ã€ŠTHE FEAR &quot;[English]&quot;ã€‹


 Gabriel Sunderland

    Chapter One

    Our narrative commences with Gabriel, ensnared upon an icy precipice, encircled by a phalanx of law enforcement officers. Clad in a blood-stained dagger, his visage was contorted into a macabre grin. A shroud of snow veiled his features, while crimson streaks marred his beard and cowl. His gaze was fixed, and his unsettling smile induced a palpable sense of unease among the officers.

    > "Halt!" bellowed the detective, Carl. "You have nowhere to run."

    > Gabriel responded with a sardonic chuckle, "A paradox indeed, is it not?"

    > And with that, he leapt from the precipice, his fate sealed in an abyss of uncertainty. To unravel the enigma of how he arrived at this precipice, we must rewind the clock.

    > On the seventh of October, nineteen hundred and ninety-nine, in the southeastern reaches of New Zealand, Gabriel was born into a devout Catholic family. His mother, a rigid and tempestuous woman, forbade him from associating with girls or boys. His father, a high-ranking military officer, was perpetually absent from the domestic sphere.

    When Gabriel was fourteen, his mother, Georgina, suffered a debilitating stroke. Forced to seek refuge with his aunt, who was quickly overwhelmed by the strain of his troubled presence, he was consigned at sixteen to a secluded religious boarding school. There, he found it increasingly difficult to reconcile with his peers. Their exuberant displays of juvenile merriment seemed to him a grotesque parody of human experience. They were, in his estimation, mere automata, preoccupied with trivial pursuits and blind to the profound mysteries of the cosmos. All human values, ideals, and desires appeared to him as vacuous and ephemeral. ¡°They are not even true friends,¡± he mused. ¡°Once their games and childish fancies fade, so too will their bonds, as fragile as a candle flame. They will forget each other, even their own names.¡±

    Suddenly, a hurled ball struck him in the face, shattering his reverie.

    ¡°Perhaps this will enliven you, monster!¡± jeered a boy named Mason.

    Gabriel returned the insult with equal venom. ¡°Your ball is as worthless as you are, without air to inflate it.¡±

    With a swift motion, he punctured the sphere, igniting a violent altercation.

    After the tumult had subsided, Sister Maria ushered them into a cramped chamber that resembled a dungeon, with guards stationed outside. The religious institution was a harsh place, rife with rumors of missing children. One student had claimed to witness the priest performing sinister rites over the corpse of a girl named Maria Hessenberg, but most dismissed the tale as the ramblings of a senile old man. Nevertheless, the tedium of their confinement forced them into conversation.

    "What brought you to this place?" Gabriel inquired of Mason.

    "It was horrific," Mason replied.

    "I doubt I could be shocked," Gabriel countered. "I''ve heard worse."

    "They tried to keep it from me at first, but I discovered the truth," Mason said. "My father murdered my mother and was imprisoned. My relatives then cast me aside. And here I am."

    "You''re a cold one," Gabriel remarked. "You can recount such horrors without shedding a tear?"

    "It was cruel, certainly, but why should I indulge in sentimentality? Why should we be ashamed to speak of our suffering? There are far darker things afoot in this world."

    "You''re right," Gabriel agreed with a mirthless chuckle.

    And so, the foundations of a peculiar friendship were laid.

    End of Chapter

    Chapter Two

    A peculiar bond began to form between Gabriel and Mason. For the first time in his life, Gabriel found himself experiencing genuine camaraderie. The pair spent countless hours engaged in physical exercise and digital diversions, their friendship deepening with each passing day.

    One fateful day, a gang of bullies targeted Gabriel. Mason, ever the loyal companion, intervened. Despite being outnumbered, he fought valiantly, but the odds were against him. Witnessing his friend''s plight, Gabriel could no longer remain a passive observer. The sisters, having observed the altercation, decreed that all involved should be punished with a month of arduous labor.

    Mason, noticing Gabriel''s slight frame and apparent disinterest in their shared activities, inquired, "Why so glum, old chap? Aren''t you enjoying yourself?"

    Gabriel replied, "I prefer to cultivate my mind, but your company is always welcome."

    "You''ll never achieve your goals if you''re physically weak," Mason retorted.

    Intrigued, Mason began to explore Gabriel''s interests. As night fell, he would often request that Gabriel read to him from the works of H.P. Lovecraft or Agatha Christie. Afterward, they would retire.

    At night, the school was haunted by eerie sounds ¨C shrieks, sobs, and unnatural laughter emanating from the surrounding woods. The students, including Gabriel, were perplexed by these disturbances, but the nuns dismissed them as the antics of local delinquents. Mason, however, was unconvinced.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    Each morning, the students were roused for chapel. The enigmatic headmaster was always conspicuously absent, his ill health a recurring excuse. During one such service, Gabriel noticed an inverted cross in the room from which Father Christopher had emerged. The door stood ajar, affording a clear view of the blasphemous symbol, accompanied by a crimson numeral: 666.

    Later, the students were assigned to tend to the school''s garden. By day, it was a picturesque paradise, ablaze with blossoms and laden with fruit trees. But as night fell, the garden transformed into a sinister tableau, dominated by a malevolent white owl that perched atop an apple tree, its gaze fixed upon the dormitory windows. Gabriel found himself dreading bedtime, for the owl''s eerie presence filled him with dread.

    While working in the garden, Gabriel seized the opportunity to discuss his discovery with Mason.

    "Hey, Mason," he began, "did you notice the inverted cross in Father Christopher''s room during chapel?"

    "That''s odd," Mason replied. "I don''t think they just put it there for fun. Something strange is going on here. Do you really believe that story about the campers?"

    "Not for a moment," Gabriel replied.

    After supper, the pair resolved to infiltrate the headmaster''s quarters and uncover the truth. The headmaster''s office was a detached building, ensconced within the school''s grounds. A monstrous canine, resembling a wolf, was chained to a nearby tree, its heavy breathing and blood-stained muzzle filling them with dread. The office door was securely locked, so Gabriel suggested they approach through the window nearest the beast. Mason, however, was terrified.

    "Are you mad?" Mason stammered. "I''m not going anywhere near that thing!"

    "Come on," Gabriel urged, "no risk, no reward."

    "Alright, but you go first," Mason conceded.

    They crept towards the canine, their shadows dancing on the moonlit grass. The creature''s form was truly wolf-like, its panting audible even from a distance. As they drew closer, they noticed a curious detail: its muzzle was stained with blood.

    "I doubt it''s been dining on chickens," Gabriel remarked with a sardonic chuckle.

    "I''m terrified," Mason admitted, "but we have to check it out."

    They circled around the tree, and as they did, Gabriel made a horrifying discovery. Beneath a nearby bush, he found a small, white shoe, caked in blood. He turned to Mason, his voice trembling with fear.

    "Mason! Mason! Come here!"

    "What is it?" Mason asked, his voice filled with dread.

    Mason was about to scream, but Gabriel clamped a hand over his mouth. "Shhh," he hissed. "Let''s go to the window."

    They clambered through the window and found themselves in the headmaster''s office. At first glance, it seemed unremarkable. They searched the drawers, but all were locked, save for one. As Gabriel reached for the drawer, a tremor ran through him.

    "What is it?" Mason asked, noticing his friend''s agitation.

    "Look," Gabriel whispered, his voice trembling.

    Mason peered into the drawer. Inside, nestled amongst mundane papers, was a copy of Anton LaVey''s "Satanic Bible". A chill ran down his spine.

    They fled the room as quickly as they had entered, their hearts pounding. The monstrous canine seemed oblivious to their escape. The following morning, Mason suggested they flee the school. Gabriel readily agreed, and they spent the day acting as normal, careful not to arouse suspicion.

    That night, as the students gathered around a bonfire, a girl named Rose began to spin a tale.

    "I have a truly terrifying story to tell," she began. "In 1899, this very building was an abandoned ruin, rumored to be haunted. But that''s not the worst of it. A man named Henry Tschevinckov, a Russian of sinister repute, came here and established the first Satanic cult in New Zealand. He sought to transform this place into a temple of darkness, but his activities were shrouded in secrecy. The cult attracted the wealthy and the depraved, who would offer up orphaned children as sacrifices. It is said that those with fair skin were selected for a particularly gruesome fate, while the others had their limbs severed and their blood used in a macabre ritual. The children were then discarded, their minds shattered."

    In time, Tschevinckov was apprehended and the cult disbanded. Legend has it that the current headmaster, Marcus Williams, is none other than Marcus Tschevinckov''s grandson, continuing his grandfather''s sinister legacy. He has transformed the school into a breeding ground for evil, a place where the dark arts are practiced in secret."

    The children laughed, all except for Gabriel and Mason, who were frozen in disbelief. Rose leaned in and whispered, "If you believe me, meet me after dawn. I have a plan."

    Mason, his face pale, nodded.

    In the dead of night, they crept to Rose''s room. At four in the morning, they knocked three times.

    Rose opened the door with a sardonic grin. "Well, well, well, look who it is. What a delightful surprise."

    Gabriel replied sternly, "This is no time for games, Rose."

    She smiled. "You''re right. Let''s get to it. The sisters are asleep."

    Mason let out a blood-curdling scream.

    Rose produced an ancient map. "The back gate is our only way out. The guard takes a break at three, but the real danger is the dog."

    Mason looked at Gabriel, his eyes wide with fear. "Did you see that beast? It''s not a dog, it''s a wolf. And it looks like it''s been feeding on something more substantial than bones."

    Gabriel forced a smile. "No risk, no reward. We''ll make it out of here."

    Rose smirked and produced a meat-wrapped parcel. "This," she said, "is laced with a sleeping potion. I took it from the sisters'' kitchen. If this works, we''ll have our chance."

    Their Escape

    At precisely 3:15 AM, the trio crept through the creaking corridors of the school. A window overlooking the rear garden revealed the monstrous canine chained to a tree.

    "Easy now," Gabriel whispered, his voice tense. "One wrong move and we''re dog food."

    Rose, her hand trembling, tossed the drugged meat beyond the creature''s reach. The beast paused, drawn by the scent, and began to devour the offering.

    "Is it working?" Mason asked, his voice barely a whisper.

    The creature lifted its head, its eyes glowing red in the darkness. For a moment, the trio was frozen in terror.

    Then, with a burst of adrenaline, Gabriel dashed toward the back gate. He fumbled with the lock, his heart pounding in his chest. Finally, the gate creaked open.

    "Go!" he urged.

    They ran, their feet pounding on the dewy grass. But they were not alone. The sound of heavy footsteps echoed behind them. Mason was grabbed. Gabriel hesitated, but Rose pulled him away.

    "We can''t help him now," she said.

    "Mason!" Gabriel screamed, his voice filled with despair.

    In a chamber reeking of blood and brimstone, Mason awoke to find himself surrounded by cloaked figures. A sinister figure stood upon a dais, intoning ancient incantations in a tongue that sounded like a blasphemous perversion of Latin. "This is for you, Lucifer," they chorused, their voices a chilling, discordant harmony. As Mason was bound to a cold, white table, the cultists erupted in raucous laughter.

    The room was a macabre tableau, littered with the mutilated corpses of children. In the center of the chamber stood a colossal statue of Baphomet, its monstrous visage casting long, menacing shadows. With cruel efficiency, the cultists began to torment Mason, their blades glinting in the flickering torchlight. His blood was collected in an empty champagne bottle and passed around as a gruesome libation.

    Finally, they branded him with a strange symbol, seared into his flesh with a heated iron. The mark was inscribed in an unknown language, perhaps a forgotten tongue called Diplo. As they finished their ritual, Mason was left for dead.

    Meanwhile, Gabriel and Rose had fled into the nearby woods. "We must return for Mason tomorrow," Gabriel declared.

    Rose nodded, and they built a small fire to ward off the encroaching darkness. As the night wore on, Gabriel wept uncontrollably until exhaustion claimed him. Rose draped her jacket over him and fell asleep beside him.

    The following morning, they stole an abandoned car and, after a tense moment of fiddling with the ignition, Rose managed to start it. Clad in dark cloaks, they returned to the school under the cloak of night. They searched high and low, but there was no sign of Mason.

    "I know another place," Rose said, her voice trembling slightly. "The cellar. I hope he''s not there."

    With a heavy heart, they descended into the dank, weed-choked cellar. Using a pair of shears, Rose forced open the rusted hatch. As Gabriel shone his flashlight into the darkness, they were met with a horrifying sight: a chamber filled with the remains of children. Disgust and fear washed over Gabriel, but his thoughts were consumed by the fate of his friend. Rose, however, seemed almost indifferent.

    At the far end of the cellar, they found what remained of Mason. His body had been mutilated, leaving only his head. Both Gabriel and Rose were overcome with grief and horror.

    Driven by a need for vengeance, they resolved to burn the school to the ground. They filled several containers with gasoline and doused the cellar, the garden, and the headmaster''s office. As the flames engulfed the building, they fled.

    Gabriel and Rose left the burning school behind, their lives irrevocably changed. On his seventeenth birthday, Gabriel had escaped from hell, vowing never to return.

    chapter End

 Chaos in the Quiet Land

    Chapter Three

    Exactly nine years later, on August 2nd, 2025, in Wellington, we meet Detective Carl Johnson, sipping his morning coffee with his family. He was pondering their lengthy discussion from the night before about his over-involvement in work and neglect of his family.

    Carl thought to himself, "She doesn''t understand. It''s all for our children, for justice. I can''t let them grow up in this corrupt world and become monsters themselves. I''m investigating their crimes to prevent it."

    His reverie was interrupted by a call from the police station informing him he had been assigned to interrogate a series of random murders plaguing the capital. The victims had no apparent connection. Initially, the detectives believed the killer was targeting corporate heads and prominent political figures, but the presence of children, women, and the poor, all killed in the same manner - crucified on an inverted cross with strange English symbols and ciphers - baffled them. There was no physical evidence, as if the killer were a ghost.

    However, the authorities could no longer ignore the situation after the recent assassination of the American ambassador during his visit to the capital. This created tension in relations with America and forced them to take these cases seriously.

    Carl Johnson, the world''s most renowned detective at the time, was summoned and sent to the last three crime scenes, hoping to find something.

    Carl said, his eyes gleaming with excitement, "Finally, some excitement, some mystery, some horror."

    The first scene was the Washington family home, where the son and mother, Maria and James Washington, were found crucified and decapitated. The heads had been neatly severed at the base, and their fingers had been cut off. Overcome by the horror of the scene, one of the police officers vomited.

    Written on the wall beside the bodies, in blood, was the phrase "J.W.M IS legend." The window was open, and there were no footprints near it, but at the bottom of the hill, there were some footprints and the tracks of a motorcycle that stopped at the end of the icy road.

    The other crime scenes were similar, but the words differed. At the Hudson household, the scene was even more gruesome. The bodies of the children and their father were completely dismembered, as if the killer had used an axe or an electric saw, or had had time to dissect the corpses.

    Detective Carl said, "A massacre like a battlefield." In that apartment, the Spanish phrase "?Es la muerte su salvaci¨®n?" was painted on the wall, meaning "Is death their salvation?"

    The Hudson and Washington families did not have significant power or political connections, unlike the other prominent figures the killer had murdered in a suspicious manner. This killer later became known as the "Reaper of Wellington."

    Detective Carl went to the third crime scene, where a member of the New Zealand Senate was found. The man''s body was mutilated like the others, crucified on a cross that was not inverted this time. Written on the wall beside him was the Japanese phrase ËÀ¤ó¤Ç¤â¤¤¤¤¡¢Éñ¡©¤ÎÅ­¤ê¤¬¤¢¤Ê¤¿¤òØž¤¯¤«¤â¤·¤ì¤Ê¤¤¤«¤é, meaning "You may as well die, for the wrath of the gods may pierce you."

    Detective Carl found a connection between these crimes and a political organization that had been wiped out some time ago. Detective Carl said, "Perhaps this is the work of the Zero Phantom."

    Officer Marcus: "But, detective, this organisation was eradicated a year and a half ago, and its leader is now imprisoned on Skull Devil Island under heavy guard."

    Detective Carl: "Perhaps you should verify that."

    Detective Carl: "The first symbol points to James William Moriarty, and wasn¡¯t the leader of that organisation obsessed with Moriarty?"

    Officer Marcus: "You¡¯re correct, but that alone is not definitive proof of his involvement."

    Detective Carl: "Just grant me some time."

    We now shift the narrative to Waikato, two years prior, to glimpse Gabriel, who has since become a cybersecurity officer, and Rose, who now serves as a member of the board of directors for a company named Nexus Corp. Both of them work for the same company.

    As for this company, Nexus Corp stands among the most renowned pharmaceutical and cosmetics firms worldwide. They developed a drug that is celebrated globally, said to cure ageing, most diseases, and even viruses originating from animals. Yet, the side effects of this miracle drug led to the death of 9% of its users.

    We transition to Gabriel, for whom this marks his third day at the company, while Rose is considered a seasoned veteran in the workplace. Gabriel attempts to hack into the company¡¯s systems to uncover information, but Rose swiftly shuts his laptop and says:

    Rose: "Oh no, no. Steady there, cowboy. You¡¯ll end up getting yourself fired."

    Gabriel: What? Are you with them now?

    Rose: It''s not like that, you idiot. Don''t imagine it''s that simple.

    Gabriel: But it seems you''re thinking like me.

    Rose: Yes, you buffoon. The only difference between us is impulsiveness. Meet me at 9 p.m. at The Grill Court restaurant, and I''ll tell you everything I know.

    Gabriel: Alright, boss.

    Gabriel was excited about it; it was his first date with Rose. He put on a red suit with a white shirt and got ready to go. Gabriel left his apartment, and we notice a picture of Mason. When Gabriel closed his room door, he went out and took the bus to the restaurant. He arrived at the restaurant, which looked as elegant as the restaurants he had seen in stories and series about the Victorian era, which he was obsessed with. Upon entering the restaurant, the scene was like a vibrant painting. The crystal chandeliers hanging from the high ceiling scattered their warm light on the walls decorated with intricate gold carvings. The polished oak floor reflected the shine of the gentlemen''s and ladies'' polished shoes. In every corner, white marble columns held arches adorned with

    In every corner, white marble columns held arches adorned with exquisite sculptures.

    The tables, covered in pristine white cloths, were adorned with silver candelabra holding candles that cast soft shadows on the fine porcelain dishes. The plates were decorated with gold rims, and the spoons and forks were inlaid with intricate engravings that reflected the mastery of hand craftsmanship.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    Gabriel found Rose at one of the tables, wearing a dress that resembled Cinderella''s. Rose stood like a marble statue, exuding confidence and elegance. Her soft, white skin, almost like porcelain, shimmered in the dim candlelight as if lit from within. Her cheeks had a light blush, as if she had just taken a sip of cherry liquor. Her deep, gray-blue eyes shone with an intelligent and mysterious look, framed by thick black lashes that added a touch of magic to every blink.

    Her hair, styled with exquisite care, was twisted into an ornate bun adorned with small silver combs encrusted with gemstones, while strands of it flowed gently down her long neck like silk. Gabriel was very impressed with Rose; she resembled his favorite character, Vanessa Ives, from the series "Penny Dreadful," not only in appearance but also in personality. Gabriel reached the table and said to Rose:

    Gabriel: I''m sorry, my lady, but have you seen a girl named Rose pass by here?

    Rose said with a smile, "Sit down, you silly man."

    Rose: "You must think this is a date, but I''m here to tell you a rather gruesome tale."

    Gabriel: "I love your gruesome tales."

    Rose: "Very clever. I''m here to tell you about our company. You''ve certainly heard of the drug ''Neuralis''."

    Gabriel: "Yes, I did a lot of research on them before joining the company."

    Rose: "That''s not all. I''ll make it short for you. The name of the CEO of this company is Mikhail Tchevenkov."

    Gabriel said, after freezing in shock, "You must be joking. This can''t be real!"

    Rose: "Yes, it is real."

    Gabriel: "From that family?"

    Rose: "The Tchevenkov family descends from a noble lineage that originated in the Siberian region of Russia during the thirteenth century. Their ancestor, Ivanov Tchevenkov, was a military commander in the Russian Tsar''s army, but he was known for his mysterious behavior and the strange rituals he practiced in secret. Legends say that Ivanov was the first to establish a devil-worshiping cult in Asia and Europe. It is said that he was a skilled sorcerer, master of all black magic, and that he was able to harness a powerful demon to serve his family. Over time, Ivanov disappeared and all news of his family vanished mysteriously, as if they had never existed."

    Gabriel: "And what do we know about this company and its director?"

    Rose: "She owns shares in most of the world''s companies, and she''s the driving force behind most cosmetics and pharmaceutical companies. It''s also said that many employees have been disappearing, including your children when they joined the company. Surely you and I know what happened to them."

    Gabriel: "Certainly, those poor souls. Does the Tchevenkov family have any power in the world or something like that?"

    Rose: "Yes, they and eight other families, but I don''t have information about them."

    Gabriel said, looking surprised, he had actually been embarrassed to ask this question for a while, because he respected people''s privacy:

    Gabriel: "Rose, where did you get your information?"

    Rose said, looking scared and tense: "Honestly, I have a friend from the Tchevenkov family named Eva Tchevenkov. She felt disgusted with her family and decided to create a secret political organization. One of her friends, I don''t know his name, but he uses the pseudonym of the famous pirate Henry Every. He doesn''t even show his face to the members and tells them the plans using a voice changer, but it''s no longer secret now, to expose her and all the big heads in the world."

    Gabriel: "Are you saying...?"

    Rose: "Yes, they are "Zero Phantom". That''s what I wanted to tell you. You must have figured out that I''m a member of this organization. We need a skilled hacker like you on our team."

    Gabriel: "Give me three days to think about it."

    What do you think Gabriel''s response will be?

    In any case, the dinner between the companions ended. It was supposed to be dramatic, but we don''t always get what we want, and not everything we plan for happens. Gabriel extended his hand to Rose to help her up after paying the bill. This was the most expensive restaurant he had ever been to, but he was not a man who found value in money.

    As Rose walked beside Gabriel, heading towards the exit, the air was warm around them, and the dim light from the lamps scattered gently on the ground. Their footsteps filled the place with a quiet sound, as if the world around them had stopped to witness those moments that no one had expected to turn into something worse.

    Then, in an unexpected moment, drops of blood began to fall from the ceiling, one after the other, first on Gabriel''s hand, then on the floor, then on the walls of the luxurious restaurant. There seemed to be no clear source for this bloody liquid, and everything in the place reflected a state of hidden panic, as if those drops were nothing but a warning of something approaching rapidly.

    Then the blood began to fall faster, as if the ceiling itself had opened its doors to let the rain of blood fall, as abundant as if it were splashing from the veins of another world. The drops of blood fell on people''s bodies, on the luxurious furniture, and on the hanging paintings that were gradually turning into distorted images, covered by the terrifying liquid that would not stop. It was as if everything in the restaurant had begun to sink into an ocean of blood.

    Rose could not comprehend what was happening. Everything was descending into chaos, and every time she tried to move or speak, the blood covered the place more, until even her crimson red dress began to drip with blood as if it were part of the nightmare itself. The blood clung to it, gradually devouring it until it became the most terrifying part of the scene.

    Rose stood dumbfounded, her gaze darting between the blood that was flooding the place, not knowing what to do or where to hide. Her heart was pounding, and her eyes widened in terror. Time and place were collapsing, and everything around her was disappearing in a torrent of blood.

    Before she could comprehend or escape, Gabriel felt the weight of her body as she collapsed into his arms, falling unconscious to the ground. The young man took her, terrified for his beloved, to Huber Hospital. When she awoke from her faint, she asked Gabriel:

    Rose: "Gabriel, what happened to me?"

    Gabriel: "You fainted, but don''t worry, the doctor says it was just a drop in blood pressure."

    Rose: "How? Didn''t you see all that blood pouring down on us?"

    Gabriel: "It seems it was just a hallucination, the place was normal."

 The bloody hell

    Chapter Four

    The chapter begins with Gabriel in a state of panic and tension from what he saw. He says to himself, "There''s no time for fear. It''s time for an ordinary person to change this wretched world. I will join Zero Phantom." Gabriel slams the door behind him and leaves the apartment. He takes a late-night cab to meet Rose, whom he had an appointment with today.

    Gabriel enters the hospital and finds Rose watching TV with excitement and tension.

    Gabriel: "What are you doing, miss?"

    Rose: "Watching a horror movie."

    Gabriel, mocking her: "I don''t like horror films; they don''t scare me. This isn''t real horror."

    Rose: "Have you heard of psychological horror before?"

    Gabriel: "Yes, I used to read novels at that cursed school by H.P. Lovecraft."

    Rose: "What do you think of him?"

    Gabriel: "I feel the experience would be different if you tried it yourself. That tension, confusion, anger, and bewilderment always lead me to ask: What does a human fear? Do they fear death, being attacked, a threat to their lives, or do they fear the unknown, confusion, the internal struggle, madness, or the inability to distinguish between reality and fantasy? What we all fear, Rose, is our unknown fate."

    Rose laughs and says, "I think I''m more afraid of your philosophy."

    She then asks, "Have you thought about what I told you?"

    Gabriel: "Yes, I''ve made my decision. I will join Zero Phantom."

    Rose: "Alright, I will send you the coordinates and the location through the encrypted chat app we¡¯re using."

    Gabriel: "How much do you want, leader?"

    Rose: "Go now, and don''t worry about me. My friend will come to pick me up."

    Gabriel returns to his apartment and falls into a deep sleep. The next morning, he heads to the location Rose sent him, only to find it¡¯s an empty lot with nothing there. The ground beneath Gabriel cracks open, as if he was standing over a giant door. Two huge men emerge from the earth and place a cloth soaked in a sedative on Gabriel¡¯s face. He faints.

    Gabriel wakes up to find himself in a meeting with the members of the organization.

    Eva, the deputy leader of the organization: "Welcome. You must be Rose¡¯s spoiled boy. I''m Eva, the deputy leader here."

    Gabriel: "Rose has told me about you."

    All of Zero Phantom¡¯s members wear black cloaks and masks to hide their identities, except for Eva, whose face is exposed.

    Gabriel: "So after all these assassinations of journalists and famous political figures, I want to know what your goal is with all this."

    Eva: "To understand our goal, you need to hear the plan. Today, we will plan the assassination of the American Minister, Howard Phillips, during his visit to the main building in 8 days."

    Gabriel: "You all truly are crazy. Why this minister?"

    Eva: "Because this minister is the link to the devilish Chevchenkov family, one of the seven families that rule our world. Howard Phillips is just a puppet in the hands of Chevchenkov, allowing them to push their ideas and agendas into American society."

    Gabriel: "Seems like you really hate your family. But what makes the rest of your comrades hate them?"

    Eva: "I have no ties to those devilish dogs anymore. Well, remember how there were around 200 similar schools to the one you were in, all over the world, with the same idea? Everyone in this organization are students of those schools, who discovered the secret, just like you. Now, cowboy, if you''re not going to interrupt me, I''ll start explaining the plan. There''s a tower near the political building¡¯s garden. I''ll be the sniper, you will hack the phones of the American guards while they are in the restroom, and Rose will hack the phones of the New Zealand president¡¯s guards while they¡¯re inside. We''ll send them orders to wait briefly inside the building. We¡¯ll shut the entire main building down, declaring an emergency, and we''ll hold the guards hostage. The alarms will go off, and the place will be in chaos. During this chaos, we¡¯ll blow up all the cars in front of the building and a few empty houses. Then the target will be alone. I¡¯ll shoot him in the skull and we¡¯ll escape disguised so no one notices us."

    Gabriel: "That''s not a bad plan. Is it yours?"

    Eva: "No, it¡¯s the leader of the organization, the hacker Avery."

    Gabriel: "So you don¡¯t know anything about the man?"

    Eva: "No, but he¡¯s clever and has this terrifying tone in his voice. Actually, he speaks with me in his true voice and discusses many topics. He¡¯s insane and scary, like a serial killer."

    Then Eva said in a stern tone: "Anyway, gentlemen, this meeting is over. Get ready for the big challenge in eight days."

    Everyone shouted with enthusiasm and raised their glasses high, as if celebrating a coming victory. Their voices echoed, while Gabriel sat silently, lost in thought.

    Gabriel returned home, but as he reached a street near his house, he asked the bus driver to drop him off. He wanted to walk for a bit, perhaps to calm his nerves after the intense meeting.

    But as soon as he started walking, something strange happened. The ground beneath him started to shake, as if an earthquake was happening. Suddenly, the air filled with thick green mist, terrifying, seeping from everywhere. Shadows moved as if they were living creatures, and the air became thick as lead.

    As Gabriel staggered forward, masses of corpses began to appear through the mist. Some were nailed in place, as if tortured to death, while others moved unnaturally, like a cursed funeral procession. These corpses weren¡¯t human anymore. Some were so mutilated that their flesh was torn apart, exposing their skeletal frames, and their faces were lifeless, yet they moved slowly.

    There were even more horrifying corpses; some had melted flesh, while others had no heads or arms. The sight was extremely bloody, and Gabriel struggled to look away from those grotesque details. Their rotting flesh, severed limbs, and exposed bones made the scene feel like a sick nightmare.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    But what was most terrifying was that these corpses moved in unison, as if they were a cursed musical band, repeating one word in Greek: "¦²? ¦Á?¦Ó¦É¦Ï?"

    Gabriel froze in place, his body trembling as though he had lost control of it. He couldn¡¯t understand what was happening, but he was paralyzed by fear. As those corpses drew closer, he felt as though his breath was being sucked out of his chest. Suddenly, he woke up, gasping for air, drenched in sweat. He realized it had been a nightmare, or so he thought.

    But the feeling of reality was different. He opened his eyes to find himself in a strange alley. His clothes, especially his jacket, were soaked with blood. His face and shoes were stained with dry blood. He tried to comprehend the situation, but he didn¡¯t understand anything.

    He slowly got up, his eyes nervously scanning the place. He headed for the nearest water source, washing his face violently, as if trying to wake up from a nightmare. He took off his jacket and threw it in the nearest trash can, as though getting rid of it would erase the traces of what had happened.

    He stood there for a moment, stunned and scared, whispering to himself: "Is this another nightmare? Or is this real?"

    As he walked with trembling steps, he heard screams and cries coming from nearby. His heart raced, and he quickly moved toward the source of the sounds. There, he found ambulances and police cars, with red and blue lights cutting through the darkness, while paramedics were carrying disfigured bodies into the ambulances.

    He got closer to the scene and discovered that the apartment from which the incident originated resembled a crime scene from hell. The bodies were scattered everywhere, with parts of bodies thrown around as though a monster had attacked the place.

    In the center of the room, there was the body of a small girl, her head split in half, and the body of an adult man completely torn apart. The intestines were scattered, and the internal organs were thrown around as though they had exploded. Blood stains covered every inch of the room, and the walls were painted red.

    But the most horrifying sight was the body of a woman; her reproductive organs had been cut off, and her eyes were missing, as though they had been violently gouged out. Every corner of the apartment bore the marks of absolute torture, as if the very demons of hell had passed through.

    Detective Thompson stood in the middle of this bloody hell and said in a trembling voice: "What in God''s name happened here? Did a pack of leopards attack them? Or what?"

    One of the officers standing next to him replied in a tense voice: "Sir, this brutality can only come from a human... no beast could do this."

    Outside, Gabriel stood close to the crowd, shocked by what he saw. He couldn¡¯t understand what was going on, but he couldn¡¯t stop himself from wondering: "Who is the human monster that could do this?"

    His thoughts were interrupted by two old women talking nearby: The first one: "Could it be the Soul Reaper again?" The second one: "Damn him! Wherever he is, let him ride straight to hell!"

    As the second woman finished her words, Gabriel decided to leave the scene. He didn¡¯t want to stay there and risk being seen by the police. Gabriel returned to his home home,

    Gabriele couldn''t sleep that night. He felt as if the very heavens were declaring war on the earth. The rain poured down in torrents, relentless and unending, as if the clouds were unleashing their fury. Lightning cleaved the sky, splitting it with blinding white light, followed by thunder that roared like an angry beast, shaking the entire neighbourhood and rattling the windows as though they might shatter. Yet, despite all this, the storm was not what troubled him most.

    Gabriele sat in the corner of the room, pressing his head against the cold wall. His body shivered, as though the chill had seeped into his bones. He began to whisper to himself, his voice laden with distress and fear:

    "What is happening to me? Have I gone mad? How am I seeing all these hallucinations? Or were they truly hallucinations?!"

    He raised his trembling hands to his head and pressed them hard, as if trying to stop the flood of thoughts that were drowning him. He muttered in a hoarse voice:

    "What about that demon pirate? And those horrifying corpses walking in that cursed alley? What... is happening to me?!"

    Gabriele¡¯s voice grew louder, as if his screams were a reflection of his inner turmoil. He began gasping for breath, his eyes scanning the room as if searching for some explanation or way out. He spoke in a voice barely above a whisper, almost choking:

    "What happened to me?! How did I wake up in that alley where that massacre took place? And why was my clothing covered in blood when I wasn¡¯t even wounded? This... this is impossible... impossible!"

    He repeated the word as if trying to convince himself he wasn¡¯t losing his mind, but the echo of his words in the empty room only heightened his tension. Sweat began to pour from his forehead, and his entire body trembled as if stricken by a fierce fever. It felt as though he had wandered for days in a valley of death, surrounded by darkness and fear.

    After long, agonising moments of silence, Gabriele stumbled to his feet, then collapsed onto his bed. His body felt as though it were carrying the weight of the entire world. He closed his eyes, trying to summon the image of his devout Catholic mother. She had always been his refuge in moments like this. Slowly, he began to recite the prayers she had taught him as a child, murmuring them slowly as though pleading for peace and tranquillity.

    With each prayer he uttered, his heart calmed a little, until at last, exhaustion claimed him, even though his dreams were far from peaceful.

    When the sun rose, it marked the day of the great operation. Gabriele awoke with a heavy heart, determined to go forward despite everything he had endured. He set off towards the headquarters where the team awaited him.

    Everyone piled into darkened cars, equipped with advanced camouflage systems, as if part of some grand secret conspiracy. Inside the cars, the atmosphere was charged with tension and anticipation. As the vehicles made their way through the streets, Gabriele couldn¡¯t help but wonder to himself:

    "Who¡¯s funding this organisation? Who has these resources that seem endless?"

    They finally arrived at the designated location. The air was thick with anticipation, and each member of the team readied themselves for the next step.

    On the seventh floor of the unfinished concrete building, Gabriele and Rose took their positions, while Eva was positioned above. The building seemed like an empty shell, filled only with shadows that danced with the wind.

    In the garden, the president and the minister sat comfortably, sipping coffee, completely unaware of the disaster that was drawing near.

    Eva signalled the beginning. Rose immediately began hacking into the phones of the New Zealand soldiers. Her fingers moved swiftly and precisely across the keypad, as though playing a complex technological symphony. After a few minutes, Rose succeeded in disabling their systems, forcing them to stay inside.

    Meanwhile, Gabriele was suffering from a severe headache. He felt pulsations of pain, as though a hammer was repeatedly striking his skull. He tried to focus on the hack, but the pain clouded his thoughts. Nevertheless, thanks to his sharp intellect, he eventually managed to breach the American guards'' systems.

    The operation began as planned. Explosions began to ring out, one after another, each explosion sending shockwaves through the air. The deafening hum filled the atmosphere, and thick smoke clouded the area.

    Amidst the chaos, Eva fired a single shot. It was a perfect hit, piercing the minister¡¯s skull, causing him to collapse, lifeless.

    As for Gabriele, the dizziness intensified with every passing moment. Suddenly, he felt something tightening around his neck. He turned to find a little girl, her features grotesquely disfigured and her head shattered completely, blood pouring from her body.

    The girl effortlessly lifted his body as though he were a mere doll, then slammed him to the ground with a brutal force. Gabriele felt excruciating pain as it tore through every bone in his body. As he struggled to gather himself, the ghost of Mason appeared. Mason was surrounded by an aura of dense shadows, his eyes glowing like hellfire.

    The ghost approached him and spoke in a chilling voice, as if the words were echoing from the very depths of hell:

    "¦Ì¦Å ?¦Ã¦Ê¦Á¦Ó?¦Ë¦É¦Ð¦Å?"

    The ghost vanished suddenly, leaving Gabriele sprawled on the ground, unconscious.

    When Rose found Gabriele, he was lying unconscious. The team had decided to flee, leaving him behind, but Rose refused to leave without him. She shouted angrily:

    "I will not leave him here, Eva!"

    But Eva responded sharply:

    "Come on, Rose, we must leave now!"

    Rose refused to comply, lifting Gabriele onto her back, despite his heavy weight. She rushed through the hallways, searching for an escape route, until she stumbled upon an abandoned motorcycle.

    She jumped onto the bike, placed Gabriele behind her, and sped away at full throttle, leaving the site of the disaster behind, the smoke from the explosions and the sounds of chaos echoing in the distance.

    End of Chapter

 Weird Tales

    Chapter Five

    Gabriel wakes up to find Rose beside him, her face marked with confusion. His heart pounds with fear and anxiety as he looks at her.

    Gabriel: "What the hell is happening to me?"

    Rose: "I was going to ask you the same thing. Have you stopped taking your medication?"

    Gabriel: "Medication? What medication? What the hell are you talking about?"

    Rose: "Your antidepressants. You haven¡¯t been visiting Dr. George for a while now."

    Gabriel is struck by a wave of shock, as if a thousand demons had just possessed him. His voice trembles with disbelief.

    Gabriel: "Depression? When was I ever diagnosed with depression? What doctor? Why the hell can¡¯t I remember any of this?"

    Rose exhales sharply, a hint of sorrow darkening her gaze.

    Rose: "Damn it¡­ not again. I didn¡¯t expect it to be this severe."

    Gabriel: "What do you mean?"

    She looks at him, her eyes filled with sorrow.

    Rose: "PTSD. You¡¯ve had it since Mason died. You spent a long time in isolation, drowning in grief and depression. I was the one who took you to Dr. George, and for a while, your condition started improving. But it seems that period was too traumatic for you... You¡¯ve completely blocked it out."

    Gabriel freezes. His fingers grip his hair as he trembles, his mind spiraling into chaos.

    "This is madness. This is madness. This is madness. This is madness. This can¡¯t be real. This can¡¯t be real. How can I not remember an entire part of my life?"

    Rose sighs deeply, regret evident in her voice.

    Rose: "I¡¯m sorry for dragging you into all of this, knowing how fragile your mental state is. But¡­ we needed your intelligence."

    Gabriel, still in shock, clenches his fists.

    Gabriel: "Get out."

    Rose: "What?"

    Gabriel: "Get the hell out of here!"

    Rose hesitates for a moment but then quietly leaves, not wanting to push him any further.

    ¡ª

    Later that night, at her home, Rose receives a call from Eva, who wants to congratulate Gabriel on the success of the mission. She also informs her that there will be a victory celebration at the end of the month.

    Rose  tries calling Gabriel, but he doesn¡¯t answer. She keeps trying for twelve days¡ªwithout a single response. Worry creeps into her heart.

    "I¡¯ll go see him at sunrise," she tells herself.

    ¡ª

    4 AM.

    Gabriel lies in bed. He hasn¡¯t eaten in eight days. His body has become skeletal, nothing but skin stretched over bone. Beside him, a large bottle of water sits, barely touched. The only thing keeping him alive is his human survival instinct¡ªthough his mind craves death more than anything.

    His face is frozen in shock

    Rose unlocks the apartment door with her key and finds it in a miserable state. Broken glass fills the place, and the bathroom mirror is shattered. She heads to Gabriel¡¯s room and finds him on the brink of despair, his face sombre, and his body resembling that of famine victims.

    Rose says, "Gabriel, my dear, what happened to you?"

    He does not respond, nor does he change his sitting position. He remains seated on the bed, hugging his legs.

    Rose says, "You need to cheer up. I am doing all this to create your dream of changing the world."

    Gabriel, with a sarcastic and mocking tone, devoid of any care, says,

    Gabriel: "Those were nothing but childish dreams. It is impossible to change the world. It will remain a disgusting hell forever. You should give up."

    Rose: "No, I will not. As long as you are with me, anything is possible. I brought you pasta with shrimp¡ªI know it is your favourite food."

    Gabriel: "Just let me die. That would be better for everyone."

    Rose: "You fool. If you die, I will die with you. That is a promise from me to you. Now, eat."

    Gabriel agrees to eat after Rose''s insistence. She then tells him about the celebration the organisation is planning and says that if he loves her, he should attend. He agrees to her request.

    Five days later, on the last day of August, they go to the headquarters of the Zero Phantom organisation. Eva welcomes them and hands them glasses of wine.

    Eva: "Welcome to the party, cowboys."

    Eva delivers a speech and says, "Today, we struck our first blow against the Chevchenkov family and took down their lapdog, the minister. Tomorrow, we will expose all the documents we have gathered about this minister and all the evidence proving his connection with the devilish Chevchenkov family. But for now, ladies and gentlemen, let us celebrate this victory with a toast to our new member, Gabriel Sunderland."

    Gabriel gives a faint sarcastic smile and thinks to himself, I fear for Rose among these fools. They are devoid of principles and only think about achieving their goal. It does not matter how noble your cause is¡ªif you abandon your comrades and friends, then you are scum. Let these fools celebrate their imaginary victories. I have brought an audiobook of Sherlock Holmes with me. I will put on my earphones and listen to it¡ªperhaps this time, Sir Moriarty will defeat Sherlock.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

    Their small celebration is interrupted by a call from their leader, Captain Avery, whose face is hidden, but his body is visible, dressed entirely in black.

    He says, "Congratulations, gentlemen, on this great victory. We are on the right path, oh revolutionaries. But do not get too excited, for this is only the first step towards the heavens. Celebrate, but remain as vigilant as the wolf that sleeps with one eye open. Long live Phantom Zero."

    As he says this sentence, he performs the infamous Nazi salute, and all the organisation¡¯s members follow suit, including Rose and Eva¡ªexcept for Gabriel, who watches intently.

    Eva speaks to Gabriel, who is drinking from Starbucks and has one earphone in his ear.

    Eva: "It seems you have noticed, genius."

    Gabriel looks at her and says, "Yes. That was a recorded video, not a live call."

    ---

    After that eerie party, everyone returns to their homes. Gabriel heads to his apartment, followed closely by Rose, who slips inside unnoticed¡ªor perhaps he did notice.

    Gabriel: "What are you doing here at this late hour?"

    Rose: "I¡¯ve decided to sleep with you tonight. What? Are you really going to throw out this attractive, beautiful lady at such a late hour, oh great big man?"

    Gabriel: "Of course I will. You¡¯re drunk, and you reek of alcohol."

    Rose tries every trick to seduce Gabriel, but he refuses to let her stay the night with him.

    Gabriel: "For God''s sake, this is no time for foolishness."

    She pulls out various kinds of drugs from her bag and says, "Come on, let¡¯s enjoy some cocaine and forget about this filthy world¡ªat least for a while. Don¡¯t you love me?"

    Gabriel: "I did¡ªbefore I found out you were a Nazi."

    Rose bursts into laughter, still tipsy: "See? You can be funny sometimes, you idiot!"

    Gabriel: "Fine, but I¡¯m not taking cocaine. I¡¯d like to keep my nose and lungs intact. Give me some pills instead. And after that, you¡¯re sleeping in the living room."

    Rose: "Si-i-i, se?or!"

    They stay up until dawn, laughing and indulging. It¡¯s a rare, joyful moment between lovers¡ªbut one that won¡¯t last long.

    As Gabriel chuckles, he remarks, "That bastard Henry takes his role as a dictatorial judge far too seriously¡ªwhat a lunatic!"

    Rose: "What a bunch of madmen. I hope this filthy world is worth all the effort."

    Gabriel: "Trust me, it¡¯s all pointless. But I still have hope that I can avenge Mason."

    Rose: "You will, you silly man."

    They both drift into deep sleep on the same couch after their night of intoxicated bliss.

    Gabriel hears the sound of ocean waves. At first, he isn¡¯t sure if it¡¯s just a dream. Then, he wakes up¡ªonly to find himself lying on a streetlamp near the harbour. His hands are badly wounded, covered in shards of glass, and his shoulders are also cut. He has no idea where these injuries came from.

    Gabriel (to himself): "Oh, this madness again¡­ At least this time, I¡¯m not bleeding for no reason."

    He spots a nearby pharmacy and decides to tend to his wounds. He grabs some painkillers and bandages, but the pharmacist insists on helping him.

    Pharmacist: "Are you the only survivor of that hell?"

    Gabriel: "What the hell are you talking about?"

    Pharmacist: "The caf¨¦ massacre. Go outside and see for yourself."

    Gabriel¡¯s heart pounds with fear as he steps out of the pharmacy. Police cars and ambulances crowd the scene. The seaside bar has turned into a blood-soaked slaughterhouse¡ªsevered heads are scattered across the floor. Three men have been crucified on swastika crosses, their stomachs sliced open, their entrails spilling onto the ground in a grotesque display. One person has been reduced to nothing but a torso.

    But the most horrifying sight is the skinned bodies of several children. Gabriel gags, unable to stomach the horror.

    He turns to a bystander, his voice shaking: "What happened?"

    The man replies: "Looks like the Grim Reaper has struck again. That wretched monster¡­ He¡¯s the most ruthless killer in European history."

    Gabriel: "You live in this neighbourhood, right?"

    Man: "Yes."

    Gabriel: "Didn¡¯t anyone hear anything?"

    Man: "No. All of his crimes are eerily silent, as if he¡¯s a ghost. And they always happen late at night. This bar is open 24 hours¡ªI bet the four children''s corpses belonged to the workers who lived upstairs. The children would come down to fetch food for their parents. The third girl? She was the daughter of a waitress, also living upstairs. As for the fourth girl¡­ she was probably the daughter of one of the prostitutes who slept in a tiny room inside the bar. Those poor kids¡­ What a brutal death."

    Gabriel is stunned into silence, his mouth slightly agape. He decides to leave the scene and return to his apartment.

    He boards a bus and sits quietly, lost in thought. Suddenly, the bus empties, and an eerie gateway appears before him. It¡¯s as if he¡¯s been transported to a parallel world.

    Gabriel now finds himself in a dark, desolate desert filled with graves, mist, and shadowy figures. Two skeletal beings sit atop tombstones, drinking a strange liquid. They look at him with haunting stares and say:

    "Ah, look who are is ."

    Then they continue in ancient greek :

    "¦¡?¦Ó?? ?¦Ò¦Ó¦É¦Í ? ¦Ä¦É?¦Â¦Ï¦Ë¦Ï? ¦Ò¦Á¦Ñ¦Î? ¦Ó¦Å ¦Ê¦Á? ?¦Ò¦Ó?¦Ï¦É?."

    Suddenly, corpses begin to rise from the graves. Small skeletons and the butchered children from the massacre crawl toward Gabriel.

    He runs, desperate to escape, until he reaches the edge of a deep, jagged canyon. The dead slowly advance upon him¡ªuntil he loses his footing and plunges into the abyss.

    As he falls, he sees that the pit is filled with grotesque, melted human heads. Their flesh is barely clinging to their skulls, revealing the bone beneath. Their massive, razor-sharp teeth resemble those of monstrous piranhas.

    The disfigured faces try to devour Gabriel, but one of them exhales a powerful gust of wind, sending him soaring into the sky.

    Gabriel is now at the very peak of horror, ascending beyond all reason or understanding. As he reaches the clouds, a gigantic hand emerges.

    In the palm of the hand is a massive eye, weeping tears of blood. The eye gazes at him with an unsettling intensity before the hand moves to strike him SLAP!

    Gabriel wakes up with a start.

    The bus driver is gently patting his cheek. "Sir¡­ Sir, wake up. We¡¯ve reached your stop. You¡¯re the last passenger. You¡¯ve been asleep for four hours¡ªit¡¯s 2 AM. I¡¯ve got things to do, you know."

    Gabriel apologises and steps off the bus.

    The street is shrouded in darkness, thick with fog. The blood-red moon looms over him.

    The bus driver grins¡ªhis smile eerie, almost malevolent. "I do hope this wasn¡¯t your last journey."

    Then, the bus vanishes into the mist, as if it had never existed

    Gabriel returns to his apartment after these weird day and says to himself, "I need to sleep before I go mad." He falls into a deep sleep after this exhausting and terrifying day. The next morning, he opens the television and hears news about the American minister and the documents that prove he is involved in numerous cases of child abduction and rape, and that he used to attend Satanic cult gatherings on random islands. The news anchor speaks about the documents linking him to an unknown Russian family called Chevchenkov, stating that this family had been planting their agendas and ideas through him and other members in Congress. The US government is still determined to find out the perpetrator of the assassination.

    Gabriel turns off the television, takes a taxi, and heads to the company. Once at the office, Gabriel is at his computer, doing boring routine work until Rose approaches him and whispers in his ear.

    Rose: "I have some important information I want to share with you. Meet me at the organisation¡¯s headquarters after work."

    Gabriel: "Consider it done."

    After work, everyone heads to the headquarters. It is the largest meeting of the organisation¡¯s members, and the place is crowded. Rose walks up to the podium and says:

    "After years of hard work, I have reached a position in the management of Nexus Corp. After gathering all the information and the confidential documents I took from the company, I managed to find the location of the director, Mikhail Chevchenkov, through one of his lovers. I got close to her and placed a precise tracking device on her body. We discovered that she always goes every two weeks to a huge house near Mount Tasman in the snowy regions."

    The members cheer and scream in excitement. Their celebration is abruptly cut short when Eva speaks:

    "We''ve studied this situation, and we''ve come up with a plan, but we''ve realised we need a hitman to make it work. Gabriel, it will be you."

    Gabriel responds, his eyes filled with determination: "Agreed."

    Eva continues: "The boss has provided us with suits that allow you to blend into the environment like a chameleon, and they can also cancel out the user''s sound. But they only last for an hour and a half before you become exposed. We will be at the mountain, and our hackers will disable all the cameras and all the alarm systems. You will wear this jet pack. Don¡¯t worry, the house is not full of guards, and the suit can also hide the jet pack. You will descend onto the roof of the building. You have two options: either blend in with the suit or eliminate the guards until you reach Mikhail and take him out."

    <hr>

    Ten days later, the team arrived at the site on Mount Tasman. The place was covered in snow, with fierce storms and bitter cold. The team positioned themselves on the mountain, beginning to hack into the house¡¯s systems, while Gabriel donned his suit and prepared for takeoff. Rose asked him, "Are you ready?" He responded firmly, "Absolutely. This is the moment we¡¯ve been waiting for." Eva then spoke up, "The systems have been disabled. Take off."

    Gabriel moved into action, soaring into the air with the jetpack, heading towards the massive building''s rooftop. Meanwhile, the drones above kept a close watch on his movements. The team on the mountain could finally breathe a sigh of relief; everything was going according to plan. Yet, far away in the snow-covered mountains, shrouded by the darkness of the night, Gabriel''s heart pounded heavily. He knew this mission would be strange, but still, all he had was the resolve to complete it.

    As Gabriel landed on the roof, the team watched him closely. There was no room for error. Every second counted, every movement had to be precise.

    The clock struck midnight as he touched down on the rooftop. The only sound was the cold wind howling around him. No sound of death, no sound of destruction¡ªjust the biting cold air reflecting the distant beams of light.

    Gabriel took another step, starting his mission. In his mind, Mikhail Chevchenkov¡¯s image became clearer and clearer. This moment was pivotal, there was no turning back.

    High up on the mountain, everyone was on edge, waiting for news from Gabriel. They all knew their fate rested on this night, and in the coming hours, everything would be determined.

    He entered the building and found a group of guards walking down the hallway. He blended into the shadows using the suit, carefully sneaking past them. Gabriel neutralised some of the other guards, knocking them unconscious. Finally, he reached the massive meeting room where his target awaited. And there, at last, he saw Mikhail Chevchenkov.

    But something was off. Standing before him, engaged in conversation, were several beings, their forms nightmarish and chilling beyond words. The first creature was entirely made of wings, their feathers fused together, and it floated eerily. In the centre of this grotesque entity was a single massive eye, staring into nothingness.

    The second being stood with four faces¡ªone of a lion, one of an ox, one of an eagle, and one of a man. Each face looked in a different direction, and the creature had no fixed form. It had four massive wings and stood at a terrifying height of about 4.5 metres. The air around it seemed to hum with an unnatural power.

    The third entity was even more disturbing. It had six wings¡ªtwo of which covered its face, each wing brimming with eyes, their pale, lifeless colour sending a cold shiver down Gabriel¡¯s spine. Between these wings, an eerie, skeletal figure sat, cloaked in a black robe. Two horns curled menacingly from its skull. From the hollow darkness of the skeleton, a glowing red light leaked out, pulsing like an infernal fire.

    Gabriel froze in terror, as if time itself had stopped. His body trembled violently, a fear unlike anything he had ever known overtaking him. The skeletal being raised a hand and pointed directly at him. A powerful gust of wind shot from its hand, throwing Gabriel violently from the room at tremendous speed. But he managed to cling to the branch of a nearby tree, narrowly avoiding a devastating crash.

    He immediately contacted the team and told them, "The operation has failed." Everyone began to retreat back to the headquarters. Some members rushed to Gabriel in a 4x4 vehicle to take him back.

    The driver asked, ¡°What happened, my friend? You look like you¡¯ve been to hell.¡± Gabriel, his voice heavy with the horrors he had just witnessed, replied, "I truly was there. This was worse than any hell I could ever imagine."

    The scene ended as they drove, the fierce storm winds raging violently behind them. This was his first failed mission, Zero Phantom.

    End of chapter

 The Haunting of the Dark

    Chapter Six

    The team returns to the organisation''s headquarters after suffering a severe loss in equipment and devices. Everyone is disheartened; the first defeat in life is always difficult and painful. Eva tells them that they have lost a battle, but not the war, and that they will hold an urgent meeting with Gabriel and Eva to brief Captain Avery on the situation and decide what the next step will be. "We won''t let despair take over us after this speech," she assures them.

    Eva enters the meeting room with Rose and Gabriel. She looks at Gabriel with surprise.

    Eva: "What happened? Everything seemed to be going smoothly. What was that fierce snowstorm that threw you out?"

    Gabriel: "If I tell you, you¡¯ll think I¡¯m mad. But wait, how did you see those raging winds that threw me out? Weren¡¯t they part of my hallucination?"

    Eva responds angrily: "It doesn¡¯t seem like it, my fellar . Now, stop the nonsense and tell me what in the hell did you see out there?"

    Gabriel¡¯s eyes are cold. He falls silent, staring at the ground as though detached from time and place. He seems to be trapped in a dark dimension, alone, disconnected from them in this problem.

    Rose, trying to comfort him: "Gabriel, dear, whatever you saw, we will believe you. Don¡¯t you trust me?"

    Gabriel responds coldly: "I saw two beings that looked like Seraphim and Cherubim. I saw another creature, with a cluster of gigantic wings, and a massive eye in the centre. The one who threw me was a demonic skeleton, like a undead, or a lich, like the ones we see in fantasy stories And believe me, despite the simplicity of its design, it was him the most feral and scary  and terrifying thing there ."

    Rose and Eva are stunned by his words, staring at him in disbelief. Eva replies with a tone of astonishment.

