《Time's Lineage》


 Lux

    The dense trees of the forest made the average human blind to the area around him, making him a threat to various creatures.


    The moon reflected the sun''s light rays all over the land to lead the lost and save the people in the dark.


    A young man kept slashing and cutting his way through the bushes and vines until the way in front of him was clear and straight.


    When the path ahead was finally clear, moonlight hit the face of the young man, revealing a medium height, short brown hair man wearing a gray tunic with black breeches, and had a visible scar on his left eye. His eyes were dark green and had about average facial features.


    "What the hell... is that" He exclaimed, in front of him was an ancient looking entrance, its pillars barely stable and are about to collapse any second. The design of the entrance looked like it was straight out of a novel, the air and breeze coming from the inside reaching some of the lowest temperatures he''s ever felt.


    He slowly approached the entrance, examining the area around him while keeping his guard up with his weapon in his pocket and his hand on its handle.


    He slowly made his way through the entrance and ventured into the dark alley inside. He quickly lit up a matchstick so he could continue venturing inside as the light of the moon was losing its effect inside the dungeon-looking structure.


    As he stepped forward, each step was followed by a strange object, the sound of a strong pull.. as if he was being sucked by the source of this sound.


    When he least expected it, he felt his right foot sink into the floor as if he had pressed something, that''s when an arrow was shot and almost penetrated his abdomen, leaving a small scratch on his oblique.


    He quickly cut off a piece of his clothing to cover the small wound. He kneeled down to treat it and then stood back up and continued walking through the path.


    After minutes of venturing inside, he was met with a brick wall.


    "So.. that path ends here?"


    He was extremely disappointed with the truth that lay in front of him. Out of frustration, he sat down and started chugging on water and punching the walls.


    "YOU LIARS! What''s a fancy entrance doing there if there''s NOTHING!"


    After punching a brick in the wall one more time, it moved. Brick by brick, the wall broke down and revealed a secret entrance.


    That''s when he saw in front of his very eyes a strange looking box in the middle of a cubic room on an altar. He had his suspicions but took the risk and stepped forward to take it.


    After a few steps, he felt it. He felt the wrong and unusual feeling. As if something had been watching him since the very moment he entered this dungeon through the entrance.


    He turned around, and the path he took until this point was gone out of existence. He questioned whether this was an illusion or he was going insane but doubted the latter.


    The moment he turned around to face the object once again, two large green skinned creatures emerged from the walls.


    In a moment of shock, he quickly grabbed onto his dagger just like he always trained. He always knew a moment like this would come but not in a place like this.


    "I need to knock out at least one of them." He thought as he waited for the two creatures to approach him.


    The two orc-looking creatures dashed towards him, moments before they crashed into him he quickly dashed to the left to dodge their attack, and in a swift moment grabbed his dagger and went for one of the orc''s back of the neck for a chance to paralyze it.


    He ran towards the orc''s back and stabbed the back of its neck with his dagger unleashing the orc''s rage, making it start to helplessly punch its back, trying to stop the rising pain.


    Before he could react, the second orc landed a fist with its giant hand on the son''s body, making him fall off the first orc''s back and flying off into a wall shattering it. He felt as if every rib and bones in his body was shattered and smashed to pieces as he yelled from the pain and terror.


    The two orcs slowly approached him till their eyes made direct contact with his. Staring into his soul, ready to squeeze out what life he has left in his body.


    One of the orcs held a fist around him, crushing him in it, and started walking towards the wall with the other orc following him.


    The ancient concrete wall rose up to form a giant dark tunnel inside it. They went inside of it, the light coming from the previous room getting dim by the second.


    "Is this.. how I die?.." Are the last thoughts that came to his mind before passing out because of the extreme and unbearable pain.


    Torches on the walls began lighting up as a room finally became visible to the eyes of mortals.


    The orc threw him inside of it, making him lay dead-like on the ground, and then they left.


    Seconds, minutes, and what could be hours passed when he was unconscious. After what felt like an eternity, his eyes slowly opened.


    "Filthy orcs." An unknown male voice was heard by the young dude as he saw what seemed to be a light beam penetrate through the orcs torso, leaving behind only the dead bodies of the orcs and a lake of blood soaking and covering the ground.


    A tall, mysterious man wearing a dark purple cloak approached the young dude from before, each step filling him up with terror. He tried crawling away helplessly from the man, but his very own body failed him.


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    The man took the cloak off of his head revealing his face, the man had long dark hair and a very intimidating and overpowering gaze, his eyes were dark brown and his mouth was in a horrendous state that looked inhuman. His voice was deep but smooth to the ear.


    Under the cloak, he wore a strange black oversized tunic and brown linen pants and some boots.


    The man sat on his knees.


    "You-- get out of here." the man said before putting his hand on the young dude''s torso.


    "Your body is in shambles. How did you even get in here?"


    "I- I just walked through the entrance and followed the light..."


    "Entrance? There is no entrance, and what light?"


    "What is this kid talking about.." the man thought to himself.


    "T-the glowing thing o-over there!" The young dude struggled to form a sentence while pointing at the previous room all the way through the tunnel.


    The man picked up the young dude on his shoulder and started walking towards the room that withheld the altar. ???


    After finally reaching the altar, the man looked at what seemed to be a rock.


    "It''s just a rock? Are you out of your mind, ki-? " the man said before being interrupted by the rock''s sudden golden glowing.


    "Woah.. what is that?.." He said before picking it up in his hand.


    The young dude struggled to properly watch what was going on as he mumbled random words that came to his mind.


    Suddenly, he watched as a large orc emerged from the wall while holding an axe as it approached them.


    "M-MOVE!" He yelled before the orc landed a blow on both of them, sending the man flying off into a wall and the young dude on the floor.


    "Ugh!- What is that?" In front of the son''s eyes was the glowing rock. For his last effort of survival, he forced his way crawling to finally hold the rock.


    The young dude panted and groaned in pain as he held the rock tightly in his hand.


    "P-please.. do something.. I beg of you.."


    "I-I can''t die here.. I still.. I still need to get there- get to the royal palace.." he said as he coughed up blood and tears filling his eyes.


    "I-I''m sorry.. Mom.. I promised you I''d make you proud.."


    On the verge of death, a flashing light expanded by the second from his hand.


    He felt the rock penetrating through his hand, his skin being burned and swallowed. He yelled and screamed at the horrifying pain that he was feeling. The rock was torturing him till death. But after a few moments, the pain suddenly stopped. He looked into his hand and saw the rock strangely united with his palm.


    Surprisingly, he felt as if every bone in his body had recovered, and every torn muscle had healed. He instantly realized it was definitely because of it.


    He stood up only to see the man from before fighting the giant orc, his sword clashing with the orc''s axe, each clash creating a spark of fire.


    "Maybe this rock can do something.. let me try what I saw that guy doing before" he thought to himself, as he copied what he saw the man doing earlier when he fired a light beam penerating the enemy.


    "So like this.. and maybe.." he threw a fist into the air and then opened it.


    The man and the orc kept exchanging slashes and hits until the man finally wounded the orc''s right eye and took the chance to take him down.


    "Maybe if I focus on my han-" he said as he clenched his hand''s muscles while pointing towards the orc''s direction. A bright but small light beam penerated through the air into the orc''s stomach, the orc fell on its knees and finally on its head.


    In a moment of hysteria, the young dude started quietly laughing as he watched the orc''s lake of blood fill the ground and its organs burn to ashes.


    He turned his head to face the mysterious man only to find him rapidly approaching him. In a moment of shock, he steps away and tries to run away, but the man grabs him by his hand.


    "How did you do that?!" The man yelled at the young dude, the latter tried explaining himself but instead started mumbling and stuttering each word that came out of his mouth.


    The man grabbed onto the young dude''s hand to investigate it only to find the rock fused with his palm. He reached out his finger to touch it, but a burning sensation quickly made him reflex his hand away from the rock.


    "Weird.. I''ve never seen something like this.."


    "I have no idea what happened, I- I just held onto it, and it kind of just started fusing with my skin. It felt like my hand was being soaked in lava."


    "That technique.. it''s a technique of my people.. only people born and raised in the Vahara Clan can even try to perform it..."


    "Va.. hara?"


    "Never mind that, we need to get out of here and check whatever you have over here.. What is your name, kid?"


    "Me? My name is.."


    The young dude stuttered for a few moments and added:


    "My name is Flugel."


    "That''s.. such a bizzare name, my name is Willinham. Nice to meet you. "


    "Nice to meet you too, so you said you''re from a clan called Vahara?"


    "Yeah, but it''s not that important, it''s just a bunch of old geezers walking around trying to pass on their useless techniques to the next generations because of the so called ''Upcoming Doom'' but i know for a fact they''ve just lost it."


    "Weird.."


    "Where are you from, kid?"


    "I''m from a village nearby called Gandara Village."


    "Gandara? Wait a minute.."


    Willinham reached out to his pocket and wipes out a map.


    "Th-that village is like 5 kilometers away?! Why are you here?!"


    "Ahahaaha- I got lost.."


    "But anyways, we have to check this thing out."


    "Oh, my hand? Yeah, you''re right.."


    Flugel opens his hand and looks at the rock, only to find himself getting dizzier by the second.


    "I.. I feel tired.."


    Flugel almost fell to the ground but Willinham picked him up in time, it looked like Flugel''s energy was absolutely sucked out by that technique he used earlier, the only destination and goal Willinham had in mind was taking the kid home safe and sound.


    "Tsk, don''t die on me. We''ve just met."


    "But just what is that thing.."


    Willinham picked up Flugel on his shoulder and walked out of the dungeon, avoiding traps in the way. By the time he got out of the entrance, the sun was already rising and birds were heard chirping.


    Willinham heard the sound of cart wheels nearby. He quickly ran to the source of the sound and found a person who looked like a merchant riding a horse cart.


    Willinham yelled and ran after the cart, leading it to stop.


    "Hello? excuse me, sir. "


    "Well, hello, young man.. are you lost by chan-"


    Before the merchant could finish his words, he saw Flugel on Willinham''s shoulder.


    "I-is that Flugel?!"


    "Yes?.. Do you know him?"


    "That''s my neighbor''s son.. what happened to him?!"


    "It''s a long story bu-"


    "Just get him in the cart. we''re going to the village!"


    "Alright alright! He''s okay. You don''t have to worry and yell."


    Willinham put Flugel in the back of the cart and signaled the merchant to start moving.


    "And you?"


    "What?"


    "Aren''t you coming?"


    "...I have other business to attend to"


    "But you know, this kid was missing since yesterday. His mother would be more than pleased to thank you in person."


    "Yeah, I don''t.. I fear I can not meet her in person."


    "As you wish, man.. but can I ask you some questions?"


    ".. go ahead?"


    Willinham started getting suspicious.


    "What is with that weird cloak around your neck? It feels.. strange."


    "Oh, that?.. it''s a gift from someone."


    "Kid, I have learned VLV control back in my youth, and I know a damn thing or two that that cloak is no-"


    Before the merchant could finish his words, Willinham grabbed him by his throat, choking him.


    "Enough questions."


    "Y-yes yes!"


    He lets go.


    "Get going before you regret it."


    "YESSIR!"


    The merchant quickly signaled the horse to start moving. The cart started moving as well and disappeared into the horizon by the second.

 Welcome

    A mesmerizing sun had risen from over the horizon, scattering its rays all over the land filled with mud and grass.


    The wind was playing alongside the bushes and trees, captivating any viewer''s vision for hours on end.


    Inside of the Kingdom of Ol'' Karna, also known as the kingdom of hierarchy, a small village with the population below a hundred lived in peace.


    Everyone knew each other due to the lack of the population, making it a peaceful environment and a perfect place to restart your life from zero.


    The village included a couple of houses alongside a crop field made of mostly wheat.


    Inside one of the houses, a family of 3 lived in peace, a courageous and caring mother and her baby son alongside her 17 year old son Flugel.


    "Kids! Lunch is ready!" The mother shouted from the first floor of the house.


    The mother spent the next 3 minutes waiting for her children to arrive in the kitchen only to find her baby son crawling on the floor.


    "Where''s the other?" She thought in her head.


    She stood up and walked up the staircase until she finally arrived at the doorstep of her son''s room. She slowly opened the door.


    "What the-! Mom, wait!" A male voice shouted as he heard the door opening.


    -THUD-


    A fall could be heard from all the corners of the house, making the mother horrified.


    The mother rushed on her knees to pick up her son.


    "Ugh- it''s okay, it''s okay!" Flugel said, trying to relieve his worried mother.


    "What were you doing?!" The mother exclaimed in both confusion and terror.


    "I was um.. I was decorating my room! Yeah!" Flugel answered.


    "Decorating?.. but there''s nothing on the walls or roof?" The mother asked, still in deep confusion.


    "Never mind that, are you hurt?!" The mother replied, not caring about anything but the safety of her dear son.


    "It''s okay. I can stand see?" The son replied as he slowly stood up, which relieved his mother.


    The mother stood up, getting ready to finally have some lunch with her dear family.


    "The food is getting colder by the minute. Come on!" The mother told her son before leaving his room.


    The two of them head into the kitchen and find the baby crawling and playing on the floor, the mother praying he didn''t do anything stupid while she was gone. The three of them have a nice lunch over a warm chat between family members. When they finally finished their food, the son immediately went to his room to finish "decorating".


    "She almost caught me." Flugel thought to himself as he closed the door to his room behind him.


    "But... it''s gone."


    He looked at his hand front and back, just to find the rock from earlier missing only, leaving a scar on his palm.


    He sat down on a chair, trying to remember what happened during that one day.


    "If I''m not mistaken.. the incident happened around three days ago. The last thing I remember was that I passed out after I used this. But somehow I woke up here in my room.."


    "That man. He has to be the one who got me here. Maybe, maybe I should look for him- I need to know what the hell is this."


    Flugel stood up, walked out of his room, and down the stairs approaching the exit door.


    "Where are you going?" His mother asked.


    "I''m just going on a walk, just around here, you know?"


    "Alright, sweetie, just take care!"


    He slowly opened the door.


    "Yo."


    "Huh?"


    A tall man wearing a purple cloak was in front of him, staring into his eyes. But he seemed familiar.


    "Do.. I know you?"


    "Forgot me already?"


    "... oh-"


    Willinham was able to see worry in Flugel''s eyes, as his family was inside the house.


    "I fear we should take this somewhere else more private?"


    "Y-yeah."


    Flugel closed the door behind him, following Willinham steps into some woods near the village.


    When they finally found a spot with fallen logs to sit on, they sat down.


    "So, how''s your hand?"


    Flugel sighed.


    "How should i say this.."


    Willinham got suspicious.


    "What? Did something happen? Did you lose it?"


    "Look, I don''t know! After the incident, that thing just kind of disappeared! Here, look!"


    Willinham took a look at Flugel''s hand, trying to sense the energy coming from the rock.


    Willinham seemed confused and added:


    "It''s not here. But.. I can still sense it."


    Willinham tried to follow the source of the energy, his hand following its flow.


    His hand goes from Flugel''s hand to his elbow, then to his shoulder, then to his chest, then to..


    "It''s here."


    "Huh?"


    Willinham put his hand on the left side of his chest.


    "I''m not so sure myself, but it has to be here.. your heart."


    "My heart?.. You''re telling me that rock just melted into my heart?! That''s absurd!"


    "Don''t blame me! The same energy from the rock is manifesting right inside your left chest or heart!"


    "How do you want me to believe such a stupid thing?! And what do you mean you can "sense" it?!"


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    "Oh, right."


    "What?"


    "..Try to do that technique from that time overrrr- there!"


    Willinham pointed at a nearby boulder


    "Technique?.."


    Flugel remembered what he did back in the dungeon and tried doing actually like back then.


    He opened his hand and clenched his hand. But..


    "I.. I don''t know."


    Willinham looked confused and questioned:


    "What?"


    Flugel seemed passed off at Willinham''s absurd expectations and added:


    "I said I don''t know!"


    "What do you mean you don''t know?! You literally casted a high-level technique like it was nothing!"


    "I don''t know, man, it just kind of happened!"


    "Alright, alright, let me.."


    Willinham put his hand on Flugel''s chest and closed his eyes.


    "..Weird.."


    "What''s wrong?"


    "Althought the rock energy flows through your body, your body''s VLV isn''t flowing at all, your control is horrendous."


    "What the hell is VLV?"


    "So basically, every human alive has VLV flowing throughout their body, but the smoothness of that flowing depends on the person''s control of it. There isn''t anyone who doesn''t have VLV in their body except the dead. You could say VLV is your blood, and without it, you''re dead."


    "So how do I control that?"


    "It''s.. complicated."


    Willinham sat Flugel down and started explaining step by step the structure and control of VLV.


    "Get your hands together."


    "..."


    "And clear your mind from any thought."


    "Uhuh.."


    "Now put your hands against each other and leave a small gap inside. Clench your hand muscles tightly but harmlessly. You need to control it as if you''re breathing."


    "Mhm.."


    Flugel did as Willinham said, and after a few seconds, a dim and kind of transparent yellow sphere formed between his hands.


    "I-I did it,"


    "Focus!"


    As Flugel tried to make the sphere more stable, it quickly shattered, making him fall on all fours, ready to throw up.


    "Don''t force it, or else you''ll puke your intestines out."


    "HUH?!"


    Flugel got back to work as he tried to concentrate and form his VLV between his hands again.


    Seconds and minutes pass by as Flugel keeps concerning and trying over and over again desperately just to control the hidden power within him.


    The afternoon passed, leaving a bright yellow color in the sky, and so did the evening, leaving a beautiful dim orange color on the clouds around it.


    "Ugh-" Flugel sighed as he fell down to the ground from deep exhaustion due to the extreme training.


    "You need me to pick you up?" Willinham laughed at Flugel''s face as he was quite literally fighting death on the ground because of the severe exhaustion.


    Willinham kneeled down to pick Flugel''s helpless body up like a broken doll.


    He laid him on his back and started walking back to his home safely, not encountering any problems on the way. When he knocked on the door, Flugel''s mother opened it and instantly got suspicious. Willinham didn''t want to waste any time by explaining and only handed her son''s body to her. Flugel''s mother did not want to wake up her son or any problems. She thanked the man and closed the door.


    Willinham looked at the door, then looked at the orange and red sky caused by the sun setting over the horizon, contemplating and drowning in his thoughts.


    He started walking away from Flugel''s house and through the village. Children played on all the sides of the road but quickly went home due to the sky getting darker by the minute.


    On his way, he saw a boulder that looked comfortable to sit at, so he just sat down and watched the sun set and the sky get dark.


    Suddenly, a crying voice could be heard from his right, a crying baby voice. A strange feeling could be felt from his heart. It told him to go there.


    Walking through the dirt and grass, he finally reached the source of the sound. He saw a young boy grabbing onto the hand of an old man, crying helplessly and miserably watching a man and a woman on a cart getting ready.


    The boy looked around 5 years old. It was clearly obvious what was happening, and Willinham knew it.


    The woman got off the carriage and kneeled down to meet the boy''s eyes.


    "Come on, sweetie, don''t cry."


    She said as she kissed the forehead of the boy.


    "I promised you haven''t I? We''re going to come back sooner or later. It''s just a work trip to the biiiggg castle!"


    "B-but it''s v-far!"


    "Oh trust me sweetie, you won''t feel the time pass, and we''ll bring a loooot of gifts for you only!"


    -sniff- -sniff-


    "Okay..."


    "And remember you''ll be with grandpa! You love Grandpa, right?"


    "Y-yeah.."


    His grandpa looked at him and patted his head and went on to add:


    "Don''t worry, Young Niel, your parents aren''t going anywhere."


    Seeing the mother and grandpa comfort the boy, his father came and kneeled down as well and started talking to his son.


    "Niel, you''re my only son, and I want you to make me proud. Keep Grandpa safe, alright?"


    "Y-yeah."


    The father rubbed his son''s hair to make him feel better. The boy quickly stopped crying after hearing all those words of comfort.


    The father and mother got back up on the carriage and signaled the coachman to get the horses moving.


    Willinham watched everything happen, the scene felt.. weird. Althought for most people, this is a normal occurrence, parents abandoning their kids, leaving their responsibility to their grandparents, and running after a better life in another more advanced city.


    He felt shocked and.. angry, as if he wanted to force those parents to go back to their helpless son.


    He felt a hand touch his right shoulder.


    "Ah yes.. Another child to take care of. You saw them, right? This event occurs a lot over here in villages like ours. His parents must have found a working opportunity in the Palace."


    Willinham turned around to see who the voice was coming from, only to find a tall man who looked like he was in his thirties with almost completely gray hair. Willinham immediately relaxed after seeing the man was just a villager.


    "But it''s horrible. Why does the Palace reject children?" Willinham asked.


    "The Palace''s rules are strict, immigrants can''t take their children with them due to the Palace''s citizens believing that every child born in this area is filthy and impure, only adults get the chance to pure themselves and move there."


    "---"


    "This is the 7th kid this year, but most of the time, the parents don''t even make it to the Palace because of multiple threats in the way."


    "Yeah. Ambushes, thieves, raiders, and all of those."


    "No, no, even though these are common, most the time the people behind the government in the advanced world, The Palace, hire guardians to stop immigrants, villagers and overall peasants from entering, only a few make it there."


    "So if you people know about that, why don''t the villagers just unite and declare a revelation?"


    "Nice joke, son, you think us, villagers with our axes and hoes, can defeat them with all their machines and weapons?"


    "Ah.. I get it."


    The two men watched as the grandpa from earlier took the child home while the child kept sniffing and frowning.


    "Thanks for telling me, sir."


    "No problem, son, you should definitely go home. It''s already nighttime, and the torches are going to turn off soon."


    "I know, have a good night, sir."


    Willinham walked away from the man, his direction pointed into the dark forest. He closed his hands together and closed his eyes to concentrate. After a few seconds, he slowly opened his hands, and a small particle of light formed. He then put it on his chest so his hands were free.


    He finally reached the trees, where he kept going forward, forward and forward. Until..


    "Good as always."


    In front of Willinham was a survival camp deep into the woods, made up of a turned off fire and a piece of cloth for a bed.


    He turned off the particle of light he had on and laid down on the bed, and just stared at the night sky, stars lit up one by one making different types of shapes, he even started trying to observe and find specific constellations but he quickly gave up..


    "Hmm.."


    He started mumbling to himself as he went deep into thought, so deep it actually made him slowly fall asleep.


    "Going to sleep so defenseless could get you killed, Master."


    The moment Willinham heard that voice, he quickly stood up and infused his hands with VLV, making them glow and take the shape of claws.


    A figure walked out of the shadow, revealing an average height man with short white hair and an unsettling smile on his face.


    "It''s you again, Ley"


    "It''s been a while, Master."


    "I told you for the thousandth time already, I am not your Master AND tell Mr. Vahara, I am not coming back!"


    "My my, why the sudden anger Ma-"


    "I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL ME THAT!"


    "What should I call you then Master? I am merely doing my job as a servant of the Vahara clan."


    "Just Willinham is enough."


    "Alright, Mr. Willinham, Mr. Vahara has said that you have a month before you come back, and if you don''t, you have two choices."


    "And they are?"


    "You either come back and do your duties as a member of the clan, or you shall abandon your techniques and art of light."


    "Ha! That old man sure knows how to crack some laughs."


    "-"


    "Look here, I want you to tell that old geezer that Willinham is not coming back and doing your cheap old dirty little work. I''ve had enough of everyone in that clan."


    "I shall pass your message, Mr. Willinham, but.."


    "Hm?"


    "You have another message from-"


    "Karg, isn''t it?"


    "Yes, but he only gave me a letter and told me that no one in this world shall read it except you."


    "Give me that."


    Ley handed Willinham the letter, Willinham turned around to face his bed once again. And the moment he did, Ley jumped back to the woods and went on his way back to the clan.


    Willinham laid down on his bed and started reading the letter.


    "Hey, young Will, by the time you''re reading this, I would''ve already left the kingdom-"


    "Huh?!"


    "-and traveled to our neighboring kingdom Flewarna. But that came at a price."


    "Don''t tell me.."


    "I have lost my authority of lux. So please Willinham, run. Run far away and never return to that damn clan. Change your name, your identity, and just run far away. And most likely, without my authority, I''d be dead now. Goodbye, my child."


    Willinham was speechless, the so called "Karg" seemed to be of great importance to him, the importance of a friend, a brother, a teacher. He scrubbed a hand across his face and closed his eyes as he went into a deep slumber.


    The night sky was breath taking, humans and animals took comfort sleeping in the absolute silence of the world after the setting of the sun, as if the world was inhabited and abandoned.


    Flugel was deep asleep in his room, and so was his family, a moment of clarity washed everyone.


    And by that, they waited for a tomorrow if there was even one.

 Fabula and Telum

    After that day, Willinham would visit Flugel every day to train him, curious about his potential. The fact that Flugel used that technique back at the dungeon haunts Willinham each second of the day. "Are we related?" Is the thought that consumed Willinham trying to justify and explain how Flugel did that.


    Failure after failure, Flugel finally got used to the flow and became able to hold a bit of control over his VLV, but then Willinham hit him with the reality that what he did was only about 0.01% of the work he had left.


    "Oh, good job, dude! Now, you only need to learn manifestation, exceptions..."


    "Uhh.."


    Flugel looked disgusted of how much work he had left.


