clothes, he rips off the jaw "Get off my face!!" Raphael says. Aiming at the Aswang''s head. The Aswang shrieks its lungs out, and a swarm of Schattens emerges from the dark. And before it can harm Raphael which they never will, their bodies thuds with bullets buried deep through their skulls.


    Aswangs are master shapeshifters, with enhanced ability to shift into any type of lifeform, animal, and human. Their shape-shifting abilities also allow them to transform any specific part of their body separately, making them adaptive and versatile in certain situations. They follow their instincts... kill and eat.


    "Kill as many as you can!!" the Archangel commands. They immediately stand up and pull their weapons together after the devastating attack from the Archangel. One of them holding a sword aggressively charges at an Aswang, the monster screeches at him and two exchange strikes. The Radiant hits a rapid slash to the Aswang''s arm, another to the heart, and lastly to the head ending their life with ease.


    As the chaos ensues, Raphael transforms his pistol into a seven-round revolver. Materializes one silver bullet in the chamber, he points outwards and says... "Godaim: Ricochet"


    Blasting at the horde, bursting with mana and flames the bullet bounces on every kill with guaranteed accuracy on the head, leaving their flesh and heads splattered on the mountains as they hunted by the bullet. The Aswangs that lusted for their blood are now weeping in misery and crumbling into ashes. Raphael gazes at them dying one by one. Nothing but ashes, blood, and screams of fear envelop the night.


    All was left but Raphael and his men soaked in blood in a pile of ashes beneath their feet. Victor is theirs.


    A one-legged Aswang crippling away from the eyes of the merciless Archangel. Raphael dashes in front of the Aswang, and the fiend shivers in absolute fear knowing he has no chance of surviving.


    "Talk, while you can. Why risking to show yourselves again? Didn¡¯t I burn half of your kind into ashes? Every. Single. One. And I will not hesitate to do it again." Raphael said.


    "P-p-please...mercy! Mercy!!" The trembling, stuttering with tears welling down. He¡¯d rather die now than be questioned by an Archangel slowly succumbing him to death.


    Raphael summons another bullet, he looks at the Aswang dead in the eye and says "That wasn''t the answer I was looking for..." he said as he grabs the poor Aswang¡¯s head.


    "SPARE ME! I BEG YOU!"


    He puts the red-hot barrel at the head of the Aswang scorching it with unbearable pain. "One."


    "NO, NO, NO, PLEASE!"


    "Two"


    The revolver melts the skull as Raphael slowly buries the barrel. "Last chance..." Raphael said as he cocks the gun.


    In terror, the Aswang is unable to speak anymore...


    "Three"


    Then Raphael shoots the pitiful Aswang, bringing the most unendurable pain on him in a fraction of a second until its body disintegrates into ashes, with the remains splatting on Raphael¡¯s face.


    Now everything is settled, all of them gather before they leave the place. One of the Radiants praises the Archangel for his flawless display of power, "Sir, that was amazing! They have no chance of winning because of you. You even identify the impostor among us!!"


    "Godaim: Ricochet"


    Then a bullet pierced through the head of all the remaining Radiants. All of them fall off the ground lifeless. Raphael wipes his gun covered in the blood of the Schattens. ¡°Requiesce in pace¡± he expresses in condolences.


    Aswangs, despite their incredible ability to transform into such lifeforms, to the naked eye, their appearances are flawless. But there¡¯s one defect, their smell, they always reek of blood. Raphael¡¯s squad during their recon must¡¯ve been hunted from one to another and replaces their role as they kill them slowly and quietly behind Raphael. Their heinous corpses crumble to ashes beneath his feet.


    ¡­


    At a far distant cliff, a wide fat man with a serpent gazes upon Raphael. "What a sight to see...," said the snake as it transformed into a human, then he followed ¡°Did you find pleasure watching that?¡±


    "Yes! Yes! Gluttony loves it, I want more, more!" the fat man replied.


    "Hmm...unfortunately Gluttony, maybe in another time... Those ten years of peace made them soft huh? Yet he still lives up to his title as an Archangel, the number of Schattens taken by those guns could be equal to the death count of the Archangel of Africa."


    "Gluttony doesn''t want to think, thinking is boring," Gluttony said. A slithering stretched anaconda caught the eye of Gluttony, without giving it any thought, he smacks the snake splatting its remains, Gluttony slurps it all ¡°Delicious!! What will Envy do now?¡± he asks Envy.


    Envy only smiles at him. "I will leave the rest to you, I think it''s time to get that hunger to work again," he said and left with a temporal rift he shattered.


    "Gluttony is left alone¡­ I guess Gluttony will have all the fun alone."

 Episode 6: Boundaries Part 3

    A city engulfed in flames and abomination, dreadful flames of black swallowing the city at its roots, merciless ashes falling from above, and lifeless bodies scattered on every corner of the streets. Forces of darkness are everywhere and causing destruction the life itself is on the brink of death. Amidst the doom and chaos, unconscious under a building buried in heavy wreckage impaled by an obsidian-black spear by his chest. Drenched in blood, he can¡¯t barely move nor speak from the immense pain. No one from his Legion was near to aid him.


    With pride only rushing through his veins: I''m a god, the shadow itself, and I will not be delivered to the gates of death. Forgive me ****** for this is not the day you¡¯ll weigh my heart.


    With every last drop of his power, he screams as he drains all that¡¯s left, such a scream of desperation breaks his voice. In sheer effort, he grips tight on the spear, he screams once again as he endures the agonizing pain of removing a blade from his heart, as he continues to wail, he vomits a pool of blood that makes him fall on his knees. In unbearable suffering, he starts to walk as he soaks the ground with red, as death ensues around the city, the only he can do is sit and watch as everything unfolds in front of his eyes. Out of nowhere, a Samurai in black went crashing down to his feet.


    "Sensei! Stand behind me!" the Samurai said. Immense mana surges upon him as he forms his stance.


    Ahead of them, a behemoth Orc built like a tank stands before them, gripping an axe dripping with blood, and he thirsts for the Samurai''s life. The Orc leaps with total strength and his axe finds its way to the Samurai, he parries with his blade¡¯s sheath and lashes out a kick. With the Orc''s absolute weight and size; he tramples on his feet, roars with great presence, and swings his axe with utter force.


    Facing a colossal strike raging towards him, the Samurai forms a stance. With sheer focus, he remains patient as the Orc surges for a strike, he remains calm as the rain of ashes touches his silk long-tied hair. Then with perfect timing the axe inches away from his head, in a flash, with his slender arms, revealing a katana forged in crimson blood swiftly slashes the Orc in his hand and slices through his shoulder with a flawless form of attack. In his brown calm eyes, he watches the Orc in agony as he suffers from the blazing flames from the crimson katana.


    The Orc undoubtedly heals and returns the favor by delivering a lethal blow to the Samurai that could send him crashing into countless infrastructures. With the Samurai''s flawless senses, he avoided. The two raise their blades, immaculate iniquitous warriors whip their blades to the fullest. The city as their playground, ear-stinging rattles from their blades spread across the dead streets, and shockwaves demolishing everything in its path. The Samurai takes the next attack to become an opportunity, he slides his katana to the axe altering the direction of the weapon, then he kicks it to the ground burying it deep, and gives him one solid hell of a punch shattering his whole jaw apart. He sheats his katana and forms a stance again with his hand resting on the hilt, he channels an unmeasurable amount of mana and an abyssal aura envelops the weapon, in a soothing voice; "Thousand Shadows: Yami No Sora,"


    He dashes to the Orc with the katana carves across the Orc¡¯s body dicing deep on his flesh with scorching flames of purple, as he severs the limb of the Orc black mist follows the flow. He takes one firm grip on the Orc''s head and raises his blade to end it all.


    But with all that effort, and a swift and flawless attack from the Samurai, the Orc just immediately regenerates his missing limbs and snatches the katana. He sways the Samurai all over the play, forcing him to drop his blade. The Orc swings a shocking kick to the Samurai making him let go, now unarmed, with sheer raw strength the Orc plummets him down on the ground.


    Cloud¡¯s last bastion of defense now laid upon his eyes; defeated.


    Cloud...