    Eva: "This is strange, my boy. Since when have you been hallucinating?"

    Gabriel: "Actually, not for long."

    Eva: "Look, we don¡¯t know if your hallucinations are real or not, but what we do know is that those fierce winds that threw you out were real. This leads us to two possibilities: either they are using highly advanced technology that I¡¯ve never heard of before, or those entities you spoke of are real."

    Rose, trying to make sense of it: "Aren¡¯t they, essentially, a demonic cult? Maybe they¡¯re using black magic?"

    Eva: "Although I¡¯m not a believer in black magic, it¡¯s a very plausible possibility."

    Gabriel thinks about something he had read once, trying to remember, but it eludes him. He struggles to recall the details.

    Gabriel: "Look, I know I suffer from mental issues, but I¡¯ve never hallucinated like this before. This makes me think¡­ I once read in some mythology about a demonic entity that controls the mind, but I can¡¯t remember its name."

    Eva: "It doesn¡¯t control the mind, genius. I know the name too, but I just can¡¯t remember it. It¡¯s strange. It causes deadly hallucinations and nightmares to its enemies. Maybe you¡¯ve been cast out by the darkness, and you¡¯re not mad after all."

    Rose: "What now?"

    Eva: "We¡¯ll prepare an alternative plan. Do you remember that journalist you told me about? Maybe we can send her all the documents and scandals we have on Mikhail Chvinyshkov. But I believe he can easily slip through the law. I¡¯ll discuss it with Captain Avery and we¡¯ll decide on the next steps. We might even carry out another assassination, but that will take time. Let¡¯s wait and see."

    Both Rose and Gabriel respond: "Understood, Leader. We¡¯ll stay in touch."

    Before they leave, Eva tells Rose not to act on her own with the journalist and to wait for orders.

    Eva then speaks to the team, informing them that they will attempt to take down Chvinyshkov again in a month. After that, the group departs the room.

    As they head out, Rose quietly follows Gabriel, trying to be discreet, but he notices her.

    Gabriel: "Why are you following me, stalker?"

    Rose: "I¡¯m worried about you. The attacks from that killer, Hossed Arwah, Wellington, are increasing. You need someone who knows how to fight to save you from him."

    Gabriel, smiling: "It¡¯s always nice to have someone who cares about you."

    Gabriel and Rose return to Gabriel¡¯s apartment, seeking respite after the long, bizarre, and exhausting day. They settle in, grabbing a bowl of popcorn, and put on a film to unwind. However, Gabriel soon notices a certain sadness lingering in Rose¡¯s expression.

    Gabriel: "Hey, are you upset because we didn¡¯t manage to take him down?"

    Rose: "A little."

    Gabriel, tossing another handful of popcorn into his mouth, speaks with a nonchalant confidence.

    Gabriel: "Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll kick his arse soon enough."

    Rose: "Oh, we definitely will. But actually, speaking of what you told me earlier... I came across something interesting online¡ªa legend."

    Gabriel raises an eyebrow as he munches on his popcorn.

    Rose: "It¡¯s called the legend of ¡®The Nameless Devil.¡¯"

    She leans in slightly, her tone shifting into something more mysterious, as if sharing a dark secret.

    Rose: "The legend says that the one who will eventually free the world will not be a hero, nor a saviour, but rather a monster. A murderer. A psychopath. A being so disturbed and ruthless that only he will be capable of defeating the Devil who secretly rules the world."

    She pauses, gauging Gabriel¡¯s reaction before continuing.

    Rose: "It also says that this Devil isn¡¯t just some malevolent entity or a tyrant¡ªno, he is something far older than any known creature. A being that has existed since the dawn of time, perhaps even before it. Through some unfathomable means, he erased his name and story from every religion, every myth, every legend. In their place, he planted false names, fabricated demons, misleading tales¡ªall to divert attention from his true existence. No one remembers his name, nor even his original form. He lurks in the shadows, unseen, orchestrating the fate of the world from his Dark Throne. He is the hidden hand that moves all things, and no one even realises it."

    Gabriel listens intently, his amusement slowly fading.

    Rose: "But the legend also says that the Devil¡¯s reign cannot last forever. There is an ancient law, one that might be woven into the very fabric of existence itself. Every one hundred thousand years, a child or a being is born¡ªsomeone with intelligence surpassing all others. A creature whose destiny is to challenge the Devil, to try and overthrow him. But unlike the fairy tales of triumphant heroes, this one never succeeds. He fails. Every time. That is why the Devil still rules to this day."

    Gabriel chuckles, shaking his head.

    Gabriel: "Sounds more like a story about eternal failure than one about a hero."

    Rose: "Precisely. This so-called ¡®hero¡¯ is not a hero at all, but a force of chaos, an anomaly. No one knows where he will appear, nor how fate chooses him. He could be a human¡­ or something the world has never seen before. But one thing is certain¡ªhe will be the most intelligent being in existence, the master strategist, the unstable mind that carries the weight of the world¡¯s fate upon his shoulders."The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

    A heavy silence lingers between them before Rose continues, her voice barely above a whisper.

    Rose: "And yet¡­ it is always the same outcome. Every one hundred thousand years, a new challenger rises, believing he will break the cycle of oppression. But in the end, he only meets defeat. The Devil has never tasted the bitterness of loss¡ªnot once. He is always far beyond his opponent¡¯s intellect. Perhaps the sheer difference in power is what ensures his victory. While the so-called ¡®hero¡¯ is merely a genius, the Devil is something¡­ incomprehensible. It is said that he could destroy entire galaxies with the snap of his fingers. And yet, despite this vast difference, the challenger always comes close¡ªso close¡ªto defeating him¡­ but never quite enough."

    Rose falls silent, her words hanging in the air like a heavy cloud.

    Rose: "So, tell me, is there any escape? Will there ever be an end to this endless cycle of loss? Or is the world doomed to an eternity of failed rebellion? No one knows. But one thing is certain¡ªthe Dark Throne awaits, the Devil watches¡­ and the next challenger walks towards his inevitable, tragic fate."

    Gabriel, smirking, leans back on the couch.

    Gabriel: "What a miserable story. I wonder which drug-addled lunatic wrote it."

    Rose glares at him, playfully shoving him.

    Rose: "Hey! I actually liked it! It¡¯s entertaining. The strange thing is, it was deleted just seven minutes after being posted online. Maybe the page admins wanted to add some mystery by removing it so quickly."

    She giggles at the thought.

    Gabriel scoffs.

    Gabriel: "A bunch of idiots, if you ask me. But I still don¡¯t see what this has to do with what happened to me at the base."

    Rose¡¯s playful demeanour fades slightly as she leans in.

    Rose: "Well, according to the legend, one of the Devil¡¯s abilities is to send hallucinations and deadly nightmares to his enemies. It also says that he has countless children and disciples¡­ maybe you encountered some of them."

    Gabriel snorts, shaking his head.

    Gabriel: "Well, I certainly didn¡¯t enjoy the experience. Now, tell me something more important¡ªare you staying over tonight?"

    Rose grins mischievously.

    Rose: "Yup. Why? Are you going to stop me?"

    Gabriel: "No, but seriously¡ªquit watching me while I sleep, you little creep."

    Rose giggles, playfully crossing her fingers behind her back.

    Rose: "Of course, my dear sir."

    Gabriel: "Hey, Rose, are you asleep?"

    Rose: "What do you want at this hour?"

    Gabriel: "The Devil¡­ what does he look like?"

    Rose: "He¡¯s just a shadow. He can take on the form of many creatures, but they are always nothing more than silhouettes."

    Gabriel: " haa bullshit."

    Rose: "Can I sleep now?"

    Both of them fall into a deep sleep. Suddenly, Gabriel finds himself in a cabin in a frozen, desolate land. The ground beneath him is covered in ice, stretching endlessly into the darkness. A chilling wind howls through the cracks in the wooden walls. Then, cutting through the night, he hears it¡ªa wolf¡¯s howl, louder and more guttural than anything a human ear should ever endure. It isn¡¯t a single voice but a chorus of monstrous cries, reverberating through the abyss.

    Gripping an axe, Gabriel moves toward the door. His pulse pounds in his skull as he reaches for the handle. Slowly, he pulls it open.

    Standing before him are three massive wolves¡ªeach one as large as three full-grown Russian wolves combined. Their fur is a deep, suffocating black, as though they were carved from living shadows. Their eyes burn with a blood-red glow, filled with a malevolent hunger that goes beyond mere predation. One of them rises onto its hind legs, its grotesque form resembling something more human than beast, while the other two remain crouched, muscles coiled, ready to pounce. Their fangs are long, jagged, and dripping with fresh blood.

    Then, they charge.

    Terror constricts Gabriel¡¯s chest as he lets out a scream¡ªbut in an instant, the wolves vanish. As if they were never there. As if they had never existed at all. The cabin, the frozen wasteland¡ªeverything around him disintegrates into nothingness.

    He falls.

    An abyss swallows him whole, dragging him downward through endless emptiness. Then¡ªimpact. The icy embrace of water engulfs him, freezing his lungs, pulling him deeper. But instead of drowning, he rises, his body breaking the surface. His back is bare, the cold biting into his exposed skin. Yet, somehow, he feels lighter, as if the air itself is lifting him.

    A figure appears.

    A woman¡ªan angel¡ªdescends towards him. She is breathtaking, her beauty otherworldly, radiant. Her delicate hands reach out, fingertips grazing his trembling arms, his throat. She tries to pull him from the water¡ªbut before she does, she tilts her head slightly, her gaze locking onto his

    Gabriel says, panting: "It was another nightmare."

    Rose replies sarcastically: "Should I sleep next to you, big boy, so those bad dreams don''t come back again?"

    Gabriel hugs Rose, tears in his eyes, and says: "Promise me you won¡¯t ever leave me."

    Rose: "Of course, my spoiled boy, death will not separate us."

    A month passes since these events, and Eva still hasn¡¯t contacted the group to update them on the situation. Rose calls Gabriel and tells him to meet her at the Lexi Caf¨¦, sending him the location. Gabriel goes to meet her and finds her sitting at one of the tables, wearing black clothes, a hat, and sunglasses to hide her face. Gabriel sits down with her and says, "What''s going on, James Bond?"

    Rose: "It''s Eva. It''s been so long since we last heard from her. I''ve tried reaching out to her in every way, but she won¡¯t respond. Do you think she¡¯s been kidnapped?"

    Gabriel: "How would they know about her?"

    Rose: "Do you think they¡¯re that stupid? I bet they know all our members, including you and me."

    Gabriel: "Honestly, there were men wearing clothes like the agents from those action movies following me, but I thought it was just one of my hallucinations. I was confused because they didn¡¯t feel demonic or sick like usual."

    Rose: "No, those weren¡¯t hallucinations. They were following me too. Do you think I dressed like this for Halloween?"

    Gabriel: "I thought it was Halloween."

    Rose: "This is no time for jokes. Look, if she¡¯s late, we¡¯ll just act on our own. I¡¯ll send all these documents to that reporter."

    Gabriel: "We have to wait for the orders. Promise me you won¡¯t do anything on your own."

    Rose: "Fine, whatever you say."

    Gabriel: "Don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s only a matter of time." Rose leaves the caf¨¦, but as she reaches the door, Gabriel calls after her: "Rose, be careful. Don''t forget the promise you made to me."

    She gestures with two fingers in a "V" shape and walks out. Three days later, Rose receives a call from Eva. Rose is surprised and thinks to herself, Why now of all times?

    She answers the call: "Eva, where the hell have you been? I¡¯ve been to the base several times and found no one."

    Eva: "There¡¯s been an emergency procedure. I decided to evacuate the place with Ivory so we can plan our next move away from prying eyes. We just got information that the base was compromised."

    Rose: "How?"

    Eva: "Anyway, come to this location and bring the documents with you. We¡¯ll have a meeting, the three of us, with that reporter."

    Eva hangs up and sends her the location. Rose feels uneasy and decides to bring a weapon with her. She calls Gabriel and tells him everything. She attaches a tracker to herself and gives the other one to Gabriel, telling him, "If anything happens, follow me there."

    Gabriel reassures her, though he feels uneasy as well: "Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s probably just a boring secret meeting. I doubt the Chevchenkovs know enough about us to impersonate Eva¡¯s voice. Just be cautious."

    Rose kisses Gabriel on the lips, their first kiss, before leaving. "Don¡¯t worry," she says, "I¡¯ll be back and sleep with you so those nightmares don¡¯t come back again."

    Gabriel: "Just be cautious, you fool."

    Rose: "I love you."

    Gabriel: "And I love you."

    Rose arrives at the location and finds a large place, like an airport with hangars, but one she¡¯s never heard of before. It feels like a secret airport not listed in any government records. She sees a helicopter descending from the sky and landing at the airport. The reporter, along with several men, steps out of it and walks toward her.

    Rose: "You imitated Eva¡¯s voice on the phone, didn¡¯t you? Maybe you¡¯ve replicated her voice, but she doesn¡¯t speak like that. Where is she?"

    The reporter smiles: "Why all this anger, Rose? We¡¯ve known each other since childhood. You should be kinder to me."

    Rose: "What the hell are you talking about, you bitch?"

    The reporter laughs darkly: "Seems your memory is weakening, cousin. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Maria Chevchenkov. Now, let me ask you, why are you trying to betray the family, Rose Martin, or should I say Rose Chevchenkov?"

    Rose: "Go to hell, you whore!"

    Rose pulls a grenade from her pocket and throws it at Maria and her men. She hides behind one of the hangars, pulling out her weapon, and a fierce gunfight ensues between her and Maria¡¯s soldiers. Rose manages to take down nine of them. She emerges from behind the hangar and aims her gun at Maria¡¯s head, but the bullet passes through her skull as though it¡¯s nothing more than a shadow.

    Out of ammunition, Rose is surrounded by four of Maria¡¯s men. They attempt to capture her, but she fights back fiercely, managing to take down three of them. However, one of them sneaks up from behind and presses a cloth with a sleeping agent to her face. Rose loses consciousness.

    Maria: "Let her rest, cousin."

    Meanwhile, Gabriel grows anxious as Rose hasn¡¯t called. He borrows a car from a friend and rushes to the location. Suddenly, he hears on the radio that the leaders of the Zero Phantom terrorist organisation, Eva Markos (the Chevchenkov family name not being mentioned) and their leader, Henry Ivory, have been captured. They were transferred earlier that morning to Skull Island Prison. Gabriel is shocked by the news. Full of anxiety and fear, he drives faster than ever.

    When he arrives, the place is a scene of carnage. The air is thick with the smell of blood, gunfire, and chaos, as though a battle had just taken place. As he walks, he sees a burning fire and notices some strange words written in Greek: ¦¤?¦Í ¦Å?¦Ò¦Á¦É ?¦Î¦É¦Ï? ¦Ì¦Á?, ¦£¦Á¦Â¦Ñ¦É?¦Ë (Den eisai axios mas, Gavriil), meaning "You are not worthy of us, Gabriel."

    The lights suddenly flicker on, and Gabriel is faced with the most horrific sight of his life. He sees Rose, crucified on a golden cross, stabbed in the chest, precisely in the heart. Even in death, she is incredibly beautiful. Gabriel stands frozen in place, as if time has stopped. He gasps for breath, clutching his chest, tears streaming down his face. He picks up a gun from the ground and places it to his head, pulling the trigger¡ªbut the gun is empty. He throws the gun aside and collapses to the ground, crying out in agony.

    Meanwhile, far away, in a corner of the galaxy, there is a flourishing garden, full of waterfalls, flowers, and green meadows, like paradise. Many animals¡ªrabbits, butterflies, scorpions, cats, deer, and horses¡ªroam freely. In this place, a shadowy figure, resembling a bride wearing a cloak and a crown with large bat wings, stands. Its face is featureless, save for black eyes, surrounded by many red, bloodshot rings that resemble chameleon eyes without skin. In its hand is a butterfly, and on the other, a crawling scorpion.

    As the figure moves, all the animals seem to revere it as if they are seeking its approval. When the shadow turns to leave, the paradise around it transforms into a nightmare. The waterfalls flow with blood, the flowers become monstrous plants, and the rabbit turns into a giant, sharp-toothed, horned creature. Half of the butterflies turn into massive, black-winged ones that hum eerily like lost souls. The other half bear a skull-like mark on their backs.

    The scorpion morphs into a giant, cracked, stone-covered creature, like something volcanic. The horse becomes a skeletal figure with a thin, pale layer of skin, and its eyes are empty, like holes, with shark-like teeth instead of a horse''s.

    Suddenly, the shadow looks back. Everything returns to normal, as though it had never been disturbed. The animals breathe a sigh of relief. The shadow leaves, flying into the vast space, heading towards the South Pole of Earth. During its journey, it changes shape into 80,000 different creatures, both terrestrial and non-terrestrial, at a terrifying speed.

    Eventually, it settles on the form of a small child wearing a giant crown. We move to a secret base in the South Pole, hidden behind a holographic wall. Inside, a massive meeting room is where the seven rulers of the families that govern the world gather. The first ruler, Isaac Chevchenkov, head of the Chevchenkov family; the second, Arnold Valheim, head of the Valheim family; the third, Johann Ivremor, head of the Ivremor family; the fourth, Nicholas Morganstein, head of the Morganstein family; the fifth, Hubert Sterleris, head of the Sterleris family; the sixth, Ronald Drakonov, head of the Drakonov family; the seventh, Nathan Noxville, head of the Noxville family.

    The rulers are in heated debate about Chevchenkov¡¯s actions. Hubert says: "What a fool Chevchenkov is! How could your brother allow this to happen while in a meeting with the princes? How dare he disturb them with such trivial matters of humans?"

    Chevchenkov responds: "I¡¯ve apologized many times, my colleagues. The Zero Phantom problem is over."

    Ronald Drakonov: "That¡¯s not enough. The most important one is still free."

    Johann: "Don¡¯t worry, Ronald. There¡¯s no evidence that the addict is the prophecy¡¯s child."

    Nathan: "What do we do about America? They¡¯ve already gotten rid of many of our pawns there."

    Nicholas: "Simple, we¡¯ll just make new pawns to control them."

    Isaac: "Either way, let¡¯s go to the throne room, and we¡¯ll know what to do."

    One of the young men, apparently a son of the Morganstein family, asks: "Has the meeting ended? I¡¯m getting sleepy." The rulers leave for a large room with no door, but access is through a dimensional rift. The ceiling is entirely glass, reflecting the sky with a massive eye in the centre, shooting beams of light, alongside a small crescent moon and a strange sun with a face.

    The room contains a giant hourglass with wings fluttering above it, and a flying anchor. Two marble columns stand beside three giant candles, while two hands flip through pages, seemingly floating. At the centre of the room, a throne with a curved cross stands. On the arms of the throne are two skulls, and sitting upon the throne is the shadowy figure, which relaxes comfortably as the seven rulers kneel before it.

    One of the rulers asks: "Master, what name would you like us to erase from history this time?"

    The shadow responds with its terrifying voice: Gabriel Sunderland

    End of Chapter

 The Hell of puzzles

    Chapter Seven: A Hell of Riddles The death of Rose Maousai occurred in early 2025, yet before we can comprehend the full extent of its impact on Gabriel, we must return once more to Detective Carl Johnson, who finds himself sinking deeper into a maelstrom of enigmas. Carl Johnson sat at his desk, his mind weighed down by an oppressive uncertainty. The dim glow of his desk lamp cast shifting shadows over the scattered case files¡ªeach one tied to the relentless Grim Reaper of Wellington. His keen intellect, always working at full throttle, struggled to weave together the fragmented clues, yet nothing seemed to align. There was something missing, an elusive fragment of logic that, if uncovered, would bring clarity to this chaotic puzzle. He took a sip of his coffee¡ªthe bitterness anchoring him to reality amid the swirling confusion. Then, from the abyss of silence, a voice¡ªdeep, sinister, almost demonic¡ªwhispered into his ear, by the the whisper in darkness its resonance seeping into the marrow of his bones like a malevolent specter: "Gabriel is still at large." Carl''s breath caught in his throat. A visceral chill slithered down his spine as pure, unadulterated terror gripped him. He jolted upright from his chair, his chest heaving, sweat beading at his temples. He gasped out loud, his voice hoarse with disbelief. "Gabriel? Who...?" Was this the result of his mind, frayed from ceaseless contemplation? A hallucination borne from exhaustion? Whatever the cause, the voice¡ªthe dread it instilled¡ªwas unlike anything he had ever experienced. By the following evening, Carl found himself once again seated within the confines of his small office, his ever-watchful companion, Officer Marcus, at his side. Yet his thoughts were elsewhere, consumed by the grisly murders¡ªthe cryptic symbols, the eerie phrases scrawled in their wake. The blood smeared across the walls was no mere signature; it was a cipher, an enigma demanding to be solved. And yet, despite his every effort, despite the countless hours spent scrutinizing the clues, the pattern eluded him, its meaning slipping through his fingers like mist. Marcus, who had remained taciturn since their last discussion, now studied Carl with an expression teetering between curiosity and concern. The detective, pacing feverishly across the room, muttered to himself with an intensity bordering on mania. His wild gesticulations, the restless energy in his movements¡ªhe looked less like a seasoned investigator and more like a man possessed. "I refuse to lose this battle of wits," Carl declared, his voice thick with defiance. "I will not be outmatched by this deranged harvester of souls! No matter what it takes, I will unravel his riddle!" Marcus, attempting to inject a sliver of optimism, ventured cautiously, "Perhaps we should take solace in the fact that you have at least deciphered something from these seemingly nonsensical symbols. Tell me, Carl¡ªare you truly suggesting that this all ties back to James William Moriarty? That the leader of Zero Phantom worshipped him?" Carl''s expression darkened, his voice dropping to an ominous murmur. "That lunatic stated, during interrogations, that he forged this organization to reshape the world. He proclaimed himself the new Moriarty¡ªan architect of destruction, a mastermind of chaos." Marcus exhaled, folding his arms. "And yet, despite all our efforts, nothing substantial was ever extracted from him. Yes, every record affirms that he was a ghost¡ªno name, no nationality, no traceable lineage. A bastard without a past." He hesitated before adding, "Regardless, Carl, we must approach this rationally. Take a step back. Consider the broader picture." Carl narrowed his eyes, sinking deeper into thought. His words came in a near whisper, spoken more to himself than to Marcus. "The killer is following a pattern. This is not the work of a mindless butcher. This is the obsession of Zero Phantom¡¯s former leader... Every, the hacker who ensnared¡ª"

    A sudden shift in expression halted his words. "No." His voice was sharper now, conviction seeping into every syllable. "Moriarty was Every''s inspiration¡ªhis blueprint for calculated destruction. If this killer is not Every himself, then he is someone of equal cunning, someone molded by that same doctrine." Marcus lifted an eyebrow, his skepticism plain. "Rumor has it that one member of the organization was never apprehended¡ªone of the higher-ups, an individual with significant influence over Zero Phantom¡¯s operations. But Carl, you of all people should know this¡ªit was not Every. Every is imprisoned on Skull Devil Island." Carl did not immediately respond. Rising to his feet, he resumed his restless pacing, the gears in his mind turning with renewed ferocity. "I do not care whether it is Every or one of his disciples," he finally muttered. "What I do know is that this murderer is the most formidable adversary I have ever encountered." Then, he stiffened. His gaze, once scattered in frantic contemplation, now fixed with laser-like precision. "The last remaining member of Zero Phantom? What was his name?" Marcus hesitated only a moment before replying. "According to the latest intelligence... Gabriel Sunderland." Carl¡¯s breath faltered. The name echoed in his mind, twisting, warping, interlocking with the horror of the previous night. "Gabriel." It was the same name that had been the whisper in darkness tolde him about . The same name that had sent ice crawling through his veins. The room around him seemed to spin. The walls, the furniture, even Marcus himself¡ªall became distant, hazy. He staggered slightly, his mind reeling. What had  the whisper in the darkness  that name to him? Was it madness? Or was it something far, far worse?                                                                              Carl turned to the officers, his voice steady but commanding. "Compare these fingerprints with those we found at Zero Phantom''s secret headquarters. As for us, we have... other matters to attend to."

    Marcus asked in surprise, a mix of curiosity and tension in his voice. "And what might those matters be, my friend?"

    Carl smiled faintly, but there was an unwavering resolve in his expression. "We are going to hunt down Gabriel Sunderland..."

    Marcus stepped forward, his eyes filled with a mix of confusion and unease. "What do you mean? Why him?"

    Carl''s voice dropped to a whisper, but it wasn¡¯t the kind that would freeze you with terror this time; rather, it was a quiet whisper, charged with a dark certainty.

    "It is Gabriel. Zero Phantom did not end with Ivory. Gabriel has been hiding in plain sight all this time, sending us his message from the very beginning."

    Marcus took a step back, disbelief clouding his features. "But how can you be certain? There¡¯s no tangible evidence linking him to the crimes, not yet."

    Carl¡¯s grin widened, consumed by the thrill of the hunt.

    "Trust me, my friend. This case is already solved. All that remains... is Hunt_down that bastard."                                                                           "Let us move the events of our story to Gabriel."This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

    Gabriel was in a state of severe depression, the highest level of despair and hopelessness. He sat on the floor, hugging his knees tightly, staring at the wall with a look of utter despair. His eyes were red and swollen, as though he hadn¡¯t slept for weeks. His hair and beard were long and untamed, giving him the appearance of a homeless person. His body was gaunt, skin stretched tight over bones, as if his very flesh had given up on life.

    At that moment, Gabriel was physically in the room, but it felt like he had entered his own mind. He sat in the emptiness, a place devoid of anything, completely consumed by nihilism. He hadn¡¯t spoken to anyone or left his house in days. He had reached the pinnacle of nothingness, a place where the world outside seemed so distant, so irrelevant.

    In his mind, Gabriel made a decision. He had to escape this filthy world of mammals, escape from everything. He began collecting his things, searching the internet, and found an abandoned hut on a remote island. At least there, he thought, I might save myself from this mental extinction. I won¡¯t become like those fools, addicted to TikTok.

    He packed his belongings and made up his mind: he would buy a rickety raft and sail to that isolated, cold, hellish hut. It didn¡¯t matter how cold it would be¡ªeven if the temperature dropped to 20 million degrees below zero, nothing could be colder than the despair Gabriel felt deep inside himself.

    With his raft ready, he arranged for the shipment to be delivered to the beach of the city. He made his way to the docks, where he climbed into the fragile raft, starting the engine and setting off into the vast ocean. As the boat moved forward, his favourite song played in the background. The lyrics echoed in his ears:

    "What a contrast, smart skin and bones, and guess the colour of you are..."

    On a Sunday, Walking slow while all time¡¯s still running...

    At that very moment, everything around Gabriel shifted. The world began to transform as if time itself was accelerating at an impossible rate. The sun, the clouds, even his very eyes seemed to move with a frenetic pace, and the ocean transformed into a giant clock, its hands spinning out of control. Gabriel sailed forward, heading into the unknown, his soul now adrift in this surreal time warp.

    Everything had become one with time, and Gabriel, with his gaze fixed on the vast, endless horizon, sailed further into the abyss, unsure of where he was heading or what awaited him.

    After days of agonizing starvation, Gabriel could no longer bear the insatiable hunger gnawing at his insides. His body, weakened and frail, had deteriorated to a state where every muscle screamed for sustenance. The mental anguish, the deep emptiness that accompanied him on his lonely journey, felt like an unbearable weight crushing his chest. He had barely the strength to lift his head, but as his eyes flickered with the final remnants of consciousness, he spotted a small group of frogs and fish leaping onto the raft, their desperate attempts to escape the surrounding water futile. Without hesitation, driven by the raw and primal instinct of survival, Gabriel lunged at the helpless creatures. His hands trembled as he gripped them, tearing into their still-wriggling forms, tearing apart their bodies and devouring them whole, uncaring of the brutality of his actions. The scene was gruesome, soaked in blood as it splattered across his face and hands, leaving him drenched in the evidence of his desperate hunger. His face, smeared with crimson, became a grotesque mask of the beast he had become. It was a definitive sign, a clear and irreversible mark that he had lost his humanity. In that very moment, Gabriel had transcended the man he once was, becoming something far darker, far more monstrous. But this grotesque metamorphosis, this horrifying reality, was only the beginning. What he had come to, this savage existence, was nothing¡ªabsolutely nothing¡ªcompared to what lay in store for him in the House of Devils.

    Days stretched on, each one more unbearable than the last. Gabriel''s suffering had reached a point where his very soul seemed to ache. His body was gaunt, his once vibrant eyes hollow and dead. And then, after what felt like an eternity of torment, Gabriel arrived at the island. It was as though he had stepped into a different realm entirely. The island was a frozen wasteland, completely enveloped in a thick layer of ice, its surface glistening under the dull light. The air was thick with an unsettling fog, swirling ominously around him, as if it were alive. The atmosphere was suffocating, weighed down by an unnatural silence that permeated everything. The place was devoid of warmth, a frigid expanse where the cold seemed to seep into his very bones. But there was something far more unnerving about it¡ªa sinister presence that hung in the air, making Gabriel feel like he was being watched. In the distance, a colossal mountain towered over the desolate landscape, its peak lost in the mist. The mountain was a monstrous silhouette, a beacon of the hellish landscape that Gabriel had found himself in. Without a second thought, he disembarked from the raft, his limbs stiff from cold, and began to make his way toward the frozen hell that awaited him.

    Now, the scene shifts to the South Pole, to a place of unimaginable darkness¡ªthe Hall of Power, the throne room where shadows reigned supreme. In this abyssal chamber, a shadowy entity sat upon a throne forged from the very essence of darkness itself. The air around it crackled with power, a weighty presence that seemed to devour all light and hope. The entity was draped in an impenetrable cloak of shadows, its form barely visible in the ever-encroaching darkness. It spoke, its voice a deep and resonant rumble that filled the room with an overwhelming authority.

    Standing before it was the Whisper in the Darkness, a being who appeared as an ethereal figure, cloaked in a whispering mist that seemed to shift and flicker with each passing moment. The Whisper in the Darkness materialized before the shadowy entity, speaking with a voice that was both haunting and reverent.

    "Father, I have carried out your orders. I have taken control of the detective''s mind, and I will guide him to capture Gabriel."

    The Shadow Demon, its presence like a black hole, absorbed the very essence of light, responded in a voice that sent shivers down the spine of anyone who dared listen. It was deep, rumbling with an authority that echoed through the very fabric of reality.

    "Well done, my son. You shall be greatly rewarded for your obedience to my commands."

    The demon¡¯s words were filled with a promise of power, the kind that only those who had witnessed the darkest of the dark could understand. It gestured with one long, spindly hand, signaling the Whisper in the Darkness to leave. Its eyes, glowing with a malevolent gleam, flickered with the promise of a power yet to come.

    As the Whisper in the Darkness departed, the camera of our imagination panned out to reveal the vast corridor outside the throne room. The long, cold hall stretched endlessly before us, lined with towering shadows that seemed to shift and flicker like phantoms. And in the dim, flickering light, hundreds¡ªperhaps thousands¡ªof terrifying, nightmarish entities stood, their forms grotesque and ever-changing. Some were humanoid in shape, while others seemed to defy logic, their twisted forms almost too horrendous to comprehend. They stood, silent and expectant, as if waiting for something¡ªor someone. It seemed as though these dark beings, these offspring of malevolent forces, had gathered for some unspeakable purpose. Their collective gaze was fixed on the shadowy entity on the throne, all of them striving to please their father.

    In that moment, the tension in the air was palpable. The forces of darkness were mobilising. The time was drawing near. Everything was converging on Gabriel''s fate, and it was clear that the House of Devils was about to play its hand.

    End of Chapter

 Side by side information power of all entities that appeared in the story

    The Manuscript of Shadows:

    Forbidden Truths About the Masters of the Universe

    (This manuscript was found in an abandoned temple, written by a priest who descended into madness before vanishing under mysterious circumstances¡­ His final words were whispers beyond human comprehension, heard only by the shadows.)

    ---

    1: The Shadow Demon ¨C The Eternal Overlord

    "He is not a being but a curse woven into the fabric of existence itself. He has no beginning, no end¡­ He is the darkness that precedes all, and the void that will consume all."

    No one knows his true name, for he is older than names themselves. It is said that he slew the first god and took his throne, yet he required no weapon¡ªonly fear. None who have gazed upon his face have survived¡­ not because they died, but because their minds shattered into irreparable fragments, lost between realms like echoes without origin.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

    He is said to take countless forms, 80,000 of them recorded in forbidden texts, though the true number remains unknown. Some forms bear a resemblance to man, others resemble creatures from nightmares yet to be dreamt, and some are simply indescribable.

    It is whispered that he can create entire universes and obliterate galaxies with nothing but a gesture. He does not need words or actions, for he is both command and execution.

    Even the most terrifying entities fear him¡­ even death itself dares not approach.

    ---

    2: The Whisper in the Darkness ¨C The Son of Shadows

    "Those who hear his voice will never know if what they hear is real or hallucination¡­ Yet, in the end, they will believe it, even if it drives them insane."

    Born from the abyss, not as a son, but as a shadow of the shadow. It is said he dwells within the voids, in spaces untouched by light. If you hear a whisper in an empty room, you are not alone.

    When he stands in darkness, he merges with it, becoming one with the void. In the depths of space, his presence stretches to engulf entire galaxies, growing in power and form. He controls minds¡ªnot through will alone, but through mere existence. He is the doubt that seeps into your thoughts, the terror that grips you before you even understand why.

    Yet his most terrifying ability is his mastery over black holes¡­ not as cosmic phenomena, but as living horrors that hunger eternally, devouring all, yet never satisfied.

    ---

    3: Zulesh ¨C The Demon Skeleton

    "One man glimpsed his eyes for but a moment¡­ and lost his sight forever. Yet he continued screaming as if he still saw things beyond human comprehension."

    He is not merely a skeleton; he is the emptiness left behind when nightmares devour both body and soul. The winds he exhales are not mere gusts of air, but deathly whispers. Those who try to understand them lose their minds; those who ignore them perish.

    It is said that a single storm from his breath could annihilate an entire solar system¡­ yet that was his weakest exhalation.

    As for the red light emanating from his form, it is not illumination but a hidden truth¡­ Those who witness it realise that they were never truly alive, but merely a lie the universe played

 Zulish the Litch

    ---

    Chapter Eight

    The chapter begins with Gabriel, who has reached the shores of the frozen island and starts exploring the barren land, which is devoid of all forms of life. As he walks through the desolate area, a fierce snowstorm begins to brew. During his trek, he comes across a main road, which strikes him as odd. He finds it strange that such a road would exist on a deserted island, but that is not the most peculiar thing about it. The road was entirely free from snow, and no snowflakes seemed to fall upon it. Gabriel, however, paid no mind to these peculiarities. He was far too desperate to care about the strange details; he trudged along the long, seemingly endless road, hoping to reach the dreadful house he sought.

    As he walks, a large cargo shipment passes by, and Gabriel calls out to the elderly driver of the truck: "Where are you headed, mate?"

    Gabriel: "I¡¯m looking for a hut near the mountain. Have you heard of it?"

    The truck driver stops, visibly shocked, his expression turning pale. "Oh, you must be talking about the House of Devils," he says, his voice trembling. "I wouldn¡¯t advise you go there, mate."

    "It¡¯s the House of Devils," he says, his tone heavy with fear, before glancing nervously into the horizon as if something unseen was watching them.

    Gabriel, confused, responds, "The House of Devils?"

    "Yes," the driver continues. "Not many who¡¯ve heard of it live to tell the tale. But since you¡¯re already here, I suppose it¡¯s time you knew. No one speaks of that house, because it¡¯s not just a house ¨C it¡¯s an ancient place that vanishes from memory, yet you can never fully escape its past. There¡¯s always something unsettling about it, even if you try to forget."

    The old man pauses for a moment, as though the words are almost too difficult to say, but then he continues:

    "The house stands on this isolated island, far from any map or boundary. The island itself is lifeless, and the waters around it are always in turmoil. No one really understands how a place like that could have ever been inhabited. But, as you get closer to it, you suddenly find yourself confronted by something, something in the air, something that cannot be found anywhere else."

    He takes a deep breath, as if the memories are pulling him back into another time.

    "In ancient times, a man named Edward Darson lived in that house. He was a strange fellow, a recluse, spending most of his days in that crumbling house. He claimed that the house hid dark secrets about the world, and he was determined to uncover them. He said that the house was not merely a physical structure, but a gateway to other realms, and that, with the right rituals, one could summon a shadow demon ¨C a demon without a name, one that ruled the universe in secret. Or, if you were not a devout follower of the rituals, and you failed to summon it, you might attempt to summon one of its offspring, such as Zolish, or the Whisper in the Dark, or Seraphim. But the rituals were just as complex and difficult through the ages. Many cults have tried to summon these entities, but each time, they failed."

    Gabriel, intrigued, responds, "Ah, continue."

    The driver whispers, "But Edward Darson was not human. At least, that¡¯s what they say. Some say he was one of the powerful extraterrestrials who sought to draw close to these cosmic beings by creating cults and enslaving followers."

    Gabriel, his curiosity growing, asks, "So, you mean the house was a temple for demons?"

    The truck driver nods gravely. "More than that, mate..."

    ---More than that, my friend, the house has been, over the years, an attempt by these people to survive the wrath of these cosmic entities that rule the world. They used children and women, offering them as sacrifices just to save their own skins from what was to come. Gabriel: "So, what exactly is going to happen?"

    The old man took a deep breath before answering. "For years, my friend, this house has been nothing more than a desperate attempt by these people to escape the wrath of the cosmic entities that govern our world. They used children and women, offering them as sacrifices, just so they could save their own skins from what was to come."

    Gabriel: "Are you saying that it hasn¡¯t gone extinct?"

    The old man shook his head. "No, my friend. It still exists. In fact, the cult I once served¡ªthe one that worships the Shadow Demon¡ªis the last of its kind in this era."

    Gabriel¡¯s eyes narrowed. "Hold on. Are you telling me that this cult still exists to this day?"

    The old man nodded gravely. "Indeed, it does. In any case, I was told that every million years, the Shadow Demon destroys an entire solar system for reasons unknown. He simply deems its inhabitants unworthy, no longer of any value to him."

    Gabriel clenched his fists. "I have two questions. First, is the cult currently inside the Devil¡¯s House? Second, are you one of its members?"

    A sly grin spread across the old man''s wrinkled face. "You¡¯re a sharp one, young man. You¡¯ve figured me out. As for your first question¡ªno, we have moved to a church instead. The Devil¡¯s House is a beast on its own, and we have no desire to disturb it. And yes, I am one of them. In fact, I came here to invite you to join us."

    Gabriel scoffed. "Thanks, but no thanks. If such beings truly exist and are not just the product of some drug-induced hallucination, then I¡¯d rather be free than a slave to them."

    The old man chuckled darkly. "Oh, my brave young friend, I truly wonder how you plan to survive if you choose to stand against them. If I were in your shoes¡ªeither as an enemy of these beings or simply as someone who ignores them¡ªI would die of sheer terror."

    Gabriel smirked and turned away. "Well then, farewell."

    As Gabriel walked off, the old man called out after him. "Wait, Gabriel! Listen to me. I have something important to tell you."

    The man switched on a battered old radio, which crackled to life, playing a haunting melody. His voice rose above the static, reciting lyrics that sent a chill down Gabriel¡¯s spine:

    "There''s things we can''t do anymore..."

    Perhaps he was trying to communicate through the song¡ªperhaps it was meant to be a warning, Maybe the old man means that humans can''t fight the entities again.

    "They''re gonna recognize us And then they gon¡¯ spy us And they won''t understand it..."

    As Gabriel continued walking, the old man shouted in a loud, almost desperate voice:

    "You cannot fight gravity!"

    -- Gabriel, as he walked away, was bewildered by what had just happened, speaking to himself: "That old bastard, son of a whore¡­ How the hell did he know my name? And why is everything he said so contradictory? At first, he spoke as if he feared the cults, and now he¡¯s a member of one? Then he told me this was an isolated and abandoned island¡ªso how the hell is there a main road, people, sacrifices, and cults on an island that¡¯s supposed to be deserted?"

    Gabriel turned his face back, both angry and confused, only to witness a majestic yet horrifying sight¡ªthe main road had vanished completely, along with the old man and the cargo truck. The island had returned to its previous state¡ªnothing but snow and trees once more.

    Overcome by sheer shock, Gabriel started running, heading towards his ominous fate at the Devil¡¯s House and the Mountain of Madness.

    ---

    We move our events to another savage spot in the ocean¡ªan isolated, hellish, and terrifying island known as Skull Devil Prison Island. But unlike the previous island, the horror here does not stem from entities; rather, it is the bloodthirsty, depraved nature of humanity itself. This island has been called the bloodiest place on Earth.

    Little is known about this island, as information about it is scarce in the public domain. However, what the members of Phantom Zero have uncovered is that this island is owned by the demonic Chivishenkov family. Anyone who dares to oppose them meets a fate worse than death¡ªthrown behind bars, subjected to unspeakable torture, brutal assaults, and, at times, even sacrificed. The prisoners with pure white skin are particularly valued, offered as sacrifices to the true ruler of this world.

    Of course, you all know exactly who I¡¯m talking about. Contrary to what Gabriel, Mason, and Rose once believed back in school, the Chivishenkov family is not a mere Satanic cult worshipping Baphomet or Lucifer. No, they serve something far more powerful, far more terrifying¡ªa real entity that secretly rules our galaxy, not a fictional deity like those.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

    In a massive underground facility, a colossal statue of Shadow Demon stands, depicting one of its many forms¡ªthe veiled woman draped in black robes. Around it, men and women kneel in devout worship, their chants echoing through the cavernous halls.

    Inside a cage, we find Eva and Avery, bound and helpless, while the cult appears to be preparing them as sacrifices for Shadow Demon.

    Seated high upon a throne-like platform, Manuel Chivishenkov, the Warden of the Prison, prays fervently, hoping to earn the favour of Shadow Demon.

    Eva turns to Avery and whispers: "So¡­ you are from the Valhaim family? One of the seven families that rule the world? What an interesting coincidence, Simon Valhaim."

    Simon: "Yes, we are one of the ruling families of the world, but we will offer sacrifices here because we have chosen freedom over slavery."

    Eva: "What¡¯s the story behind this statue they worship? I expected them to worship Lucifer or something like that, but that woman who looks like a giant black shadow, wearing a black robe and holding a butterfly... what a shadow statue."

    Simon: "Ah, it seems they don¡¯t tell the women about the Shadow Demon in the cursed royal families."

    Eva: "Shadow Demon? What the hell are you talking about?"

    Simon sighed, his gaze distant. "I don¡¯t know much¡­ only that it¡¯s the entity worshipped by the Seven Families. When I turned eighteen, my father told me that I had to pray to the Shadow Entity. He said that this being created us¡ªthe ruling families¡ªalong with the rest of humanity, making us the rightful rulers of the world. It¡¯s the reason we possess such vast wealth. And he warned me¡­ if I refused to worship the Shadow Entity, it would kill me¡­ using fear itself."

    Eva¡¯s eyes widened in shock, her voice trembling. "That¡¯s impossible¡­ this is insanity¡­ I mean, this can''t be real!"

    Eva hesitated before asking, "Is that all you know about it? I mean, is this thing real, or is it just some delusion they believe in?"

    Simon exhaled sharply. "I don¡¯t know¡­ but I do know this¡ªit has offspring, much like the Christian god has Jesus. But the Shadow Entity has an uncountable number of children. Each one is a cosmic being of immense power¡­ and their strength is derived from spreading fear. Now, would you shut up and let me think of a way to escape?"

    Eva smirked mockingly. "Hah! An escape plan? You mean like the last fourteen plans that failed? Tell me, cowboy, why are we even here in the first place?"

    Simon shrugged. "We were going to end up here regardless."

    Eva narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean?"

    Simon looked away. "We were always meant to be sacrifices."

    Eva¡¯s voice rose in anger. "What the hell are you talking about, you idiot? Why me, specifically? I mean, I¡¯m not even that pale-skinned!"

    She banged against the iron bars, yelling at the cultists. "Hey! You drug-addicted lunatics! You morons! Aren¡¯t you supposed to offer the palest people as sacrifices? Why the hell am I here, then?"

    Simon sighed. "Because you are from a royal family."

    He leaned against the bars, lowering his voice. "When I turned twenty, I found a hidden chamber in our estate. Most of the information there wasn¡¯t of much value¡­ except for one thing. A list detailing the preferred types of sacrifices for the Overlord. At the top of the list were children from one of the ruling families, but only if they were either atheists or rebels. In third place were pregnant women. In fourth place¡­ children aged between seven months and four years old. Those were the sacrifices it favoured the most."

    Eva scoffed. "So, you do know a lot about this, oh great and mighty leader."

    Simon shook his head. "No, that¡¯s all I found. And don¡¯t blame me for this mess¡ªit¡¯s not my fault there was a spy among the leaders. And your sister¡­ she acted on her own."

    Tears welled in Eva¡¯s eyes. "Oh, Rose¡­ it wasn¡¯t her fault. I just hope she¡¯s safe¡­ that she managed to escape somehow."

    Simon exhaled. "Alright, stop crying. Just shut up and let me figure out a way to reunite you with your dear sister."

    Just then, one of the cult priests raised his hands in prayer.

    "Oh, mighty entity, forgive the sins of our children. Take their souls, feast upon their fear. Oh, great one, have mercy on us! In the name of the Princes! In the name of your greatest son, the Whisper in the Darkness, cast your wrath upon our offspring and grant us your blessing!"

    One of the cultists stepped forward, unlocking the cage. He dragged Simon and Eva out.

    ---

    Meanwhile, back at the Devil¡¯s Dwelling, Gabriel sat motionless on the bed. The hallucinations began almost immediately. Visions of Rose¡¯s execution flooded his mind¡ªshe was crucified before him, her lifeless eyes staring at him in accusation.

    "Gabriel¡­ you failed me."

    The hallucinations intensified. The floor morphed into grotesque faces, their mouths lined with jagged teeth, whispering in an eerie cacophony. Chilling laughter echoed through the house. Grotesque imps leapt from the shadows, cackling, while enormous insects skittered across the walls.

    But Gabriel lay still. His expression was devoid of emotion, his eyes hollow. He was drowning in despair, completely detached from the nightmarish world unfolding around him.

    And then¡ªa tempest struck.

    The storm roared with such force that it nearly ripped the house from its foundation. Windows shattered. The ocean churned violently, its rage mirrored across all the seas of the Earth.

    Gabriel stepped outside the ruined shack. The scene before him was nothing short of apocalyptic.

    Five colossal tornadoes circled the island, yet none dared approach him. Something¡ªsomeone¡ªwas commanding them. The sky burned red, thunder cracked like a divine whip, and the heavens bled. Yes¡­ blood rained from the sky.

    And then¡ªit arrived.

    A presence so overwhelming, so cosmically dreadful, that the very air seemed to tremble.

    Zulish had descended.

    For those unaware¡ªZulish was no ordinary being. He was the Undead King. A skeletal lich, a demon beyond mortal comprehension. The very entity that had hurled Gabriel into a storm of howling winds during his failed assassination attempt on the CEO.

    Zulish¡¯s voice¡ªdeep, resonant, and dripping with unholy power¡ªfilled the air.

    "Greetings, Chosen One¡­

    You are the Hunter of the Dark¡­ are you not?"

    Gabriel, trembling, his mind on the verge of collapse, whispered hoarsely:You are the demonic skeleton, aren''t you part of my hallucination?

    Zulish bowed deeply to Gabriel in greeting and said:

    Zulish: "Ooooh, forgive me, young one. I have not introduced myself. I am Zulish, a cosmic entity, one of the royal princes, and the son of the current ruler of the universe¡ªthe Shadow Demon."

    Gabriel: "What?! I wish you had remained just a hallucination..."

    Zulish: "Speaking of hallucinations, let me rid you of these annoying creatures."

    Gabriel (astonished): "You... you can see them too?"

    Zulish (chuckling): "Of course, young one. What has come over you?"

    With a casual tap of his staff upon the ground, a crimson aura erupted, expanding outward at an unfathomable speed. It surged across the island, then engulfed the entire continent, the whole planet, the entire solar system itself. A deep, nightmarish voice resonated through existence:

    "SUBMIT."

    In that instant, it was not just the monstrous entities that collapsed¡ªit was everyone. Every living being upon the Earth fell to their knees, trembling in absolute terror. The moment was so surreal, so unnatural, that it spread across social media like wildfire, dominating news channels worldwide. Even the animals bowed in submission, their bodies quivering in instinctive fear. The most devout, those of the religious orders, found themselves prostrated against their will.

    Zulish, with a mere thought, conjured enormous screens from the void, displaying the entire event to Gabriel.

    Gabriel (stunned): "But... why am I not kneeling?"

    Zulish (smirking): "Because you are the Hunter of the Dark."

    Gabriel: "This all feels... familiar..."

    Zulish (grinning): "Yes, here we are again, genius. Remember?"

    A flicker of recognition passed through Gabriel¡¯s mind as fragmented memories surfaced.

    Gabriel: "The legend... the legend of the Nameless Demon that Rose once told me... It''s real? Are you saying... I am the chosen one? The one said to be the most intelligent of all beings?"

    Zulish casually picked at his skeletal nose, withdrawing a tiny spider from within before flicking it aside.

    Zulish: "Yes, young one, you are correct."

    Gabriel: "But what I fail to understand... Why are you here? And why do you seem so... benevolent?"

    Zulish (chuckling darkly): "Oh, do not mistake me for something good. I am as wicked as my father. But I am here to join forces with you so that we may overthrow him. The chosen ones have always been the closest to toppling him. It is the nature of the universe itself¡ªyour very birth was accompanied by an ability, a trait designed for this purpose. If you succeed in either defeating him or exposing his plans to the world, he will vanish entirely.

    However, let us be clear¡ªyou are no match for him in raw power. To him, you are but a mere mind¡ªnothing more."

    Gabriel (scoffing): "Really? Is that all I amount to? How dull."

    Zulish: "Well, you do possess one more ability, though it does not affect beings like us."

    Gabriel: "And what is it?"

    Zulish: "You can kill any human... with your own hands. Simply picture the manner of their death in your mind, and it will happen¡ªbut you must be near the event for it to take effect."

    As he spoke, Zulish bit off a fragment of his own fingernail and spat it onto the ground. The moment it touched the earth, the very soil corroded and melted away, the fragment burrowing deep into the planet¡¯s crust as if it had a mind of its own.

    Floating effortlessly above the ruined landscape, Zulish conjured a peculiar object¡ªa contract made of ancient, leathery skin. It was inscribed with countless demonic sigils and bones, arranged in cryptic formations.

    With a flick of his wrist, he tossed it to Gabriel.

    Zulish: "This is a demonic pact. If you sign it, you align yourself with me in the mission to overthrow my father. If you refuse... you will remain trapped in madness forever."

    Gabriel: "But... your father is strong. I heard he can destroy entire solar systems... or something like that?"

    Zulish (chuckling darkly): "What are you talking about? I am one of the weakest entities, yet even my staff can annihilate galaxies.

    My father? He can obliterate entire universes. He suppresses his true power, relying only on the weakest form of fear energy, simply because he enjoys the challenge... and the thrill of watching his prey struggle.

    Regardless, you have three days to decide. This is your chance¡ªto avenge your fallen human comrades... and to take revenge on the Tchivishnikov family of scoundrels."

    Gabriel: "But... if we win this war... you will rule. And you are evil too."

    Zulish (grinning): "That would still be preferable to my father remaining in power¡ªbecause he will destroy your solar system soon."

    Gabriel (alarmed): "How do you know this?"

    ---

    Meanwhile... in the far reaches of the galaxy

    A lone figure drifted through the void.

    The Shadow Demon hovered before a cluster of planets, his form shifting and twisting like a living abyss. He appeared as a robed figure, his form obscured by darkness, with ethereal butterflies fluttering in his presence¡ªbeautiful, yet unnatural.

    As he approached the solar system, his voice, terrible and vast, reverberated across the cosmos:

    "FEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAARRRRR!!!"

    Instantly, an unnatural ashen-grey hue spread across the planets. Every living thing¡ªfrom alien civilizations to primal beasts, from towering trees to microscopic lifeforms¡ªsuccumbed in an instant, their bodies crumbling as pure terror consumed them.

    One by one, the planets detonated, reduced to dust in a chain reaction of utter annihilation.

    Even the Sun itself could not withstand the force¡ªcollapsing into a supernova, exploding with a brilliance that soon faded into the void.

    As the destruction unfolded behind him, the Shadow Demon drifted away, his voice echoing through the empty abyss.

    "Their level of intelligence has decreased... They have lost their value to me."

    ---

    End of Chapter

 The Dreams In The Witches House

    Chapter Nine

    X Hell

    The scene opens with Detective Karl sitting comfortably in his office chair, exhaling a slow curl of smoke from his Trichinopoly cigar, an air of nonchalance surrounding him. In stark contrast, his partner, Marcus, paces back and forth, his movements restless and erratic, his mind clearly troubled.

    Karl: Relax, Marcus. She said the case was closed.

    Marcus: How can you say that? The fingerprints on the knife didn''t match any of the ones in the precinct!

    Karl, unfazed, waves a hand dismissively.

    Karl: In any case, tell me¡ªmore importantly¡ªwill the technician be coming to fix the air conditioning?

    Marcus, his frustration evident, stops pacing and glares at him.

    Marcus: The apartment is falling apart, and yet I¡¯m the one who has to pay for repairs?

    Unbothered, Karl leans back in his chair, taking another slow drag from his cigar. He closes his eyes as if about to drift into sleep, a stark contrast to Marcus, who is barely keeping himself together. The weight of their first major case¡ªthe Wellington Reaper¡ªhangs over them like an ominous storm cloud. A phantom killer, one who has eluded capture at every turn, leaving behind no clear trail.

    Marcus, exasperated and on edge, finally snaps:

    Marcus: Will you stop pretending to be Sherlock Holmes and actually help me think of a solution to this case?!

    Karl, smirking, blows out a thick ring of smoke before replying.

    Karl: What else can I do? He is my idol, and I am a genius in my own right. Besides, these are my victory rituals. After all, I have found my very own Moriarty¡ªGabriel Sunderland. Even his name has a grander ring to it than Moriarty.

    Marcus throws up his hands in frustration.

    Marcus: You are irresponsible and utterly insane!

    Karl shrugs, entirely unbothered.

    Karl: Calm yourself, my dear partner. There hasn¡¯t been a murder in over a month. That only strengthens my theory¡ªGabriel Sunderland is undoubtedly behind all of this.

    Marcus, arms crossed, eyes Karl skeptically.

    Marcus: In all my time working with you, I have never seen you so certain about solving a case, despite your complete lack of evidence. So tell me¡ªwhat makes you so sure this time?

    Karl opens his mouth to answer, to say the whispers in the darkness have told me, but before he can utter a word, a voice¡ªdeep, eerie, and laced with something unnatural¡ªrings in his ears. It is a sound no human should ever hear, a sound that would drive a lesser man to madness.

    "Do not speak my name, mortal."

    Karl''s eyes widen, his heart hammering against his ribs. He jolts upright, turning to Marcus in a panic.