    Days passed, and so did weeks, Flugel''s control had gotten better than before. He didn''t "master" it because that would be an exaggeration. Althought the results of his consistent and disciplined daily training were quite rewarding.


    Most people in this world spend years, if not decades, mastering The Art of Authorities.


    Oneday, Willinham took a day off to stress relief, or that''s at least he told Flugel. The latter took the chance to go out to the market and look for a weapon, as Willinham tried to teach him a skill before but failed miserably.


    "A weapon?" Flugel asked.


    "You can concentrate your VLV in any place of your body and shape it into a weapon." Willinham answered.


    "But how can I do that?"


    "Well.. what is in your hands right now?"


    "Um.. nothing?"


    "Imagine, for example, a flower."


    "Alright, and now what?"


    "I can''t explain it perfectly because it''s more of a personal feeling only you can feel. Even I am not able to do such a thing perfectly."


    "Uhuh..."


    Flugel tried to do as Willinham said but obviously failed miserably.


    "I told you."


    "So what now?"


    Willinham thought about it for a second before saying:


    "You''ll obviously not use that old dagger of yours forever. You do need something light and easy to hold and use."


    Willinham paused for a second before adding:


    "Look, you know what, here."


    Willinham handed Flugel a bag tied with a tiny rope. Inside of it was a pile of iron coins.


    In the kingdom of Ol'' Karna, citizens and sellers exchanged and traded goods using a currency of their own called Dise. The currency was founded by the first king of the kingdom Belliard L. Karn.


    He said the name "Dise" could be separated into two parts, "Di" for wealth, "Se" for dependency, and slavery of the human greed for money.


    The currency was split into three different tiers: bronze, iron, and gold. The bronze coins were mostly used to buy food and goods, while the iron ones were used to buy resources and weapons. Lastly, the gold coins were the tier of majesty, being used to buy land, slaves and overall, the more exotic goods that normal peasants would never dream of owning.


    Flugel stood in shock as his peasant mind that lived in the countrysides had never seen such an amount before. But to Willinham, it was merely 50 Iron Dises.


    "Say, Flugel, I know a blacksmith not so far from here, wanna go check it out?"


    "Heck yeah! I finally can get something bigger than this old piece of crap!"


    "We are going to rent a carriage to take us there. The blacksmith is just around the border between The Filth Realm and The Modesty Realm."


    "The name of where we live pisses me off a lot.." Flugel said with disgust.


    "Now that you mention it, it did make me remember..." He remembered what that grown man back at the village told him about the racism of The Royal Palace''s people and other civilizations up there.


    Flugel looked at Willinham in confusion before asking:


    "Huh? Remember what?"


    "No, no, it''s nothing."


    "Oh, come on, dude! You''ve got me curious-"


    "You want a weapon or not?!"


    Flugel immediately shut his mouth from speaking any words further, Willinham looked at Flugel''s worried look that feared that Willinham was going to cancel the plan of buying Flugel a new weapon.


    Willinham burst into laughter at Flugel''s stupid face.


    "What''s so funny?!"


    "You look dumb as heck, man.."


    "Whatever.."


    Willinham finally stopped laughing after a few seconds and proceeded to ask:


    "So.. Do you know any coachman we can make a deal with in your village Flugel?"


    "Actually, yeah, I do have a neighbor who goes around selling goods and-"


    "Maybe we should go another way.."


    "Huh? Why''s that?"


    "Please, trust me, man."


    Flugel and Willinham started making a plan for a trip to the said blacksmith. Flugel''s neighbor wasn''t an option because Willinham didn''t forget what he did to him back then.


    In the end, they just found another merchant to give them a ride for only 20 Bronze Dises.


    "So, where are you two headed?" The merchant asked.


    "The border." Willinham answered.


    "Well.. which border?" The merchant asked once again in confusion.


    Willinham looked at the merchant''s suspecting if the merchant was toying with him, then proceeded to answer in an annoyed voice:


    "Sir, there are two borders, and one is just a dead end to the sea."


    "Alright, alright, just had to make sure.." the merchant answered before looking back at his horses.


    Flugel, Willinham, and the merchant started the ride to the blacksmith. Even though Willinham said it wasn''t far, the ride looked like it wasn''t going to end any time soon.


    Willinham and Flugel sat at the back of the carriage, watching the road and nature pass by as they continued onward.


    "Hey, Flugel."


    "Yeah?"


    "Any updates on your, you know."


    "O-oh, yeah, um, no, not really. My sense of VLV got stronger, so I just kind of feel it in my heart even more now. It''s like a numb feeling in my chest."


    Willinham sighed at Flugel''s answer and chose to stay silent.


    "---"


    "By the way, Willinham, where are you from?"


    "Huh? What''s with the sudden question?"


    "Just curiosity."


    "Anyways.. I''m from the Vahara Clan. My authority, light, or atleast that''s what I call it, is passed down generation after generation, but honestly.."


    Flugel got curious about what was Willinham going to add.


    "I''ve never found out how I got my authority. My memory before I had it is vivid and sort of.. deleted from existence. I''ve wondered and came up with many hypotheses over the years but I.. I couldn''t get even an inch closer to the truth."


    Flugel seemed surprised by Willinham''s confession, though the goal itself seemed unimportant to him and then proceeded to say:


    "Well, does it really matter now? I mean, what''s going to change if you ''find out the truth''? I don''t know much about these ''authorities'' other than some tales I''ve read when I was younger."


    Willinham seemed confused about what he just heard and said:


    "Tales? There''s tales about authorities?"


    "Tales and legend books for kids, I''ve read a lot when I was younger, you want to hear one?"


    Willinham didn''t take him seriously and simply rubbed it off while swaying with his hand and proceeded to say:


    "What am I? Five?"


    "You do you, man.."


    When Willinham looked out the carriage, and saw that the village had faded out of the horizon completely, he sighed and said:


    "Just tell, I''m bored."


    Flugel cheered up as he had finally found a way to pass the time.


    *****


    Long long ago, there was a city in Ol'' Karna called Akeida, it was also called The City Of War.


    Many races lived in the kingdom at that time: humans, tenegians, luxiens, ect.. and with that came many animal races, the most dangerous one being dragons.


    Dragons were on the top of the food chain, killing other races for the sake of blood and pleasure.


    "Aren''t those words a bit strong for a kid''s tale?.." Willinham said.


    One day, four great swordsmen united from four different villages. The four called themselves "The Dragon Slayers".


    "That''s a childish name.."


    "It''s a child''s story, man- stop interrupting me!"


    The slayers weren''t the usual kind of swordsmen, these slayers had inhuman capabilities, some people who watched them fight called them demons.


    But, they were some of the bravest and most courageous people indeed. They''ve fought dragons face to face, claw to sword.


    They went by the names: Maswuliya, Ijabiya, Rashaqa and Waqie.


    People who had faced them eye to eye had said they had felt a strange feeling around them, as well as a strange glow around them in multiple different colors.


    The dragons felt as if they were endless, slaying them everyday only led to more of them coming to terrorize the people of the land. Some adventurers concluded the source of the dragons being Mt. Caligo.


    Oneday, a ginormous creature had emerged from the mountain, a dragon the size of a small castle, the people called it "Mater Omnium Draconum", or in other words "The Mother of All Dragons", as well as "Madra" for short.


    She caused havoc around not only the city, but the entire kingdom if not the entire earth itself.


    The four brave warriors united their powers, and prepared an attack for over a month. In the end, they''ve decided to confront the dragon and end the misery of their people.


    When the day they''ve agreed on arrived, one of the warriors, named Maswuliya, confronted the dragon.


    "I, Maswuliya, shall end my people and companions'' suffering, and the only way to achieve the latter is slaying you, Madra."


    A great fight emerged between the two, many wondered why Maswuliya confronted it alone. But only in the end they had realized the plan of the great hero.


    Maswuliya fought Madra to death, as his energy was consumed by the second, unleashing multiple inhuman powers that the basic human mind couldn''t comprehend. But in the end, Madra came out victorious.


    Maswuliya kneeled down, with only a boulder to lay on. Madra''s energy was consumed as well.


    The three other great heroes emerged from the shadows, and slayed the dragon easily, so easy that it felt like the past months of trial and error seemed wasted.


    When they emerged victorious, they walked up to their unconscious companion, kneeling down at a boulder, holding something with his hand so tight that it felt like he was protecting it.


    One of the three remaining warriors, Ijabiya, held his hand and took whatever was in that hand.


    Rashaqa kneeled down to check for any sign of life in him, but it was gone. His VLV had already faded and left no traces.


    Waqie kneeled as well, but he took the uncanny job of picking up his dear friend''s lifeless body on his back.


    The Dragon Slayers had won, but they had paid the price.


    *****


    Willinham seemed intrigued by the story and proceeded to say:


    "That''s... an interesting story."


    "I know, right?" Flugel responded.


    "The ''strange powers'' the heroes had, those were authorities for sure." Willinham guessed with assurance.


    Flugel shrugged and proceeded to say:


    "More or less, yeah."


    "I doubt this story is actually more than just a fictional story for kids, but.."


    Flugel got curious.


    "But what?"


    Willinham thought for a second before saying:


    "It is actually true that dragons have roamed our land in the past, but that was centuries ago.."


    Flugel was surprised and proceeded to ask:


    "So you''re saying authorities have existed for over a millenia?"


    "If this story was real, then yeah."


    "That''s interesting- oh! We''ve arrived!"


    The horses moving the carriage stopped in their tracks after the signal of the coachman, Willinham paid the man his little pay of 20 Bronze Dises then Willinham and Flugel got off the carriage.


    "Thanks, sir!"


    The merchant continued on his unknown journey while he waved goodbye to our men.


    Willinham turned around and said:


    "So, here it is."


    In front of the two, was an old looking house in the middle of little forest, tree roots invaded the walls and the roof as if it was being eaten from the inside out by nature.


    The two slowly walked up to the door, and then Willinham stopped Flugel in his tracks. Willinham knocked on the door.


    -KNOCK KNOCK-


    A deep male voice, that sounded like it had intentions of a fight started talking from behind the door.


    "Name and age."


    Then Willinham responded with an annoyed tone:


    "Willinham, 20- man, I''m the only one coming here just open the damn door!"


    "Just checking, lil'' bro."


    The door was opened, Willinham and Flugel got inside the dark room as their eyes adapted to the brightness.


    When their eyes got comfortable enough to be able to see in the low brightness, a large creature walked up to Willinham and proceeded to say:


    "Ah, Will, my old friend, how you''ve been?"


    Willinham cracked a little smile and responded:


    "I''ve been doing great Uncle Garn, what about you?"


    "I''m fine, I see you''ve brought a guest? Hmm?"


    Flugel contemplated the creature, it was something he had never seen before, probably because the farthest he had traveled from his village was like the dungeon from before.


    The creature called "Garn" was extremly large compared to him and Willinham, especially its arms. His torso was a bit smaller compared to his arms and his skin was a little bit dark as well as having crooked teeth.


    Flugel tried to remember the books he had read over the years, then he finally put his finger on it.


    "Garn" is from a race called Tenegians, they were popular for their immense strength and durability, handling labor like no human ever could. They could even handle temperatures up to around 60 degrees Celsius.


    Garn looked at Willinham and said:


    "So, Will, Y''need sum pieces ain''t ya?"


    "Well, my friend over here needs a real weapon. I mean, look at this!"


    Willinham quickly grabbed Flugel''s dagger from his pocket.


    "Ah? Ahahahahah"


    Garn burst into laughter after seeing Flugel''s miserable thing of a dagger.


    "Ya'' call this piece of crap a dagger? I be using that in m'' kitchen!"


    "Man, just show me what you got alright?!" Flugel said angrily from embarrassment.


    "Alright, alright, lil'' bro. Just look around."


    Flugel was so busy admiring Garn that he didn''t realize his surroundings, around him were various and multiple types and sizes of weapons on the walls.


    Weapons that he had never knew existed, and some that he did. Daggers, sword, polearms, long swords, claymores, scythes, ect..


    What interested Flugel the most, were the scythes and polearms, more specifically the head of the scythe.


    One of the scythes caught his attention very badly, the blade of the scythe was separated vertically by two different colors, red on the top and white on the bottom.


    Willinham looked at him and said:


    "Yeah, dude, definitely not that."


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    "Huh? What do you mean, Willinham?"


    "It''s way too big, way too long, and could make you an easy target, not to mention.."


    "What?"


    Willinham put his hand on his head to measure his height, then tried doing the same on Flugel.


    "Hey!"


    "Yeah, man, you''re kinda short for th-"


    Flugel punched Willinham in the gut, making him cough in pain before he even could finish his sentence.


    Garn laughed a bit and said:


    "Ahahaha! Ya'' deserve that one mate!"


    Willinham got a little angry at Flugel and wanted to take a little bit of revenge.


    "You- son of a-"


    Willinham kicked Flugel''s gut while he was laughing, making him have the same reaction as him.


    "N-now we''re even.. Don''t you dare-"


    "Alright, alright.."


    The two brushed off the fight very quickly, and continued exploring the shop to find a nice weapon for Flugel.


    "What about this?"


    "Definitely not."


    "This?"


    "No."


    "That?''


    "No."


    "This? That? This? That thing? This bow? This sword?"


    "Man, you know what!"


    Willinham walked up to Flugel and covered his eyes.


    "Choose randomly now."


    Flugel pointed his finger in the air and moved his hand in circles, after a few seconds he stopped and said:


    "That!"


    When Willinham took his hands off of Flugel. They went to see the weapon he had pointed at.


    Willinham analyzed the weapon and said:


    "Actually.. that''s not bad."


    The weapon they had choosed was a short sword, not too thick and not too thin, just the perfect size for Flugel to handle holding onto in a fight.


    The handle was a dark metal that had a respectable thickness that was comfortable for the hand and wrist.


    The blade itself was thin and extremely sharp, and reflected light like it was the sun itself.


    Flugel seemed a little fond of the sword, but he still wanted the scythe, and proceeded to say:


    "Maybe.. I can use this."


    Willinham sighed and said:


    "Finally, so we''re doing here?"


    "Yeah."


    Willinham turned to face Garn and said:


    "Ay, big Garn, here''s your money."


    "That''ll be 14 Iron Dises, no refunds."


    "Hmmm... 7."


    "Oh? Ya'' wanna negotiate with y''old man? Make it 12."


    "9!"


    "11 or else yo'' getting kicked out!''


    "Fine!"


    Willinham handed him the money in an angry gesture.


    Flugel watched and said with a hint of worry in his voice:


    "Ah.. Willinham, calm down.."


    "Yeah, whatever, anything else you want?"


    "Hmm.. nah- or actually, there are these bottles over here, what are they?"


    "Bottles?"


    Flugel pointed at a table that was full of bottles with some type of elixirs inside. Willinham put his hand on his shoulder and said:


    "Ah, these are VLV buffing potions, I honestly don''t recommend them. They''re pretty useless according to my experience and they barely work."


    "Ohhh.. alright, then."


    "Look, if you''re done here just let''s go, I''ll be waiting outside if you still want to check things out."


    "I will stay here for a few minutes."


    "Alright, then. Bye Uncle Garn!"


    "Stay safe, young Will!"


    Willinham left and closed the door behind him, leaving Flugel and Garn alone. Garn watched Flugel looking at and admiring the different kinds of weapons even though he had already bought one right now.


    Flugel looked at Garn and asked:


    "Sir, can I ask you something?"


    "Eh? Wha''d''ya want?"


    "So, do you make these or do you buy th-"


    "HEH! Ofcourse I make ''em! My giant hands are here for a reason!"


    "But how? And where?"


    "See that door behind me?"


    Garn walked over to the door he mentioned and opened it, inside was a staircase that lead into a pit of darkness.


    "Wanna check it out?"


    Flugel absolutely agreed and went down the stairs. On the wall, there was a lever that looked like it was interacted with recently.


    "Pull it down."


    Flugel did like what he was told to, and torches left and right started turning on and lighting up the place.


    The light revealed a giant underground cave-like chamber that held inside multiple types and quantities of different ores, metals and resources in general.


    Anvils and chests were scattered around, and multiple swords and weapons were on the ground that looked to be broken or extremely old.


    "Woah.. that''s so cool, man!"


    "Eh eh eh.. wha''d''ya say? Garn got some cool stuff eh?"


    "Y-yeah..."


    "Why does he talk like that though.." Flugel thought to himself, trying not to be rude.


    "HEY! FLUGEL! I DON''T HAVE ALL DAY TO WAIT YOU KNOW?!"


    Willinham voice could be heard from inside the chamber, so Flugel knew he had to hurry a bit more.


    "Oh, damn.. I think I should get going.."


    "Yea Ya'' gotta hurry, that guy got some nerves.."


    "You tell me.. anyways, bye Uncle Garn!"


    "Heh, stay safe young one."


    Flugel ran out the shop to meet up with Willinham, Garn looked at his workshop downstairs one last time before turning off the lights once again.


    "So, Flugel, what do you think of your new weapon eh?"


    "I mean, it''s alright, I guess? I kinda wanted the scythe though-"


    "Try controlling this one first, then try that scythe. It''s harder than you think, trust me."


    "Alright, alright, but.."


    "---"


    "How do we get back home?..."


    "Oh.. well I haven''t thought about that."


    "WHAT?!"


    "It''s not my fault!"


    "Yes, it is! You told me if I wanted to go here!"


    "You never asked about returning-"


    "IT''S COMMON SENSE!"


    "Okay, okay, we can figure that one out."


    Garn heard their argument and yelled:


    "Ay, I can hear y''all all from over here! Shut it!"


    Garn got out of his shop, yelling at them both for their loud annoying argument.


    Flugel sighed and exclaimed:


    "Man, we''re stuck here! Why is your shop in the middle of nowhere?!"


    Garn felt offended by Flugel calling his dear workshop a wasteland shop.


    "Nowhere?! This is literally the border, it''s anything but ''nowhere''!"


    "Whatever! How can we go home?!"


    Garn thought for a quick second and said:


    "...How much y''all paying?"


    "What?.."


    "If y''all giving me money, I''ll think about it."


    "I don''t know, Willinham you have the money not me!"


    Willinham got surprised by Flugel''s sudden order and quickly thought about an amount before saying:


    "Oh uh.. I''ll give you.. 40 Bronze Dises, how does that sound?"


    "Heck yeah!"


    Garn put his hand over his mouth, and started whistling. Flugel and Willinham looked confused, until a few moments later, a huge cloud of dust started approaching from over the horizon.


    Flugel watched as it approached them and pointed out:


    "Woah? Isn''t it going our waAAAYY-"


    Whatever was going in their direction suddenly appeared right in front of them, it was like it reached them in a split of a second.


    Garn walked into the cloud and said with a grin:


    "Eheh, say hello.."


    The cloud of dust faded away by the second, until it was completely gone, revealing a horse-like creature. It had a very dark skin and wings on its sides, its hair was very smooth and soft, and the texture of his skin felt cozy and comfy.


    "..to Eon."


    The creature unleashed a loud neigh, making Flugel cover his ears out of pain and annoyance.


    Garn patted Eon''s head and comforted it.


    "Calm down, Eon. These are my friends."


    Flugel analyzed and contemplated Eon and asked:


    "What.. is that?"


    Willinham grinned and tried to explain to Flugel.


    "This is called-"


    Garn quickly interrupted him and said:


    "A a a! Let me explain, Willinham!"


    "---"


    "Eon is an evolved horse, it is a sub species of the horse species that lived in constant fear of being hunted down by predators, so it had to develop features and limbs to survive."


    Flugel cracked a little smile and said:


    "Why do you sound professional so suddenly-"


    Garn looked a little offended because he was taking about something he truly enjoyed.


    "Ya'' got a problem ey?!"


    "No, no.. so what, Eon is going to give us a ride?"


    "Yeah, I''m sure Willinham knows how to ride a horse."


    Willinham looked at Garn with a stare that gave a "Me? Really?" vibe, as if he really didn''t want to ride Eon and proceeded to say:


    "Yeah, you thought me how to do so, remember? Eon gave me quite some broken bones and bruises.."


    Willinham steps up and hops on Eon, but suddenly Eon rejected him and threw him on the ground by jumping and moving uncontrollably.


    Willinham quickly got annoyed and shouted at Eon.


    "Oh come on Eon! We just want to go home! Just this once!"


    Willinham hops on Eon once again, but fortunately it seemed to have had pity on him because Eon didn''t reject him this time.


    "Come on Flugel. You''re not afraid of a horse, are you?"


    "No, no.."


    Flugel hops on Eon, but it didn''t reject him at all. Instead, it actually accepted him quite well.


    Garn was actually impressed and said:


    "Ay, I see Eon likes ya''!"


    Flugel was a little shocked with a bit of happiness.


    "Really?"


    Flugel reached out his hand to pet Eon on its back.


    Garn bit his lip watching Flugel do what he was going to do and immediately said:


    "Yeah, I wouldn''t recommend petting it there, especially if you don''t wanna end up laying on your bed with several broken ribs."


    "Ahaha-" Flugel laughed nervously.


    Willinham handed Garn the money and hopped back on Eon.


    The two took off on Eon while Flugel waved goodbye to Garn as he waved back.


    Willinham just kept focusing on the road, Flugel just held onto dear life so he doesn''t fall off.


    "So, Flugel."


    "Yeah?"


    "If you lose that sword, I''ll kill you. It''s not cheap, trust me."


    "Ahaha.."


    Seconds and minutes passed while Eon took them home. After around an hour and a half they''ve finally reached Gandara village, Flugel''s home. Flugel patted Eon on its head which it calmly accepted.


    Eon turned around and quickly ran into the horizen, most likely back to Garn. At that point it was already past the evening and the sun was setting.


    Flugel waved to Willinham goodbye as he went back to his home, while Willinham was headed to his camp in the wilderness.


    The two slept in their beds and waited for a tomorrow.


    When the next day arrived, Flugel opened his eyes and went to do his morning shores such as cleaning his room, changing and some self hygiene.


    When he finally finished his shores, Flugel laid on his bed, waiting for Willinham''s usual visit, but he didn''t come.


    "Weird... it''s already the afternoon, and he still hasn''t appeared yet."


    He sat up on his bed, thinking of a solution.


    "Maybe I should check our usual spot."


    He jumped off his bed and stood up, wore his usual outfit, and got ready to search for Willinham.


    While walking through the house, he saw his mother sitting in the living room deep in her thoughts.


    His mother asked about where he was going, like usual, as if it wasn''t already so obvious, then she asked:


    "Are you in a hurry, sweetie?"


    "I mean, not really, I guess?"


    "I bet Willinham just slept late, I hope." He thought to himself.


    "What is it, mom?"


    "Come here, son."


    Confused by the sudden order, he walked up to her and sat down next to her.


    "What''s wrong?"


    "Flugel, you''ve grown up."


    "Well.. I did?"


    "You know, when you were still a child, you''d cause trouble all over the village. I had to apologize to the neighbors multiple times."


    "I did? Well, I was a troublesome one, huh.."


    The mother admired her son, who had grown up to be an adventurous young man. Out of nowhere, she hugged him.


    "Mom?"


    "You remind me of him a lot.." she said with tears in her eyes.


    "Who?..."


    "Never mind that, you have somewhere else to go to, right?"


    She let go of her son.


    "Yeah, but like, who''s ''him''?!"


    "Son, if you come back safely, I''ll answer all your questions and doubts, alright?"


    "..Alright.."


    He stood up and looked at his mother for the last time before leaving.


    She waved at him.


    "I love you, sweetie!"


    "..me too!"


    Before he could leave, he saw his baby brother crawling to him.


    "Oo hey, little Renren, you want me to pick you up?"


    He kneeled down to pick up his baby brother. His mother watched as he played with his brother.


    After their wholesome interaction, he put his brother down and finally left the house in search of Willinham.


    On the other hand, Willinham finally opened his eyes from his deep slumber.


    "Mm.."


    He scrubbed his hand across his face to make the sleepiness go away and then rubbed his eyes so his vision became clearer.


    "Damn.. Why is the sun so bright so early in the morni-"


    He realized his little simple mistake.


    "Oh... I should get going, I bet Flugel is already training alone right now."


    He sat, then stood up, did some stretching, and turned off the campfire.


    The sun was so bright that somehow it felt as if the sun got a hundred times bigger. It felt way too hot.


    Willinham got ready and started moving, leaving his camp behind. He slowly walked through the woods towards the direction of his and Flugel''s usual training spot, keeping his guard up for any upcoming threat.


    -SH SH-


    The bushes started making a sound. Willinham immediately stopped in his track and started looking and watching each corner of his eyes.


    The sound became closer and closer by the second. He grabbed onto his sword, pulled it from the handle, and drew it in a defense stand.


    Willinham prepared for the worst-case scenario, whether it was an animal or a demon.


    After a few seconds, a dark silhouette emerged from the bushes due to the shadows of the gigantic trees.


    "Hello? Excuse me?"


    A male voice could be heard.


    Willinham sighed in relief as the source of the sound was merely a human, a normal one at least.


    The man asked Willinham:


    "Excuse me, do you know the way to Gandara Village?"


    Confused by his question, Willinham answered it and gave him the directions. Although it was weird because the man looked like he was from the village anyway, the nearest village was like 15-20 kilometers away.


    The man seemed frightened by Willinham''s sword and look, Willinham drew back his sword and gave him a little smile.


    The man thanked Willinham and followed the direction he gave him. Willinham ventured on his own path to his training spot.


    In the woods, he could watch insects walk through the mud, and animals like wild hogs running around.