    The victorious Orc turns his eyes on Cloud who is gasping for air. "Surrender and you will be spared¡­" In his tongue, he said to him.


    In his final moments, constantly loses blood from his countless wounds, and his legs won''t even work at will. At last ditch effort, he crawls to get the katana.


    The Orc knew he couldn''t fight at this point, it is meaningless to fight a dying man, "Last warning, surrender or die!" he said.


    But the Orc overlooks one fact.


    On the ground, he catches a long breath with his eyes shut. His heartbeat that is on life support, pumping blood into his deteriorating health, with his shadows only his final barricade away from death. Flames of black and purple engulf the blade, ominous mana revs in his veins, and shadows embrace him as abyssal force drowns him in his finest moment. With his eyes glowing in purple.


    The city choked on silence. he struck like lightning, and the fabric of reality itself was torn apart. "Thousand Void: Ephemeral Plane...." in his dying voice he said and fell to his knees.


    The Orc failed to notice that he was no man, but the embodiment of darkness itself.


    The head of the behemoth thuds to the ground. Eyes gouging in shock "How?!?" the caught off guard Orc said as he crumbled to dust.


    Cloud...


    Bloodshot eyes as he collapses on paralyzed knees, coughing a pool of blood from the consequences of draining his mana to its limits.


    The Samurai miraculously gains consciousness and heals his heavy injuries with haste. He rushes to Cloud; "Sensei! Are you okay?!" he shouts as he sprints to his master.


    Resting on the Samurai¡¯s arms, Cloud taps his head, "T-that... is how... you... use your... blade." He scolds him after he witnessed the Samurai¡¯s flawed Yami No Sora.


    As the place succumbs to its demise from Cloud¡¯s absolute force of power, the Samurai quickly carries Cloud and dashes at incredible speed, "Sensei, hold on! I will be getting you out of this!" The Samurai runs away, carrying Cloud with him to escape from the collapsing city crawling full of Schattens.


    As they both escape, every Schatten on the perimeter right away sets their prowling eyes on the presence of Cloud and everyone swarms at them preventing them from escaping. Without a hint of a second thought, "I''ll make you proud this time, Sensei." The Samurai said. In a fraction of a second, shadow swirls to every Schatten as the Samurai dances his katana on their heads with flawless form. Everyone eager to stop them right away crumbles to dust. Dashing in incredible speed, he evades something, a gust of wind perhaps, then he immediately stops as he observes their surroundings, something is there yet what is it? He parries a force of speed, yet the Samurai didn¡¯t catch a glimpse even at its slightest.


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    "Show yourself, coward!" The Samurai said. With his blade stretched out, ¡°Afraid to show yourself in front of a dying man?¡± he provoked.


    Leaving such a taunt, a man appeared before them with a smirk of bold arrogance in the blink of an eye without even breaking a sound. Covered in cheetah-like feats wrapped around his neck like a scarf, flawless razor-edged pearl-white claws, and slender hind legs capable of executing unremarkable maneuvers, him standing alone in the distance they knew he was not a force to be reckoned with.


    The enemy responds, "The confidence you hold, you said it like you can take a beating from me, mongrel. Let¡¯s see where¡¯s your footing five seconds later," he said as he chucked.


    Cloud...


    The Samurai lays the weakened Cloud delicately. "Well then..." with his blade aimed towards the Schatten, tight grasp to its hilt prepared to deliver a swift swing that will end the Schatten¡¯s arrogance into peace as soon as he opens the first strike. Then surprisingly, Cloud held the Samurai¡¯s wrist, ¡°Sensei, what are you doing? Stand back, let me finish this with haste,¡± he said as he kept his eyes on the Schatten.


    Glaring with ominous purple eyes, "He''s mine..." he said as he nearly broke the Samurai¡¯s wrist leaving him to withdraw with no question. He lets go and stands up with heavy staggering steps, bitting deep down on his lips with unquenchable hatred, his bloodshot purple eyes gaze deep beneath the Schatten¡¯s soul, and he declares; ¡°I¡¯m gonna fucking shred you to pieces!¡± as mana surges throughout his body once more.


    Then a whipping palm hits Cloud on the cheek. Yunika exclaims ¡°GET UP, CLOUD!¡± waking him in deep sleep.


    Startled he jumps out confused; "W-what? What? What? What happened?¡± He looks at Yunika and frowns at him for obvious reasons "What do you want? Why did you wake me up? he said.


    She crosses her arms and raises a brow, "Do you even know what time it is?" she says.


    "Don''t know, I don''t care what time it is, all I want is a long good sleep." Cloud demands.


    She sighs. "It is already past eleven..." Yunika gives him a warm mug of coffee to soothe his rough morning. "Are you that tired that you wish to lay down and sleep all day?" she sits beside Cloud and asks; "Since this is our first time visiting this country, why not try some of the native foods here? I¡¯ll cook. Actually, I just found out their national dish is called the adobo it is a chicken or a pork stew." Yunika grabs Cloud''s mug to take a sip of his coffee, ¡°So, what do you say?¡±


    Cloud takes back his mug "Yeah, sure why not, I mean¡ªI know you can cook, so yeah," he said.


    Yunika gets a piece of paper and a pen and writes a list of things "Okay, so here, I''m giving you a list to buy at a nearby public market. You go buy the ingredients and I''ll do the cooking,"


    Cloud scans the paper, and raises a brow reading the majority of things he¡¯s not familiar with, "Why me?" he said as he continued to read the list.


    "Go out, you need some sunlight, bro. Hayan will be with you, he¡¯s familiar with the place," she said.


    Hayan coming out fresh from the bathroom. Brushing his teeth as he prepared, "You better take a shower before we go out," he said to Cloud.


    As the two leave the condo and head to an elevator. Cloud stands there in silence with his hands in his pocket, zoning out and looking at nothing with his tired eyes that beg for a long rest. Blank mind, pondering nothing, just there standing.


    Then the elevator rings, reaching the ground floor.


    As they walk outside the building, Hayan looks at him and says "You look... gloomy, did Yunika really ruin your sleep?" he asks.


    "Yeah, but this will go away. She often does this when we were kids,¡±


    After a few minutes of walking, until they reach the market, Cloud looks at how busy the market is, too loud, and too crowded that he can''t even hear himself talking. "This is not what I imagined..." he said as he stared at the market flooding with people.


    The bustling public market is choked by the constant transactions left and right, bargaining, and arguing with the vendors. The combined smell of fresh meat, fish, spices, and even people''s odor can be smelled, which makes Cloud uncomfortable. "Why the hell people here are so loud?" He said.


    On the thick crowd Hayan responds "I believe it''s market day, goods, meat, and vegetables just recently arrived. So perhaps that is why countless people have come to get the newly harvested vegetables and fresh meats as possible." he said unbothered by the atmosphere, unlike Cloud.Since Cloud was his first time in the country, he took the liberty to buy the goods on his own. But there¡¯s an unspoken rule; if you¡¯re not a local, you¡¯re buying it at a double price. Yet Hayan spent some time in the Philippines in the past, and thanks to his silver tongue and charm as well, they effortlessly saved half a price on everything they bought.


    "We got everything right?" Cloud asked as he peered at the paper bag.


    Hayan which holding the list "Vinegar?"


    "Yeah, It''s in here."


    "Soy sauce, garlic, black pepper, onion, potatoes¡­ and the most important of them all chicken," Hayan asked.


    Counting every single thing Hayan said ¡°Yep, we have everything plus the random things we bought,¡± Cloud says. ¡°Shall we go now? I can¡¯t stay here any longer¡­¡±


    As they leave a woman shouting caught the attention of the two. Seeing her struggling against a man trying to get what''s in his hand, "HELP!! HE TOOK MY BAG!!" she shouts.


    The thief manages to snatch completely the bag and sprints away. Heading towards the two, Cloud steps in to block his way "Hey! Stop!" he shouted.


    The man remains at a constant speed. Nearing Cloud, he is about to tackle the sprinting thief to take the situation into his own hands. But Hayan hastily pulls Cloud out of the way allowing the pickpocket to escape right away vanishing on the crowd.


    Cloud glares at Hayan and shoves him back "What was that for?! I had him!"