    Karl: Did you hear that? That¡ªThat voice! That overwhelming presence!

    Marcus scoffs.

    Marcus: Oh great, now you¡¯re hearing things. What an absolute joy for me.

    Karl regains his composure quickly, a grin returning to his face.

    Karl: Relax, you fool. We are about to become legends once we crack this case wide open.

    Marcus sighs, rubbing his temples.

    Marcus: You are a damn dreamer.

    Before their argument can continue, the sudden, sharp ring of Karl¡¯s phone slices through the tension. Answering the call, his expression shifts.

    A voice from the Wellington Criminal Investigations Department crackles through the speaker:

    "The Reaper has struck again. Another victim¡ªthis time at a local church."

    Both men freeze, eyes locking onto each other in a silent exchange of shock. The cigar slips from Karl¡¯s lips, landing on the floor with a soft thud.

    Marcus, snapping out of his stupor, grabs his coat and turns to Karl with a mix of urgency and grim determination.

    Marcus: *Come on then, Gabriel Sunderland¡¯s

    They got into Karl¡¯s car, speeding towards the crime scene with urgency pressing against their chests. The city lights blurred past them as they navigated through the streets, the weight of their mission sinking in with each passing second.

    Upon arriving at the church, they were met with a bloody hellscape¡ªa massacre beyond anything they had encountered before. As expected, the carnage was overwhelming. The shattered, dismembered bodies of children littered the sacred ground, their innocent forms reduced to grotesque remnants of life. The entire church had been painted in crimson¡ªfrom the statue of Christ to the pulpit, every surface was drenched in blood.

    Fifty bodies lay strewn across the nave¡ªmen, women, priests, and children¡ªall victims of the Reaper''s cruel handiwork. This was the largest slaughter ever committed by the Wellington Reaper, a scene so horrific that even the most hardened investigators would struggle to keep their composure.

    Yet, amidst the grotesque display, something even more bizarre stood out¡ªon the pulpit lay the corpse of a massive black wolf. Above it, smeared onto the wall in thick, drying blood, were the chilling words:

    "Who are is Rule the Universe."

    Karl and Marcus exchanged a look¡ªone of confusion, unease, and grim determination.

    Steeling themselves, they ventured deeper into the church, stepping over blood-soaked pews and shattered glass. They pushed open the heavy wooden door leading into the confessional chamber¡ªand there, at last, they came face to face with the Wellington Reaper.

    He stood before them¡ªa tall, pale young man with a slender frame and a poor posture. His right leg was prosthetic, a

    After a few moments of shock and disbelief, they attempt to attack him. But the killer swiftly leaps out of one of the windows in the confession room. Without hesitation, Marcus and Carl rush after him, initiating a long chase across the city. They sprint through streets, vault over cars, and even scale buildings in pursuit. The killer possesses remarkable physical agility, making it difficult to catch him. The chase eventually leads them into a dead-end alleyway.

    Carl, catching his breath, raises his weapon and says, "There''s nowhere left for you to run, Gabriel. This is the end of the line."

    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

    Marcus, still skeptical, keeps his gun trained on the suspect. "We haven¡¯t even seen his face yet, and you¡¯re still insisting it¡¯s Gabriel?"

    Carl shoots him an exasperated look. "Marcus, this is hardly the time for an argument!"

    The killer, taking advantage of their momentary distraction, tries to climb the wall to escape. Reacting quickly, Marcus fires a warning shot near his feet, forcing him to halt. He then aims his gun at the man¡¯s head and growls, "Enough of this game, you deranged lunatic. This is where your reign of terror ends. You¡¯ll die in a manner far worse than the helpless citizens you slaughtered."

    Carl scoffs. "You¡¯re nothing but a sick freak. You¡¯re not a mastermind, not some genius. You don¡¯t even have a twisted code or ideology. All those crime scenes I visited¡ªyou stole from every single one. Were all those massacres really just about money? You¡¯re pathetic."

    But instead of responding directly, the Grim Reaper of Wingleton begins muttering strange, incoherent phrases. His words are a mixture of seemingly random statements, spoken in English, almost like a cipher rather than a genuine reply. The chaotic nature of his speech makes Carl and Marcus pause, and then suddenly, a realization dawns upon them. There¡¯s something crucial hidden in what he just said.

    His exact words:

    *"Actually, you''re right. Partly. See, I usually do this kind of

    thing on my computer, but this time, I wanted to do it AFK, in person. Trying to work on my social anxiety. But there¡¯s always the threat of you fleeing after I call you out. You¡¯d tell your sysadmin to take your servers down, wipe all the data. So I made sure to include the current time and location in my anonymous tip."*

    Marcus tightens his grip on his gun, his patience wearing thin. "What the hell are you talking about, you money-hungry bastard?!"

    The Grim Reaper of Wingleton tilts his head slightly before responding with an eerie calm:

    "That¡¯s the part you were wrong about, Rohit. I don¡¯t give a shit about money."

    Then, without warning, his figure seems to dissolve into the shadows, vanishing as though he had never been there at all.

    Marcus, eyes wide with frustration, scans the alleyway. "Where the hell did he go?! I¡¯m going to search every inch of this place!"

    But Carl, still processing the cryptic words, places a hand on Marcus¡¯s shoulder, shaking his head. "Forget it. That wasn¡¯t the killer. That was a clue¡ªno, a confirmation. Our real culprit is a hacker¡­ and a fan of Moriarty."

    Marcus glares at him in disbelief. "You¡¯re insane."

    Carl lets out a weary sigh. "Didn¡¯t you notice? His appearance¡­ it matched Moriarty¡¯s description perfectly. And that nonsense he was spouting? It wasn¡¯t nonsense at all. It was a direct quote from a hacker in a famous movie. This wasn¡¯t the killer, Marcus. This was another clue from my terrifying ¡®friend.¡¯"

    While Karl and Marcus grappled with their confused realisation.

    We now move to one of the bloodiest places in the world, Skull Island of the Devil. Here, we witness some prisoners being tortured with ancient sadistic tools. Skull Island of the Devil is a cursed place, where mercy is absent, and chaos reigns. In the heart of this island, which reeks of death and suffering, dark dungeons hold prisoners who have fallen into the hands of sadistic masters. Here, there is no salvation, no hope, only the screams of agony echoing through cracked stone walls, bearing witness to horrors that the human mind cannot fathom.

    The Red Room, as the guards call it, is the stage for absolute torment. In the centre, one prisoner is lifted, chained, and placed in the Iron Maiden¡ªan iron coffin lined with sharp spikes like fangs. Slowly, the door is pushed shut, driving the spikes into their body, avoiding vital organs, prolonging their agony for hours before they die from slow bleeding.

    On the other side, a prisoner is forced to sit in the Iron Chair, a wooden chair studded with sharp iron spikes. Their body is tightly bound, and with every slight movement, the spikes penetrate deeper into their flesh, tearing the skin and exposing bones. Blood flows into a special channel beneath the chair, where the torturers make sure it is not wasted but instead used to decorate the walls with demonic engravings.

    In another corner, a prisoner is subjected to the Spanish Donkey, a horrific torture device consisting of a sharp-edged wooden board. The victim is forced to sit on it, with heavy weights attached to their legs. With every passing minute, the pressure on their body increases, causing muscles to tear and the body to split slowly. Their screams are deafening, but no one cares.

    But the harshest tortures await them in the lower basement, where the Catherine Wheel is used¡ªa hellish device that crushes the bones of prisoners one by one. The prisoner is tied to the wheel, and the torturer begins to twist their limbs at impossible angles, causing the bones to break and tendons to tear. Some victims don''t die immediately, but are left for hours or days, watching their torn limbs rot while they are still alive.

    Finally, there is the Iron Rat¡ªwhere a hungry rat is placed inside a metal container fixed to the prisoner''s stomach. The top of the container is heated, forcing the rat to burrow through the victim''s flesh in a desperate attempt to escape. The screams of the victim as the rat starts gnawing at their internal organs are considered music to the torturers'' ears.

    On Skull Island of the Devil, pain is the only currency, and blood is the water of life. No one leaves this place unscathed¡­ if they leave at all. But our heroes want to change the world, don''t they?

    In the cave below, we see Eva and Mason chained to the wall, with a giant cauldron of lava below, resembling those used by witches in legends, but this time filled with volcanic magma.

    The priest screams, raising both hands as if preaching to the sky:

    "Oh, Shadow Devil, Ruler of the Mighty Universe, we are your faithful servants, and in humiliation, we offer you these heretical sinners¡ªour children who do not know their place before you and have defied you¡ªaccept their burnt flesh from the volcanic pits and forgive us."

    Eva screams: "What are we going to do, you madman? Will you just let us die?"

    Mason shouts to the priest: "You mad bastard, just do it already!"

    Eva swings and kicks Mason: "You filthy Nazi, if I¡¯m the type who¡¯s not afraid of death, then I¡¯m certainly not the type who¡¯s afraid of facing the gods."

    Mason: "Looks like you¡¯ll accept it and pay for the days you slept with the high school and college boys, huh, sweetie?"

    Eva: "You twisted whore, I¡¯ll kill you with my hands before the lava does!"

    Mason says: "Calm down, idiot, and let the rituals of those foolish heretics run their course."

    Eva and Mason are thrown into the lava, and the cult members rejoice and celebrate the removal of their wrath. But their disgusting celebrations are interrupted by a loud alarm, a sound that hasn¡¯t been heard in the prison since its establishment. The bell, once useless, now rings at its highest pitch, sounding like the drums of revolution and freedom. The cult members are quickly dragged upstairs to find out what is happening.

    After they exit, Eva and Mason emerge from the lava pot.

    Eva says: "You fool, why didn¡¯t you tell me you replaced the volcanic lava with blood from the blood pool where they collect the prisoners¡¯ blood?"

    Mason: "The first reason is that you would have exposed me, and the second is that you would have objected, calling blood a disgusting idea."

    Eva: "No, I wouldn¡¯t have, or maybe I would have. Anyway, how did you make the bubbles and steam?"

    Mason: "Some technology, you idiot. Anyway, let¡¯s go. I¡¯ve freed all the prisoners, and I made a deal with them that they¡¯ll join Phantom Zero. We¡¯ll meet with Rose, Gabriel, and the rest. Our first real plan will be to return and bring down this prison after we escape, and all the facilities owned by the Chevichenkov family. One of my allies stole information about their facilities¡ªprisons, factories, government buildings, hospitals. We got all this from the prison owner, the fool."

    Eva: "You¡¯re insane. Wow."

    Mason: "Let¡¯s go, cowgirl."

    The heroes march forth toward freedom and the unknown. Will their plan to escape this infernal island truly succeed? And should they return, will they be stronger than before? Let us not dwell too much on such questions,

    Elsewhere, far from the clamor of physical torment, there was a man facing a different kind of suffering¡ªGabriel Sunderland in his hellish home, haunted by the ghosts of the past.

    for now, our gaze shifts to another¡ªour tormented and despondent protagonist.

    Gabriel lay upon his wretched bed in that loathsome house, his face smeared with blood. Scattered beside him were the remnants of his latest meal¡ªrabbits, their carcasses mangled and torn asunder in a display of brutal carnage. He brooded in silence, his mind a tempest of doubt and fear. Was Zolish real? Or merely a hallucination born of his fractured psyche? And if the entity was indeed real, would cooperation be a wise course, or merely a transition of power from one monster to another? A new form of submission, a shifting of chains rather than their breaking?

    A terrible notion wormed its way into Gabriel¡¯s thoughts¡ªCould Zolish betray me as well?

    As these ponderings consumed him, a spectral presence emerged before him¡ªMason¡¯s ghostly form, hovering with an accusatory glare.

    "Coward! Do you truly intend to abandon your principles and align yourself with a being that embodies pure malevolence?"

    Then, from the void, another apparition manifested¡ªRose, her voice laced with scorn.

    "Coward! Do you intend to reject Zolish¡¯s pact and forsake your vengeance for eternity?"

    Both phantoms spoke in unison, their voices merging into a relentless, damning chant:

    "Coward! Coward! Coward! Coward! Coward!"

    Gabriel clutched his head and let out a scream, his voice echoing through the decayed walls of that cursed dwelling.

    "Silence! Silence! Silence! SILENCE!"

    And with that, the apparitions dissipated, vanishing into the void from whence they came. Gabriel exhaled heavily, the weight of their words still pressing upon his mind.

    "How strange," he muttered to himself. "The sheer presence of that demonic entity, Zolish, has altered the very essence of the island¡ªperhaps even the world itself. And yet, this decrepit house remains untouched, unshaken. What is the true nature of this house of devils?"

    Even as he spoke, the world around him twisted, his surroundings melting into an abyssal void before coalescing into a new and dreadful setting.

    He found himself seated at a long banquet table, draped in a white cloth, yet the hall that housed it was one of unspeakable dread. Before him sat a grotesque figure¡ªa hulking hybrid of man and goat, its massive horns spiraling skyward, its shaggy fur matted with filth. And around the table, an abominable congregation of skeletons, some still clinging to the decayed remnants of flesh and strands of hair, feasted upon an unspeakable repast. Before them lay an obscene spread¡ªrotting, putrid viscera that could only be of human origin, writhing with maggots and thick with the droning of flies.

    Then, the goat-headed fiend, with eyes like twin abysses, fixed its gaze upon Gabriel and uttered, in a voice like the grinding of stones:

    "M¨¥ hupod¨­is t¨­i skotei."

    At those words, the world collapsed once more, and Gabriel was cast into a fathomless void.

    He tumbled through the blackness, his consciousness drifting toward the precipice of oblivion, when a stark, radiant presence emerged¡ªa great white moon, luminous and full, its glow cutting through the oppressive darkness. Near the celestial orb hovered a figure¡ªan angel, resplendent and terrible. Though his form bore the likeness of a man, his great wings were as black as the abyss, and his face was veiled in a shadow darker than the void itself. Only his hair, soft and eerily human, could be discerned.

    The angel¡¯s voice rang forth, solemn and commanding:

    "Do not give up, hunter of the dark."

    Once more, Gabriel was cast downward, his descent endless and maddening. As he fell, another vision seared itself into his mind¡ªa black crescent moon, its surface contorted into a grotesque semblance of a face. Before it stood a chalice, dark as night, brimming with blood. Upon its surface was etched the sigil of infinity.

    Three drops of crimson fell from the moon¡¯s twisted visage, rippling as they joined the sanguine pool within the cup.

    Yet the moon did not speak.

    And still, he fell.

    Until, at last, the void receded, and he found himself in a place of impossible beauty¡ªa sky untouched by time, a sea of clouds stretching infinitely in all directions. And within those celestial mists loomed a colossal, unblinking human eye. Beneath that terrible gaze, upon a floating carpet, sat a being beyond comprehension¡ªa shadowy figure whose form was woven from the very fabric of the cosmos. His body, a tapestry of stars, swirled with constellations, and his nebulous cloak billowed with the winds of eternity.

    And from that being, the words came:

    "¦²? ?¦Ò?¦Í ? ?¦Ò¦Ö?¦Ó¦Ç ?¦Ë¦Ð??."

    Then, with a gasp, Gabriel¡¯s eyes snapped open.

    He was in his bed once more, his breath ragged, his body drenched in cold sweat. His mind reeled, struggling to grasp the enormity of what had just transpired.

    "Madness... utter madness... What was all of that?"

    His thoughts were abruptly shattered by a sudden, violent pounding at the door.

    Then¡ªCRACK!

    The door splintered, crashing inward as shadowy figures flooded the room.

    They were the disciples of the Cult of the Devil¡¯s Shadow.

    And at the forefront stood the truck driver, his eyes alight with eerie conviction.

    "See? I told you¡ªhe¡¯s here, in the Witches'' House!"

    Gabriel exhaled, exasperated.

    "Damn it. How many names does this cursed house have?"

    The truck driver took a step forward, his voice ominous.

    "That is its true name... but I do not believe that is your greatest concern at the moment. I am sorry, Gabriel, but there are only two paths before you. Join us, or become an offering to our god."

    Gabriel raised his hands in a gesture of appeasement, his tone calm, his mind calculating.

    "Alright, alright... let¡¯s not be hasty. No need for such commotion¡ªI shall go with you willingly."

    And so, he stepped forth from that accursed house, standing before the gathered cultists.

    A terrible wind howled through the night, thick fog curling around them like spectral tendrils. And there, amidst the storm and the shadows, Gabriel strode forth toward the unknown, toward the heart of madness¡ªtoward the Cult¡¯s lair, hidden beyond the accursed Mountains of madness

 Majo no Yobikoe"

    ---

    Majo no Yobikoe

    Chapter 10

    The chapter begins precisely where the last left off. Gabriel, bound in iron shackles, was being led forth by the cultists, their faces alight with the grim satisfaction of hunters who had ensnared a most precious prey.

    "This offering shall appease the gods for years to come," one of them murmured, his voice thick with reverence.

    The driver of the truck, a man with a voice like gravel, chuckled darkly. "Whether he serves as a sacrifice or chooses to join us, it matters little. He is the key to opening the gateway to the entities¡ªso the bishop, Martin, has foreseen."

    Gabriel, his body bruised and bloodied, spat a mouthful of crimson upon the ground. He was dragged forward, barely able to keep his footing, yet defiance still burned within him.

    "Oh, you wretched bastards¡­ sons of harlots¡­ I have seen your accursed gateway to your false gods. It lies beneath the wretched hovel in the woods¡ªa mural, vast and ancient, not painted but grown into the very stone itself. Nine beings¡­ no, not beings, but nightmares, hewn into the wall in dreadful relief."

    He coughed, more blood staining his lips.

    "There was a crack in the mural," he continued hoarsely, "but I could not pry it open. You waste your time dragging me along."

    One of the cultists sneered. "That is because you know not how to wield yourself as the key. Now, cease your prattling and walk."

    Gabriel barked a bitter laugh. "Cowards, the lot of you. Even after I surrendered without a fight, you resorted to beating and binding me! What more could one expect from spineless wretches who kneel before gods of illusion? Cowards! Cowards!"

    One of them struck him then, the iron cudgel cracking against his ribs.

    "Silence, you damned lunatic," the man growled.

    Gabriel staggered, but he did not fall.

    He moved forward, his feet sinking into the cold mire. His mind reeled, the world tilting precariously¡ªbut then, something changed.

    At first, it was subtle¡ªa weight in the air, a suffocating density pressing down upon him. Is the dizziness worsening? he thought.

    Then the trees began to dissolve.

    They did not wither, nor did they burn¡ªthey simply ceased to be, as though an unseen force erased them from existence. The snow¡­ the snow did not melt¡­ it was being drawn away as if the very earth was rejecting it.

    And then, silence.

    The cultists were gone. Their voices, their footsteps¡ªvanished into the void.

    Gabriel was falling.

    Down, down, down¡­

    There was no ground beneath him, no sky above¡ªonly shifting darkness, swallowing him whole. And then, suddenly, he struck something solid¡ªthough it was not earth.

    He raised his head¡­ and saw the throne.

    It was white¡ªpale as ancient bone, its surface adorned with symbols that seemed to slither beneath the marble like living veins. Behind it loomed a colossal Masonic pyramid, at its apex an unblinking eye, its gaze piercing his very essence.

    And upon the throne, It sat.

    A faceless entity, its elongated neck concealing a void of utter blackness beneath a priestly shroud of alabaster. In one hand, it cradled an ornate box, adorned with a crimson cross. In the other, it held a whip, the leather frayed and stained with filth.

    At Its feet knelt two figures¡ªa scarred demon, crimson and wretched, and a pale-skinned imp, unclothed, upon whose back was branded the symbol of the crescent moon. They knelt, heads bowed low, awaiting their judgment.

    The entity upon the throne did not acknowledge Gabriel.

    Yet when It spoke, Its voice did not come from Its form, nor did It deign to address him directly. Instead, the words seeped into the void, into the very fabric of reality itself:

    "Get off. Get even. Get off me, you killer."

    Then, silence.

    A silence so thick, so crushing, it was as though the universe itself had been smothered beneath a shroud of ice, waiting for the first crack to break it.

    Gabriel could not move.

    He could not even draw breath.

    ---

    After a grueling two-day march, the cultists finally reached their destination¡ªa cathedral, long forgotten, nestled within the accursed mountains known to those few who dared whisper their name as the Madness Peaks.

    It was a vast structure, eerily grand for so desolate a place. As Gabriel was dragged inside, his senses reeled at the infernal spectacle before him.

    Colossal paintings adorned the walls, eldritch and terrible. Among them were entities he recognized¡ªsuch as the Whisperer in the Darkness, depicted as a gargantuan, winged ghoul with the horns of a devil and the writhing appendages of an octopus protruding from its chin. Upon its abdomen was inscribed a pentagram, pulsing as though alive.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

    Another depicted a being of shadow, a draconic form wrought from darkness itself, crowned with a sun held aloft in its grasp. Despite its bestial appearance, it stood unnaturally tall upon two legs, its posture eerily human. Its eyes were voids¡ªempty, endless¡ªand its maw, agape in a silent scream, bore teeth, unlike any beast of the earth. They were swords¡ªlong, cruel, as though forged for slaughter.

    And in the corner, another painting caught his eye.

    A woman¡ªexquisite in her beauty, yet terrible in her presence. She was clad in a flowing black dress and a Victorian-style hat, her visage painted in ghostly white. Black kohl smudged her eyes, beneath which two inverted crosses had been drawn. Her lips, adorned with dark grey lipstick, stretched into a bat-like shape that extended to her cheeks. A crimson skull pendant hung at her throat, and from beneath the shadows of her hat, her eyes glowed¡ªa piercing, scarlet red.

    Beneath the painting, a single inscription:

    "The Fairest in the Cosmos¡ªMistress of Witches, Erkantha."

    Before these dreadful effigies, throngs of slaves knelt in ceaseless devotion. What manner of existence is this? Gabriel thought. To live in perpetual terror, to surrender one¡¯s soul to a false hope in exchange for the mere illusion of safety¡­

    Yet the horrors did not cease.

    As he was turned, his gaze fell upon a scene of unspeakable carnage¡ªchildren, crucified upon inverted crosses, their small bodies mutilated, their heads severed. Others, still alive, were caged in golden prisons, awaiting their turn. They wept, their cries lost amidst the madness.

    Gabriel, his voice raw with fury, spat at the cultists.

    "You monstrous cowards! Where is your humanity, you vile whoresons?"

    They gagged him with a cloth and bound him to a golden cross, driving rusted nails through his hands and feet. Agony surged through him, his screams muffled as his blood mingled with the filth-strewn floor.

    Then, they doused him in a bucket of blood¡ªthick, clotted, the lifeblood of the innocent.

    Gabriel¡¯s mind reeled.

    And then¡ªagain¡ªthe world crumbled.

    The church, the children, the cultists, the blood¡ªall vanished.

    Reality itself was being erased.

    And once more, he was falling.

    Suddenly, there was nothing.

    No light, no sound, not even darkness¡ªonly an abyssal void, infinite and unyielding, as though existence itself had been cast beyond the outermost borders of reality.

    Then¡­ there was the fall.

    It was not a mere descent, but a plummet into the unknown, an unholy spiral into a place where reason held no dominion. His stomach twisted, yet no wind rushed against his form¡ªthere was no air, no resistance, only the dreadful certainty that his very essence was being drawn toward some eldritch and unfathomable fate.

    Then, he struck the ground.

    Opening his eyes, he found himself sprawled upon an ancient wooden staircase¡ªdust-laden, fractured with time¡¯s relentless decay, its very presence anathema to logic. It neither ascended nor descended but stretched into infinity, coiling upon itself in impossible configurations, as though the very laws of geometry had been discarded in this accursed place.

    Beneath his feet, skulls lay in grotesque profusion.

    Not dozens, nor hundreds, but thousands¡ªnay, an innumerable multitude, a grotesque ossuary amassed into a mountain of shattered humanity. Hollow sockets gazed at him with an accusatory stillness, as though bearing witness to his intrusion. Some yet bore the remnants of desiccated flesh, a morbid testament to a death unfinished, a lingering ruin of lives long forsaken.

    Something stirred within the darkness.

    Lifting his gaze, he beheld the motion of skeletal forms.

    They were not wholly bereft of animation. Some stood, eerily motionless, their empty sockets fixed upon him in a silent and unnerving vigilance. Others meandered along the stairway without apparent purpose, their trajectories unknown, their destinations unknowable. Some knelt, heads bowed, whispering in voices too faint to hear, as though engaged in supplication to an ineffable and unspeakable deity.

    But the most terrifying of them all stood at the summit.

    It was different.

    No mere skeleton was this, but a thing wreathed in an infernal blaze¡ªits bones aglow with a searing crimson light, as if forged from smoldering embers. Fromsmolderingutted tattered wings, vestiges of a bat-like form, burned and ruined as though they had once spanned the heavens and been cast into oblivion. In its grasp, it bore a rusted axe, its edge dulled by the ravages of time, yet exuding an unmistakable aura of annihilation, as though a single stroke would suffice to rend him asunder.

    Then¡­ it began to sing.

    "Heeeeey Meysoon s Aliens for yeah aehAliensvoice was neither mere sound nor melody but something far worse¡ªa hideous symphony of laughter and weeping, of whispers and shrieks, of wrath and ecstasy. It did not echo in the air alone but resonated within his very being, embedding itself in the marrow of his bones, a creeping intrusion into the sanctity of thought itself.

    The sound reverberated through the stairway, through his mind, through all that was. He willed himself to flee, yet his form remained transfixed, ensnared within the nightmare¡¯s embrace.

    And then¡­ he fell once more.

    Reality convulsed, unraveling at its seams. The skulls crumbled into nothingness; the bones disintegrated; the staircase shattered as if it had never been more than a cruel jest in the mind of some malign architect. Everything collapsed into the void, and he was not spared.

    His body plunged into the abyss.

    This time, the descent was not silent.

    A force unrelenting dragged him downward, the winds howling in a cacophony of madness, his form twisting and tumbling as though robbed of weight, of substance, of being. He screamed, yet the abyss swallowed his cries, as though existence itself had no ear to hear them.

    Then¡­ he beheld the light.

    It was no earthly illumination.

    A spectral argent radiance, colder than the grave and more unyielding than death, shone upon a surface of gleaming metal, reflecting and refracting in a manner both hypnotic and unnatural. Yet there was no time to comprehend, for the fall ceased with cruel abruptness, and he stood before something that defied all expectation.

    A woman.

    She stood in the gloom, her argent armor catching and distorting the feeble luminescence, as though woven from the very fabric of the cosmos. Her eyes¡ªabysses of frozen oceans, vast and inscrutable¡ªheld no warmth, only the quietude of a distant, unknowable depth. Her raven-black tresses cascaded over her shoulders, gleaming faintly, as though absorbing the ambient glow of this forsaken domain.

    She bore a sword of monstrous proportions, its grip encased in an armored gauntlet, fingers clenched with the unrelenting resolve of one who has awaited this moment since time immemorial.

    Gabriel needed no further revelation to discern her identity.

    "Rose?"

    His voice wavered¡ªa confluence of astonishment, confusion, and some nameless, lingering hope. She stood there, precisely as he remembered her, precisely as she had haunted his dreams and nightmares alike. A single step forward¡ªan impulse to reach for her, to affirm that she was no mere phantasm, no cruel trick of this unreal domain.

    Yet her gaze remained barren, devoid of recognition or warmth.

    Then¡­ her sword ignited.

    Not with flames of mortal kindling, but with an eerie, glacial conflagration¡ªblue and spectral, as though frost itself had learned to burn. And though the fire was cold, he felt it, felt its impossible heat crawling through the marrow of his bones.

    In the blink of an eye, she was upon him.

    There was no time to flee.

    The azure blaze plunged into his chest, cleaving through his very heart and flooding his veins with a talent beyond mortal comprehension. It was no mere wound¡ªit was an unraveling, a cosmic rift within him, an agony that transcended the physical, as if some ancient force had reached into his soul and set it aflame.

    Rose leaned closer, her voice a whisper of glacial dread:

    "Is fire¡­ I know he burns inside."

    Then, all burns are lost to oblivion.

    Gabriel awoke, bound upon the cross, his laughter pealing through the accursed chamber in a fit of maddened hysteria¡ªlaughter unhinged, laughter that echoed the howling void itself.

    The cultists gathered around, their eyes alight with a fervor most profane.

    "What a psychopath," one murmured, as another raised his voice in exaltation.

    "We shall offer the Devil himself to our Goddess, brethren!"

    As Gabriel was drawn inexorably toward his accursed fate, a sudden breach in the fabric of existence erupted before him¡ªa sorcerous rift, a fracture in the dimensions. And within it, adrift in the void of the infinite, loomed a visage most dreadful, a being whose countenance was known to him.

    It was the cosmic entity¡­ Zulish.

    The skeletal horror gazed upon him, and with a voice like the grinding of worlds, it spoke:

    "What is this laugh, mortal? Have you ever considered becoming truly wicked?"

    At the base of the throne stood Erkantha, her raven-black hair cascading like a waterfall of the night itself, interwoven with flickers of starlight, much like distant galaxies shimmering in the cosmic abyss. Her eyes were not mere pools of darkness but rather portals to the unfathomable secrets of the universe, as deep as the nebulous voids between the stars, as radiant as the flickering demise of a dying sun. She was a vision beyond mortal comprehension, a beauty surpassing by a hundredfold the portrait that had once captivated Gabriel¡¯s eyes.

    Emerging from the flowing fabric of her robe, black serpents slithered onto the ground, their sinuous bodies coiling around her form like shadows given life. Her body was sculpted with an artistry that defied mortal understanding¡ªa perfection of balance between ethereal grace and ominous power, as though the very forces of creation had conspired to mold her into an apex of existence.

    Her waist, delicate and slender, was the meeting point of a tempest and tranquillity, while her legs extended like pillars of celestial light¡ªlong, poised, and ending in feet that seemed barely to touch the astral void beneath her. Her arms, slender yet carrying an aura of concealed strength, moved with the slow precision of an ocean¡¯s tide. Her fingers, elongated and refined, resembled the branches of an ancient tree that had witnessed the dawn of time itself.

    Her chest was not merely a detail of her form, but an artwork sculpted by the hand of the cosmos, full yet balanced, a harmony of delicacy and majesty, as though within its contours lay the very essence of beauty itself. Her skin, neither merely flesh nor mere surface, radiated a living luminescence, smooth as though woven from the finest marble and the most fluid of waters, glowing with an inner incandescence.

    Her crimson eyes, burning like molten rubies, slowly lifted their gaze towards the entity upon the throne.

    It was he¡­ the Shadow Fiend.

    And Erkantha, the woman whom all creatures in existence feared¡ªthe untouched maiden whom no being, mortal or divine, had ever dared to claim, the one who had never bowed nor bent the knee to any ruler or god¡ªknelt before him.

    She, whom the greatest sorcerers, the most terrifying of cosmic entities, and the rulers of forbidden realms had revered and feared alike, now prostrated herself in silent submission.

    The being upon the throne, the one who bore the true name of dread itself, remained unmoving. His favored form¡ªan enigmatic woman draped in a formless abyssal cloak¡ªsat in perfect stillness, an immeasurable presence emanating from the very fabric of their existence. Behind him, a colossal star loomed, pulsating with an eerie, unnatural rhythm, as though it were a heart beating at the threshold between life and death.

    One hand held within it a gathering of spiders and butterflies, their delicate, nightmarish forms writhing and shifting in ways that defied sanity. The other, resting upon the arm of the throne, bore the weight of innumerable worlds, as though the very act of existence itself was upheld by his touch alone.

    He did not turn to acknowledge her, nor did he offer any sign that her presence mattered.

    But she, in a voice that caused the very fabric of space to waver, the whisper of which made the unseen forces of the cosmos tremble, spoke:

    "Father¡­ I believe Zulish is betraying you."

    End of the Chapter.

    .

 the Festivals

    Chapter Eleven: The Festivals

    Gabriel was lying on the bed in that accursed house¡ªthe witches'' house. His eyes stared into the darkness, but his mind was lost between doubt and certainty. Had he lost his mind and gone insane, or was the contract he had made with Zolish real? He was no longer sure of anything... except for his one and only wish, which he clung to like a drowning man, even though everything around him felt like a nightmare.

    His body was torn apart¡ªnot only by physical wounds but by mental torment as well. His mind could not comprehend what had happened the day before¡ªas if his delusions had crawled out from the depths of his psyche to become reality. He was trapped in a vortex of hallucinations and disorder, unable to discern whether what he saw was real or merely a figment of his imagination.

    In the dim darkness, his body was drenched in sweat, yet the air around him was unnaturally cold. The room was silent... an oppressive silence, as if it were watching him. The silence was more than just an absence of sound; it was an entity in itself, creeping along the walls, coiling around him, suffocating him.

    His bones ached as if they were broken, and his head throbbed with an inhuman rhythm. Then he felt it... the fever. A heat surged through his body, as if his blood had turned to molten lava, yet he shivered as if the cold were devouring him from within.

    At that moment, another thought crossed his mind¡ªwas he trapped inside a maze of fevered nightmares?

    Had the dreams brought the fever, or had the fever brought the dreams?

    Gabriel Sunderland did not know.

    Had he begun to imagine illnesses after imagining tales of monsters and entities? Which was worse, he wondered?

    Loneliness... that was the worst thing of all. No matter how strong a person became, no matter what they faced, loneliness remained the ultimate horror, lurking in the darkness, waiting for the moment to strike. Despite everything he had been through, despite having become a man now, nothing had changed¡ªthe same childhood fear still sat at the top, reigning supreme, unchallenged. That black void, that nothingness, had returned to swallow him once more after Rose''s death.

    So tell me, dear readers... had everything he had witnessed during this time been real? Or was it merely a hellish manifestation of the destructive effects of loneliness and grief?

    In any case, the howling of wolves outside and the cries of ravens and owls in that eerie, snow-covered place made Gabriel shiver and freeze. He had thought about Erkantha a lot. Despite being terrifying, she was the most beautiful thing he had seen during this tragic period.

    Whenever he heard or thought of the witch¡¯s name, the witches'' house, where he now slept, would tremble violently, and a green aura would rise from it¡ªan aura somewhat resembling that of the cosmic entity Zolish, though in different colours. Sometimes, it would glow silver, its power so immense that it seemed to reach into space.

    That infernal house never ceased to attack Gabriel in every possible way. Strange fits would seize him¡ªbouts of terror more horrifying than anything else. These seizures made him tremble violently, his obsessive thoughts growing more overwhelming. He would shake so much that the bed beneath him would rattle, sweat pouring from his body, blood trickling from his nose and eyes.

    And when the convulsions subsided, his fever would spike, and he would begin to vomit continuously¡ªvomiting red blood. But was it his own blood? Or was it the blood of the animals he had eaten alive? The room itself seemed to shake under the force of his suffering, as if on the verge of collapse.

    Suddenly, Gabriel woke up from this nightmare, gasping for breath.

    Gabriel: "Haaaa... haaaaa... It was just a nightmare! It was just a nightmare! Calm down... calm down... You''re fine now. You''re fine. It''s nothing¡ªjust a slight headache."

    Gabriel got up to shave his beard and wash his face. As he shaved in front of the old, cracked mirror in the witches'' house, he wondered...

    What had happened to that murderer back in his homeland?

    Then, he and everything there disappeared. Now, we set sail on our journey¡ªaway from the nightmares, yet not far from fear and sorrow.

    To the capital of New Zealand, where two young detectives found themselves caught in a web of confusion and tension following the recent developments in this intricate case. They sat in the library, deep in thought, contemplating their next move.

    Night had draped its heavy cloak over the New Zealand capital. Detective Karl and his assistant, Marcus, sat surrounded by scattered papers and incomplete reports. Silence filled the room¡ªnot a peaceful silence, but a stifling one, oppressive, carrying the weight of defeat.

    Marcus threw the case file onto the table with frustration, exhaling sharply:

    Marcus: "What are we supposed to do, Karl? It looks like we''ve lost this case. I can''t believe this is our first real failure... But no human mind could possibly untangle this chaos."

    Karl lifted his gaze, his eyes lost in the shadows cast by the dim desk lamp. He didn¡¯t need to ask whom Marcus was referring to¡ªthey were speaking of the Reaper of Wingleton, the serial killer who had eluded their grasp time and time again, like a ghost leaving behind only corpses and riddles.

    Karl sighed slowly, placing an unlit cigarette between his lips:

    Karl: "This wasn¡¯t just a simple escape... It was orchestrated, calculated with absolute precision. How did he vanish from that alley behind the church in such a way?"

    Marcus: "Maybe he¡¯s using dark magic. At this point, I wouldn''t be surprised by anything in this case."

    Karl: "This is the madness of Phantom Zero, Marcus. All the evidence points to them being behind this chaos¡ªat the very least, behind the minister¡¯s assassination."

    Marcus slammed his fist onto the table.

    Marcus: "We have more problems than just the killer, yes. But let¡¯s agree that this was a coordinated execution by them, without a doubt... The minister¡¯s assassination was just a small piece of the deeper puzzle that led us to this damn genius of a murderer."

    Karl stood, leaning against the table, his eyes locking onto his partner¡¯s.

    Karl: "But we have a key to this puzzle¡­ We have someone closer to the hell we¡¯re chasing than anyone else."

    Marcus: "You¡¯re talking about Gabriel Sunderland."

    Karl fell silent for a moment before replying in a cold voice:

    Karl: "Though I find your suspicion of him baseless and absurd, I¡¯ll admit¡­ He¡¯s the closest thing we have to the truth."

    Before Marcus could respond, Karl¡¯s phone suddenly rang. He pulled it from his pocket, glanced at the caller ID, then answered in a serious tone:

    Karl: "What have you got?"

    A cryptic voice on the other end spoke rapidly, filled with excitement and urgency. Karl uttered only a few short words before hanging up.

    Marcus raised an eyebrow.

    Marcus: "Who was that?"

    Karl straightened, his eyes gleaming with newfound intensity.

    Karl: "We''ve found Gabriel¡¯s apartment, Marcus¡­ There might be something there."

    Silence hung in the air for a brief moment before Marcus grabbed his coat swiftly.

    Marcus: "If there¡¯s anything that could lead us to the truth¡­ then let¡¯s go and uncover it."

    The two stepped out of the office, the icy New Zealand air wrapping around them. But the real heat lay within the mystery that had finally begun to reveal some of its secrets.

    We leave the detectives behind and return to our greatest and only nightmare¡ªthe one we lived through with Gabriel.

    Gabriel lay on the bed in the old witches'' house, clutching his head as he trembled violently. Cold sweat dripped from his forehead, yet his body burned with the heat of fever. Scarlet eyes glowed from every corner of the room, lurking, sinking into the abyss of darkness, as if waiting for his fall. By the window, crows gathered in eerie silence, their gazes unreadable¡ªwas it pity? Contempt? Or were they merely watching, like emotionless entities?

    He began to mutter, his voice shaky, barely audible, as if he spoke a language not of this world:

    "??????????????... ?????? ?????? ????????... ?????? ?????? ????????..."

    Then, suddenly, his voice grew sharper, as if he were trying to tear himself away from something coiling around his mind:

    "Rose¡­ why did you leave me? ?????????????? ??????????... Rose¡­ why did you leave me? Rose¡­ why did you leave me? ROSE!!"

    He repeated the phrase over and over, but his voice no longer sounded human. It echoed through the room as if spoken by more than one mouth, from more than one dimension.

    The eyes did not fade; instead, they seemed to draw closer, glowing ever more intensely, smoldering like embers in the depths of the void. The crows flapped their wings¡ªas if preparing to take flight¡­ or to strike.

    Then, abruptly, the murmurs stopped. The voices fell silent. Gabriel collapsed onto the bed¡ªonly to plummet into a void of pure darkness.

    He screamed as he fell, his voice tearing through the abyss:

    "Not this again! Not this again! Not this¡ª!"

    But deep down, he knew. There was no salvation from this torment¡ªonly death.

    He kept falling, his body descending into infinity, screaming, but his voice was nothing more than a whisper dissolving into the void. It was not mere descent¡ªit was disintegration. As if his very being was being ripped from reality, reshaped by something beyond him, something lurking in this eternal blackness.

    Then, suddenly, the fall stopped.

    There was no impact, no surface to land on, yet he was no longer moving. He was suspended in an endless space. And before him¡­ was something no human mind could fully comprehend.

    A colossal eye, floating in the void, encased within a luminous triangle¡ªlike a gateway to another dimension.

    It was not merely an eye. It was a cosmos unto itself, its pupil resembling a black hole, devouring all light, surrounded by an aura of colors unknown to human perception¡ªcolors that had no names. Below it, a dead planet hung in space, cloaked in thick layers of cosmic dust, the remnants of a world annihilated eons ago.

    The space around him was not silent. It pulsed with a strange, unsettling life. Galaxies burned and collapsed, stars exploded like dying suns, yet everything seemed to orbit this one eye¡ªas if it were the center of existence. Or perhaps, the center of nothingness.

    The void surrounding Gabriel was not merely black emptiness¡ªit was a celestial tapestry, pulsating with an eerie, inhuman beauty.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    The stars, in their myriad hues, were not distant pinpricks of light but blazing masses that danced upon the horizon, interweaving like shattered glass from an ancient divine explosion. Some pulsed with a faint blue glow, while others burned in shades of red and orange, like fading suns. Wisps of cosmic dust flowed through the expanse like rivers of light, shifting between deep purples and electric blues, mingling with tendrils of green auroras flickering in the far distance.

    It was as if this place were the very heart of the cosmos itself¡ªthe birthplace of stars, and their grave.

    And yet, nothing in this boundless scene drew the eye more than the eye itself. It was not merely an object within space. It was space. It had existed since the dawn of time. Its pupil, a pit of absolute blackness, was ringed by a swirling vortex of impossible colors, as though the fabric of reality itself revolved around it. There was no distinction between the eye and its surroundings¡ªit was part of the void, and the void was part of it. The eye of the cosmos, watching everything. Knowing everything.

    The glow surrounding it was not steady, but pulsed, like the heartbeat of an ancient being, sending faint waves of light through the darkness, fading and returning¡ªas if calling to Gabriel. Or perhaps, as if conducting an existential test, analyzing him, determining whether he was worthy of existence¡­ or merely another illusion within this cosmic chaos.

    Then, a voice echoed through the void.

    It did not come from the eye.

    It did not come from anywhere.

    It was simply there, vibrating through existence itself.

    The voice was neither terrifying nor comforting¡ªit was melodic, beautiful, and utterly alien.

    And yet, it was not speaking to Gabriel alone.

    It was speaking to us.

    To humanity.

    To all who had ever existed.

    "Ah, did you not get the message?

    Say I''m done callin'' and textin''

    Don''t be so passive-aggressive

    You''re gonna pass that aggression

    We''ve been inside, have you been invested?

    I did not come to impress ya

    You''re gonna know ''cause you''re testin''

    You feel it in your intestine."

    Gabriel tried to grasp what he had just heard, but time did not grant him the luxury of understanding. Before he could make sense of it, he was falling again¡ªthis time through the vastness of space, plummeting between stars, nebulas, comets, meteors, and supernovae.

    Then, suddenly¡ª

    His body crashed down as if he were a discarded piece of cloth caught in a storm. His back struck cold cement, so unforgiving that, for a moment, he felt as if it had cracked beneath his weight. His ragged breathing filled the rotten air, thick with the stench of decay, the scent of nothingness.

    A mass grave.

    An underground tomb, teeming with black cats and creatures of the night.

    His feet stumbled through the rubble and corpses, but his gaze remained locked onto a single object¡ªthe only thing that commanded his attention.

    A lone grave at the end of the tunnel.

    Perched atop the tombstone sat a raven, black as coal, and beside it, a dove, white as a ghost.

    He approached slowly. His eyes widened as he read the name carved into the stone.

    Rose Chevanchikov.

    The grave was open.

    Empty.

    As if it had been waiting for him since the beginning of time.

    Without hesitation, Gabriel stepped forward¡ª

    And jumped.

    Plunging into the abyss once more.

    Falling.

    Endlessly.

    No hope. No mercy. No escape.

    Then¡ª

    The fall stopped.

    There was no impact. No sudden jolt. It was as if gravity had simply abandoned him. His body remained suspended, floating in the void, as though he belonged nowhere at all.

    The air¡ªif there was air¡ªwas utterly still. So still, in fact, that his own breath no longer made a sound.

    And then¡ª

    He saw it.

    At the center of a swirling maelstrom of shifting colors, reality itself erupted into a surreal nightmare. Circles, eyes, phantoms¡ªdancing in chaotic, incomprehensible patterns, like an ocean of liquid madness.

    These were not mere colors.

    They were watching him.

    Dozens. Hundreds. Thousands of glimmering eyes, embedded within the storm of hues, fixated upon him. Studying him. Stripping him bare, not just in body, but in spirit¡ªpeeling away his existence, layer by layer.

    And from within this visual chaos¡ª

    She emerged.

    A mass of darkness.

    Black as an infinite void.

    Like a black hole sculpted into the form of a woman.

    Her body was not mere shadow. It was nothingness itself.

    Absorbing light. Absorbing color. Absorbing him.

    Gabriel felt himself unraveling¡ªhis very essence thinning, like fabric being pulled apart by unseen hands.

    But she was not entirely empty.

    There was an eye.

    One single eye, glowing with a dim, eerie radiance, peering at him from behind the curtain of darkness.

    It was an eye devoid of warmth.

    Devoid of humanity.

    Devoid of life.

    And yet¡ª

    It saw him.

    Not just his body.

    Not just his soul.

    Everything.

    It was tearing into him the way blades tear through flesh.

    She extended her hand.

    But it was not a hand.

    It was an extension of that living void¡ªwrithing like smoke, yet solid.

    And heavy.

    Not merely in weight, but in presence¡ªgripping reality itself, bending it, reshaping it as she pleased.

    Gabriel did not move.

    He could not move.

    There was nowhere to go.

    "Who¡­ are you?"

    He did not realize he had spoken.

    He was not even sure the words had truly left his lips.

    But the question existed.

    It lingered in the air.

    She did not answer.

    She only smiled.

    A brilliant, radiant smile¡ª

    Carved into the darkness.

    White. Wide. Almost beautiful.

    But not human.

    A smile brimming with knowledge.

    With amusement.

    With danger.

    And then, with a voice as grand as a celestial symphony, she spoke:

    "Say I found the one

    That''s enough for me, that''s enough for me

    Run, the past, it''s gone

    Love me in this league

    Heavy, every lie is a crown, preachers tired too

    Fall asleep on me

    Reach inside my mind and tell me where you want to go?"

    Then, as it had begun, the eyes began to melt away. The colors receded. The darkness thickened.

    And the fall began anew.

    This time, there was no impact. No collision.

    The descent simply¡­ stopped.

    As if the very laws of the universe had been rewritten in an instant, leaving Gabriel suspended in nothingness.

    For a moment, he thought he had returned to the void, to that black abyss where the woman with the haunting words had confronted him.

    But this time¡ª

    There was no darkness.

    There was light.

    A light that was not natural, that was not warm, that was not comforting.

    It burned with an unnatural radiance, piercing his eyes, invading his being, making him feel as though he was standing before something that should never be seen. Something that should never be understood.

    The light came from an unknown dimension, pouring into a stone cavern¡ªits walls rough, covered in ancient cracks, worn by the passage of time itself. The rocks were jagged, uneven, as if they had violently emerged from the earth¡¯s core, yet they all converged at a single point.

    The point where he stood.

    At the heart of this sacred cavern, there was a platform.

    Unlike the walls, it was not made of stone.

    It was smooth, flawless, polished as if sculpted from a metal unknown to man.

    And it glowed from within.

    A pure, white radiance pulsed through it, casting unstable shadows across the chamber.

    And upon this platform¡ª

    The being stood.

    It was not human.

    It was not demonic.

    It was not divine.

    It was beyond definition.

    Its body was human-like¡ªmuscular, uncovered, yet not truly naked.

    For its very skin was wrapped in something¡­ something like scales, like burnt flesh, like the twisted fabric of reality itself.

    Its hands were powerful, extended outward, marked with symbols he could not comprehend.

    One held a key and a chain.

    The other gripped a sword¡ªa blade so sharp it seemed to cut through existence itself, glowing red like a dying sun.

    But it was what lay above the body that stole Gabriel¡¯s breath.

    The being did not have a human face.

    It had the head of a lion.

    But not a lion of this world.

    Its eyes were empty.

    Not blind¡ªempty in a way that was terrifying, as if they were gateways to the void itself.

    Its fangs jutted out, gleaming like blades, and from its nostrils, a dense smoke poured forth, writhing in the air like the breath of something ancient.

    It had wings¡ª

    Vast, angelic, blinding white, yet flickering like sacred fire.

    But wrapped around them was something else.

    A serpent.

    A monstrous snake, coiled around the being¡¯s ribs, slithering up its throat, its head resting upon its brow like a crown of the living.

    Its scales were deep red¡ªstained as if with the blood of countless eons.

    And its eyes¡­

    Glowed with a dim yellow light, heavy with wisdom¡ª

    And madness.

    Then, Gabriel noticed something else.

    There were people.

    They were not standing.

    They were not looking into the entity¡¯s eyes as he was.

    They were kneeling.

    Three figures, clad in white robes, their faces pressed against the ground, their arms stretched forward in submission.

    As if offering their very souls.

    One of them trembled, as if his prayers were not leaving his lips, but burning through his very spirit.

    The second was silent, unmoving, as if he were a mere extension of the earth itself.

    And the third¡ª

    The third was whispering.

    Words Gabriel could not hear.

    Could not understand.

    Yet he could feel them.

    The air shifted with every syllable, the unseen currents of the world twisting, speaking to his very bones.

    And still¡ª

    The entity did not move.

    It did not look at him.

    Yet he could feel it inside him.

    Not a voice.

    Not a thought.

    Something deeper.

    Like the world itself whispering to him its truths.

    Then¡ª

    Without warning¡ª

    The being moved.

    It lifted its head.

    And looked at him.

    Directly.

    And then, with a voice that was not just sound, but an incantation, a cipher, a bridge between sanity and delirium, it spoke:

    "I took some drugs that done fucked up my mental

    I drove so far, never gave back that rental

    I''ve been so crazy, but baby be gentle

    See our potential¡­"

    The moment froze.

    When the entity uttered those words, they were not mere vibrations in the air.

    They were sigils.

    Spells.

    A key between perception and insanity.

    Gabriel could no longer think.

    Could no longer breathe.

    Because suddenly¡ª

    Without warning¡ª

    He saw everything.

    Everything.

    All at once.

    He saw the hallucinations flood back, like lost souls finding refuge within him.

    He saw them multiply, spiraling around him in an endless vortex.

    Shadows danced before his eyes, ripping through reality, tearing open tunnels of static noise.

    And he heard them.

    Voices.

    Whispering.

    Screaming.

    Singing.

    Begging.

    Familiar voices.

    Strange voices.

    Voices that were never meant to exist.

    The words cycled through his mind, over and over, dragging him deeper into the spiral.

    "I took some drugs that done fucked up my mental..."

    The letters became symbols.

    The symbols became beings.

    The beings became screams made flesh, writhing in front of him, slithering onto his skin, whispering in his ears, pulling him into the abyss.

    He tried to shut them out.

    But the voices were inside him.

    They could not be silenced.

    Because they were him now.

    The hallucinations spun.

    He saw her¡ª

    The woman with the black eyes, standing before him once more.

    He saw Father Christopher, grinning as his flesh crumbled to ash.

    He saw Rose, standing in the darkness, her hands gripping her head, sobbing silently¡ª

    Before she turned¡ª

    And revealed that she had no face.

    He saw the moon split apart.

    The sea consume the city.

    The sky collapse in burning fragments.

    The hallucinations spun.

    He was sitting in the void.

    A place with no meaning.

    No ground.

    No sky.

    Only¡ª

    Nothingness.

    And the visions dancing around him, swallowing him whole.

    Then¡ª

    The spinning stopped.

    A new image appeared.

    Not a memory.

    Not a hallucination.

    Something else.

    Something new.

    He was standing before it.

    A black sky.

    Clouds glowing red.

    A blazing eclipse in the heavens, burning like the eye of an angry god.

    The air was thick, heavy, filled with sacred smoke.

    A sea of clouds below.

    As if the earth itself had ceased to exist.

    And in that moment, Gabriel knew¡ª

    This was not just a vision.

    It was a window.

    A glimpse into something else.

    A place that should not be.

    And then¡ª

    As if the universe itself leaned in to whisper in his ear¡ª

    He heard a new voice.

    A voice from nothingness.

    A voice that echoed through the deepest corners of his mind:

    "Oh I''m so special."

    "Oh I''m so special."

    "Oh I''m so special."

    Then, the voice shifted.

    It was no longer a mere echo.

    It was mocking.

    It was pitying.

    It was breaking him apart.

    "No, I''m not special, kick back that pedestal.

    Stay for the ride or just leave on a high note."

    And then¡ª

    He remembered.

    He remembered all the entities he had encountered.

    The beings that should not exist.

    The things that lurked beyond sanity.

    He saw Zwelsh.

    He saw the whispers in the darkness.

    He saw Erkantha, Queen of Witches.

    And finally¡ª

    He saw the Shadow Demon.

    But this¡­

    This was not just an entity.

    It was not a god.

    It was not a ruler of reality.

    It was something beyond all that.

    It was the final truth.

    It was¡­ his end.

    Gabriel felt the weight of this realization pressing against his soul, like a cosmic tide pulling him under. He was no longer merely seeing; he was becoming.

    He could feel the boundaries of his existence melting away, dissolving into the infinite vastness of this thing¡ªthis being that had no name, no form, only an overwhelming presence.

    And then, as if the universe itself were laughing at him, the voice spoke again.

    Not in words.

    Not in thoughts.

    But in pure, raw understanding.

    It whispered to him the truth.

    And Gabriel screamed.

    Then, Zwelsh entered the hallucinations.

    Flames¡ªred, all-consuming flames¡ªdevoured everything in sight.

    And then, with a mere gesture, Zwelsh tore Gabriel back to reality.

    Everything had vanished.

    As if they had feared Zwelsh.

    Even the Witch¡¯s House¡ªthe place that had once pulsed with eldritch energy¡ªwas now nothing more than an ordinary home.

    Zwelsh turned to Gabriel, and for the first time in his existence, he looked uneasy.

    Zwelsh (hurriedly): "Quickly, boy. We have no time for foolishness."

    Without another word, Zwelsh grabbed Gabriel and dragged him away.

    Beyond the mountains of the leather-skinned island, a sight of unimaginable magnitude awaited them.

    Gabriel: "What¡­ is this?"

    Zwelsh: "It¡¯s¡­ The Festival."

    Gabriel: "The what?"

    What stood before them was beyond comprehension.

    ---

    Beyond the mountains, a sight not meant for human eyes was revealed.

    The ground was smooth, its texture resembling the flesh of a living being. It breathed¡ªa slow, rhythmic pulse beneath their feet, as if the island itself was alive, witnessing the ritual.

    At the heart of this massive clearing, a green firestorm spiraled toward the heavens, twisting, writhing, feeding upon itself. It crackled, releasing strange sparks that dissipated before touching the ground.

    It was not fire.

    It did not burn.

    It did not emit heat.