    After around fifteen minutes of waking through the woods, he finally reached his destination, but it was empty.


    "Weird.. I thought Flugel would be here already. Did he get lost? No, no.. I doubt we''ve been here already for more than a month.."


    All of sudden, a humongous source of VLV could be felt from all over the woods. Willinham, without any second thought, started moving in the direction of the source.


    "What the hell? Not even my clan combined has such VLV.. Is it a knight master? A shadow servant? The king himsel-"


    A bright light emerged from between the trees. It looked like the exit of the woods, but only then did he realize.


    "The source.. it''s coming.. from the village."


    He started running faster and faster, hoping nothing had happened. He immediately thought of the worst-case scenario, not only for Flugel but the entire village.


    When he finally got out of the woods, entering the land of Gandara village, also known as Flugel''s village, he saw what he couldn''t imagine.


    ****


    A small dark room, its walls made of hard stone bricks and a freezing atmosphere and shelves of books on each side of the room with some of the books on the floor with a pile of papers.


    A young Willinham was talking to his teacher, who was watching out the window at a beautiful moon in the middle of a mesmerizing nightsky.


    "Hey, Willinham."


    "Yes, teacher?''"


    "You know my goal, don''t you?"


    Willinham shrugged and answered:


    "Well, I guess, mastering your authority?"


    "No."


    "Becoming one of the shadow servants? I heard you talking about wanting to become on-"


    "No! You''re absolutely far from the truth."


    The teacher punched the side of the window with a fist. It seemed like the man was the farthest thing from being sane, he was twitching and mumbling words to himself.


    "Then, what is it, teacher?"


    "I wanted to save this kingdom when I was younger, but it''s too late and far gone to save. Those filthy ''business men'', using poor children from the countryside for their own entertainment."


    "---"


    "Stealing, kidnapping, all for their own amusement. It makes me sick."


    "W-What can we do?"


    "Nothing, look at me, Willinham."


    His teacher kneeled down and put his hand on Willinham''s right shoulder. "


    "I want you to leave this clan and kingdom, no matter what."


    "W-why?! What about my family?!"


    "Your family doesn''t care, Will! Understand that!"


    "---"


    "One day, I will leave this place."


    "---"


    "Willinham, promise me you''ll keep this between us, alright?"


    "I-I promise, teacher.."


    *****


    In front of Willinham''s eyes, was a man wearing a red suit and had long wavy black hair, but the most facial feature he had that sent chills through Willinham''s spine, was that the man didn''t have a mouth, just a rip through his face that made him the farthest thing from human. For some reason, he could still talk thought that.


    Under the man was a woman on her knees who had multiple bruises on her face. It looked like she got beaten up horribly.


    But.. something was off.. that woman was familiar.


    The mysterious man grinned and whispered:


    "Any last words, miss?"


    The woman coughed and answered:


    "D-Damn you!.."


    "Hehe~ EXECUTION!"


    Willinham immediately ran towards them and yelled:


    "DON''T YOU DARE DO ANYTHING TO HER!"


    Willinham used the very same technique he used back at the dungeon where he and Flugel met.


    The light beam peneratred through the man''s right arm, but.. it didn''t even budge. It merely left a burn on his suit.


    The man put out the little fire sparks from his arm and looked at Willinham then proceeded to say:


    "Hey, hey, you! Don''t you know it''s disrespectful to interrupt someone''s date?!"


    Willinham was puzzled by whatever that man was talking and ranting about, the only thing to occurred to his mind was protecting his friend''s mother like his life depended on it.


    "Date?! Who the heck are you?!"


    The man put his hand over his face and turned it right and left, as if he was disappointed.


    "Yelling as well? You, kids of today, have no manners. When you want to know somebody''s name, you introduce yourself first."


    "---"


    The man put his hand on his chest and cracked a little grin before introducing himself.


    "My name is Remenis Fedesis, and I- am looking for some toys for my friendly game! But this fine lady interrupted my work."


    Willinham was intrigued and puzzled by the formality and professionalism in Remenis'' speech, so he just went along with it.


    "My name is Willinham, and I demand you keep your filthy hands off that woman-"


    Remenis'' eyes twitched and he immediately started yelling at Willinham.


    "Hahh?! Where''s your last name? Where''s your pride?!"


    "That''s none of your business."


    "But anyway, this-"


    Remenis pulled Flugel''s mother by her chin, making her whimper in pain.


    "-this filthy woman interrupted my honest work, and the most respectable and deserved punishment.."


    He raised his hand open, and a red light started forming and taking shape. Only a moment passed when it turned into a fire.


    "...IS DEATH!"


    Willinham ran towards him and landed a fist in his face, Remenis'' face didn''t move an inch, as if he was indestructible.


    The anger in Remenis'' eyes grew larger and larger each time Willinham tried to stop him, and with each try, Remenis'' power seemed to increased by the second.


    "You.. YOU DARE INTERRUPT ME AGAIN?!"


    In a split of a second, Remenis put his hand on Willinham''s chest and launched him into a tree.


    It was like the sound barrier was broken once he was launched, he felt as his ears stopped working and his eyes saw reality in an uncanny shape.


    "Ugh-!"


    Willinham felt as if a boulder hit him right on his heart. After landing his back onto a tree, he coughed and yelled in pain.


    When he looked down at where he was hit, he realized a fire started eating his clothes and flesh.


    He quickly torn a piece of his clothing in the area that got hit, revealing a strange wound.


    His skin was boiling and popping strange bubbles. He felt like he was about to throw up from the disgusting scenery.


    He tried concentrating his VLV in the area to heal, but his authority had zero effect on the wound. The power he relied on for years had failed him for the very first time.


    He tried standing up, forcing his legs to work, and trying to bear the overwhelming pain.


    He covered his wound with the piece of clothing he had already torn and ran towards Remenis.


    "You don''t learn your lesson, do you, kid? I am-"


    Remenis launched him once again,


    "-doing-"


    And again,


    "-my damn-"


    And again.


    "-JOB!"


    Flugel''s mother watched as her son''s dear friend suffered just for a chance to save her. But.. the only thing she wondered and was worried about was her son''s location.


    She just hoped for the best, prayed to God and closed her eyes.


    The state of Willinham got worse by the second, wounds and fire eating his flesh, bones broken, nose bleeding that made him not even look like he wasn''t even human.


    But suddenly, a yelling voice could be heard from all over the village.


    "DAMN YOU! YOU SICK BASTARD!"


    Behind Remenis, Flugel came running towards him. From afar, it looked like he was holding sticks in his hands, but when he finally got closer, Willinham finally realized the result of their training.


    "You.. You crazy idiot.."


    *****


    When Flugel left his house to search for Willinham, he immediately sensed something wrong. His sense of VLV had grown immensely after his weeks worth of training. He couldn''t be mistaken.


    He quickly ran towards the source of it, which looked like it was located at the center of the village.


    After becoming closer and closer, he finally saw it. A cart, or that''s what he thought it was, it was something the villager mind of Flugel couldn''t grasp. It was a vehicle.


    A gas releasing, loud engine, 2 meters long vehicle, Flugel stood in shock to what he was seeing in front of his eyes.


    "What is that.. I know the inner areas near The Royal Palace are hundreds of years'' worth of knowledge and advancement ahead of us.. but that''s too much!"


    When the vehicle stopped moving, a bunch of men got out of it, including Remenis.


    He grew suspicious by the second but didn''t start action until they did something wrong. He watched as Remenis and what looked like to be his servants walk around the village wearing black suits all except Remenis and his iconic red suit.


    Remenis coughed a little before yelling:


    "A-ahm!.. People of Gandara Village!"


    The men and women outside walking through the village all turned to face Remenis and listen to whatever he had to say.


    "As many of y''all probably know me already, I think your kids don''t, so I shall introduce myself."


    "---"


    "My name is Remenis Fedesis, and I am merely an honest worker who yearns to earn his bread and reward through hardwork, isn''t that beautiful ladies and gentlemen?"


    "Who is this guy.." Flugel thought to himself.


    "Your children had earned a one-way ticket to the ultimate and amazing life in the very Royal Palace! So please, my people, give up your children to the one and only Remenis!"


    "Is this guy insane?" The crowd thought, what kind of sicko would give their child to.. that, not to mention that creepy and strange mouth on his face.


    Remenis watched the crowd talk between eachother and calling him a sicko and a weirdo, so he had decided to announce once again.


    "Ahm.. let me re-word that! Hand over your children, or.."


    He pointed his finger towards a man in the crowd, and that man immediately catched on fire.


    Remenis hugged himself and started laughing to himself, like an insane maniac.


    "Do you understand the WORDS coming out of my mouth, PEOPLE?!"


    He opened his arms, as if he was a show, but the seats were empty.


    The crowd ran in fear as they watched the man in the crowd yell in pain and agony as the flames ate his skin and flesh. Remenis'' servants ran after them, and threw crystals in the air.


    Those crystals followed people and their children, before they could get away any farther, the crystals seemed to get bigger by the second until they shattered into a thousand pieces.


    After shattering, a dome that can withhold at most two people emerged from the crystals, the dome had a strange green glow emerging from it.


    Domes formed next to every person in the village and imprisoned them inside of it, and before they realized, they were gone.


    After a few seconds of being trapped inside, the dome disappeared and so did the person or people inside of it. Leaving only a brand new crystal on the ground.


    Flugel watched the horror as he started running away, knowing his own capacities and sensing the insane amount of VLV, he knew he wasn''t built for this.


    But, only then he had realized.


    "I love you, sweetie!" He remembered his mother''s words.


    Flugel put his hand over his mouth, thinking and thinking, sinking in his thoughts and fears.


    "If I run.. they will all be kidnapped.. and if I don''t, maybe.. maybe I can save them.. just maybe."


    He started thinking of all the possibilities, but had to quickly choose as a servant started approaching him.


    "Heee- a maybe is all I need!"


    He opened his hand and faced it in the direction of the servant. In a split of a second, he quickly concentrated his VLV, just like he had trained before, and a small beam emerged from his hand, penetrating through the servant''s right chest making him fall to the ground.


    He remembered Willinham''s words that went as the following:


    "Remember that technique in the dungeon, try doing that but with less power, it costs a lot of energy so try to minimize that while still keeping a decent amount of power and damage. Although I doubt it can kill a human.."


    But only then he realized his great misdeed. He walked over to the person he just shot.


    He kneeled down, and watched the person that he shot drowning in a lake of his own blood. Flugel was speechless.


    He put his hand on the servant''s chest, making it covered in blood. He looked at his bloody hands with absolute disgust.


    He knew it was merely self defense, but the sin, the grave sin of murder.


    Knowing he had other people to protect. He stood up, slapped his cheeks with his hands and started running around the village, shooting all the servants who came his way or ran after the other villagers, even collecting the crystals that held inside the imprisoned villagers.


    At the same time, some of the servants tried taking the children but their parents put up a fight. Exchanging blows but the servants quickly grabbed daggers from their pockets.


    Watching the horror, Flugel quickly ran towards one of them and barged into one with his shoulder making them both fall to the ground.


    The servant yelled:


    "Agh-! Oi what the hell?!"


    The servant quickly gave Flugel''s a good punch in the face, and grabbed his dagger to end Flugel.


    Flugel immediately saw what the servant was doing, he tried to grab his own sword from his back handle.


    It wasn''t there, he must have forgot it at home.


    The servant stabbed Flugel''s right forearm, unleashing a waterfall of blood and sending Flugel into an episode of pain and agony, the manifestation of the terror and horror and all emotions in Flugel''s mind only made him want to kill the man more and more, he didn''t care if it was another human, he didn''t care if it was murder, he only cared about the death of the rats of that sick bastard.


    Flugel forced his way through the pain, and punched the servant in the face, growling from the anger he had for those people.


    Suddenly, Flugel''s hand started glowing, especially on the side. Light started forming into a strange shape, a familiar one.. a shape he had seen earlier indeed.


    It was none other than the very same scythe he saw yesterday in Garn''s shop. More specifically, the head of the scythe that intrigued and interested Flugel so bad.


    The scythe penetrated the servant''s head, making it explode to pieces. The scene was so bloody and disgusting it made Flugel want to throw up.


    The blood and pieces of the servant''s head exploded across the area, with some of the blood reaching Flugel''s face.


    The servant''s brain was exposed to the world, it was a scene that no human alive would wish to witness.


    Flugel quickly backed down to realize what just happened, he quickly looked at his hand, watching the newly formed scythe that''s stuck to his hand, but it was merely made out of light.


    The scythe felt weightless, but it was extremely sharp. It could slash through anything it touched.


    "I can work with this.. but first, I should-"


    "Come here, kid!"


    A servant behind Flugel was about to throw his crystal, but Flugel quickly turned around and kicked him in the gut, and then fired a small light beam through his arms so he couldn''t do anything.


    Flugel still wanted to avoid murder, as his brain still believed it was inhuman, the two he killed haunted his head the entire time.


    He tried to aim for limbs such as arms and legs, just enough to paralyze them instead of killing them.


    But then, he turned around to see the guy named Remenis, only to realize that he was gone.


    "Huh.. weird.."


    In his head, he started thinking of a million possibilities of what could be happening right now.


    "That guy mentioned the Royal Palace, but this is just kidnapping.. What the hell is going on here.."


    He watched as the servants kidnapped more and more people in their crystals, and watched some others burn down houses and trees.


    "Wait a minute-"


    He immediately remembered, his mother. He immediately started running, he ran like he had never ran before. All out of fear and terror of the idea that''s storming his head right now.


    Second by second, thoughts ate his mind of what could have happened and what could not.


    Once he finally got closer to his house, he saw the view that he wished he had never seen.


    He watched as the man named Remenis, torture Flugel''s own friend over and over again, while holding his own mother in his filthy hands.


    "You.. YOU.."


    He quickly started growling, and immediately concentrated his VLV to summon the scythe once again. He quickly started running towards Remenis, the only thoughts running through his head was Remenis'' death.


    "DAMN YOU! YOU SICK BASTARD!"

 With the flames

    A downfall of a once called village. Flames that annihilated the landscape second by second. The screams of the dead filled the ears of the survivors.


    The village looked like it was merely ruins from an old time ago instead of the village its citizens knew and loved.


    The wind blowing was filled with rage, hatred, and disgust. A level of rage and hatred that could never be matched ever again by anyone, a level that could drive the average mortal mad.


    The air being breathed in by mortals was polluted with multiple types of toxic gas, ashes, and decays.


    One breath in and that filthy polluted air could cause a mortal to suffer breathing illnesses or even comas due to suffocation.


    Flugel could hear screams left and right, coming from the villagera being hunted down by Remenis'' servants.


    But all he wanted was the head of Remenis.


    No words in the dictionary could ever describe how Flugel felt, watching his own friend and mother suffer in agony and pain.


    He felt as if he had lost all control over his body, and it simply moved by itself. It was as if the puppets started controlling the puppeteer.


    Flugel immediately stared sprinting towards Remenis, with his scythe sticked to his hand.


    He watched as the very same village he was born and raised in burned to the ground, flames eating it from the inside out. Not to mention, his house was falling apart by the second.


    Willinham watched Flugel sprint in rage. When he was finally closer, Remenis realized the upcoming entity, but it was far too late.


    Flugel reached Remenis and cut off his left hand, making Remenis let go of Flugel''s mother.


    Flugel dropped on the ground after committing a surprise attack on Remenis and turned around to see the result.


    Unexpectedly, Remenis reacted calmly instead of yelling from the pain caused by his amputated hand. He then proceeded to say in a low angry voice:


    "Hey, hey, you.."


    Flugel turned around in shock. He had just cut off Remenis'' hand, and he still didn''t budge, as if it had no effect on him.


    "---"


    Flugel could sense the humongous amount of VLV inside of Remenis, making him hesitate a little before doing any action out of fear.


    Remenis covered his amputation wound with his other hand and said:


    "You know it''s disrespectful any man''s date, right? You don''t want to end up like your little friend over there, I had to teach him a lesson."


    Remenis pointed at Willinham unconscious body, covered in blood and bruises. The view sent chills down Flugel''s spine.


    "But I''m actually impressed. You cut off my hand! I doubt anybody has ever done that before!"


    Remenis kneeled down to pick up his amputated hand. He picked it up, sticked it against where it was amputated from, and melted the torn pieces of skin together.


    Flugel''s face went pale as he watched some horrors he had never seen before, Remenis'' disfigured mouth didn''t do anything but increase the horror and terror.


    Flugel got off the ground quickly, too quickly that he had to grab onto the dirt to help and guide him to stand up, making his hands dirty.


    He ran towards Remenis once again, Flugel''s face looked pale and enraged, and his vision became chaotic and vivid each second that had passed since he got into this situation.


    Once he was face to face with Remenis, he noticed something uncanny and disturbing.


    Remenis was smiling, smiling like a dirty bastard. He was enjoying every second of this.


    Enraged by that haunting smile, he tried slashing Remenis'' stomach over and over again.


    It felt like fighting a brick wall that won''t budge. Was he made of steel? Invincible?! Questions roamed Flugel''s mind over and over again until:


    Remenis put his hand on top of Flugel''s head and said:


    "You''re actually pretty strong, kid."


    His grip on Flugel''s head got tighter, making Flugel groan in pain, and then Remenis pulled Flugel, so Flugel''s forehead was a few centimeters away from his.


    "But.. you can''t defeat the honesty of a man working a blue tie job. It''s the basis of society! You can''t live without me and my companions! We''re the base and unit of every company and corporation! We''ve been left in the dirt for way too long, and we shall take our rights with force!"


    Flugel''s consciousness faded second by second while hearing Remenis'' speech, he felt his mind being squeezed and tightened by Remenis'' hand, he tried to yell from from the pain but his mouth failed him, his tongue couldn''t move a centimeter and his vocal cords couldn''t spit out a word, if not even a letter.


    Willinham watched from afar but couldn''t help but do so in silence as his flesh was being eaten by the flames little by little.


    Remenis finally opened his hand and let go of Flugel, making Flugel fall on the ground due to the dizziness caused by the tightness that was being applied on his skull.


    Flugel looked down and coughed multiple times before looking up once again to face Remenis. And there Remenis was, smiling with a grin on that inhuman mouth of his.


    The average human would kneel down in fear of that uncanny and disturbing face. How could anyone even look like that?


    Flugel spit down on the ground and stood up, standing in a defensive technique instead of an attacking one, which indicated that he had thought of a new plan.


    Flugel''s mother had laid unconscious on the ground, her head facing the dirt.


    Flugel observed his opponent and analyzed each possibility of an outcome.


    Remenis stepped back and said:


    "You three.. all of you! Have disrespected my work. What is it that you want from the poor workers that work their ass off each day, every day! You ungrateful pigs!"


    Remenis'' eyes had a spark of anger towards the three of them, but Flugel just couldn''t understand what the heck that guy was talking about. Words he had never heard before, concepts and meanings he had never stumbled upon before.


    Remenis'' voice sounded angrier by the second and yelled:


    "YOU SHALL FEEL IT! FEEL MY DEDICATION! MY YEARS AND YEARS OF PURE DEDICATION! And for my blood and tears worth of work to be wrecked by not a man, not a woman, but a CHILD?!.."


    Remenis threw his arm across the air around him. Flugel looked confused for a second and looked around himself, which was followed by Remenis yelling:


    "DON''T JOKE WITH ME!"


    Before Flugel had realized, a sharp blow cut through his torso, a blow of flames. The flames didn''t feel like the average fire that Flugel would use to warm himself in the winter. It felt like a weapon of torture.


    Fortunately, it didn''t cause the same would that Willinham has, but it did throw Flugel in a spiral of pain and agony.


    Even though Flugel was in a defensive technique and position, the power of the blow was strong enough to slip through it and boil Flugel''s skin a bit.


    And all of that was thanks to Willinham for teaching him how to minimize injuries and wounds by concerning VLV in the wounded area itself.


    After the blow was endured, Flugel quickly ran towards Remenis. Each second felt like a minute, and each minute felt like an hour. That''s how the flow of time felt for Flugel.


    Flugel came face to face with Remenis and yelled:


    "Honest work? You call this honest work?! You''re nothing but a maniac, a rat. I have zero idea what the hell is a ''blue tie'' or whatever the heck you''re talking about. But.."


    Flugel could feel his VLV flowing through his body, straight towards his hand, as if the scythe was gaining more and more power by the second.


    "KEEP YOUR HANDS... OFF OF US YOU BASTARD!"


    Flugel penetrated his scythe through Remenis stomach, it seemed like his rage gave him a little bit of power, just enough to penerated the brick wall of skin that Remenis had.


    For the first time since their fight began, Remenis had actually been injured. It felt like an achievement to Flugel, but he knew he still had to take him down.


    Droplets of Remenis'' blood dripped from his mouth.


    In a moment of shock, Remenis felt his blood slipping through his mouth, making him want to find out what was dripping in the first place due to him being unfamiliar with such feelings.


    He put his finger on his lip and wiped his lips with it. When he put his hand away from his mouth to observe it, he finally saw what he hadn''t seen in a long time.


    That''s when Remenis'' smile slowly faded and turned into a little frown. Flugel just looked up to see Remenis'' face, and it was as mentioned previously.


    Before Flugel could do anything, he sensed Remenis'' VLV rising and rising by the second, but something felt off.


    In a moment, Remenis grabbed Flugel by the neck and held him in the air by the latter.


    Flugel started choking and fighting back with his limbs, which resulted in nothing.


    Flugel was still hurting from his wounds on his forearm and torso but still forced his way through.


    Pain could be seen in his eyes, and then he proceeded to say:


    "I-gh-.. I''ll kill you..."


    Rage was flowing through Remenis'' veins, as if it was his blood. His face was expressing merely one emotion that even the most unaware person could feel. Remenis then proceeded to say:


    "You.. dare injure me? ME?! The savior of all laborers?!"


    Then, Remenis let go off of Flugel. While Flugel was about to fall down, Remenis started landing fists on Flugel''s entire body.


    Flugel took all of the attacks and was sent flying off into the wall of his own house.


    The wall shattered to pieces, and Flugel just sat on the floor while laying his back on what remained of the wall.


    Remenis just laughed a little bit and said:


    "Whaaat? Have you given up already? I thought you wanted me to get my hands off of your little friends, no?"


    Remenis walked up to Flugel''s mother.


    "What if I?.."


    Remenis tried picking up Flugel''s mother once again like earlier. When Flugel saw what he was trying to do, he quickly stood up and punched Remenis in the face.


    Flugel just kept doing what he could. He just kept punching and landing fists on Remenis again and again until he longer had any power left to do so.


    Other than punching, he kept slashing and cutting Remenis'' abdomen, which seemed to have no effect even though he basically stabbed him a little bit earlier.


    Remenis fought back by dodging some of Flugel''s fists and slashes while punching Flugel back.


    Flugel kept thinking and thinking of a solution to his dire situation. This Remenis seemed Invincible, untouchable, just overall the strongest.


    At last, Flugel grabbed Remenis by his neck, choking him, and so did Remenis. Fortunately, they were around the same height, so they were pretty much equal in force.


    Flugel couldn''t think of any solution.


    "It hurts." Flugel thought to himself, the pain from his wounds started catching up to him in the worst time possible.


    But the pain was the last thing he had to think about right now. What can he do, what should he do to defeat this monstrous creature.


    That''s when a devilish idea got into Flugel''s mind, an idea of pure agony and anguish, a last resort of some sorts.


    Flugel started pushing Remenis back, Remenis was confused about why he was doing that, so he just pushed back.


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    Rage, wrath, fury, anger and many more emotions were running around in Flugel''s mind, and those very same emotions were fuel to him, just enough fuel to be able to conquer Remenis in this final showdown.


    Remenis was slowly pushed back, bit by bit, step by step, but he was completely clueless on why Flugel was doing that.


    After a few steps, Remenis finally realized what was going on.


    Behind Remenis was a conflagration of flames, which was caused by the fires set up by the servants.


    Remenis just laughed at Flugel and yelled:


    "AHAHA! You think a MERE fire would-"


    Before Remenis could finish his sentence, Flugel added more and more power and force on Remenis, making the latter be pushed.


    Remenis was pushed into the flames.


    Flugel stepped back so he wasn''t eaten by the flames as well. Flugel could hear Remenis'' yelling:


    "YOU.. YOU DARE MAKE ME BE EATEN BY MY OWN-"


    Before he could finish his sentence, he was cut off once again, this time by the flames that were loud enough to dominate the sound of Remenis'' yells.


    A huge feeling of relief washed over Flugel as he fell on the ground on his back, trying to catch a breath.


    But he knew he couldn''t waste any time. He decided to check up on his mother before Willinham.


    He ran as fast as he could to her unconscious body and started shaking her, hoping that she wakes up.


    She didn''t respond. At that point, Flugel was on the verge of tearing up. I mean, who wouldn''t when they literally watch their own mother lying on the ground with a face that screams agony.


    Flugel still looked at the light of hope and put his hand over her mouth. Fortunately, he could feel her breathing.


    Relief washed over Flugel like never before, so relieved that a tear fell down his eyelid.


    He picked her up on his back and slowly walked over to Willinham. Flugel kneeled down to check up on him and said:


    "Willinham?..."


    "..."


    "Willinham?!"


    Willinham''s eyes opened after Flugel''s scream, and then proceeded to say:


    "Ah-! Oh.. Flugel?"


    "Yeah, dude! What the hell is going on?!"