    "Be careful you¡¯re not familiar with this place," Hayan responded.


    ¡­


    Last night, Raphael, who has been soaked in blood, arrives at the Embassy. Carelessly walking down to the white marble halls of the Embassy leaving stains of red from his every step, not giving any hint of concern about it. Heavy thuds from his footsteps echoed sending some Radiants puzzled seeing a supposedly holy warrior in white yet painted in red.


    An embassy is an infrastructure established by the Archons in their jurisdiction as a separate branch from Eden. Each continent or division contains one Embassy to oversee and protect such a massive area. The infrastructure is completely blended into the civilization and cannot be found nor entered easily.


    As Raphael continues not to give a damn attention to staining the place with the blood of his enemies. Iron wheels clattering down from the glamorous stairs pulling tons of rusted machinery, fellow Radiant waves at him "Archangel Raphael!" a familiar company said.


    Raphael right away stares in distress, "Gabrael, Archangel Gabrael, what are you doing here?" he sighs.


    Gabrael, Archangel of North America. With unparalleled rational prowess, he is the one responsible for Eden''s technological advancements in the Central City, and also the brains of the Seven Archangels. Often dressed properly in all-white attire like his other Archangels, yet under his pocket is full of unimaginable technology of mass destruction. His fluttering robes are enough to irritate Raphael, only second to his excessive yapping.


    ¡°What¡¯s with the stuff? They¡¯re too loud to be carried in the halls¡­¡± Raphael said.


    "Oh, this? Collected samples for my invention and experiments. I see that you''ve come from a bloodbath, purifying I guess?¡± Gabrael replied.


    "This is none of your concern. I should be going."


    Raphael walks past the enormous door, entering the chambers of the Archon. As soon as he enters his body that is covered in blood is immediately cleansed without notice, removing all the impurities from the Schattens. And the odor is effortlessly overwhelmed by the flowers surrounding the room full of lively plants and aromatic flowers.


    "So, how''s my forest? Did you properly dispose of the parasites residing in my forest?"


    "The pests are exterminated but in exchange for ten lives, they will keep coming we know how invasive they are, we have to do something about it before other Schattens will make their move."


    "The Seraph is already aware of this, he said that the Cherub already sends a reinforcement and it is on the way. I refused, but the Seraph insisted on deploying this ''reinforcement'' "


    "What is our move?"


    "Keep those guns hot."

 Episode 7: Boundaries Part 4

    Cloud leaning beside the sink teary, "Eugh... I think I''m going to throw up," And he vomits the food he ate, the adobo. It¡¯s too salty for Hayan and Cloud, giving them a nauseous feeling for minutes straight.


    Hayan had some time staying in the Philippines in past years, and he loves some kinds of stuff, like lechon and pancit, but there''s one thing he despises the most; the adobo, he''d rather leave the country than eat it. Knowing that Yunika would attempt to make it, he considered trying it again, maybe it might change his heart about the dish, but no, he still hated it. "Why did I even give a thought about it?? I should''ve never put this on my tongue ever," he said.


    Yunika turned at them, crossed arms. "Stop you two! You guys are overreacting. It''s not that bad come on!" she said as she scooped for another meal.


    "What do you think?! It¡¯s your cook! Who the hell talks shit about their cook?!" Cloud bluntly responds.


    Later on, after having the greatest meal of all time, they spend their whole afternoon indoors. Everyone does their own thing. Hayan is outside quietly listening to the songs of gale, while the two mind their own business inside.


    Yunika casually scrolls online, entertaining herself by watching reels about the country educating herself. While Cloud is on the couch having an uncomfortable sleep, continuously moving in different positions and can''t get a grasp of his sleep.


    Yunika takes a look at him, concerned. Did I really mess up his sleep that badly? She waves her hand at him, conjuring magic to ease him up, soothing as well as providing him with a pleasant sleep that he seeks all day. Nothing more makes her happy than seeing his friend having a peaceful time.


    Hayan who has been resting on the balcony, sees Yunika smiling at Cloud, "Ahem..." he faintly coughs. He startled Yunika, and she quickly grabbed his phone back and pretended nothing happened.


    "I suggest not to stare at him, you might wake him up," Hayan jokes.


    "Come on, Hayan. I''m just glad to see him relaxed."


    Hayan carefully sits on the armrest. He turns on the TV and immediately lowers the volume. He looks at some channels individually to cure his boredom and entertain himself. But the channels have the same content and shows and he cannot even comprehend since he¡¯s not that fluent in Tagalog. Hayan just shuts off the television and sighs. Instead, he stares at the ceiling, wondering about something, "You guys wanna go out?" he asks Yunika.


    Yunika thought it was not a bad idea "Yeah, sure, do you know any places nearby that can be visited at this time?¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s nearly seven in the evening now."


    Hayan remembers one of his favorites, "There''s a monument and a park nearby," he said. ¡°Monument of one of the greatest Filipinos in their history.¡±


    "Let''s wait for Cloud first, he needs some rest," Yunika said.


    Moments later, they waited until Cloud woke up from his sleep and after that, they prepared to satisfy their boredom, he took a quick shower while the two waited for him. Hayan changes clothes and wears a formal white suit with accents of gold linings, as he fixes his cuffs Cloud comes out seeing him wearing such extravagant attire.


    Cloud raises his brows, confused "What''s with that? Are we going to a wedding?" he asks with sarcasm. "Isn''t that too extravagant just for a stroll?" he said.


    "Don¡¯t mind about it," Hayan simply snaps his finger cloaking his attire into a casual one. "It¡¯s my uniform, better prepared on something," He flicks his hand showing his flat-tipped daggers.


    The sun sunk deep into the horizon, streetlights illuminate the roads of Roxas Boulevard straight down to the bay, overrun by bustling cars and wailing horns. The three have a long walk ahead, but it''s long enough to glimpse Manila''s nightlife. Cloud enjoys watching the water crash down to the shore, unnoticeable he starts to walk down the road with vehicles passing by, a gust of wind blows at his hair and ruffles his clothes as he steps back from the zooming cars. He looks and Hayan knowingly pulls his back.


    "Don¡¯t get yourself killed now," he said.


    After a long walk on the busy street, they find their way to Luneta formally known as Bagumbayan.


    ¡°Here we are,¡± Hayan said ¡°This monument is dedicated to Dr. Jose Rizal, he lived up to the phrase ¡®a pen is mightier than a sword¡¯ he fought for freedom through his written novels, away from bloodshed.¡± He said.


    As they resume walking on the illuminated paved path of the park. Cloud curiousness sparks, ¡°A civilized approach to conflict? I didn¡¯t know bloodshed was optional. We could¡¯ve used that back in Busan,¡± he bluntly mouths.


    Hayan snickers, ¡°Tell that to yourself, you nearly wrecked half of the neighborhood brawling against Envy. Violence is always optional, you draw the blade when needed, not when you wanted.¡± Hayan said.


    ¡°Help! Please Help!¡± a desperate father shouted.


    Hayan rapidly responds with such haste, ¡°What happened, sir? Is there a problem?¡± he asks.


    ¡°They took my son! Please, help!¡± the father said with utter hopelessness.


    ¡°Where did they head off to?¡± As Hayan turns to scan the area, he catches a glimpse of the possible culprit sprinting with a teary-eyed child in his crushing grasp. A blinding glint from a dagger darts past the eye of the culprit, as Hayan immobilize him in a flash, with unhuman reflexes the culprit easily slips out from Hayan and remains at constant speed rushing away from the park.


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Cloud catching up, ¡°Hey! What was that? You came like lightning¡­¡± left speechless witnessing Hayan¡¯s capabilities in a fraction of a second.


    ¡°It¡¯s the same guy¡­¡± Hayan said. ¡°It¡¯s the same guy earlier morning, Cloud,¡± picking up his dagger shot on the ground.


    "He¡¯s gone with the kid. How will you catch up to him?¡± Cloud asked.


    The father kneels to Hayan, ¡°Please! Do something he¡¯s my only son!¡± in desperation he said.