    Instead, the closer they stepped, the colder the air became¡ªan unnatural, biting cold that seemed to drain warmth from existence itself.

    Around the fire stood a crowd of creatures that barely resembled humans.

    Draped in long, black robes, their faces were shrouded in darkness. But their heads¡ªthey were not normal.

    Some bore twisted, gnarled horns.

    Some had eyes that burned with an unnatural purple glow.

    Some had no faces at all¡ªonly a void of endless blackness.

    They stood in a perfect circle, their hands raised, chanting in a language that should not exist. Their voices did not belong to this world, a mixture of distant oceanic echoes and whispers from realms yet to be born.

    At the edges of the clearing, massive stone pillars loomed, their surfaces covered in cryptic engravings¡ªsymbols that seemed to slither and shift, as if trying to escape the stone.

    Among the pillars stood statues of faceless women, each bearing a black stone crescent moon upon her head. These dark moons pulsed softly with green light, feeding upon the ritual¡¯s power.

    Everything was alive.

    Everything was watching.

    Everything was waiting.

    Gabriel could only stare, his mind unable to process the sheer vastness of the scene.

    This was not a human ceremony.

    This was not something that should ever be witnessed.

    But Zwelsh, for the first time, looked tense.

    His eyes glowed with quiet urgency.

    Zwelsh (his voice low, but firm): "They¡¯re summoning Erkantha¡­ and so far, they¡¯re succeeding."

    Then¡ª

    Everything vanished.

    The figures.

    The fire.

    The pillars.

    The entire ritual was swallowed by the void, erased from reality in the blink of an eye.

    Gabriel and Zwelsh descended the mountain, moving quickly, trying to understand what had just happened.

    But then¡ª

    They saw it.

    A black war tank.

    Its turret was missing.

    And upon it, a figure sat¡ªwaiting.

    ---

    A woman.

    Beautiful.

    Terrifying.

    She sat with unshaken confidence, one hand resting against her cheek, her posture regal and demonic at once.

    She was a half-elf.

    A creature from a forgotten age.

    Her long, silver hair shimmered in the eerie twilight.

    Her eyes¡ªdeep crimson, burning like ancient embers¡ª stared straight into Gabriel¡¯s soul.

    Upon her head, she wore a classic witch¡¯s hat¡ªpurple, majestic, timeless.

    She was dressed in a flowing black gown, its fabric darker than the abyss itself.

    But what surrounded her was even more unnerving.

    A thousand shadowy hands.

    They floated around her, shifting, writhing, adorned with twinkling stars trapped within their darkness.

    And on her pure, pale thighs, rested a human skull.

    Then, she spoke.

    And at the sound of her voice¡ªethereal, melodic, yet drenched in terror¡ª

    The entire planet trembled.

    Erkantha: "I missed you¡­ little brother."

    ---

    End of Chapter.

 the Fall of the House of Ashes

    Upon the summit of an abandoned tank, Arkantha stood, her gaze shimmering with a blend of nostalgia and reverence. With a single bound, she launched herself into the air, leaving behind a trail of fractured ice, and surged forth to embrace her younger brother, Zolish, within her arms.

    "I missed you, little brother," she spoke, her tone unexpectedly warm.

    Yet Zolish, with a sardonic smile, withdrew slightly and replied with cool detachment, "And I... not so much."

    Arkantha paid no heed, instead turning her attention to the human figure standing beside him.

    "And who might this mortal be?" she inquired, her eyes scrutinizing him as though weighing his worth.

    Within Gabriel''s mind, the voice of Zolish echoed through telepathy: "Remain silent and follow my lead, boy... or we shall both perish."

    Then, turning back to his sister, Zolish remarked playfully, "He''s my new Sebestians, as you know... I enjoy seducing creatures."

    Arkantha chuckled lightly. "Worry not, I have not come to fight. I merely wished to check on my dear little brother."

    Zolish arched a brow. "I thought you were here to challenge me."

    Arkantha let out a laugh. "A fight? Come now, we haven''t fought since the planetary skirmishes, when we were but children."

    A smirk crept onto Zolish''s lips as the memory surfaced. "Yes, we hurled planets at one another, and I always emerged victorious."

    "But our elder siblings would reprimand us," Arkantha added, "for drenching our garments in the fluids of shattered worlds."

    "Yet that was never true combat," Zolish mused, his gaze scrutinising her. "You knew well that tossing planets at us did no real harm back then."

    Arkantha nodded before speaking in a sly tone, "Then, what say you to a mere skirmish? A test of your present strength. We shall restrain our powers as much as possible; we wouldn''t want to terrify this little human."

    "I accept."

    In that instant, Arkantha underwent a transformation before their eyes. No longer was she merely the bewitching half-elf; she became something grander. Small horns protruded from her head, her wings shifted into dark, leathery membranes, and her nails extended¡ªsharp as the blades of night itself. She had become a fusion of half-elf and demon.

    As for Zolish, his aura shifted. His crown grew more menacing, his sceptre gleamed with an eldritch radiance, and as he pulled back the hood from his head, he revealed a skeletal visage adorned with a spectral coronet, draped in a robe akin to the regalia of medieval monarchs¡ªa wraith-like king, newly emerged from some accursed nightmare.

    Before anything commenced, Zolish extended his hand, conjuring a translucent green barrier around Gabriel.

    "This field shall shield you from the clash," he remarked, dispassionate.

    Then, in unison, both he and Arkantha uttered the forbidden word:

    "Ismusibonsknith."

    And the battle began!

    From Zolish¡¯s hand, spectral skulls erupted, radiating a deadly green energy. Meanwhile, Arkantha unleashed a torrent of writhing black serpents, eyeless and sinuous, slithering through the void toward their prey.

    The two forces met at a single point, and the cosmos quaked.

    Within the first three seconds alone, the earth was incinerated and vaporised, followed in swift succession by the solar system, then the sun, then entire galaxies¡ªone after another. Within less than twenty minutes, naught remained. The universe itself collapsed, shattering into nothingness.

    In the abyssal void, remnants of time drifted, and Zolish and Arkantha floated amidst eternity, Gabriel alongside them, still unharmed within the protective barrier.

    Yet neither Zolish nor Arkantha bore expressions of concern. Rather, each extended a hand, from which radiated a pure, white light.

    "Rebirth."

    And with but a single stroke, all was restored. The universe was reborn anew, time regained its course, as though nothing had transpired.

    And upon the frozen isle where it all began, the siblings stood as they had before, laughing as though the universe had not just been annihilated and remade.

    Arkantha: "Is this mortal any wiser than the last, Zolish? Or is he but another worthless wretch?"

    Zolish: "Yes, believe me, sister, he is far, far more intelligent."

    Arkantha: "Very well, I shall leave you to your trifles¡ªI have matters of greater import... Myanda."

    (And in an instant, Arkantha dissipated into the void, as though she had never been. All that remained was a spectral whisper of her presence, as if the air itself had failed to acknowledge her departure.)

    With a deceitful grin, Zolish waved farewell and uttered, "Farewell."

    Then, with an exaggerated sigh of relief, he chuckled mockingly, "At last, she¡¯s gone. What a lunatic! We survived! Ha ha ha!" He turned to Gabriel, smirking. "Sisters are amusing, are they not, Gabi?"

    Gabriel did not respond. His mouth hung open in silent horror, his eyes widened, his hands limp at his sides as though all life had drained from him. He had not even realised that he was no longer breathing.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    Zolish snapped his fingers before his face.

    Zolish: (snapping his fingers) "Gabi? Gabi? Have you turned to stone, mortal?" (Tilting his head slightly, he smirked wickedly.) "Damn, it seems his mind has burned out... I''ll have to replace it with another." (He then gazed skyward, as though genuinely contemplating his options.)

    He exhaled upon Gabriel, and at once, the mortal stirred, consciousness returning to his form.

    Gabriel, trembling with anxiety and disbelief: "What¡­ what just happened? Can you stop and tell me?"

    Zolish, walking ahead, entirely indifferent: "What do you mean? Just a bit of playful jesting between a brother and his sister¡ªwhere¡¯s the great catastrophe?"

    Gabriel: "You¡­ you just destroyed the universe you once dreamt of ruling¡­ with a mere skirmish!"

    Zolish: "Ha ha ha ha ha! So that is what nearly shattered your mind?"

    Gabriel grasped Zolish by his robe, voice trembling. "Can you cease your indifference and give me some answers?"

    Zolish: "My understanding of the universe¡ªand that of my kind¡ªdiffers from yours. As I am the weakest of the Princes, I perceive the true cosmos as comprising twenty-nine million of your universes¡ªthe one my sister and I obliterated just now. It is said that our father can comprehend the vastness of the real universe in its entirety. The stronger a being grows, the more universes they discern, their perception expanding ever closer to grasping its true magnitude."

    Gabriel: "Then¡­ when she said you would grant her four galaxies to govern as a trial¡­"

    Zolish: "Yes¡ªI meant four universes."

    Gabriel''s eyes widened in terror, his limbs trembling violently. Staggering backward, he recoiled six steps before collapsing, scrambling away in frantic retreat, his face contorted in raw, unrelenting fear.

    Zolish regarded him with mild curiosity. "What ails you, boy?"

    Gabriel, his voice unsteady, quivering with horror: "I¡­ don¡¯t recognise you anymore."

    And then, his mind cast itself back¡ªto the warning once spoken by the truck driver:

    "There¡¯s things we can¡¯t do anymore.

    They¡¯re gonna recognise us.

    And then they gon¡¯ despise us.

    And then they gon¡¯ spy us.

    And they won¡¯t understand it¡­"

    As though at last grasping the hidden, dreadful truth lurking within those words, his thoughts were shattered by Zolish¡¯s voice:

    "Hey, Gabriel¡­ have you not noticed something?"

    Gabriel: "What now¡­?"

    Zolish: "That accursed house¡ªthe witches'' house that haunted your nightmares¡ªit was untouched by the explosion of the universe."

    Gabriel: "That house¡­ was the strangest thing of all¡­"

    A moment of silence passed, then they laughed¡ªsoft at first, then growing louder. But Gabriel did not cease. His laughter swelled into something manic, something on the very precipice of madness, as though he had lost everything.

    Zulish perched himself atop a fractured wall of ice, his legs dangling idly over the edge. Below him, Gabriel lay sprawled across the frozen ground, his mind still struggling to grasp the enormity of what had just transpired. The howling winds whispered like wayward spirits, yet his thoughts paid them no heed.

    "Do you know something, Gabriel?" Zulish murmured, his fingers tracing unseen sigils in the air. "On that day, I beheld something I never deemed possible."

    Gabriel, still dazed, merely stared at him, offering no response.

    "The Devil¡¯s Skull Prison... Ah, my most cherished place," Zulish chuckled, his voice carrying the weight of a fond reminiscence. "A wretched pit where the vilest souls are stripped of their last vestiges of hope, where agony is etched into the marrow of their very being."

    "But..." he hesitated, as if allowing the memory to fully manifest before his mind¡¯s eye. "On that day, the guards were no longer the masters. They had become prey."

    His tone shifted¡ªsofter now, yet far more insidious.

    "I watched them, Gabriel¡ªthe prisoners¡ªthose ancient beasts clad in human flesh. They were no longer captives... They had transcended into something else. Something untethered. The air was thick with the stench of blood, entrails were strewn like festive garlands, eyes were plucked from their sockets, and heads severed from their trembling bodies as though they were mere playthings. I bore witness to it all and asked myself..."

    He turned to Gabriel, a sinister smirk slithering across his lips.

    "Who set them free?"

    Gabriel¡¯s eyes widened slightly. "You mean... someone aided them?"

    "Not someone ordinary, Gabriel." Zulish rested his elbows upon his knees, gazing down at his own reflection upon the ice¡¯s glassy surface. "What transpired within those forsaken walls was no mere escape. No, it was the rebirth of a chaos I have not seen upon this planet for aeons."

    Then, with an air of cruel delight, he declared, "But this presents an opportunity. A chance for you to join them, to reunite with your kin, and to shatter the wretched dominion of mankind!" He threw his head back, laughter cascading into the frozen wasteland. "Yes, boy, I already know where we shall begin. The first house to fall... is the House of Chivshenkov!"

    Zulish¡¯s laughter, a dreadful symphony of malice, veiled the scene in a curtain of darkness, ushering us forth to the fog-laden streets of New Zealand¡¯s capital.

    ---

    Wellington, New Zealand¡ªThe Apartment of Gabriel

    The mist clung heavily to the streets as detectives Karl and Marcus brought their black sedan to a halt before an aged apartment complex.

    "Are you certain this is the place?" Marcus asked, scrutinizing the slip of paper bearing Gabriel¡¯s address.

    Karl offered no verbal response. Instead, he advanced toward the door with a resolute stride, lifting his foot and delivering a forceful kick that shattered the lock in an instant.

    Inside, the air was stagnant, steeped in the faint, unpleasant musk of neglect.

    Marcus flicked on his flashlight, its beam slicing through the gloom. "Doesn¡¯t seem like anyone¡¯s been here for days."

    "Look at this." Karl¡¯s voice was grave as he plucked a folded note from a dust-laden table. Unfurling it, he began to read aloud:

    "I have grown weary of everything. Humanity, its laws, this wretched world. I shall depart to a place beyond reach... to the desolation of Minto Glacier Island, where silence alone reigns supreme."

    "Minto Glacier Island?" Marcus echoed. "That¡¯s absurdly remote."

    But Karl was no longer listening. His gaze had fallen upon something else entirely... the refrigerator.

    He approached it cautiously, wrapping his fingers around its handle before swinging the door open. And what he beheld therein sent him reeling backward, his breath caught in his throat.

    Severed heads, meticulously arranged, their vacant eyes locked in an eternal stare. Severed hands, preserved in the icy tomb. Hearts¡ªonce vessels of life¡ªnow resting within glass canisters, suspended in a grotesque stasis.

    Marcus exhaled in sheer disbelief. "Dear God... You were right all along."

    Karl¡¯s expression darkened as he stared into the abyss of the refrigerator.

    "I told you..." he murmured. "He is the Reaper of Wellington."

    ---

    The Phantom¡¯s Gathering¡ªDeep within the Deserts of Iraq

    Far beyond prying eyes, concealed within the undulating dunes, lay an underground stronghold. Towering fences, charged with lethal currents, encased its perimeter. Upon the steel-clad gates, a singular insignia was emblazoned: ZPh.

    This was the new bastion of Zero Phantom.

    Within a dimly lit chamber, a vast, circular table bore witness to the assembly of figures draped in shadow. Among them sat faces that should not¡ªby all conventional reason¡ªstill walk this earth. Former prisoners of the Devil¡¯s Skull Prison.

    At the head of the gathering stood Simon, the enigmatic leader of Zero Phantom. Before him, an immense map was unfurled, crimson markings bleeding across its surface.

    "Brothers and sisters," Simon intoned, his voice slicing through the hush like a sharpened blade, "this day... is the day we have awaited."

    A myriad of gazes, brimming with anticipation, fixated upon him.

    "These points upon the map..." He gestured towards the ink-stained nodes scattered across the globe. "They are the strongholds of the Chivshenkov family. From these fortresses, they weave their influence, dictating the fate of nations from the shadows."

    A brief silence ensued. Then, with a forceful strike upon the map, he declared:

    "But not for much longer."

    A charged tension gripped the room. Some grinned in wicked delight. Others chuckled darkly. And some... some remained still, their eyes gleaming with echoes of bygone torment.

    Lifting his gaze, Simon¡¯s voice rang with unshaken resolve.

    "The time has come... for the House of Ashes to crumble into dust."

    The Cursed Island¡ªA New Delirium

    Upon that forsaken island, the one cursed beyond redemption, a fresh hallucination seized hold of Gabriel¡¯s mind.

    The world around him dissolved into an abyssal void, consumed by an endless nothingness. His body plummeted, weightless, untethered, spiraling downward through the empty chasm until¡ªabruptly¡ªhe found himself elsewhere.

    He was no longer falling. Instead, he sat, bound hand and foot, within the oppressive confines of an austere government office. The air was heavy, thick with the scent of aged parchment and the faint, sterile tang of ink. The dim, flickering light above cast restless shadows against the mahogany walls, stretching and contorting as if they harbored restless spirits.

    Before him stood an old man, his very presence suffocating. The patriarch of the Chivshenkov family¡ªan ancient wretch whose mere gaze exuded a power steeped in centuries of blood and tyranny. His gaunt fingers, dry and calloused like the bark of a dying tree, grasped Gabriel¡¯s face with unsettling familiarity.

    The old man¡¯s breath was cold, laced with something unnatural as he spoke, his voice a whisper wrapped in iron:

    "You are dreaming, boy."

    His grip tightened, his nails digging into Gabriel¡¯s skin with cruel amusement.

    "You think you can bring down the House of Ashes?"

    A chuckle slithered from the patriarch¡¯s lips¡ªlow, guttural, a sound devoid of mirth yet saturated with boundless certainty.

    "Foolish child."

    The laugh swelled into something monstrous, something greater than the withered man before him. It echoed through the room, through the very fabric of reality itself, consuming Gabriel¡¯s senses until his vision blurred, his consciousness wavered... and then¡ªdarkness.

    ---

    He awoke with a violent gasp, his breath shallow, his skin clammy with cold sweat.

    The cursed island loomed around him, silent save for the ceaseless whisper of the wind. But he was alone.

    Zulish, it seemed, had grown weary of his company and departed to seek entertainment elsewhere, leaving Gabriel to the solitude of the damned.

    Then, without warning, something unnatural began to unfold.

    Feathers¡ªdark as the abyss¡ªbegan to descend from the heavens, slow at first, drifting lazily through the air. But soon, they multiplied, cascading in an eerie, relentless deluge. Raven feathers, thick as an unholy snowfall, coated the ground in a suffocating shroud of black.

    Gabriel lifted his gaze skyward, and his breath caught in his throat.

    The sky itself wept shadows.

    The moon, vast and unrelenting, bled crimson against the ink-stained clouds. And there¡ªsoaring through the abyss¡ªwas a single raven, its wings outstretched, gliding effortlessly across the blood-red light of the forsaken moon.

    A final omen.

    A silent harbinger of the horrors yet to come.

    ---

    End of Chapter.

 Rise in Hell

    Chapter 14

    Rise in Hell

    Gabriel was alone in the pitch-black darkness¡ªthe darkness of solitude, fear, and madness.

    The chapter began with Gabriel awakening from that hallucination in which he saw Isaac Shvishenkov. His face was filled with terror, and he was bewildered, for this was the first hallucination where he had seen a human.

    Gabriel sat on the damp floor in a shadowy corner of the witches'' house, consumed by his despair. The wooden walls emitted sounds akin to scratching, as if something moved behind them, silently watching him. His ears had grown overly sensitive, making every sound more terrifying, as though whispers were speaking directly into his skull. Cold winds crept through the cracks in the witches'' house, like unseen breaths slipping through the fissures, carrying with them voices that did not belong to this world.

    This house had existed since the dawn of humanity; it was not created by Arkantha herself before her arrival years ago. Here, witches had hidden from the king¡¯s men in the dark ages of this island, and here, their legacy remained etched into every wooden plank and every shadow stretching across the floor.

    The pale, blood-red moonlight seeped through a broken window, yet it was insufficient to dispel the darkness that engulfed the place. On the contrary, it seemed to deepen it, as if the very light bore an inexplicable curse.

    His eyes were wide, scanning every corner, every spot, searching for something unknown to him. Fear slithered in his chest like a starving serpent, and the whispers in his mind did not cease, repeating like a sickly echo:

    "Is this place real? I mean... if everything is real, how could it withstand the explosion of the universe, possessing such cosmic might?"

    He began to scream, striking his head against the ground in madness, as though physical pain might free him from his insanity.

    "How is this? How is this? How is this? How is this?"

    Then he howled as he tore at his hair, his hands drenched in blood¡ªblood mingled with curses from which escape was impossible.

    "How can this be real?!"

    He wept as he pounded the ground, his voice ragged with anguish:

    "How can I live with all this pain?!"

    He had seen too much, far more than any human should, yet now he was utterly alone¡ªa mere exhausted body within the witches'' house he was never meant to enter, on a cursed island where everything indicated that his very presence was a mistake.

    Even the extraterrestrial Edward, when he attempted to approach the old Witches  house , met his end in madness despite all his power.

    Then, as if the void had devoured everything for a moment, the sounds ceased. The air stopped. Time itself halted.

    And then Zulish entered.

    But he did not enter quietly... rather, he forced his way into existence as though the very fabric of the dimension could not contain him.

    His form was spectral, ghostly¡ªhis head immense, piercing through the roof of the house. That ghastly green phantom resembled the Flying Dutchman, yet Zulish was more terrifying than anything the universe could conceive.

    Even in his former state, he was a monstrosity that defied human comprehension, but now? Now, he was something words could not even begin to describe.

    His voice thundered like a storm, shaking the entire island:

    "Did you ask me whether there is a god?"

    He loomed closer, his ghastly visage exuding a noxious, greenish substance¡ªbut it was not mere liquid¡­

    Scorpions, serpents, rats, tiny skulls, bats, ravens, and even an owl poured from his spectral body, twisting in the air¡ªsome of them spectral red phantoms, as if tormented souls seeking an escape.

    Gabriel did not immediately lift his head. He did not want to see. He did not want to know.

    He shielded his face with his hands, trembling, as though his hands could somehow ward off the horror embodied before him.

    Panting, he screamed:

    "What... what?! What do you want?!"

    His body quaked violently, his breath ragged, but he mustered what remained of his voice to scream in madness:

    "Did you not say we were allies?!"

    Zulish laughed, but the laughter was not human. It was... void, sheer nihilism incarnate.

    He plunged one of his ghostly hands into Gabriel¡¯s heart and clenched it tightly; agony engulfed him like never before.

    "Certainly, mortal¡­ but were you not the one who wished to know the truth of the universe?"

    His laughter echoed in the ether, as if the universe itself mocked Gabriel.

    Slowly, Gabriel lifted his gaze, and there, in the middle of the room, the wall had transformed into a massive, spectral television.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    But this was no ordinary television.

    It was unnaturally tall, its black screen not reflecting light but rather devouring it, as though it were an abyss stretching into infinity. It bore a grotesque, unnatural grin that made one''s stomach churn¡ªnot a normal smile, but¡­ something fundamentally wrong, something beyond human comprehension.

    "No, there was no god."

    Zulish approached, and the shadows retreated as if they feared his presence.

    "There were only two. The First Ones. The parents who created everything, then died, leaving behind offspring of bloody red fire and ominous shadowy darkness."

    He raised his hand and said, "Witness this cosmic event, you wretched mortal. Those two brothers were arrogant; they cared neither for humanity nor their own offspring. They did not care for any creature. They saw themselves above all. But the fiery brother wished to leave the creatures alone, not to torment them. Though he was also evil, my father, the Shadow Demon, did not like this. He, too, did not care for all the creatures of the universe, but he wanted to rule, to be worshipped, even though this would not affect him in any way. But his immense malice desired that all creatures live in hell. He also wanted power for himself. So he challenged his brother, the Lord of Demons (maou)."

    "As you have heard, the second fiery brother was the Lord of Demons, Demovi Tempest. My father fought him in an endless battle that lasted for a trillion years, where only hell itself was capable of containing the power of the cosmic entities. They slaughtered each other in Gehenna, and their immense power destroyed hell, the underworld, and even heaven itself. Though their parents had created heaven and hell to be suitable for enduring their extreme power, even these realms could not withstand a full billion years of their slaughter."

    He paused for a moment, as if the events were roaming through a past incomprehensible to humans. Gabriel¡¯s mind was frozen despite his intelligence.

    "My father won in the end, for it was a war of attrition, and my father had the greater endurance. But he could not kill the great Demon Lord Demovi, so he imprisoned him in a parallel dimension. But it was not a prison in the conventional sense, for no power could imprison the Lord of Demons. He agreed with him that he would rule this second dimension, which was very close in size to this one ruled by my father. It too was filled with countless universes, though fewer than the one we exist in. And because he was the defeated one, Demovi accepted the matter."

    Demovi¡¯s form was grand, majestic, and terrifying. This cosmic entity was the ruler of all demons, possessing an extraordinary but ominous beauty, as if his very existence heralded destruction.

    "In truth, Gabi, I believe that Demovi is my real father and that the Shadow Demon took me from him for some reason. Perhaps they had a pact that required handing over the most terrifying of their future sons to the victor. I do not know why. Here, they relied on making him more terrifying in form rather than strength. I do not know the reason, but I am certain that this is what happened. In any case, Demovi..."

    His face was sculpted with uncanny precision, a blend of allure and dread, covered in skin so pale it was almost marble-white, heightening the contrast with his glowing crimson eyes, which radiated an aura of magic and absolute authority.

    Long silver strands of his hair cascaded along the sides of his face, disheveled yet in a way befitting a being beyond human standards of beauty.

    His ears were pointed, extending noticeably outward, giving him an ethereal quality, as if he were born from the chaos of the cosmos itself.

    Two curved horns protruded from his head, dark as the end of a doomed era, arching sharply backward, like metallic blades carved from the shadows of the night.

    He wore a demonically intricate armor, forged from dark metal resembling bone, adorned with sharp embellishments like infernal thorns. At the center of his chest glowed a crimson gemstone, pulsating as if it were a heart beating with energy not of this world.

    Behind him, his tattered wings unfolded, with dark red membranes, akin to those of a colossal bat¡ªyet of an unfathomable size, stretching into the void as if they were a veil between reality and nightmares.

    His smile, when it appeared upon his lips, was not human¡ªit was a mixture of indifference and disdain, as if everyone before him were nothing more than dust caught in the stream of time.

    He was not merely a cosmic entity, not just a Lord of Demons. He was the embodiment of absolute power, an unbreakable will, and a terror that transcended the limits of comprehension for all who had ever existed.

    Zulish ran his fingers over a majestic green circle and looked at Gabriel with a gaze that made the very air grow cold.

    "But I have found a map leading me to that dimension."

    Gabriel felt a shiver crawl over his skin. He was unsure what Zulish meant, but he sensed that this was not just an old story.

    "Why?" he asked in a faint voice.

    Zulish smiled, and his smile itself was a sin.

    "Because Demovi is stronger than all of my father''s offspring... stronger even than the Seven Princes. And because he may be my true father, perhaps we should unite our blood for a common purpose."

    Then, before vanishing into the darkness, he added:

    "And I will need you to help me free him."

    While Gabriel was trapped in his home, plotting with Zulish, who had succumbed to madness, someone was watching him.

    In a distant corner of the galaxy, inside a terrifying chamber filled with the corpses of extraterrestrial beings and various dead creatures¡ªsome of which defied classification¡ªalong with a group of slaves kneeling in reverence, a breathtakingly beautiful woman sat upon a cushioned throne, her gaze fixed upon a mystical violet crystal that pulsed with eerie energy.

    There, within that forsaken place, inside a colossal black cathedral that seemed to swallow all light, the woman remained cloaked in shadows, her delicate fingers interlocked beneath her chin in a posture of cold contemplation.

    She was Arkantha, the Seer, the most powerful witch in the universe.

    Through a mirror of frozen blood, she watched the unfolding events, her eyes tracing Gabriel as he conversed with Zulish, observing the key, witnessing the truth as it unraveled before her.

    ¡°So, it has begun¡­ I never thought I would live to see your betrayal, brother. How foolish you are¡­ Hahahahahaha¡­¡±

    She spoke softly, her voice carrying an undercurrent of amusement and malice, before turning her attention to another presence standing beside her, a figure shrouded in absolute darkness.

    This being was monstrous, its eyes glowing ominously, its form veiled in shadows so dense they devoured the very air around it. From its mouth, grotesque tendrils slithered and writhed like those of some eldritch cephalopod. Though its full form remained unseen, what little was visible suggested something nightmarish¡ªsomething akin to a ghoul, yet infinitely more horrifying.

    It was as if whispers from the Darkness  had taken a physical shape¡­ or perhaps, it was a new cosmic entity entirely.

    Then, in a voice that sent the very walls of the cathedral shuddering, the creature uttered its decree:

    ¡°It is time to ruin the party.¡±                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      In the frozen ocean, where no life stirred except for the howling winds and the all-consuming fog, the military vessel carved its way forward with agonizing slowness, as if the sea itself recoiled from granting it passage.

    Detective Carl stood at the bow, his heavy coat billowing wildly under the fury of the storm, his gaze fixed upon the ice-bound island that had begun to emerge upon the horizon¡ªa pale specter lurking in the distance. Despite his practiced ability to mask his emotions, something deep within him howled in warning, an unshakable certainty that they should not be here.

    "This island... it feels alive, as if it watches us," he murmured.

    But no matter the foreboding weight upon his soul, the time had come. The time to finally eradicate the Reaper of Souls of Wingleton.

    Carl laughed¡ªa dry, hollow sound lost within the wind¡ªbefore muttering to himself, "Hah... I have bested you, Gabriel Sunderland. None in this world can defeat me in a battle of wits."

    Meanwhile, Marcus stood hunched over the radar, his face tightening with unease. Strange signals had begun to appear¡ªdeep, rhythmic pulses, slow and deliberate, yet unmistakably unnatural. They were neither the heartbeat of any human nor the signal of any vessel. It was something else. Something vast. Something stirring beneath them.

    A dense mist thickened around the ship, swallowing the last remnants of visibility.

    Marcus, his voice tinged with reluctant dread, called out:

    ¡°Carl¡­ there is something in the water.¡±

    Carl did not reply. His hand merely tightened around his gun, as if his body already understood a truth his mind refused to grasp.

    Then¡ª

    The ship lurched violently!

    A sound¡ªimpossible, dreadful¡ªreverberated through the air. It was neither the cry of an orca nor the groan of shifting ice, but something far deeper, as if the very ocean had exhaled in anguish. A muffled detonation, vast and abyssal.

    Before the crew could even begin to comprehend, the sea itself split apart!

    A wave¡ªno, something greater than a wave¡ªrose. Not water, but flesh.

    A shape emerged from the abyss.

    It was colossal beyond mortal reckoning. Its skin, black as the void between the stars, shimmered with cosmic light, reflecting the moon as though it were cast from the cold metal of a forgotten, dead world. Down its spine stretched vast, blade-like fins, slick with seawater that dripped in inky rivulets, darkening the ocean into something unnatural.

    The sea itself no longer resembled water. It had become an abyssal firmament, an oceanic void. There, constellations swirled, supernovae flared and collapsed, comets streaked through a nameless expanse.

    And its head¡ª

    It was not the head of a whale.

    It was malformed, elongated, as if creation itself had faltered in the act of shaping it.

    Its eyes¡ªno, there were no eyes. Only gaping voids, absences in the fabric of reality, as though this entity perceived the world through some unknowable, eldritch sense.

    Then, its mouth yawned open.

    But no teeth lay within.

    Only writhing limbs¡ªtorn, emaciated arms¡ªreaching blindly, groping hungrily for something unseen.

    And in that moment, Carl understood a simple, terrifying truth:

    We are not the hunters here. We are the prey.

    A scream tore from his throat, raw and uncontrolled.

    But then¡ª

    A voice, familiar, yet impossibly distant, called out to him.

    ¡°Carl! Carl! Carl! Wake up! What¡¯s wrong with you? We¡¯re almost there!¡±

    Carl jolted awake, his breath ragged, his body trembling with a terror that had not yet faded. He scrambled to his feet, wide-eyed, his gaze darting frantically across the deck.

    ¡°The hell happened? Where¡ªwhere did it go? That thing... the demon whale¡ªwhere is it?!¡±

    Marcus stared at him, concern and confusion etched upon his face.

    ¡°What are you talking about? There was no whale. You were standing right here with us, then suddenly collapsed. You started shaking, screaming, your eyes rolled back into your head. We thought¡ª¡± Marcus hesitated. ¡°We thought something was wrong with you.¡±

    Carl could only stare, his lips slightly parted, his breath shallow.

    His eyes, hollow and distant, carried the gaze of one who had seen too much.

    And, in a voice barely above a whisper, he murmured:

    ¡°It is impossible¡­ for that to have been merely a hallucination.¡±

    End of Chapter.

 Beyond the Mountains of Madness

    Chapter 15

    "Beyond the Mountains of Madness"

    The chapter begins with Zolish and Gabriel, who had just finished the plan they crafted to resurrect the Lord of Demons. Gabriel felt a strange sense of comfort despite Zolish being a cosmic entity whose appearance instilled terror in all creatures. Yet, Zolish¡¯s presence gave Gabriel the illusion that he wasn¡¯t alone. Imagine¡ªloneliness could drive you to feel that even the most monstrous and bloodthirsty demons, if they stood by your side out of sheer self-interest, would feel far better than the void of empty blackness known as isolation. Zolish flapped his demonic wings, preparing to leave.

    Zulish: "I have written the entire plan for you. Study it well, mortal. I am leaving¡ªI have things to attend to."

    Gabriel, with tears of blood streaming from his eyes, said: "Wait¡ªwhy are you always leaving me behind? I brought a deer. Maybe we can eat it and spend some time together... This Witch House is terrifying, and I can¡¯t seem to leave it for some reason I don¡¯t understand."

    Zulish: "Ooooh, Gabriel, you still don¡¯t understand. I do not care about you or humans. I am an exalted cosmic being¡ªyou are nothing more than a worthless pawn in my plan. Once you¡¯ve made your wish and I succeed, I will disappear from your life, you wretched fool. Do not think for a moment that a supreme entity like myself would care for someone like you¡ªhow arrogant of you."

    As he finished speaking, his voice echoed with a terrifying laughter that made Gabriel''s heart quiver. Zulish then uttered a single word¡ª"Fall."

    Gabriel felt as if the world beneath him crumbled; his body collapsed to the ground, nearly losing consciousness.

    Zolish continued, laughing menacingly: "Hahahahahaha¡ªI  know this feeling. You are alone, child.

    There is only darkness  for you¡ªand only death  for your people.

    I will build great and Terrible army, a powerful and terrifying one, and together we will sail

    to a billions  worlds. We will sail until  every light has been extinguish and drown all hope. You are smart, child, but I"m Beyond strength

    I"m They END

    His laughter grew louder, sending tremors through the entire island. As he ascended into the icy sky, his wings stirred a howling storm. Gabriel lay trembling on the cold ground, paralyzed with fear. Then, without warning, Zolish vanished into the void, as though teleporting to an unknown place.

    Gabriel barely had time to process the horror when two ghostly hands, emanating a strange green aura, emerged from

    His laughter grew louder, sending tremors through the entire island. As he ascended into the icy sky, his wings stirred a howling storm. Gabriel lay trembling on the cold ground, paralyzed with fear. Then, without warning, Zolish vanished into the void, as though teleporting to an unknown place.

    Gabriel barely had time to process the horror when two ghostly hands, emanating a strange green aura, emerged from the Witch House. These enormous hands belonged to Kazya Mysen, the dreadful ancient witch.

    Her face emerged from the shadows like a demonic mask¡ªher skin stretched unnaturally tight over her bones, her yellow, broken teeth glinting under a sinister light. Warts and festering boils marred her twisted nose, and her dead eyes glowed with pure malice. Then came her laughter¡ªa sound that did not belong to this world.

    Kazya: "Hahahahahaha¡ªlittle boy, you¡¯ve sealed your fate the moment you stepped into this accursed house!"

    Gabriel, trembling, stuttered: "W-Who... who are you, you wretched hag?!"

    Kazya: "Oh, you poor, foolish child. I was the first witch to learn magic in this cursed house. My soul remains here¡ªalong with the souls of all the witches who were slaughtered by the bloodthirsty man who once ruled this frozen island."

    Gabriel: "H-How could a mere butcher defeat witches?"

    Kazya: "Ooooh, little one¡ªit was his thirst for blood. It was stronger than any magic. But you, boy¡ªyou should worry about yourself. Because now, you shall be cast into the abyss of nightmares and hallucinations. Hahahahahaha!"

    She hurled Gabriel to the ground, which dissolved into a pitch-black void¡ªthe very essence of emptiness itself. The Witch House crumbled around him, as though sinking into the depths of the unknown.

    The fall was endless. The dark void swallowed everything¡ªhis senses, his body, his voice, even time itself. Only the echo of Kazya¡¯s laughter remained, hollow and distorted, reverberating inside his skull as if it were coming from within. But suddenly, as if the universe twisted upon itself, the laughter faded... and light appeared.

    Gabriel crashed onto the ground¡ªbut there was no pain. Only a chilling realization: this place was not real. He lifted his head... and froze.

    The scene before him was like an image from a forbidden magical tome or an ancient, enchanted carving. The sky was a dark blue, drawn with rough lines that seemed to flicker if he stared too long. In the horizon, the green hills stretched unnaturally, as if mocking him with a twisted smile. But none of that was the most terrifying part.

    A few meters away stood a man.

    He was tall, draped in a purple robe, with a thick beard and a face that held ageless wisdom. A golden crown rested on his head¡ªan eye-like symbol at its center, unblinking as it stared into infinity. Upon his chest, a strange emblem curled like a serpent devouring its own tail. In his right hand, he held a metallic sphere¡ªan orb that seemed to represent the heavens themselves. His left hand stretched toward Gabriel, as though inviting him... or passing judgment.

    Yet the true horror was not the man¡ªit was what floated beside him.

    A sun¡ªwith a human face. Its expression was frozen in a twisted mockery between a smirk and hidden fury. Beneath it, a blackened mass, another face¡ªlifeless, trapped under the burning sun, as if it suffered in silent agony, trying to speak but unable to. Surrounding them were flames¡ªnot ordinary fire, but a living, pulsating darkness that defied comprehension.

    Gabriel couldn¡¯t move. It felt as though his very bones had turned to ash, and his mind strained to understand what his eyes beheld. This was not just a nightmare¡ªthis was something older, something that existed before dreams were ever conceived.

    The man in the purple robe stepped forward, his voice silent yet resonating directly into Gabriel¡¯s consciousness:

    "Do you see it, traveler? This... is a paradox, isn¡¯t it?"

    Gabriel wanted to answer¡ªbut his mouth would not move. His voice did not exist.

    The sun-faced horror began to drift closer. The light intensified, searing his mind, etching itself into his very soul. The burning knowledge was too much to bear¡ªhis thoughts began to unravel.

    And then, the face beneath the sun whispered a single word:

    "Alone."

    In that moment, something broke inside Gabriel. An all-encompassing terror, deeper than anything he had ever known, consumed him.

    Kazya¡¯s face pierced through the void again as if bending time and space itself.

    Kazya: "That¡¯s right, Gabriel. I never cursed you. Not me, nor this wretched Witch House. The real curse... lives within your skull. And now... fall deeper into the void¡ªuntil you find your true face, you hypocrite. Hahahahahahaha!"

    With one last push, she sent him plummeting into the endless blackness once more¡ªwithout mercy, without end.

    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    ---

    Gabriel wanted to scream, to move, but his body was no longer his. He was trapped inside himself, just a consciousness imprisoned within decaying flesh.

    The man raised the glowing staff, and the celestial eye began to move¡­ it gazed directly at Gabriel.

    At that moment, he spoke to him:

    "I don''t think they was ready¡­

    And I know he¡¯s know me, I push foreigns like they Chevy''s¡­

    She¡¯s fuck with my eyes, she do that shit to be petty¡­

    I still get the top in hell, tell me who¡¯s are is Bredi??!!"

    Gabriel didn¡¯t understand anything he heard. He stopped, staring in silence, his face frozen in a calm shock¡ªnot the kind that makes you scream, but the kind that leaves your mind utterly blank. His thoughts froze completely at that moment.

    Then Kazia pushed him, and he resumed falling again into the cold, dark void.

    The fall was no longer a fall.

    It became a state¡­ a state of slow dissolution, as if his existence was melting into the void itself. He no longer felt his body, his bones, or his skin¡ªhe was just a drifting awareness through nothingness. Time no longer made sense here. Images poured into his mind¡ªfaces, places, colors that no human eyes were ever meant to see.

    And then, suddenly, everything stopped.

    Or rather¡­ it froze.

    The void around him began to crack, as if the darkness itself was just a thin shell hiding something else beneath it. Cracks of light filled the emptiness, and reality itself shattered like fragile glass. Then, without warning, the world around him exploded¡­ and he found himself standing in a place that should not exist.

    There was a sky. But it wasn¡¯t a sky¡ªit was a cosmic expanse teeming with stars, but the stars were¡­ wrong. Some moved as if watching him, others blazed like supernovas, and some melted like burning wax. There was no horizon, no clear ground, but he stood on something strange¡ªa white surface, like marble, but surrounded by a void full of shimmering, living lights, like enormous comets¡ªsomething that shouldn¡¯t be beneath his feet.

    And then¡­ he saw her.

    She stood before him¡ªor perhaps she was part of the place itself.

    A feminine figure, her body a blend of white marble and cosmic void. Her limbs were sculpted like an ancient statue, but her core was a black hole¡ªconsuming light, consuming meaning. Her hair flowed in slow, silver waves, as if it floated through space, and her eyes¡­ there were no eyes, only an endless abyss pulsing with the light of dying stars.

    She didn¡¯t move, but she saw him.

    Gabriel couldn¡¯t breathe. He wasn¡¯t even sure if breathing mattered here. He tried to speak, but his voice was meaningless¡ªjust dead vibrations lost in the cosmos. Then, without warning, she raised her hands.

    And he realized¡­ they were not hands.

    They were something else.

    Her limbs stretched and bent, transforming into long claws, but the flesh wasn¡¯t flesh¡ªit was like cracked marble revealing something beneath. And beneath¡­ were stars, galaxies, black holes swallowing light.

    And finally¡­ she spoke.

    But her voice wasn¡¯t a voice.

    It was existence itself.

    "Gabriel¡­"

    She wasn¡¯t speaking his name.

    She was knowing it.

    "You are here because you fell. You are here because you have always been here. Do you think falling means descent? No, no, no¡­"

    She moved toward him, but the distance did not change. No¡ªshe was walking inside his mind.

    "Falling, Gabriel¡­ is realizing that you were never rising at all."

    And then, before he could respond¡ªbefore he could even think¡ªshe raised her hand, or perhaps an entire galaxy, or maybe something he couldn¡¯t comprehend¡­ and touched his forehead.

    And then¡­ she laughed.

    ---

    Gabriel was lost once again in the void.

    But during his fall, a ghostly green hand, wrapped in a spectral mist, emerged from the emptiness¡ªstretching upwards toward the Witch¡¯s House. With unnatural force, it seized him and hurled him away from the mirror.

    Kazia''s voice echoed through the air, filled with venomous mirth:

    "Do you know what will free you from the torment of this house, Gabriel? It is but one thing¡ªjust one thing! Hahahaha! If you do it¡­ you shall have your freedom!"

    Gabriel, his voice trembling, barely more than a broken whisper:

    "Anything¡­ anything! Just get me out of this hell, you wretched sorceress!"

    Kazia leaned closer, her spectral face twisted in malicious delight:

    "You must kill the child of the family that dwells atop the Mountains of Madness¡­ devour his hands¡­ and bring the rest of his body to me. It will be an offering¡­ to my god¡ªthe cosmic deity¡­ the Lord of the Seas¡­

    Cathuloooooeh¡­ Mmfynis¡­ the Master of Whales!"

    Gabriel¡¯s hollow eyes widened in disbelief:

    "But¡­ there¡¯s no one else on this island¡­ it¡¯s isolated¡­ isolated¡­ isolated!"

    His voice echoed through the void¡ªa desperate, broken sound¡ªreflecting his utter bewilderment at the thought of a family existing in such a desolate place.

    Kazia¡¯s laughter grew louder, cruel and cold:

    "You have two choices¡ªseek them out in the Mountains of Madness¡­ or return to the hallucinations of the void. Choose, Gabriel¡­ and choose quickly¡­ Hahahahaha!"

    Gabriel, defeated and without hope, lowered his head:

    "Fine¡­ I will go¡­"

    ---

    He walked¡ªdragging his weary body¡ªtoward the frozen peak of hell itself, the Mountains of Madness. The storm raged around him, howling with a fury that would have broken lesser men, but Gabriel pressed on. Each step was agony. The ice beneath his feet seemed to hunger for him, pulling him down with every stride.

    When he reached the base of the mountain, he tried to climb¡ªbut the sheer, merciless slopes cast him down repeatedly. And yet¡­ as if the mountain itself had grown impatient, it granted him a staircase¡ªa ghastly spiral of blood-streaked ice that twisted toward the summit.

    Gabriel¡ªhis mind long since shattered by madness¡ªascended the bloodied steps without hesitation, his boots echoing in the frozen silence. Each step oozed with crimson, as if the mountain had devoured others before him. He climbed higher¡­ and higher¡­ until at last, he stood at the peak.

    And there¡ªat the summit¡ªhe saw the god he had always believed in.

    It was Christ¡ªcrucified¡ªhis figure nailed to a splintered wooden cross, wearing a crown of thorns. Yet this was no savior. Around the crucifix danced a horde of goblins¡ªhideous, twisted things¡ªcackling as they piled kindling beneath his feet, eager to set their unholy fire alight.

    Gabriel, who had escaped the delusions of the Witch¡¯s House, now found himself ensnared in the visions of the Mountain. The crucified figure smiled¡ªa smile devoid of hope¡ªand spoke with a voice heavy with cosmic despair:

    "Boy¡­ your attempts to grasp the hidden truths of the universe¡­ to unlock the dormant power of your mind¡­ will only lead you down the path to true damnation."

    And then¡ªsuddenly¡ªeverything vanished.

    Not only the crucified man and the goblins¡­ but the entire mountain itself.

    The world cracked open beneath him, and the mountain devoured him whole. He fell again¡ªdown, down into a blackness deeper than any void he had known. Here, the icy winds howled like tormented souls, lashing his body as he plunged into the eternal dark.

    ---

    There was no endless fall this time.

    Only an impact.

    Gabriel did not realize when the fall had ceased¡ªbut he found himself sprawled across a cold, wet wooden deck, his breath coming in ragged gasps. His body trembled as if he had endured centuries of torment.

    He raised his head slowly, nausea twisting his stomach as he beheld his new prison.

    He was aboard a ship.

    But this was no vessel built by human hands. The wood was blackened, waterlogged with the blood of the lost. The sails, torn and tattered, fluttered in the wind like the shrouds of forgotten dead. The air reeked of salt and decay, thick and oppressive¡ªas if the sea itself hungered for his soul.

    Gabriel tried to rise, but the ship groaned beneath him, shifting as though it were alive.

    And then¡­ he heard the sound.

    Not the crashing of waves. Not the fury of the storm.

    Something else.

    Something hungry.

    He turned his head slowly, and what he saw wrenched the last fragments of his sanity away.

    The ocean had split¡ªa vast maw yawning open in the heart of the sea. It was no mere creature but an ancient blasphemy, a living abyss with fangs like jagged spires. The water around its mouth boiled, releasing a fetid stench that twisted Gabriel¡¯s stomach. This thing¡­ this being¡­ was not part of the sea¡ªit was the sea.

    Other ships¡ªbroken and doomed¡ªstruggled in vain to escape. But there was no escape. Around them circled monstrous sharks, their fins slicing the waves in anticipation.

    Gabriel¡¯s terror deepened into something far worse¡ªan understanding. He was not just a victim. He was prey¡ªensnared by a mind far older and more vast than any human consciousness.

    The ship began to drift¡ªpulled inexorably toward the gaping maw.

    Then¡­ a skeletal figure emerged from a neighboring vessel¡ªno mere man, but the remains of a pirate captain. Its empty eyes fixed on Gabriel with cold amusement. It raised one withered, bone-clad finger and spoke words that shattered reality itself:

    "I don''t think that bitch was ready¡­"

    Spent my hunnid thousand at Starlets, my heart got heavy

    As the words echoed, a still-beating heart erupted from the pirate¡¯s chest¡ªpulsing with a sick, otherworldly light Then he continued his words

    Then I thought about it, that money where the hell is bradi

    I ain''t want no pussy baby, just give me the headie

    I done found my opp location just right off the ready

    I can pay for the whole hit, that''s only if you let me

    Voodoo lady prayed over me just so she could bless me

    And as the maw closed over them all¡­ Gabriel awoke.

    ---

    He gasped¡ªdrenched in cold sweat¡ªfinding himself once more at the peak of the mountain.

    Before him, at the very edge of the summit, stood a decrepit wooden cabin, half-buried in snow. The wind howled, but he forced his shaking limbs forward, pushing open the cracked door.

    Inside was chaos¡ªbroken glass, shattered furniture, and an overturned bed. By the hearth, he found a sight that froze his blood.

    A young couple¡ªno older than their thirties¡ªlay dead, stabbed through the heart. And beside them, a crying infant, no more than a month old.

    On the wall above them, scrawled in blood, were the words:

    "Signed¡ªThe Reaper."

    Tears welled in Gabriel¡¯s eyes as he pulled the knife from the mother¡¯s heart. Approaching the child, he pressed his lips to its forehead, whispering:

    "Forgive me¡­ but this is the only way out of hell¡­"

    And with that¡­ the knife fell.

    ---

    At the mountain¡¯s edge¡ªhis beard dripping with blood¡ªGabriel faced the searchlights and hounds of the New Zealand police. A broken man¡ªpart beast¡ªhe stood defiant, cradling the cursed dagger.

    Detective Carl shouted:

    "It¡¯s over! There¡¯s nowhere left to run!"

    Gabriel only smiled¡ªa smile that no mortal should wear.

    And as he leaped from the cliff¡¯s edge, a black-winged being caught him mid-fall¡ªZulish.

    "It¡¯s time to burn down the House of Ash¡­"

    ¡ªEnd of Chapter

 The Infinite Prison

    **Chapter Sixteen**

    The chapter begins where it ended, when Zolish saved Gabriel from his fall into the Cascade of Blood beneath the Mountains of Madness. His divine arrogance might have descended upon me for Gabriel''s sake, but did this truly happen?

    It was as if the cold air, laden with the aura of terror emanating from the Witches'' House, surrounded them as Zolish soared through the darkened sky, clutching Gabriel in his demonic claws. The stars seemed to watch their journey in eerie silence, as if they were witnesses to an impending madness that could not be avoided.

    Gabriel looked down at the endless void beneath him, then turned to Zolish and spoke with a hesitant voice:

    "I still don''t understand... Where are we going, and how will we overthrow the Chevishenkov?"

    Zolish turned to him with a distorted smile, his glowing eyes shining like embers in the darkness.

    "We are going to the headquarters of humanity... to your friends in Zero Phantom."

    Gabriel: "You were destroying planets when you played with your sister, right? Why don''t you just annihilate them all?"

    Zolish: "Fool, in this war of mine, I do not need strength, but my intelligence. The Shadow Demon has placed a curse on me, monitoring my mana activity. He will know everything if I intervene."

    Gabriel: "Why is this planet so important to you?"

    Zolish: "This is the mother planet of the galaxy."

    Zolish throws Gabriel toward the sea, and the void transforms into darkness by his power. Zolish''s face becomes even more terrifying and grim, like the face of a necromancer, undulating as he speaks to him in this aura:

    Zolish: "I have executed this same plan on the mother planet of every galaxy in this universe. My father... I have finished with 60,000 galaxies. Only 20,000 remain, and I am now carrying out this task in all the remaining galaxies simultaneously."

    At this moment, the black void around Gabriel ripples and begins to spin, as if they were in a pool of dark water, undulating and twisting their faces with it.

    Gabriel replies: "How is this possible when you are with me at this very moment......" Gabriel''s voice echoes through the dark, watery void.

    Zolish, with terrifying red flames beginning to emerge from his body, laughs a sadistic laugh: "I can be in multiple places at the same time, and I can control 15,000 of my bodies, all with the same consciousness. They are not copies¡ªI can exist in more than one place at the same time. Hahahahahahahahaha Aaaaaaaah!"

    Gabriel is shocked by what he hears.

    Gabriel: "To what extent does your power reach? I cannot imagine that there are entities close to your power, let alone stronger than you."

    Zolish: "You have seen nothing yet, oh mortal."

    Gabriel felt a tightening in his chest. He wasn''t sure if this would end well.

    He thought to himself, if this skeletal demon possessed such evil and power, then what of the others? He began to feel dizzy, not from the height, but from fear. Yet, he gathered his scattered thoughts and asked:

    "What is your true plan? How will you defeat all the cosmic entities? And even if you do... what will you do with your father, the Lord of Demons? And what of his brother, the Shadow Demon?"

    Zolish paused for a moment, then burst into laughter, but his laughter was unlike any before. It was so intense that the fish and sea creatures in the ocean began to die from fear. His voice carried a hellish echo, as if it emerged from the depths of Hell itself.

    "Like I told you, human... This Ancients are just a beginning.

    I will command a great and terrible army, and I promise you, I will be the end.

    For everything."

    Then he accelerated his flight, leaving Gabriel in the air for a moment before catching him again, heading toward their destination.

    As Gabriel''s mind is being destroyed by this psychopathic lich, let us take the events of our story to a less insane place.

    Far from the cursed and accursed icy island, or perhaps not so far... in the heart of Asia, deep in Iraq...

    There lies the new headquarters of Zero Phantom, a place of utmost secrecy, bustling with activity and tension. In the large meeting room, Simon and Eva stood before a group of leaders, soldiers, and troops¡ªhundreds, perhaps thousands¡ªincluding freed prisoners and others seeking freedom. They presented their plan on a massive screen to overthrow the Chevishenkov, the first demonic and noble family to rule the world. They sought to destroy their hellish prison: "The Devil''s Skull."

    Despite the liberation efforts, many forces and secrets remained hidden there, and even the Chevishenkov members were said to be the prison''s wardens.

    "This operation must be a grinding revenge. We will attack with all our hidden forces and warplanes. We will annihilate them completely," said Simon, pointing to a 3D map of the prison. "We need to breach their defenses before they realize what is happening. The main assault team will enter from this point, while support units will wait here."

    As he spoke, the ceiling suddenly shook, and the center of the room exploded as Gabriel descended forcefully amidst the destruction. Everyone raised their weapons cautiously, but soon realized it was Gabriel and breathed a sigh of relief.

    Everyone was startled by his sudden and strange entrance, and the new members pointed their weapons at him, thinking he was an intruder.

    Simon: "Stop! Stop! He''s one of us."

    Simon: "Gabriel, I''m your captain, Avery. We tried to contact you for a while. Where have you been, and how did you know about our location?"

    Eva: "Yes, Gabriel, where were you? We thought you were dead!"

    Gabriel stammered, unsure how to respond. He looked around, avoiding their eyes, unable to process the rapid events, then said: "I was... hiding somewhere, and I found the location''s updates on my phone."

    A member: "Well, who threw you from the ceiling?"

    Gabriel: "A crazy companion of mine was piloting a stealth plane."

    Gabriel: "This desert is beautiful, honestly, and the headquarters... it seems you guys spared no expense in buying all this." He placed his hand on his neck and laughed.

    Then Eva asked him, "What about Rose? Have you seen her? Do you know where she is?"

    Gabriel: "I don''t know... I haven''t seen her in a while. I don''t remember anything, honestly¡­¡­.."

    But before anyone could ask more questions, Gabriel''s expression suddenly changed. His voice became sharper, his eyes filled with dark blackness. It was not him speaking, but Zolish, who had possessed his body.

    "I have come... and I bring some assistance." He said it in a calm voice, yet filled with terror.

