Livar stood at the gates of the palace.
Before walking into the wild unknown, he turned back and asked the King:
"What's the demon's name?"
"Velrath," the King replied.
"If he still lives… then something worse is coming."
Livar nodded once.
Then vanished into fog.
Days passed.
He found Velrath standing over a ruin of bodies.
The demon looked up.
"Another victim? Or have you come to disappoint me?"
"Are you Velrath?" Livar asked, calm.
"Yes. And you are—"
The boy moved.
So did the demon.
The battle began with screams and fire.
Claws met steel.
Flames devoured earth.
Livar fought hard.
But it wasn't enough.
His blade broke.
His bones cracked.
His knees buckled.
Velrath laughed.
"They sent a child?"
He grabbed Livar by the throat.
Lifted him.
"You're not even worth—"
And then it happened.
Livar's eyes rolled back.
His pulse stopped.
And something else—something other—opened its eyes.
The demon froze.
The grip weakened.
And a voice, deeper and colder, spoke through the boy's lips:
"It's been a long time since I took over this body…"
Velrath's smile faded.
"What—"
The boy—no, the presence inside him—turned his glowing eyes toward Velrath's claws.
"Let me go."
His voice echoed like a blade through bone.
"Or die."
The demon let go.
Stumbled back.
For the first time… unsure.
Then he saw it—
The glowing crystal floating in front of the boy's chest.
Velrath's fear deepened.
"No…"
"That's not possible…"
"You—you're from them…"
"They were supposed to be gone…"
He tried to run.
Too late.
The Other Livar raised his hand.
Reality buckled.
Velrath vanished—
Erased in silence.
But the boy didn't stop.
He turned to everything around him.
Fury. Confusion. Power. No control.
He struck the sky.
He shattered the trees.
He burned the silence.
Until—
The crystal pulsed again.
A shape emerged.
The Hologram.
Livar—but older, stable, precise.
It stepped forward.
The Other Livar stared at it.
"So... you came."
"You've gone too far," the Hologram said.
"He lost. I helped," the Other Livar said.
Then, with a mocking grin:
"What do I do now?"
The Hologram stepped closer.
"You give the body back."
"No."
"Then I'll make you."
The Other Livar smiled wider.
"Best friends fighting again? Come on then."
The Hologram didn't smile.
"After what you did... there's nothing friendly about this."
"What did I do?" the Other asked, mocking.
"Five years ago," the Hologram said slowly.
"You lost control. You killed a dozen people when Livar was just two. You said it was self-defense."
"It was," the Other said sharply.
"And if it wasn't for me, that woman would've never found him. He'd have died. I gave him a family."
The Hologram hesitated.
"That's true. But now he must learn to control his powers."
"Only if you can beat me."
And they fought.
Not just fists.
Not just light.
They struck with understanding.
With pain.
With power no one had seen in a thousand years.
They were equal.
Each one a mirror.
Until the Hologram moved faster—sharper—cleaner.
A single strike to the neck.
The Other Livar staggered.
Fell to one knee.
"Tch… fine."
He smiled.
Almost proud.
"He's yours. For now."
He collapsed.
The crystal flickered.
The Hologram caught the body mid-fal—
And both vanished.
At the palace gates—
A flash.
A thud.
A boy in the grass.
Breathing. Barely.
The Queen ran to him.
Held him.
"Livar…?"
No answer.
But he was there.
Far away—
The Demon King stood before a burning message.
"Velrath is dead."
"Who did it?"
"No one knows. The land is silent. No witnesses."
"Then how do we know?"
"The corpses stopped. That's all."
The King narrowed his eyes.
"Something that shouldn't exist... does."
End of Chapter 27 – The Thing That Shouldn't Exist