The two children were pressed together under the table. The wood above their heads trembled… Not violently, but with irregular movements, as if someone was moving it while distracted by something else.
The younger one was crying silently. His eyes were fixed on his mother's feet, being devoured by a demon.
The demon had no face. No eyes. No features. It was sitting. Eating. Blood covered the floor. And the smell… reached them before the sound.
The child gasped. His brother quickly covered his mouth. Then the sound of tearing.
Another demon, short but with a massive body, ripped out his father's eye and ate it without hurry. A laugh cut through the scene. Not loud. But full.
A rough voice said:
"Leave nothing behind."
A shadow moved across the wall. They were no longer under the table. The world had turned upside down.
The demons were hunched, their backs arched, their mouths working with unsettling slowness. One lifted her head. She grabbed the first child.
His scream exploded. His heart was in her hands. She said, licking something off her fingers:
"Fear… improves the flavor."
Another pushed the younger child's body aside. He grabbed his hand. And began to eat.A third laugh.
"They were many."
At that moment, a drop of blood fell. Then it stopped in midair.
A step. The foot appeared first. Smooth black skin, a simple shoe… but the ground beneath it dipped slightly.
A second step. The light bent. Not disappearance… but distortion.
Then the hand appeared. Long fingers, clean, defying logic in that space, brushed against the wall and left a mark.
The demons froze. The jaw that had been chewing stopped. The laughter was cut off mid-way.
One fell to a knee. Then the second. Then all of them. It wasn't command. It was a reaction.
And finally he lifted his head.
Akira.
A smile. Wide. Slightly uneven, as if born from long boredom.
"Ah…"
he said lightly, as if he had arrived late to a party.
He looked at the corpses. At the blood. At the empty space where the children had been. He laughed. A short laugh, free of guilt.
"You ate… all of this?"
One of the demons bent lower, its forehead nearly touching the ground. Its voice trembled:
"My lord…"
It paused. Then continued:
"The hearts… are empty."
Akira was silent for a moment. Then he exhaled, as if the result had disappointed him slightly.
"Damn…"
he said, rubbing his neck.
"I was hoping for something more… delicious. Useless demons."
He took a step. The demons recoiled unconsciously.
"You're always like this…"
He smiled.
"You eat the screams, and forget the reason."
He raised a finger. Lazily traced it through the air.
And in a moment, one of the demons was crushed, as if by an invisible hand squeezing it from within. No screams. Only collapse.
Akira looked at the rest. His eyes gleamed… No cruelty in them. Only playfulness.
"Don't worry,"
he said lightly.
"I won't waste my time on the useless."
He turned halfway around. The shadow followed, half a second late, as if thinking.
"Only one demon…"
he murmured.
"Still holds something."
He stopped. The name left his lips like throwing a stone into a well:
"Lilithia."
The air trembled. He smiled. This time wider.
"It seems I'll have to search myself."
He disappeared. Not quickly. But as if the scene had ended with his absence. And the demons remained hunched… not knowing whether she had escaped or simply hadn't been noticed yet.
_
Elsewhere, silence took on a different shape.
In the Drakhaen Kingdom,
Villiam stepped out of the hall, the door behind him left ajar. He didn't need to look. He knew.
The kingdom was not noisy, but this time, the silence was unnatural. The soldiers lined up on either side, their faces pale, their breaths held, their eyes daring not to linger on him.
He took a step.
—"He is…"
—"The traitor?"
Villiam did not turn. His expression did not change. When he reached the courtyard, the leaders had already arrived.
Mirei was there. Standing, shoulders straight, her gaze sharp.
Kurozen stepped forward. He did not raise his voice. He didn't need to.
"The traitor…"
he said slowly, as if testing the word on his tongue,
"does not die easily."
The air trembled. He did not look at Villiam directly, but at those around him.
Mirei stepped forward immediately.
"Remember where you stand."
Her voice was sharp, cutting,
"The one before you is the brother of the Black Dragon… one of the heirs of the Great Dragon."
The place fell silent. Even whispers feared to form.
Kurozen smiled. A sideways smile, narrow, carrying no apology.
"Correct,"
he said with lethal calm,
"The Black Dragon came before you, and before it, one of us."
Then he paused for a moment. And continued:
"But that… does not change the truth."
Mirei's grip tightened. People exchanged glances. Some lowered their heads. Others took a step back.
And at that moment, Villiam stepped forward. Just one step. But it was enough.The sound cut off. The air straightened.
"Enough."
He did not shout. He did not threaten.He said it as if drawing a line. All eyes finally turned to him.
He looked at Kurozen, a brief glance, carrying neither defense… nor denial.
"Blood is not judged here,"
he said quietly,
"nor shadows."
Then he turned his gaze to the crowd.
"Those who seek the truth… must bear its cost when it comes."
He did not explain. He did not justify. He turned.
People stepped back instinctively, as if the ground itself had opened a path for him.Mirei followed him with a single glance, before turning away herself.
Kurozen remained in place. His smile had not vanished. It had grown slightly wider.
_
In a place without boundaries, no walls, no real ground, only a void that seemed to have been waiting for a long time.
A body lay stretched there.
Kagami.
The cracks that had torn him before had not vanished… but were healing. Slowly. Without light. Without sound.
A breath entered his chest. Then another. His fingers curled. Then the hand. Then the arm.
He opened his eyes. He did not rise immediately. Still lying there, he stared into the void as if seeing it for the first time.
There was no pain. Nor comfort. Only clarity.
He sat up. The void had not changed, but something within it had withdrawn.
Kagami tilted his head slightly. A faint smile appeared… not of victory. But of delayed understanding.
He spoke in a low voice, as if talking to himself or to something unseen:
"Now…"
He paused. Then continued:
"I know them."
He finally stood. The void cracked one step behind him, then closed. And before it vanished, he left his words hanging:
"My enemies… are not those I was fighting."