    "You''re.. alive?"


    "Well.. yeah? That doesn''t matter now! Tell me!"


    Willinham''s eyes quickly opened in shock and worry and yelled:


    "WHERE''S REMENIS?!"


    Flugel looked at Willinham in a moment of silence with a frown and then confessed:


    "I.. he''s dead."


    "What? What do you mean you-"


    Flugel interrupted him and yelled:


    "I''ve killed Remenis, don''t you understand?! I''ve been fighting that monster for like-.. I don''t know?!"


    "Alright, alright, calm down.. but can you just-"


    Willinham reached out his hand to Flugel, indicating he needed some help standing up. Flugel quickly understood and grabbed Willinham''s hand to help him stand up.


    Willinham groaned a bit and said in a low voice:


    "God, everything hurts..."


    "But wait... I feel like something is missing..."


    Right then and now, Flugel''s mother seemed to be mumbling words to herself.


    "M-mom?! Are you okay?!"


    "G-get him.."


    "Get.. who?"


    After Flugel''s question, worry and doubt started rising and flowing through his veins as to what his mother could be implying to.


    "Your-"


    His mother started coughing uncontrollably, dropping droplets of her blood on Flugel''s back.


    Flugel and Willinham yelled in unison:


    "Are you okay?!"


    The mother just kept her eyes closed and said in a low and unclear voice:


    "R-ren.."


    Flugel'' eyes became wide open from the sudden realization.


    "Where is he?! Is he-"


    "Inside.."


    Flugel had his suspicions, but they were just confirmed. His little brother was still inside the burning house.


    He looked at Willinham with hopeless eyes, but he still had to confirm the worst. He proceeded to say:


    "Willinham, here."


    Flugel held his mother in his arms and then handed her to Willinham and said:


    "Protect her, please.."


    Willinham knew what Flugel was thinking but didn''t want to ask any questions about it, so he just nodded and held her on his back.


    Flugel smiled a little bit because he knew his mother was in good hands. He then turned around and went inside his burning house.


    His mind was filled with thoughts, the most horrendous and gut-wrenching thoughts manifested in his mind. As to why, it was obviously because of the very little hope he had.


    He watched his house burn to the ground, with his little brother inside, what human could ever survive that.


    He checked his house door by door, corner by corner, while covering his mouth by wrapping a piece of cloth he had torn off of his tunic.


    After a few minutes of searching, he didn''t find anything, not even a single clue to where his brother was.


    Hopeless, he sat down in the flames, wanting to just... die.


    "Where is he.. Ren.."


    In a moment of despair, he first remembered what he still had to do. He still had a mother to protect, a friend to rely on, and a village to protect.


    But still, he still wanted to see his brother.


    That''s when he remembered.


    "Wait, when I was a a little younger, we''d play hide and seek and.. he''s hid in one place.. oh my god."


    Flugel finally realized the place where Ren was hiding. He ran like he had never run before, holding the thinnest rope of hope to find his little brother alive and well.


    That''s when he started sensing something.


    "R-ren?.."


    A slight amount of VLV could be sensed from the kitchen, where Ren would usually hide when they used to play hide and seek.


    That''s it, Flugel knew he was alive, even if that VLV wasn''t Ren''s. He held on that rope of hope like it depended on his life.


    He quickly ran down the stairs, and the kitchen door was merely a few steps ahead.


    With every step, a little bit of joy flowered in his heart, and all the doubt and sadness were washed away.


    A huge blow of flames erupted from his back, pushing him to the ground.


    Flugel coughed multiple times uncontrollably due to the dust and smoke coming from the flames, but he still chose to stand up and search for Ren.


    There was it, the kitchen. Without hesitation, he striked down the door with his leg. He then immediately yelled with tears in his eyes:


    "R-REN!"


    In front of Flugel was a man wearing a black suit. The VLV he had sensed a few minutes earlier was his. It seemed like he was one of the servants from earlier.


    Without any further questions or sentences, Flugel immediately formed his scythe and sprinted towards the servant.


    The servant stepped back in fear and tried throwing a crystal to seal Flugel, but it was too late.


    Flugel slashed through the servant''s left hand and quickly punched him in the face, knocking the servant out.


    The servant fell on the floor, slowly being eaten by the flames that kept spreading across the house.


    Then came the realization. He had one single idea, one last idea of where Ren was.


    In front of Flugel was the kitchen''s cabinet, which was just under the sink, low enough for a child to reach.


    Before Flugel even dared to open, he prayed to god. He prayed his brother was alive and well inside, but he already knew the answer to his prayers.


    Flugel reached out his hand and slowly opened the cabinet door.


    "--Ren?..."


    Inside the cabinet was the melting corpse of Ren. His flesh was still intact, but the skin had already melted and burned due to the high temperatures caused by the flames and conflagration.


    Flugel said in a low and teary voice:


    "Hey, buddy... didn''t see you here, playing hide and seek with, aren''t you?"


    Flugel'' eyes became wide open, and he was devastated. No words could ever describe what he was feeling at the moment. Grief, anger, rage, hatred, disgust, everything was mixed up in his head, not even he himself could understand what was going on in his head.


    But he seemed to deny the truth, deny the reality, the absolute and fixated reality that Ren, his little brother, was dead.


    Trying to fight off reality, he simply remained a neutral expression on his face and tried to hold Ren''s corpse in his arms.


    The house was already starting to break down entirely. The walls and roofs shattered brick by brick, piece by piece, leading to several large pieces of the roof falling down on their heads.


    Before Flugel could hold his little brother one last time, just one last time, the cabinet shattered in front of his very eyes, trapping Ren under multiple bricks and burned wooden planks.


    Flugel immediately started yelling in desperation:


    "N-NO! Please, please, please!"


    He started picking up the shattered rocks and burned wooden planks and throwing them away, piece by piece, trying to reach the cabinet. But every time he threw a piece, it felt like another piece just came into existence. The cabinet was covered in a huge pile of dust and rocks and wood, and it was pretty much impossible to reach.


    "Please, be alive."


    Flugel knew it. He knew what happened to Ren. He knew.


    He knew he couldn''t save his little brother, which was already stupid of him because he was already dead, the very little VLV that his little brother had already faded.


    He most likely wanted to bury the corpse, but even that was gone forever.


    The burning house didn''t even give him a chance to mourn the death of his dear brother, a huge log that supported the roof fell down on Flugel, he immediately and quickly cut it in half using his scythe.


    He started running for his life, trying not to die because of the toxic gazes and the dust and smoke.


    He finally reached the exit door and striked it down to reach freedom.


    After he got out, his house immediately fell to the ground, shattered and burned to ashes and pieces.


    It was impossible to believe that this used to be a home for a family of three, a loving one indeed.


    In front of Flugel was Willinham waiting for him, holding Flugel''s mother on his back as promised.


    Flugel couldn''t even smile. He just looked at Willinham and said with a low and devastated voice:


    "Are they still running around?"


    Willinham shrugged and replied:


    "I don''t know, look around you. They''re still chasing down the villagers and sealing them-"


    Willinham was interrupted by realizing that tears were running down Flugel''s cheeks.


    Willinham immediately knew what was going on, so he didn''t dare to ask a single question.


    Willinham sighed.


    "While you were gone, I noticed a carriage leaving the village. I think it''s survivors running away to a nearby village.


    Flugel thanked God that he could at least save his mother.


    "Really? Then.. let''s take her there."


    "Sounds good to me. We should stop those people though, although they''ve already kind of destroyed the entire village.."


    "Willinham."


    "Yes, Flugel?"


    "Hand her over."


    Willinham listened and handed Flugel''s mother to him. Flugel held her on his back and started running while Willinham followed him.


    Willinham caught up with Flugel''s pace. When Flugel noticed so, he asked:


    "Willinham, do you have any damn idea what''s going on?!"


    "I''m as confused as you are, I was looking for you, and I saw that Remenis was about to kill your mother."


    "Like i didn''t know already..." Flugel thought to himself.


    Willinham went on to add:


    "I casted my technique, you know the light beam. It was stupid of me to do that. It sucked all of my energy, making me much weaker and an easy opponent to Remenis. I mean, he didn''t even budge!"


    Flugel was puzzled and questioned:


    "Didn''t even budge? I mean, he was strong, but I managed to literally cut a hole through his stomach."


    Willinham seemed surprised but didn''t question the authenticity of Flugel''s claims as he had seen, well, Remenis gone.


    Willinham immediately concluded that:


    "I see, i guess my technique weakened whatever was protecting him, which made you have the upper hand."


    Flugel was shocked and yelled:


    "So that was a weakened version of him?!"


    Willinham shrugged.


    "You can say so. But still, you managed to beat and maybe even kill him! That''s an achievement, you know?"


    Flugel was flattered, and his accomplishment was appreciated a little.


    "I see, thank you. But.."


    Willinham got curious.


    "What is it?"


    Flugel hesitated a little but still went on to say:


    "You do realize your face is all messed up, right?"


    Willinham was a little shocked at the confession.


    "Is it that bad? But wait, your arm!"


    Willinham pointed out the wound on Flugel''s forearm caused by the servant from way earlier.


    Flugel felt a little anxious about the situation but tried to rub it off to focus on the main subject.


    "I should do something about it.. and your face as well."


    Willinham sighed.


    "I see."


    He then looked forward and noticed carriages leaving the city, while servants of Remenis were burning the village down and kidnapping families in the background.


    Willinham added:


    "We''ve arrived."


    The two stopped running in their tracks. Flugel held his mother in his arms and walked towards one of the carriages.


    In front of Flugel was a man, and that seemed to be of great importance to Flugel.


    Willinham watched Flugel approach the man and quickly realized who he was.


    Willinham realized that man was the very same man he talked to back when he was training Flugel for the very first time.


    The very same man who taught Willinham about how parents abandoned their children searching for a better life, just to live like a rat in the Royal Palace or the Modesty Realm.


    He didn''t question how Flugel knew him because, obviously, they''re a small village, and everyone knew each other.


    But the way that man was guiding others, helping the elderly and children escape. He started suspecting the man of having various titles but couldn''t point his finger at one.


    Herkil was an average height, 30 years old man who wore a dark brown chemise (like a very long tunic), with beige breeches and black boots.


    Flugel approached the man and said in a worried voice:


    "Mr. Herkil!"


    Herkil turned around to face Flugel.


    "Flugel?! You''re alive?! And is that-"


    Herkil'' eyes became wide open as he saw Flugel''s situation, but he wasn''t any better. Herkil was full of bruises and wounds, but fortunately, there were no serious injuries.


    Herkil knew there wasn''t the right place to ask questions, so he said:


    "Get her in the carriage, now! Is she injured?!"


    "No, no, she just has horrible bruises as you see."


    Herkil helped Flugel get the latter''s mother inside the carriage. The carriage was filled with other women, elderly and children. Flugel wondered if they were going to be alright, especially his mother.


    Herkil looked at Flugel and told him in a worried tone:


    "So? Come on, get inside, and your friend over there as well."


    Herkil didn''t seem to recognize Willinham, maybe because Herkil meets a bunch of people each day, so he doesn''t seem to remember someone he had met for a few minutes.


    Flugel understood Herkil''s worry about him, so he just told him:


    "I have some work to do, I really do."


    Herkil didn''t seem to understand what a seventeen year old would have to do in a situation like the one happening right now.


    "You''re.. busy?.. Flugel, as the village chief, I can''t simply let a child like you stay over there, also..."


    The acts of Remenis'' servants didn''t stop for a second in the background. The noises kept getting louder, and the flames burnt the entire village down to the ground.


    Herkil zoned out while looking inside the carriage and proceeded to add:


    "You can''t leave your mother there, alone."


    Although Herkil truly cared about Flugel, he tried guilt tripping him, but it was for the greater good, according to his vision.


    Flugel said while putting his hand on Herkil''s shoulder:


    "I... alright, I''ll come."


    Flugel then turned around to face Willinham.


    "Are you coming?"


    Willinham appreciated the invite and replied:


    "I have some stuff to do, just stay with your family and escape, alright?"


    "What are you going to do?"


    "I''ll help some people over there escape and collect as many sealed people as possible."


    "Oh, right!"


    Flugel put his hand inside his pocket and grabbed out a bag full of crystals.


    Willinham was kind of surprised.


    "Wait, is that?"


    "Yeah, I tried to save people earlier, and I.."


    "You what?"


    Flugel looked at his forearm and concentrated. In a split of a second, his scythe had formed.


    Willinham was even more shocked than before.


    "What the heck?! How did you do that?!"


    "It''s.. complicated."


    "Whatever, just go now. You can''t risk your chances!"


    After a few seconds, the three of them could hear an explosion nearby, a loud one indeed. They all turned around only to see a cloud of dust and flames.


    Herkil grabbed Flugel by his hand and jumped inside the carriage.


    Herkil yelled with a loud and clear voice:


    "GO, GO, GO!"


    the coachman at the front of the carriage immediately signaled the horses to start moving. The coachman seemed to lead the carriage towards an unclear path, probably to avoid encountering servants on the main path.


    Flugel watched as he got farther and farther from Willinham. He couldn''t lie to himself that he was very worried about him.


    Herkil looked at Flugel''s wound and said:


    "Here, let me cover that up."


    Herkil grabbed a bottle that was inside one of the crates around the carriage and poured the liquid that was inside of it on the wound.


    After a few seconds, Flugel clenched as a feeling of numbness and sting flowed through his spine.


    Herkil looked a little surprised.


    "Oh, come on, Flugel, it''s just warm water and soap."


    Herkil ripped off a piece of cloth from his tunic and wrapped Flugel''s wound with it.


    "This will probably leave a scar, kinda cool, don''t you think, Flugel?"


    Herkil tried cheering Flugel up, but it seemed to not work even a little bit.


    A few minutes passed, around ten minutes, the crew inside the carriage kept complete silence with no words spoken.


    Herkil held on some courage and asked:


    "Flugel."


    "Yes?"


    Flugel kept looking down at the carriage wooden floor and didn''t want to make any eye contact.


    Herkil noticed and tried to ask nicely:


    "Flugel, look at me, son."


    Flugel did so only because he respected Herkil deeply.


    Herkil asked:


    "Flugel, where is your brother?"


    The question sent a wave of shock into Flugel because after the horrifying scene he had seen, he didn''t want to talk about it, not even a little bit.


    He wanted to bury the scene in the depths of his brain, somewhere he couldn''t remember at all.


    Flugel hesitated, but surely after a minute of silence, he answered:


    "H-he.."


    Before Herkil could crack a smile after Flugel seemed to start answering his question, the brightness outside seemed to increase by the second.


    Herkil and Flugel both turned around to look outside the carriage.


    They said in unison:


    "What the-?!"


    In a moment, half of the carriage was gone from the coachman''s side. Fortunately, the two and Flugel''s mother and some others were safe, but the coachman and his horses were done for, erased from existence entirely, leaving no corpses behind.


    The bright light had a scarlet color mixed with a little orange. It looked like something none other than flames, familiar ones.


    The carriage immediately collapsed into pieces, making everyone drop and lay on the ground.


    Flugel realized he was in the middle of a grass field, and tried standing up. His body failed him a few times, but after a few moments he finally stood up.


    He looked around, trying to find everyone and look for the source of those flames at the same time.


    That''s when he finally saw him.

 Wielder of Ignis

    The sun was still shining and scattering its rays across the landscape, sending a comfortable and warming sensation into the people''s hearts.


    Yet, it wasn''t enough to break reality. The entire crew, or in other words, the people inside the carriage fell on the ground in the middle of a grass field after the carriage was completely shattered and demolished. Their bodies were scattered and dispersed over a wide area, making the standing survivors try to look for each other for a chance of union and survival.


    When Flugel looked around for his other companions after standing up from the grass, he saw a familiar face.


    "I have underestimated you, kid." Said a familiar voice from a distance. It was none other than Remenis himself.


    Flugel stepped back in shock because of what the heck he was seeing.


    "You.. you died! How are you alive?!"


    Remenis laughed and stepped one step after step towards Flugel.


    "Flames... you thought a mere fire would eat ME?! I''m the savior of all laborers! The pure representation of absolute dedication and..."


    Remenis accumulated flames to form a little fire ball inside of his fist and went on to throw it towards Flugel and added:


    "Wielder of the authority of Ignis!"


    Flugel jumped to the left to dodge the ball of flames. His dodge was pretty successful as he had seen no damage on his body whatsoever.


    Flugel was tensed and anxious, yet full of rage towards Remenis, the very same person who killed his brother, and almost did the same to his mother.


    Flugel tried clearing his mind from all thoughts to focus entirely on his fight. But, the memory of seeing his brother melt and being crushed under wood and rocks.


    Flugel was about to lose his composure at any given moment. All he could remember was that agonizing reminiscence.


    But only then, he remembered.


    *****


    The sun was bright and mesmerizing to the human eye, warming the cold and leading the lost.


    Willinham and Flugel were training at their usual spot in the forest. Flugel kept trying to strike Willinham over and over again, yet seemed unable to land even one hit.


    Willinham giggled a little and said:


    "What''s wrong? Not even one hit?"


    Flugel gasped for air while saying:


    "I- I don''t know?! Every strike I send gets blocked by your elbow or hand or something!"


    Willinham grinned and said:


    "Because you are..."


    Willinham grabbed Flugel''s arm and knocked him down in a moment.


    "...too predictable."


    "What do you mean?"


    "I mean that you let your emotions take control of your movements. Which in itself isn''t that bad, but I personally vote against it."


    "---"


    "Clearing your mind from thoughts, focusing on one singular objective. That''s the spirit of a fight, in my opinion."


    "Well, how can I empty my mind?"


    Willinham looked a little nervous trying to answer the simple question and answered:


    "Well, um- um- uhh.. figure it out yourself."


    Flugel was kind of disappointed and said:


    "You''re a horrible teacher.."


    Willinham got offended.


    "I''m doing this for free, you know?!"


    *****


    "I see. Thank you, Willinham." Is the thought that occurred in Flugel''s mind. Those simple memories answered his doubts. Although "clearing his mind" from such traumatic memories isn''t as simple as it sounds like, trying is not going to cost him anything.


    Flugel took a deep breath, inhaled, and then exhaled. He stood up off of the grass and faced Remenis and then said with a loud and clear voice:


    "Remenis, what is your goal here?"


    Remenis was taken a back a little by the sudden question, but weirdly enough, he was willing to answer.


    "Collect toys for games, and make enough money to kill those spoons up in the Royal Palace."


    Flugel was weirded out because he thought Remenis was from the Palace as well as he had announced before in the village, he guessed it was to tempt the villagers into joining his side due to the main stream thought of escaping the Filth Realm.


    Flugel rubbed it off and replied:


    "I, Flugel Spes, will avenge my brother, Ren, and put your head in the center of the village for people to remember."


    Remenis grinned and answered in a serious tone:


    "So be it, i won''t hold back on you anymore."


    A blinding flare ignited on Flugel''s forearm, shaping into a blade, a scythe of pure light. The energy flowing through his veins could be felt like blood, but it also felt like it was humming, humming with energy. As he closed his grip, the scythe solidified, casting small shadows around him, although it was in broad daylight.


    *****


    Drowning, falling, eaten. That''s what Remenis felt as he was being thrown into the flames by Flugel. He yelled and insulted Flugel just to get a reaction out of him, but it was too late.


    His voice was overpowered by the sounds of the flames eating everything around it. Not to mention the penetrating wound in the middle of his stomach, making him bleed to death. He laid on the burning grass, welcoming death with open arms.


    He closed his eyes and waited for death to take his soul. Memories flashed before his very eyes as his consciousness faded partly each second that had passed.


    "You''ll free us, right, Remenis?"


    A reminiscence or a hoax, it didn''t matter. He could hear someone whispering the previous sentence in his ear.


    He quickly opened his eyes and looked around to find the source of it, yet he only found himself surrounded by flames.


    He quickly sat up and started palpating himself and self-examining to see why the heck wasn''t he already dead.


    His suit had already ignited, leaving burns and pieces of the suit''s fabric torn off.


    He started hacking and splattering due to the smoke coming from the flames, so he got on all fours and crawled out of the flames.


    When he finally got out of the flames, he laid on the grass due to his body running out of energy.


    He looked down at his body and saw no burns, only the injury in the middle of his abdomen.


    "What the heck?"


    Remenis wondered and questioned how the heck his skin hadn''t burnt due to the extreme heat.


    He put his hand on his wound, and when he looked at it again, he realized it was soaked in his own blood.


    He knew he didn''t have much time left, so he wanted to use the lifetime he had left as much as possible.


    A servant approached him and started yelling:


    "Master?! Are you alright?!"


    Remenis faced the servant with a neutral expression. The latter indicated he was thinking of something.


    Remenis stood off the ground and walked slowly towards the servant.


    The servant felt an unsettling sensation as he sensed an approaching danger and threat.


    The servant nervously said:


    "M-master, what are you-"


    Remenis seized his face, fingers pressing hard into his jaw, gripping with a muzzle grip.


    The servant resisted by trying to kick Remenis and grabbing onto the hands that were covering his face. But all his efforts were meaningless with absolutely no results.


    With a savage motion, Remenis lifted the servant off the ground before flinging him into the flames.


    The servant yelled as he fell on the burning grass, the flames started eating his clothes, and then his flesh.


    He yelled in pain and agony as the smokes filled his lungs, making him splatter uncontrollably.


    The scene of the agonizing torture that the servant was experiencing made Remenis conclude that:


    "I... I''M IMMUNE!"


    In a state of mixed shock and joy, Remenis started scouring and frantically searching for the very same person that threw him to his supposed death.


    There it was. The same VLV that came from Flugel earlier could be sensed from the direction Remenis was facing.


    Remenis started running like his life depended on it. His legs burned with each step and stride. His only objective was to make the one who dared to kill him suffer the taste of death.


    Through the tall grass, through the bushes and the trees, no obstacle stopped Remenis in his tracks or slowed him down from reaching his destination, even though it meant leaving his servants behind.


    Servants in each corner of his eyes, terrorizing the village and sealing the villagers. The attack never stopped, not even for a mere second.


    After around a minute of sprinting like an animal, he finally found it, he saw a carriage moving through tall grass, at first it seemed bizzare to him because a horse carriage like that should move on a mapped path, not the grass.


    It was obviously the villagers'' desperate plan of escaping. He immediately opened his hand and faced it towards the carriage.


    It seemed like he was going to shoot something out of his hand.


    "Reaving.."


    With a strong pulse, energy flowed through Remenis'' veins, synchronized and organized like a melody of some sorts. A scarlet beam penetrated through the air and wind, like a meteor coming from the sky ready to demolish the earth.


    "SUUUNNN!"


    Unlike Willinham''s or Flugel''s techniques, this one didn''t seem to consume a lot of Remenis'' VLV.


    The incoming brightness the crew saw earlier was the beam itself. The beam wrecked and demolished the carriage, and what happened earlier had happened.


    *****


    Flugel looked at Remenis, examining him and watching his every move in case of any sudden movement.


    In a flash of an eye, Remenis disappeared. Flugel''s eyes kept spinning and spinning looking for Remenis, he then realized Remenis'' constant rapid movement left a trace in the air, like a disturbance in space, space was warped with each move Remenis made.


    Flugel sensed a presence behind him. He turned around only to find Remenis about to stomp his face. Flugel quickly parried the attack and countered it with his scythe.


    In a quick move, after Flugel''s counter had failed hitting Remenis, the latter slashed a blow of flames towards Flugel.


    Flugel weaved and dodged the attack entirely, then grabbed onto Remenis'' leg and pulled him towards the ground.


    With a powerful force, Remenis was thrown against the dirty ground on his back, making him gasp in pain.


    Flugel dared to stomp on Remenis'' stomach, but the latter quickly stood up, and while so, his fist rocketed upwards, knuckles driving into the underside of Flugel''s jaw. The force sent him back a few steps and made him close his eyes in pain caused by the unexpected assault. Then, he tried to recover his focus once again.


    Before he could fully open his eyes, Remenis lashed him and then went into a series of pummeling.


    Each fist that was sent had more force and power than the previous one, like a never-ending cycle of fists.


    Remenis grinned with a prideful expression and said:


    "Whaaat, can you DODGE AGAIN?!"


    Flugel started weaving to evade the incoming blows and then went on to do a hook targeting the ribs.


    Fortunately, the hook was successful and damaged Remenis'' ribs. The attack forced Remenis to jump back and create distance between the two of them.


    The two calmed down and stood facing each other yet a distance separating them.


    Remenis looked at Flugel with a narcissistic and vainglorious look. As if it was merely to piss Flugel off, but maybe Remenis was just like that.


    For now, Remenis seemed to be an egoistic maniac, obsessed with his so-called "dedication" or "blue tie job" which are very unfamiliar concepts to Flugel.


    Remenis started walking to the left in a straight line, and so did Flugel, even though he didn''t know why.


    Remenis yelled:


    "Your dirty little plan was quite successful."


    Flugel was puzzled.


    "Well, your plan will be demolished by my own hands, you fool."


    "Quite successful to me, as you see."


    Remenis put his hand on the wrist of the other, and in a moment, VLV flowed through his veins, and a beam completely consumed his hand.


    Flugel was absolutely bewildered due to why the heck would he attack himself.


    After the beam''s light had grown dim and faded, Flugel realized Remenis'' hand was still intact.


    Remenis then went into an episode of shouting complete nonsense.


