"So, young master, care to tell us why you didn't die?"
Xane stared at her, baffled. Why the hell does everyone in this family want him dead?
But he didn't get to speak much, as the guy placed his thick hand on his shoulder and started pressing down.
It was so sudden that Xane stumbled for a bit, but he managed to remain standing.
Zayn said in panic, [Don't speak. We can't let these guys suspect us.]
Just then, Xane saw the robed guy's hand shine for a moment. Before he could understand what was going on, the pressure on his shoulder increased several times.
It reached the point where both his legs gave out, and his knees slammed into the marble floor.
Boom! Boom!
Pain shot through his head, and Xane clenched his teeth.
But then he heard a scream inside his head. [Ahhhhh!]
At that moment, the man placed a leg on top of his head. Xane stared at the guy with wide eyes, but just like before, the leg glowed for a moment.
The guy smiled at Xane and asked, "Don't tell me you forgot how to greet us."
Before Xane could utter a single word, his head hit the hard floor.
Boom!
[Ahhh, stop it,] Zayn screamed.
Xane clawed at his scalp, twisting on the marble floor as if seizing.
Blood pooled beneath his cheek. Every nerve in his body screamed.
He wasn't wiggling, he was unraveling.
He clenched his teeth so hard he started tasting iron. Then came the hot wetness on his palm, opposite of the cold floor.
Xane tried to look around, but his vision was blurry. All he saw was a puddle of red forming around him. He was dying.
The very next moment, he felt a hand on his shoulder, nails digging deep into his muscles.
Before he could make out what was happening, he felt foreign energy coursing through his body.
That was when all hell broke loose, and Xane screamed at the top of his lungs. "Aaaaah!"
It was the same for Zayn. [Ahhhhhhhh!]
Both of them felt like something was tearing their bodies apart from the inside. It was like thousands of knives cutting through every vein.
The pain lasted a few seconds, and then, like an illusion, it vanished.
Xane sprawled on the ground, unable to understand any of this madness.
At this time, he heard the woman complain to the guy, "Tsk, now we have to clean the blood."
The guy didn't bother. He just grabbed Xane by the collar, pulled him up, and looked directly into his eyes.
"Just because you survived doesn't mean you can forget your place. Keep in mind, if your presence troubles the miss even a bit, I'll personally cut you into a thousand pieces."
The woman tapped the man's shoulder. "Hehe, why don't you place the young master back in his bed?"
The guy casually threw Xane onto the bed like he was tossing a sack of potatoes.
By this point, Xane's body began to go numb. One by one, all his senses started to shut down.
Before blacking out, he heard one last line.
"Heheh, young master, be sure to remain a good boy and follow the miss's commands."
With that, Xane blacked out.
…
Soon, Xane found himself surrounded by darkness.
He tried to make sense of it, but it was like he was floating in an empty, dark space with nothing around.
He drifted in that space with no sense of time, when suddenly a bright light engulfed him from all sides.
Xane opened his eyes and found himself floating in a massive, tattered hall, the familiar place where he had woken up a few hours earlier.
Everything was as he remembered—from the dark moss covering the walls to the fog moving along the hall's edges.
Dozens of bizarre monsters filled the floor, each looking like an amalgamation of creatures he vaguely recognized.
Some had black tentacles with razor-sharp spikes. Others had dozens of eyes scattered across their bodies.
They looked far more menacing than the corpse he'd seen earlier.
Xane realized he was in a semi-illusory state, floating above the hall.
Just then, the gate to the hall opened, and a boy walked in, holding a massive rusty sword.
It took him a moment to realize the boy was Viyron. These were Viyron's memories before he and Zayn had taken over.
This intrigued him, and he waited for the action to begin.
As expected, all the monsters charged toward Viyron in a frenzy. But what happened next left him speechless.
He saw Viyron moving swiftly, dodging the monsters' attacks without striking back.
He just stared in confusion, unable to understand what was going on. Was Viyron trying to tire them out?
He didn't have to wait long. He noticed that while Viyron was moving, the rusty sword in his hand began to glow red.
As more time passed, the rusty sword grew brighter and brighter.
Hundreds of questions flooded Xane's mind, and he tried to ask Zayn, "Hey, Zayn, are you here?"
Even after waiting, no reply came. He realized Zayn wasn't present in this memory.
Then Viyron stopped moving and swung the sword toward the monsters.
Xane stared with wide eyes as a massive red wind blade swept through them all.
In the next moment, every monster dropped to the floor one by one.
Xane grabbed his head, unable to believe that this weak-looking kid was so powerful.
But then he noticed: right after the attack, the rusty sword disintegrated into powder while Viyron panted in exhaustion.
It hit him, this sword must've been some kind of magical weapon. This world was getting more and more interesting by the minute.
Then Xane noticed the corpses of the monsters beginning to rot.
Ignoring that, he watched as Viyron walked to the side and began scribbling something on the ground.
Xane floated next to him, examining the circular diagram.
He had seen remnants of it when he had first woken up in that hall.
What surprised him more was that Viyron was drawing all this with his own blood.
From time to time, Viyron made small cuts on his palm and continued to draw.
After completing the circular diagram, Xane saw him lick his fingers to stop the bleeding.
However, what happened next nearly made Xane reel back.
Without hesitation, Viyron bit deep into his own arm, tore off a chunk of flesh, chewed it slowly, and spat it into the blood-drenched circle.
The ritual wasn't over. It was only the beginning.