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    Then the facility''s door opened, and hordes of armed humans appeared. But while the organization''s members saw them as ordinary humans, Gabriel saw their true form: they were demonic creatures, undead beings resembling liches, moving under Zolish''s command.

    Gabriel spoke to Zolish telepathically: "How did you bring all these here, and why am I the only one who sees their repulsive forms?"

    Zolish: "First, I can do anything, as I told you. Second..."

    Zolish whispered to him in a strange voice: "I made you see them so that the terror, if it leaves you for a while, will miss you."

    Simon: "Anyway, no harm in backup. We just need to search them and interrogate them before they join us."

    Simon looked at everyone and said: "Well... anyway, this is the plan."

    Simon pointed to a large screen, where images of other Chevishenkov facilities appeared. "This is just the beginning. After destroying the prison, we will move to these next targets. We must start by cutting off the head of the snake."

    Simon said: "Regarding the plan, this time we are not the weaker party. We will attack with overwhelming force and crush them all."

    All the soldiers in the place let out a deafening roar:

    "Haaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

    ---

    After hours of planning and preparation, the day of the operation arrived. The stealth aircraft and ships laden with fighters set off toward the prison. The sky was overcast, as if nature itself was preparing for what was to come.

    After days on the accursed sea, amidst the dark sea monsters and the Kraken that nearly sank the ship, killing some of the crew and filling the vessel with blood before the slaughter even began¡ªdespite the towering waves, torrential rains, and the satanic darkness of the sea¡ªthey finally arrived.

    When the fleet of ships lined up in front of the prison, the soldiers saw no aircraft, for they were completely hidden, even from radar. Only three ships were visible, while the rest remained concealed. They entered the prison, and the soldiers assumed they were from the military. One of the soldiers in the watchtower asked them through a microphone, "What do you want?"

    Simon stood atop the ship''s bow, looking directly at the soldier. At that moment, the irises of Simon''s eyes turned purple, taking the shape of the Japanese character ¤¢. Then Simon spoke in a loud, commanding voice, addressing him in Japanese:

    Simon:

    ¡¸¥µ¥¤¥â¥ó?¥¤¥ó?¥Õ¥¡¥ë¥ó¥Ï¥¤¥à¤¬Ãü¤¸¤¿£¡

    ¤ªÇ°¤¿¤Á¤Ï¤³¤³¤ÇËÀ¤Í£¡¡¹

    Meaning: "Simon von Farnheim commands you! Die here and now!"

    The soldiers'' eyes transformed to match Simon''s, and in unison, they all said, "As Your Majesty commands," and proceeded to kill themselves.

    Nearby, on a high hill close to the prison, Zolish sat, enjoying the spectacle. He held a bowl filled with small spiders, eating them as if they were popcorn, while awaiting a new massacre to witness.

    Zolish: "Finally, I will see one last bloody masterpiece in this place before it becomes abandoned."

    The attack began... and blood would soak the earth, as usual.

    The forces stormed into the prison after breaching the gate, thanks to Gabriel, who managed to hack the gates, open them, disable the security system, and lock the doors to the armory rooms. The soldiers and prison guards were bewildered, unsure how to handle this madness.

    Another bloody and painful struggle erupted among the humans. The sound of gunfire filled the place, and blood splattered everywhere. But Zolish was not impressed; he found the methods of killing with bullets to be peaceful and boring.

    He ordered his private army to move by merely twitching his little finger.

    The army advanced toward the prison, with helicopters and stealth aircraft flying above them, while Zolish sat on a high hill, watching the scene with a maddened smile. He pulled a handful of spiders from his pocket, crushed them between his fingers to make a strange popcorn, and began eating it as he watched the massacre unfold before his eyes.

    At the prison gates, the soldiers began to scream. The enemy was not human. Zolish''s creatures devoured them alive, tearing their flesh with sharp teeth. The sound of their bones breaking echoed through the air. Cries for help turned into distorted whispers, then into terrifying silence.

    The members of Zero Phantom looked at their new comrades in astonishment, unable to understand why they were attacking the soldiers with such ferocity.

    At this point, Zolish decided to end the confusion.

    He raised his hand and muttered a single word: "Wake up."

    In an instant, everything changed.

    The faces of the "humans" transformed into nightmarish monsters, and their teeth sank into the soldiers'' flesh without hesitation. They ate their faces, tore open their stomachs, and sucked out their bone marrow. Blood covered the ground, and the battlefield turned into a living hell.

    Gabriel stood in the middle, his body trembling from shock. He could not believe what he was seeing.

    This was... Hell itself.

    Zolish, on the hill, smiled as he placed more spiders into his mouth, watching the massacre with pure delight.

    "And now, the fun begins."

    The monsters moved and began to devour even their allies. When one of them approached Gabriel, Gabriel tried to flee but fell to the ground. The creature opened its mouth, which resembled an electric saw, and prepared to devour Gabriel. As those predatory jaws drew near, Gabriel suddenly found himself drowning in a crimson-red watery abyss. He swam upward, trying to understand what was happening. When he surfaced, he was met with the greatest shock of his life.

    Gabriel had not moved an inch from his spot at the Cascade of Blood beneath the Mountains of Madness on that accursed, leathery island¡­¡­¡­¡­

    As he emerged from the lake, all the figures of his hallucinations and nightmares came out with him¡ªKazia, the Argonian Man, the Lion God, the Terrifying Sun, the demons, and even the Crucified Man, along with many, many others. They floated around him, and a strange yet beautiful melody began to play. Then they started singing a song, the first words of which were spoken by Kazia:

    "No pigmentation, giving you the truth."

    Then they began to alternate the words, one after the other. Each one approached his face, spoke their line, and disappeared.

    "Suffering from fun, she even could not come, too."

    "Screaming out You, wanna to jumping off the roof."

    "One more drink, one less I''ll lose."

    "She''s betting on science, she say she needs proof."

    Gabriel grew more tense, anxious, and sad with each word, as if the water beneath him was boiling. Then came this line:

    "If you was out of my body, you would see the truth."

    After this, the bloody sea waters transformed into a deafening void, and he began to fall. The words continued, echoing through the space with the melody.

    "And my brains bruised from another the bad news."

    This line hit him like a literal punch, striking him with force and sending him deeper into the void.

    Then it came again:

    "And my brains bruised from another the bad news."

    It punched him, causing him to sink even deeper into the void.

    Gabriel floats in the deafening void, everything around him fading into nothingness. All that remains is the lingering melody in his mind and the impact of the punches that pushed him into this endless fall. Suddenly, his fall stops completely, as if an invisible hand has halted him amidst the spells and nightmares. Before him... the Thing appears.

    A massive entity, its body decrepit as if carved from rotting flesh, long, hooked fingers moving with unnatural fluidity, each limb ending in a claw resembling a poisoned needle. Gabriel tries to look up, only to find the entity''s head surrounded by an inhuman crown: a glowing sun, its rays not of fire but of living darkness, twisting and writhing like arms, flaring and dimming as if trying to escape its celestial prison.

    At the center of the sun... a face! But it is not a human face¡ªdistorted features, a mournful smile etched onto a surface resembling a mask, dead eyes with no pupils, freezing all his thoughts the moment he sees them. It is a nightmare made flesh, a sun that watches, a sun that is aware of his presence, a sun that waits for him to speak.

    In one of its hands, it holds a feeble candle, but its flame does not illuminate¡ªit absorbs the light around it. Meanwhile, its other hand is outstretched, and in its palm floats a transparent pyramid, within which light refracts in impossible ways, as if the void itself is dying inside it.

    A strange sound echoes in his mind, not in words but in direct understanding, as if the entity is not speaking... but forcibly imposing meaning onto his brain:

    "The time has come... Gabriel."

    Then it carries him in its hands and throws him deeper and deeper.

    ...Then it carries him in its hands, lifting him like a weightless doll before hurling him into the depths.

    Deeper... and deeper... and deeper.

    Gabriel finds himself descending, but not falling¡ªdissolving. His body fades into threads of black smoke, seeping into the deadly void. Then... he hits the ground. But it is not ground¡ªit is a black lake, smooth as dead skin, cold as a graveyard kiss.

    He lifts his head to find four women kneeling at the edges of the water. Their hair is long, cascading like curtains of darkness, and their frail bodies bear the marks of old wounds that never healed. They whisper, but the words are not words... they are moans... the beating of a heart... the hum of something hiding in the corners of his mind.

    Above them, the moon stares. But it is not the moon¡ªit is a face!

    A distorted face, its features slowly burning, its eyes empty yet weeping... tears flowing like waterfalls of decaying light, falling into the lake, turning its surface into waves of living torment.

    The women move, their necks slowly twisting, their faces revealed...

    They are all Rose.

    But not the Rose he knows. Their eyes are hollow, their mouths open, their teeth broken, as if they have been screaming for a thousand years without pause.

    One of them raises her hand, pointing at him, her lips moving without sound, then finally... he hears her.

    "Why... did you leave me there?"

    Gabriel screams, but he does not hear his own voice¡ªonly the echo of the question repeating... Then a hand emerges from the lake, its claws embedded in his skin, dragging him down into the bottomless darkness.

    Then the moon''s mouth opens, and a cascade of blood begins to pour out, its eyes weeping.

    ---

    Gabriel continues to fall... The void consumes him, devours his senses, strips him of time and space. Then, suddenly... it stops.

    But he does not hit the ground. He is floating in a space of ash and dust, as if the universe itself had burned, leaving behind nothing but charred remnants.

    Before him... something rises.

    Not a human, not a beast... but a catastrophe made flesh.

    A massive body, a mixture of stony flesh, arms that crawl like serpents, and fangs that try to tear themselves apart in fits of eternal hunger. Its head is crowned with branching horns like burnt branches, and its eyes... it has no eyes, only black holes that absorb light and soul.

    It is not a being¡ªit is a living temple, built from forgotten screams.

    It moves, slowly, like the resurgence of an ancient disaster. Rocks crumble around it as if they are scales shedding from its body, while it opens its mouth... or something resembling a mouth.

    Then Gabriel hears a deep hum, not a sound, but a spiritual earthquake that shakes his very being, planting terror in his marrow.

    "I awoke because you looked at me."

    Beneath him, a sea of darkness cracks, waves form, rising... Then he sees a small, abandoned ship, swaying amidst the storm. Someone was here before, someone who saw it before him, but they did not survive to tell the tale.

    The living temple moves, its shadows stretch, wrapping around the ship, sinking it in terrifying silence.

    Then... it looks at him.

    Faces appear on its skin, writhing, breathing, uttering his name in unison:

    "Gabriel..."

    Then the void swallows him again.

    Then he falls, and all the creatures he saw in his hallucinations begin to reach for him, stretching their hands to touch his finger. All the cosmic creatures he saw in his hallucinations, as they fall together into the void, keep repeating these words:

    "Ain''t nobody can fly as us

    Fly as us,

    Fly as us

    Fly as us

    Fly as us

    Heavy, as us

    heavy as us

    Fly as us,

    heavy as u

    Fly as us

    Fly as us"

    Then the bottom of the void beneath them transforms into a massive black hole, larger even than these entities, one of which was the size of a galaxy. The entire bottom turns into a black hole, and as they fall, they stretch their fingers toward Gabriel. In his desperate attempt, Gabriel reaches out his finger toward them, trying to grasp them to save himself from the black hole. A voice emerges from the black hole beneath them, saying:

    "You Noah got the tucked

    Blackei noah got the tucked

    Blackei noah got the tucked

    Blackei noah got the tucked"

    The chapter ends with Gabriel and the hallucination monsters attempting to touch and reach each other¡ªGabriel to escape the black hole, and the monsters to destroy him completely. The scene is as if taken from the painting *The Creation of Adam* by the Italian artist Michel angelo.

    ---

    End of chapter

 *The Color from Out of Space*

    Chapter Seventeen

    The chapter begins with the thunderous fall of Gabriel Sunderland. The young New Zealander continues to plummet into the black abyss, a hell of loneliness, as he is seized by those terrifying creatures with a false hope of not falling. He asks himself, "What is worse? Death by these entities or dying alone? Is there any meaning to his attempt to survive and return to his hellish life, or is the whole thing pure nihilism? Why does instinct force you to resist death, even when your life is a thousand times worse than death? Even when the flame you burn from while alive is stronger than the flames of hell you''ve spent your entire life trying to escape? But no, my friend, no one escapes their inevitable fate."

    The black hole beneath him began to change. Its shape transformed into a demonic skeleton. The king of the dead, Zolisch, the Lich, had taken form. His head replaced the black hole, and he opened his mouth, filled with sharp teeth covered in blood. From his mouth emerged ghosts¡ªhumans, aliens, and animals¡ªterrifying green specters rising toward Gabriel. But they did not attack him. Instead, they targeted the nightmare creatures that had been chasing him, entering their bodies and turning them to ash with ease. Gabriel continued to fall until he plunged into Zolisch''s mouth and was swallowed whole.

    After this, Gabriel woke up to find himself near the lake. He spat out a lot of water, drenched and cold. He found Zolisch sitting on a small wooden plank, fishing with a wooden rod. Zolisch said to him:

    "Finally, you''re awake, mortal."

    Gabriel: "What happened? Why am I still trapped here?"

    Zolisch: "What happened is that your human friends won their battle, thanks to me. Then you passed out, and I brought you here through instant teleportation. You should be grateful, hahaha!"

    Gabriel, screaming and hitting the ground in frustration: "Why this cursed island, of all places?"

    Zolisch, turning his head to give him a cold look: "I don''t know, but all cosmic entities love this island. The atmosphere here is great, bloody, and terrifying for creatures."

    Gabriel: "Ugh!"

    Zolisch: "Anyway, your friend, the leader of the fools, Simon or whatever his name is... he''s using alien magic."

    Gabriel: "How do you know? Where did he learn this kind of magic? Not that I''d ask if magic is real, since I''ve seen crazier things."

    Zolisch: "I don''t know where he learned it, but he wields the power of Xenath. It''s an ability that comes from the eye, granting powers like mind control and others. I don''t know if he can only use mind control or more, but beware of that boy."

    Gabriel: "I never trusted him from the start. He''s suspicious."

    Zolisch: "You asked me to teach you magic before. Well, mortal, I will grant your wish. I can train you in the Witches'' Forest. It''s more powerful than here."

    Gabriel, overjoyed and in disbelief: "Are we finally leaving this island?"

    Zolisch: "No. The Witches'' Forest lies deep within this island..."

    Gabriel, shocked and hysterically laughing: "Isn''t this a frozen island?"

    Zolisch: "This island has a glacial climate in this part. In the far north, there are the Witches'' Forests, and in the south, there''s a desert climate."

    Gabriel: "How can this be real? How big is this cursed island?"

    Zolisch: "Bigger than you can imagine, mortal. Now, will you come with me to the forest?"

    Gabriel: "No, you''re a liar, and you''re hiding too many secrets from me. I''m going to find the truth."

    Gabriel runs away from Zolisch at full speed, terrified. Zolisch releases spectral snakes and spiders from his mouth, commanding them to hunt Gabriel.

    The darkness grows thicker as the hours pass. Time feels like an endless nightmare for Gabriel. His constant escape from Zolisch feels like a pursuit into a dark future with no hope of survival. He runs through the desolate wilderness, chased by death in the form of spectral snakes emerging from Zolisch''s cursed mouth. These creatures, which only see light in the spirit world, attack Gabriel mercilessly, writhing and changing as if they were fragments of hell itself.

    Gabriel doesn''t know how much time has passed. Time has blurred in his mind between nightmares and reality. He runs with difficulty, his bones aching as if they are melting from the torment. Suddenly, he feels something strange. The spectral snakes are chasing him, trying to seize him fiercely, consuming the air around him as if Zolisch has sent a curse to control the very fabric of his existence. He can hear their voices screaming behind him: "You can''t escape... There''s nowhere to hide... We are here!"

    Gabriel reaches a high cliff overlooking a ruined, dark landscape. His eyes are filled with tears, but there''s something else in the sky above him. Strange lights, as if burning at the edges of the universe. An ancient castle, a massive leather fortress. He doesn''t know how he got there, but something in his heart tells him this is the last refuge.

    Then, he enters the castle.

    Cautiously, he steps inside. Everything is dark, and the heavy air seeps into his lungs as if every breath he takes transports him to another world. The castle is filled with silence as if time has stopped somewhere far from human eyes. He wanders through narrow corridors, his fingers touching the ancient walls damp with old blood.

    He reaches an ancient tower where cursed books are scattered on the floor. His eyes race to search for anything that might indicate salvation. But when his gaze falls on a massive book placed on a wooden table near an inverted golden cross, he feels something strange entering his depths. The title of the book is written in blood on the first page: **Arcanum Cosmicum**. Gabriel opens the book. Its pages are slightly torn, but there''s something on the cover that sparks curiosity¡ªstrange images carved into it. But what catches his attention the most is the strange language written on it.

    At first, there''s a simple note:

    *"This is me, Edward, known as Allen X. I tried to write everything I learned in this book before this island completely consumed my mind. I didn''t know all the entities, but I''ll write about those I knew and saw."*

    Gabriel begins to examine the book slowly. Images of cosmic entities flash before his eyes rapidly. The book is filled with terrifying images and horrifying rituals, and each picture makes him feel as if he''s entering another world from which there''s no escape.

    The first image is of a whale¡ªa black orca with stars on its skin, sharp teeth, and hollow eyes. It leaps from a black sea, screaming, with many witches standing on a hill, pleading beneath it. Below the image is carved the name **Cthulhu**. The summoning method: *"Slaughter 700,000 children aged 14."*

    Gabriel stands, his eyes fixed on the image, feeling his body grow colder. He can''t understand how these entities could exist in this world.

    Then he moves to the second image:

    A giant spider, its body resembling plants and tree branches as if trees grow from it. It has a terrifying face and a scorpion''s tail, and it laughs. Below it are many people dead from poison, one of them bowing to it. Carved below is the name **Spider Dreadful**.

    It laughs as if mocking the souls of the victims who died from its poison. Below the image is the horrific method of summoning: *"Slaughter 80,000 pregnant women and eat the fetus."* Gabriel feels the bitterness of torment and wonders what consequences await this world if these creatures come to life. The book doesn''t just show drawings¡ªit shows portals to another world.

    The third image is of a skeleton wearing a black cloak and a crown¡ª**Zolisch, the Lich Wizard**. Behind him is the explosion of a red bomb, with ghostly faces screaming. Red flames erupt from his hands, and before him are demons and humans kneeling. He is called Zolisch, the King of the Living Dead. The method of summoning is even more horrifying: *"Kill the inhabitants of an entire planet."* As Gabriel stares at the image, he feels his breath quicken. It''s as if this book is slowly trying to destroy his mind.

    The next image is of a ghoul¡ªa giant with bat wings and demonic horns, a face more terrifying than anything else. Below its mouth are many black octopus tentacles, and on its belly is a pentagram. Below it are many dead children, one of them bowing. The name: **The Whisper in the Darkness**. The summoning method: *"Destroy religions that call for the worship of God on an entire planet."*

    The next image is even more eerie and terrifying:

    A black wolf, larger than any earthly creature, with red eyes and a black tail resembling a horse''s tail. Its fur is like black flames rippling, and it has massive fangs resembling those of a saber-toothed cat. Its mouth is filled with blood, and it tries to eat the red, bloody moon. Below it are many witches cheering and praising it. The summoning method: *"Destroy the sun and plunge the Earth into darkness."*

    Gabriel stops at the last image, which is of a queen¡ªa witch. Her beauty is unbelievable, but beneath this beauty lies supreme evil. Her face is dark as if from another world. She is called **Ercantha, the Queen of Witches**. The method of summoning is deadly: *"Kill all the women of the galaxy and turn the males into slaves."*

    Then, when he reaches the last torn page of the book, darkness consumes the place. The words are written on the intact part: *"The Overlord of the Universe, the Shadow Demon, the Nominal Ruler."*

    Suddenly, all the lights disappear. Gabriel hears a terrifying echo throughout the castle. The candles that lit the place begin to extinguish rapidly, and the book in his hand begins to fade as if it were just a mirage. Suddenly, the book disappears entirely, leaving Gabriel in the dark, surrounded by the sound of mysterious whispers echoing through the castle.

    The book is now more than just a memory. The hands of death have reached into the world... and now, there is no place to hide.

    The book suddenly disappears, and then

    The ghost of Edward, with blood and toys dripping from his mouth, then pushed him, causing the floor of the castle to collapse around him, and he fell into the void.

    Gabriel falls endlessly, the void swallowing him, pulling him toward eternal solitude until he suddenly stops before a scene that the human mind cannot easily comprehend. Before him stands a massive throne made of black bones and twisted metal, upon which sits a majestic female entity, a witch with deadly beauty and eyes glowing like hellfire. Her body is clad in black leather armor adorned with demonic details, and her limbs are decorated with sharp metal spikes. In her hand is a massive sword, its blade reflecting glimpses of other worlds, as if forged from embodied darkness.

    Behind her stands a shadowy figure, a faceless being, a mere dark presence that fills the place with an aura of absolute terror. His hand, covered in metal gloves, grips the hilt of a dagger carved from the bone of a non-human creature, as if ready to slaughter any intruder.

    The hall surrounding them is impossibly vast, its columns twisted as if pulsating with life, and the walls are covered with carvings of creatures bowing in absolute worship. Blood-red lights burn in the corners of the room, but they emit no warmth¡ªon the contrary, everything here is cold and deadly as if the air itself is poisoned by the spirit of this place.

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    Then, without warning, the woman raises her eyes and looks directly at Gabriel. At that moment, he feels as if his soul is being pulled from his body as if he were nothing but a puppet in the hands of a greater power. He hears a voice echoing inside his skull, not a whisper but a command, a voice that plants terror in every part of his being:

    "You are too late, Gabriel."

    The woman waves her sword near him, causing him to fall back into the void. The void swallows him, as solitude swallows its companion, and as excessive awareness swallows the truth he was never meant to know. Is it the truth of the existence of these terrifying entities, or the truth that he has become utterly alone, or perhaps the truth that everything in this universe is absurd, meaningless, and devoid of any purpose? Falling into the deepest point of the void might give him the answer, or perhaps he will never find the answer, no matter how hard he tries, no matter how much he thinks, no matter how much his intelligence increases. He will never grasp the truth and never transcend the limits of human understanding. Perhaps this is part of the plan of the God who makes us understand the meaning of everything, for when we do, we will see the true hell. But will the hell of awareness be hotter than the hell of ignorance? This is a question Gabriel will answer for himself, at least before he dies...

    Now, Gabriel stops falling, for a moment, but the void shows no mercy. He is suspended between existence and nothingness, between dream and nightmare, until suddenly another vision opens before him... a vision no human mind should ever perceive.

    Before him stretches a scene overflowing with sacred surrealism and cursed damnation. In the sky, a triple face gazes at him, three faces intertwined as if a distorted divine reflection, their light burning his eyes, but Gabriel sees clearly¡ªit is not light, but a spectrum of doom.

    Beneath this celestial entity, intertwined creatures with merged bodies, wings fused with flesh, legs that are mere extensions of their twisted torsos, hands raised to the sky as if in supplication or command, their eyes empty yet filled with awareness... the awareness that existence itself is nothing but sacred chaos.

    Then he sees Adam and Eve, but not as in the myths. Eve rises from Adam''s body lying on the ground, but she is not innocent¡ªshe is the first to understand the secret of the curse, the first to see the truth, and never lives the same again.

    She sees Gabriel, her glowing eyes meeting his, and she smiles.

    Before he can scream, ominous beams shoot from the triple faces above, piercing his body as they pierce all who came before him, beams not of light but of fate, wrapping around him like the limbs of an entity that seeks to consume him, to turn him into something else, something that is no longer Gabriel, no longer even human.

    He knows now... this is not just a vision.

    It is a summoning.

    ---

    Then, Zolish pulls him from this place with his hand and says to him:

    Zolish: "Have you rested now? You have gotten what you wanted. Come, let us go to the Witches'' Forest."

    Gabriel: "Whatever it is, you psychopathic pile of bones."

    They exit the castle, and the icy storm rages as they walk through the snow and fog, in the darkness of the night, with the howling of wolves and the bloody red moon above. A flock of black ravens flies around them as they walk until the scene fades as the raven feathers fall.

    ---

    Not far from the horror and madness Gabriel is facing, in a camp on one of the hills of the Mountains of Madness, a group of special police officers, Marcus and Karl, were camping. They were grilling some fish they had caught. One of their comrades had a severed hand, and some officers were treating him. He had been attacked by a polar bear, according to what his comrades saw, even though this is a remote, deserted island where no animals exist except for the fish in the sea, the deer that Gabriel hunts, and the wolves that howl at night¡ªcreatures whose origins are also unknown. There are no bears, deer, wolves, or any form of life here. Nothing exists on this island except cold, horror, solitude, sorrow, and certainly fear.

    Marcus sat, frightened and tense, while Karl was very angry. He said to him:

    Karl: "Damn it, we were so close to catching him, and then he slipped away. We¡¯ll freeze here without a purpose."

    Marcus: "I don¡¯t know anymore. It seems we made a big mistake coming to this island, Karl."

    Karl: "Yes, it¡¯s cold and full of bears. It¡¯s a frozen hell."

    Marcus: "Not just that, believe me. This island is cursed. It has a terrifying aura."

    Karl: "I feel uneasy and a bit worried that you might lose your mind."

    Marcus: "All this time, you haven¡¯t contacted your family at all. Are there problems with your new wife?"

    Karl: "Just marital issues, don¡¯t worry."

    Marcus: "Oh, good."

    While Karl was walking away, Officer Barin approached and asked Karl:

    Barin: "Why did you ask him such a personal question at this critical time? Hahaha."

    Karl: "A tragic incident happened to Detective Karl with his ex-wife, so I¡¯m just worried about him..."

    When darkness fell, they lit the campfire, which was illuminated by the aurora borealis. Everyone was asleep, and in a slightly distant spot, Barin was on guard duty. During his watch, he saw the black shadow of a person walking near them. Barin shouted: "Hey, you! Stop!"

    Barin wasn¡¯t sure if what he saw was real or not, but he decided to take the risk and headed toward the shadow, which might lead to his doom and that of his comrades.

    Elsewhere, Karl was sleeping on the camping bed while the others were inside the tent. He was lying on his back, watching the aurora borealis, which he had always loved since he was a child. He dreamed of it, then began to remember his daughter, Angela. Tears welled up in his eyes from the beauty of the scene, and sleep overtook him in his nightmares. He dreamed of that catastrophic day when he returned from work to see fire trucks and ambulances surrounding his rural house. His house had burned to the ground. He walked, his eyes filled with shock, among the police and paramedics, and saw his wife, Tracy, crying. He asked her, "Why all this crying? It¡¯s just a country house, my dear."

    Tracy: "Angela, our little girl, Karl... she was inside, but they couldn¡¯t find her. She disappeared during the fire."

    Karl screams, and from the intensity of his scream, he wakes up from the dream, panting heavily and sweating despite the cold place he is in.

 Ivan the Terrible His Son

    Chapter Eighteen

    The chapter begins at a place not far from the horror and madness Gabriel is facing. On one of the hills of the Mountains of Madness, a group of special police officers, Marcus and Karl among them, had set up camp. The air was thick with an eerie stillness, broken only by the occasional crackle of the campfire and the distant, mournful howling of the wind. The camp itself was a modest arrangement of tents and supplies, barely sufficient to shield them from the biting cold that seemed to seep into their bones.

    The landscape around them was desolate, a frozen wasteland that stretched endlessly, devoid of life or warmth.

    They were grilling some fish they had caught earlier in the day, the smell of charred flesh mingling with the icy air. The fish, though meager, was a rare comfort in this forsaken place. One of their comrades, a man whose name was barely whispered now, sat nearby, his face pale and drawn. His hand had been severed, a brutal reminder of the dangers that lurked in this unholy land. Some officers were tending to him, their hands trembling as they wrapped the stump in bandages soaked with whatever medicinal supplies they had left. The man''s breathing was shallow, his eyes glazed with pain and shock.

    According to his comrades, he had been attacked by a polar bear¡ªa creature that should not exist in this remote, deserted island. The island was a place of contradictions, a land where logic and reason seemed to unravel. No animals roamed here, except for the fish in the sea, the deer that Gabriel hunted, and the wolves that howled at night¡ªcreatures whose origins were as mysterious as the island itself. There were no bears, no deer, no wolves, or any form of life that could explain the horrors they had witnessed. The island was a void, a place where nothing existed except cold, horror, solitude, sorrow, and an ever-present fear that gnawed at their sanity.

    Marcus sat by the fire, his face etched with fear and tension. His hands clenched and unclenched nervously, his eyes darting toward the shadows that danced at the edge of the firelight. Karl, on the other hand, was a storm of anger and frustration. He paced back and forth, his boots crunching against the frozen ground, his breath visible in the cold air. He stopped abruptly and turned to Marcus, his voice sharp and bitter.

    **Karl:** "Damn it, we were so close to catching him, and then he slipped away. We''ll freeze here without a purpose."

    Marcus looked up, his eyes hollow. He shook his head slowly, as if trying to dispel the weight of their situation. His voice was soft, almost a whisper, but it carried a heavy sense of despair.

    **Marcus:** "I don''t know anymore. It seems we made a big mistake coming to this island, Karl."

    Karl snorted, his anger flaring again. He gestured wildly at the frozen landscape around them, his voice rising with each word.

    **Karl:** "Yes, it''s cold and full of bears. It''s a frozen hell."

    Marcus shook his head again, his gaze fixed on the fire. His voice was calm, but there was an undercurrent of dread that sent a chill down Karl''s spine.

    **Marcus:** "Not just that, believe me. This island is cursed. It has a terrifying aura."

    Karl stared at him, his anger momentarily replaced by unease. He crossed his arms over his chest, as if to shield himself from the cold¡ªor perhaps from Marcus''s words.

    **Karl:** "I feel uneasy and a bit worried that you might lose your mind."

    Marcus looked up at him, his eyes searching Karl''s face. There was a moment of silence, broken only by the crackling of the fire. Then Marcus spoke, his voice low and measured.

    **Marcus:** "All this time, you haven''t contacted your family at all. Are there problems with your new wife?"

    Karl''s expression darkened, and he looked away. His voice was gruff, but there was a hint of vulnerability that he couldn''t quite hide.

    **Karl:** "Just marital issues, don''t worry."

    Marcus nodded, though his eyes remained fixed on Karl. There was something unspoken between them, a tension that neither of them dared to address.

    **Marcus:** "Oh, good."

    As Karl walked away, his boots crunching against the frozen ground, Officer Barin approached. He was a tall, broad-shouldered man with a face that seemed perpetually etched with a smirk. He clapped Karl on the shoulder, his voice tinged with amusement.

    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    **Barin:** "Why did you ask him such a personal question at this critical time? Hahaha."

    Karl shrugged, his expression grim. He glanced back at Marcus, who was still sitting by the fire, lost in his thoughts.

    **Karl:** "A tragic incident happened to Detective Karl with his ex-wife, so I''m just worried about him..."

    Barin''s smirk faded, and he nodded slowly. There was a moment of silence between them, broken only by the distant howling of the wind. Then Barin turned and walked back to the campfire, leaving Karl alone with his thoughts.

    When darkness fell, they lit the campfire, its flames casting flickering shadows on the frozen ground. The aurora borealis danced in the sky above, its ethereal light painting the landscape in hues of green and blue. It was a breathtaking sight, but one that did little to ease the tension in the camp. Everyone was asleep, their breaths visible in the cold air, their faces pale and drawn. In a slightly distant spot, Barin was on guard duty, his eyes scanning the darkness for any sign of movement.

    During his watch, he saw the black shadow of a person walking near them. The figure was indistinct, a mere silhouette against the frozen landscape, but it moved with a purpose that sent a chill down Barin''s spine. He shouted, his voice sharp and commanding.

    **Barin:** "Hey, you! Stop!"

    The figure didn''t respond, and Barin wasn''t sure if what he saw was real or a trick of the light. But he couldn''t take the risk. He grabbed his rifle and headed toward the shadow, his heart pounding in his chest. The others were asleep, unaware of the danger that might be lurking just beyond the firelight. Barin''s footsteps were cautious, his breath visible in the cold air as he moved closer to the shadow. It was a decision that might lead to his doom¡ªand that of his comrades.

    Elsewhere, Karl was sleeping on the camping bed, his body tense even in rest. The others were inside the tent, their breaths steady and slow. Karl lay on his back, his eyes fixed on the aurora borealis above. It was a sight he had always loved since he was a child, a reminder of the beauty that still existed in the world. But now, it brought him no comfort. His mind was a whirlwind of memories and nightmares, each one more painful than the last.

    He dreamed of the aurora, its light shimmering and shifting like a living thing. Then, as if drawn by some unseen force, his thoughts turned to his daughter, Angela. Tears welled up in his eyes, the beauty of the scene before him mingling with the pain in his heart. Sleep overtook him, pulling him into a nightmare that felt all too real.

    He dreamed of that catastrophic day, the day that had shattered his life. He had returned from work to find fire trucks and ambulances surrounding his rural house. The air was thick with smoke, the acrid smell of burning wood and ash filling his lungs. His house, once a place of warmth and safety, was now a charred ruin. He walked among the police and paramedics, his eyes filled with shock and disbelief. His wife, Tracy, was there, her face streaked with tears. She turned to him, her voice trembling with grief.

    **Tracy:** "Angela, our little girl, Karl... she was inside, but they couldn''t find her. She disappeared during the fire."

    Karl''s heart stopped, his mind unable to process the words. He screamed, a sound of pure anguish that echoed through the night. The intensity of his scream woke him from the dream, his body drenched in sweat despite the cold. He sat up, panting heavily, his hands trembling as he tried to steady his breathing.

    Then, the old witch Kazia Mason appeared before him, her face twisted into a grotesque smile. Her eyes gleamed with a malevolent light, and her voice was a harsh rasp that sent shivers down his spine. She grabbed him by the shoulder, her grip like iron, and turned her hideous, horrifying face toward him.

    **Kazia:** "But you know very well that this is not what happened, Karl! Hahahahahahahahaha! Aaaaaah!"

    Karl recoiled, his heart pounding in his chest. He stared at her, his voice trembling with fear and anger.

    **Karl:** "Aaaaaah! Who are you, you eerie, ghostly old woman?"

    Kazia''s smile widened, her teeth yellow and jagged. Her voice was a low, menacing whisper that seemed to echo in his mind.

    **Kazia:** "That''s not important. What matters is who you really are, Karl. Can you handle the truth?"

    Before Karl could respond, Kazia took him and plunged him into the icy void. They fell together, the world around them dissolving into darkness. Then, they stopped at the scene after the nightmare. Karl was hugging his wife, patting her back, and speaking to her, trying to calm her down. But before he could utter a word, Kazia, standing beside him, poked Karl and pointed at the Karl in the dream.

    **Kazia:** "Watch it, watch it, watch it close... because he''s coming for the Lie... Watch it, watch it, watch it... he''s got a Forty... Fifty... nine..."

    Then they fell again, witnessing the truth of that day.

    At 8 PM, Karl returned home after a long day spent with his old friends. He had smoked a large amount of cannabis and was shaking and staggering. He went up to his room and found his daughter crying and deeply sad. He told her to leave the room because he wanted to sleep, but she refused and said:

    **Angela:** "Dad, you always come home at night, and you''re never in your right mind. You don''t care about me, and Mom is always fighting with you and leaving. I have no friends at school, and I feel like loneliness is eating me alive. Loneliness hurts, Dad. I''ve started to feel like it''s my demon, haunting me forever. Do you know a cure for how I feel?"

    Karl, still under the influence, tried to comfort her. He reached into his pocket and pulled out what he thought was a gift.

    **Karl:** "Actually, I have a cure for your sadness. Here''s this gift."

    Angela''s eyes lit up, her tears momentarily forgotten. She took the gift, her hands trembling with excitement.

    **Angela:** "What is this, Dad? It looks so beautiful. The wrapping is amazing!"

    Karl smiled, though his eyes were unfocused. He patted her head, his voice slurred but affectionate.

    **Karl:** "It''s the toy gun that looks like a real one, the one you''ve always wanted. Didn''t you always want to be a police officer or a detective like your dad, carrying an old Magnum and fighting crime? Well, this toy gun looks a lot like Sherlock Holmes."

    Angela''s face lit up with joy, and she hugged him tightly.

    **Angela:** "Thank you, Dad. You''re the best dad in the world!"

    Karl hugged her back, his heart swelling with pride. He told her that girls don''t understand him, that she''s a genius, and that there''s no need to like pink, trivial things, and dolls like other girls. Being different is what makes you special.

    **Karl:** "Now, Angela, put your toy in the drawer. Your dad is going downstairs for a bit to get something from the car and will be back. Sleep well, and good luck at school tomorrow."

    He turned off the light after tucking the girl into bed and went downstairs to his car. He was searching for some files, his mind still foggy from the cannabis. After a few minutes of searching, Karl realized that his personal gun was not in his pocket. He began to sober up, his heart pounding with dread as he realized what had happened. He hadn''t bought the gift for his daughter today. Instead, he had placed his real gun in an imaginary box, thinking he had bought it.

    Panic surged through him, and he ran back to the house, screaming, "Angela! Angela!" As he climbed the stairs, he heard a gunshot. He ran faster, his heart pounding in his chest, his mind screaming with terror.

    When he finally reached the room, he saw the painful and harsh scene. His 8-year-old daughter, Angela, had shot herself in the head, the bullet entering through her ear. Karl was shocked by the scene, his mind unable to process what he was seeing. He fell to the ground, crying like a madman, hugging her and kissing her head as blood flowed from her ear. His eyes seemed to pop out of his head from the shock, as if they were in the painting **"Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan on November 16, 1581"** by the Russian artist **Ilya Repin**.

    The shock didn''t stop. He didn''t know what to do. He ran out of the house, screaming, his eyes tearing up as he went downstairs. He knocked over the lamp on the stairs, and it fell onto the carpet, starting a fire. The house began to burn, the flames consuming everything in their path.

    The chapter ends with Karl in the flashback, running out of the house and looking back at the hellish fire behind him. Meanwhile, the real Karl took this moment as a crushing blow, sinking him deep, deep down into the dark, hellish void, accompanied by Kazia''s terrifying laughter that filled the horizons.

    **End of Chapter**

 Garden of Earthly Delights

    Chapter Nineteen

    The Garden of Earthly Delights

    The chapter begins with Karl, who continues to fall, tears streaming from his eyes as he recalls the trauma that has caused him PTSD for years. He thinks about all the pain he has endured. Small black creatures emerge from the void and tell him, "It''s your fault, it''s your fault, it''s your fault," while laughing. The creatures climb onto Karl''s skull and enter his head, their voices and laughter echoing from within: "It''s your fault, it''s your fault, it''s your fault, hahahahahahahahahaha!" Karl screams intensely, grabbing his hair and tearing it out, shouting,

    "Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! It was an accident!" He holds a clump of his hair in his hand, crying, "It was an accident!"

    Old Kazia emerges from the shadows and says, "Ohhh, really, Karl? Was it really an accident? What made you not tell the truth to anyone? Hahahahahahaha!" Then she emerges from the other side and says, "What made you hide the remains of your burned daughter''s body and throw her and the gun into the river? Your wife and the people thought you went in to save her, hahahahahahaha!"

    Then she emerges from above his head and says, "But you put her charred remains in a bag, along with the weapon, and left, saying there was no one there. Were you scared for yourself, you coward?"

    Then she and the small black creatures chant, "Murderer, murderer, murderer, murderer, murderer!"

    She pulls him up with her magical staff and crucifies him on a black cross filled with stars in the dark void, saying, "Let''s see your truth, amigo, and the rest of the crimes you''ve committed, you dog of false justice."

    Then he begins to fall into the dark void.

    ---

    Karl falls into the void. He continues to scream, but his screams find no echo, as if the void itself swallows his voice. His eyes burn from the bloody tears that fall incessantly, and the more he tries to stop them, the more they flow, as if his entire body is vomiting his inner pain. But suddenly, everything stops.

    He is no longer falling. Instead, he finds himself standing in the midst of thick darkness, suspended in nothingness. The air is still, but he feels it piercing his bones like knives. Then, slowly, the scene before him begins to unfold.

    On the horizon, four horses appear. They are not ordinary horses, but ghosts that have emerged from a nightmare. Four riders mount them, their faces skeletal, empty except for darkness. Their cloaks ripple despite the absence of wind, as if made from the shadows of death itself.

    The first rides a white, dead horse, its eyes empty, its body as if it had just emerged from a grave, its fur eroded, as if death had begun to gnaw at it but had not yet finished. Its rider, a creature with hollow eyes, extends a hand toward Karl, whispering incomprehensible words, but Karl feels they are cursing him.

    The second rides a black horse, its body emaciated like burned skin, its breath exhaling like toxic fog. Its rider is cloaked in a torn black robe, his face nothing but a cracked skull, his long fingers pointing at Karl, as if accusing him of an unknown sin.

    The third, the most terrifying, rides a red horse, as if painted in blood, its flesh scattered to reveal its horrifying bones, each step leaving a trail of hellfire. Its rider wears a tattered robe, but the wind reveals a completely burned body beneath, half of its face melted, the other half laughing in a distorted manner.

    The fourth, atop a gray horse caught between life and death, drips with decay, each step burning the ground. Its rider resembles Death itself, covered in a thick black veil revealing nothing but its hands, which hold a massive scythe, as if ready to sever Karl''s soul.

    Karl freezes in place. The four horsemen advance, their steps silent, no sound from anything, as if the entire universe is holding its breath to witness this moment. His heart beats wildly, his mind screams that this is just an illusion, but everything feels real, more real than the world he left behind.

    Then, suddenly, they begin to laugh. An empty laugh, not human, but more like the sound of graves opening. Their voices merge with the void. The first undead says, "Stuck in this place, was just looking for placement." Then the second undead says, "Haven''t you forgotten what this place meant?"

    Then the third says, "Just when I feel safe, then this turned to an escape room. Right when I escape, feel displaced from this place, um. I''ve been displayed, then disgraced, then dismembered." Then the fourth pulls out a strange mirror, showing a repeating video of Karl fleeing the burning house where his daughter died. The fourth undead and his skeletal ghostly horses, along with Kazia and the small void creatures, appear during the video, looking at Karl and laughing simultaneously, saying, "Can''t you remember? It was in November. I was so sad, carried on ''til December. I light this up, then I put on a record. Smoke on these embers, I lie back forever."

    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    Karl collapses to his knees. The air grows heavier, the horsemen advance further, and the horse of death raises its hoof, ready to crush him, but stops at the last moment, as if wanting to prolong Karl''s fear.

    Old Kazia emerges from the darkness, holding her magical staff, then says one word: "FALL." Karl''s soul is ripped from his physical body, and he begins to fall into the void once more.

    Karl falls. The void is no longer just emptiness, but more like tears in time, black walls crumbling around him as if illusions are dissolving, revealing what lies beyond. His eyes bulge, his breath chokes in his throat. Here is the paradise he was promised, the paradise he deserves.

    He opens his eyes to an endless expanse, as if the world itself has split into two parts: mesmerizing beauty and absolute madness. On the horizon, under a deceptive blue sky, green lands stretch out, filled with naked bodies entwined in distorted forms, limbs stretched beyond reason, bodies merging with others, as if flesh itself refuses to remain independent. Their laughter echoes, not laughter of joy, but screams mixed with pleasure and pain, as if they are drunk, lost in an endless ecstasy.

    In the midst of this nightmarish scene, stand massive creatures with indescribable forms: a creature with the head of a tree, but its branches stuffed with human skulls smiling into the void; another with a human body but the head of a giant bird, its beak open as it swallows small humans writhing in its throat, its hands extended, holding a swollen pink fruit dripping with a sticky liquid, while other humans rush to it, licking the dripping juice as if it were the water of life.

    The lakes below are not water, but a strange, moving substance that forms and then returns to stillness. Creatures emerge from it, half-human, half-monster, their bodies melting, yet they continue to laugh, continue to drown in their desires.

    Then, on the other edge, Karl''s true paradise is revealed.

    The Paradise of Torment.

    The sky, which was blue above, begins to burn at the edges, turning into thick blackness mixed with tongues of fire rising from the ground itself. The distant buildings, which appeared as golden palaces, slowly melt, revealing their insides: walls made of living flesh, countless eyes opening and closing, screaming, pleading, while enormous fingers protrude from the walls, grabbing people and shoving them into the openings as if they were worms being returned to their cocoons.

    Massive statues, humans with shattered faces, their mouths open in silent screams, carry cages filled with writhing humans on their heads. In another corner, a creature with bat-like wings but no face holds a stringed instrument, but it does not play; instead, it tightens the strings made of human intestines, each note releasing a new scream.

    Karl falls into this madness.

    His hands tremble, his eyes refuse to comprehend the scene, but everything is real. This is not a hallucination. This is not just a nightmare.

    This is the paradise he deserves.

    And Kazia stands above, looking down at him, smiling. Then she says mockingly:

    "Didn''t I tell you you''d go to paradise? Only... this is the only paradise the entire human race deserves, Karl. Not just you, but all the billions of humans existing now and those who came before. This is the only place you deserve." Karl begins to scream at the top of his lungs, so intensely that some of his vocal cords snap as he shouts, "Nooooooooo!" at the top of his voice. Then Karl wakes up from this nightmare to find all the officers who were sleeping around him have disappeared The strange thing is that we can hear Kaziya''s old laughter in the background so clearly that even Karl heard it and was shocked. ...

    A few hours before Karl''s terrifying nightmare, precisely at midnight at the camp''s watch post, Barin had taken his rifle and decided to follow the shadow he had seen. He walked into the darkness where there was no light except for the faint glow of the moon. The storm was intense, and he struggled to walk. After an hour of following the tracks that had piqued his curiosity and made him more determined to catch the shadow, the tracks were strange. One set belonged to a wolf, and the other, attached to it, belonged to a goat, as if this wolf had two legs, one normal and the other just... weird. The other tracks were filled with blood and had a strange shape, unlike any earthly creature Barin knew. The tracks stopped at a massive fiery smoke behind the trees. There was another camp there.

    Barin was surprised, as he was certain there were no other soldiers here besides them. He was sure this was the camp of the killer Gabriel. He went to investigate, hiding behind a massive rock about nine and a half meters away from that hellish camp. At first, he couldn''t believe what he saw, to the point where he began to sweat. Those in the camp were sitting and chatting, but they were not human¡ªthey were monsters. The first had the head of a wolf, resembling a werewolf, a white-furred werewolf with the horns of a bull, one leg like a goat''s, and massive bat wings, with teeth like those of the extinct Smilodon. The other was a terrifying amphibian, like a black devil fish, but with a humanoid amphibious body. The amphibian smelled Barin''s scent. Barin felt fear as the amphibian approached him.

    He screamed loudly, but it was his last scream. The amphibian ate his head in a grotesque and bloody scene, then ate his right hand, and vomited his brain. The wolf then ate poor Barin''s brain. The amphibian said, "This will be a sacrifice to my god, the master of the whales, Cthulhuuuuuu!" Then the terrifying werewolf stole the corpse and flew away with it, saying, "You''re dreaming, you fool. This will be a sacrifice to my god, the master of all wolves, the great cosmic entity, Nyctwrath!" Then the amphibian sprouted crow wings from its body and flew toward the werewolf, saying, "In your wildest dreams, Absaloth, don''t forget we''re here primarily to learn Zolish''s plan to summon the master of demons under the orders of my lord Cthulhuuuuuu! Hey, are you listening to me?" Then the two of them disappeared into the void, those metaphysical monsters.

    In a distant place, yet on the same cursed island, in the forest of witches known as the Twilight Time Forest, Zolish stood atop a mountain within the forest, eating human hands as if they were popcorn. Below, Gabriel was practicing the use of magic. Suddenly, Zolish leaped down from above and said to him, "That''s enough, Gabriel. Let''s go to the battlefield of the Demon Lord." Gabriel replied, "But what about me? You''ve only taught me two spells: one that lets me replace oxygen and another that allows me to fly." Zolish retorted, "You have no meaning, boy. Your existence merely amuses me. I am deranged. Look, they have sent investigators to this island for me. We must go." Gabriel asked, "But where to?" Zolish answered, "To the Sick Temple, the only place I wish to go is my grave." Zolish then declared, "We are going to the sky," and uttered a single word, "Zemlithob." Instantly, they found themselves transported far into space, away from their solar system.

    The place they arrived at was vast, filled with colorful planets¡ªone green, another dark red, a third pink, and a fourth black. There were also numerous moons, stars, and nebulae. Suddenly, the dark red planet in front of them exploded, and from behind it emerged Arcanta, followed by the enormous sun of this system, which was completely swallowed by the cosmic whale, Cthulhuoooooth. Gabriel and Zolish were trapped.

    Arcanta smiled, tilted her head to the right, and said, "It seems the battle you''ve always dreamed of has come, brother." Arcanta and Zolish extended their hands and simultaneously said, "Black hole," causing a giant black hole to emerge from their hands. The two black holes began to try to swallow each other. Due to the immense power of these black holes, everything around them, including the chapter, was swallowed, and thus it ends here.

    End of Chapter

 The Death Valley

    Chapter 20

    The chapter begins with Officer Marcus, Karl''s colleague, who is found completely unconscious among the sand dunes in the desert region of the island. Suddenly, he wakes up, gasping for breath, shocked, and muttering to himself, "It was a nightmare... It was a nightmare..." Marcus gathers his thoughts and stands on his feet to survey the barren desert around him.

    The desert Marcus found himself in was not just a barren wasteland¡ªit was a living nightmare, a place that seemed to embody death itself.

    The sand was not golden or white like in ordinary deserts, but a pale ash color, as if it were the crushed remains of thousands of souls who had perished here. There was no breeze to alleviate the oppressive heat, only stagnant air carrying a strange odor¡ªa mix of burnt flesh and rotting blood as if the earth itself had swallowed countless corpses and refused to forget them.

    On the horizon, there were no smooth dunes, but hills of black sand emitting dark fumes that twisted in the air like lost souls trying to scream but without a voice. Every step Marcus took produced a strange cracking sound as if the sand was made of shattered bones.

    But the worst was not on the ground¡ªit was in the sky. There were three black pyramids, glowing, with one bearing a cross, another a Star of David, and the third, the largest, adorned with the face of the Egyptian god Anubis, holding a golden scepter. The face was lifeless, with blood-red tears streaming down its cheeks, its eyes glowing green, and a sinister smile revealing sharp, blackened teeth. The sky above was filled with black cracks, shattering reality like broken glass, and from within, something massive and featureless moved, making the air heavy, as if this place was haunted by an incomprehensible entity.

    In some places, pools of black water boiled slowly, while others were filled with red blood, releasing large bubbles that burst and emitted confused whispers, as if someone was calling his name in his mind, urging him to come closer...

    But the most terrifying part? The desert was not as still as it seemed. Every time Marcus turned his head, he saw shadows moving at the edge of his vision, but they disappeared the moment he tried to focus on them. There was something here. Or perhaps, things. Watching him. Waiting for the right moment...

    This was not just a desert... This was the land of death, a place from which no one returns, where souls vanish and are forgotten forever.

    Marcus, in shock, wondered, "What in the name of Christ is this? Am I dead? Have I gone to hell? Or what?"

    The skulls of horses and cows, scattered around, suddenly came to life and flew into the sky. Green liquid dripped from them, and there were about seven skulls. They flew toward Marcus, terrifying him so much that he fell to the ground in fear.

    Marcus, overcome with fear, stammered, "Wh-what... what is happening?"

    The skulls spoke:

    "Follow us if you wish to see your salvation."

    Marcus: "What nonsense is this? Am I hallucinating like Karl now, or is this another dream?"

    Marcus began to walk behind the skulls, not knowing why. "As those repulsive animal skulls flew ahead of him, Marcus felt his steps moving on their own... as if something stronger than his will was forcing him to follow." It was as if a black hole was pulling him toward his inevitable fate. They continued walking through the sand dunes until night fell, and the blood-red moon rose. The place became even darker at night. Skeletal wolves filled the area, running, howling, and chasing their prey¡ªjerboas, owls, and other desert creatures. The wolves even attacked a herd of camels passing by Marcus, savagely devouring them, tearing off their heads and legs, and eating some of them alive. The food fell into their ghostly stomachs.

    Those hellish wolves, straight from the depths of hell itself, continued to haunt the scene. Marcus kept walking behind the skulls until he collapsed before the pyramid marked with a crimson red cross.

    When Marcus crossed the threshold into the pyramid, he felt as if he had entered another dimension, where time itself had disintegrated, and everything around him pulsed with latent terror, as if a nightmare had come to life. The air inside was thick, heavy, and saturated with the smell of mold mixed with ancient incense as if it had been trapped here for thousands of years, waiting for new prey to seep into their lungs.

    The walls were not just silent stones¡ªthey throbbed like living skin, carved with ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, but something was wrong... The carvings were inverted, broken, and distorted as if they were a reflection of a sick reality, mixed with Christian symbols carved strangely as if trying to impose their presence in a place they did not belong. In some places, the Christian symbols were intertwined with Egyptian carvings¡ªthe cross surrounded by the Eye of Horus, or the sacred serpent coiled around it, as if two opposing beliefs had merged in forbidden rituals.

    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

    The deeper Marcus ventured, the more he began to hear faint sounds, whispers coming from everywhere as if the pyramid itself was whispering things he should not know. Suddenly, he stood before a massive chamber, illuminated by a deep red light, as if it were drenched in congealed blood.

    In the center of the room stood a massive stone coffin, but it was not lying on the ground like typical Egyptian sarcophagi¡ªit was standing upright, as if the mummy inside was not lying in death, but standing, waiting...

    On the surface of the coffin, there was a strange engraving¡ªa name written in hieroglyphs, but it was distorted, mixed with Latin letters. The name was: "Amonet"... But it was not the only name. Beneath it, there was writing in a language Marcus did not recognize, but his eyes read it against his will as if the meaning had crawled into his mind without his consent:

    "She is the virgin, and she is not the virgin... She who carried light into darkness, and she who brought darkness into light."

    Marcus, despite his fear, could not stop himself from approaching... Slowly, he reached out and touched the coffin... And at that moment, the walls began to bleed. Yes, blood seeped from the cracks, staining the ancient symbols, transforming them into something else¡ªsomething more savage, more profane...

    Suddenly, the coffin opened with a sound resembling the scream of the dead, and a hand emerged... But it was not just a mummy''s hand... It was a smooth, white hand, as pale as ash, holding an ancient, worn-out holy book... The hand trembled, then moved, slowly descending...

    And then, Marcus saw her face...

    She was not a mummy... She was a woman... Or at least, she took the form of a woman... Her features resembled the Virgin Mary, but her eyes were not human... They were two black pits, bottomless, staring at him as if they could see directly into his soul...

    Then, for the first time since he entered this place, Amonet spoke:

    "You thought it was a nightmare, didn''t you, Marcus?"

    Marcus, trembling: "Isn''t it?"

    Amonet: "You must delve into the darkness to understand the cause of the nightmare, Marcus."

    The sandy floor of the pyramid dissolved into a void of hallucinations, and Marcus began to fall, along with Amonet. The fall was unraveling his mind. Images of Egyptian cats and dogs appeared, chanting, "Remember, remember, remember, remember..."