    "YOU SEE, FLUGEL! Thanks to you! Yes, YOU! I could have NEVER found out about this if it wasn''t for you!"


    Flugel then accumulated his VLV in the hand that wasn''t holding his scythe, or in other words, his left hand. Only to form some sort of ball or sphere of pure light and then shoot it towards Remenis.


    Remenis unexpectedly didn''t try to dodge the attack. In fact, he absolutely endured it with his body, although it left a small burn on his face.


    Flugel was perplexed.


    "What are you talking about?"


    "Don''t you see? Well, what did I expect from an unwashed swine like you."


    Flugel pondered for a few seconds. What does any of what happened even mean? That''s the question that soaked his mind in perplexity and confusion.


    He was absolutely sure that he had thrown Remenis into the flames to be engulfed by the latter.


    Remenis seemed completely uninjured, with merely the penetrating wound that was caused by Flugel standing out and bleeding like a waterfall.


    Flugel finally understood what happened, the mistake he had done, he made an insane maniac discover a monstrous ability that not even a sane person could be trusted with, who knows what Remenis would do with that ability, in what way he could abuse it.


    Flames coiled around Remenis'' palms, and with a strong thrust of his arm, fire balls started shooting like comets out of the sky, leaving a trail of embers on the grass separating them.


    Flugel sprinted towards Remenis, weaving through the fireballs as he got closer and closer.


    With a sharp thrust, Remenis slashed the air, forming a forceful blow of flames towards Flugel. As the blow was unexpected, Flugel was forced to endure and absorb the hit.


    Remenis yelled:


    "Your pitiful dodges won''t last you baseborn WRENCH!"


    Flugel shouted in reply:


    "I''m not going to die to a rat, LIKE YOU!"


    Flugel gasped for air as the blow hit his torso, but it wasn''t enough to stop him in his tracks.


    Flugel ran and absorbed the hits until he reached Remenis'' face.


    With a swift motion, Flugel swiped his scythe across Remenis'' face, the sharp blade cutting through the skin and flesh, unleashing a flood of blood.


    Remenis tried to lean backward, but his dodge was unsuccessful. In response, Remenis reacted to the attack by launching a fire ball, which was interrupted by Flugel sweeping him, resulting in Remenis'' legs being knocked out and losing balance, making him fall on the grass.


    As Flugel got a bit carried away and prideful due to the successful attack, Remenis once again accumulated and coiled flames in his hand and launched it straight onto Flugel''s abdominals.


    Remenis said:


    "For a mud-grubber, you have qualifications for a warrior, but of course..."


    Remenis twisted mid-fall before hitting the ground, landing on all fours with a thud, fingers splayed against the dirt like a raging cat.


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    "...not quite compatible to keep up with the immense power of the savior of all laborers."


    He jumped off the ground and immediately started pummeling Flugel with rapid fists.


    Remenis smirked and chuckled as he kept sending fists filled with force and rage towards Flugel''s face and body.


    "Fight back, wrench!"


    Flugel tried weaving and dodging every attack, yet seemed unsuccessful to avoid most of them, damaging his torso and ribs even more than before.


    Flugel tried to ignore the immense pain flowing through his veins. Wounds and cuts covered his entire body like a war survivor. Blood and sweat falling down his hands and skin, watching a child like him fight to death was such an unpleasant and disgusting scenery, fortunately none of the crew of the destroyed carriage were conscious as they had lost it due to the impact from earlier.


    Flugel glared at him and yelled:


    "I will-"


    With an immensely strong force, filled with egoism and pride coming from Remenis, one last punch in the the face was about to come in contact with Flugel, it seemed like this was the finishing move, the final showdown.


    Flugel finally found an open passage to fight back. Through the endless chain of pummeling that was being sent by Remenis, an open way to assault Remenis was found.


    Flugel deflected the final punch by Remenis with his scythe, making Remenis'' hand get cut through the blade as it ripped its skin and flesh.


    By deflecting the attack, Remenis was pushed a little bit backward and lifted off the ground for a mere moment, a moment of vulnerability, just enough for him to absolutely destroy Remenis.


    Flugel immediately abused his chance with a smirk on his face. With a strong and sharp move, he swayed his arm upwards, his legs acting a spring, adding even more force to the attack, twisting his hips for even more momentum, contributing even larger force.


    As his scythe was about to absolutely penetrate through Remenis'' head to end him once and for all, Remenis was able to completely stop it by pushing it away with a fierce and powerful blow of flames. Fortunately, the flames didn''t have much effect or damage on Flugel''s hand.


    Flugel was devastated as his one chance of ever winning was demolished, destroyed, and turned to ashes. But only then, he had realized, Remenis was absolutely filled with pride to the point that he was completely blind to the most obvious counterattack.


    Flugel abused and took advantage of the closest limb of his to Remenis, his left hand.


    With a vigorous fist, and a humongous amount of VLV infused within it, Flugel was able to land his knuckles through Remenis'' cheek, sending an episode of pain to Remenis'' brain as the powerful impact lifted him off the ground for a mere moment.


    Flugel then yelled with a voice filled with desperation and terror:


    "I WILL... END YOU!"


    The next moment, Flugel went on to start pummeling Remenis, just like the latter had done before to him. Each fist and blow was accompanied with despair and torment, each next fist even more powerful and fierce than the one before it.


    Fists flew in a blur, each punch landing with a jaw-crushing force, Flugel didn''t even stop for a mere moment-- just kept swinging, hammering Remenis down like a merciless storm.


    Remenis tried to say while each letter that came out of his mouth was interrupted by a merciless punch:


    "H-eh y-you-"


    Flugel yelled, filled with despair:


    "I''LL KILL YOU!"


    Each fist pushed Remenis back a step and caused a new bruise each time it landed. Remenis couldn''t take it any longer.


    Each hit was filled with determination and determination to protect his dear mother.


    With a rapid and powerful thrust, Remenis drove his palm against one of Flugel''s fists, causing it to stop in its track-- a small cloud of dust surrounded the two from the impact.


    Their hands reeked of blood and sweat, their palms pushed each other towards the other, their forces were almost equal as they tried using their shoulders and legs as springs to add more force.


    Remenis tilted his head slightly, like he was amused by this, a grin too big stretching his face unnaturally, probably due to the inhuman shape of his mouth.


    Remenis said is a low and giggling voice:


    "You''re already tired, aren''t you?! You unwashed rabble!"


    Flugel yelled in response:


    "Look at you, wrapped in fine cloth like a pig dressed for feast day!"


    Remenis questioned with a shocked expression:


    "Pig?..."


    After a mere moment, his expression transformed into a raging one. He bared his teeth and yelled:


    "PIG?!"


    Suddenly, Remenis'' VLV rose by the second, as if he was stealing energy from the world. It seemed like Flugel had hit a nerve with that insult.


    With a heavy and fierce push, Remenis was able to force Flugel to jump back a few feet away from him.


    Flugel spit and said:


    "For a rat, you''re quite resilient."


    Remenis started groaning and breathing heavily. After that moment, VLV accumulated in Remenis'' hands as if it was floating around them. Flames twisted against each other and moved around as if they followed every order that Remenis made.


    Remenis shouted:


    "Embers of the inferno... flames of this shameful world..."


    The flames finally united and began to take shape around his hands until they finally took the shape of gloves, although gauntlets would be a more appropriate name due to their armor-like structure.


    Remenis punched his hands together with a fierce blow and went on to add:


    "Claws of Ignis!"


    The gauntlets were shaped into the fearsome claws of a dragon. Each finger tapered into a talon of searing fire, flickering and shifting with every movement, as though barely controlled by Remenis, making it unsustainable and merely usable for a temporary period of time.


    Flugel stood still, not a muscle moved as his eyes watched Remenis slowly approach him with rage in his eyes.


    Flugel raised his hand with a smooth motion and pointed his scythe towards Remenis.


    "Come at me." Flugel said with an arrogant tone. Even though that attitude collided and rejected Willinham''s idea of a fight spirit, it seemed Flugel just didn''t care any longer.


    In a blink of an eye, Remenis vanished and faded from thin air, leaving no trace behind.


    Bewildered, Flugel scanned the landscape that was visible in his eyesight, his heart pounding with each stare.


    Only then, Remenis'' VLV could be felt and sensed from his right side. In the corner of his eye, Remenis'' silhouette revealed itself with an intimidating presence.


    Panicked, he immediately drew his scythe in front of his face, resulting in it clashing with Remenis'' gauntlets.


    Remenis yelled:


    "I am the hope of the Modesty Realm workers! Each one of them gave their hopes and dreams TO ME!"


    Remenis swung his arm back and, with a formidable force, drove his arm towards Flugel''s guts, shoving them into the latter like a piercing drill.


    Flugel gasped for air as his guts were crushed and destroyed, blood gushed out of his mouth, yet he refused to budge and endured the hit.


    His body was trembling in pain and agony, coughing blood with every move he made, but he was determined to defeat Remenis.


    As he was about to thrust and drive his scythe towards Remenis'' exposed arm, he felt a spark unleash from Remenis'' gauntlet.


    "Die." Remenis said with a low, unclear voice.


    After a moment, a sickening sensation possessed Flugel''s body, burning his limbs with pain. He could feel his own blood rise up his throat as he stepped back in defense.


    He raised his hand, meaning to unleash a penetrating light beam as a last stand attack in hopes of something to happen, but was immediately interrupted by Remenis grabbing him by his tunic with his gauntlets.


    The heat coming from the gauntlets caused Flugel to twitch and flinch as it burned his skin.


    "What- did you do?" Flugel painfully said.


    "I merely sent a wave of VLV to your bloodstream. it seems your peasant body can''t handle it." Remenis answered with an arrogant voice.


    Remenis went on to add:


    "BEGONE!"


    With a piercing and formidable blow toward Flugel''s guts, Remenis sent Flugel floating and flying off the ground in a ragdoll-like state, folded in half as if the punch itself was still present in his gut.


    That wasn''t enough to satisfy Remenis'' greed. He crouched low, muscles coiling like springs, then exploded upward in a powerful leap, souring through the air.


    As he approached Flugel mid-air, he squeezed his hands together, drove them back above his head, and then with a fierce force he shoved his hands into Flugel''s body sending him flying down back to the ground.


    Flugel was fighting, losing consciousness every second that passed. The only sensation he was feeling at that point was pain.


    Each blow that hit Flugel made him realize he maybe wasn''t meant to win. Maybe he wasn''t built for this.


    When Flugel finally reached the ground, the impact caused a cloud of dust and dirt to emerge and expand around him. The ground shook as a giant hole developed due to the power of the impact.


    Flugel just laid there, the sky in front of his eyes. The sun rays hit him directly in his eyes but couldn''t even cover them as his arms felt paralyzed.


    "Well, well, aren''t you going to kill me?" Remenis said as he approached the hole Flugel caused.


    Flugel said in response:


    "I''ll... kill you..."


    Remenis frowned as he said:


    "What a shame, I thought you''d be much more fun."


    Only then, a villainous idea revealed itself in Remenis'' mind. It seemed that Remenis really wanted to keep fighting Flugel.


    Remenis turned his head and took a step, walking away from pithole that Flugel was in.


    "Oh, well... I guess I can kill those people over there now." He yelled.


    For a moment, he hadn''t heard or felt any response from Flugel. Disappointed, he walked away, ready to slaughter those villagers.


    It seemed that, Flugel, was dead.


    As Remenis was walking towards the villagers, he kept turning and checking if Flugel was going to attack him to any moment, yet he was hit with the reality that he was dead.


    He sighed and continued walking his path. Each step he had taken was filled with disappointment as he had high hopes for Flugel. For the first time, he had actually found someone who kept up with him in a fight.


    "Keep your hands--"


    A voice filled with despair and rage could be heard behind his ear. A wide grin emerged on his face as he turned around to face the source of the voice.


    Remenis yelled:


    "YOU BRAT!"


    "--OFF MY PEOPLE YOU BASTARD!"


    With a vigorous thrust, Flugel landed his knuckles through Remenis'' cheeks. The hit was infused with so much VLV that Remenis had to abandon his gauntlets and return to using basic blows of flames.


    Remenis stepped back a little, yet before he could ever react or counter, Flugel started pummeling him, each fist filled with a greater amount of VLV than the one before it, hammering down Remenis.


    Flugel yelled:


    "You go to my village, kidnap my people, and--"


    Remenis interrupted him.


    "Look for toys!"


    Flugel added:


    "--Kill my brother, YOU BASTARD! I will rip that smile off of your face!"


    As fists landed on Remenis'' face like bullets, Flugel even went on to jab Remenis with his knee, sending a deep sensation of agony to Remenis'' lower body.


    Flugel started shouting and yelling like a maniac, which was understandable due to his state of mind and body.


    "I''ll make you pay! I''ll rip your limbs off and shove them in your mouth!"


    Flugel quickly shaped and formed his dear new weapon, his scythe, and immediately drove it towards Remenis'' torso, slashing it diagonally, cutting through his flesh and skin.


    Remenis shouted:


    "You dare rip my skin off?!"


    "DON''T YOU DARE TALK!"


    Flugel seemed to despise each word that came out of Remenis'' mouth, which was completely fair and understandable, considering that man had slaughtered his brother.


    In a mere moment, VLV could be felt accumulating and manifesting in Flugel''s hand-- the brightness inside rising with a constant rate.


    In that very same moment, Remenis noticed what Flugel was about to do. He immediately realized it was another unexpected ball of light about to be shot onto his torso.


    Yet, he was absolutely mistaken. The light coming from Flugel''s scythe was growing dim and less bright each millisecond like it was dying.


    Remenis was caught off guard as his eyes twitched in confusion and fear of what was about to happen.


    For a final hit, Flugel''s scythe had completed faded out from existence, but merely seconds later, light accumulated and took the shape of brass knuckles.


    Flugel''s chest heaved, his entire body trembled in pain, he then screamed:


    "Leave my people.."


    Flugel used his legs as a spring and his shoulders as an engine, adding even more force to the upcoming attack.


    With a sharp and fierce swing, Flugel''s fist drove into Remenis'' gut, precisely into his wound, like a sledgehammer, folding him in half with a guttural gasp. Spit flew from his lips as staggered. The impact was strong and forceful enough to lift Remenis'' of the ground-- sending him into the air while folded like a doll.


    Flugel went on to add with a cracking voice:


    "ALONE!"


    As Remenis flew through the air, wind humming in his ears, his body trembling in agony as he denied accepting the fact that he was going to lose.


    When the momentum finally disappeared, he started falling to the ground like a comet, Remenis stayed still like a doll with absolutely no expression on his face, as if he was already dead.


    Flugel stood there, watching the very same person who killed his dear brother falling to his death.


    After a few moments, Remenis reached the dirty grass ground, as the impact caused a cloud of dirt and dust to enlarge and expand by the second.


    The sound of the impact was painful and disturbing to the ear, as Flugel covered his ears.


    Flugel had, in fact, won.


    Flugel thought for a moment and realized he wasn''t risking or taking a chance of letting Remenis go and escape. He kicked his leg back and started sprinting with a strong swift towards where Remenis had fallen.


    Running through the tall grass, pushing it out of his face with his hand to clear the path. The next moments were awfully silent as he wondered what was Remenis doing.


    The very next moment, Flugel watched as the grass in front of him caught in flames, like a storm of inferno.


    His eyes widened, and he had bit his lip as his skin became pale and trembled in anxiety and fear.


    When he had finally reached the location where the inferno started. In front of his very eyes was Remenis, gasping for air, skin covered in blood, bruises, and wounds, and absolutely showered in sweat.


    Remenis said with a cracked voice:


    "You.. I''ve had enough of you, you dirty little peasant."


    With a quick swift, Remenis thrust his palm outward, flames emerged from his hand in a violent rush, waves of flames twisted against eachother as they shot to the side, although Flugel was confused on why would he do that instead of shooting him instead.


    That''s when Flugel decided to turn his head to face the direction Remenis was shooting it, only then his heart sank.


    In the way of the roaring flames, was Flugel''s own mother, unconscious, and in the most miserable and horrifying state a human could be in.


    Flugel''s voice failed him as his vocal cords seemed to stop working, most likely due to the high intense pain that was overpowering the said vocal cords.


    His mind told him to kill Remenis immediately, but his natural instinct and heart told him to run and run for his mother.


    He swung his legs like never before, his feet jumping like a spring each step, yet his efforts were meaningless.


    As the raging inferno was about an inch away from burning Flugel''s mother to crisp and ashes, a figure emerged from the tall grass.


    As the light coming from the inferno hit the figure, it revealed a familiar person.


    It was none other than Herkil himself, his face soaked in his own blood that was falling and dripping down his forehead.


    Herkil took a step, and with a courageous stand and an unshakable smile, he stood in the way of the merciless inferno.


    As Herkil stood his ground, he noticed Flugel in the corner of his eyesight. The next moment, he yelled:


    "FLUGEL, LIV-"


    Before he could finish his sentence, the roaring flames devoured and annihilated his body. The watchers outside could see pieces of his skin turning into embers and his body deforming from his head to his toes. Fire curled around his body like vengeful serpents.


    After a few moments of the dead silence with merely the sound of the fierce inferno devouring Herkil, the said inferno had claimed its final breath, and slowly calmed down and faded as Remenis slowly put his hand down.


    After the flames had completely disappeared, what remained was barely human. Charred flesh clung to blackened bone, the body twisted in agony and froze in its final moments. Smoke still curling from the remains, the scent of burst meat thick in the air.


    Remenis'' eyes watched what had happened, and Remenis only had to say:


    "Ech.. what''s wrong with that pig?"


    Flugel was frozen in place and couldn''t even look away. His stomach twisted in nausea, and the smell of the burning flesh colonized his nose. Embers in air made every breath feel like swallowing ash.


    A scream was built in his chest, but no sound was heard, only thick and suffocation silence.


    Flugel forgot about everything. He didn''t care about his mother. He didn''t care about his brother. He didn''t care about anyone. He only wanted Remenis yelling in agony as he died.


    Flugel bared his teeth, a guttural growl escaping through clenched jaws, his entire body coiled with barely restrained fury.


    Flugel had snapped.


    Remenis said with a sarcastic tone:


    "What? Finally became the animal you truly are?!"


    Flugel stormed forward, each step pounding against the ground like thunder. Fists clenched so tight his knuckles became white. Rage fueled every stride as he tore through the path ahead, blind to everything except the fire burning inside of him.


    Remenis went on to announce with a wide grin on his face:


    "Yes... YES! I need you, as a PIECE!"


    In a moment, Flugel''s figure had disappeared from space itself, revealing absolutely to trace behind. Remenis swept his eyes across the field, looking for him. Only after then did Flugel''s silhouette emerge in front of his very eyes.


    But this time, Remenis wasn''t shook or intimidated by any of Flugel''s actions. One could say he wasn''t impressed one bit.


    Only then, Remenis raised his hands and pressed his fingertips together for a moment, then smoothly crossed his fingers with a gentle motion, then went on to quietly laugh with an annoying tone:


    "Hehehehehehe..."


    Flugel couldn''t hear a word he was saying as his heart was filled with fury. Though the next moment, the following words that came out of his mouth could be heard from all over the field.


    "Authority of Ignis... Ardere''s prison!"


    The next moment, Flugel felt trapped, as if time itself had stopped flowing. Frozen in one place, just a few inches away from Remenis.


    The sky felt brighter and brighter with a reddish color, as if a new sun had appeared in the middle of the sunny sky. Remenis watched as each fire ball he had thrown earlier hadn''t, in fact, disappeared and vanished but had been frozen in place in the air, using quite a bit of VLV from Remenis.


    After a mere moment, the scarlet balls of fire started connecting to each other by a forming and shaping line, each two fire balls connected with a line, manifesting into a giant web of strings of flames.


    The web surrounded Flugel from each direction, like bars of an underground prison or an animal cage.


    Flugel immediately yelled with a voice filled with torment:


    "REMENIS, YOU COWARD!"


    Remenis replied with a wide grin on his face:


    "There''s no shame in returning the filthy act! In fact, I believe you shall for your sin, of being a coward, a fool, pushing a man into the flames to be devoured... DON''T YOU FEEL SHAME?!"


    Flugel was even more maddened.


    "How can I feel shame by killing someone like you?!"


    Remenis closed his eyes and put his hand over his face, and turned the latter left and right in disappointment.


    "Oh, you..."


    Remenis peeked at Flugel through a hole between his fingers.


    "You disgust me."


    Remenis stepped back a few steps while giggling and then yelled:


    "Fool... you absolutely disgrace... how couldn''t you SEE IT?!"


    With a rapid thrust, he opened his arms as if he were expecting the air and the world to come into his arms.


    "You''ve fell RIGHT into my trap! My plan! My work! My..."


    With a fierce force, Remenis put his hands against each other, crossed his fingers, and squeezed his hands together.


    "MY DEDICATION!"


    The web of strings, creating a dome, tightened by the second, as if it was closing and sealing itself into one single object. Flugel tried moving himself, but he felt as if he was paralyzed, frozen in space itself.


    With a powerful and raging will, an intimidating gaze filling his face, Flugel broke free from the mysterious freezing force. He bared his teeth, growling like a hunting animal looking for his prey.


    Unfortunately, it was far too late to think or plan for a way of escaping. The dome tightened and tightened even more rapidly each moment that passed.


    When the dome reached the final size, Flugel froze as he watched the strings of flames slash his body as if hammers were hitting him.


    Each blow felt like eternity, immense feelings of pain, and agony filled his mind with each blow. From all directions, from all coordinates, a never-ending chain of blows and slashes of inferno didn''t have a bit of mercy on the human they were tormenting and torturing.


    The touch of the strings of inferno only left trails of blistering agony, every flicker sent embers flying into the air.


    Remenis watched with absolute amusement, one could say pleasure, the scene of a young man getting tortured to death was amusing to this creature, can one even call that Remenis human anymore?


    As each blow grew stronger, harsher and more painful for a human to watch, so did Flugel''s screams for help get louder and louder.


    No matter where Flugel looked, there was no escaping the prison of pain that burned and produced embers with every breath he took.


    Once the last string of flames burned Flugel''s torso and legs one last time, Flugel''s skin went pale, and his eyes were empty, as if his soul had already left a while ago.


    As the embers and fire particles surrounded Flugel, he fell to his knees, then his torso and arms, and finally, his head.


    Flugel was powerless, devastated, wrecked, and ultimately... defeated.


    Remenis approached Flugel slowly as he was clapping his hands.


    "Beautiful, an act of heroism made by a loved one... how truly magnificent..." Remenis said.


    "How... dare you... you bastard..." Flugel said, struggling to even form a word.


    Remenis looked at him with pity and said:


    "Owh? You feel weak? Paralyzed? Or shall I say... defeated?!"


    "I will... kill you..."


    "INDEED! The savior of all laborers! The embodiment of all hopes of dreams of workers! The true representation of dedication!... has won."


    Flugel lifted his head up a bit to peek on what was Remenis about to to do.


    Remenis coughed and walked away slowly.


    "But I have one last job to do here."


    Flugel crawled across the dirt and grass using his hand as the pushing force. The grass wasn''t that much blinding especially after it was all burnt due to the flames of Remenis.


    Remenis formed a wide grin on his face as he shouted:


    "A sinner has to pay for their sins, indeed... and a person who disrupts the work and honesty of someone... shall pay."


    Flugel''s heart sank, as he immediately knew what he was implying. With the last energy Flugel had, he shouted:


    "Remenis! Don''t you dare! Don''t you dare Remenis!"


    "What? I haven''t said what I was going to do? Do you perhaps... want me to do it?"


    "NO, NO I-"


    "YES! If you were thinking about it then you must want me to do it!"


    Remenis crouched low, and then released his legs like a spring, sending him flying towards the destination he wanted.


    As he landed, he looked down to the person he wanted, none other than Flugel''s own mother.


    As he looked to the side, he saw the burning corpse of what was once Herkil, the scenery merely sent a sensation of disgust to Remenis'' brain.


    "Ugh... a beautiful act of heroism... yet, couldn''t even act up to the title."


    That''s what he said before kicking the corpse away with a strong thrust.


    As he looked back at Flugel''s mother, he grabbed her by her neck, his fingers shoved into her throat, thankfully she was still unconscious.


    After he lifted her off the ground, he held her in the air like a doll, a toy, an object. He then yelled:


    "Look at me, Flugel."


    Flugel tried to force his body to work just for a little longer, he lifted his eyes up just to be able to see what was going on.


    "Do you see? Whoever this woman is to you... she seems to be of great status and importance."


    Flugel said in a low voice:


    "Keep your hands... off of her..."


    Remenis was pleased with the response, and then shouted:


    "Kill me, Flugel."


    Flugel was in shock, "what the heck was that guy saying?" He thought to himself. The very same person he kept fighting for the last 10 to 15 minutes is asking him to kill him once and for all. It seemed like an easy win to Flugel so he was quite skeptical about it.


    Remenis then added:


    "Come on, Flugel! Don''t make me change my mind!"


    In a desperate attempt, Flugel raised his hand outward as he trembled from the pain, and then opened his palm. Even though his VLV and body were almost at their limit, he was going to take any chance to kill that Remenis.


    And with a fierce force as he coughed his own blood, a beam of light emerged from his palm, storming forward like a raging serpent, no obstacle could ever, aimed at Remenis to evaporate him from all existence.


    Remenis yelled in excitement:


    "Yes... yes! Sweet death!"