    ¡°Rest assured, sir. I will save your son.¡± Hayan sprints with a streak of light trailing him, as he chases the culprit, he covers his face materializing a white mask, as well as unveiling his radiant uniform, a warrior in white. Nearing his sights on the culprit, he delivers Hayan past the heavy traffic. He locks on and darts his dagger on the culprit. You¡¯re no human¡­


    In the middle of the overflowing cars, the dagger aligned ahead from the culprit laid upon his eyes, Hayan swings a fist straight at him. One sleigh of a hand, and Hayan will snatch off the kid effortlessly. But the culprit releases ominous energy that blasts him crashing into a nearby scaffolding. The culprit did not waste any time and rapidly climbed up multiple storeys still carrying the kid within his grasp.


    Laying on the ground, the two caught up from Hayan again. ¡°Hayan! Are you okay??¡± Yunika asked.


    Hayan removes his mask and smugs at her, ¡°Yes, I¡¯m totally fine¡­ just taking a break on here¡­¡± he responds. He turns at Cloud, ¡°I told you¡­ You¡¯re not familiar with the place, if I let you interfere with that man earlier, you¡¯d be sent into the air with multiple injuries. I know a Schatten when I see one, especially an aswang, a Drk Class¡­¡±


    The Schattens are composed of various entities, some of which are approximately three times the size of an average person and have the capacity to destroy an entire city on their own. As a result, they have been classified into three (3) distinct categories depending on their intelligence, skill, and power. The Lesser, the lowest category of the three, are the weakest and have the intelligence of a fish, even though they''re the weakest their physical strength outpowers a normal human, Lessers typically follow their instinct, ravage and eat. The Drk Class, they''re the middle class of them all with a complete set of physical strength, combat knowledge, and the ability to communicate with humans fluently, with their enhanced skills they can easily butcher a lower-ranked Radiant and eat humans without breaking a sweat. Lastly, The Nytmr, a Schatten under this category completely outranks the two, with enough mana and power they can obliterate a city in one night and have the skills to initiate a battle that can last weeks, their appearances in large populations are rare even Radiants have few fights against a Schatten under the Nytmr category.


    Cloud with scrunched brows, "Well, what do we do now? We don''t know what will that asshole do to the kid," he said infuriated.


    "He¡¯s not that far, I can still feel his mana." he wears back his mask to finish the job. "You two stay down here while I chase him up to the rooftops, I don¡¯t know if he¡¯s alone or what." With no more words to say, Hayan jumps from one car to another, propelling himself upwards with flawless acrobat talent. Slipping from one obstacle to another, with enhanced agility he parkours rapidly as he reaches the roof illuminated by the moon above. There he sets his eyes on the Aswang.


    Hayan aims between his fingers toward, and casts "Hyperlight: Sprint: 25 meters..."


    As the Aswang runs, a flash of blinding light races past him. Hayan jumps with two daggers cleaving to the Aswang''s chest bursting his inners, tainting blood on his mask. Hayan flips his blade to cut the head, but the Aswang morphs his mouth similar to an ant and bites the weapon. Suddenly, the Aswang dashes behind him.


    "He''s fast!" Hayan said.


    The Aswang grabs his head, launches him into the air, and punches him down to another infrastructure. Not giving Hayan a chance to react, the Aswang morphs his feet into talons and dives with such might. Hayan, hastily gains his footing, just in time to parry the sharp talons "Hngh!..." sheer force that almost breaks his knees.


    Hayan aggressively elbows the Aswang¡¯s chest and buries his dagger down, "Purifying Magic: Magnificent Rays of¡ª." He is instantly stopped by the Aswang, who kicks him back. But Hayan managed to shoot one light energy, yet it was blasted from the sky instead. The Aswang pins Hayan on the ground and completely halts him, one move he can end Hayan''s life in a snap "Do you have a name, Radiant?" the Aswang asked.


    "Hay... --ack!" Unforgiving grasp blocking his airway can¡¯t even talk properly. "H- Hayan." He said as he wrestled against the lethal talons.


    "Now tell me, Hayan. What makes you think that this flat-tipped blade of yours can kill me, this weapon is flawed, this can¡¯t even pierce my heart properly," the Aswang chuckles.


    Back on the ground.


    Yunika takes Cloud''s hand and flees from the scene concerning encountering another Schatten. While they''re on the go. One dark shadow zips past them at an incredible pace, they come to a halt as they watch in terror multiple entities of darkness travelling to Hayan¡¯s location.


    Back at the top. "Tell me, Hayan" the Aswang continues to strangle him.


    In the tight grip of the Aswang, Hayan mutters "Y-- You..." as he stretches his neck begging for air.


    "Hmm? What''s that?" he humors as he pleasures watching him suffer.


    Hayan clenches his fist to the Aswang''s arm, "Your leg is fragile enough to break!" He throws one of his daggers into the eyes of the Aswang and snaps his leg breaking away from it. He pulls back the dagger on the eye and slams him away hitting on the ground, then whips a kick. ¡°Would you like to know, the capabilities of this?¡± He said as he summons both of his daggers.


    The Aswang slams the floor and rushes to him relentlessly, "You piece of shit!! You''re going to pay!!" his neck slithers long with deadly fangs aiming at Hayan¡¯s neck. Once this venom enters your body, you will be instantly paralyzed, I will take pleasure in ripping you into pieces and feasting on your flesh.


    "Hyperlight: Sprint!" Hayan hurls one of his daggers at him. A flash blinds the Aswang again and as soon as he regains his sight, it''s too late to react. In his utter strength, Hayan grabs the Aswang''s head and slams it on the floor, smashing the Aswang''s skull. Hayan picks him up and slashes both of his eyes. "You said that my blades are flawed?" with both of his daggers, he slowly slices the fingers of the Aswang one by one, then cleaves the stomach and chest, as well as every limb and every joint "This is how it works," Hayan said as he pierced the Aswang''s throat, then slides it to the right, cutting the Aswang''s head finishing the brawl. His head rolls down as his body crumbles to dust.


    In the bloodshed, Hayan wipes off the red on his mask, "Forgive me, if I didn¡¯t meet your disappointments." he walks up to the head, and the last thing that the Aswang will ever see before his demise is a killer with ocean eyes, masked in white, Hayan smashes his head bursting his brains out.


    A successful eradication of the threat, being absorbed by the struggle for strength, he lost his mind on one thing.

 Episode 8: Eccentric

    Hayan unmasks himself, digging a deep breath that grants strong relief throughout his body. He slowly holds his abdomen "Ack..." he groans softly after being battered like a sandbag. "This will get away," Hayan said as he lay his back on the railing. He looks above the night sky and watches the stars as they shine from the cosmos. "The two may have returned to the condo by now," he sighed. Quiet roof enough to hear his breath, yet his heart pumps uneasily. With his ocean-blue eyes, stars twinkling in his pupils, a cold feeling shivers down his spine, and with that, he grabs his daggers, and every nerve in his body surges with adrenaline. "Shit!! The kid!!" he said as he stood up and immediately wore his mask.


    Something whips straight to his face at incredible speed, such a reflex and he evades it as he flips backwards giving a fair amount of distance. As he sets his eyes above.


    A winged woman in half, "You dare to kill Gregorio! You''re going to pay for that!" she said. A female demon split in half, screeching at him, with her intestines hanging in the air as she glides in her bat-like wings.


    He holds his daggers tight for another duel. In a second his legs feel numb as he''s about to pass out with a blurred vision. His right arm was severely cleaved open which led to massive blood loss. She''s so fast that¡­ I thought I avoided it¡­


    He pulls out a handkerchief and temporarily closes the wound by wrapping it tight. "He died afraid¡­" Hayan said as he threw his formal jacket and folded his sleeves ¡°It would be my delight to deliver that same feeling to you, Manananggal." His fighting spirit never ceases to falter despite exhaustion, he forms a stance with both of his daggers in reversed grip ready for another bloodbath.


    In his ragged and sharp fangs drooling in her saliva, she laughs after seeing a man severely wounded and still having the pride to stand up for a fight. The Manananggal sets both of her deadly claws to Hayan''s throat as she dives down with blood from her internal organs rains down on him.