    As Marcus screamed in terror, he was dragged into his deepest, darkest, and most sorrowful memories. A memory surfaced¡ªMarcus in the infamous Mushroom Cloud War that had occurred nine years before the events of the story. It was rumored that this war had reopened the gates of magic in the world, which had been sealed since the abandonment of the ancient witches'' house, Erkantha.

    In the memory, Marcus was in military service, carrying a rifle and running after a toxic smoke bomb had exploded in the area. He was running in fear across the battlefield when he tripped¡ªhe tripped over the hand of a 4-year-old Egyptian girl. She had grabbed his leg. A large part of a building had collapsed on her legs, and she pleaded with Marcus, "Please, please help me. I don''t want to die. I don''t want to suffer." Marcus said to her, "I''m sorry," and then shot her directly in the head...

    Marcus, witnessing this: "No, this didn''t happen. This was just part of the war. I''m sure it was just hallucinations from all the blood I lost."

    Queen Amonet looked at him with disdain and disgust as he wandered through the void like a madman, tense, running, screaming, and crying tears of blood, saying, "This isn''t real." Then, the girl''s corpse appeared, crawling toward him with a hole in her head, saying:

    "Please, don''t make me think of it''s

    Like a game with a defense

    Defense, defense..."

    As she said these words, black fire appeared above her face, repeating flashbacks of what had happened. Her eyes began to transform, emitting green fire.

    "You talk to me dirty

    I''m talking back like a reflex

    I''m talkin'' back like a-, like a reflex-, talkin'' talking

    I''m talking talkin'' back talkin'' talkin'' back..."

    As she said these words, the void began to spin, and she spun with it until her face transformed into a skeletal structure, then grew skin, turning into the face of an old, ghostly witch. It was Kazia Mysien, the ancient witch.

    Kazia and Amonet grabbed him by the hand simultaneously and said, "She is the one who wants to come with us on a journey to discover the meaning of life, Marcus." They began to dive into the void once again, just as we always do at night after midnight when we are alone and all the disturbing lights, including the sunlight, fade away.

    Marcus continued to fall, a fall that wasn''t just into the void but a collapse into the very fabric of reality itself. He didn''t know how much time had passed, but suddenly, he found himself standing in the middle of a scene that shouldn''t have been real, yet it was.

    He was surrounded by a surreal painting as if it had been conjured from the mind of an eternal being who didn''t understand human logic. In front of him was a dragon snake, its body coiled around a mysterious circle, its head biting its tail in an eternal cycle. This wasn''t just a drawing; it was a living entity, its breath audible, its eyes watching Marcus with a strange intelligence. Ancient Greek letters carved beside it whispered things he couldn''t understand, yet they embedded themselves in his mind as absolute truths. At the center of the circle was a six-pointed star, inside it the symbol of an eye¡ªa human eye, pulsating with life, staring directly into his soul, seeing him, judging him, condemning him.

    Beneath the dragon stood two opposing entities. On the left, a demon with torn wings, its skin burned, holding a cup emitting thick black smoke, as if offering Marcus a poisoned drink or perhaps a secret that should never be revealed. On the right, a man in an ancient robe raised his hands as if in a sacred ritual, but he wasn''t entirely human. His features were blurry as if his face hadn''t yet decided what form to take. Between them, a magical circle was inscribed with unearthly letters, its lines twisting like the veins of a living creature, intertwining around mysterious symbols.

    The ground beneath his feet wasn''t solid; it pulsed like dead skin, slowly writhing under his steps. Above, the sun smiled at him, but its smile wasn''t warm¡ªit was cracked, mocking, distorted. Its eyes were like black holes sucking in his soul every time he looked at them. On the other side, a moon split in half bled cold light, as if the night itself was dying.

    Then, out of nowhere, a sound that wasn''t a sound echoed¡ªa thought that crawled into his head without permission:

    "Omnia Unis Est."

    Everything is one. Everything is connected. Everything is infinite.

    Marcus wasn''t just falling into the void. He was falling into the truth itself.

    End of chapter

 Guilty conscience

    Chapter 21

    Then, these creatures took him to a watery lake to reveal his past after the global Mushroom War. Marcus returned home and didn''t speak to me for months and weeks.

    Marcus sat in his small apartment, his eyes fixed on the cracked wall in front of him. The sounds from the street seemed distant as if they were coming from another world. All he could hear was the echo in his head¡ªthe screams, the explosions, the gunshots that pierced the darkness like the fangs of a hungry beast.

    He had returned home after the Mushroom War, but he was not the same man who had left. There was no celebration, no warm embrace, no tears of joy. Only a heavy silence and a woman who had once been his wife, looking at him as if he were a strange ghost.

    Elena had waited for him, her eyes filled with a mix of love and worry. But the man who returned to her was not the man she had said goodbye to. His body was present, but his soul remained on the battlefield, buried under the rubble with the bodies that were never buried.

    At first, Elena tried to help him. She cooked his favorite meals and sat beside him for hours, whispering words of comfort, but he wasn''t there to listen. He was sitting in the same room, but his mind was trapped in other places¡ªin that dark alley where he had killed the first man, in that burning building where his friend had fallen, on that night when he had seen something he should never have seen.

    "Marcus, please..." Elena murmured one night, her hand trembling as she held his. "I''m here. I''m with you. Just talk to me."

    But Marcus said nothing. He just looked at her with dead eyes. That was the moment she realized that the man she had loved was gone.

    Anger began to fill her, her frustration turning into a flame that burned away her patience.

    "Do you even care about me?!" she screamed, tears glistening in her eyes. "Or do you prefer to stay trapped in that hell?! I''m here, Marcus! Here! But you don''t even see me!"

    Marcus didn''t move, didn''t even blink.

    At that moment, something inside her broke. She grabbed the plate of food she had placed in front of him and threw it against the wall, the shattered pieces scattering across the floor, trying to make him feel something¡ªanything.

    But Marcus just kept staring into the void.

    That night, he slept alone on the couch, while Elena slept in the bedroom, the door closed between them. In the morning, he woke up to find her gone, leaving behind a short note:

    "I can''t live with a ghost."

    He should have felt something. He should have grieved, raged, screamed. But he just sat there, staring at the words, unable to even understand them.

    Because Marcus wasn''t alive. He had died in the Mushroom War. What had returned home was just a body moving out of habit, a shadow stuck in a war that never ended.

    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

    On the desolate, icy side of the island, Detective Karl awoke to a world of white. The storm had passed, leaving behind a frozen wasteland. The camp was abandoned, the tents buried beneath layers of snow. His colleagues were gone, their footprints erased by the merciless winds.

    Karl''s breath quivered as he trudged through the snow, his heart hammering in his chest. The silence was suffocating, broken only by the crunch of his boots against the ice. He called out for his team, but his voice was swallowed by the endless void.

    Then he saw it¡ªa dark shape in the snow. As he approached, his stomach twisted violently. The body belonged to his closest friend, Barren. His head and hands were missing, his corpse frozen in a grotesque pose.

    Karl collapsed to his knees, his hands trembling as he reached out toward the lifeless form.

    "No¡­ no, no, no," he muttered, his voice cracked and hollow. "This can''t be real. This can''t be happening."

    But it was real. The blood surrounding Barren''s body had frozen into a crimson pool, a stark and sickening contrast against the pristine snow. Karl''s mind spiraled into panic. Who¡ªor what¡ªcould have done this?

    He forced himself to stand, his legs barely holding his weight. He had to keep moving. He had to find answers.

    With each step, more bodies surfaced¡ªhis colleagues, their faces contorted in unimaginable horror, their bodies defiled beyond recognition. The snow was stained with blood, forming a sinister trail leading into the depths of the wilderness.

    Karl followed it, his heartbeat a deafening drum in his ears, until he arrived at a colossal cave, its entrance shrouded in impenetrable darkness. The snow around it was littered with human remains¡ªhands, feet, and other severed body parts, frozen and discarded like rotting meat.

    His breath hitched as he stepped inside, his flashlight casting jittery beams on the cavern walls.

    The cave was vast, its walls inscribed with strange symbols and alien carvings. The air was thick with the stench of decay and something far, far older. Karl''s footsteps echoed ominously, swallowed by the abyss.

    Then he saw them¡ªtwo enormous, glowing red eyes, staring at him from the void. They radiated malice, a malevolent intelligence beyond human comprehension. A low, guttural growl reverberated through the cave, slithering into Karl''s bones like a creeping frost.

    The entity slithered into the light, its form monstrous, inhuman. Its mouth overflowed with rows of jagged, rotting teeth, its twisted smile a mockery of joy.

    Karl froze, his mind shrieking at him to run, yet his body refused to obey.

    Then the creature lunged, its claws raking through the air. Karl barely managed to dodge, instinct snapping him into motion. He turned and fled, his pulse a deafening roar in his skull. The creature''s laughter followed him¡ªan otherworldly cackle that would haunt his nightmares until the end of his days.

    ---

    In a distant realm of the universe, where the boundaries between worlds blurred and twisted, a battle beyond mortal understanding raged.

    Zolish, the ancient entity of chaos, clashed with Erkantha, the primordial witch. Their powers shook the very fabric of reality, their voices echoing through the cosmic void.

    Gabriel stood in the shadows, his eyes burning with an unyielding resolve. He had seen enough. There was no time left for hesitation.

    He stepped into the battlefield, his presence a blinding rupture in the darkness.

    "Enough!" Gabriel''s voice boomed, reverberating with an unnatural force. "This ends now!"

    Zolish and Erkantha turned to him, their glowing eyes brimming with fury.

    "You dare interfere, mortal?" Erkantha whispered, her voice a thousand overlapping murmurs, dripping with ancient malice.

    Gabriel stood firm. "This isn''t about power or dominion," he said, his tone sharp as a blade. "This is about everything, Erkantha. If we don''t unite, the Shadow Demon will consume us all. You think you have control, but you''re nothing more than his pawns.

    "I''ve looked into your eyes¡ªyou''re too intelligent to be fooled by his empty promises. Do you really believe he''ll give you dominion over four galaxies? You are siblings! You must refuse to live as slaves to that wretched being."

    Erkantha let out a cold, mirthless laugh, her form writhing and distorting. "You talk too much, but you understand nothing of our struggle¡­ or what you mortals so naively call mythology."

    Gabriel''s stare hardened. "I understand enough to see that your war is meaningless. The Shadow Demon thrives on your conflict. If this continues, you''ll soon realize that nothing you''re fighting for has any meaning at all."

    For a moment, silence engulfed the battlefield. Zolish and Erkantha exchanged glances, their deep-seated enmity wavering. Gabriel''s words had struck something within them.

    "¡­Very well," Zolish murmured, his voice dripping with venomous reluctance. "We will join forces¡ªfor now."

    Erkantha''s expression darkened. "In the end, I will not let the Lord of Demons, Dimovus Tempest, deceive you and kill you so easily, you foolish brother."

    She turned, whispering into the void. "Cthulhuoooth, hide within the shadows of his domain. Lurk in his universe and lend him your strength."

    A voice, ancient and monstrous, slithered from the abyss.

    Cthulhuoooth: "So be it, sister."

    Gabriel gave a firm nod, his conviction unshaken. "Then let''s finish this."

    As Marcus sank into his abyss of despair, Karl fought to survive the frozen horrors, and Gabriel gathered the cosmic forces, the very island trembled. The barriers between worlds were collapsing, and the Shadow Demon''s dominion grew stronger with each passing moment.

    Yet, amidst the chaos, there was a glimmer of hope¡ªa fragile, fleeting chance that might be enough to turn the tide.

    And so, they set forth¡ªtoward the fortress of the Demon Lord himself.

    End of the Chapter.

 The Unnamable

    Chapter 22

    The Unnamable

    The chapter begins with Gabriel, who was swimming in the universe he had always feared.

    The universe he had always believed represented nothingness and meaninglessness.

    Even as he swam through it now, he was still afraid and felt like a tiny speck compared to the comets, stars, planets, sun, and destructive moon around him. Because of these strange creatures whose sizes were immense and could change at any moment, he felt like an insignificant part of something much larger than himself¡ªa part of the vast universe and the harsh world where dreams do not come true, only nightmares. He was just a part of the herd, even though he claimed intelligence and awareness. He was still one of the foolish humans who do not grasp the truth and live in a small box represented by their family, food, drink, and material success.

    This insignificant box, outside of which lies the vast world with its various things, and outside the world''s box lies the solar system, and outside the solar system''s box lies a larger box containing numerous solar systems called a galaxy, and outside the galaxy''s box lies an even larger box containing many galaxies called the universe, and outside the universe''s box lies an even larger box containing a collection of infinite universes. Outside this massive box, humans believe there is a merciful God who makes their lives free of misery, sadness, blood, and pain, as long as they worship Him. But I wonder, how many beings in this universe have asked for worship in exchange for happiness other than God? You will never find the correct number.

    While some humans, like Gabriel, carried a massive box inside their skulls the size of the universe, most humans carried a very small box that focused only on eating, drinking, fulfilling desires, and obeying those who control them like puppets. The massive box in the minds of geniuses caused them loneliness, emptiness, and sadness, perhaps because they realized that the puppets around them do not see the strings controlling them, or perhaps because they realized that cutting the strings is impossible, or perhaps because they faced the truth that everything¡ªand I mean everything¡ªhas no meaning. But would you believe me, folks, if I told you this is what was going through Gabriel''s mind at that moment?

    Zolish asked him:

    "After your investigation of all the truths on that island, did you find out the name of the dimension where the Lord of Demons is imprisoned?"

    Gabriel, distracted: "No, what is it?"

    Zolish: "The Unnamable."

    Gabriel: "Thanks for the relief."

    Ercantha: "Hey, human."

    Gabriel: "Yes?"

    Ercantha: "I heard that your kind has wiped out their existence by creating mechanical vehicles that move at the speed of light in space. In reality, that is the slowest speed in space. Many alien races have invented vehicles that move much faster than light and have been using dark energy from space for centuries. What I''m telling you now is the past of alien civilizations. I can''t believe you still inhabit that blue planet, primitive and ignorant. Perhaps the only thing that distinguishes you from aliens is your disgusting thirst for blood."

    Zolish: "Actually, Gabriel, we entities walk through space at infinite, immeasurable speeds. But thanks to the magic I taught you, you are now moving through space at a speed of one hundred million light-years per second."

    Cthuluhuhuth: "Hahahahaha! My sister, I heard they believe that moving at the slow speed of light will allow them to travel through time, alter the fabric of spacetime, and control time. Imagine, they discovered this slow speed and thought they could become gods. What trivial, ignorant, and arrogant creatures! Hahahaha!"

    All the entities began to laugh¡ªa hysterical, terrifying, and horrifying laughter. Their laughter shook space itself and terrified Gabriel''s heart. He stood there stunned, drool dripping from his mouth as he said, "Huh?" They were about to faint from the intensity of their hysterical laughter, but it was truly terrifying laughter, not amusing. It made Gabriel sweat, unsure if the heat came from the shock or the fear, even though Zolish had placed a shield on him to protect him from the heat. He was still sweating.

    Ercantha: "We are approaching the dimension of the Lord of Demons. Perhaps if we fail to reach an agreement with him, we can tell him to eat Earth as a sacrifice. Hahahaha!"

    Zolish: "Enough bullying the boy. Let''s continue walking."

    After days of traveling with these terrifying entities through the universe, which is the essence of horror and fear, the dangers they faced on the journey were almost non-existent. It was as if the comets, planets, and meteors had consciousness and were terrified of the cosmic entities. No living or dead creature dared to obstruct them. After days of flying through the infinite void, they finally reached The Unnamable.

    Zolish said: "Finally, it''s the dimension of the Lord of Demons, Demofi Tempest. Shall we begin opening the gate to his kingdom?"

    Gabriel: "What gate? It''s just a void and an expanse filled with stars."

    Zolish: "You''ll see, boy. Ercantha, will you do it, or shall I?"

    Ercantha: "Leave it to me."

    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

    Ercantha raised her hands, and her voice echoed through the cosmic void as if coming from distant worlds.

    "?????? ??????? ??????????

    ???? ?????? ??????

    ?????? ???? ????? ????????!

    ???? ????? ??????????

    ??????? ???????? ???????!"

    As the final words were spoken, the void began to tear, and the massive gate slowly appeared as if born from nothingness. The stars within it moved unnaturally, and the darkness surrounding it was not merely the absence of light but a malevolent presence watching.

    The darkness gathered to form a massive gate filled with stars and darkness. On its handle was an inverted black cross, engraved with the name "The Real Overlord," pulsating with a terrifying purple glow.

    "Now, mortal, I will wrap your hands with half of the mana, but my advice is to act quickly before they cut your hands off when these fools chant the incantation with me."

    Gabriel pulled his hands away at the last moment.

    Zolish, Ercantha, and Cthuluhuhuth raised their hands toward the key, and the dimensions of space around them shook as they chanted the incantation in a voice that rattled the universe itself.

    "?????? ???????? ?????????

    ????????? ??????? ???????

    ????? ?????? ???????

    ???????? ???????? ??????

    ?????? ???????? ??????? ?????!"

    As the words ended, the key ignited with a mad glow, and the gate of The Unnamable began to tremble as if reality itself was collapsing under the weight of the summoned forces. Green energy serpents coiled around the gate, red skulls exploded within it, and black energy spread like endless darkness, swallowing everything around it.

    As the final words were spoken, the gate shook violently, as if a force beyond imagination was trying to tear space itself apart. The surrounding stars began to collapse into small black points, consumed by an invisible vortex. The void itself seemed to scream in a voice incomprehensible to humans, but Gabriel felt it deep in his soul, as if reality itself was being torn apart.

    Suddenly, the inverted black handle flashed with an ominous purple light before the gate exploded with a force beyond anything Gabriel had ever witnessed. A wave of dark black energy swept through space, tearing apart everything in its path. The void around the gate began to crack as if the universe itself was being shattered. Mysterious circles of incomprehensible symbols appeared around the edges of the open gate, glowing in a deep blue hue, while the inside of the gate began to reveal something incomprehensible¡ªanother world, twisted dimensions, and a malevolent aura seeping through the gap between universes.

    Cthuluhuhuth (laughing in a voice resembling the collapse of worlds): "Hahahaha! We''ve opened the way... Let''s see if the Lord of Demons is in a good mood today!"

    Here, there was no sky, only an inverted abyss stretching into infinity, with a faint purple light floating like the dying gasps of a star, while black pillars twisted like rotting veins within the skin of the universe itself, pulsating with muffled screams.

    Gabriel in a faint voice, staring into the endless black void before him, where distorted cosmic lights danced within the gate "This isn''t just another dimension... This is something... that should not exist."

    The shadows within the gate moved as if aware of the intruders, and something inside began to awaken...

    Inside the gate, Hell itself awaited them.

    When Gabriel crossed the threshold, he felt as if he had completely left the laws of natural existence. This was not just another dimension but a negation of everything that could be called reality. Here, there was no sky, only an inverted abyss stretching into infinity, with a faint purple light floating like the dying gasps of a star, while black pillars twisted like rotting veins within the skin of the universe itself, pulsating with muffled screams.

    The ground? There was no ground. Walking here felt like treading on the skin of an ancient entity, a surface that pulsed and contracted as if breathing. It was not entirely solid, but not liquid either¡ªsomething in between, filled with cracks that bled red light, as if this place was wounded by its own existence. Every step Gabriel took made a sound like tearing flesh as if the place was alive and aware of everyone who treads upon it.

    And in the midst of this cursed ruin rose the castle of the Lord of Demons.

    It was not just a fortress but a nightmare embodied in stone and metal. Its black towers rose like the fangs of a terrifying beast trying to tear apart the void itself, while its walls were carved with lost faces, souls petrified in screams of terror, their eyes moving slowly, watching everyone who approached. Its gate was not a door but a massive stone mouth, with sharp fangs hanging from its ceiling, dripping a black liquid like demonic saliva.

    The air here was not air. It was a mixture of inhuman whispers, distorted screams, as if space itself was weeping over the existence of this kingdom. The wind, if it could be called that, passed over Gabriel like cold fingers probing his skin, searching for something within him.

    The sky was raining... but not rain. Black tears fell slowly, and when they touched Gabriel''s skin, he felt a burning sensation, as if they were not just liquid but tortured, burned memories clinging to his soul before his body.

    On the horizon, along the path leading to the castle, there were massive stone obelisks, each bearing a body nailed with meters-long spikes, distorted unnaturally as if those on them had been tortured until they became a mix of human and shadow. Some were still moving, screaming without sound, trapped between life and death, while long shadows extended from their bodies, coiling around the obelisks as if trying to free them or torture them further.

    And above all this, there was something in the heights, suspended in the voidsomething that could not be seen clearly, but Gabriel felt it. Something massive, watching in silence, as if it was the mastermind behind all this ruin, or perhaps... the void itself was its eye

    A large group of strange and ominous creatures, belonging to my master, the Lord of Demons, flew toward them. One of them raised its hands and said:

    "Gamma Radiation Burst."

    Then, it unleashed a massive explosion from its hand. It didn''t affect the entities, of course, but it was meant to completely erase Gabriel.

    At that moment, Gabriel woke up, gasping for breath, drenched in sweat, his heart pounding as if it would leap out of his chest. He was in the old witches'' house on that cursed island he had returned to¡ªor perhaps he had never left it in the first place...

    At that very moment, Karl burst through the door, also sweating and terrified, muttering to himself:

    Ugh... ah... ah... finally, I escaped from that strange, insane monster. It was madness! It looked like some kind of yati but even more terrifying. It had deer antlers, a female chest, and a second face on its shoulder, like an alien from the movies. It had 12 feet, each covered in carvings that looked like stars."

    Gabriel: "I don''t know who you are, but it seems like this is your first time.

    Karl: "Huh? This cabin was empty when I entered."

    Gabriel: "I know."

    Suddenly, the floor of the witches'' house beneath them turned into a dark void, and they fell together into it. Their screams were louder than anything a human could produce¡ªa deafening fall.

    A fall with no end...

    There was no ground beneath their feet. Only an endless, dark void, swallowing everything, even their screams.

    The air twisted around their bodies like a storm of black vortices, pressing against their chests, making breathing a nightmare in itself. They felt as though they were falling through a shattered reality, layers of time and space collapsing around them like broken glass, reflecting distorted images of things that should never have been seen.

    Then, suddenly, their bodies hit something... or rather, something *alive*.

    The ground wasn''t ground it was an entity in itself. A living surface, breathing, undulating, writhing beneath them as if they had fallen onto the body of a giant, slumbering creature.

    When they lifted their heads, horrors manifested before their eyes.

    Gabriel saw it first, before his eyes could fully comprehend it. Two female figures, but they were far from human.

    The first was a heap of torn limbs, twisting around itself, overlapping as if the body couldn''t settle on a single form. It had no clear face, just a dense white fog surrounding its head as if it were veiled from human perception. Every movement of its body was unnatural as if reality itself couldn''t settle in a fixed way for it to exist. It stretched, bent, broke, and reformed in a continuous cycle of distortion and regeneration.

    The other entity was more defined, but no less horrifying.

    A female body floated in the void, distorted as if something had torn it apart and reshaped it incompletely. Her long white hair flowed around her as if moving through water, even though the air was completely still. Her features were there, but they weren''t stable¡ªthey shifted, faded, and returned as if the eyes of those looking at her couldn''t fully grasp her true form.

    But the real horror wasn''t in their appearance

    it was in their presence

    Then, a voice emerged from the two giantesses and said:

    You were the cause of our death."

    Karl and Gabriel, in unison, with looks of confusion and fear on their faces:

    "haaaaa???

    Then, just as the scene had appeared, it shattered.

    Everything collapsed. The light, the void, the sounds, even their sense of their own bodies.

    And they fell again... into something even more terrifying.

    At least now, they weren''t falling alone in the void. The feeling they had was...   unnamable

    End of Chapter

 Curse of geniuses

    Chapter 23

    The chapter begins with Carl and Gabriel¡ªthe detective and the criminal. If we view things from Carl''s perspective, the detective, the serial killer, and the victim¡ªthe white and the black, the noble and the commoner, the poor and the rich, the Westerner and the Easterner¡ªbut those who truly fell into the void were the geniuses. Perhaps this is their truth, or maybe this is the only standard of excellence in the universe: to continue falling into the void of loneliness, despair, regret, pain, loss, confusion, meaninglessness, and most importantly, the void of darkness. This time, the fall was swift. Their screams were loud, but they went unheard and will never be heard. Their fall did not stop, and their true fall will not stop until they realize the truth.

    The fall was rapid, but time no longer held any meaning here. Their cries faded before they were even born as if the void itself swallowed them before they could form. There was no ground, no sky¡ªonly an infinite, dark void. Yet, they were not in true nothingness.

    They stopped falling, and suddenly, a scene of true horror and fear appeared before them.

    Stretching before them were infinite worlds¡ªno, not just worlds¡­ universes without end. Perhaps what lay before them were 500 billion universes!

    Suspended in the void, the universes manifested as massive spheres, each pulsating with its existence. Each one contained its laws, realities, histories, and perhaps its beings. They were not mere celestial bodies but complete truths condensed into points of light and darkness. Some shone like the sun, while others were as dark as bottomless abysses.

    There was a universe glowing blue, pierced by white storms, as if primal energy whirlwinds raged within it, yet to take form. Beside it, a black universe covered in golden cracks as if a giant hand had tried to shatter it, but it refused to break, holding its secrets in arrogant silence. Another, purple in color, was streaked with violet lightning as if it were dying or being reborn.

    But the most terrifying was the colossal universe at the forefront. It seemed to contain entire galaxies swirling within it, like a living mind dreaming of new creation¡ªor perhaps the end of everything.

    Carl and Gabriel were no longer human here. They were not even beings with meaning. They were merely two lost points in an ocean of absolute existence, like two thoughts born in the mind of an incomprehensible entity.

    Then, amidst this eternal silence, came the voice.

    It was not a voice that could be heard but a scream of the universe itself, a whisper of time, a groan of nonexistence. Carl and Gabriel did not understand its words, but it pierced their bones, planting within them an inescapable truth:

    "Did you get it????????????????????????."

    At that moment, their entire lives flashed before them¡ªevery moment of sorrow, every moment of happiness, if there ever was any. Memories struck their faces at incredible speed, not just their memories but everything they had learned since birth. It all rushed at them with overwhelming force. Then, the two began to laugh¡ªa light, eerie laugh that quickly turned into hysterical laughter, tears streaming down their faces. Were they tears of sorrow or madness? They fell heavily from their eyes as they laughed, their laughter resembling that of psychopaths or villains from old horror tales. It was truly a laugh of despair.

    Then they woke up, gasping for breath from this terrifying, abhorrent, and sorrowful nightmare.

    Fear gripped them¡ªnot just fear of what they had seen but fear of everything. They froze in place, perhaps even afraid to do anything.

    Carl, panting, said, "Who are you? Are you the killer? What''s your name?"

    Gabriel: "I don''t know what you''re talking about. My name is Gabriel Sunderland."

    Carl raised his gun and pointed it directly at Gabriel''s head. Gabriel stepped back to the far end of the room, then laughed a mocking laugh and smiled. Slowly, he raised his finger, his gaze turning serious¡ªor perhaps dead, nihilistic, and filled with apathy. Gabriel pointed his finger directly at the center of his forehead while staring at Carl with intense determination. Carl''s mouth opened slightly in shock, and his hands began to tremble violently. He hadn''t expected this. The man before him was psychologically dead.

    Carl drew his gun and said, "I think I have a small idea of what brought you to this state. Do you have any information about this island, Gabriel Sunderland?"

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    Gabriel: "All I know is that it''s a frozen hell."

    Carl: "My friends died before at the hands of a cave-dwelling monster. And that strange black void¡ªwhy do we keep falling into it?"

    Gabriel: "I think it''s because we haven''t found peace and haven''t atoned for the sins that haunt us."

    Carl: "Speak plainly. Are you insane? By the way, do you know the story of the old ghost?"

    Gabriel: "Kazia Misien¡­ Hahaha, she''s an old friend. I envy you for not having met anyone like her."

    Carl: "Are there others like these nightmare creatures?"

    Gabriel: "An infinite number."

    As they spoke, a strange object fell from the ceiling with terrifying force, shattering wood and stone and spreading dust everywhere.

    The explosion of ash filled the room, and the air grew heavy with the stench of death. From the rising black cloud, glowing grayish-dark bones began to emerge¡­ and then, from the shadows, stepped the living dead¡ªZolish.

    Carl screamed at the top of his lungs, his veins pulsing with terror: "Aaaaaah!! A l-l-living skeleton!!"

    But the creature before him was not just a skeleton¡­ it was something else, something that should not exist¡­ something that must not exist.

    Zolish slowly raised his head, his bones creaking as if moving for the first time in centuries. His jawbone moved, releasing a deep, ominous voice¡ªa tone no human was meant to hear:

    "Wonderful¡­ another dull mortal has joined the party."

    His words carried something hidden, something evil that seeped into the bones¡­ as if every syllable was an ancient curse coming back to life.

    Then Zolish bent slightly, as if something had piqued his curiosity, and green flames erupted from the hollows of his skeletal eyes, staring directly at Carl, piercing his naked soul.

    "Aren''t you the one controlled by the whispers in the darkness¡­?"

    Time stopped. Everything froze. Carl''s pulse nearly ceased.

    Slowly, with wide eyes, Carl stammered with trembling lips:

    "H-how¡­ h-how do you know that name?!!"

    Zolish laughed. No, it wasn''t a human laugh. It was more like the sound of thousands of shattered skulls rolling in the void, or the creak of cemetery doors opening after centuries of silence.

    "Didn''t your friend tell you¡­ that I know everything?"

    Carl could no longer think. He had seen nightmares before, but this¡­ this was no nightmare. It was something else. It was the truth itself crumbling before him.

    Carl stumbled back and fell to the ground, his body shaking as if cold had penetrated his bones. He couldn''t even move his fingers.

    "W-w-what¡­ W-who the hell are you¡­?! I''ve never seen anything with such a terrifying aura before¡­!"

    Zolish slowly raised his skeletal hand, and a black vortex of dark winds formed within it, as if the universe itself was disappearing into it.

    Then he tilted his head slightly, resting his bony chin on his other hand, before muttering with a wicked smile:

    "Thank you for the compliment¡­ mortal."

    "This is a higher being¡­ like an Overlord from fantasy stories."

    Zolish smiled. Or at least, his jawbone moved in a way that suggested a smile, while a strange hum escaped him, like a laugh coming from beyond the void.

    Carl, who had begun to doubt his sanity, muttered something between sarcasm and absolute terror:

    "Is this¡­ another hallucination?"

    Gabriel

    "Ohhh¡­ believe me, this one¡­ is real."

    Zolish didn''t move, but he was there¡­ filling the room with his presence. He wasn''t just an entity¡ªhe was more like an invisible wall of raw terror, suffocating and making the air as heavy as molten lead.

    Then, with a barely perceptible movement, Zolish raised his hand.

    A storm of violent winds erupted from him, sweeping through the place with the force of a hurricane born from the void. It wasn''t just air¡­ it was something more sinister, something that devoured everything in its path.

    Carl had no chance to escape. His body was lifted off the ground like a paper doll in the heart of a tornado, and the door behind him shattered with demonic force before he was hurled through the air like an insect struck by an invisible hand.

    Eighty meters¡­ that was the distance he flew before disappearing as if the storm itself rejected his presence in this place.

    His fate now¡­ was unknown. Completely unknown, like everything else in this world.

    But Zolish didn''t turn, didn''t pay it any attention. His focus was now entirely on Gabriel.

    He stepped toward him slowly, his voice not just words but whispers planted directly into the mind, as if each syllable pulsed with a different reality as if each sentence carried a secret that should never be discovered:

    "Well, human¡­ it seems we have a conversation to finish."

    This wasn''t natural terror¡­ it wasn''t just fear¡­ it was a deeper kind of realization. The realization that his very existence had become questionable.

    Yet, despite it all, he found himself muttering, in a voice he wasn''t sure was his own:

    "What¡­ what happened? You were in the Demon Lord''s dimension¡­ how¡­ how did you get here? Give me an explanation¡­"

    Zolish stopped. For a moment, he didn''t move before raising his head slightly as if something amusing had occurred to him.

    Then he smiled.

    "I don''t know. I don''t understand. Who said we were ever there? Who said we¡­ left? Who said this place¡­ is real? Who said my promise to you would come true?"

    Then, that pause¡­ that moment that stretched as if time itself had frozen.

    Zolish stared at Gabriel as if seeing him for the first time as if all the memories he had of him didn''t exist before this moment.

    Then he said, in a quiet voice that carried something¡­ something indescribable, something neither human nor demonic¡­ but something¡­ else:

    "Wait a minute¡­ who are you, human? Do I know you? Have we met before?"

    Then, without warning, his tone changed. It turned into something¡­ hungry.

    "All I know¡­ is that you look delicious."

    The void itself shook. The air grew thick and dense, as if the entire place was beginning to melt.

    Zolish took a step forward, then another, staring at Gabriel like a wolf that had found its prey.

    Then, he slowly opened his bony mouth¡­ so slowly, until the black void within was revealed, until his teeth began to move rapidly, emitting a grating sound as if a hellish machine was being sharpened before its feast.

    Then he whispered, in a voice that was not human, but the voice of the abyss itself, something that should never have been spoken, something Gabriel should never have heard¡­

    "Promoventis."

    And in the next moment¡­

    Nothing was the same anymore.

    Then they returned to that moment in the kingdom of the Demon Lord, Demofi Tempest¡ªspecifically, the moment when the demon unleashed a gamma explosion from his hands toward Gabriel. But this time, Zolish pulled Gabriel away, allowing him to avoid the blast, and unleashed black fire from his hands, incinerating the demon and turning him and the 20 guardian demons who had attacked into ash. Zolish approached Gabriel, who was still struggling to comprehend what had happened, and said to him:

    "Don''t be afraid, boy. You''re just traveling back in time when you die¡­ I''ll bring you back to the present..."

    Gabriel: "What the hell are you talking about?"

    As they spoke, a young, tall, pale demon appeared. Lightning and an aura of terror emanated from him. Everything around him in the sky froze and shattered. His aura shook the entire dimension. His eyes were red, filled with sparks. He attacked Zolish with a massive, ghostly black hand, choking him to the point where he spat blood from his mouth. It was the first time Gabriel had seen this terrifying cosmic entity bleed. Before him stood a cosmic being even more powerful¡ªthe Demon Lord, Demofi, who laughed strangely and said:

    "Welcome, my bones son  I''ve missed you.

    End of chapter

 Imprisoned with the Pharaohs

    Chapter 24

    The chapter begins with Marcus, utterly alone in the desolate expanse of the desert on this island. The desert stretched endlessly, the sands whispering with the voices of the dead, the wind carrying the murmurs of those who no longer existed. Marcus fell face-first as the pyramid with the cross spat him out, his body trembling, his mind shattered. It wasn''t just a fall¡­ it was a rebirth into a nightmare.

    He lifted his head, and there was a shadow above him. The second pyramid¡­ not like the first. This one bore a massive carving of the god Osiris, his eyes hollow like pits of hell. Before Marcus could scream, the pyramid opened, as if it were a mouth swallowing its prey. An invisible force pulled him inside, the ancient structure''s innards closing around him. The interior was black, but not just darkness¡­ it was the void itself.

    He found himself standing in a vast hall, the red light seeping through the walls, pulsing like blood flowing through veins. The hieroglyphs moved, pulsated, and shifted¡­ revealing images of a pharaoh kneeling before a great entity¡­ an entity that was neither human nor divine¡­ it was more like a corroded skeleton, a crown of black fire atop its head, its bones carved with symbols, not of this world. It commanded the pharaohs to build something¡­ temples? Pyramids? No¡­ it commanded them to build a tomb¡­ a tomb for an entire world.

    Marcus didn''t realize someone was watching him until he felt something behind him.

    He turned slowly¡­ and there stood Osiris.

    But this wasn''t the Osiris from the statues¡­ he was taller than any human, and his golden skin cracked like burnt papyrus. His eyes were a white void, like a light burning without fuel. He carried a staff, but it wasn''t a staff¡­ it was a living serpent, coiled around his hand, whispering sounds that should never be heard.

    "You were not meant to come here, Marcus."

    His voice was not human. It was an echo, a repetition of an ancient voice, a voice that came from the depths of time itself.

    Marcus didn''t wait¡­ he ran.

    The hall was changing, the walls moving, the floor turning into living sand trying to swallow him. Osiris was behind him, moving without walking, as if the distance between them wasn''t real. Marcus drew his weapon, aimed it at the god, pulled the trigger¡­

    But there was no sound.

    The bullet didn''t fire.

    Osiris''s hand reached out¡­ and grabbed Marcus by the neck.

    The pain was indescribable. He felt his breath evaporating, his entire being being pulled out of his body. Osiris didn''t kill him¡­ he was pulling him into something else.

    Then Amunet appeared.

    She emerged from nowhere, her gray hand grabbing Marcus and pulling him back. In the next moment, the place exploded.

    They fell¡­ but this time it wasn''t a fall into ordinary emptiness.

    The fall was deeper.

    Marcus fell into his mind.

    Time shattered. Space dissolved.

    He saw everything¡­ and he saw nothing.

    He saw the pharaonic cats watching him, their faces shifting, turning into skeletons, then into familiar human faces, then into nothing.

    He saw the pharaonic dogs barking, but their barks weren''t barks¡­ they were the sounds of soldiers screaming, children crying, and men dying.

    He saw¡­ his past.

    He saw himself there¡­ in the Mushroom War.

    He saw himself running, hiding from death, firing without thought, without mercy.

    Then¡­ he saw the girl.

    The four-year-old Egyptian girl.

    She was there, in the mud, in the destruction, holding onto his leg, her eyes filled with tears.

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    "I don''t want to die."

    "I''m scared."

    Marcus remembered the feeling that washed over him then¡­ that void inside him, that decision that wasn''t a decision¡­

    The scene shattered.

    Marcus fell again.

    But he wasn''t alone this time.

    There was¡­ something waiting for him in the darkness.

    Something that had no name, no fixed form.

    But Marcus knew it.

    It had been waiting for him all his life.

    And when Marcus opened his eyes in the void, the thing smiled at him.

    Then, quietly, it spoke its first words:

    "You are now one of us."

    In the midst of his endless fall into that abyss that seemed to have no end, Marcus felt time shattering around him, fragmenting into memories, images and sounds that intertwined and tangled. Suddenly, in the dark whirlwind, a strange scene floated before him in the void: an image of a man¡ªor perhaps an entity¡ªsitting cross-legged, wearing a white robe like mist, or as if it had been pulled from threads of faint light.

    The background was wooden in texture, but not like any familiar wood. It looked like layers of intertwined veins, twisting and curling upon themselves, like rivers of brown and pale green. At times, resembling water eddies, and at others, like neural lines showing a hidden pulse beneath the surface of the painting. The colors ranged from warm brown to pale gold, with shades of green and brown suggesting organic, living movement as if the wood itself was breathing or dancing in the shadows.

    In the very center, the figure of a man sitting in a meditative lotus position emerged, his features unclear, his face almost melting into the colors and lines. The robe he wore seemed made of pure white mist, sliding over his body smoothly, without any real wrinkles, appearing as a block of light shaped into a human form. His arms were crossed at chest level, his hands resting at his abdomen or lower chest as if encircling something invisible. Notably, the robe showed no clear human details; no hands or fingers were visible, almost blending with the wooden background at times, reflecting rainbow colors at others.

    Directly in front of his chest, or perhaps where his heart would be, floated a complex geometric symbol: a multi-pointed star surrounded by circles and intricate patterns, resembling a majestic mandala, with turquoise, blue, and greenish-gold colors dancing around it. The lines intertwined and crossed, forming layers of patterns; some lines were very thin, like spider threads, others thicker, as if expressing another dimension or a mysterious spiritual force. This symbol seemed to pulse faintly, emitting a soft light that illuminated the folds of the white robe, giving the impression that it was the heart of the image, its pulsating core.

    From the top of this white figure''s head, a vertical line of colored light split the sky; bands of red, orange, green, and blue extended upward and downward simultaneously. This band resembled a rainbow but with darker, more saturated colors at times, closer to cosmic hues, as if it were a portal of energy or a rift in the fabric of existence itself. The band split in the middle at the entity''s chest, where the colors merged with the geometric symbol, appearing as if they were feeding it power or consuming its radiance at the same time.

    As for the face, nothing was visible. No eyes, no mouth, no nose. Just avoid merging with the background. In this void, part of the geometric symbol overlapped, making the star seem as if it was displacing the features of the head, or as if it was replacing consciousness itself. A terrifying feeling crept into Marcus''s heart as he looked at it: Was this a human entity that had lost its features in pursuit of cosmic wisdom? Or was it a manifestation of a celestial being whose image humans could not comprehend?

    Amid this scene, Marcus felt everything in the image moving slowly, as if the wooden background pulsed like skin, and the geometric symbol undulated like a fiery heart within a transparent chest. Faint whispers echoed in his ears, like distant chants, as if ancient spirits were reciting forgotten hymns. At one point, he imagined this figure lifting its empty eyes and looking directly at him; an overwhelming sense of fear and awe coursed through his veins as if he had discovered he was being watched by something far beyond his understanding.

    All the details were intertwined, blending with Marcus''s sense of loss and guilt, as if the painting itself was a mirror of his obsessions and sins. The cold white light radiated from the seated entity, while the warm wooden background surrounded it, in a terrifying paradox between apparent serenity and hidden anxiety. Even the geometric symbol, despite its beauty, carried something menacing within, as if it had the power to ruthlessly expose the depths of the soul.

    All of this happened in fleeting moments; as soon as Marcus focused on the last detail of the geometric symbol, he felt a strong rush pulling him into other worlds of horror and delirium. He wasn''t sure if this image was inviting him to meditate or warning him of the unknown that awaited him. And though his mind screamed at him to look away, he remained transfixed, as if enchanted, unable to escape those intertwining shapes and colors that slowly consumed him.

    As Marcus continued his endless fall into the dark void, his consciousness suddenly jolted to another scene, even more terrifying than the last, as if the darkness itself had decided to reveal its true face. He saw before him a vast expanse of nothingness illuminated by strange cosmic lights, where small suns and stars on the verge of explosion danced. Amid this celestial chaos, a massive entity with wolf-like features emerged¡ªits head that of a wolf or jackal, but its body bore the majesty of an ancient pharaoh, adorned with cracked golden ornaments and a royal collar glowing with a metaphysical blue light.

    The eyes of this god of death were like two burning embers, their crimson red glowing in deep sockets like windows to an eternal hell. He sat behind a massive table resembling a chessboard, but its squares weren''t just black and white; some appeared burnt or charred, while others seemed made of bleached human bone, emitting faint moans with every tremor of the board. In every corner of the board stood strange creatures writhing and twisting, half resembling mythical beasts and half mummified humans, with others looking like pharaonic warriors whose heads burned with unquenchable flames. Every piece on the board burned with a different kind of torment; one spewed black smoke from its eye sockets, and another oozed a glowing liquid dripping onto the squares like cursed blood.

    Behind the wolf-like entity stretched a dark purple sky dotted with two or three moons, slowly rotating as if they were cosmic eyes watching the game. One of the moons was split down the middle, dripping silver light like liquid blood, as if the sky of this dimension was dying. The other moon was submerged in glowing blue shadows, outlining the faces of the damned suffering within, screaming without sound. Between them spread clouds of sparkling stardust, but it seemed closer to the ashes of burned souls than to innocent stars.

    The pharaonic wolf-god sat over this board like a bloodthirsty ruler, moving the chess pieces with his long, claw-like fingers. With every move he made, a demonic hum emanated from the void, as if each piece displaced left behind echoes of muffled groans or screams. Sometimes he leaned close to a piece as if whispering a secret, and the piece writhed as if stabbed in the soul before bowing and continuing its march.

    There was no mercy or human life in the features of that wolf-like face. Even his smile, when his pale lips parted, revealed massive fangs dripping with sticky fluids in unearthly colors. They seemed like poisons consuming time itself, as if moments were being pulled from around you, and your heartbeat quickened against your will. Every blink of his red eyes felt like a hammer striking the depths of Marcus''s soul, making him certain he was facing a force that belonged to no world he knew.

    As Marcus''s panicked heartbeats raced, he began to realize that the pieces on the board weren''t just symbols; they were reflections of souls trapped in a mysterious underworld. Some screamed as if begging for help, others panted as if fleeing through a maze with no exit. The wolf-god was the master of the ceremony, distributing death and torment with quiet taps of his claw, flipping destinies between his fingers. Everything in this scene screamed of cosmic horror: the aberrant sky, the bleeding moons, the board teeming with ghosts, and the wolf-god who seemed to relish moving the pieces of life and death.

    Without warning, the wolf''s eyes turned directly toward Marcus, as if piercing the veil between vision and reality. At that moment, Marcus felt something heavy crushing his chest, looming over him like an inevitable fate. He wanted to scream, to close his eyes, but he couldn''t; the haunted part of him reveled in witnessing this hellish game. With the last beat of his soul, he felt as if the entity smiled at him with a deeper smile, and gestured to the chessboard as if welcoming him as a new player in this terrifying game¡­ a game where there was no escape, where everyone eventually became pieces moved by the fingers of this cosmic ruler thirsty for souls.

    The chapter ends with the god of death of the pharaohs preparing to place a massive chessboard over Marcus as the officer screams in terror.

    End of Chapter.

 The Thing in the Bloody Moonlight

    Chapter Twenty-Five:

    The Thing in the Bloody Moonlight

    The chapter begins with Karl, who finds himself thrown far away. He was bleeding heavily from his nose, feeling pain, fear, and discomfort about standing up. However, he noticed that his hand was broken. Then, as the fog cleared, the demonic, abandoned castle appeared on the horizon¡ªthe same castle where Gabriel had found the Manuscript of Shadows. Despite the pain, Karl hurried toward it to hide from the nightmare creatures. Poor Karl did not know that he was heading into another trap and that no one could stop the nightmares except his subconscious mind and Gabriel''s subconscious mind. Perhaps even their minds had become weakened. After several minutes of running, he finally reached the ominous castle. As he attempted to enter, he fell into a red, bloody lake. On that night, the red, bloody moon appeared, and its light began to shine on the lake, intensifying its crimson hue. It seemed the castle was just a mirage, like all ambitions and dreams¡ªmere illusions. Yet, he managed to find the cursed book floating in the water. When he tried to grab it, the book bit him. He tried again, and as he opened it, thousands of green, ghostly skulls emerged. This book was different from the one Gabriel had found. It had a different title: *The Gothic Al Azif*. It seemed to speak of other creatures, perhaps spells, or other terrifying things that humans¡ªor perhaps non-humans¡ªhad recorded. One thing was certain: there were no optimistic myths or positive views in this book. Everything written was pure nihilism.

    As Karl began to read the book, the red moonlight reflected on him, transforming him into a darker form.

    Karl was panting. The pain in his body was no longer just a sensation; it had become a cold reality seeping into every cell. The bloody lake stretched before him like a hellish mirror, reflecting the dark red moonlight. In its center, the book floated as if waiting for a hand to reach out to it.

    When he opened the book, its pages appeared to be made of dead skin, cracked and stained with slowly moving bloodstains.

    On the first page, a strange text was engraved in a language unknown to humans, writhing among the shadows as if alive. The words themselves seemed to breathe, whispering in an inaudible voice:

    ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????? ???? ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????? ????

    Everything in the book was written in this strange language.

    Then Karl saw the image of the first entity, and his eyes began to tremble in shock.

    The entity was described as "Dimorighis."

    It was not just an entity¡ªit was a living catastrophe, a raw embodiment of horror and destruction.

    Its massive body surpassed the size of castles, covered in a black substance that was neither skin nor scales but embodied darkness, pulsating as if it were living flesh. Its surface was unstable, constantly shifting, as though thousands of tormented souls were trying to tear their way out from within.

    Its head resembled several skulls fused together, surrounded by long fangs like daggers, dripping with a liquid that evaporated in the air before touching the ground. From its jaws, strands of purple energy emanated, swirling like poisonous smoke.

    Its eyes... or rather, the voids where eyes should have been, were black pits, constantly changing, with twisted shapes appearing and disappearing within them as if they were gateways to worlds that should not exist. Occasionally, red dots flickered inside them, like dying stars in an isolated universe.

    From its back emerged gigantic wings, but they were not wings for flight. Instead, they were jagged structures, resembling the limbs of creatures that had lived and died, reshaped into a vile form. They did not flap but expanded and contracted as if breathing, each wing adorned with glowing eyes staring in all directions.

    Its claws were like towering spires, with twisted fingers ending in sharp talons like sickles, tearing into reality itself with every movement. Each step it took made the ground tremble, and the air around it thickened with inaudible voices, whispers that penetrated minds and planted deep terror in hearts. And nothingness.

    This was not just an entity. It was a walking catastrophe. A plague of pure horror. Something that should not exist, yet it was here.

    The entity''s name was there, carved in a primitive yet powerful style, as if the worlds themselves would fade upon its utterance: *The God of All Dragons, Dimghyurigus*.

    Beneath it, the method of summoning was written:

    "To know the method of summoning, you must offer your blood as a sacrifice. Tear open one of your veins, and let the bloody moon bear witness. As your blood flows, the words will appear, and when you utter them, you will know the way."

    Then the book grew legs and ran away from Karl, heading toward a distant place on the horizon, shrouded in fog. Karl could not determine the location due to the fog, but the demonic red moon illuminated the path. It was a terrifying city, with temples resembling Buddhist temples, many of them atop fleshy hills. At that moment, Karl took out a voice recorder from his hand and began recording. Now, he would become the narrator instead of me, for I too have been pulled from this terrifying world into the world of foolish humans who have exhausted me, dulled my focus and intelligence, and stolen the dark hours of my night¡ªthose hours when, as a psychopath like me, I felt as if I were in heaven. In any case, Karl opened the recorder and said:

    "This is my recording. I am Karl Jason, on my journey through the icy hell. Just now, a demonic book appeared before me¡ªa book of black magic, or perhaps a book written by Lucifer himself. It contained an illustration of a celestial entity more terrifying than any I have seen in mythology or old horror novels. That demonic book was alive and headed toward Japanese temples that suddenly appeared on the horizon, atop the hills of hell. I don''t know why, but something compels me to follow it. And now, I suddenly find myself walking alone toward the nameless city. If not for the immense force of the fleshy winds that extinguished my torch and left me in darkness, and the light of that red moon that seemed to burn my skin despite the cold, I would have continued. I sighed strangely as the snow, sharp as knives, began to cut my face, causing me to bleed. The snowstorm swirled around the strange ruins I was in¡ªthose temples. Soon, the wind grew quieter, and the snow calmed until everything settled once more. Though the stillness was void-like on this island, it seemed something lurked among the jagged, fleshy stones of the nameless city. That name, which I saw carved on a stone a few meters before the temples, was there so I wouldn''t feel like a stranger. In any case, I got very close, and when I looked at the red moon, it seemed to tremble, as if reflected in troubled waters. Then the sky began to rain red, like blood, heavily and strangely. Yes, rain on a fleshy island, but that wasn''t the strangest thing you''d see here in this cold hell. I was more afraid than I could explain, but not enough to quench the curiosity that drove me to uncover the secrets of this place. As soon as the storm stopped, I reached the nameless city. Then I entered the dark room from which fierce winds blew. This temple, as I had imagined from the outside, was larger than any temple I had ever visited. Inside, there was a statue of a woman wearing a cloak, her face a void of darkness, instead of the usual statue of a virgin. There was also a statue of Christ, but his head was that of a giant octopus. It was supposed to be a Buddhist temple, but what I found inside did not belong to any religion. A strange sacred book, drawings of alien monsters¡ªhere, I could stand completely upright, but I noticed that the stones and altars were low, like those in other temples. On the walls and ceiling, I saw remnants of ancient art¡ªstrange lines of paint that were almost faded or crumbling. On two of the altars, I saw with growing excitement a maze of well-crafted, curved sculptures. As I raised my torch high, the ceiling seemed too perfectly structured to be natural. I wondered if those who carved this were even from human history. Their engineering skills must have surpassed humanity. Then a glow brighter than the red moon illuminated the temple, showing me what I was searching for¡ªthe evil, demonic book. I fainted when I saw that the door to the room containing the book was just an ordinary door, despite all the effort put into this strange, demonic temple. I inserted my torch and entered, seeing the book glowing in a crimson red light."

    ---

    I opened the yellowed book before me to the second page, and there was a strange creature carrying books similar to it, named Beelzebub.

    Beneath its name was a lot of text in a language I had never heard before. It was written:

    "??? ??????, ??? ??????, ??? ??????, ???? ??????."

    ("I do not want sorrow, I do not want sorrow, I do not want sorrow, I do not want sorrow.")

    In the heart of the dark pages, where I opened the book, I felt as if the boundary between reality and nightmare had vanished. A strange creature was depicted, recorded by the cursed book on its second page. It was a massive entity, its body composed of black, poisoned flesh masses with dark yellow lines, as if burning from within with an ethereal flame. Its glowing red eyes were scattered irregularly across its body, staring in all directions at once, as if seeing dimensions beyond human comprehension. It did not have one mouth, but several, emerging randomly from its body. Some whispered in

 Tears of Red Moon Fall on Avigio Bruno

    Chapter Twenty-Six: Tears of the Red Moon Fall on Avigio Bruno

    Hello, friends. The one controlling this world still feels unable to summon his psychopathic intelligence, which he wrote into this hellish story. Today, I will be the one narrating my own infernal tale, which began when I returned to New Zealand from Rome. I am Avigio Bruno, a 29-year-old Italian investigator. I used to work for the mafia before becoming an investigator. My brother, Gabriel Sunderland, from a different father, was with our mother until she passed away.

    But Gabriel doesn''t remember me. He has been mentally disturbed since childhood. I haven''t heard any news from his childhood friend, Rose, and I''m very worried, especially after my second day here in New Zealand when I went to Rose''s family''s house and found out that their daughter had been crucified following an attack by the strange serial killer who haunts this city, the Reaper of Wainfleet. I grew extremely worried about Gabriel. I went to the police station and asked about him, only to be shocked that there was no registered New Zealander by that name. My concern for my half-brother grew, but my curiosity as an investigator took over.

    I asked the sheriff if the world-renowned investigator, Carl Jason, had solved the Reaper''s cases. The sheriff, with tears in his eyes, told me the good news: the killer had disappeared months ago. But the bad news was that Carl had gone after him, believing he knew the killer''s habits and that he was hiding on a nearby leathery island.

    Carl and his team had been missing for two months. Naval forces had been sent to search for the island, but it didn''t appear on any map. "Detective Bruno," the sheriff said, "I lit my cigarette and let my mind wander. It seems I''ve escaped the mysteries of Italy only to find a hellish and enigmatic puzzle waiting for me. But all I could think about was my brother. I went to his apartment and found it destroyed. I found a note from him saying he would escape from humanity and go to an isolated house on a remote leathery island, and that he would never return to Phantom Zero. My worry for him grew after learning he was involved with this organization¡ªa criminal organization even more infamous than the Fog Organization back in Italy. Fortunately, I found a map to that island, but it was old, and I didn''t understand how my brother had found it. The island was shaped like a horse''s skull, which was very strange. Then, snow began to emerge from the part of the map where the island was drawn.