    After that sentence, the sound of the light beam penetrating through skin and flesh could be heard, the sound of skin being burnt, bones and ribs crushed to little pieces. It was surely an agonizing scenery to witness.


    Flugel tried to hold on longer to see the achievement and accomplishment he had made, he had indeed, won.


    "He''s... dead" He thought to himself.


    As he crawled forward, the light coming the beam grew dim and less brighter by the second. That was the last bit of his power, used in one last attack just to kill that man.


    Once he was around just a few inches away from where Remenis was, the light coming from the beam had finally died out.


    Only then, the truth finally unveiled.


    Before Flugel, a body fell down in front of his face, a familiar warmth was turning cold, a familiar scent he had smelled before, a hand he had held many times before.


    Before him, were familiar eyes, wide, unblinking eyes. A burnt dress that he had held many times before.


    Tears grew larger and larger in his eyes, the skin around his cheeks grew red and so did his eyes as tears rolled down his cheeks.


    A scream had built in his lungs and mouth, yet no sound came out, his vocal cords were strong enough to say merely one word.


    "Mother...?"


    He raised and reached out his hand, only to hold the hand of the body before him. Flugel merely wanted to hold his mother''s hand one last time.


    "Mom? No, no, no-- this... this isn''t-- MOM!"


    He squeezed her hand, as his power failed him making him unable to do anything like pushing or shaking her.


    With each moment that passed he begged, he begged his mother to live, to stay with him, in this life. He squeezed her hand tighter as despair and devastation washed over him and shattered his heart to pieces like a merciless killer.


    His breath hitched, his chest tightening like a vice. His heart and mind screamed at him to do something-- but his body refused. He stared, wide-eyed, his vision became blurry as tears welled up.


    A strangled sob tore from his throat, raw and uneven. His hands and almost entire body shaking violently, holding onto her lifeless body, fingers digging into her palm, as if doing so and begging could change the reality of what had happened.


    "Flugel..."


    "Mother?!"


    A familiar sound that brought warmth to his heart could be heard, he thought he was merely imagining and hallucinating, but it seemed like reality.


    "Yes, mom?!"


    "Flugel... where are you?"


    "Huh?!"


    As Flugel looked up at her face, he realized what he had done. His beam had completely burnt his mother''s eyes, resulting in her becoming absolutely blind.


    "Where are you, son?"


    "Mother, please, I''m right here!" He said as he held her hand tighter.


    "Ah... Flugel, I feel your hand..."


    "Yes, I-"


    "Flugel... live a meaningful life..."


    That''s the last sentence he heard from his mother before the spark in her eyes faded, her hands slowly turned cold and became stiff.


    Bertha Spes had, in fact, died.


    "Truly... a magnificent show of honesty." Remenis said from a distance.


    Flugel lifted his head up a bit to see the face of the very same person who killed his mother.


    As Remenis clapped his hands and approached the two slowly, he said:


    "What a show... pure honesty and affecting... it brought tears to my dry eyes!"


    At that point, Flugel was unable to form even a letter. His tongue, hand, and body had failed him due to his VLV being used to the very limit.


    "But, you''ll both make great pieces for my games~"


    That''s the last thing that came out of Remenis'' mouth before kicking Flugel in the head. Only then, Flugel''s vision became blurry and unclear, his eyes closing against his will, and then-- nothing.

 Cage

    The embodiment of nothing, that''s what Flugel was seeing through his eyes. His body felt dull and stiff, almost as if his body denied moving according to his will.


    "What have I done..."


    His mouth refused to speak, and his tongue refused to move. He could only think.


    The infinite void of nothing consumed each part and limb of his body, like a devouring beast.


    "What have I done..."


    One could only feel one sensation: guilt. Guilt of his sin, murdering the one who raised him for years and years. Taking away her right to see the world and her right to travel the world, even her right of living.


    The same thought occurred in his mind, drowning into the limitless void of nothing: "How could I?"


    However, he also wondered how long it has been since he was stuck in this endless void. That question stuck in his mind for the past... God knows how long.


    No matter how much he tried flinching and twitching, his body refused to move a muscle.


    "Take care."


    As he felt a female voice whispering in his ear, although the voice felt unfamiliar and unclear, it sent a sensation of warmth into his heart.


    Surprisely, he felt his muscles finally start obeying his orders as he successfully raised his hand with an open palm outward with a smooth motion.


    Only then, he lifted up his eyelids only to be hit with a ray of brightness directly in his eye.


    "Ugh.. where am I...?"


    Blinded, he raised his hands, examining the area around him, trying to make some sense of the said environment. He felt something touching his hand, the touch of human skin.


    "Flugel..."


    He heard an unclear voice calling his name. He couldn''t even tell if it was a man or a woman, just a human voice.


    "Flugel, wake up, man!"


    Flugel felt a hand slap his cheeks back and forth, with an increasing force each time.


    After his eyes finally adjusted to the sudden exposure of the bright environment he was in, his vision became clear and well.


    In front of Flugel''s face was none other than his dear friend and teacher, the one whom he believed he had left behind in his village.


    Flugel said in a low voice, filled with despair as the memories couldn''t leave his mind:


    "Willinham...?"


    Willinham responded with worry and perplexity:


    "Flugel! What the hell is wrong with you?!"


    Flugel rubbed his eyes with a gentle motion just to find himself lying on a hard floor that made him feel very uncomfortable.


    As he sat up to ease the uncomfortable sensation and find out his location, Willinham watched over him while sat on his knees.


    He then turned his head left and right, examining and scanning the area around him. Only to see an army of villagers, familiar and unfamiliar ones.


    Ones he knew his whole life, and ones he hadn''t seen in his entire life. But that was merely the first thing he noticed.


    Giant walls made of hard unbreakable concrete, covered in light blue paint. An endless roof made of glass revealing the sky of the day, the sunlight barely able to pass through the glass as the angle of the walls were just enough to make the sunlight hit the walls, making the place just a little bit dark, seemingly like a cage.


    The air around Flugel was a little bit freezing, yet warm enough for him to stay comfortably standing while wearing his tunic¡ª NO! He was lost in so much confusion and perplexity that he hadn''t realized that he, Willinham and everyone else were wearing some type of black pocket-less track suits, each suit having a certain number written on a white plastic plate on their right forearm, which was quite a bizzare scenery for Flugel; being a peasant.


    The inside of the giant "cage" was totally bizzare and strange as well, some sort of greenish half-spheres that were scattered around, not to mention everyone was standing on one of them as well. A blue floor separated each sphere from the other.


    As Flugel was still trying to escape and leave his half-awake state, Willinham was just a little bit pleased and relieved that Flugel was alive.


    Yet, doubt grew its roots in Willinham''s mind and heart, trying to decipher what is going on in this giant "cage" and where the heck were they.


    With no clues to have the slightest idea of their location, he could only guess and ask around, holding onto hope.


    Willinham started thinking to himself:


    "Green spheres... a blue floor..."


    He lifted his head up to check the roof.


    "Glass roof... could they be mimicking a river?"


    After giving it some thought, the objects did look like hills surrounding a smooth moving river, but it is still a bizarre thing to build.


    The people around them looked worried and anxious. He could only guess they were kidnapped by Remenis as well.


    Willinham put his hand over his mouth and started pondering and drowning in thoughts as he stepped forward a few steps.


    "Why would they build something like this... huh, what is that?" He thought.


    In the corner of his eye, he noticed a wide glass window, yet it seemed to be painted black, making the inside invisible.


    "Weird..." He thought.


    After some pondering, Willinham turned around, walked up to Flugel, and looked at him.


    "Flugel, do you have a single idea why are we here? or where are we?"


    Strangely, Flugel refused to answer. To be precise, he ignored Willinham. Flugel was watching his own hands, admiring them yet in a shocked state.


    Flugel''s eyes were wide open, and his breathing became heavy as his body trembled.


    Willinham thought:


    "Wait... Flugel and the others escaped, why are they here...?"


    That''s when he realized:


    "I see, Remenis got to them before me. But..."


    He turned around and scanned the people around him.


    "I probably shouldn''t ask him about it. He looks miserable."


    Willinham just stood there, observing the area and waiting for something significant to happen.


    On the other hand, Flugel was in a state of confusion, devastation, and loss. He did notice a name written on his forearm¡ª "Lutum", which was quite strange because everyone else had a number instead of a name.


    His mind was full of random scattered memories and thoughts, trying to decipher and explain what had happened.


    Willinham was no exception to the strange names. His forearm had "Regium" written on it.


    That''s when a loud voice could be heard from the walls. The voice was a little cracked and high-pitched, yet it was familiar.


    "Ahm, ahm... Welcome, peasants!"


    Everyone in the "cage" turned around, searching for the source of the voice but with no results. They assumed the person was hiding somewhere except Willinham.


    Willinham thought:


    "I see, All of these people must be from various villages across the Filth Realm. They must not know what loudspeakers are."


    Only Willinham noticed the exotic looking cones sticked and scattered around the walls. Others did, in fact, point out the cones, but none of them could figure out their use.


    "I''m sure you''re all confused due to why I''ve gathered you here today, but worry not! For I, Remenis Fedesis, will clear everything!"


    That sentence struck a nerve in Flugel''s mind as the name "Remenis" went through his ears like lightning.


    With no second thought and rage igniting in his eyes, Flugel stood up with a rapid and careless motion and went on to yell with a serious tone:


    "Remenis, come out and face me, you coward!"


    "I see you''ve woken up, Flugel! With some spirit, indeed... Yet, you''ll never reach me, not at my level!"


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    "YOU WILL PAY!"


    Remenis stayed silent for a mere moment, then he started giggling and laughing as if Flugel''s claims were mere bluffing. His laughs could be heard by everyone, sending a sensation of anxiety through them.


    "Peasants, welcome to The Modesty Games!"


    Flugel shouted with frustration:


    "Are you ignoring me?!"


    At that point, everyone was staring at Flugel with a mixed feeling of confusion and pity.


    Willinham approached Flugel with a rapid motion and put his hands on Flugel''s shoulders, and said:


    "Dude, calm it¡ª"


    Flugel was annoyed.


    "Get off me!"


    Flugel resisted Willinham''s grip on his shoulders as he pushed forward.


    Willinham yelled:


    "Calm down! What is wrong with you?! What happened in that carriage?!"


    Flugel''s eyes became wide open as he stared down at his feet.


    "I¡ª..."


    Flugel''s heart kept on sinking lower and lower each time the memory of his mother''s final words played in his mind. As Willinham sensed that Flugel had calmed down, he put his hands down and looked at Flugel with pity and worry.


    Willinham thought to himself:


    "I see. My worries and thoughts were correct. I''ve looked around before Flugel had woken up and searched through the people here. There is no trace of Flugel''s mother, meaning..."


    Willinham watched Flugel get back on his knees, and then Flugel sat down and hugged his legs as his face faced the ground.


    "She''s most likely dead."


    Willinham turned around to face the strange black window on the wall and thought to himself:


    "Remenis is most likely there, I''m sure of it. But how am I going to get there when..."


    Willinham turned around to face not Flugel, but what was behind him. After Flugel was a giant humongous gate, around 6 meters in height and 2 meters in width, as if the gate was designed for a large quantity of people to go through.


    But the true purpose of the gate was obvious. The gate was guarded by two Tenegians from Garn''s race, yet these ones seemed larger and more muscular than Garn, wearing large cloaks made of wolf fur and sturdy hide boots, with an intimidating gaze, as well as holding giant axes made of steel.


    Although Willinham was quite powerful for a human due to his authority, he realized he wasn''t up to the challenge and wasn''t risking it.


    He looked down at Flugel while waiting to hear the rest of Remenis''s speech.


    "Let me explain, peasants. Basically..."


    Slowly and surprisingly, the ground started shaking. Then, before everyone, a small area in the middle of the hall opened and separated in half, leaving a small square pit in the middle of the floor.


    Then, something emerged from that pit. It wasn''t that visible at first, but after it rose and emerged fully, it was visible to everyone.


    Remenis continued:


    "In front of you, there''s a table. On top of that table, there are three glass jars. And inside of those jars, as you see, there are paper shreds with all of your identities written on them!"


    After the last word, behind everyone, the gate opened. Everyone turned around in shock and anxiety due to the mystery.


    Behind the gate, emerged darkness and shadows, as if the gate was a path to the absolute void.


    From the shadows, a creature emerged, approaching them step after step. As the light hit against it, its features were revealed.


    A face covered in white fur, eyes sharp as a bullet, ears pointy like a knife, as well as wearing a dark colored cloak covered in what seemed to be wolf fur, just like the tenegians.


    To Flugel and everyone else, the creature looked strange and unknown, but to Willinham, he knew what that was.


    Willinham thought with a calm mind:


    "A luxien? What is a luxien doing here...?"


    The luxien kept on walking forward towards Flugel and Willinham''s direction. Flugel didn''t have much of a reaction, but Willinham stood in a defensive stand¡ª staying on guard, ready to counter any incoming attack.


    As the luxien was a few steps away, the two, he seemed to avoid eye contact with them as he passed right by them.


    Willinham was relieved as he sighed and stood back normally once again, yet Flugel was just as he was before, sitting alone.


    The luxien approached the table, each step planting more confusion in the people''s hearts. When the luxien finally stood before the table, Remenis announced:


    "My dear comrade, Albein, will divide you people to groups. Each group will be assigned an activity. He''ll be yelling your numbers so you can know what group you belong to."


    As the luxien, Albein, put his hand inside the jar on the left and grabbed out a paper shred, he yelled:


    "Nawm¡ª Number 45!"


    And then pointed towards his right with his finger. Everyone checked their forearms for their numbers until the said "Number 45" emerged from the crowd, approaching Albein, and then heading towards the direction Albein pointed at.


    "Number 45" wasn''t more than a forty year old man with short brown hair, walking anxiously towards an unknown destination.


    Albein kept shouting the numbers in the jars, group growing with each paper shreds picked up. Willinham waited for his name to be yelled as he watched Flugel sitting on the ground, hugging his legs for the past ten minutes.


    Willinham watched the crowd he was in decrease in quantity over time, and numbers rose up to 400. Weirdly, the crowd was getting so little that he started to suspect that his name wasn''t going to be yelled.


    He looked down at Flugel''s forearm and noticed he had a name instead of a number as well.


    He thought:


    "Are they going to call us yet? Only me and Flugel are left..."


    He lifted his head up and realized, in front of him, was one person. The crowd had already gone into groups, and there were merely three people left in their side.


    As Willinham looked at that person, he acknowledged and scanned their features.


    The person was a woman who looked to be around 20 to 23 years old. She looked like she was as old as Willinham. Her outfit wasn''t any different than Willinham''s, as everybody was wearing the same black track suit.


    She had blonde hair with a "chobby bob" cut. Some of her hair covered her left eye. Her height was around 175 centimeters, and most noticeably, she suffered complete Heterochromia. Her left eye was pictone blue, and her right eye was tortilla brown.


    Although everything about her seemed natural, there was a feature that anyone who''d pass by her would notice. The skin on her left cheek and a part of her neck was covered in some type of dry soil that looked like it was about to collapse at any second.


    Her eyes had a strong gaze, as if she knew what she was doing or what she was going to do. She wasn''t making eye contact with anyone except Albein.


    Willinham thought:


    "Maybe she has a name instead of a number as well..."


    Albein went on to announce with a sharp voice:


    "Lutum, regium and abutens. Each one of you head to your respected destination."


    The groups stared at the three with confusion and perplexity, as those three had names instead of the usual numbers.


    A wide grin formed on Remenis''s face as he heard those words.


    Willinham thought in conclusion:


    "My thoughts were correct. We three are the only ones with a name. But what could that imply..."


    That woman from before, which Willinham concluded was called "Abutens" according to her plate, started walking forward slowly, approaching Albein and waiting for his instructions.


    Willinham was about to approach his group as well, but he quickly remembered his dear friend.


    Willinham turned around, looked down at Flugel, and said:


    "Flugel, come on, man. We should get going now."


    Flugel wasn''t answering as he was stuck in his own mind, reading and thinking the exact same words over and over again.


    "I''ll kill him I''ll kill him I''ll kill him I''ll kill him I''ll kill him I''ll kill him I''ll kill him I''ll kill him I''ll kill him I''ll kill him I''ll kill him I''ll kill him"


    Albein shouted:


    "Head to your groups, now!"


    Willinham was annoyed and decided to yell and push Flugel a little:


    "Flugel!"


    "Huh?"


    Flugel lifted his head up and looked into Willinham''s eyes as tears rolled down Flugel''s eyes.


    Willinham said:


    "If you''re going to keep up doing that, I might just leave you behind in this place!"


    Willinham reached out his hand to Flugel, signaling that he wanted to help him. Even though Flugel was in a state of disbelief and denial, that moment made him see Willinham as a light of hope in the darkness.


    Flugel wiped the tears off his face with his palm and then held onto Willinham''s hand to stand up.


    Willinham said:


    "Are you alright?"


    Flugel shrugged.


    "Yeah, I guess... what is going on...?"


    Willinham sighed.


    "As you can, we''ve been split into groups. You should get going to yours now."


    Flugel was perplexed.


    "Groups...? Are we going to separate?"


    Willinham shrugged.


    "I guess so. But importantly, we need to get out of this place. I doubt that they''re going to do anything normal to us."


    Flugel looked down.


    "Right..."


    But deep in Flugel''s mind, escaping wasn''t his objective in the slightest. His goal was that bastard''s head, Remenis''s head with tears rolling down his eyes. Just to achieve vengeance for his dear murdered family.


    Albein yelled:


    "If you two are going to stay there, I might just kill the both of you!"


    Willinham said back nervously:


    "W-we''re coming, we''re coming!"


    As Willinham sprinted towards the group he was assigned to, Flugel followed him like a lost dog, as if Flugel was taking cover with Willinham.


    When Willinham was going to enter his group, following the direction Albein gave, Albein noticed Flugel following Willinham and yelled:


    "A- A- A-! Your group is there!"


    That''s what Albein said as he pointed outward at another group. Flugel hesitated because that meant separating from Willinham. He looked back and forth, wondering what to do now.


    Willinham noticed Flugel anxious actions and said:


    "Hey, hey, Flugel!"


    Willinham approached him yet again and put his hand on his shoulder.


    "Don''t worry, man. Nothing is going to happen if we get separated for a little while, trust me."


    "Y-yeah... I guess you''re right on that. It''s not really a problem, but"


    That''s when Willinham span Flugel around until Flugel''s back faced him. And then, with a strong motion, he slapped Flugel''s back with both of his hands.


    Willinham said with a determined and confident voice:


    "Come on, get going!"


    Flugel was pushed away a little, and when he looked back at Willinham, he formed a little smile on his face. No other words were spoken as Willinham walked back to his group. That''s when Flugel finally lifted his head up with a little mark of confidence as he walked, approaching his group.


    When Flugel finally got into his group, walking through the crowd in it, he started to notice familiar faces, as villagers from his village were with him.


    One man from the group, who seemed to know Flugel from before, approached and said with a worried voice:


    "Flugel!"


    When Flugel turned to face that man, he immediately recognized him.


    "O-oh! Uncle Fern!"


    Fern stood with his arms crossed as he said:


    "Have you seen Herkil?! I''ve been running around the place for an hour now! There are no signs of Herkil! If our village chief is gone, we''re doomed!"


    "Oh... I..."


    Flugel didn''t know how to deliver the message of the news. Although Herkil''s death did have some impact on him, it wasn''t as bad as his mother''s or brother''s. Yet, death is still an overwhelming and horrendous event to witness in the first seats.


    Words failed Flugel, and his tongue refused to speak. Yet, in the end, his tongue finally gave up to him and obeyed him.


    "Herkil... has died."


    Fern was bewildered, and his eyes became wide open as he stepped back. Once Flugel announced Herkil''s death, everyone around him that knew of Herkil and turned around to face Flugel.


    Fern said with a low voice in despair:


    "I see... thank you, Flugel. Have you confirmed his death?"


    "Y-yeah..."


    "How did he die?"


    "He..."


    Weirdly enough, he did remember Herkil sacrificing his life to save his mother, but only realized that Herkil''s sacrifice was for nothing, as Flugel killed his mother with his own hands. Herkil had died for nothing.


    "Herkil... saved me..."


    Flugel couldn''t get himself to say the words in his mind, so he made up a new way of death for Herkil.


    Fern said with a relieved voice:


    "I see... but hey."


    Fern put his hand on Flugel''s hair and rubbed it with a smooth motion, making Flugel itch a little, although the feeling was quite tingling yet comforting a little.


    "Fern died for a reason, and that is you. Even though our village chief is gone, we''re all alive thanks to him, and you are as well."


    Flugel was quite comforted but still felt guilty.


    "I know, I owe him my life. "


    "What is he going to do with your life? He''s dead!"


    Fern tried to cheer Flugel with a small joke but obviously failed miserably... He went on to add:


    "I see you''re feeling quite down, aren''t you? Don''t worry about it, Flugel."


    Flugel appreciated the little comfort Fern was offering and smiled.


    "I get it, thank you, Uncle Fern."


    Fern smiled back.


    "I hope both you and your family stay safe."


    Flugel''s eyes became wide-open at the mention of his family, and he begged that Fern doesn''t question anything about their disappearance. He didn''t want anyone to question it or ask about them. He merely wanted to stay alone and drown in guilt.


    "Thank you, Uncle Fern. Is your family alright?"


    Fern''s smile quickly turned into a frown as he said:


    "As you see, everyone from the village was kidnapped, well, almost everyone."


    Flugel was puzzled as he thought that Fern was hinting at something.


    "What do you mean? I think everyone is here?"


    "He noticed..." Flugel thought.


    Fern went on to ask:


    "Flugel."


    Flugel looked at him with questioning eyes.


    "Yes?"


    Fern asked with an anxious voice:


    "Where is your family?"

 Descending

    "Where is your family?"


    That question, asked by Fern, sparked a deep sensation of guilt and despair in Flugel''s mind. Adding more guilt to the gigantic cloud of guilt that controlled his mind.


    Flugel stared at Fern with terror in his eyes and proceeded to say with a cracked voice:


    "T-they..."


    Their little conversation was interrupted by a familiar loud voice coming from the walls, making everyone turn around in surprise.


    Remenis announced with an arrogant voice:


    "Now, each group member has to stay the others. If any of you separate, you might... DIE!"


    Remenis giggled.


    "Get in your groups, you dirty little pecks! LET THE SHOW BEGIN!"


    After the last sentence, a siren could be heard throughout the walls, hurting some villagers'' ears as they covered the latter.


    Albein, on the other hand, stood in front of the table he was running and seemed to reach his hand under the table, looking for something.


    Flugel merely watched Albein, glad that Remenis interrupted his little uncomfortable chat with Fern. After a few seconds, Albein seemed to press something.


    Suddenly, the ground started shaking, as if an earthquake erupted, sending fear into the hearts and spreading among them.


    The people started losing their balance as they fought to keep it by holding onto the walls and other people, but their efforts were fruitless.


    Flugel yelled:


    "Woah! What is going on?!"


    He scanned the area and looked around, in front of his eyes were merely his people, which were the least of his concerns at that point.


    Then, the area surrounding each group started shaping into a square shape as it started descending. Flugel watched as Willinham slowly disappeared from his eyesight from his toe to his head.


    Flugel fell on his back with only his hands supporting his head, hitting the ground.


    "Ugh!"


    He reached out his hand to scratch his back in pain as he groaned. He lifted his head up and stared at the glass ceiling, getting farther and farther away from him as he sank in the ground.


    On the other hand, Willinham tried staying as calm as possible, preparing for any unexpected event that could get him if he was off guard.


    Everyone, including Flugel and Willinham, then sat on the hard floor and waited till anything happened, or they reached their unknown destination.


    *****


    A room filled with a cozy aroma, the lighting seemed perfect for any human in stress to be relieved from all sensations of negativity. The temperature of the room was neither hot or cold, just warm enough for a group of people to sit in and have a conversation.


    A wide glass window made the "cage" visible and watchable for any person to watch like an overseer.


    Furniture of fancy material was scattered across the room, furniture that someone like Flugel wouldn''t even wish of having. But the seats weren''t empty.


    Sitting on these furniture, there were a bunch of men who had a certain feeling of mystery surrounding them. There were around five of them sitting with their fingers closed together as if watching something.


    Each man was wearing a black fancy suit, with some of the highest quality pants and boots that no peasant could ever lay eyes on.


    "So, gentlemen, any questions?"


    The previous sentence was told by none other than Remenis, the so-called "Savior of all laborers." It seemed his red suit was burnt to crisp after his interaction and battle with Flugel, not to mention the wound caused by Flugel in the middle of his gut.


    But strangely, it seemed like the wound was completely gone; as Remenis was now wearing a white button-down shirt, his waist or gut was wrapped around with a bandage like a belt. And noticeably, it seemed he had cut his hair, most likely due to it being damaged from the fight.


    But most importantly, the strangest feature of Remenis, his mouth, seemed to be partially fixed. The outer parts of the mouth on the right and left were connected and knitted with a silk string, although silk shouldn''t be the right material for such a job. It seemed like this wasn''t Remenis at all but an entirely different person.


    But, that grin across his face, those devilish eyes filled with pride and arrogance. It wasn''t anyone in this world other than Remenis himself.


    One out of the five men, named Merris, proceeded to ask with a professional tone:


    "I see you''ve got some rats, but how about you elaborate what we are going to see? You see, Fedesis, me and the men over here¡ª"


    The man reached out his hand with an open palm outward towards the men, and the men nodded in agreement.