    The Manananggal is an ancient creature from the Philippines that can fly thanks to its wings but with only their upper torso. Their sharp nails can easily cut through human flesh and their long tongue can whip with incredible accuracy with the capabilities of cutting a limb in half. As long as the moon reigns in the night sky, they can feast on humans. However, before sunrise, they must return to reconnect with their other half, otherwise the scorching sun will burn them to death. They are weak during the day and feral at night.


    Hayan also charges head-on and launches himself up in the air clashing with his daggers and the Manananggal''s claws and exchanging devastating blows. As he delivers powerful hits, sweat and blood drenches through his clothes, as well as his arms tremble from each strike from the overwhelming strength of the Manananggal. With the heavy and aggressive strikes of the fiend, despite Hayan being exhausted and already wounded and with continuous blood loss from his arm, he still has the unwavering will to defeat her, his determination shines more than the stars in the night sky. With his focused precise and agile mobility, he is able to strangle her with his firm grip and takes her down slamming to the rooftops, he stands on top of her and nails her two arms with his daggers.


    Hayan charges for a sure kill strike, but the Manananggal has the means to do everything to kill him first. She breaks away from his daggers by force, tearing her palms away from the blades, without any sweat she heals to deliver a lethal attack on his injured arm, and deliberately loses more blood, with her whipping tongue, she wraps it around Hayan''s neck, choking him, and with enough aggressiveness, she crashes him on a populated street below.


    People are left stunned and terrified as their eyes widen, catching sight of the heinous creature of darkness in front of them. The street collapses to shambles as the people scramble for safety. Unknown certainties and his current state it will be his last stand, ¡°Get out of here! Run!¡± he shouts at the top of his lungs. But he stands once more even with pain inching across his body, and the risk of dying is in his eyesight yet he perseveres.


    He has no choice, if he chooses to escape the Schatten will probably feast on the place with no effort, and if he remains to fight, he''ll die, the weight of his responsibilities as a protector is far more precious than his life. So he raises his blades ahead of the Schatten for him to be cut down, ¡°Now that the battleground is clear¡­¡± Hayan said, ¡°Feel free to break a sweat against me.¡± He taunts beneath his mask.


    "Are you sure? You look like you¡¯re about to collapse with a flick of a finger." the Manananggal taunts back.


    Then Hayan executes his stance, eyes fixed on the Manananggal, analyzing and anticipating every conceivable strike while remaining cautious not to get hit on the same arm again. I need to behead this monster quickly or I''ll be out of blood in no time.


    A searing heat burns his right with a blinding ball of fire, and then a strong shockwave blasts him flying many meters away, his body scorched and scratched from top to bottom. Deafened by the loud wailing noise from the vehicle alarms, he has a cloudy vision to recognize anything, with only flashing orange lights from the totalled automobiles around him he can distinguish. In his blurry eyes a figure of a hunchbacked old woman with orbs of black flames stands ahead. Lying down, a heavy leg pounds his chest repeatedly as his ribs crack from the brute strength of something on top of him.


    The Manananggal shouts in agitation, "Stop! Why did both of you even bother to show up? He¡¯s dead." she hurried at the Tikbalang whose been killing Hayan with his crushing hoofs, "I can''t savor the food if I can only taste a horse''s foot..." she scoffs.


    She kneels down at Hayan with lustful eyes, "But before I devour him," she licks her tongue. She slaps the Tikbalang out of the way "Get lost, horse-face. I need to see what''s under that mask. Seems like you have an irresistible face," she said and licked the blood dripping from the mask. With that, she lays her finger on the mask unveiling underneath those ocean-blue eyes.


    Uncontrollably trembling, she drops to the ground with her eyes wide open in fear like she saw a wraith, a hellspawn. A blood-curdling scream deep from her lungs completely pierces the Tikbalang and the other''s ear. She drags herself away from Hayan with hard gasps as her heart beats as if she''s going to die. Both of her allies are confused. The Tikbalang rushes to drag the Manananggal further away from Hayan.


    The Tikbalang is unsure if that man embraced with unbearable burns and a pool of blood is truly in pain or pretending to be weakened waiting for an opening to strike; his gaze remains focused on him, his hoofs scraping against the ground, ready to unleash striking kicks anytime Hayan foils his ploy. "What did you do?!!" the Tikbalang asks Hayan.


    With his bruised face, he grotesquely smiles as blood oozes to the ground, sending absolute dreadful fear to the Manananggal worse than ever that she cries wishing to be dead already rather than seeing a face that has existed thousands of years ago.


    The Manananggal screams once more as she shakes in fear after she completely stares into Hayan''s blue eyes, "CHAOS MAGIC: SINGULARITY!!!" she opens her mouth and large quantities of mana gathered up and concentrates on one point creating a deadly unstable energy of destruction. Strong winds whirl around her in such instability. With sheer intensity, she blasts it like an animal to Hayan directly as he remains with a disturbing grin at them, the raw energy of death destroys everything in its path with total power.


    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Hayan covers his face back, outstretches his hands, and recites "Purifying Magic: Adamant Resolve!" manifesting pure mana of defense as dark magic rages at him.


    With the impact, the force of the magic effortlessly knocks him back, quickly destroying his shields. Every inch of his body scorches deep, his clothes have been charred by intensity, entirely depleted of mana and strength, finally falling to his knees.


    "That should do it, he¡¯s gone to ashes, now stop screaming like an infant, he is not that strong," The hunchbacked old woman said to the Manananggal.


    Continued wailing. "H-He''s still alive!!" the Manananggal said as she remained rattled.


    Charred, battered to death, severely wounded arm yet he keeps his feet on the ground, breathing still. But it is his ocean-blue eyes that caught their attention, his gaze is enough to deliver sheer dread.


    With absolute terror consuming her whole, in her trembling tongue, she screams "DIE!!!" as she launches herself clawed up with her teeth thirsting for his blood, she''ll tear his limbs away, skin him, and feast on his flesh.


    But before she can even land a finger on Hayan, an immensely violent surge of wind cuts her slithering tongue and blasts her away from him crashing into her allies like she was nothing.


    Cold soothing wind envelopes him. A woman stands before him with her weapon outstretched, a kampilan with luminous wind dancing to its blade, "Don''t even think about touching this boy," she said. As Hayan finally fall she rests him easy on her arms. He took too much beating... He¡¯s smart enough to fire that ray of light to the sky for help.


    Picking up to their feet, the Manananggal grinds her teeth and asks, "Who do you think you are?!" she says as she clenches her sharp claws. "You dare stand against me¡ª" As she releases her frustration towards Hayan¡¯s savior, her head slips down from her neck and thuds to the ground before she even notices. With her eyes open wide ¡°W-What just happened?!" she crumbles into dust and is swept away by the woman¡¯s wind.


    After witnessing the death of the Manananggal by a swift gust of wind, the remaining two immediately move into position with intense mana surging and cautious movements that could give the woman an opening attack that could take their lives in the blink of an eye.


    The old woman stands behind the Tikbalang. "Mangkukulam! Cover me!" the Tikbalang exclaims. The Mangkukulam extends her arms as dark energy concentrates from her palms, and then she whirls ten violent flaming orbs of flames towards the woman while the Tikbalang charges for a potent strike. The horsehead sprinted towards the woman with adamant force and speed, launching himself and kicking the waves of flames towards her.


    As the two take on offensive attacks, the woman''s steel strength, with one swing from her blade generates a surging current of wind extinguishing the orbs of flames mid-air.


    The Tikbalang stomps at her, but she leaps backwards evading it. He chases her with chains of raw deadly kicks, trying not to give her a counterattack. The woman completely plays defensively blocking and deflecting the Tikbalang''s heavy blows. He continues to deliver lethal strikes, in a fraction of a second the woman hastily grasps the Tikbalang''s foot and he doesn''t see it coming. His life flashes before his very own eyes, as the cold breeze he feels through his face, death caught up face to face. He snaps back to his wits, kicks the woman''s kampilan inches away from his neck, kicks her again only to be averted, and dashes back to gain distance in his heavy and rapid breathing. He glances at his ally, the Mangkukulam, who understands through his dilated eyes that they have no chance of winning this fight, the only thing that kept him alive during that fatal swing was adrenaline pouring throughout his body, the fight or flight response, and now his body is begging him to flee.