    White snow started spreading, almost freezing my hand. I was baffled, but I thought it might just be a hallucination from my recent overuse of morphine. Anyway, I went to a hotel and decided to go to my brother on that island. Amid the green fog of the harbor and the darkness of the night, under the glow of the red moon, I looked out the window and felt a strange sensation. But I was sure of one thing: I felt that shadows were hovering over Gabriel. "The shadows over Gabriel Sunderland"¡ªthis phrase entered my mind. It seems my brother will be the most difficult mystery I''ve faced as a detective. I opened my book.

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    I was reading a horror novel, as I am someone who has discovered that I am worth nothing in this vast universe and its limitless entities. I''ve never been able to understand what''s so terrifying about psychological horror. It just makes you nihilistic, nothing more, nothing less. Ah, Gabriel used to love novels so much. Anyway, I''ll sleep now and see what happens.

    I woke up suddenly in a strange place. I was in the middle of the sea, in a small boat, with a massive ship hovering above me. On it were a large group of aliens with octopus heads, fish, undead creatures, demons, and other beings my human mind couldn''t comprehend. Then, the terrifying creatures my mind could grasp started saying, "No, you don''t understand. No one should go to that island." I asked them why, and they started bleeding and laughing in a bizarre and eerie way.

    Then there was silence.

    I don''t know how many endless eons I sat there, stunned, whispering and screaming for someone to save me, over and over again. I whispered, screamed, and muttered, but no one heard me. Then, the crowned horror of all that is unimaginable and unbelievable came from above the ship, which was filled with green fog. I didn''t see anything, but I heard it.

    I thought my screams were the only thing breaking the dreadful silence, but after a while, I heard a strange sound coming from the radio I found in the boat. I strained my ears to listen, and then I heard something that brought a cloud over my mind. I couldn''t interpret that sound, nor could I describe it. From the first words that took my consciousness and created a mental void, I woke up in an alley in front of the strange hotel where I had slept. Can I say the sound was deep, hellish, demonic, non-human, gelatinous, distant, unearthly, and inhuman, as if it were a cosmic entity from one of the novels I''ve read? What else should I say?

    It was the end of my dream and the beginning of my story to find my brother and save him from the terrifying demons of the universe. I heard it and didn''t know more. I heard it while sitting frozen in that damned boat amidst the raging waves and the glow of the red moon. I heard it descending upon me from above that ship, which had begun to resemble the peak of hell. And this is what it said: "You fool, Gabriel is dead."

    After these events, I decided I must continue until I know the end of this mystery. I put on my hat and jacket, went out into the street, called a taxi, and headed to the pier. On the way, I wondered if I was going to that island to save my brother or if my obsession with uncovering secrets was what led me there. I got out of the car and headed toward the ocean, which was filled with fog. I boarded the boat with the captain, telling him to drop me off there and leave.

    I am responsible for my own freedom to choose life or death, but I am not responsible for choosing it for others. I boarded the ship on that dark night. My brother''s map said, "Follow the blood moon, and it will lead you to the island." And so, we set off toward the icy hell. I felt as if the sea god Dagon himself was beneath us¡­

    In a distant corner of some galaxy where there are no humans, only monsters and demons, Gabriel stood with cosmic entities before the Lord of Demons himself. He was like an ant witnessing a battle between T-Rexes.

    The Lord of Demons said, "I understand your plan, but why are you hanging around with a human?"

    Zolish: "Oh, this is fine. We''ll kill him. What matters is that you''re with us in this plan."

    The Lord of Demons: "Killing you was fun, my son. My universe was completely destroyed because of the battle. Now, kill the human and use the Rebirth technique to revive the universe, or do you want me to lift my little finger and do it myself?"

    Zolish: "It''s yours."

    Zolish went to Gabriel and said, "Don''t be afraid. You''re immortal." Then Zolish blew on him, and his body disintegrated into the void. Gabriel woke up gasping and sweating in the old witches'' house. Gabriel said to himself, "Who would have thought that even death is not salvation? It seems I''m bound to this witches'' shack. Anyway, I''ll go out to breathe the air emanating from this icy hell." Gabriel went out and saw a frost dragon with a skeletal head and two feet screaming at him, but Gabriel''s face showed absolute indifference.

    Anyway, let''s move on to the events¡­ Oh, haha, friends, it seems the god of this world has been kidnapped again. Anyway, I''m Avigio Bruno, and I''ve gotten closer to the leathery island. A disaster happened on the way¡ªa giant shark, about 70 meters long, larger than any shark in human history, emerged and ate the poor captain. But I miraculously survived, even though my hand was injured by one of the flying debris from the ship.

    I bandaged my hand, treated it, and sailed toward salvation, hoping to survive until I finally reached the demonic island. What an irony¡ªit seems Dagon himself attacked us yesterday.

    Anyway, I finally arrived at that hellish island that was filled with fog and really looked like a horse''s skull. Here I am, entering the frozen hell of my own free will.

    End of chapter

 What makes you kill your mother

    Chapter Twenty Seven

    The chapter begins with Bruno entering the frozen underground hellscape.

    When I landed on the island, I started walking through the dark, icy storm until a green, raging tornado came to me. On it sat a terrifying, cursed old witch, the most horrifying thing I''ve ever seen. She sat on the tornado as if it had no effect on her or was under her control. She said to me, "Welcome, the new seeker to the earthly paradise of pleasures. Our new seeker, Avigio Bruno, do you know your truth? Do you know everything about yourself, or are you just another escape from reality?"

    I asked her, "What do you mean, old hag?"

    She replied in a hoarse voice, "You''ll know when you descend to the deepest point in the darkness of truth, to the black hell."

    As she said those words, everything disappeared before me¡ªthe trees, the ocean, the snow, the island, spacetime itself. Everything turned into a black void. Then she said, "Welcome to the nowhere, the void of nihilism. Here lies the truth of everything. Here, you''ll find the meaning of your life and the meaning of everything, Bruno."

    And then I began to fall.

    It seems he''s unable to continue narrating now due to the fear and anxiety that has taken hold of him.

    Here is Avigio Bruno, continuing to fall into the black void that has consumed everything. There is no longer a sea, no island, not even a sky. Just absolute darkness, boundless, bottomless. For a moment, he felt as if his body had lost all weight, just a floating entity in the eternal void.

    But suddenly, something new began to form before him. A point of light appeared in the distance, like a single star floating in the depths of nothingness. It exploded, and out came many white, red, and green stars, and even comets and nebulae. It became clear that it wasn''t just light¡­ but a massive scene unfolding before him¡ªa space filled with beautiful colors.

    He found himself floating before a stone staircase that extended upward, seemingly carved from white marble mixed with dark gray veins, its surface polished despite appearing ancient, as if time had left no mark on it. It had no end, ascending and ascending until it disappeared into the darkness, as if leading to the unknown.

    On one side of the staircase, there was a massive black rock protruding from the void itself, like the only raft in a sea of oblivion. On its edge sat a figure covered in a white robe, its features invisible, only the pitch-black void filling the space where the face should be inside the hood. A silent entity, unmoving, not speaking, just staring into the infinite horizon before it.

    And above all this, there was the planet. A massive planet suspended in the black sky, half-lit by a pale blue light, the other half submerged in darkness. From afar, its details were clear, its surface filled with a glowing network of energy, like burning eternal veins. It seemed as if it were a living entity, watching everything in terrible silence.

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    The space around it wasn''t just blackness, but a sea filled with countless stars, points of cold light, some glowing brightly, others fading as if dying. It seemed as if time itself had stopped here, as if everything was just a surreal painting on the canvas of the limitless universe.

    The scene was mesmerizing¡­ and terrifying at the same time. A strange feeling swept over Bruno. He didn''t know whether to feel awe or tranquility. But one thing was certain¡­

    He had reached a place where humans were not meant to be.

    He began to fall again, but not into the void¡ªinto this space filled with shimmering stars and vibrant colors and black holes. As he fell, he heard melodies and words coming from above the staircase. He didn''t know if they were from the entity in the white robe or from space itself. As he fell, he heard:

    "Nigga, I ain''t worried ''bout a bitch, nigga, we worry ''bout the Change

    Nigga hoppin'' out the ''Rari, then I''m hoppin'' in change

    Thousands of bitch all on my dick, I want a name, ayy

    She want the dick, I don''t know what''s hidaan, I just want a name, I want a name, ayy

    I want the name

    Me and YoungBoy''s tossing these voids, we want a name, ayy

    And we want a name."

    After hearing these words, Bruno''s eyes began to turn black, filled with colorful stars. He started smiling, and beautiful yet terrifying colors emerged from his mouth. He continued falling into infinity, smiling as he fell, and said, "I, too, only want a name."

    Then he continued his deafening fall¡­

    Here is Bruno, continuing to fall through the eternal void¡­

    Now, there is no color. No feeling. Time itself has disintegrated into invisible fragments, floating among them without will. But in the midst of this nothingness, vague features began to take shape.

    Something sitting in the void. No, not something¡ªa transcendent entity, half-light, half-darkness, embodying an absolute contradiction between the divine and the demonic. It was sitting on a throne made not of stone or metal, but of a material beyond logic, from which black threads cracked and flowed like an open wound in the fabric of reality itself. Around it was filled with colorful stars, its white, naked skin glowing in this grand scene.

    Its face¡­ was beauty itself, but not the beauty humans know. Its long white hair flowed like a river of silver light, its features carved with precision like a statue polished with demonic perfection. Its eyes were closed, as if living in an eternal dream, but its faint smile told him that it saw him, that it was fully aware of his presence.

    Above its head was a crown of golden rays, but it wasn''t just a crown. It was a massive metal circle, like a radiant halo, with sharp spikes extending from it, like a crucified sun in the eternal void. It wasn''t a halo of holiness, but a cold declaration of absolute dominance.

    But the wings¡­ those wings.

    From its back extended two massive wings, dark as if cut from an endless night. The feathers weren''t feathers, but an extension of the darkness itself, pulsating as if alive, moving as if the void itself was breathing. These weren''t the wings of an angel or a demon. They were something else, something without a name, as if the universe had forgotten to give them an identity.

    It sat on the throne, one leg over the other, its hand extended lazily, as if inviting Bruno to come closer. But coming closer wasn''t a choice¡ªit was an inevitable fate.

    Beneath it, there was no throne, but an abyss.

    The white rocks it sat on weren''t solid stones, but gateways to nonexistence. Their cracks weren''t just fissures, but openings to absolute space, where stars shone and time collapsed. The edges eroded slowly, as if absorbing themselves inward, toward something the human mind cannot comprehend.

    Then she said to him in her terrifying yet beautiful voice, "You want a name, Bruno? How about the boy who killed his own mother?"

    Bruno: "What are you talking about, O beautiful nightmare?"

    We see in the feminine entity''s eyes a flashback of Bruno as a child, pouring a mysterious liquid into his mother''s drink¡ªGabriel''s mother. She drinks it and suffers a

    We see in the feminine entity''s eyes a flashback of Bruno as a child, pouring a mysterious liquid into his mother''s drink¡ªGabriel''s mother. She drinks it and suffers a heart attack, dying. We can see young Bruno crying, while the older Bruno tears up and says, "This was all a nightmare, it didn''t really happen." Then he falls again, disappearing into the void, and finds himself in the icy air. He then falls onto the massive beast that was in front of the witches'' house, filling the entire place with blood. Finally, he and Gabriel reconcile.

    Bruno: "My brother, finally."

    Gabriel, confused: "Who the fuck are you?"

    End of Chapter.

 Memory of Degon

    Chapter 28:

    Memory

    The story begins where the past ended, with Gabriel and Ivelio, who finally met. What a meaningless meeting it was...

    The fog was thick, surrounding the place, making the vision blurry as if they were trapped inside a strange dream. The air was as cold as death itself, creeping along the skin like a hidden hand slowly feeling the nerves. The whole place exuded an uncomfortable feeling, as if something was watching from between the shadows.

    Bruno: "Gabriel, I''m your brother." He said it with a steady voice, but there was something in it, a mixture of anticipation and caution, as if the words themselves were a weapon that could explode at any moment.

    Gabriel: "What? I have no brother, nor do I need one." Gabriel''s tone was entirely empty, as if this confession hadn''t even stirred the slightest feeling inside him. His tired eyes didn''t blink, as though they were staring directly into nothingness.

    Bruno: "Gabriel, don''t worry... I think I''ve solved the riddle. We''re suffering from hyper-awareness."

    Bruno''s voice carried a strange certainty, as if this truth had been haunting his mind for a long time, but it had found its way out only now.

    Gabriel: "I don''t know what you''re suffering from, stranger, but I''m sure you''re different from me. Even if you''re better than me, I''m different from everyone. Not because I''m special, but because I can see everything as it truly is." He looked around, as if seeing something else, a hidden layer of truth that no one else could comprehend. His voice dripped with a strange certainty, a certainty of a man who has seen things that shouldn''t be seen, and knows things he wasn''t meant to know.

    Gabriel: "Anyway, what the hell brought you to this frozen hell?"

    His voice was that of a man weary of everything, a man who no longer saw a difference between life and death, between dream and reality. The winds howled around them, carrying the smell of decay and stagnant water, as if the island itself was breathing its last breaths.

    Bruno: "I came to see if my brother was alive or dead, but unfortunately... you breathe, you speak, and you move, but in truth, you''re dead."

    He said it with a voice drenched in sadness, but Gabriel showed no sign of being affected. A light laugh escaped him, but it wasn''t a laugh of joy; it was a laugh of someone who knew an ugly truth, yet found some dark amusement in denying it.

    Gabriel: "Hahaha... Looks like you''re sharp-sighted! I''m aware of this, then... I have no brothers. Flee this island, I''ll go wait for the hallucination beasts and Zulish the Litch to come and turn my fears into nightmares. Goodbye."

    His words carried a deeper meaning, as if the island itself wasn''t just a place, but a prison with no escape. Gabriel turned away and disappeared, his footsteps swallowed by the wet snow, as if the ground itself was devouring him.

    Bruno: "Where are you going?! What''s happening on this island?!"

    But no response came, except the whispers of the wind, as if they carried the voices of people who no longer existed.

    Gabriel: "You''ll know on your own... I''m going to sleep in the witches'' house."

    He said it without turning, as if the entire matter was of no significance. The air grew colder, as though the night itself was breathing from the depths of this land.

    Bruno: "Wait, brother! Stop this madness, we need to get out of here!"

    His words carried more plea than command, but he already knew that Gabriel wasn''t listening.

    Gabriel: "There''s nothing to understand, sir. In fact, there''s nothing you can understand. Because... everything is nothing. You are nothing. This place is nothing. And everything bears a name that has no value. What are you afraid of? Death? Here, you''ll die, and dogs will piss on your grave anyway."

    His voice faded with the wind, his words dripping with utter futility, as if they were the chants of the dead who had lost the will to resist.

    Bruno: "Listen, do you remember that memory? The day our father was killed?"

    Gabriel''s footsteps paused for a moment, as if the words struck him deeply.

    Gabriel: "What are you talking about? My father was with the army his whole life, and I don''t think he''s dead."

    Bruno: "That''s one of the reasons for your mental disturbances. When you were a child, our father wasn''t in the army as you thought. He was a member of intelligence, investigating a satanic cult run by a Russian family."

    The storm froze in Gabriel''s mind. For a moment, he didn''t hear anything, except the rapid beating of his own heart.

    Gabriel (panicked, opening his mouth in shock, and his old stillness falling away): "What the hell are you talking about...? What is he talking about...? These are lies!!"

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    His eyes were filled with astonishment and denial. A momentary hysteria overtook him, as if the very walls of reality were cracking around him.

    Bruno: "Our father loved you, and back then when we went out with him, the three of us¡ªme, you, and him¡ªto buy the horror game you always wanted, he was assassinated. A nearby car shot him, and you developed PTSD after that incident. As for me... I traveled across many European countries to find out who killed our father and seek revenge. I went to Russia first, searched for the satanic cult I thought was responsible, but I found nothing, so I moved from country to country, until I decided to give up. I went to Italy, and I fell into a depression for years. I lived in an isolated apartment in Rossavikeno... until I received a message."

    Gabriel: "What did it say?"

    Bruno: "It''s a long story... Anyway, after the end of my long journey in Italy, during my work with the mafia, I discovered that there was a family called ''Vago'' who were connected to the cult..."

    Gabriel (laughing maniacally): "Don''t continue... Hahaha! The ''Shadow Devil'' cult, right?"

    Bruno: "Yes... how did you know about that?"

    The atmosphere grew even darker, the fog thickened unnaturally, as if the place itself was suffocating from the truth that had just been revealed.

    Before Bruno could get an answer, Gabriel began shedding tears. They were silent tears, but they carried something deeper than pain itself. Then suddenly, he turned around and ran away, plunging deeper into the fog, until he disappeared completely.

    Bruno had no idea where he went... or what Gabriel was thinking at that moment.

    But he felt something strange.

    Something that hadn''t been there moments ago.

    Something that had been watching them the entire time...

    It was time itself that had been watching them.

    As I asked him, Gabriel began shedding tears, then ran away and disappeared into the fog, and I didn''t know where he went. He had disappeared. What a lunatic. I have to search for him again now, and I didn''t believe it had come time to escape from here. I looked at my watch, and my suspicions grew. The time was now 1 AM, even though I had entered this island at 8 PM. Time was moving faster here on this island. The timing was different from any clock on Earth. It was in a parallel dimension.

    The fog was thick... thicker than normal. It wasn''t just ordinary fog gently sliding over the earth, but something more alive... as if it had an evil spirit moving within the shadows, wrapping itself slowly around the body, trying to sneak inside, to enter the lungs, to strangle the very mind.

    Bruno stood still for a moment, his eyes searching for Gabriel through the undulating fog. The silence was suffocating; the only sounds were his frantic breaths and the irregular beating of his heart, as if he was sensing something his eyes couldn''t yet perceive.

    "Gabriel?"

    He called out, but his voice vanished into the fog as if it had no existence. The place around him felt unfamiliar, as though reality itself was starting to lose its coherence. The ground beneath his feet was soft and damp, as if it were nothing more than a piece of a living nightmare.

    Then... something appeared before him.

    In the heart of the fog, a mysterious shape began to form... It wasn''t Gabriel''s shape, but something else entirely. It was a cave.

    It hadn''t been there moments ago, but now it stood before him, its mouth wide open like that of a legendary beast waiting for its prey. The rocks around it were black as night, strangely smooth, as though they weren''t natural stones, but something else, something that shouldn''t exist in this world.

    Bruno felt something strange running through his veins, a sensation that this place wasn''t just a cave, but a gateway... a gateway to something older than time itself.

    But he didn''t turn back.

    "There''s no other way..."

    He whispered to himself, then began walking.

    Each step he took felt heavier than the last, as if gravity itself was changing here. The fog didn''t completely dissipate, but rather seemed to pull into the cave, as if inviting him in.

    As he crossed the threshold, he suddenly felt something cold touch his skin. It wasn''t air, but something deeper, as if the whole place was watching him, studying him, consuming his existence, moment by moment.

    The darkness was thick, but it wasn''t ordinary darkness. It was alive, pulsing in the walls, moving with his breath.

    Bruno lifted his eyes and froze in place.

    The walls... were filled with carvings.

    But they weren''t ordinary carvings; they were strange, inhuman symbols. Impossible geometric shapes, intertwined circles, eyes open in every direction, and unnatural creatures wrapped around each other, as if they had lived inside these rocks since time immemorial.

    He moved forward slowly, staring at those symbols. Some of the lines seemed to move, twisting before his eyes, although he was sure it was just an illusion... right?

    Then he saw the words.

    They weren''t written in a language he knew, but were a series of strange letters, etched into the wall with a trembling hand, as though the one who carved them was suffering from an unspeakable terror. He tried to understand, to find some meaning in them, but the more he stared, the more his head pounded, as if his eyes weren''t made to see this kind of language.

    A shiver ran down his spine, but even so, he continued moving forward.

    Then... he saw it.

    At the end of the cave, in the heart of the darkness, there was something larger than anything he had seen before.

    A massive tomb, carved into the stone, reaching up to the cave''s ceiling. It looked older than imaginable, older than cities, older than civilizations, older than humanity itself. It was sealed, but it wasn''t just an ordinary tomb... it was a prison.

    And on its surface, there was something carved.

    It wasn''t just a carving, but an image. The image of a creature''s head that couldn''t belong to this world.

    The head of a black sea demon.

    Its empty eyes stared into the void, its mouth open as if screaming, its skin covered in twisted scales unlike anything Bruno had ever seen. Its features exuded something primordial, something that froze the blood in one''s veins, something that shouldn''t exist, yet it did.

    Beneath the image, there was a single sentence carved in a

    It was carved in a strange language.

    But he understood it.

    He understood it even though he shouldn''t have understood it.

    "Here lies the Sea God in his deep slumber, waiting for the moment of his awakening, when he will drown the universe in darkness. We are mere alien beings, submissive. We couldn''t carve his name, for it exceeds our comprehension, but it begins with the letter D."

    Bruno felt as though he had lost the ability to breathe. The air in the cave had grown heavier, the walls seemed to pulse, as though they were breathing with him, or perhaps against him.

    His eyes and mouth opened wide from the shock. He spoke in a trembling voice, filled with shock, doubt, hesitation, intense sorrow, fear, indifference, loss of passion, and psychological death, with no meaning left. He said: "Degon."

    End of chapter

 The Void

    Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Void

    The chapter begins with Karl, who was falling into the dark void, desperately trying to grasp the demonic book that seemed to have seduced him and taken control of his mind. The red moon continued to glow intensely, and its light began to reflect words that shimmered in the crimson twilight it created, illuminating the void. Strange words started to appear. The first one glowed and read: "Karl, do you know why you are falling into the void?" Karl looked around in confusion as he fell, then muttered, "No... no." Then came a second question: "Do you know why you killed your daughter?" Karl: "I didn''t! I didn''t! I didn''t! Aaaaaah!" Then came a third question: "Do you know where true fear resides?" This time, Karl carried the answer within him. He said, "Yes..." and entered the blood-red moon...

    Kazia appeared from the darkness and said to him, "You''re wrong, Karl. Fear is everywhere, and the truth is everywhere, but you are the blind one. You and your filthy kind." Kazia struck him with her staff until he bled and passed out, continuing to fall.

    Karl was falling, falling endlessly, without a bottom. The void around him stretched infinitely, but gradually, a strange light began to pierce the darkness. A deep red hue, like a bleeding sky, started to reflect on the void, forming shapes and words that pulsed with life, bleeding from the light of the blood-red moon.

    Then, the scene unfolded before him...

    Karl didn''t know if he was floating, drowning, or suspended between life and death, but what he saw made him forget his fall entirely. A sea stretched beneath his feet, but it wasn''t an ordinary sea. It was a mass of dark, undulating blackness¡ªa mixture of sinful waters, shattered dreams, and the souls of the lost. Its calm was unnatural, a heavy, terrifying silence, as if the ocean was holding its breath, waiting for something dreadful to come.

    Then, the silence shattered.

    From the depths emerged... something.

    At first, it was just a massive shadow, growing and expanding until its features became clear to Karl. A giant, fish-like head, but far from any fish known to man. Its skin was wet, rotting, resembling an ancient sea corpse with glowing ember-like eyes radiating pure hatred. Its jaws separated, revealing rows of sharp teeth stacked like a maze of death blades.

    But it wasn''t alone.

    The massive body merged with dozens of twisting, octopus-like arms, crawling and moving as if they had a will of their own, searching for something to devour, to crush, to drag into eternal darkness. Some floated in the air as if sniffing the scent of fear, while others emerged from the water, smashing what remained of old wooden boats, tearing them apart as if they were worthless toys.

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    Above it all, in the black dome that was no longer the sky, the blood-red moon shone, reflecting its light on the entity, as if announcing its rebirth. The moon itself dripped blood, sending signals into the void, into nothingness, into something Karl was never meant to see.

    But it was too late.

    This was "true fear."

    This was Degon.

    Kazia descended from the sky and delivered one final blow, sending him plunging into the black sea, which transformed back into the void, and he continued to fall once more.

    The fall was eternal.

    There was no air, no ground, just an endless fall into nothingness. The darkness of the void consumed Karl, his thoughts, his senses, even his screams. But it wasn''t a fall into nothingness... it was a fall toward something else. Something that grew closer the deeper he fell.

    And suddenly, it stopped.

    Or so he thought.

    He opened his eyes to find himself standing on a smooth surface, like frozen water but not ice. It was something else, a reflective material like a distorted mirror, reflecting the image of a world that shouldn''t exist.

    He raised his head, and his breath caught.

    Before him stretched a massive gateway, as if the universe itself had bent to form a portal into the unknown.

    The walls around him weren''t walls but a living tapestry of colors, twisting and writhing, breathing as if they were ancient beings not made of clay or fire. Shades of purple, turquoise, and iridescent blue blended with glowing threads of pink and crimson, as if light itself had lost its natural form and become liquid, flowing through the void, seeping into the organic fabric of this vast hall.

    The air was saturated with a strange energy, a mix of tranquil numbness and deep terror. This was no ordinary place... it was a gateway. A gateway to something beyond human understanding, something that had been waiting for him since the beginning of time.

    And in the center of it all was the gateway itself.

    A towering opening, glowing with unnatural light, as if it were a tear in the fabric of reality. From within, a cold turquoise light seeped, pulsing slowly like the heart of a slumbering entity from the primordial ages.

    Then, in the absolute silence, watercolor-like hues began to emerge from the ground, blending the colors of the rainbow, the twilight, and the nebulae into a magnificent painting no human artist could ever create. Waves of liquid color began to enter his mouth until they started pouring from his mouth and eyes, forming a waterfall.

    Karl kept falling... falling endlessly, without a bottom, as if time itself had lost meaning, as if gravity was nothing more than a lie invented by minds too feeble to comprehend the void. But this time, it wasn''t a fall into absolute blackness. It was a fall toward something... toward a world he was never meant to see.

    Kazia was with him, but her voice wasn''t human. It was a whisper echoing in the void, seeping into his skull as if it were part of him, a thought separated from his consciousness and made real. She grabbed his wrist, pulled his collapsing body, and whispered, "Look... this is our entire world."

    And in an instant, the scene exploded before him.

    A breathing sky... light glowing from nothingness.

    He raised his head and found himself staring at a sky that wasn''t a sky. There was no sun, no stars, just a vast dome above him, a mix of sacred light and absolute void. A white, burning sun, like a wound in the fabric of reality, sat at the top, emitting rays that weren''t just light but sounds, words, cosmic lullabies in no human language. This sun was sacred, pure, but at the same time, it radiated a light that carried the illusion of control, the illusion of absolute knowledge. Above it was written: "The Realm of the Gods."

    Below it was an inverted pyramid of light, like a window into another dimension, pulsing with energy the human mind couldn''t comprehend. Inside the pyramid, symbols moved, pulsed, as if trying to escape their eternal prison. This wasn''t just light; it was something alive, something that thought, something that watched. Above it was written: "The Realm of the Nameless."

    The Cursed Lands... the universe folding in on itself.

    Karl began to see the world forming before him:

    I saw something that no mind in the galaxy could ever comprehend.

    End of chapter

 The demon world

    Chapter 30

    The demon world

    The chapter begins with Carl, who began to see something that no creature had ever seen before and that no creature could ever comprehend. He was finally seeing our world as it really is.

    To the left was a living field of nature, but the trees weren''t trees¡ªthey were entities pulsing with life, their trunks whispering, their leaves nothing but eyes staring at him. This was the realm of life, but life here wasn''t a gift... it was a curse, nature aware of itself, realizing it was trapped, trying to escape its green body.

    To the right was hell itself. Burned lands, fires that didn''t illuminate but consumed, cracks in the ground oozing green lava, and black towers rising from nothingness, surrounded by shadows resembling embodied human nightmares. This wasn''t the hell of myths... it was the hell from which all myths originated.

    The Celestial Bodies... the great entities watching.

    Karl realized he was standing on a surface with no end, a strange fabric, not earth, not water, but something in between. And in the midst of this expanse were small planets, celestial bodies orbiting themselves, but they weren''t dead rocks.

    Each planet was a prison, each planet a world, inside which entities unknown to humanity were trapped, ancient entities imprisoned behind cosmic glass shells, watching him from within, whispering to him in voices he couldn''t understand but that echoed in his soul. Above it was written: "The Realm of Fear."

    One of these worlds was a black ocean, its waves not water but drowned souls, human hands appearing momentarily, screaming, before being dragged back into the darkness. Karl couldn''t comprehend the name of this world.

    Another was a maze of bones, skulls stacked to form entire cities, each whispering in forgotten languages, calling out to any weak mind to listen. Above it was written: "The Realm of the Undead."

    And another was a bottomless pit, shadows dancing around it, disappearing and reappearing, as if consuming light, consuming existence itself. Above it was written: "The Realm of the Void."

    The End... Falling Again.

    Karl couldn''t comprehend all of this. His eyes began to tear up, but the tears weren''t water¡ªthey were a black liquid, drops of the void itself. His mind tried to reject it, but his body no longer belonged to him.

    Kazia looked at him, her eyes still cold, and whispered, "This is the true world... you humans only know its surface."

    Then, before he could scream, Kazia pushed him with force.

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    He fell again.

    But this time, it wasn''t a fall into nothingness... it was a fall into absolute truth.

    Karl stood in the embodied darkness, in the void that wasn''t a void but a rotting memory of what the world once was. Kazia was beside him, her face half-visible, the other half obscured by something he couldn''t comprehend. A faint smile faded on her lips as she whispered:

    "Look, Karl... this is what you once were... this is your true past."

    Before Karl, the scene began to form slowly, as if time was replaying itself within a nightmare trapped between life and death. He saw an ancient bridge, a bridge with no end, crossing a dead land. On it stood a hunchbacked man, dressed in heavy clothes as if taken from an ancient shroud. But the man wasn''t human¡ªhe was a mix of flesh and shadow, of meat and void.

    He was dragging a rusty cage behind him, inside which were small children, unnaturally quiet. They weren''t crying, they weren''t screaming. They just stared ahead with empty eyes. Their fingers were too thin, as if stretching through time itself, and their bodies weren''t breathing but trembling in silence.

    Along the path behind the bridge stood two men wearing tall, pointed hats. Their faces weren''t clear, but they looked as if they were drawn in a style not belonging to humans, like an ancient painting eroded by time. They held strange staffs, striking the ground with a steady rhythm, and the sound of the strikes resembled the beats of a giant heart.

    Before them was an army... but not of humans. They were giant human heads, growing from the ground like poisoned plants. They had no bodies, just heads with hollow eyes and open mouths, as if screaming but without sound. Some were smiling, others crying black tears, but all were watching, all were waiting for something.

    In a corner of the scene, a wretched man ran, trying to escape. He was tied to a long rope, extending to the hand of a creature that wasn''t there yet, as if the rope was connected to something in the void, something invisible but felt. The man ran with all his might, his feet sinking into mud that wasn''t mud but rotting remains of unknown creatures.

    With every movement, his body melted slightly, his limbs shrinking, his skin cracking like an old piece of paper burning slowly. He wasn''t running from death but from something far worse, something Karl didn''t understand but felt in the marrow of his bones.

    At the far end of the scene, a massive face appeared, a face that transcended the size of reality itself. It had no body, just a giant skull hanging in the void, smiling an unnatural smile. Its eyes were empty but filled with life, with hatred, with hunger.

    This wasn''t an ordinary face... it was something looking directly at Karl, as if seeing him through time itself. That skull knew him, knew him well, perhaps had been waiting for him for a long time.

    In the center of the scene, a wooden house appeared, abandoned but still inhabited by something. In front of it stood massive creatures, their bodies covered in rotting flesh, their eyes too wide. They weren''t smiling, but they weren''t angry either. They were watching, waiting, as if aware they had been here before humans and would remain after them.

    The air was saturated with their murmurs, not words but sounds drowned in submission and waiting.

    Suddenly, Karl rose, entering a living flashback, as if an invisible force lifted him up. He saw the city from another perspective. The houses all looked small, like cages and nothing more. Giant shadows swam above them, like ancient spirits looking at what remained of their former world.

    One of these creatures was a mix of human features and dead insects, floating in the air as if melting in time itself.

    7- The Final Rituals... The Eternal Farewell.

    In front of another house, a crowd of strange creatures gathered, all similar... round faces, wide black eyes, mouths almost sewn shut as if stitched with needles. They were lined up, as if waiting for something, as if in a ritual Karl didn''t want to understand.

    At the last moment, Karl realized something terrifying:

    These entities weren''t strangers to humanity... they had lived among them. They were humans, and humans were nothing but distorted copies of them.

    Kazia turned to him, her eyes still cold, and whispered:

    "That''s why they abandoned you... because you became too stupid for anyone to care about, let alone cosmic entities. This flashback you saw was before the Great Flood, when humans were intelligent and could be of use."

    And suddenly, the entire scene collapsed.

    Karl fell. But this time, he wasn''t falling alone.

    The eyes above were watching him... and they were smiling.

    And he finally woke from the fall to find himself thrown into a terrifying and strange Amazonian forest, as if it had come from one of the legends of witch forests in ancient myths and stories.

    The green fog began to fill the place and the screams and sounds of owls, crows and wolves filled the horizon and made Carl scream hysterically from the intensity of madness. The highest pyramid of madness is this.

    End of chapter

 The Outsider

    Chapter 31

    The Outsider

    The chapter begins with Marcus, who found himself waking from a strange dream that had haunted him. The Pharaoh of Death had finally left him, but he was still in that cursed desert where pyramids flew above him in a black, cracked sky. From within it, a massive black entity loomed while the sky around it shattered with stars, nebulae, and a red moon that illuminated the dark desert of death. That night, that night the marc dreamed of many a woe

    Before him stood the third pyramid, the one bearing the Star of David on its apex. The apex was descending upon this outsider. He did not only dream of calamities but also of all his fellow soldiers from that war. He saw them in the shadows, taking the forms of witches, demons, worms, and a large coffin that devoured them. The long, miserable nightmare consumed him and those who fought alongside him.

    The unhappiness brought back memories of the war, filled with fear and sorrow. Miserable, he looked back at the past through the long, lonely hours and vast rooms that entered his mind¡ªgloomy rooms with black curtains and mad rows of black holes, strange clocks that turned, and twilight gardens of giant, alien fields weighed down by despair and sorrow. A silence loomed over him, controlling him from the outside and suffocating him from within. So many things, yet the gods had given him disappointment, indifference, and shattered hopes. Broken Marcus, yet strangely content, clung to those memories of his life, even if they were all tragic. When his mind threatened him with reaching the outsider, the other, his memories became blurred. He no longer knew why he had gone to this island or when he had been thrown into this dead desert. He said the pyramids were infinitely ancient, .

    boundless, and terrifying, as if they were not created by any being but by something incomprehensible. They were filled with dark passages and high ceilings where the eye could not reach, inhabited only by the hated creatures of the night, much like him. He was on the roof of the Jewish pyramid when he entered it, finding nothing but spider webs, crow nests, and bats. Below, rats and snakes crawled as if fleeing from something darker. The red light of the moon slightly illuminated the pyramid, and black lightning struck from the cracked sky.

    The desert storms, filled with poison and blood, choked him. Black sand destroyed his respiratory system, but he continued to walk. There was a curse or the smell of death everywhere, as if it were the piled-up corpses of forgotten and dead generations. There was never any light in that pyramid, and he could not consider the red moonlight as literal light. So, he tried to light a fire for comfort, but there would be no comfort, as was the case in the entire world. There was no sun or doors, only sandy passages and hieroglyphic drawings mixed with Jewish symbols and depictions of entities from another world worshipped by the pharaohs. There was a single black ladder leading to the unknown outer sky, beyond time and space, but it was destructively punitive and impossible to climb due to its broken and cracked protruding parts.

    Marcus was afraid, but his greatest fear of the pyramid drove him to go on. He continued walking through the endless darkness, loneliness, and ancient horror. There were loud buzzing sounds. He entered the pyramid. Marcus was in a state of panic and made a decision to go inside, feeling he had no choice but to climb, hoping that the stairs would lead to light and salvation, not to darkness and hell.

    He began to climb, and when he reached the top, he realized the truth. He realized that he had never reached the top at all; he had been at the bottom from the very beginning. Gravity had reversed, and Marcus fell toward the cracked violet sky, falling into the mouth of that black entity that was at the top, beyond spacetime. Its mouth was filled with stars and dead children, and its form was incomprehensible. Marcus could not comprehend it.

    Then, when he entered its dark mouth, he found it to be a place of absolute truth, a place that held the truth of everything. He found himself in the void and began to fall again, and with him fell all the children who had died in the Mushroom War. Their faces were terrifying; they laughed and pointed at him, chanting, "Devil, devil, devil." It didn''t matter if there was something that could stop his fall, even if it could save him. He would be at the peak of nothingness.

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    The fall had no end.

    Marcus no longer knew if he was actually moving or if space itself was shrinking around him, swallowing him bit by bit. When he lifted his head, he saw something that defied logic. It was a massive entity, a creature that refused to have a fixed form, a body sculpted from chaos itself.

    Arms extended, twisted, and pulsed with life.

    Its limbs resembled octopus-like tentacles, massive, coiling around floating rocks that swam in the void. Their texture seemed slimy, saturated with the color of decaying flesh, interspersed with glowing tissues like veins under the skin. Some of the arms pulsed with an inner light, as if they carried trapped souls within them, emitting whispers without language, only a sense of pleading and despair.

    Its face... or rather, the absence of a face.

    In the heart of that fleshy chaos, there was something resembling a head, but it was not a human head or even a comprehensible being. It wore a black metallic helmet as if it were part of its body and not just armor. There were no eyes, but from within the openings, a cold blue light emerged, a light like a blade piercing the darkness. Behind that metallic mask, long black horns extended, as dark as nothingness itself, wrapped in an electric blue glow, as if they emitted uncontrollable cosmic energy.

    The space around him was dying.

    There were massive boulders, like remnants of planets shattered eons ago, floating around him without order, slowly torn apart by the entity''s claws, as if it were reshaping them to create something new, something that should never have existed. The stars themselves were dying, dissolving in the red light emitted by the burning nebulae behind it as if the universe was decaying in its presence.

    Marcus was not floating; he was being dragged toward it.

    There was no air, no gravity, but his body felt as if it was being pulled, his soul sucked in. The world was fading, and something older than time itself was opening before him.

    Then he fell back into nothingness and sorrow once again, that Outsider.

    The fall was not a fall... it was erosion.

    Marcus was not falling into the void; the void itself was consuming him, tearing him apart from within before his body even touched it. Colors faded, the light became a mere memory, and the air had never existed from the beginning. The silence was absolute, but his mind screamed inside him, screamed until his distorted senses trembled before the coming scene.

    Marcus was not looking at a familiar universe, but at another reality, a reality he should never have perceived. His eyes widened, not in awe, but in absolute terror, as distances began to collapse before him. Here, physics was a myth, and perception itself was a tool of torture.

    Above him, there was a cracked glass-like dimension, glowing with colors that had never existed¡ªa void that was not a void, but an impossible entanglement of dimensions. This was "hyperspace," where worlds slid like mercury in an invisible grip, overlapping, shattering, and reforming themselves in patterns that defied explanation.

    Beneath that deep chaos, something resembling a galaxy stretched out, but it was not a galaxy; it was a curved fabric of space and time itself. Strange stars were glowing with a cold green light, "Zothic stars," as if they were eyes staring from times before the creation of the universe. Beside them, worlds of dreams gathered, small planets suspended in the void, each glowing with a different light, like memories from dead minds.

    But this was only the surface...

    The world Marcus thought was the center of the universe was merely a bubble, floating above the great abyss. The boundaries of matter, "the Veil," were nothing but a thin layer separating reality from the lurking abyss beneath.

    And there, below, was "what lay beyond" the Veil.

    The realm of material shadow... "the Outside."

    There was a strange light emerging from the void, a green waterfall flowing from the world downward as if it were a memory fading or an entity being slowly drained. This was not water, not energy, but information. Every thought, every secret, every moment forgotten by someone, was leaking through this rift, heading toward its inevitable fate.

    At the bottom, there was something deeper than knowledge, deeper than existence itself. The informational shadow... the Akashic Record. A pale blue sea, pulsing with unnatural ripples, as if whispering every story that had never been told. Everything was recorded here, every choice not made, every life not lived.

    But the worst was not inside... it was outside.

    Beneath this world, where nothing should exist, there were black creeping roots, twisted like the arms of a creature lost in the void. They extended from nothingness, clinging to the bottom of the universe as if trying to infiltrate it. Some of these roots moved slowly, pulsating as if breathing.

    Then...

    Marcus saw the hand.

    A human hand, but it was not human. Protruding from beneath existence itself, as if trying to hold onto the edge before falling into the ultimate abyss. Its fingers were slender, its skin cracked, its nails long, but the worst was its color. It was not a color, but a void. It was impossibly dark, like a black hole in the shape of a hand, absorbing all light around it.

    Then the fingers moved... slowly.

    Marcus did not scream; there was no sound here. But his mind screamed, and his scream was enough to shatter the scene, or perhaps it was only enough... to make him fall deeper and deeper and deeper than anything in the universe He felt different from other humans at that moment. He felt like he was the Outsider.

    End of chapter

 Demon soul

    Chapter 32

    Demon Soul

    The chapter begins with Gabriel running in the midst of a skin-rending storm, desperate to escape this strange place he found himself in¡ªa place as alien to him as our world once was. His flight mirrors our daily attempts to escape the monsters of boredom, sorrow, and loneliness by engaging in meaningless activities that waste our time. Gabriel, too, was engaged in a futile endeavor: trying to flee this island.

    His body had become emaciated, his mind weakened, though still sharp. But that was the problem. He had come to realize there was no escape from here. Hallucinations and obsessive thoughts plagued him. He had been on a long journey, shivering in the cold, his beard now so long it reached his feet, his body reduced to skin and bones.

    Gabriel embarked on this wretched journey in search of the shore of freedom and salvation. He muttered to himself, "I must have been here for years, but I can no longer distinguish time or the meaning behind my decisions. I thought I was trying to escape this world, but perhaps I was searching for meaning. Or maybe I was almost certain that intelligence was the meaning.

    But it doesn''t matter how smart or brilliant you are. As long as you''re unlucky, cursed, and alone like me, intelligence has no limits. The more it grows, the closer you get to the sun, the more you uncover the truth, the more the lies are exposed.

    You must use your intelligence before it crosses the boundaries. Once it does, you won''t care about success or immortalizing your name in history. You''ll see the world as a place without names. Your soul will become like that of a demon that doesn''t exist. I understand now. I didn''t fall into the void; this island is the void itself. All I do now is walk, with an indifferent smile on my face, waiting to see what happens."

    Gabriel''s steps were heavy, but his expression remained smiling¡ªa smile reminiscent of a man high on cocaine, indifferent to what was to come. The environment around him began to erode.

    The sky¡­ disappeared.

    The trees¡­ evaporated.

    The fleshy ground¡­

    dissolved as if it had never been more than a mirage.

    The skin-rending winds¡­ turned into a deadly stillness.

    It was as if he was no longer walking on anything. There was no "where," only "nothing."

    With each step, the dark void around him expanded until nothing remained but emptiness, a void where he couldn''t tell if he was still moving or if time had stopped.

    Then¡­ he saw them.

    Before Gabriel, in the heart of the darkness, stood a scene the human mind could not comprehend. Two massive entities floated in the void, like trumpets of eternal nightmare, creatures born from the depths of primordial chaos before the stars existed.

    Their bodies were neither solid nor liquid, but a grotesque mixture of rotting flesh and slimy, writhing matter that seemed to breathe. Their forms were covered in eyes¡ªcountless, massive eyes. Their skin was entirely eyes. The eyes¡­ or rather, the crystalline masses covering their bodies, glowed with an eerie blue light, as if they were observing reality itself, as if they were aware of Gabriel''s presence in a way that transcended human understanding.

    Their mouths were rivers of teeth, layers of twisted fangs, and in the mouth of one, there was a single purple eye emitting a violet light that shone on Gabriel. Between the teeth were long tongues saturated with a glowing pink substance, dripping threads of unnatural light, as if they were absorbing the essence of the void itself.

    The space around them transformed into massive clouds, like a cave made of caves, with nothing emerging from its depths but the light of hellfire.

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    There was no sound, only a sensation of vibration, as if the void itself was whispering into his mind, as if the emptiness was trying to communicate with him in a way that didn''t rely on words, but on a tone of primal hunger, on waves of pure terror.

    But this time, Gabriel wasn''t afraid. The entities spoke to him, moving their mouths in a horrifying manner, their eyes fixed on him. They said:

    "Do you wanna feel like you felt last night?

    Do you wanna feel like you felt last night?

    Or shall I say¡­ all night¡±s?"

    Then Gabriel continued speaking, walking with his head down, his arms dangling like a zombie. He looked like he knew the tune emerging from the void. He spoke as he walked away from the monsters,

    their infinite eyes still shining their light on him:

    "I don''t wanna feel like I felt last night.

    I''ll be naked when I leave, and I was naked when I came.

    Out of reach, out of touch, too numb, I don''t feel no more.

    Toast up, so what? Street small, but everything goes both ways.

    So you''ll run, yeah, but you''ll never escape.

    Last night the moon was red, or maybe it always was."

    His smile didn''t change. But something inside him shattered.

    Gabriel walked through the void. There was no ground, no sky, only nothingness. He didn''t know if he was actually moving or if his steps were just an illusion, but he kept going, his head bowed, his eyes half-closed, his arms swinging carelessly like a zombie exhausted by time.

    Then¡­ everything changed.

    Without warning, he found himself floating in space.

    It wasn''t a fall, nor was it flight. It was as if he had been left to drift in this infinite expanse. The killing cold of space wasn''t there, gravity had no meaning, his body no longer felt heavy, but he was still present.

    Then, before him¡­ he saw it.

    The sight that should never be seen.

    There it was, surrounding a small, blue, familiar planet. Earth.

    But it wasn''t alone.

    Something massive, something larger than anything he had ever witnessed, was coiled around the planet like a living nightmare. It had no definite shape, but was a moving mass of chaos, a living fabric of rotting flesh and slimy matter that pulsed as if alive.

    The skin covering it wasn''t skin, but a mixture of living darkness and organic matter that multiplied, twisted, writhed, and changed.

    And it was covered in eyes.

    Eyes of all shapes and sizes¡ªsome round and gleaming like planets, others oval and cracked like shattered mirrors, and some glowing with a hellish red light, pulsating as if they were staring directly into his soul.

    Then there was the great eye.

    A single, massive eye at the center of this entity, embedded in its distorted body like a cosmic black hole sucking in reality itself.

    Its iris wasn''t normal, but more like a vortex of conflicting colors, shifting between dark blue, deadly yellow, and blood red.

    And its pupil¡­ it wasn''t just a black dot, but a gateway, a window to something else.

    Something that didn''t belong to this existence.

    Something that was watching him from the other side of reality.

    Gabriel didn''t move.

    There was no sound, no speech, but the void itself was screaming.

    He could feel it¡ªthis entity, this cosmic beast, wasn''t just a creature. It was a will, a force that transcended the boundaries of time, a force that devoured universes as easily as a human breathes air.

    Gabriel''s mouth opened in shock, and a great shiver ran through him. He was sweating profusely, despite the lack of heat in the void. It seemed the feeling he had spoken of was inescapable. In that moment, Gabriel realized that this feeling was the only thing that directly punched his philosophy in the face. It was the only thing that wasn''t nihilistic, nor could it be said to truly exist. It was the undeniable truth: fear.

    He turned his head and saw Zolish the Leech sitting majestically on the red moon, eating a sandwich made of living alien children.

    Gabriel exclaimed, "Ah, the mortal! Still as mad as ever!" Zolish replied, "Why are you here, Zolish? Surely, I can use you for something useful."

    Gabriel said to him, "You know, I once trusted someone who claimed to be my brother."

    Zolish replied, "Kill him. Brothers are a disaster¡ªask me about it."

    Gabriel: "At least two of them are cooperating with you now."

    Zolish: "I doubt that. They''re probably spies, but that won''t stop me."

    Gabriel: "Despite your intelligence and your cosmic power, you''re chasing the impossible, like anyone else. Defeating the Shadow Demon is impossible. Why do you keep going?"

    Zolish: "Because I carry a soul. Even if it''s the soul of a demon, any being or creature that carries a soul will keep trying. Unlike you."

    Gabriel: "Hah¡­ maybe you''re right."

    Zolish: "Do you remember that seal your father gave you when you were a child?"

    Gabriel: "How do you know about that? I lost it in a mysterious way when I was a child. I searched for hours in the room but never found it. It''s the only thing I had left of my dead father."

    Zolish: "That''s right. Go and fetch it."

    Zolish threw the ring into space, and Gabriel, like a madman, leaped after it, desperate to grasp something that held meaning¡­

    ---

    Far away in space, the Shadow Demon sat on his majestic throne, reclining and bored. ?¨§ said, "You useless slaves, why haven''t we received the green blood wine from Galaxy 97645-F?"

    The guards replied, "My lord, it''s an export issue. We''ll resolve it immediately. Don''t trouble yourself."

    Then, one of the hidden entities approached. Only its voice was heard as it said, "Father, did you know that my brothers, Zolish and Arkhantha, have freed the Demon Lord and are preparing to wage war against you?"

    ?¨§ replied, "I know, and I couldn''t care less. Their attempt to overthrow me is like an ant trying to swim to the deepest point in the ocean."

    The Shadow Demon then glanced at the entity. He didn''t attack or take any action¡ªhe simply looked at it. That was enough. The powerful cosmic entity, capable of destroying galaxies with a single glance, began to evaporate.

    It screamed, "Whyyyyy, Father? Whyyyyy?"

    ?¨§ replied, "Because you annoyed me with trivial news that held no meaning. Instead of bothering me, you should have gone and solved the blood wine export issue, you fool."

    End of Chapter

 black dress

    Chapter 33

    The Black Dress

    The chapter begins with Bruno, who found himself thrown in front of a massive tree in the leathery lands. He turned on his audio recorder and said: *"This is Detective Bruno speaking. To whoever finds this in the future, know that three months have passed for me here, though I am certain it has only been three earthly days. Do not misunderstand me¡ªI am not saying that one earthly day equals a month on this devilish island.

    Rather, the days here are repetitive, monotonous, and identical to one another. Every day since I escaped that terrifying cemetery¡ªwhich held a strange tomb for that creature that existed before time and space¡ªhas been the same: I wake up, go hunting, eat lunch, search for Gabriel, and then sleep, only to be haunted by strange dreams and hallucinations. Sometimes I see myself renouncing my faith and worshipping bizarre creatures instead of my God.

    Other times, I find myself floating in a colorful void, drifting through emptiness. And sometimes, I dream of the day I killed my mother or the girl I loved as a child. That last dream might not seem terrifying, but it is deeply painful and sorrowful on a personal level.* *The differences between days are almost nonexistent on this island. Every minute, hour, day, and month feels the same. Yet, I am still certain that time moves faster here than on Earth. It''s as if this island exists outside of time altogether, as if we are suspended in oblivion, floating between sorrow, pain, and the nightmares that chase us. It feels as though we have died and gone to hell, though I suspect this torment is far more intense and horrifying than burning in flames.

    This is undoubtedly a bleak psychopathy, but friends, it''s natural that I can''t accurately perceive time here. There is no sun¡ªnone at all. We are perpetually here, and the only thing illuminating this place is that terrifying blood-red moon. This tree I''m under also has a strange light shining above it, and crows always perch on its branches, along with a white owl. The owl I can explain, but what are crows doing in a leathery land? And why is this tree not covered in snow, standing alone in its glory? And why, when I sleep beside it at night, do I wake up to find red water dripping on me? And why do I dream of hallucinations and nightmares when I sleep near it? My instincts as a detective prevented me from ignoring this.

    Today, I decided to climb this tree, which is shrouded in a shadow¡ªor should I say, a black dress."* --- He began climbing the tree. In his first three attempts, he fell, as expected¡ªfailure is the beginning. Then, he decided to tie a rope around his waist and secure it to the tree. As he climbed, he noticed the tree''s surface was sharp, as if made of glass, forcing him to wear strong leather gloves to protect his hands. Yet, he still felt pain. When he reached the top, the tree stretched, and its summit ascended into the sky, leaving him back at the base. But this didn''t deter him.

    He wasn''t doing this for survival or success, but to break the monotony. He continued climbing, and the black dress draped over the tree began to expand. The dress grew, engulfing the entire surroundings, turning everything into its color. The little black dress was no longer just a small garment hanging on a tree¡ªit had transformed into a pitch-black darkness that swallowed everything. Only Bruno remained, clinging to the tree in fear. His skin began to bleed from the wounds, but the fear was stronger than the pain. He knew this place well¡ªit was the infinite void he had fallen into when he first arrived here. This only fueled his curiosity and determination. He would reach the top of the tree, the top of the void. --- There was only emptiness¡­ and the monster that devoured the emptiness itself.

    Bruno kept climbing, ignoring the pain bleeding from his palms. He no longer cared about the wounds¡ªonly about moving forward, reaching the summit¡­ but then he stopped. He looked up, and his entire body froze in terror. Above him, between the shattered ribs of the sky, an impossible sight unfolded. There, in the midst of nothingness, stood a being that should not exist. Its body was like the remnants of a star that had died eons ago, hardened like cosmic rock, yet pulsing with an inner blue glow, as if it imprisoned an eternal soul in torment. Its claws extended, massive as moons, clutching planets and celestial stones as if they were mere pebbles. The surface of its skin constantly shifted, as though tiny galaxies were born and died upon its body.

    But the worst part wasn''t its body¡­ it was its face. That mouth, shattered into an endless series of sharp teeth, as if the universe itself had tried to devour itself but failed, leaving only this abyss of fangs. And its eyes? They didn''t exist¡ªonly black shadows stretching like twisted horns, as if trying to grasp reality itself and tear it to shreds. The space around it wasn''t space, but a distorted color, a blend of impossible hues swirling in nightmarish vortices, like the memory of the universe before it was born, before it knew the meaning of existence.

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    Bruno felt his body tremble, not from cold, but from the truth seeping into his mind: This thing should not be seen. This thing should not be comprehended. But he saw it. He saw the endless, terrifying explosion of colors from that entity and the space around it. He saw colors that no human should ever see or comprehend. He saw *The Light from Out of Time.* Despite this, he kept climbing¡ªnot out of courage, but because every day he spent witnessing this embodied horror was a break from the monotonous routine.

    For him, the feeling bored was more terrifying than anything else. In the cosmic void, where the horizon was submerged in a thick red mist as if the sky had bled into an endless darkness, Bruno climbed the tree. But he no longer knew whether he was climbing a tree or an entity pulsating with nothingness. Suddenly, everything around him vanished, leaving only emptiness... and the throne. In the midst of absolute darkness, amidst swirling cosmic dust, a figure sat upon the throne, as if it were the embodiment of absolute fear. The figure resembled a forgotten god, an ancient warrior who existed before the birth of time and space¡ªor perhaps a shadow formed from the very fabric of the universe.