    He proceeded to add:


    "-are investing hundreds if not thousands of Dises in your show. We need to know what we are watching, Fedesis."


    Another "investor," named Dusk, proceeded to continue Merris''s questions, but this time, Dusk had a controlling arrogant voice that seemed to force control and possession on the listeners.


    "I agree with Merris, Fedesis. Your past shows weren''t as successful enough to our standards. We''re not running a charity over here!"


    Dusk was a bit annoyed and mad, as he shouted during the last sentence. Then, a third "investor" joined in, named Huak, who seemed to be a more gentle person than the others.


    "Fedesis, you''ve been running your show off our money for the past 10 years. Even though the shows are indeed entertaining for us, I fear this will be the last."


    Remenis was angered.


    "You don''t realize it, people. Those filthy rats belong in this place! They don''t belong to our world! The world is ours to take, and we shall own it."


    Dusk responded with a giggle:


    "You talk about rats when you yourself are one, aren''t you?"


    Remenis grin stayed fixed on his face, yet his eyebrows twitched as he tightened his grip.


    "What do you mean by that, dusk? I am merely an honest and hardworking businessman, just like you."


    Dusk smiled.


    "I''ve heard you''ve been a construction worker a long time ago, isn''t that right, Fedesis?"


    Merris looked at Flugel, and so did the others, in pure suspicion and disgust.


    Merris questioned:


    "Is that right, Fedesis? Are you one of them filthy mud-grubbers?"


    Dusk answered:


    "He indeed is. I am sure of it. My sources never failed me and never will!... Answer me, Fedesis!"


    Remenis tried to remain a wide grin on his face and not lose his temper due to the allegations, true or not.


    His face was facing the floor. After a moment, he lifted his head up and said with a smile on his face:


    "I, Remenis Fedesis, am not a peasant, not in the slightest. Even if I was, it''s a part of the past, and I, as a businessman, shall only concentrate on the future and present. That''s the basis of myself."


    Dusk replied with an arrogant tone:


    "That doesn''t change the fact that your shows aren''t entertaining for us anymore. You have to increase the quality of your shows."


    Merris nodded and said:


    "Indeed, look at me, Fedesis."


    Remenis nodded back.


    "I hear you."


    Merris sighed.


    "We''re going to invest in your show one last time. You better make this one a good one because it''ll be the last."


    Remenis smile turned into a wide grin.


    "Oh, it''s going to be good... really good."


    Dusk shouted as he got angrier:


    "We are not gambling, you hear me?! We want a show of gluttony, a show of greed! A show that shows the true beastly inhuman nature of the dirty little rats from the Filth Realm!"


    Remenis squashed his eyes.


    "I have heard your demands!"


    Dusk shouted:


    "I said we want¡ª!"


    Remenis got even more angrier.


    Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    "I SAID I HEARD!"


    That''s what Remenis yelled when he finally lost his temper. He threw his arm back, preparing for an attack. Then, with a powerful thrust, he summoned a fireball that pierced through the air towards Dusk.


    Fortunately, the fireball missed Dusk''s face by a few centimeters as it burnt his neck. In shock, Dusk reached his hand out and put it on his neck. Only a moment later, Dusk yelled in pain and agony as he fell to the floor, rolling back and forth, trying desperately to ease the pain.


    Dusk shouted as he forced words to come out of his mouth:


    "YOU...! I''m going to kill you! How dare you try to harass I, Dusk Derk!"


    Remenis pulled his hand back and rested it as he watched the agonized Dusk with pleasure and amusement.


    Dusk stood on all fours and then barely stood on his feet as his legs trembled from the pain.


    Dusk yelled with terror:


    "Cease to ashes you and your show! I quit!"


    He turned around to leave the room, walking with big steps full of anger and rage.


    Remenis looked at the leaving Dusk and said with a soft yet intimidating voice:


    "Where do you think you''re going?"


    Dusk turned his head just a little to the right nervously.


    "I''m leaving."


    Yet again, Remenis formed fireballs on both of his hands, signaling that he wasn''t going to hesitate shooting another even if it meant Dusk''s death.


    "You''re not going anywhere. You''re under my command."


    That''s what he said before turning around and facing the glass window, watching as the crowd erupted in fear and anxiety as their platforms descended.


    "In fact, everyone of you is under my command."


    Huak said with a gentle voice:


    "Calm it, Remenis..."


    Remenis replied with his ego rising by the second:


    "Yes... YES! Every single one of you is under my command! Under my mercy! You, and you, everyone with no exceptions, are dogs beneath me! I am Remenis Fedesis, wielder of the authority of Ignis!"


    Dusk tried pushing the button in front of the exit door, yet was interrupted by a sudden spark against his hand.


    Remenis, this time with a fearful and intimidating voice, said:


    "Don''t you hear my words? I''ll end you if I want to. Sit back here."


    Dusk gulped and turned around.


    "M-maybe, we can discuss this¡ª"


    Remenis didn''t hesitate before shooting yet another fireball straight into Dusk with a powerful and vigorous thrust, piercing through space like an arrow with the speed of a bullet.


    Unfortunately for Dusk, this one didn''t miss, and shot straight through his gut. The shot felt like a bullet penetrating through his intestines, folding him in half and sending him flying to a wall as Dusk gasped for air.


    The fireball burnt his gut as if he was being cooked alive. The men watched Dusk flatten against a wall¡ª the impact causing a small cloud of dust to emerge.


    Remenis clapped his hands together and said with a gentle voice:


    "Everyone here is under the control and authority of I, Remenis Fedesis, and you shall do my every command with no exceptions, understood?!"


    The men nodded quickly out of fear and panic. Not a single one of them was willing to risk their lives like Dusk did.


    Remenis added as he looked at his hand:


    "Why haven''t I done this before... This was a much easier path than investing all those years..."


    He turned around and faced the men.


    "Excuse me, gentlemen. I''ll be off for a few minutes."


    He moved his legs forward in a smooth motion, walking towards the exit door. As he got closer, he turned his head to the right to see the corpse of Dusk, although he doubted he was dead.


    "Can anyone take care of this guy? Thank you."


    That''s the last thing he said before pressing a button on the wall that made an iron door slide to the right, resulting in him leaving and the door closing behind him.


    *****


    The floor was shaking and descending through the ground as if it were sinking in a bottomless ocean.


    Flugel was sat on the hard cold floor, which kind of made him feel a little bit of back pain.


    There he was, thinking to himself of what was going to happen next, finding out every possibility.


    "I wonder where we are going... I see not only is my entire village here, except..."


    He sighed as he closed his eyes for a second and then stood up with a smooth motion.


    "There are a bunch of strangers, but..."


    He turned around, looking for someone, and that someone wasn''t anyone other than the woman from earlier who had the nickname "Abutens."


    "She''s... weird. What is wrong with that layer of dirt covering her neck? Is it some sort of decoration or... no, no, we''ve been ceased of everything, considering this weird outfit doesn''t have any pockets."


    "Abutens" stood in the corner of the platform with a powerful presence, crossing her arms together, waiting for any event to happen.


    The platform was wide enough to fit around one hundred people, and around forty of those were from Flugel''s village, Gandara Village.


    Flugel stared at the strange dirt covering her neck for a few moments, but unfortunately, she immediately noticed the stranger that was staring at her, which obviously made her quite uncomfortable.


    "Hey, you!"


    The woman called out for the guilty Flugel, which made Flugel immediately retreat and turn around rapidly. But that wasn''t enough for her to ease her mind.


    "You, kid! You got some problem?!"


    After the previous words, she approached Flugel angrily, each step sending some fear to Flugel''s mind.


    He quickly turned around once again to face her, yet was surprised to see her right in front of his face.


    She started shouting at him as she pointed her finger against his chest with a little force.


    "You got some problem with me, kid? What are you staring at for?!"


    Flugel got a little nervous.


    "U-oh, it''s nothing really! I wasn''t staring at anything at all!"


    The answer wasn''t amusing for her.


    "And now you are lying?! Listen to me, you... if I catch you staring again like a filthy little pest, I''ll make sure to end you."


    Flugel looked down and sighed.


    "Sorry..."


    She crossed her arms and walked away, going back to her spot and closed her eyes as she waited for their arrival to the destination.


    Flugel thought to himself:


    "That was... awkward. But anyway, this is taking way too long. When are we arriving?"


    Only then, light emerged through tiny cracks in the walls until the brightness in the platform became blinding.


    The people inside covered their eyes with their forearms as they waited for their eyes to adjust and adapt.


    Flugel closed his eyes and covered them with his hand, and a few moments later, he could finally open them.


    "What the..."


    The floor suddenly stopped shaking, meaning it finally stopped descending. Everyone took their arms off their eyes to finally be able to see their surroundings.


    In front of Flugel''s eyes was merely more than a table, and on top of that table was a lever. Only then, he turned his head to the right, and what he had seen shook him.


    On the right was a machine, not any machine, but what looked like a press machine, its purpose was still unknown.


    For a moment, everyone was confused about what they were going to do now. Only then, a creature fell down through the hole they were descending from.


    Everyone turned around to face the creature, only to see another luxien wearing the same outfit as Albein. Surprisely, this one had a feature that differentiated them from Albein. This luxien had a little bit darker fur than Albein, and its ears were more rounded than Albein''s.


    Only then, a familiar voice could be heard echoing around the walls.


    "Welcome, peasants!"


    Everyone suddenly turned around looking for the sound''s source, but yet again, with no result.


    "I am sure every single one of you is confused on why would I, Remenis Fedesis, present to you a boring little table? Fear not, people! For I, have prepared for you a little fun game."


    Flugel thought to himself:


    "Game?"


    He turned his head left and right.


    "With what..."


    Remenis proceeded.


    "In front of you is a lever if I am not mistaken, and to your right is a press machine. I doubt any of you have figured out what you are going to do."


    Flugel stared at the machine, observing its structure.


    "A press machine, what''s that...? Hmm, there''s a lever on the table, and this "machine" has some type of giant iron cube on top of it and some wheels on the side... and there''s a pad under the rock."


    Remenis continued.


    "Reles, get the chains."


    Not a single person knew who this "Reles" is, until the luxien started moving, concluding the luxien''s name is Reles. Suddenly, chains were in Reles''s hands.


    Flugel thought:


    "Where did he get these from?!"


    Reles approached a man in front of him first, kneeled down, and locked a cuff around his foot. The man did not dare to resist, risking his life.


    For the next ten minutes, Reles would lock a cuff around the foot of each and every person present in that area, connecting them together like animals in a cage.


    Every man, woman, and child were connected together with the unending chain.


    Some men tried to resist, but they were too weak for the luxien that was holding onto them by force.


    As Reles was locking a cuff on one of the men''s feet, that man lifted his leg up with a quick motion and kicked Reles in the face, pushing his head back.


    The impact was powerful enough to knock out Reles.


    The man yelled:


    "What are you doing, men?! You are men from Gandara Village. You''re supposed to protect! To keep your women and children safe! You''re really going to surrender to a rabbit?!"


    Everyone stood in shock as to how the man easily knocked out Reles and watched Reles unconscious on the floor.


    Only then they switched their focus to the man.


    "We, men, shall break free! For our people!"


    The men in the crowd cheered for the hero that "saved" them. Each one of them clenching a fist into the air as a symbol of hope.


    The man yelled:


    "For I, Welch, will guide you to your freedom!"


    Flugel thought to himself with a disappointed expression:


    "Alright, that guy is definitely acting for clout..."


    Welch started giving orders around to the men in the crowd, like telling them to check the "machine," as well as finding the keys for the chains that were holding them together like slaves.


    "You, check inside that thing! And you, that!"


    Flugel thought:


    "So, is that it? Are we free or what? No, no, I doubt that Remenis would let this pass like it''s nothing... but why is he silent?"


    Only then did Flugel try to turn around and check Reles''s body. But to his surprise, Reles was nowhere to be seen.


    Flugel panicked and started turning his head back and forth, scanning the area around him and looking for Reles.


    And then yelled:


    "HE''S GONE!"


    Welch replied:


    "Kid, calm it, your mighty unc killed that dog¡ª"


    Before Welch could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by a deep sensation of pain, a sensation of something penetrating his body like an arrow.


    The man started stuttering words with no meaning as he struggled to keep standing in agony.


    "A-ugh-... y-you..."


    Before the very eyes of everyone, a sparking slash emerged behind the man like a lightning wave.


    For a moment, Welch seemed to be standing still, yet his his eyes were empty. Then, he fell to his knees with a rapid motion, and after that, his head finally made contact with the ground.


    Only then was his back revealed. A straight line, a wound penetrating through his skin like a bullet, as if his back was split in half.


    The scenery was so disturbing as his spine was revealed and visible to everyone to see.


    The women in the crowd screeched and shrieked in terror and horror due to the corpse laying in front of their very eyes. The children could not get their eyes off the horrifying corpse in front of their innocent little eyes.


    Welch trembled as he lifted his head up and then tried looking left and right, searching for something¡ª or someone.


    Only then did he look straight into the eyes of Flugel, but as to why, it was still a mystery.


    The wound was so horrifying it made Flugel sick, literally. Flugel could not resist but turn to the side and throw up a disgusting amount of puke due to the unpleasant and uncomfortable view.


    Flugel''s jaw was stuck, trying to say words, but his mouth failed him. He watched as Welch desperately crawled towards him for whoever knew why.


    Flugel stepped back in shock as he said:


    "W-what do you want?"


    Welch trembled as he coughed streams of blood like a red waterfall.


    "You... I know you... you''re bertha''s son, aren''t you?"


    Flugel''s eyes widened.


    "Y-mhm..."


    Flugel nodded.


    Welch reached out his hand into his pocket to grab something.


    He coughed once again.


    "Your family... they did help me sometimes... your father was a nice person."


    Flugel was confused and perplexed.


    "My... father?"


    Welch continued.


    "Hehehehe... it''s a bummer he left a long time ago. Here, at least I can repay my debt."


    Welch grabbed a little knife from his pocket and handed it over to Flugel to take.


    Flugel was in deep confusion and terror and hesitated before taking the knife.


    "Here, take it, protect yourself. Tell your bastard of a father i said hello¡ª"


    Only then did his body finally fail Welch, leading to his head falling onto the ground like a ragdoll. Flugel watched as life slipped away from Welch''s eyes as they became darker and more gray.


    Flugel held onto the knife as he gripped onto it tightly. But then he realized he had to quickly hide it before whoever was behind Welch''s found it.


    Flugel knew he didn''t have any time to mourn the dead. He then panicked, trying to find somewhere to hide the knife.


    He thought:


    "Crap, crap! Where am I supposed to¡ª?!"


    He immediately thought of a genius idea. He lifted his foot up to his arm so he could hold them still and then flipped the hem of his pants to expose the inner cloth.


    He then sliced through the cloth precisely, creating some sort of a little bag inside his pants, and then put the knife inside of me.


    "It''s too thin, I hope it doesn''t rupture when I start running."


    When Flugel lifted his head up, he faced Reles, holding some sort of cutlass. Reles''s white fur was completely soaked in Welch''s blood, as if he was a hunted rabbit, yet he was the hunter.


    Thankfully, Reles didn''t notice Flugel hiding the knife. Flugel watched as Reles hid his cutlass inside his cloak, and then went on to continue locking everyone''s chains together again.


    Flugel thought:


    "What the heck? What is wrong with you? What is wrong with you all?!"


    A familiar voice played in the ears of the contestants.


    "Well, hello, peasants! Welcome to your first game!"


    Flugel pondered.


    "I have to do it, I have to do it."


    Remenis continued.


    "Allow me to explain..."


    Flugel announced to himself as a final conclusion. He knew what to do, what he had to do.


    "I am going to end you, Remenis!"

 Paradium of Mercy

    Remenis cleared his throat and went on to tell a speech with the most arrogant voice.


    "Allow me to explain, peasants. Indeed, you are all connected by a chain. Your objective is to sit down, relax, and vote someone out to break free."


    Everyone thought to themselves:


    "Vote out?"


    Remenis continued.


    "Indeed. To break free from your devouring chains of death, you shall vote someone out to get the key. The key to the breathtaking and mesmerizing freedom you slaves seek for!"


    Flugel thought:


    "That easy? But wait... what happens to the one voted out?"


    Remenis proceeded his speech.


    "Reles will take care of everything for you. Just sit and vote!"


    Flugel pondered.


    "It can''t be that easy, no way."


    Flugel shouted:


    "Paradium of Mercy shall begin!"


    Everyone looked at each other in confusion as Reles approached them. Reles coughed and opened his mouth and finally spoke for the first time since he appeared.


    "You have five minutes."


    He raised his hand and opened his fingers, indicating the declared five minutes.


    The people could not help but bring someone to push Welch''s corpse away, yet everyone they brought refused to do so.


    All of them agreed that it''s best to push Welch under the table, at least like that it won''t be so visible and unpleasant.


    Two men from the crowd participated in pushing the corpse, and so they did successfully.


    The two men couldn''t help but look as far away as possible from the disgusting corpse of Welch as they pushed it under the table, making it hidden.


    The two men sat on the table next to the lever and coughed from exhaustion as they breathed heavily.


    "That was¡ª gross!"


    "I know, right?!"


    "I''m never¡ª doing this crap again!"


    "Me neither!"


    A man named Plaur emerged from the crowd, clapping his hands with an arrogant smirk as if announcing his leadership.


    Plaur was around 185 centimeters tall and had an impressive giant build for a human, making him a little intimidating.


    "Alright, everyone, get it on and unite in group. As the passing Herkil''s student and dear friend, Plaur, I shall guide you all."


    Unexpectedly, instead of uniting into one giant group, the crowd actually separated and split into even smaller groups, specifically three.


    Flugel twitched a nervous smile and thought:


    "Herkil''s friend? So he''s from my village, yet claiming himself a leader won''t do much because.."


    Flugel noticed the newly formed groups. The first was Flugel''s village, obviously. The second was what seemed to be a village of redheads, each person having a smooth orange-red long wavy hair, both men and women. Finally, the last was a village of people with a darker skin tone, which wasn''t strange to Flugel as he had met many people, especially merchants of a different skin color.


    A man from the redheads named Ferdge emerged with vivid annoyance on his face, approaching Plaur.


    "Wait, wait, wait. Who are YOU and this Herkil of yours? Student? Friend? Whatever. You can''t just come in front of us and claim yourself leader!"


    Plaur was insulted and annoyed.


    "Claim? I''m not claiming anything as this is my literal role! I''m the village chief of Gandara Village!"


    Ferdge thought:


    "Gandara? Isn''t that a village in the west? Where are we..."


    Ferdge shouted back.


    "You''re only representing yourself. The one before you who made this stupid and clueless act is now lifeless! No one even agreed to your leadership. Did you all?!"


    Fredge turned to face Gandara Village''s people, yet no one answered the question and chose to stay silent with some shrugging and others looking down.


    A young dude from Gandara Village shouted from the crowd.


    "Yeah, man, you kind of just appeared and started talking nonsense, not to mention what happened to the one who did the same thing before you..."


    Plaur furrowed his brows, pursed his lips, and raised his voice.


    "Well, I©\I¡ª!"


    Ferdge raised his hand and put it on Plaur''s shoulder.


    "Just calm down, go back to your place, and let''s do this quietly and calmly, alright?"


    Plaur''s breath became heavy as he panted, which made Ferdge a little considered and questioned his state.


    "Are... you alright¡ª?"


    Before Ferdge could finish his question, Plaur clenched his fist and threw his arm back. In a blink of an eye, Plaur landed his knuckles across Ferdge''s cheeks and nose with a vigorous and powerful blow.


    The impact was powerful enough to push Ferdge back a few steps and then fall to the hard concrete floor.


    Ferdge looked down with his eyes closed due to the pain, still not realizing the fact that he was hit directly in the face. Only then, he sensed a liquid dripping and rolling over his skin. His blood was soaking his clothes as he realized what had happened.


    Ferdge heaved and yelled:


    "WHAT THE HECK?!"


    The men from the redheads stood firmly with a rage fueled stare, reading to attack at any moment.


    Ferdge turned his head, looked at them, and shook his head, indicating a refusal of help.


    Ferdge got on his knees and stood up with a rapid motion, and went on to respond with another punch.


    "What is wrong with you?!"


    Before Ferdge could land his knuckles on Plaur''s face, Plaur weaved to the side, avoiding the attack.


    "You''re weak for a redhead, I heard you guys are quite strong, yet here you are."


    Ferdge quickly switched direction and threw a punch towards Plaur''s ribs. Plaur smoothly leaned backward, avoiding the hit. As Ferdge''s body was unbalanced and couldn''t keep his ground, Plaur ducked and then used his legs as a spring and launched his knuckles into Ferdge''s gut.


    Ferdge couldn''t help but take the hit with a guttural gasp, making him step back as he clenched his stomach to ease the pain.


    "You... you bastard..."


    The redheads couldn''t watch their dear friend suffer any longer and decided to halt in anger and frustration.


    Plaur smirked and shouted as he opened his arms:


    "Come at me, pests! I''ll crush you to atoms!"


    "HOW DARE YOU LAY A HAND ON OUR CHIEF?!"


    One of the redheads attempted to land a vigorous and fierce punch across Plaur''s face. Surprisely, the punch seemed to be of great power and force that made Plaur consider escaping as its speed was high enough to make Plaur unable to dodge in time.


    Before he could even lay a finger on Plaur, Reles appeared out of nowhere between them and stopped his fist with his hand mid-air.


    Reles''s expressions weren''t as vivid as a normal human and were quite unrecognizable. Yet everyone could tell he was frustrated and annoyed.


    "No violence. Violence equals death."


    Reles turned around and faced Plaur, staring dead into his eyes with a sharp, intimidating gaze.


    "You, you go first."


    Plaur was perplexed as everyone watched his interaction with Reles.


    "What do you mean "go first"? Where?"


    Reles remained calm.


    "You go inside machine, now!"


    Reles raised his hand outward and pointed towards the previously mentioned press machine. Plaur tilted his head to the side and still questioned what Reles meant. On a side note, everyone noticed that Reles had some kind of problems talking as he constantly made grammer errors in his speech.


    Plaur shrugged.


    "That looks¡ª I''m not going inside of that!"


    Reles clenched his fist.


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    "If you don''t go, I make you go."


    Reles ducked for a mere moment and launched himself into the air, all of that just to grab Plaur by his head, due to Plaur being much taller than Reles.


    Plaur groaned.


    "What the¡ª I''LL END YOU!"


    Plaur immediately tried resisting and threw a rapid and smooth hit with a vigorous thrust. Unfortunately, Reles immediately weaved to the side with a smooth motion.


    Flugel watched as the seemingly weak Reles turned out to be of great power, yet he wondered how Welch had the ability to knock him out before.


    Flugel pondered.


    "Woah, that guy is insane! How did Welch even have the ability to do such a thing?! Wait... maybe..."


    Reles threw his arm back and then landed his fist into Plaur''s gut with a powerful blow. Surprisingly, the hit was powerful enough to make Plaur gasp for air with a guttural gasp. As well as making him clench his muscles and hold his stomach with his arms, just like what Ferdge did before.


    Ferdge watched as Plaur got the same treatment as his, making him feel a little pleasure and amused.


    "Deserved, idiot." Said Ferdge.


    Although the scene was one of great pleasure for the redheads, it was quite disrespectful for Gandara Village''s people. But no one dared even a little to stand up to Reles.


    The fight only caused more questions than answers as Flugel pondered.


    "His fists are powerful enough to make that monster of a human Plaur beg for air like a weakling, yet he''s weak enough to get knocked out by someone like Welch... What is that thing?!"


    As Plaur was gasping for air, Reles pulled him by the hair and dragged him into the machine. Reles pushed Plaur''s head inside the machine, specifically on the pad, making him lay on his stomach.


    Plaur clenched and twitched.


    "W-what are you?! I''ll kill you!"


    Plaur resisted yet again, but his actions resulted in absolute zero signs of impact.


    For the first time, Reles smirked.


    "Ungrateful, arrogant rats like you should be crushed to¡ª" Said Reles.


    Strangely, Reles started speaking like a normal human with absolute zero errors or stuttering.


    "What is it that you said? "Crush you to atoms"?" Said Reles.


    Flugel felt uneasy watching what was about to happen, as if he knew this wasn''t going to be a pleasant and comfortable watch for anyone.


    Reles crouched and used his legs to launch himself into the air forward. As gravity slowed him down, he fixated his legs stiff and still like an arrow, shooting towards Plaur''s back.


    Reles threw himself onto Plaur''s back like a merciless drill, piercing through his back, paralyzing Plaur.


    Plaur screamed in agony.


    "AGH- YOU!"


    Reles giggled.


    "Misbehaviors shall pay for their indecent behavior."


    Reles turned around and approached the lever with a smile on his face, each step causing fear and anxiety among the people, especially Plaur.


    Plaur kept twitching and moving around, trying to break free, yet to no avail.


    "You, everyone, what are you doing?! Aren''t you going to help me?! I am Herkil''s student! I was entrusted the safety of the village after his death! What are you doing?!"


    No one dared to say a word opposing Reles or Remenis as they had seen their power and control. They watched as the supposed "New Leader" became a subject to the unknown mechanism.


    "I am the chief of Gandara Village! I command everyone to stop this rabbit! Listen to me!"