    She raises her sword at them with wind residing on her side, "Where is the kid?" she asks.


    The Mangkukulam with eyes of wit decloaks the kid behind her.


    "Now, let go of the kid," the woman said.


    "Not if you let us go," the Mangkukulam bargains.


    Without a second thought, a blast of wind surges right before them as she dashes for their heads. With no such assurance, the Tikbalang charges ahead of her, engaging her in battle just long enough for the Mangkukulam to flee with the child.


    Tilting her sword at an angle, and with flawless form she carves the air with a swift swing "Amihan: Zephyr Gaze¡± Unleashing a divine whirlwind, sending them into the sky as the wind tears their bodies apart by the strong currents.


    With the magic of the Mangkukulam, they managed to break out from the strong wind, without saying anything or having thought of orchestrating a scheme to trick her into lowering her guard and pouring all their power to deal damage as much, but no, they let go of the kid and runs away as fast as they could and did not look back.


    From meters away, "Hayan!! Hayan!!" Cloud comes running with Yunika behind him in a much fret. He sees the abducted kid and Hayan who is bathed in blood and unexplainable bruises scattered around his body and at the same time a woman holding him. An umbral aura catalyzes around him, to his side, he tears the fabric of reality and pulls a spear from it, whirling it with total force to the woman with death following its trail.


    The dreadful aura immediately sends pressure on Yunika, he quickly gazes ahead and she recognizes the woman, "No, Cloud! No don''t!" she tries to inform Cloud about a piece of important information but uncontrolled emotions reign first on him.


    She easily avoids it by simply leaning to the side. "Hey, calm down¡ª" Before she even attempts to enlighten Cloud, she is bombarded by heavy strikes of punches and kicks imbued with mana. She effortlessly tanks every strike with her iron-like arms.


    In his purple eyes, he glares at the woman with such intensity. His bracelet shudders as it constantly restrains the immense power as he succumbs to it. He swings his tightly closed fist augmented with mana straight at the woman, but it is easily stopped by her bare hands echoing an ear-piercing shockwave.


    In his purple eyes, "What have you done?!" the feral Cloud asks her.


    "I think we are having a slight misunderstanding, kid" she replies. She grips hard at his fist and subdues Cloud in a swift move, but he doesn''t make it easy, he wrestles with her and tries to headlock her from behind. The woman easily knocks Cloud away, and intense amounts of mana accumulate in her kampilan, spiralling a violent gust of wind in front of Cloud blasting him away stopping him from his aggressive strikes and leaving him gasping for air. "You need to calm down, you don''t know what you''re doing." She said.


    Cloud stretches his palm, recalling the spear, "Am I that blind to understand? You''re holding them hostage!"


    As the atmosphere shambles, Yunika catches her eye on the kid who is now in the middle of the fight and quickly runs up to him carrying him away from the two, "Let''s find your father, okay?" she says as she tries to calm the kid down in confusion.


    Cloud gestures his hand and an ominous shadow and mana concentrate on it, clenching his palm condensing to unstable energy in the shape of a crescent, "Corrupt Magic..." A cold wind surges through his fingertips, gentle and calming, and comes whipping at him knocking off the unstable magic in his hand.


    Despite Cloud''s aggressiveness and carelessness about it, she gives her best efforts not to hurt him. In the flash of an eye, she paralyzes Cloud''s other hand using a freezing wind temperature, snatching his spear from him and tossing him away. "Stand down! This is your final warning!" she said as she held his weapon.


    "Shut up!" Cloud said.


    As the standoff between shadow and wind remains heavy.


    "Cloud! Calm down, Cloud!" Yunika rushed back. "She''s one of us, I know her!" she said.


    "Listen to the gal," the woman said, finally breaking Cloud''s fervor. In a show of trust, she drops her blade, as well as Cloud''s, lowering her immense mana and calming down the heated space. "Can you just listen to me first, kid?" she said as she scrunched her brows to the persistent Cloud.


    Cloud has his palm open and the spear comes flying back at him, then he thuds it to the ground dematerializing it in follow up reverting his eyes to normal as he takes grasp of his senses back.


    You have efficiently grasped the ways to harness my power... mortal.


    Yunika right away runs with teary eyes to the unconscious Hayan, her eyes widening as she lays her eyes on him covered in bruises and scars. "W-will he be okay?" she asks the woman in her breaking and trembling voice.


    "He''s alive, his wounds must be treated immediately." the woman said. She snaps her finger and lays her hand on Hayan as she lends a portion of her mana, "This slight mana transfusion will stabilize his body for now." She turns at Cloud standing behind contemplating silently as he watches Hayan in pain, "Are you in your senses now? In case you don''t know I''m also a Radiant, I hope that is enough to tell that I have no intention to hurt you," she said.


    He just ignores what she just said and straightly mouths "How many escaped?" he asks.


    "Deep breaths, boy, that is not for you to think of, we''ll be the ones who will handle that."

 Episode 9: Fest der V?llerei

    She gestures in the air and casts illuminated runes creating a temporal rift. "Let''s go, we need your friend to be treated immediately," she says as she carries the lifeless Hayan in her arms easily and carefully.


    As they leave the place, Cloud walks to her and bows his head down, "Ma''am, I apologize for¡ª"


    Before he can even apologize, she stops him, "I understand, it''s fine, don''t even bother. If I were you, I would do the same for my friend. Anyways, drop the ¡®Ma''am¡¯ the name''s Estrella. I was told you''d be staying with us, so why not start by knowing me first?"


    Passing through the elegant doors of the Embassy, they are greeted by a familiar face. With crossed arms, "You three took a while to familiarize the country,¡± he said.


    An ominous presence surges and rushes upon him like a wolf. Cloud rushed to throw a fist at Raphael. He propels himself forward and strikes him with a tremendous punch. A dominant shockwave erupts throughout the Embassy that catches everyone''s attention. In his purple eyes, ¡°Hayan could¡¯ve died! Why did none of you arrive sooner?!¡± he demanded. As he continues to employ power, the bracelet rattles violently as it struggles to restrain power.


    Raphael, unfazed by Cloud¡¯s umbral aura. He casually catches his fist with no effort, "Settle down, he¡¯s still alive, he did his duty to protect, and he fought for the safety of the mass, there will always be a cost.¡± he straightly said.


    Cloud extends his hand and tears the fabric of reality apart pulling a spear. But Raphael is fast enough to strike, knocking him out. He swiftly catches him before he drops unconscious on the ground. With Cloud releasing such raw mana his bracelet chips some of its durability.


    Raphael sighs carrying the weight of Cloud. "Can someone carry this guy?" he requests to the Radiants in the glamour marble corridors.


    A towering Radiant with broad shoulders and muscular physique strides forward "I''ll do it, boss!" the Radiant greatly said and carried Cloud carefully in his arms.


    "Thanks, Ody. I never doubted you Minotaurs."


    Estrella sparks a smirk as they continue to walk "Yeah, can you do your job as an Archangel properly, please? I don''t have all day to fill all of your responsibilities," she cracks a laugh.


    He scoffs and rolls his eyes, ¡°Like you could handle any of my responsibilities,¡± he banters back. ¡°Please deliver them to the infirmary, I have matters to attend to,¡± he adds.


    "Alright, alright." she concurs.


    .....


    .....


    Somewhere in an abandoned warehouse. The site is desolate, and the sound of deafening silence chokes the place. A rich long table of gold with empty plates and hollow cups extends up to a hungry Seven Deadly Sin, slamming the table, hurling everything after hearing dreadful news from the two Schattens. Dying of hunger, the sin of gulosity, sitting on a throne preserved from the old era, "You two are useless! You make Gluttony mad, very mad!" he tantrums.


    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    "We apologize, my Lord, a Radiant stepped in the way, she was too powerful for us. She left us no choice but to let the child go, intending to take our lives. Forgive us, we really¡ª"


    As they apologize for their dear life. Envy beside Gluttony, rolls his eyes hearing such an excuse, with a slight gesture the two shut their mouth without delay. "Gluttony, what happened to you? What is that laziness I am seeing? Why let these idiots go out to fetch a lump of flesh that you know will not satisfy your hunger? I rarely see you¡ªor should I say never, see you eating with great numbers,"


    "Gluttony, don''t have the appetite anymore. Gluttony on sabbatical." Gluttony mutters.


