🌑 Moon of the Fallen King
📖 Chapter 3 – "Born from Grief"
The village burned. Half the homes were already reduced to ash, and terrified screams filled the air. People ran in all directions — some for safety, others simply because fear had taken away their ability to think.
> "The boy had no intention to become a curse. But fate… had already chosen for him."
In the center of the destruction, barefoot and trembling, stood Lucius.
He was small. His breaths were shallow, broken. His eyes shimmered with faint purple light, cursed energy rising like steam from his skin. His lips parted slightly as he looked at the villagers retreating from him in terror.
> "I didn't want to hurt anyone… why are they all afraid of me…?"
Shadows twisted behind him — not just around his feet, but rising from within his soul. The voice inside him returned. Stronger now. Confident.
> "You begged. You cried. They still took her."
"So tell me… what did mercy give you?"
Lucius flinched.
A memory flickered — his mother's calm voice. Her warmth. The soft whisper she left him with, moments before being taken.
> "Lucius… stay human… no matter what."
> "I tried, Mama…" he whispered.
But the world had never listened to trying.
From the smoke, a villager stepped forward, hands shaking as he raised a spear.
> "Y-You demon child! Stay back!!"
Lucius stepped back instinctively. The cursed mark on his arm crept further down to his fingers, glowing faintly.
> "The cursed energy… responded not to hatred. But to heartbreak."
A tear rolled down his cheek.
> "I didn't ask to be this…"
Then — silence shattered.
The air trembled. A surge of cursed energy erupted from his body like a wave. Trees shook. The villager was launched backward, screaming as he vanished into smoke.
> FWHOOOOM!!
Lucius covered his ears. But the voice was inside now — not outside.
> "LET ME OUT!"
"LET THEM PAY!!"
It roared. It howled. And Lucius could no longer hold it back.
Behind him, something monstrous formed — a massive, cursed claw made entirely of shadows and rage, arching toward the sky.
> "HE'S NOT A BOY! HE'S A MONSTER!!" someone screamed.
Lucius lifted his hand slowly. His fingers twitched. Energy crackled across the sky like lightning ready to fall.
> "In that moment… the child became a storm."
The ground split apart beneath him. Flames burst from the ruins of the shrine. One villager collapsed to his knees, sobbing.
> "Please… spare us…"
Lucius stared blankly.
There was no anger in his expression now. No hate. Just... emptiness.
> "I'm not the one choosing anymore…"
Inside his mind, the dark realm unfolded — and at its center, a throne made of bone and ruin. Sitting on it was Sukuna, grinning.
> "Now you see… power doesn't cry."
In the real world, cursed winds tore apart homes like paper. The red eclipse deepened. Blood scattered across shattered stones.
> "Under the blood moon, sorrow turned to slaughter."
And then… silence.
Lucius stood alone. Everything — and everyone — was gone.
> "I... didn't mean to…"
The eclipse reached its peak. His second eye glowed bright. Inside his mind, the voice whispered again — softly, like a lullaby turned venomous.
> "They feared the curse… and now, they've created a king."
📘 End of Chapter 3 – "Born from Grief"
➡️ Next: Chapter 4 — "The Throne Beneath Ash"