    Its skin was not merely black but a living void, its surface rippling as if distant stars were trying to escape from within. Its muscles were carved from nightmares, pulsating with an otherworldly strength, etched with lines of living shadows that moved slowly across its skin, like trapped souls screaming in silence. On its head, two horns twisted like extensions of the waves of darkness, and in the center of its forehead was a third eye¡ªnot a human eye, but a glowing abyss, a vortex of deep light that was not light but something deeper... and far more terrifying. It sat in eerie relaxation, its extended leg covered in mysterious black engravings, its long fingers ending in twisted claws, as if they belonged to a creature yet to be named. In its right hand, it held a trident spear, not made of metal or wood but seemingly carved from the void itself, emitting a cold gleam that contrasted with the glowing red background.

    The space around it was not space... it was an extension of the human mind when it breaks, when a human realizes their true size in the face of the infinite. Cosmic clouds watched from behind, stars appeared like hollow eyes staring in anticipation, and the air was absent, yet Bruno felt it¡ªhe felt the breaths of something far greater than himself filling the void with silence. This was not just a scene; it was a sensory experience, a harbinger that there was something beyond the boundaries humans know, something waiting, watching, and perhaps... nothing at all.

    --- Then he continued climbing, and when he reached the top, gravity flipped, and he fell from the tree into the vast expanse of space. He screamed, sweating, terrified, sad, angry, and trembling as he fell. He saw someone falling in the opposite direction, approaching him during their descent. It was Gabriel. Gabriel grabbed his hand. Gabriel was unconscious as they fell, and then... they saw before them the Ruler of Beauty. --- In the infinite void, where cosmic nebulae rippled like seas of mysterious colors, where stars shone like eyes watching without eyelids, the entity appeared. Its appearance was not a moment but an eternity, as if it had always existed, waiting for the moment when human eyes would perceive its presence. The entity was not merely a monster. It was distorted beauty, flawed perfection, horror sculpted with divine precision.

    Its black cloak was not fabric but fragments of space itself¡ªintertwined galaxies, small meteors moving slowly, vortices of cosmic dust dancing around it. Golden lines wrapped around it, but they were not mere engravings; they were glowing veins, pulsating as if the universe itself breathed through them. Within this cloak, cosmic eyes of varying sizes were scattered¡ªsome as small as a fingernail, others as large as a human palm¡ªall moving, blinking, shining with reflections of other worlds. Its face was not a face in the traditional sense but a celestial masterpiece... a single eye, yet not just an eye¡ªa gateway to something beyond comprehension. Its glowing violet-blue iris was not a surface but a depth, a bottomless well, within which impossible geometric shapes moved, symbols shifting in a constant rhythm, as if they were a living cosmic equation.

    Its eyelids did not exist, for this eye did not blink, did not close, did not stop observing. Its extended arm resembled a glass statue, transparent as if made of light itself, but within it, stars shone, galaxies rotated slowly, and lines of light moved like sea creatures in the depths of space. Its long, slender fingers ended in sharp edges, but they ¡ªthey were elegant, as if carved from enchanted gemstones.

    When it moved its hand, it left behind a trail of cosmic dust, slowly dissipating in the air, as if the world refused to let it depart entirely. Even the darkness around it was weird. It was not mere emptiness but a moving backdrop, where nebulae burned with deep colors, and starlight pulsed as if afraid to extinguish in Everything about it was perfectly wrong, terrifyingly captivating, as if it had been sculpted to be the cursed beauty that no one could look at without losing a part of their mind. It was an impossible temptation, a horror that made you want to approach, to touch it, to drown in its gaze and never return.

    He raised his hands in front of them and began to say: Listen Seeing you got more ritualistic Cleansing my soul of addiction for now ''Cause you''re falling apart Yeah, tension Between us just like picket fences You got issues that I won''t mention for now ''Cause they''re falling apart The chapter ends with a massive black hole beneath Gabriel and Bruno, pulling them in, twisting and swallowing them, ending them forever.

    End of chapter.

 Miedo en mis venas

    Chapter 34

    The chapter begins with Marcus, who continues his deep fall into the darkness, into the void of oblivion, heading towards the lurking fear. The more your intelligence increases, the deeper your fall, the worse your luck, and the more you become aware of the lurking fear. Every time you go through those moments where you lose everything, you lose your intelligence, your philosophy, your consciousness, and your personality, and you turn into a lump of flesh. But the only thing you cannot lose is your fear. It seems to me that the brain is organic and may not withstand what lies within. What was in Marcus''s mind was not organic or human; it was not meant to comprehend true fear. It was not from the void or its monsters, but from repetition and human recurrence. The humans on this island are no longer human. They have lost their emotions, their hearts. They have lost meaning and also their humanity. They have turned into empty bodies carrying nothing but sadness and loss. They have become outsiders. They have turned into monsters and are lost forever. They were like the dead who can see and breathe, as if watching their lives from a television inside their minds. They have lost meaning. The lurking fear was feeding on them. The god of fear, the god of anger, the god of sorrow, the god of pain, the god of blood, the god of sadism, was watching them every day. Perhaps he was enjoying it, or perhaps he did not care about their fate. The sorcerer of fear was watching him in the midst of the void and destroying him daily. The sorcerer of fear, or the god of fear, or...

    Rey de miedo?, as he was known in our past worlds, was relentlessly pursuing them. He was chasing them, along with the master sorcerer of terror, who was known in our world as Hatred. The hatred he acquired after the war, which made him refuse to deal or speak with humans again. It was as if he were a strange alien to them; he hated them and felt bored when he saw them. He had no friends, no family. Until Marcus came into his life, and he was similar to him. And perhaps that is why he is now here, in this place. Where he imprisons everyone who does not belong to this Earth, this skin-like Earth that has no name, where there is nothing, only truth. Where the fall is eternal, and the void swallows everything.

    Marcus realized that he was an outsider among humans here. In fact, everyone here is a stranger, belonging to no one, and no one belongs to them. The great truth that the masters must realize is that this island exists in our real world and consumes millions of humans daily, swallowing them into a void larger than the universe itself. Alone in this void, far from everything.

    Perhaps you, too, are falling into the void right now.

    ¡ª

    Imagine yourself alone in the entire universe. Would you feel happiness? How would you endure this nothingness? Perhaps in your childhood, you imagined finding happiness in solitude, but is that what would truly happen? Imagine living for thousands of years, eating the same food, and living the same dark moments, with nothing changing. Imagine being alone in an infinite void. How would that be? But do not rejoice and tell yourself that you have people around you, because even if there are billions with you in the same room, if solitude chooses you, you will be alone, and you will feel as if no one else exists in the galaxy except you¡­.

    Marcus is now feeling what everyone on this island feels. Anger was consuming him, anger at everything he had lost, at everything he had lost one day. Is there anything stronger than the anger of losing something important? Is there anything more precious than this? But is there really anything of value? But is there anything at all? This is what was going through his mind as he fell.

    But before his mind ceased to function under the weight of these thoughts, he continued his eternal fall.

    ¡ª

    Marcus fell.

    He fell, an inevitable fall, until he no longer felt his body or his mind. Only a cold flow through his spine, as if it were made of glass and ice.

    Then... everything stopped.

    ¡ª

    There was no more falling, no movement, no air.

    Only him... and the scene that no human eye could endure without exploding.

    ¡ª

    He saw himself standing on the edge of a dark abyss. No ground beneath his feet, no sky above him, only a living blackness pulsating in every direction, writhing, undulating, as if the universe had become a dark sea boiling from unfathomable depths.

    ¡ª

    And in the face of this nothingness, the moon rose.

    But Marcus quickly realized it was not a moon.

    It was not a celestial body, not a planet. It was a face.

    ¡ª

    A dead moon, its skin made of dust and ruin, pockmarked with craters, scorched by ages, yet it breathed... and it had fangs.

    Its eyes? No, there were no eyes, only two cosmic voids, true black holes, from which silence emanated... a silence that screamed in the depths of your mind. Not a sound you hear with your ears, but one you feel in your bones.

    ¡ª

    Its mouth... was a smile.

    A massive smile, stretching across half the lunar sphere, made of thousands of teeth that looked like mountains carved from the bones of the dead. Each tooth taller than a tower, each molar wider than a city, and every laugh exhaled a breath of gray lava.

    ¡ª

    The smile was not human. It was animalistic, insane, defying logic, defying mercy.

    The red moon resembled a human skull laughing.

    ¡ª

    And beneath this nightmare, a city stretched.

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    A giant fortress, built of ash and cracked marble, towering, twisted, bending the laws of geometry, as if following the designs of a blind, mad being. Its towers never ended, its windows were dark, and light refused to touch it.

    ¡ª

    Clouds coiled around it, like ropes of smoke from the mouth of a dying god.

    And eyeless black birds flew, screaming without sound, circling the highest towers, as if waiting for something to awaken... something inside the moon, or behind the city... or in his own mind.

    ¡ª

    Marcus gasped.

    But there was no air.

    ¡ª

    And when he tried to retreat, his body did not move.

    He was stuck, suspended in the air, as if held by invisible threads, or like a doll in the hands of a cosmic child who had lost its mind.

    ¡ª

    The moon''s face smiled wider, and the sky cracked.

    And Marcus understood the truth.

    This was not an external scene.

    It was internal.

    This city dwelled within him. This face resided in his mind.

    ¡ª

    Then, in the midst of eternal nothingness, at the base of the infernal fortress, he heard a voice echoing across the horizons, words as if this place was sending a message.

    Shut out my Phantom, yeah, me,

    and my haters be Phantom, yeah

    Walk around, hold my hands up ''cause I got too much bands, yeah

    All white like dandruff

    The stomach hurts up

    She letting'' me hit before I use my damn thumb, -

    He returned to falling into the void once more, thinking about this message. Fear consumed him, and he screamed intensely¡ªscreams that were unheard, unseen, and carried no meaning. They were the screams of a dead man falling into darkness. His skin began to turn into darkness, but then something stopped it.

    Then... the rose of darkness bloomed.

    Marcus saw the being, the nameless being.

    It stood in the midst of space, on a shifting, misty body, as if the nebula itself exhaled beneath it. No ground, no sky, no air... only it, and that thing.

    Its body was a fusion of two creatures: the lower part like the body of a massive horse, covered in a dark metallic hue, as if its skin were made of hardened nebula and stars. It seemed as though each layer of that celestial, rigid skin contained the ashes of an extinct star. Its four legs ended in cloven hooves, piercing the nothingness as if tearing through the fabric of the universe itself.

    On its left hand was a black hole, and on its right, another black hole, as if it were holding them.

    But the upper part was even more terrifying.

    A swollen human torso, crafted from multiple stellar explosions, forming its green body. Its muscles twitched with unnatural spasms, and its veins pulsed with an otherworldly rhythm. Its arms were long, ending in twisted, claw-like fingers, each nail glowing with a dark green pulse, as if poison flowed beneath its skin.

    But the head... the head was the catastrophe.

    It was not a head, but a massive dome, as if someone had planted a winged jellyfish atop its body¡ªhalf transparent, half solid, riddled with cracks and holes. Slanted openings on its sides emitted a dead light, while the center of its head pulsed with a black ring, a hole that drew in sight and swallowed perception.

    As if what lay inside was not a brain... but a dying star.

    And around it, space was tearing apart.

    Two dark stars orbited it, like abandoned ships in a whirlpool of death. Each one was a black eclipse, bleeding light instead of obscuring it. They did not rotate, but breathed, contracting and expanding as if they were the lungs of a nightmare.

    The being raised its hand toward one of them, and the star stopped.

    Then it raised the other hand toward the second star... and it stopped.

    Marcus gasped, but once again, there was no air.

    The being turned toward him. It did not move its body... the universe moved around it.

    And in that moment, Marcus realized one thing:

    This being was not created.

    This entity was unleashed.

    Then the entity looked at Marcus as if it saw him and spoke to him, though its lips did not move. The voice came from within, and it said:

    Tell me what do you think is the ultimate fear

    I really thought I¡±ve Already reach the darkest of the dark but then ahead of me I beheld the darkness even Greater still

    Marcus began to scream intensely when suddenly his fall stopped, and he woke up from the nightmare. He spat out sandy dunes from his mouth and found himself in front of a corral of horses and donkeys in the middle of the desert. The corral was filled with men wearing large round hats and black coats, carrying rifles. They were speaking Spanish, so he couldn¡¯t understand what they were saying, but one of them spoke English fluently. He asked Marcus:

    "Are you American?"

    Marcus, nervous, replied, "no, but I¡¯m lost here. Do you know the way out?"

    "We can take you to our place and give you some food and drink."

    He rode with them on the horses, and they traveled for days through Death Valley in the dark desert, where ghostly wolves gathered around them. But the wolves were busy chasing other prey. Marcus asked them, "Why is this desert so strange?"

    "Oh, boy, it¡¯s because of the wrath of the 7 Kings of the Universe."

    Marcus felt that these Mexicans were drunk and talking nonsense, so he didn¡¯t pay much attention to them. As they advanced, something began to unfold before them. It looked like a pyramid, but it wasn¡¯t a pyramid¡ªit was a pyramid with stairs and a door inside, like a Mayan tomb. Marcus asked them in confusion:

    "What is this strange place? Where are we going? I don¡¯t understand anything at all!"

    The Spanish boy replied while the rest of the group looked at him with bewildered and terrifying stares that froze his body.

    The boy said:

    "Oh, Mr. Marcus, here we stop to put some dots on the letters. In Mexico in the year 1867, you must have guessed this when you saw the shape of the pyramid and the ancient ruins. The pyramids that appear sloped on one side while there are staircases on the other side. Yes, this is Mexico, and we are heading toward those temples. Those are the temples of the Mayan civilization, but our religion is different from theirs. We worship Rey de Moscas , while the other sects have different gods from the Kings of the Universe. The Maya today are nothing but a legend. We have deciphered the temple carvings and learned about the true rulers. The land we are in is called the Land of the End, and it is one of the places where the Maya left their mark strongly. And to understand something of what is happening before us, we must rely on some history¡ªcomplex history."

    Marcus, in whom time had stopped.

    He no longer heard the hooves of the horses, nor the whisper of the sand, nor even the sound of his own breath.

    As if the world had turned into a frozen image,

    a cursed image, painted on the wall of one of the temples,

    in the color of ancient blood that had not dried for a thousand years.

    The boy''s words were codes opening impossible gates in his mind:

    "The year 1867... we are in Mexico... we worship Rey de Moscas ..."

    Marcus, the man of law, logic, and rational investigations,

    Marcus, who came from a time where devices counted breaths,

    now found himself before another universe...

    a universe with different gods, different laws, and a history unwritten in human books.

    He felt his skin eroding from within.

    He felt his eyes sinking backward, as if they wanted to escape the scene.

    Everything inside him screamed,

    but no sound came out.

    The sky above them was black, too black,

    as if it were a thin membrane hiding something breathing behind it.

    His heart beat slowly, then sped up, then suddenly stopped for a moment,

    the moment he realized that this pyramid, this path, these men...

    were not part of madness, but of truth.

    A truth that humans had been fleeing since the beginning of creation.

    He knew something was wrong.

    But not a logical error... an error in the very nature of reality itself.

    Marcus was no longer sure if he was alive, asleep, or if his heart was still in his body.

    He felt something deeper than fear,

    something resembling the end.

    ¡ª

    > "I thought I was a cop chasing a killer, but now... I don¡¯t even know if I¡¯m human anymore."

    Marcus said nervously, "Anyway, hey boy, you know you¡¯re on a skin island, right?"

    The boy replied, "You¡¯re right and wrong. This is the Land of the End, the land blessed by the Seven Princes of the Universe. There¡¯s an ice cave here, for sure. The place you entered from to reach the Land of the End was the Devil¡¯s Frozen Island. We¡¯re here in Mexico in the 18th century, as I told you. In the Land of the End, there is everything and there is nothing. Anyway, we¡¯ll stop here. You must come with us into the temple."

    He entered the temple and found himself facing numerous statues. Some of them were from the Mayan religion, but the strangest of all was a statue of a giant skeleton with the letter "Z" written beneath it, revered by many Mexicans. It stood in the center of the hall, and beneath it was a platform where many knelt in worship.

    It looked like an old, gaunt Mexican man with a stern face, surrounded by insects. They were chanting, "Larga vida al Rey de Moscas" Marcus didn¡¯t understand what they were saying. He sat in the corner and began eating cactus-filled burritos and tacos. Then he heard a non-human voice shouting, "Las dos monas fous, Aegyptus, no solans," and the echo repeated this phrase over and over. Marcus, filled with tension, headed toward the sound, only to be shocked. He recognized the face¡ªit was his police colleague, Matthew, with his limbs severed. The Mayan descendants had placed his arms and legs in a large soup pot and frozen his feet with a strange icy energy. Marcus was on the verge of screaming in terror when the Spanish-English man placed his hand on Marcus''s shoulder and said:

    "Mr. Marcus, did you like the secret recipe for the tacos? We make them from specially selected meat¡ªit¡¯s the meat of the relatives of Rey de Moscas. We take the limbs, and the rest is thrown into the cosmic gate behind the temple."

    Marcus replied with a nervous smile, "Yes, it¡¯s delicious, the best I¡¯ve ever tasted."

    The man responded, "Drink some of the crimson blood wine so you don¡¯t choke on the food. Even food can sometimes embody the lurking fear."

    End of Chapter

 curse of Dios del miedo

    Chapter 35

    Shinigami

    The chapter begins with Marcus, consumed by primal fear in the heart of the Mayan tomb. His eyes begin to tear up¡ªperhaps because he had just eaten his friend¡¯s flesh, perhaps from the sheer horror of it all, or perhaps for no reason at all. They were just meaningless tears, like everything else in this terrifying world. Marcus was sweating when the Spanish boy of English descent, P., urged him to calm down.

    The boy said to him, "Now, Mr. Marcus, you have two choices. Either you join us as a new member of the cult and come with us in the rites¡ªwe dance from midnight until dawn under the red full moon, the Blood Moon¡ªwhat do you say? Will you come out and sanctify the God of Fear with us? Or will you become a meal for me and the beasts of the cosmos... like your friend?"

    Marcus replied nervously, with little hesitation, "Amigo, I¡¯ll join you. To the deepest hell¡ªanything but a strange death."

    The Mexican whispered in his ear, "Rejection¡¯s fate is worse than death, and acceptance¡¯s fate is worse than life. Together, we forge our own paradise through our worship of the unknown. Welcome, Mr. Marcus, to the Cult of the God of Fear."

    They led him out of the terrifying Mayan temple and walked through the desert beneath countless stars and comets. Beyond the horizon, the red moon illuminated this cosmic masterpiece, painting the sky with hues of terror and beauty. Colors from beyond space lit their path as Marcus and the Mexicans headed toward the center of the temples.

    There, in the vast desert, stood numerous statues, each beside a temple. But one statue stood alone in the middle of the wasteland. Marcus anxiously asked the cult members, "Is this the one we¡¯re facing?"*

    They replied, "Yes, amigo. Here lies the God of Death, the bestower of blessings upon us. We must go and welcome you as a new member."

    They rode through the illuminated desert darkness on horseback until the statue was revealed before them. It was a massive undead skeleton, clad in a cloak made of bear fur, its mouth agape and its eyes spewing eerie green flames. The statue was drenched in blood, and beneath it, carved into its base, was a name:

    "Zulish the Lich, the Shinigami, God of Fear."

    The Spaniards, in ecstasy, proclaimed, *"Welcome, Marcus. This is the new absolute ruler of the cosmos, our master, the sovereign of fear¡ªZolish."

    They began circling it, dancing and chanting strange words in Spanish. Marcus was brought to the center, where they handed him their sacred bible¡ªa book bound in green leather with a golden skull-shaped lock.

    The Spanish boy said, "This book contains the teachings and mythology of our cult. Pray to him, for he is close to claiming dominion over all things."

    Marcus asked, "What do you mean?"

    The Spanish boy replied, *"We don¡¯t know the details, but it seems there is a war in the cosmos¡ªthe cosmic deities and the Seventh One against the Absolute Entity, the Shadow Demon. Our lord seeks to rule everything. That is the prophecy given to us, but our master has not revealed more. Look¡ªthe other cults are emerging from their temples."

    Marcus asked, "Why?"

    Then, seven more statues appeared beside the God of Fear, Zolish.

    The first was a majestic elf witch.

    The second was a giant eye with countless embryos.

    The third was a massive wolf with teeth from another dimension, a long horse-like tail, and jet-black fur, fiercely illuminated by the red moon.

    The rest were so bizarre that Marcus¡¯s poor mind could not comprehend them.

    The cult leader approached him and said, *"Well, Marcus, right?"*

    This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

    Marcus replied, "Yes, sir."

    The cult leader said, "First, you must dress like us."

    They gave him a traditional Mexican robe¡ªdark red with golden skull embroidery on the chest¡ªand a cowboy hat adorned with an inverted cross and bone motifs.

    Everyone there wore Mexican attire bearing symbols of their ruler.

    The cult leader said, "Good. Now, you must dance with us. Each cult will dance around its idol, but we are smarter¡ªwe will dance around the God of Fear."

    They began performing strange yet elegant Mexican dances around the the Wizard of Fear , chanting in Spanish:

    *"Vive en vivo, el maestro del reino m¨¢s alto y el dios del miedo."

    ("Long live the master of the highest realm and the god of fear.")

    Each cult repeated its own eerie Spanish chants. Marcus danced along, mimicking them, his body tense with fear.

    As this unfolded, the people began to transform.

    Those before the elf witch¡¯s statue grew scales, jagged teeth, and large round eyes. Thread-like appendages extended from their heads, and fins sprouted from their backs¡ªthey became amphibious, fish-like creatures.

    Those before the wolf turned into blood-drenched werewolves, their fur matted with gore, their fangs bared.

    As for those around Marcus¡ªfirst, their skin began to melt away, revealing raw flesh, nerves, and exposed organs¡ªlivers, spleens, intestines. Then, one by one, they exploded. Blood and human viscera splattered across Marcus¡¯s face as they all transformed into skeletons.

    They grasped each other mid-dance, their voices rising into a deafening chant. Their eyes erupted with flames¡ªsome red, some blue¡ªas the ritual reached its horrifying climax.

    As they venerated the God of Fear, the Shinigami, they began reverting to their human forms. Marcus'' sweat soaked the ground as he trembled violently, his teeth clattering so hard they nearly shattered. In panic, he stammered, *"Wha¡ªwhat just happened?!"

    The Mexican priest replied, *"These transformations are a gift from the God of Fear. You didn¡¯t change like us because your initiation ritual isn¡¯t complete yet. But don¡¯t worry¡ªthe time has come."

    **"Step forward to the statue of the God of Fear before you¡­ and take this dagger."

    Marcus took the dagger with shaking hands and approached the deity.

    The priest commanded, "Now is the time to shatter the walls of fear. Take the dagger, carve out your heart from your chest, and offer it to the God of Fear. Do not fear¡ªyou will not die. This dagger is the most powerful in the world; it will preserve you completely."

    Fear consumed Marcus.

    Tension overwhelmed him. He screamed, turned, and ran¡ªhurling the dagger at one of the cultists. It decapitated the man instantly.

    The cultists gave chase.

    The inevitable came.

    They caught him.

    In fury, the Mexicans snarled, *"?Arrojemos a este amigo infiel al agujero c¨®smico y dejemos que los dioses hagan lo que quieran con ¨¦l!" ["Let us throw this unfaithful friend into the cosmic abyss and let the gods do as they please with him!"]

    They bound him and dragged him behind the temples¡ªor rather, **beyond time and space itself.

    There, a massive rift split the earth¡ªa tear in the fabric of spacetime. Beneath the abyss lay the terrifying void: stars, supernovae, and nebulae swirling in the deepest pit imaginable.

    Then they threw him in.

    Marcus fell into the lurking terror, plummeting through the vast cosmos¡ªthe cradle and land of true horror.

    As he fell, his skeleton burst out of his body. Then his soul separated, leaving his flesh behind. He watched from behind as his bones and spirit drifted apart¡ªuntil he crashed onto a chessboard.

    The impact shattered the board, scattering the pieces¡ªonly to send him falling again through the technicolor void, past comets, stars, nebulae, suns, moons, and supernovae.

    "When the universe opened before him..."

    Marcus floated in the void¡ªor perhaps the void floated within him. Time was no longer fixed; it had become a liquid seeping through the pores of reality.

    Suddenly, an entity manifested before him¡ª**or perhaps it had always been there, and he was only now able to perceive it.

    It stood in the midst of nothingness¡ªnot a being, but an embodied idea. Its form was not truly a body, but a fabric of cosmic dust, interwoven threads of light and darkness. Every inch of its being burned with the energy of galaxies yet unborn¡ªor perhaps galaxies dying within it, fading like dreams at the touch of dawn.

    It had no face.

    No eyes¡ªjust three hollow pits radiating golden light , like masks of another reality, remnants of unknown civilizations reflected within. Its mouth was not a mouth, but a tear in existence itself, a hole from which white light poured¡ªas if it swallowed time and regurgitated it, mutated, distorted, meaningless.

    Above its head, strange appendages writhed¡ªnot hair, but living shapes, twisting arms or perhaps tentacles, or even cosmic pathways bending under their own weight, emitting colored lights like the spectra of dying stars. Some opened and closed like unknown flowers; others stretched into fiery smoke-serpents that coiled and vanished into nothingness.

    Its right hand was extended, fingers pointing gently¡ªbut not at Marcus. At something behind him, something he dared not look at. In its left hand, it held a small orb¡ªa planet rotating slowly, its atmosphere burning with eternal fire, as if fate itself dangled in its grasp, a mere toy in the hands of an entity indifferent to worlds burning or being reborn.

    But the true horror was not in its form¡ªbut in the way it existed.

    It did not stand there¡ªit tore itself apart and reassembled every moment.Its torso was split open, revealing no stomach or intestines¡ªjust a void where stars stretched, a gateway between worlds, as if its inside was merely an extension of the outside.

    Or perhaps the opposite.

    It was born and collapsed simultaneously, as if it did not live, but oscillated between being and non-being. Every time Marcus looked at it, he felt his own essence unraveling, as if his eyes were mere holes through which his soul was being sucked inside.

    And then, suddenly¡ªMarcus was no longer Marcus.

    There was no "he." No "I."

    He became a spark¡ªa mere point, a burning thought in the mind of an entity that did not belong to this universe.

    ---

    He continued falling through the cosmic abyss,past stars, nebulae, pink and blue planets, and green suns¡ªa distorted, undiscovered space¡ªuntil, in the heart of the void, he saw others falling.

    **Bruno and Gabriel.**

    Bruno held Gabriel in his arms as he reached out to Marcus.

    *"Who are you?"

    Marcus: "Seems like someone else was forced to see the truth."

    Bruno: "Welcome to the party."

    Marcus: "It¡¯s a beautiful feeling, falling here with two others. It¡¯s truly¡­ indescribable."

    Bruno: "I know a feeling that doesn¡¯t exist."

    As they fell, an enormous black hole emerged beneath them¡ªstretching half the size of a galaxy.

    From its depths emerged an

    undead figure, clad in a black cloak, wielding a massive scythe forged from cosmic dust. Its blade was crafted from the remnants of shattered moons¡ªso sharp it split the black hole itself, tearing through the fabric of space.

    They screamed in terror as the entity **widened its maw and laughed, awaiting their descent.

    And so, they continued falling¡ªstraight toward the Shinigami, the God of Fear.

    ---

    End of Chapter

 The Horror at Red Rook

    Chapter 36

    The Horror at Red Rook

    There are secrets of evil and gods around us, and we live and move, in my belief, in an unknown and absurd world¡ªa place where there are caves, shadows, fog, and dwellings in the twilight, things beyond time and space. It is impossible, in my opinion, that man, in the 197,000 years he has existed here, has not returned to the path of evolution, nor discovered this path until the last 160 years. Perhaps the path he has discovered is a primitive one, based on what was found in the past.

    And in my hopes, this terrible story has not yet died, for it is immortal within all our minds. The chapter begins with Marcus, Gabriel, and Bruno, who continued falling through space toward the God of Fear, who had emerged beneath them from the void. The God of Fear opened its terrifying maw, waiting for them.

    Its mouth was the size of a thousand planets, and within it raged a ghostly green hurricane, filled with the corpses of aliens, their spirits, and some spectral human skulls spinning in an endless loop of wrath. Stardust assaulted them, choking their breath, and above them stretched a twilight that wept eerie green spectral droplets.

    In the midst of this colored void, they seemed to be hurtling toward their doom. Gabriel awoke from his stupor and found himself in this bizarre predicament. "What is this...?" he muttered in disbelief, before they continued their descent into the grotesque maw of the God of Fear. Then, Gabriel and his companions heard a voice from the void. It said to him: *"The day when I shall be the end draws near, O perishable one... And so too does your wish approach.

    " Then, they awoke to find themselves aboard a dilapidated boat, sailing upon true horror¡ªthe most terrifying place in all the worlds. They sailed upon the ocean, the embodiment of the unknown, of enigmas, of our deepest fears¡ªthe most dreadful place in the galaxy, even though it is near us, and we go to it every day.

    We eat from it, we sit upon its shores in the dead of night, watching the waves and opening ourselves to the universe, only to realize we know nothing of it. The unknown. They sailed through the unknown along the cursed shores of that accursed island. Then, the stars vanished from the sky, and the rest of the darkness swallowed the moon. The winds disappeared, and the rest of the darkness consumed even the island¡ªthey could no longer see it. Everything vanished, and absolute darkness reigned. Yet the ocean remained.

    They continued sailing through the ocean in the heart of the dark, realizing they had entered the Void once more. They trembled in terror¡ªthe men aboard this ship. I assure you, they had lost their fear of death, yet they remained terrified. For sometimes, staying alive is more horrifying than dying. They knew they would be tormented here every day. That is why they hide the Void.

    That is why we fear the ocean. That is why we drown every day. That is why we disappear from ourselves all day long, living with dual personalities¡ªthe superficial one, and when the darkness looms, when midnight passes and dawn approaches, when the twilight rises and the sea winds howl in the midst of silence and darkness, our true selves emerge¡ªour brilliant selves.

    They were living with their true selves, but they were not happy. Instead, they were sorrowful, aware of the fear coming for them from the black winds in the midst of the dark, tranquil ocean. They continued sailing against their will, just as you continue living against yours. Then, they saw their nightmares. Rose came and stabbed Gabriel with a dagger in his heart. Bruno¡¯s mother, Georgina, came and stabbed Bruno with a dagger in his mind. And the Egyptian girl came and stabbed Marcus with a dagger in his soul.

    ¡ª In the midst of absolute emptiness, where there was no time nor direction, they found themselves sailing upon a colorless sea, its waves rising like the dying breaths of a corpse. The ocean around them was merely a reflection of something incomprehensible¡ªits surface was not water, but a substance between life and death, between awareness and oblivion. But when the winds raised their voice, the darkness suddenly tore apart, and the tower appeared before them. A colossal tower stood upon a black rock, as if placed there by something ancient to warn all to stay away. It seemed alive¡ªa crumbling body of stone, its walls eroded as if gnawed by centuries of wandering spirits. Its single window, an empty eye, stared at them as if it had been waiting for them since the dawn of time.

    At its peak, a sickly light pulsed¡ªnot a light of salvation, but something diseased, rotting, as if trembling from fear itself. Then came the storm... The clouds above them began moving unnaturally fast. They were not mere clouds, but masses of shadows writhing like creatures suffering from an incomplete birth. Beneath them, the sea began to change... The waves were not mere water, but shapes moving within it¡ªspirits drowned since time immemorial, decayed faces rising with the foam, screaming soundlessly as if trying to escape something even greater than death.

    Marcus, Gabriel, and Bruno did not speak... they could not. This place was beyond words¡ªit was something only felt, devouring the soul before the body. They were approaching the tower... and the tower seemed like the legendary lighthouse of the Legendary city of Innsmouth.

    Bruno said:"Does any of you know how to stop these endless nightmares? Even though we''re far from the island, it doesn¡¯t end. I¡¯m starting to lose my mind¡ªmy eyes have turned black from terror. I haven¡¯t slept since we came here."

    Marcus replied in despair:"We don¡¯t know.

    It¡¯s as if we¡¯re in hell, suffering endlessly. We don¡¯t even know if the island with the lighthouse is real or not. But let¡¯s hope that getting away from that frozen island that imprisoned and tortured us might save us¡­ might end this.

    Bruno:"Honestly, I don¡¯t want anything from life anymore except this to stop."

    They continued sailing in the boat, filled with tension, fear, and suspicion. They clawed at their nails until they began biting their fingers, scraping their teeth until they started to crack. But Gabriel sat quietly¡ªsomewhat relieved, thinking they were finally leaving the island.

    "We¡¯re getting closer to the lighthouse," he muttered. "The nightmare might finally end." But suddenly, the lighthouse¡¯s beam swung toward them, illuminating their boat.

    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

    It seemed whatever lurked in the lighthouse¡ªsome strange, unseen entity with the body of a fish¡ªhad noticed them. The beam of light that struck their boat began to burn it, forcing them all to leap into the depths of the ocean. --- Meanwhile, our story shifts to Detective Karl... The Gothic Necronomicon book had also cast him into the void.

    He, too, was now swimming in absolute darkness under the glow of a red moon, amidst the screams of the stars¡ªuntil his fall abruptly stopped.

    He awoke from that horrific nightmare to find himself back where he had started¡ªin the Witches¡¯ Forest section of the island, standing before the Japanese Buddhist temple where he had found the book. The ground was green, the cherry blossom trees filling the air with their petals. Karl stood up, disoriented.

    "Where did the book disappear to this time?" he wondered. His instincts for solving mysteries, combined with the insatiable hunger the book had planted in him¡ªthe lust for power¡ªdrove him forward. Under the red moonlight, amidst the tall grass, the darkness, the temples, and the sakura trees, Karl followed a path illuminated by the crimson glow. Ahead, several cherry blossom trees stood¡ªgnarled, thorn-covered, and bound together by some unseen force. Words formed in blood, shaped by the moonlight, appeared before him. Fallen sakura petals drifted onto the words, staining the elegant temple floor. The inscriptions were carved in a strange language¡ªone no human could comprehend, not even Karl. Yet, he heard the translation whispered into his ear, as if the book itself was speaking to him in a tongue beyond understanding. "The book lies this way," it seemed to say, "beyond the sakura trees whose petals have turned from pink to dark red.

    " The rest of the trees in the vast forest remained their usual pink¡ªonly these, marked by the red moon, had changed. The demonic book was waiting there. And so, Karl walked toward the unknown. --- As Karl approached the sakura trees, he moved through the bloody thorns, his body torn, thin rivulets of blood streaking his skin in jagged lines. But he didn¡¯t stop. There was no turning back now. Logic had vanished¡ªonly the voice of the book remained in his head, whispering secrets no man should know.

    Behind the trees, where the cherry blossoms had turned into bloody shadows, Karl saw something that should not exist¡ªsomething no human eye should ever witness. There was... an entity . Not just a monster, but the embodiment of fear itself , as if the abyss had taken on a grotesquely humanoid shape. Before him stood a woman¡ªor something resembling a woman. Her hair was thick, black, hanging like a curtain soaked in death, covering most of her face. But it did not hide her eyes ¡ªlifeless, hollow, dark, like pits leading straight into the void. She wore an ornate kimono embroidered with sakura flowers, but it was decaying at the edges, crumbling like dead skin, as though time itself was slowly devouring it. But what made Karl¡¯s breath freeze was not her face, nor her clothes¡ªbut what lay behind her. Her back was not human. Eight massive, twisted legs¡ªlong, spiked, covered in bristling hairs¡ªsprouted from her spine, like those of a spider perched on the edge of death.

    The limbs moved slowly, as if preparing to strike. Black veins pulsed beneath her skin, throbbing like tubes pumping poison. Her nails were not nails¡ªbut thin, serrated claws, like needles carved from human bone. Her hands trembled slightly, not from fear... but from patience , as if waiting for the perfect moment to tear him apart. Karl felt his body lock up. Every cell in him screamed to run, to flee¡ªbut he couldn¡¯t . He was trapped, not by ropes or chains, but by something deeper. Not just fear. Pure, absolute dread.

    Then, she moved. Not with a step¡ªbut by gliding , as though time itself no longer functioned properly around her. Her hair parted further, revealing a slow, twisted smile¡ªstretched too wide, as if her lips had been torn to form that cursed grin. She whispered something¡ªnot in his ears, but into his marrow, into his blood, into the core of his soul. Then, before he could comprehend, the thorns he had passed through began to move... as if they had been waiting for this encounter. They transformed into something else¡ªsomething alive, something that knew it would never let him leave.

    Now, it was no longer in his hands. --- The blood froze in his veins despite his severe wounds. He ran, screaming wildly, leaping through the thorned trees as his injuries multiplied. Gasping for breath, he distanced himself from that yokai .

    "It seems madness is becoming reality," Karl muttered in distress. Then, he returned to the heart of the forest, behind the temples. The red moon''s glow intensified, and strange words began carving themselves into the earth once more. Karl heard the whispers¡ªthey told him: "Now, go beyond the mountains... you will find what you seek." And so, Karl turned toward the mountains.

    It seemed the book¡¯s allure was stronger than fear itself. The wind blew slowly, drifting through the long grass covering the mountains like frozen waves¡ªmoving only when touched by the breath of darkness. The red moon hung in the sky like a demon¡¯s eye, gazing indifferently at the horrors below, casting a strange, glowing light as if the air itself was saturated with blood.

    Karl stood where the path ended¡ªwhere nothing lay behind him but the void, and before him... something that *should not exist. From the depths of the mountains, where the eroded hills twisted like half-buried corpses, emerged a creature unlike anything humanity had ever known. It was massive, coiling around itself like a colossal serpent, floating in the sky¡ªyet its skin was not skin at all. It was covered in *thousands of tiny eyes. Each eye flickered in a different color, watching the world from impossible angles.

    Some blinked rapidly, others remained fixed¡ªstaring at Karl as if he were its next meal. Its body seemed made of clouds ¡ªthe strangest Japanese dragon any eye could behold. Its head was not one, but many ¡ªa shifting amalgamation of faces, their features constantly morphing as if trapped souls screamed, moaned, and whispered in inhuman voices. Its breath came in thick red smoke, twisting in the air like burning spirits, emitting cries that were not human... but the universe itself weeping, as if in agony from this abomination¡¯s existence.

    Its mouth¡ªno, mouths ¡ªwere impossibly wide, filled with jagged, elongated teeth, coated in remnants of flesh (human or otherwise). With every movement, a metallic scraping sound echoed, as if bones were breaking inside it¡ªas if its own form was too grotesque for even itself to bear.

    And when Karl looked down, he saw no feet. Instead, roots extended from the earth itself, as if the soil had grown this creature¡ªas if it had not been born, but summoned from the void, from a place beyond comprehension. The creature did not move toward him. It did not attack. It did not scream. It simply existed, watching¡ªas if its mere presence was enough to terrify the cosmos. Karl felt his insides shrivel, something within him collapsing, as if his soul wanted to flee his body before this *thing*

    did the indescribable to it. Yet despite the terror, despite every instinct screaming at him to run¡ªhe couldn¡¯t. Because he felt something stronger than fear. But nothing is stronger than fear.

    So what was this feeling? Unnameable. --- Karl fled. He ran, screaming, tearing at his hair, biting his hand¡ªmadness had taken him. Until he reached the shore. There, the red moonlight bathed the ocean, now filled with sakura petals¡ªscratching his face like razors. Karl understood the message the wind had sent him: Salvation lies in the ocean. And so, in true horror, he prepared to leap.

    --- The ocean stretched endlessly before him, its black waters churning as blood-stained sakura petals swirled in the air, cutting his face¡ªwarning him, begging him not to. But he had no other choice. The ocean was his escape... or so he thought. But when he looked up, he saw what should never be seen.

    From the depths of the black waters, a nightmare without form rose¡ªan indescribable leviathan. Its body was a fusion of shadow and mist, lacking solidity, yet tangible, as if the void itself had taken shape. It moved slowly, but each motion made the waves tremble, the air thicken, Karl¡¯s heart stop.

    It had a head¡ªbut not a human one. No features, only two enormous eyes glowing with a faint, cold white light¡ªwindows into an eternal abyss. These were not eyes that saw. They were eyes that *consumed. As if all existence was meant to bow before them, dissolve into them, vanish. Its hands emerged from the water like ancient ruins¡ªlong, skeletal fingers ending in black claws.

    The horror was not their shape, but their *resemblance to human hands*¡ªas if they belonged to a giant whose soul had been stolen, or a corpse trapped between being and nothingness. When one hand rose, the waters screamed, cracking as if the entire ocean was trying to flee¡ªbut could not. The clouds in the sky tore apart¡ªas if existence itself could no longer bear this creature¡¯s presence. The wind felt fear. The earth felt fear. The ocean felt fear. And Karl? Karl was no longer even human. He had become a *singular point of pure terror, severed from reason, severed from his own body.

    He felt nothing now except one undeniable truth: This thing was not a creature. It was a law of the universe. Salvation? Not an option. Death? Not enough. Escape? Impossible. --- Then, Karl saw what his mind could not endure. His right hand clutched his hair. His left hand seized the other side. And he pulled. With a force beyond madness, he *tore himself apart*¡ªhis body splitting down the middle as he ripped his own scalp from his skull. His organs spilled out¡ªheart, liver, kidneys¡ªslapping wetly onto the blood-soaked shore. He died without ever understanding: Were these creatures entities of the Blood Moon? Or yokai from Japan¡¯s darkest folklore?

    End of Chapter

 The Gunslinger

    Chapter 37

    The Gunslinger

    The gunslinger is a legend who lived in the past, in the savage West where bloodshed and annihilation were the law. These were tales from ancient times, but in our modern era now¡ªwhat do you think, gentlemen? Who is the gunslinger, and where does he aim? At our thoughts? At our beliefs? At our religions? Or directly at our minds? Is he the one in control, or is he a follower? Is he human, or is he something else? Honestly, I don¡¯t know. But all I know is that the gunslinger is real, standing in the dark desert, staring at the corpse of a crow, its carcass perched proudly atop a cracked rock.

    The chapter begins with Gabriel, Bruno, and Marcus, who continued to drown in the source of fear¡ªin the terrifying ocean, in the depths, in the mysteries, in the darkness, in the solitude, in the tranquility, in the earthly void. They felt every sensation one could feel when sitting alone on the shore in the dark, watching the waves and waiting for the *Flying Dutchman*, Cthulhu, the Kraken, or any other sea legend to pass by. Unlike land myths, we cannot say with absolute certainty that the myths and legends of the ocean are lies. After all, we know only about 5% of it. We know a drop of water from an endless downpour, a single star among millions. But the only thing we know for sure is that the ocean is the fountain of fear.

    As for the question I posed at the beginning, your mind surely wandered, lost in thought, drowning in that question¡ªperhaps even distracted from the horrors and tragedies unfolding here. The gunslinger is not an external enemy, not a cosmic entity, not a supreme power. Your problem is that you always see yourself as the victim. The gunslinger is *you*. He is an internal enemy, the genius subconscious of the human mind¡ªthe mind that refuses to let mysteries remain unsolved, even if it costs it everything. The gunslinger was Karl in the last chapter.

    Let us return to our companions, who were drowning in the dark depths. They were like an open eye in the darkness, unable to perceive whether it was truly open or still shut.

    They were sinking slowly, their minds incapable of comprehending everything that had happened to them so far, continuing to fall into the true void¡ªthe ocean.

    They were drowning in the void, in the depths that had no bottom, where there was no beginning or end¡ªonly an endless expanse of blackness and oblivion. Their sense of time faded, and their bodies became mere thoughts falling into a sea of nothingness.

    Then, from the nothingness itself, the scene unfolded before them.

    A massive entity, almost larger than the concept of space itself¡ªa body woven from light and shadow, chaos and order¡ªthe embodiment of nightmares yet unwritten. Its glowing head resembled a burning sun emerging from the heart of nothingness, like a lion ablaze with light rather than fire. Strands of its hair moved like living flames¡ªthough it was light, not fire¡ªrippling like the tremors of an earthquake shaking universes. It had no eyes, yet it watched, perceiving even the void itself.

    Its body resembled a serpent, but with rough, cracked yellow skin, harder than any lizard¡¯s hide in the universe.

    Its first arm stretched into the void, holding a pitch-black planet, dense like a concentrated black hole, pulling everything toward it. The planet pulsed like the sick heart of the universe, sending tremors through the abyss. Its other arm held another planet, radiant with an eternal golden glow, as if it were the source of all stars that had ever burned through the ages.

    Before this entity stood a person¡ªor something¡ªits body rising from the darkness itself. It had no fixed shape, more like twisted roots ascending from the depths of a bottomless hell. Every part of it moved slowly, as if searching for a form suitable to face the entity staring at it.

    The sky behind them was not a sky, but fragments of shattered universes¡ªruins of another reality that had faded eons ago, drifting slowly through space like remnants of a lost memory.

    Gabriel, Marcus, and Bruno could not even process the sight, but it pierced their minds like an arrow through soft flesh. This was not just a scene¡ªit was an idea, a primordial thought that had dwelled in every mind since the dawn of time, waiting for the right moment to emerge.

    They were drowning, but now, they were floating before a nightmare not crafted by humans, nor created by any god. It was something older than existence itself.

    Something that could not even be named.

    Then, they fell back into the dark oceanic void, where black jellyfish flew and began stinging them with venom.

    Then, suddenly, the water around them shattered like fragile glass, and they were no longer drowning¡ªthey were falling.

    The fall was not toward the earth, but toward a scene that could only exist in dreams or nightmares. They found themselves passing through pink clouds¡ªclouds that were not soft as they seemed, but instead carried an eerie glow, as if saturated with a strange energy. Below them were sharp red mountains, rising amidst a whirlwind of crimson dust that spun around them like a barrier between reality and nothingness.

    Before them, high above, the red moon illuminated everything around the clouds.

    On the horizon, there was a massive rock¡ªa leathery mountain. They were falling toward the leather island that had imprisoned them, as if it had summoned them back, as if their attempts to escape were futile. It was shrouded in thick fog. But when the fog cleared, they saw¡ªthe island had three climates: the first glacial, the second desert, and the third Amazonian. Beneath the island were gigantic gears, as if they were the same gears rumored to exist beneath the pyramids. The island was one of the strangest oddities.

    Gabriel, Marcus, and Bruno were not falling toward the ground. They were falling toward a truth that should never be uncovered.

    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    Then, each of them entered a different climate. Three enormous hands emerged from the island¡¯s surface, reaching up into the highest skies, seizing each of them.

    The first was a spectral, icy green hand, surrounded by ghostly wolves, snowy owls, and phantom witches. It dragged Gabriel toward the glacial zone.

    The second was a sorcerous hand, shrouded in a sandstorm, shaped like a palm filled with crows, snakes, animal skulls, and blood.

    The third was a hand overgrown with trees, inhabited by yokai¡ªKappa, Tengu, Noppera-b¨­, Rokurokubi, and Okami. These terrifying monsters clung to the branches of the arboreal hand, some biting into it until it bled.

    Then, all three hands pulled them down, each into a different land¡ªbut the horror was shared across all of them.

    ---

    Let us first go to Marcus, who found himself standing once more in the heart of the Desert of Death. The winds struck him violently, yet he stood tall as his cloak whipped fiercely in the storm. The dunes shifted endlessly, as if the desert itself refused to settle into a single form.

    The red moon blazed in the sky, surrounded not by stars but by utter darkness. Strange metallic objects¡ªdiscs and spacecraft¡ªhovered in the air. A colossal statue of a shadowy woman in a black cloak stood proudly before a golden pyramid.

    On the ground, grotesquely deformed dinosaurs roamed. A leafless tree stood in the distance, its branches crowded with crows. Behind it, a massive black wolf with razor-sharp teeth and crimson eyes prowled.

    Marcus wandered the desert in stunned disbelief¡ªuntil he saw a group of riders on horseback. They were not cowboys, not human at all. Their skin was pale, wolf-like, with hollow eyes. They wore tattered cowboy hats and weathered clothes, their white hair spilling from beneath their brims.

    One of them threw a lasso around Marcus, dragging him away as he screamed in terror:

    "Where are you taking me?!"

    One of the riders turned, his voice dripping with dread, vapor escaping his mouth as he spoke. His eyes darkened into a bloody crimson as he answered:

    "We¡¯re taking you to our god...

    The Gunslinger.

    Marcus gasped.

    "Who... who are is The Gunslinger?"

    They walked for hours¡ªor minutes, or days. Time had no meaning here. The deeper they went, the more horrifying the desert became. The crows multiplied, the red moon burned brighter, and the twilight grew more beautiful¡ªuntil they stopped.

    Before them stood a monstrous scarecrow, wearing a cowboy hat. It was not made of straw, but of the skeleton of some alien creature. Its spine was unnaturally thin, covered in thorns. Its hands were like the claws of witches from ancient horror tales. Its face was shriveled, its mouth a jagged slit, its hollow eyes staring at them with an unsettling gaze.

    And behind it¡ªsomething indescribable loomed.

    ---

    In the heart of the desert, growing stranger and more terrifying with every step, Marcus stood before a sight not even his most hellish nightmares could conjure. The sky above was like a black sea, heavy clouds swirling around the red moon¡ªits lone eye pulsing like that of an ancient god, watching in cold silence.

    No stars. Only darkness swallowing the void, making the world feel as though it were marching toward inevitable doom.

    Before Marcus lay the ruins of a shattered city, its walls cracked and scorched, as if demonic fire had ravaged it, leaving only the ashes of memories. Above the ruins, a demonic entity soared on tattered black wings, as if burned in forgotten ages.

    It was a hairy abomination, a living nightmare, with a single red eye glowing in the center of its grotesque face. Its maw gaped, filled with nail-like teeth, dripping black saliva. Its breath reeked of decay, carrying the stench of unbearable death.

    The creature hovered, its massive claws outstretched as if to tear reality itself. Below, the earth breathed fire¡ªsmall volcanoes glowing in the dark, spewing thick gray smoke that slithered through the wreckage.

    And amidst the ruin stood a barren tree, leafless for centuries, its branches weighed down by crows. Their eyes were black voids, watching without life, without mercy.

    **On the horizon, beyond this chaos, a golden pyramid rose, glowing with an eerie light¡ªas if it were a gateway to another world, one that did not belong to humans.** Before the pyramid stood a shadowy woman, draped in a long black cloak, her face indistinct, as if she had no features or the darkness had consumed her entirely. She stood in silence, an eternal ghost waiting for something¡ªor someone.

    Marcus, bound by the rope in the hands of the strange cowboy specters, could only stare at this scene, lost between horror and awe as he was led toward his fate. The riders, with their hollow eyes and wolf-like white skin, did not utter a word. They walked steadily, as if they knew the path well. And with each step, Marcus felt the world grow colder, madder, more nightmarish.

    Trembling, Marcus asked them:

    *"Is this the place of the Gunslinger you spoke of?"*

    One of them replied:

    *"No. His place cannot be grasped. But we are close... to the Messenger, who will send you to* **The Gunslinger.** *You should be proud, little sacrifice of our god."*

    They reached the golden pyramid and entered. And when they emerged¡ªMarcus saw something that made his eyes widen in shock, his mouth hanging open, his words stolen from him until the end of his journey. It was as if his mind had been shattered.

    ---

    **In the depths of the desert**, where no life existed except death suspended in the air, Marcus finally stopped. He did not know how long he had walked¡ªtime itself had dissolved, as if the desert had swallowed his mind just as it had swallowed thousands of souls before him. The scene before him was like a painting carved from an eternal nightmare, where the cracked, dry earth met the black sky, reflecting only infinite void.

    On the horizon, beneath a sky dark as cosmic emptiness, a blood-red moon hung, radiating a strange glow¡ªneither warm nor illuminating, but watching in silence, like the eye of an ancient god forgotten by time. There were no stars, only faint, scattered dots drowning in thick darkness, as if the universe itself was exhaling its last breath. And as Marcus stared at this ominous moon, he felt¡ªfor a moment¡ªthat it stared back, as if it were a living entity, waiting for the right moment to devour him.

    But that was not what shattered Marcus¡¯ mind.

    What shattered him was the realization¡ªthey were in space. Specifically, standing on the surface of Mars.

    ---

    Before Marcus sat a creature draped in a filthy gray robe, its back hunched, its body weighed down by the burden of its own existence. It did not move. It made no sound. It simply sat there, like a statue carved from the void itself. The sands surrounded it, yet there were no footprints¡ªas if it had never walked, but simply appeared, as though it had always been here, waiting for the moment of revelation.

    The robe covering it was not mere cloth¡ªit looked like dead skin, cracked and eroded by scorching winds and cruel time. No face could be seen beneath the hood¡ªonly darkness, swallowing everything, as if what lay beneath was beyond comprehension.

    The cowboys spoke:

    "We have arrived at the Messenger of the Gunslinger. Throw this human to him¡ªhe will fulfill his purpose."

    The silence was thick, almost tangible. But Marcus felt something whispering in his ears¡ªvoices not from the outside, but from the depths of his own mind. Distorted, ancient words speaking of death, of rebirth in a different form, of obedience to the Gunslinger. The crows filling the sky above did not fly aimlessly¡ªthey circled, as if observing the ritual about to begin.

    Then, the Messenger spoke:

    Welcome, Marcus. You will be a delicious meal for my master. But first... meet this little girl.

    Beside it stood the Egyptian girl, laughing mockingly. She sneered:

    "Throw this fool to the Gunslinger. He deserves it."

    Marcus¡¯ tongue lolled out, his eyes rolled back¡ªhis mind was breaking.

    The Messenger seized him¡ªand hurled him into a massive black hole, dragging him into the vast cosmos. He fell through space, past stars, supernovae, nebulae, and planets. In that moment, he saw the universe in its entirety¡ªevery star, every planet, every galaxy, everything. Unlike us, who see only a single star, he saw it all.

    Then, suddenly, the entire universe coalesced into a single entity¡ªa colossal shadow-woman, draped in a black cloak, her body woven from darkness and void. Stars glittered across her form, galaxies swirled in her chest, black holes pulsed within her, supernovae flared in her veins¡ªthings beyond comprehension. And when Marcus finally looked upon her, he saw¡ª

    The Gunslinger.

    Or rather¡ªhe saw the Supreme Entity, the Overlord of the Universe, the Shadow Demon¡ª??.

    The Shadow Demon smiled.

    Marcus saw its hellish teeth, illuminating everything¡ªhe could not grasp the horror of those fangs, nor the terror of its crimson eyes. In that moment, he saw the Shadow Demon in its true form¡ªa form even I cannot fully describe.

    And then¡ªhis mind exploded, from sheer screaming.

    He awoke in the desert, his brain shattered, unaware of his own destruction. He stumbled forward until he saw a lake, thinking he had escaped the nightmare¡ª

    But then he saw his own head, split open, chunks of his brain spilling out. There had been a bomb inside his skull all along.

    And so, he died by the lake.

    The blackness that turned to red...

    He died without ever knowing the answer to his question:

    Who are is The Gunslinger?"

    End of chapter