    ¡°Do you even know what ¡®sabbatical¡¯ means?¡± Envy responds. He stretches his palm to the two planting them in place, paralyzing them with an overwhelming energy, then he clenches his fist crushing them with their own flesh ending their lives instantly, squashed, their bodily fluids sprayed at the table, straight to Gluttony¡¯s face. "Will that cure your loss of appetite? Look how savory that is," he persuades smirking.


    Gluttony lashes out, "I DON''T WANT IT!" Anger flared as he pounded the table once more, unleashing a furious outburst.


    Envy snaps his fingers unveiling the spell that is masking Gluttony''s true appearance, exposing the opposite: from a gobbling blob to nothing but skin and bones, his eyes could pop out from their sockets at any moment, a breathing rotten corpse, a frail body, too weak to even exert a force. The place trembles as the sheer presence of Envy dominates, "Enough of this!" he raises a strong brooding voice. "Look what you''ve become! Nothing but a mimic of your former self! You''ve gone weak! Nothing but bones! Useless! Do you think the Sovereign will spare you if he discovers your waning strength?! Weakness will be not tolerated by the Sovereign! We are the pride of the Schattens! Your weakness is a disgrace! You should be grateful after those ten years you''re still alive with me. Cherish it, or else the given will be taken!¡±


    Words that cut sharper than a double-bladed sword. Gluttony quiets down with deep breaths, and strong pumps from the heart, loud enough to be heard by Envy.


    He has no more to say to such an inferior creature, he shatters the reality, "I hope that next time I''ll be in company with you, I will not see the same feeble being that claims to be a member of the Seven Deadly Sins, you¡¯re nothing but a tree with shallow roots." He said as he left the place.


    Silence fills the warehouse again. Pondering on his throne, only he and the empty table. Laid upon his eyes the remains of the underlings mushed to pieces, he kneels in front of it, takes one of the limbs and gnaws on it, slowly, every juice from it is never wasted dropping on the ground, he slurps it leaving nothing and devours it with such joy rises to his face. He consumes all of their parts with a smile glimmering, seizing each of their limbs and eating with his enormous bites, stuffing one after another. In his finest feast. "Schattens!" he exclaims like an animal.


    One word and a horde of fiends from the shadows emerge for him. A lethal temperature storm of ice surges from the feet of Gluttony. Even in his frail state, with that small meal, he regains a fraction of his immense strength in one fell swoop every Schatten numbs from the freezing temperature unable to move any muscle. Now the table is set, he extends his palm outwards to the Schattens rooted in the frozen floor, clenches it and pulls it towards him, every Schatten is instantly crushed and killed by the unseen force as their bodies swarm towards the Seven Deadly Sin to be consumed. Crushed by the heavy bites, their blood and fluids splattered and poured like rain as he savors every single flesh left and right. Scorching flames burst out from his mouth roasting the bodies to the fullest craving for more.


    They were twenty-one and only five were left alive to watch their allies be eaten by their own master.


    Gluttony gazes at the survivors with insatiable eyes that seek for more. "Go! Gather a feast for my name! Or else you will be laid upon this table!" he commanded, growling as loud as a thousand bears.


    His thirsty tongue knows no limits. His insatiable hunger is to be the most dangerous, he consumes mercilessly, succulent meal only to give a fraction of satisfaction. Nothing escapes from his unquenchable hunger; no flesh is left unfinished nor untouched. Gluttony hungers for everything.

 Episode 9.2

    In a lively garden, hanging prosperous greens sing with the wind, a divine garden in the Embassy, separated only by a simple doorway carved by vines. It is where Estrella and Raphael spend their time with its calming atmosphere away from reality.


    "I think you hit him hard," Estrella expresses her concern.


    "Elaborate ¡®hard¡¯ I just knocked him off. I know that you saw it too, despite having a bind he is able to bypass its restraints to release that amount of power. I had quite some time being his company, him engaging in such a reaction is nothing but a casual character of him. But after seeing what he did back in Busan, I didn''t know he had such power through harnessing anger as a trigger."


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    "Cloud... It seems like your friend is partnered with a gifted Radiant by the Cherubim, he purified two DRK Schatten. If Cloud could control his immense mana and with the other boy''s abilities, they''ll be unstoppable against the Schatten."


    "Unstoppable? The intention of his arrival here is not to be forged as a warrior. He just lost his mother and the next thing he finds himself in is in the middle of a war" Raphael responds. ¡°And you here proposing him to be on the front lines,¡±


    She crossed her arms, ¡°He didn¡¯t ask for this, it already happened¡ªproviding shelter for him will not change that. He possesses a gift that could save countless, and we¡¯re here letting it go to waste¡± she said steady and firm. She paused. ¡°He might not be here to be forged as a warrior but the life he¡¯s in will not wait. Do you think the Schattens care about his grief?"

 Episode 10: Tenacity

    As the sun rises for daybreak, warm light beams through the stained glass, flashing Cloud in a deep sleep with reflecting colors. He turns to the side, catching sight of a clock hanging on vines. "Oh, it''s 7:23... It''s still early?" he says.


    His eyes glance around, filled with bizarre herbs and vials with unknown compounds carefully organized on the shelves. A peculiar smell trails to his senses¡ªa boiling plant soup¡ªan unsettling combination of aromatic earthly smell and sharp rancid stench that makes his stomach seethe with discomfort.


    He looks at himself, "What the¡ªWhy am I wearing pajamas?" perplexed ruffling his clothes. He gets up to search for Hayan and Yunika but leans to the side and vomits into an empty container that was surprisingly already placed close to him.


    Steps of clattering flip-flops approaching from outside. Slamming the door open, a girl kicks and barges into the room, "Hey there! You''re finally awake!" she greets him enthusiastically as she watches Cloud leaning down to the bucket.


    With her brownish skin and captivating brown eyes, she exudes an air of warmth and curiosity. Her black hair cascades in curls, adding a touch of elegance to her appearance. Draped in a pristine white coat, the sleeves casually rolled up to her elbows, she radiates a sense of purpose and readiness. Her long wrinkled skirt follows her movements gracefully, accompanied by the soft click-clack of her bakya. But it is not just her expertise that sets her apart; it is her insatiable thirst for knowledge and unyielding passion for the extraordinary. As she sees Cloud, she can barely contain her excitement, her eyes gleaming with anticipation, eager to share fascinations.


    She comes jumping to Cloud, making him flinch out of nowhere. "Hi, hello, I''m Sora Brightway, a subordinate of Archangel Gabriel. I''m the one who took care of you and your friend here in the infirmary¡ª"


    "Infirmary? Looks like a spell shack to me¡ªwith all of this¡ª" Then he is immediately interrupted.


    "When Archangel Raphael hit you, your mana focused to the point of impact to reduce harm on you, well it''s not really ''harm'' because his attack was not meant to hurt you. But because of that, you released a large amount of mana that made the bind on your wrist recognized it as a usage of magic restraining it in the process. But thanks to it the damage was reduced although it is not a literal ''damage'' since it is not really meant to hurt you, but yes, the bind helped to reduce it,"


    Staring at her perplexed, no words could describe her tongue. She''s not making sense at all.


    She reaches for his wrist. "How are you feeling? Tired? Exhausted? Sleepy? The bind absorbed so much mana that it affected your physical body, which Archangel Raphael instantly noticed, which is why he asked Ody to bring you and your friend here to the infirmary to be treated," She takes one deep breath "Also, I like your features, dark brown eyes and your not-so-long hair, I like your hairstyle. A good height of 5''10, very nice. Your body is not that robust, but I have a feeling that you have what it takes. Do you punch people? Do you have any experience in fighting? Karate? Jiu Jitsu? Muay Thai?"


    Sora is so enthusiastic that Cloud can''t comprehend, so he sits there listening while she spits words he can''t follow. As she keeps spouting things, he stands up from the bed.


    She immediately paused. "Wait¡ªWhere are you going?" she asks.


