Benny sat in the back seat, tears dripping silently onto his hands. His phone vibrated, lighting up the dim car interior. It was his brother — Danny Hunt.
He hesitated before answering.
"Benny," Danny's voice came sharp and cold through the receiver. "Did you manage to make Kyle sign the Keratosis Papers?"
Benny said nothing. His throat locked. His hands trembled against the screen.
Danny's voice turned venomous. "Your silence means no, doesn't it?"
There was a pause — then a chilling chuckle.
"That day I didn't taste your fear… but tonight, I will."
Before Benny could respond, the driver spoke up.
"Young master, we've received orders. Master Demos Hunt wants to see you at once. We're heading to the Headmaster's Office. Strange though… he's never summoned anyone at this hour."
Danny had overheard everything through the call.
"Listen, Benny," he said quickly. "If Father asks about the Keratosis papers, tell him you already signed them and handed them to me. I'll handle the rest, understand?"
Benny whispered, "Alright…"
But tears kept flowing. He stared out the window as the city lights bled past like ghosts.
Death must be better than this, he thought. Better than living to hurt the person you love just to obey the one you hate.
He clenched his jaw. I just wish… I could live my own life.
The car slowed. The gates to the Headmaster's mansion creaked open. Standing outside was Demos Hunt, Benny's father — tall, bald, his face carved by age and cruelty.
Benny exhaled deeply, trying to calm the panic gnawing at his chest. He hated that face more than anything.
The guards stepped out and bowed before Demos. He raised a hand, signaling them to leave. Only father and son remained.
Demos turned to him, eyes hollow as stone. "Follow me."
He handed Benny a sealed envelope. Benny tore it open — and froze.
Inside were DNA test results.
They said it plainly: Demos Hunt is not the biological father of Benny Hunt.
Benny's heart twisted in disgust. Why prove it now, old man? he thought bitterly. You already had your proof when you murdered my mother for "cheating" with your bodyguard.
Maybe that bodyguard was more of a man than you ever were, he thought, glaring at the back of Demos's bald head.
They climbed the stairs, Demos choosing to walk instead of taking the lift. His voice echoed through the cold, empty halls.
"Your mother," he began softly, "promised me forever. She swore even if the Devil of the Moon burned to ash, she'd stay by my side."
His voice hardened, shaking. "I trusted her! And she betrayed me. For what?"
Tears—real tears—rolled down his cheeks, but they burned with rage. His mana flared wildly, shaking the stairwell.
"I gave her everything," he growled. "We were rich, powerful—my brother Kalimantan made our name eternal. Why would she do this? With a filthy bodyguard, of all people!"
His mana burst out again, shattering the frost that gathered on the walls. "I hate bodyguards! I hate every single one of them!"
His breath came out as mist. "I don't trust anyone anymore. Because she broke my only trust."
He laughed bitterly. "We had memories… so many. I called her my princess. And she spat on that."
He turned to Benny, eyes glowing faintly blue. "I made her pay. I gave her the pain she gave me. Her family rots in the dungeons to this day. She wanted blood—I gave her that blood."
His laughter twisted into something inhuman. "Now, in the next life under the God of the Moon, she'll never dare cheat again. Never!"
Benny stood frozen behind him. His father's rage filled the building, but his thoughts were elsewhere — lost in memories of his mother.
She had been kind. Gentle. Even if she had cheated, she didn't deserve the torture he gave her.
She didn't deserve to die in front of her own son.
He clenched his fists until blood welled from his palms.
He sent her family to the dungeon. He treated me like filth. I remind him of her — that's why he hates me.
Benny looked at the old man's back, disgust curling his lips. I don't even know what she saw in you. You look like a lizard with a crown. If ugliness were a sin, you'd be burning already.
A laugh slipped from him before he could stop it.
Demos stopped walking and turned his head slightly. "Seems my story made you laugh," he said quietly.
They had reached the rooftop.
Demos inhaled deeply, his breath freezing into a white mist that shimmered under the moonlight. "Your so-called father," he said, "was a good man. I trusted him. I even made him one of us. I gave him the Ice Bloodline."
He raised his hand — frost glittering around it. "That's the same power running in your veins now. But it was never mine to give you. It was your mother's trick. She fooled me into thinking you were my son."
His voice turned cold. "The DNA test says otherwise."
He exhaled sharply — and the mist around him condensed into shards of ice. The moisture in the air turned to liquid, swirling into his palm.
The liquid hardened, becoming a blade of water and frost.
Demos drew the blade across his own hand. Blood spilled, glowing faintly crimson under the moon.
He raised it high.
"By the blood of the cursed Devil of the Moon — Amra," he chanted, "I awaken the God of the Moon — Arma! Grant my wish, oh divine watcher!"
The blood that dripped from his hand began to move on its own, floating through the air. It circled Benny, forming glowing ancient runes across his skin.
Benny gasped as the energy burned through him.
Demos's laughter rose with the storm. "I will kill two birds with one stone. Your death will feed the Moon God — and grant me the strength to face the coming war "
His eyes gleamed with madness. "You will be the sacrifice, Benny Hunt. And through you, I have the edgd agaist the Cursed Dragon himself!"
The crimson runes flared. Benny's eyes widened in agony as his body stiffened, the life draining from him. His mana spiraled into his father's body.
Then — silence.
Benny's body fell from the rooftop. When it hit the ground, the sound was final.
Demos looked down at the corpse of the boy he once called son. "Kyle killed my child," he whispered darkly. "He killed Benny Hunt, who tried to expose his plot to poison my brother Kalimantan."
He descended the stairs, smiling like a man reborn. "Now the god of the Moon favors me. So will The Pure Group. When their war with the god of Death begins, I'll have the edge."
He stopped midway down the stairs and grinned wider. "Kyle… the moon itself has cursed you. What a pity."
Then he saw movement — a ripple of water forming nearby.
A voice spoke, trembling with fury.
"Why… did you kill him, Father?"
From the watery reflection stepped Danny Hunt, his form shimmering like liquid glass.
Demos turned slowly. "Danny…"
"Why, Father?" Danny roared, mana bursting from him like a storm. "You made me hate him! You forced me to bully him! You turned me into your weapon — only to kill him in the end!"
Demos's expression didn't change. He simply raised a finger.
"Watch your tongue," he said calmly. "And remember who you're speaking to."
His eyes turned sharp as ice. "I am your father. And a child's duty is to obey — even to the grave."