    Meaningless, that was what his words were. No words out of his mouth could make him escape from his undeniable doom.


    Reles looked at Plaur one last time. He then raised his hand and opened and closed it multiple times.


    "Bye-bye." Said Reles.


    Reles pulled the lever with a rapid motion as he formed a wide grin on his face. The grin was so similar to Remenis''s that it sent chills down Flugel''s spine.


    Flugel pondered as thoughts were scrambled in his mind.


    "What do I do? What do I do?! Do I stop him? No, no, he''s way too fast and strong. I just saw Welch die like nothing."


    When Reles pulled the lever, the wheels of the mechanism started turning, and the giant cube on top started descending slowly.


    Everyone knew exactly what was going to happen and were definitely not prepared to watch.


    Plaur couldn''t watch the mechanism work as his face was facing the floor, but he could hear the sound of the wheels turning and an object approaching him.


    Plaur shook and twitched harder than before as he screamed for help.


    "Y-You! Anyone! Help me!"


    Plaur''s voice started cracking as he yelled for help, for a hand to save him, for a light to lead him out of misery.


    Ferdge watched while sitting down as the cube descended closer and closer to Plaur''s head.


    Plaur noticed so.


    "Red dude! I''m sorry, I''m sorry! Just help me! I''m so sorry for hurting you, I won''t do it again, just save me, please, anyone!"


    Flugel''s jaw was stuck as he watched the very same man that was acting tough and fierce starting to beg for help like a lost child.


    "I''m sorry! I''m sorry! I won''t hurt anyone ever again! Forgive me, everyone! Herkil, Herkil, forgive me!"


    Plaur couldn''t see the people''s faces and reactions. Some of them were disgusted, and some were in absolute horror. But, most people from every group agreed that Plaur was a shameful man.


    As the cube descended, Plaur screamed, yelled, and cried out for any person to save him.


    Flugel thought:


    "He''s done for."


    Plaur snapped.


    "SCREW ALL OF YOU! DAMN YOU CARROT HEAD! ALL OF YOU DESERVE DEATH!"


    That was it. The object had made contact with Plaur''s head and began squeezing and squashing it against the pad. Plaur watched as his vision slowly began unclear and blurry and felt as his brain was being crushed into one condensed object.


    Plaur''s tongue failed him as he tried screaming and yelling in agony and pain. The weight of the descending and merciless object forced itself onto his head.


    Plaur''s voice cracked.


    "Ah... Herkil?"


    As he blinked multiple times, a familiar figure appeared before his very eyes. A man with quite average height and familiar clothing. Plaur couldn''t help but watch the back of the man who was looking outward.


    "Herkil? Turn to me, Herkil..."


    Herkil turned around to face him and smiled.


    "It''s okay, Plaur."


    "Ah..."


    A small tear formed and rolled down his cheek like a droplet of water.


    Only then, a loud sound emerged from the mechanism as Plaur''s head had, in fact, been crushed.


    Blood and flesh flew across the area around the mechanism due to the immense pressure. The mechanism was covered and soaked in Plaur''s blood. No one could dare to get any closer to that filthy area.


    The scenery was catastrophic and disgusting. No man, woman, or child could bear to keep their eyes open to witness such a view.


    The crowd couldn''t take it any longer. First, it was Welch. Now, it was Plaur. Both suffering a painful and catastrophic death filled with shame.


    Ferdge was frozen in place as a little bit of Plaur''s blood had gotten on his clothing.


    "W-what the hell..."


    He couldn''t help but turn to the side and throw up on the floor. His fellow men immediately went on to help him by holding him by his back.


    On the other hand, the previously mentioned group, consisting of a darker skin color, couldn''t help but watch with a face full of, not disgust, but shame.


    A man from the previous group emerged and said with a grimaced look:


    "Wishing damnation on the verge of death. Yet, screaming for a savior with nonexistent shame after a display of pure arrogance. Truly shameful, don''t call yourself a man."


    The women in the crowd couldn''t help but scream and yell in disgust and terror as the crushed remains of Plaur''s head covered the place. The children couldn''t do any better than just cry and yell for their mothers.


    Reles finally turned around and faced the crowd and then said with a devilish grin across his face:


    "One minute."


    He raised his hand, formed a fist, and then opened one finger.


    Terror and fear grew among the crowd rapidly, leading them to freak out and run and sprint as far as possible from Reles.


    Flugel merely stood there frozen in place as the scene grew chaos in his mind. We could never forget that he was merely a seventeen year old child subjected to such vulgarity and despair.


    *****


    Remenis watched out the window as chaos grew in the crowd, making him wipe his hand across his face in disappointment and annoyance.


    "We paid for this, Fedesis?" Said Merris.


    "Shut your filthy mouth before I end your miserable and worthless life." Said Remenis.


    "Oh, don''t you go threatening me like you did with Dusk. Listen here, Remenis. I know, and you know for a fact you can''t just end the rest of us. As your show wouldn''t be picked up by any other people! We''ve sponsored your show merely out of pity."


    Remenis''s eye twitched as everything Merris said was basically an insult to him and his work. He clapped his hands together and approached Merris.


    "I''m sorry, didn''t you say this was going to be the last show? Excuse me, but I have some work to do." Said Remenis as he giggled and turned around.


    "You''re quite the egoistic one, aren''t you? Why won''t you accept the fact that you''re nothing without us? You know for a fact that you''re a pawn, a piece, a toy, for us." Said Merris with a wide grin on his face, and his fingers pointed against each other.


    Remenis turned around yet again, raised his hand, and covered his eyes with it.


    "You are such..."


    Remenis peeked at Merris through the little gap between his fingers.


    "...a fool."


    "Huh?!" Questioned Merris.


    Remenis opened his arms and closed his eyes as he prepared to tell a speech.


    "For I, Remenis Fedesis, shall bring you the best and last show of your lifetime! A show of true magnificence and amusement! A display of the pure instinct of the filthy creatures of The Filth Realm!"


    Remenis finally rested his arms, opened his eyes, raised one hand, and put it on his chest.


    "We''ll see about that, Fedesis. We''ll see." said Merris as he leaned back on his chair.


    "Merris." Said Remenis.


    "What do you want, Fedesis?"


    "No, not only you, Merris. Everyone, Merris, Huak, Lew, and Oren. The four of you are the remaining investors of my dear and amazing show, and I shall thank you."


    Merris was quite amused and perplexed due to the sudden sweet talk, which was quite bizarre and strange to hear coming from Remenis himself, the most egoistic and arrogant person alive, probably.


    "Well, that is new. My men and I are still not going to fund your show anymore, Fedesis."


    "No, no, no... you don''t get it, do you, Merris?"


    "Huh?!"


    There was no mistaking it, Remenis had thought of something. He had already thought of a plan, yet its purpose was unknown to everyone. There was even doubt that he was just bluffing. But there was no mistaking it, that devilish smile on his face, that inhuman mouth connected together by a mere string, its pattern could be memorized by anyone due to how disturbing and unusual it was.


    "I, Remenis Fedesis, will finally take it."


    "What are you talking about, Fedesis?" Said Huak.


    "Yes...! the fruits of everything, the fruits of my work, my desire, my sacrifice. The fruits of my..."


    Remenis turned around yet again one last time, approaching the window that was watching over Flugel''s party.


    Remenis looked down at his hand, raised it, and clenched a strong and fierce fist as he stared with amusement.


    "You wouldn''t get it, would you, people?"


    The four investors simply stared with confusion at Remenis and looked at each other, trying to make sense of whatever he was saying.


    Lew leaned over to Oren and raised his hand against his mouth as if indicating that he wanted to say something.


    "This idiot has lost it. I know this Fedesis is something "special" and not your usual businessman. But this guy is above the limits!" Whispered Lew to Oren.


    Oren leaned to the side against him.


    "I know, right?! To be honest with you, I''m barely paying this guy. I''ve donated merely 0.001% of my income to this guy! Are you seriously thinking I''d give this failure of a man anything above that?!"


    "Hmm... maybe, I think he deserves more. Give him a chance, man."


    Lew stared at Oren with a little smirk on his face, and both looked at each other, trying not to break into laughter.


    "Something funny, gentlemen?" Said Remenis.


    Lew felt Remenis''s voice coming right from behind his ear, sending chills down his spine.


    He quickly turned around only to see the disturbing smile of that monstrous creature called Remenis.


    "I see that you''re quite the humorous man, aren''t you? Enlighten me on such humor of yours." Said Remenis.


    Both Lew and Oren quickly leaned back away from Remenis as they stuttered over their words, trying to make up an excuse.


    "N-NO IT''S NOTHING! We''re just talking about¡ª business! Yes!" Shouted Lew nervously.


    Oren nodded so fast as if he was kicking something with his head.


    "I see..." Said Remenis.


    Remenis raised his hand and put it on top of Lew''s head, grabbing onto his hair. He then pulled it upwards, lifting Lew off his chair.


    "Ayayay!" Yelled Lew as pain flowed through his veins.


    "I wasn''t asking, Lew Lemer."


    Remenis pulled Lew to himself, rubbing Lew''s forehead against his. Lew could only see Remenis''s eyes full of hatred and disgust.


    Lew couldn''t handle staring into the fierce and sharp eyes of Remenis. As if their presence alone belittled Lew like he was the smallest object in the world.


    "I-I-I¡ª" Stuttered Lew.


    Remenis finally let go of Lew, sitting him back down on his chair. Oren leaned back with a face full of fear, yet confusion.


    "You''re nothing more than a slave, a slave to your own greed. Your existence is merely another disturbance to the harmony of this world, I''d end¡ª" Said Remenis before being interrupted.


    "So, are you just going to threaten us one by one, Fedesis?" Asked Merris in the background.


    Remenis lifted his head up to stare right into Merris''s face with an insulted face.


    "Threaten? Oh, such vulgarity! Me, threatening? No, no, no... I''m merely pointing up my opinions. As an honest worker and businessman, I have my rights that I can use at any moment, don''t I?" Said Remenis.


    Merris smirked a little, crossed his legs, and then crossed his fingers.


    "Fedesis, if this is going to be your last show as you say, at least make it enjoyable. Don''t you agree with me?"


    Remenis''s lip twitched a little as Merris started annoying him yet again.


    "My shows and project are the most significant source of entertainment this world and kingdom had seen for the last ten years! Not even Flewarna had seen such an amazing talent!"


    Merris laughed in his face as if he were a clown.


    "Ha! Oh, what do you know about Flewarna?! Businessman? I bet you haven''t even left The Modesty Realm in the last ten years!"


    Remenis stepped forward.


    "What is your point?"


    Merris formed a wide grin on his face and went on to yell with an arrogant voice:


    "Make your crap enjoyable before I send you and your little filthy mud-grubbers back to The Filth Realm for eternity!"


    The insult struck a nerve in Remenis''s brain. But, he simply took a deep sigh and remained as calm as possible.


    "You know what, Merris?"


    "Mhm...?"


    "Watch me."

 Caegula

    As the men and women filled with cowardice in the crowd sprinted and ran across the wide and humongous room in fear and terror, some of them stood still watching Reles smile at them with a devilish grin.


    Reles lifted his hand with a smooth motion and raised merely one finger¡ª his index finger.


    "Your minute..."


    He lowered his finger as he frowned slowly.


    "...is over."


    Flugel stared at Reles with fear in his eyes as to what the time limit finishing would be leading to.


    Flugel thought to himself:


    "Time limit?! Right, we had five minutes to vote someone out. Damn Plaur and... Welch..."


    He looked down and sighed a heavy sigh as he lowered his eyelids.


    "He did mention my father and... I should think about this later. What is going to happen now? The people are just running around. Everyone is freaked out and¡ª"


    "Oh, people of The Filth Realm!" Said a familiar voice, none other than Remenis''s.


    The announcement sparked a wave of fear in the hearts of the people, each person trembling as his voice had some sort of intimidating and unbearable presence to it.


    Everyone froze in place. Even the people that were much farther away from Flugel could hear Remenis''s voice coming from the walls as speakers were scattered and attached to them.


    Flugel thought as his eyes were wide open:


    "He''s back?! No, no, this can''t be good! I need to stick with my people, I should get going quickly!"


    Flugel propelled forward with alternating steps, each step being farther than the previous as his breathing became heavier by the second.


    "I, Remenis Fedesis, have overlooked your decisions, style, and your way of playing my games and let me say..." Said Remenis.


    Flugel kept scanning the area, shaking his head back and forth, looking for familiar faces that he could blend in with.


    "...I am absolutely disappointed... disappointed at your worthless unworthy minds!" Said Remenis.


    "What is he planning to do?" Thought Flugel.


    "For your unruly nature, for your immature choices, every single one of you dared to oppose my ruling?!" Yelled Remenis.


    Remenis''s voice kept getting louder and louder as the microphone he was speaking through kind of started breaking down due to the high frequencies of his rage fueled speech.


    "Peasants... you dirty, filthy creatures of the mud DARE to disagree with the magnificent and worthy I, Remenis Fedesis?!" Yelled Remenis.


    Everyone stopped in their tracks and lifted their head up to listen to his speech. Reles couldn''t help but stand back and watch what was going to happen.


    "I''ve made it clear and simple for your uneducated minds! I clearly announced that your mere simple objective was to vote as a community... yet you still haven''t done so?! I gave you all the time, all the comfort, and yet you still chose to oppose me?!"


    "If it wasn''t for those, we would have voted already..." Thought Flugel with a nervous look.


    "You have to be civilized, you have to learn your lessons, you parasites have to learn basic human nature... are you even human?! Do you lack the basis of being a human, you filth-fed gutter rats?!" Yelled Remenis.


    It seemed that Remenis was absolutely breaking down, yet it sounded false and fabricated as if he was merely imitating a breakdown for the effect and impact he could gain.


    "I get that he''s crazy, but I never thought we''d be hated so much..." Thought Flugel.


    "Breaking my rules, following your own gluttony and greed... unforgivable sins committed by the filth born in the dirt! You shall pay for your sins!" Yelled Remenis.


    "Hey, you! Shut your mouth before I make you eat your own arms!"


    An unknown female voice emerged from the crowd echoing through the hall, yet it sounded familiar to Flugel.


    "She sounds... familiar..." Thought Flugel.


    As the crowd stepped back, leaving a room for someone to pass through it, a woman with an intimidating presence following her every step emerged as she approached the lever.


    The woman was none other than "Abutens." Or at least that was her nickname. Flugel and everybody else had zero idea who she was. Which was quite strange because everyone knew Remenis was invading villages and not cities or normal people. So surely she belonged to a village which its people were also stuck in this place, or so did Flugel conclude.


    "Oh, her..." Thought Flugel.


    Flugel couldn''t help but remember the awkward interaction between her and him. Though, he could only ponder what she was trying to do.


    "You people of the filth shall pay for your sins... you deserve a penalty!" Said Remenis, ignoring "Abutens."


    "Abutens" couldn''t help but feel insulted and disrespected as Remenis ignored her yells and speeches.


    "Hey, you! Remenis! I don''t know where the heck you are. But you better explain why we are and where we are before I come and shove a brick in your mouth!" Yelled "Abutens."


    Even though Remenis could barely hear anything coming from the contestants due to the conversation being one-sided as the microphone was only available in Remenis''s side, he could still hear her loud annoying voice echoing around the hall and walls. Loud enough for Remenis to hear from his sort of secret chamber that he was hiding in alongside his investors.


    "Huh? Who''s that girl?" Thought Remenis.


    He peeked through the window and finally noticed "Abutens" standing firmly in the middle of the crowd with her hands on her hips and a neutral expression with a hint of anger on her face.


    "Ah... the wielder of the authority of Terra... she was quite the problem for me and my servants. She kept waking up and resisting when we were preparing the contestants for the games." Thought Remenis.


    "Remenis! If you''re not going to get out of your little hideout, hiding like a dirty little rat scared of some peasants, I''ll make sure to shove your mouth in the mud as I slice your throat in half!" Yelled "Abutens."


    Flugel could only stare at her with curiosity yet nervousness due to her vulgar and violent behavior. The last time he saw a woman being this mad was when his mother beat him up for not cleaning his room.


    "But that strange mark... why are those pieces of dry soil covering her neck? It''s like her skin is shattering..." Thought Flugel.


    If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    The woman just kept on yelling and raising her voice even more so Remenis could listen with vividness. Each time her voice was raised, so did her rage and anger. As if she was about to explode at any given moment.


    "You know what..."


    That''s what Remenis thought before a wide grin formed across his deformed face.


    "People of the filth, you miserable unwashed wretches." Said Remenis.


    "He keeps blabbering about us, huh..." Thought Flugel.


    "The wrath of the earth rises. Lust and pride of human impurity emerges from the depths of their vile hearts. The monstrous slave yearns for the satisfaction of its greed and desires." Said Remenis with a low voice.


    Not a single person had a single idea of what Remenis was saying. To them, it felt like complete nonsense and gibberish. They knew for a fact the guy was insane so they decided it was best to ignore it.


    "What is up with that guy now?" Said a guy in the crowd.


    Before everyone, loud growls echoed through the walls, the growls were deep and sent a sensation of vibration down the people''s spines.


    "W-what was that?!" Yelled Flugel as he turned around back and forth, scanning the area for the source of the sound.


    Remenis giggled a little bit before he continued.


    "With my power and authority, I summon..." Said Remenis.


    Sounds of grumbles and throat clicks surrounded the area, as if invisible creatures were surrounding them, but there weren''t any.


    "...The embodiment of gluttony, the merciless hunter..."


    Behind everyone, coming from the very same hole that they descended from a while ago, emerged and echoed a loud roar followed by multiple sounds of clicks and grumbles, sending chills down everyone''s spines as they realized that thing was getting closer by the second.


    "...The devourer of light, The Blind Brute."


    As dead silence filled the area for a few moments, it was interrupted by the sounds of the metal walls being scratched from the hole they descended from.


    That''s when, before everyone, a cloud of dust emerged and enlarged by the second, followed by a loud thud as if a meteor crashed down inside the hall.


    Everyone turned around to face the direction of the source of the sound. No one could see anything due to the dust could enlarging by the second.


    They couldn''t help but wait for the cloud to deform as they coughed uncontrollably due to the dust in the air.


    "What the hell is that?!" Thought Flugel.


    Out of the cloud of dust, claws sharp as fangs hit the concrete floor, seeming to approach Flugel in his direction, or basically the direction everyone was in.


    Connecting to the claws was a white fur foot, which was also connected to an ankle that looked like a wolf''s. When the dust finally cleared and everyone opened their eyes, a strange monstrous creature appeared before their very eyes.


    A foul and vile mouth filled with fangs, surrounded by a skin covered with smooth white fur. A 2-meter tall quadruped beast growled and roared as loud as a horn as it walked forward towards none other than Reles.


    Most noticeably, the creature''s eyes were nonexistent, meaning it relied on its other senses such as sound and smell to find its prey.


    Flugel stepped back as his mouth trembled, trying to find words to say.


    "W-what is that thing?!" He yelled.


    "What the heck?! What is a caegula doing here of all places?! I''m sure it went extinct 200 years ago!" A man from the redheads group yelled.


    Flugel turned to the left with a rapid motion to face the man.


    "Extinct?!" Yelled Flugel.


    Under the man was Ferdge sat down on the floor with a worried and shocked look on his face.


    "Yes... caegulas are a race of large monstrous beasts that lived in the north in Lingshi''s Mountains, pretty close to our village''s location, Renora Village. But..." Ferdge answered.


    "But what?! Didn''t he say they went extinct?!" Asked Flugel.


    "Indeed, they went extinct after the people of our village hunted them down for food in a desperate attempt of survival. Living near the north is a really horrible experience. We now rely on berries and imported goods for survival." Ferdge answered.


    "That doesn''t matter! What is that thing doing here?! Did they grow one in secret?!" Replied Flugel.


    "How am I supposed to know?! For now... it seems that it''s talking to that luxien." Answered Ferdge.


    "...where are its eyes?" Asked Flugel.


    "It doesn''t have any. Evolution over the years caused it to lose its eyes as they were useless and meaningless in the frosty storms of Lingshi''s Mountains. They now rely on their other senses to find their prey. Heck, sometimes I wonder how our people even managed to hunt these beasts..."


    Flugel bit his lip with fear and turned around and watched as Reles approached the caegula with a smile on his face.


    "Hey, hey, you... calm it." Said Reles.


    The caegula stepped forward a little and lowered its head as everyone kept hearing its throat clicks.


    "Calm down..." He said.


    Reles raised his hand with his palm open and approached the caegula slowly. He slowly lowered his hand to reach the caegula''s forehead, wanting to pet it like a horse or a cat.


    The caegula headbutted his hand slowly as a sign of affection, inviting him for more pats.


    "Good boy... now, just like we planned, Snug." Said Reles.


    "Rrhhhnnggh¡­ wuhhrrrn¡­" The caegula whimpered.


    "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, Execution." Reles whispered.


    The people who could hear his whispering couldn''t make sense of what he was saying.


    Flugel looked at an orange haired person, supposedly from the redheads'' village, near Reles and yelled:


    "What is he saying?!"


    "I-I don''t know! Numbers from 1 to 25, then execution¡ª!"


    The man quickly realized and made sense of what that meant, and so did Flugel. It was the most obvious thing in the world at that point.


    The man''s eyes widened, and his breath had been taken as the realization hit him.


    The man quickly started self-examining himself with a panicked motion, looking for his number plate.


    As he grabbed onto his forearm with a motion full of fear and terror, he read the number on his plate.


    "Twenty... three."


    As he lifted his head up with his lip twitching in shock, he simply looked at Flugel with eyes full of despair.


    "Hey, you... what''s your nu¡ª"


    That''s the last thing the man had said before the caegula sprinted forward and jumped like a tiger, obliterating his head.


    "WOAH?!" Yelled Flugel as he stepped back and watched from afar.


    "Prepare, peasants. For you misbehaviors shall pay for not listening to the orders of the superior." Said Reles.


    The caegula annihilated and obliterated the man''s head like a toy, eating it as if it was starving for eternity.


    The crowd went on to yell and scream and sprint forward in a desperate attempt of escaping the unstoppable beast from demolishing them.


    Ferdge immediately put his hand on knee, stood up with a rapid motion, and grabbed Flugel by the collar.


    "What are you doing?! Run for your life, idiot!" Yelled Ferdge.


    Flugel''s eyes were wide open as he got dragged by Ferdge''s grip. Thus, Flugel tried to restore his balance.


    "R-right!" Flugel responded.


    Flugel and Ferdge started sprinting alongside each other, trying desperately to get as far as possible from the merciless beast as they watched it obliterate the people in a vile and horrifying scene.


    Flugel looked at Ferdge as he panted and said:


    "Y-your¡ª number! What is your number?!" Asked Flugel.


    "Huh?!" Replied Ferdge, confused.


    "Your plate number, now!" Yelled Flugel.


    "Okay, okay, it''s thirty-one!" Answered Ferdge.


    Flugel immediately stopped in his tracks as he realized the misunderstanding Ferdge had and then hid behind a large sphere in the middle of the hall.


    "W-what are you doing?!" Questioned Ferdge.


    "It''s not after you or me. It''s only after people from one to twenty-five." Answered Flugel.


    "Wa¡ª interesting..." Replied Ferdge.


    Ferdge immediately stopped sprinting and approached Flugel with skepticism in his eyes.


    "But, I should get going right now. My people need me. I am their village chief, after all." Said Ferdge with worry in his voice.


    "I think... I can defeat it, I can kill it." Said Flugel.


    "Pfft... stop it, kid." Replied Ferdge as he giggled a little.


    A loud roar pierced through the air, penetrating the people''s ears like an arrow. Flugel and Ferdge quickly turned to face the direction of the sound, realizing it was behind the sphere they were hiding with.


    "Just help me, alright?!" Yelled Flugel.


    "Understandable." Ferdge replied.


    Flugel approached the sphere, raised his hands, and put them on it. He raised one leg upwards, indicating he needed a little push.


    Ferdge got closer to Flugel and lowered his hands as he closed them together to form a little platform for Flugel to stand on.


    Flugel put his leg on top of Ferdge''s hands and said:


    "One, two, three!"


    Flugel ducked a little before he launched himself forward like a spring, climbing the sphere like a mountain.


    Flugel struggled to climb the obstacle and almost tripped over multiple times but managed to climb it in the end.


    Flugel could finally see the entire hall and its corners as his coordinate was higher than the floor. He watched as the caegula caused havoc across the hall as it annihilated the people like a raging animal.


    The beast mauled a man, teeth and fangs sinking deep as it shook him like ragdoll violently with a rapid motion.


    The monster''s mouth and fur were covered and soaked in the blood of its victims, making Flugel want to throw up due to the sickening and vile view.


    Flugel fought the sickness, raised his hand, and opened his palm. To control what he was about to do, he grabbed his wrist with his other hand as if he was holding some sort of gun.


    Flugel remained calm and concentrated as he aimed towards the monstrous beast with raging fury in his eyes.


    "Lumen..." He whispered.


    Light began accumulating in his palm as it brightened the area around him. He felt VLV flowing through his veins as if it were his own blood.


    "...Fodio."


    As he muttered the last word, waves of light emerged from his palm like raging serpents, clashing against each other in some sort of beam.


    Ferdge watched with shock as the kid he once saw as a weakling and an imbecile began performing a show of true power.


    Yet, before Flugel could do whatever he wanted to do, he was interrupted by a gentle touch on his arm.