    "I''m going to look for my friends." He said as he left the room barefoot.


    So she accompanies him outside. "I think I know where they are. I believe they''re in the training room." She walks with him across the majestic halls in white marble glimmering with purity. As they go, Sora brings a cup and a bean. As they find their way, she casually brews a cup of coffee for Cloud. "Hey, take this cup of coffee to compensate for your sleep," she provides.


    "Oh, thanks," and took a sip. Although the coffee is steaming, it does not burn his tongue. "Is this even coffee, it is hot but it doesn''t burn?" confused.


    "Yes, that is coffee and water, but it''s not an ordinary one, it comes from the gardens at the back of the Embassy, from the mystical trees taken care of by our Archon. That water possesses incredible healing ability and can recover the mana and strength of whoever drinks it."


    As they continue to walk, shouts of groans and grunts from heavy hits reverberate across the halls. Upon entering, Hayan, wrapped in bandages comes flying from the platform down towards their feet.


    On the corner, "Hey... Guten Morgen," Yunika greets them both.


    "Good morning," he responds and sips his coffee. "So, what exactly is he doing?" mixed with sarcasm and confusion as he watches a guy with multiple injuries; 5 broken ribs, concussion, heavy bruises and burns throughout his body, and 15 other broken bones.


    Lying on the ground, Hayan grunts in pain as he takes deep breaths, his body drenched in sweat from throwing fists for over an hour. "I see that you''re already awake, good morning," he said to Cloud. Then a gust of wind blasts his face, interrupting him conversing with Cloud.


    "Eyes up here, boy! You''re in a fight not at a tea party," On the platform, Estrella taunts him after having four consecutive losses. As a mercy to him, she even assured him that she would only use her wind techniques without her blade.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Yunika leans beside Cloud whispering "After long weeks of recovering he didn''t waste any time and straightforwardly asked Estrella for a match, he even begged her to use blades," Takes his cup "Like he wants further injuries," and sips from it.


    Cloud chokes and spats hearing what she said, "Wait... weeks? What do you mean by long weeks?!"


    Sora on the side, "Oh I forgot to tell you that you''ve been asleep for 4 weeks," she casually mutters.


    His eyes widened. "I was asleep for almost a month?!"


    Hayan regains his stand like it''s nothing, "Again," he requests.


    Estrella smirked at him, "Draw your blade!" she said, challenging him to land a cut.


    At that moment, in a precise second, a dagger hurled at her in a flash of lightning. In rapid response, Estrella grasps the strong currents of winds potent enough to stop the raging blade, but before she even blinks, Hayan dashes in front of her with his weapon close enough to pluck her eyes out. But she''s quick enough to parry and delivers a tremendous blast of wind throwing him away again.


    "Slow!" she taunts.


    Her eyes widen as Hayan comes dashing again behind her with another strike not only to be thrown again. Before he blasts into the air, he swiftly teleports to the dagger planted on the ground. He utilizes his agility, dashing left and right, front and back. In Every dash, he delivers a strike leaving Estrella in a constant defense. Despite being frail and still recovering from severe injuries, he refused to allow that to stop him from relentlessly throwing solid blows at Estrella. With Hayan''s strikes, Estrella also exchanges with brute hits, with her open-palm strikes, Hayan falters.


    She holds his hand firm and says "You sure are fast. Archangel Michael taught you well," she compliments. In a swift moment, she slips a robust uppercut straight to his jaw, by raw strength Hayan goes flying outside the platform.


    Flying outside, he hastily whirls both of his daggers towards Estrella, in response she gestures her hands curling against the wind, he stops mid-air as if he is held by her will, and then she pulls him backwards, an unseen force dragging him towards her. Hayan leaps back as Estrella pours a rain of punches on him, flipping the game of defense. Her hits are so fast and aggressive that his agility appears like child''s play, luckily, he''s skilled enough to evade some of her attacks.


    "What''s wrong? Ran out of tricks?" she taunts again.


    "Do not mock me!" he said as he whipped a flurry of kicks staggering Estrella a few steps back, giving him enough time to pick up his weapons, he immediately formed a stance with such ferocity that his blades burned bright with amplified mana. A chance will be in his grasp. In a matter of seconds, he dashes in front of Estrella and swings with all of his might. She parries it, but another follows, tenacious thrusts and slashes come upon her, his blades scraping the floor as he remains consistent with his slashes. It caught her off guard, feral yet so tranquil. But Estrella is fast enough to snatch his wrist, disarming him easily, concentrating strong amounts of wind to her palms and blasting him outside the ring.


    She takes a good deep breath, "Whooo... You''re this close to landing a hit," she gestures a small pinch. "With consistent and proper training, you''ll be promoted in no time." a win again for Estrella.


    Laying on the ground. Cloud approaches him, kneels and asks "The hell are you doing?"


    "This is not your concern, stand back," Hayan argues. Faltering and swaying left and right as if he is being pulled by two people. Limping as he strolls up the platform for another round but calm and slow wind meets his path as Estrella swooshes towards him.


    "That''ll be enough for today. You take some rest now, kid, " she says, expressing her care.


    Sora leans to Yunika whispering "I kept telling your friend to stay in bed for weeks, ''cause those bones aren''t gonna heal in a boxing match, but nope... he insists." she shrugs.


    Estrella carefully lifts him. "Can you help our devoted punching bag here, Sora," She glances at Cloud with a pesky smile "How''s the sleep?" she humors.


    "Great! I think I can stay up for weeks," he responds.


    "I see that you''ve already met our doctor," Estrella said.


    Sora, on the side, brews a tea infused with mana and herbs for Hayan: "Here, take this so you can get a beating for another day." As soon as Hayan started to spar with Estrella daily, her eyes never left, so when something bad happened to him due to his injuries, she''d be there to take care of him.


    "Thank you," he simply appreciates. He sips a sour and sweet aftertaste, soothing his tensed muscles and replenishing his mana as well.


    Estrella approaches Cloud, "He begs every day, he doesn''t sleep, eat nor rest at all, he won''t stop until he gets what he wants... improvement," she expresses her concerns. She sighs in admiration for his resilience, "But I hope that will not be the death of him,"


    "Those punches are for the weak," someone speaks out.


    Cloud turns to his side and looks at Raphael out of nowhere. "What the¡ª" he flinches as he spills his coffee. "When did you get here?!" he asks.


    Raphael, with folded arms, watched the whole match. "I was here the whole time." Despite standing beside them, his mana is properly concealed, making him unnoticeable. "Hayan seeks a fight that will challenge his skills, not his patience with your taunts," he addresses Estrella.


    "If I may, your Eminence¡ª" Hayan attempts to rationalize with the Archangel yet Estrella cuts him off.


    She raises a brow, "The boy asks for it, and I want to educate him something more," she narrows her eyes and stares at Raphael. "Raw strength will not suffice in a fight; it must come with a strong mind. If you don''t have the capabilities to understand or analyze the enemy''s mind with patience and the only thing in your mind is to win, that lust for victory will be your death. Maybe that''s the reason why he was trained with another Archangel, you''re too hard and strict to become a teacher,"


    Raphael tilts his head "It''s called discipline, maybe if you have it, you should''ve known how to properly act in front of an Archangel!" he argues.


    "Oh, forgive me, Your Eminence!" she exclaims. "For I lack the required respect and discipline when I''m in your presence..."


    The four quietly bystanding in front of the arguing Radiants over a simple predicament. With their mana slowly surging from their body, Raphael did not take her comment very well. The holstered pistols on his shoulders were pulled out. "Have you lost your respect, Virtue?" with a solemn face he said.


    Sora leans at the three and whispers "Uh... umm... I think I should get going now... Besides the patient has been treated now. I''ll come back if my help is needed again, bye!" then she comes running leaving the room with her slippers clacking throughout the halls.


    Estrella gives a hint of a smile, "You gotta earn it," Summoning her blade in response, "Your Eminence..." Glowing wind whirls as she calls upon her strength.


    Both form a stance as their weapons are drawn to each other. Their standing alone is enough to send everyone in the room a bone-chilling feeling and intense pressure. With sheer presence and power, an Archangel and a Virtue Radiant commence a test of strength.