In the depths of the city of Malisura, in a place shrouded in pitch-black darkness, where terror lurked in every corner…
The sound of heavy footsteps echoed through the hall, tearing apart its funeral silence.
Gheib stood, bowing respectfully, and called out in a low voice filled with reverence and fear:
"An ancient king…"
Then he pronounced the name that made the place tremble:
"Azrad."
Gheib's eyes widened as he scanned the depths of the darkness, and a trembling overtook his faltering voice:
— "I have obtained the organs of a single child… Those mercenaries, the money hounds… they carried out the mission."
He had barely finished his words when whispers rose, chilling to the bone, as if supernatural dark forces were beginning to seep through the cracks of the place. And in the depth of that terrifying silence, Azrad's voice boomed, the ancient king dripping with awe and cruelty:
— "Why are you telling me this nonsense? Do you think the remains of a single child are an achievement worthy of mention? You know very well, Gheib, what we are after… I sent my elite men, the most experienced in the arts of forbidden energy, to spread across every inch of this land. You, Zaroth, and Jin… I have assigned your mission to the southern part of the city of Malisura."
Azrad's gaze fell upon Gheib with a lifeless stare. Suddenly, a wave of energy surged, striking Gheib's body.
It shook his entire being, causing… a gushing of blood he could not even attempt to stop. He remained hunched, fixed, with blood dripping from his body.
Azrad whispered:
— "And in every direction, I placed three of my strongest men; north, west, east, and in the very heart of the city itself. Do you dare face me with remnants that neither feed nor satisfy the hunger of my dogs? I granted you power, and opened the gates of hell for you to walk upon its flames as a master, and now you bring me a shame deserving of pity?"
Azrad paused for a moment, then added with a look devoid of any trace of mercy, making Gheib's chest shiver as if struck by lightning:
— "Know your place, you fool! You know very well that I am tracking my missing son, the sole legitimate heir of the Red Ash Clan. So be certain of your target before you extract any teenager's organs."
Gheib muttered in broken words, while terror consumed him:
— "Yes… I will match his DNA with yours… I will search for him everywhere.
Your son… we will bring him back alive."
In that moment, Gheib was engulfed in a whirlpool of dark thoughts:
(Now… I have understood the secret behind the extermination of the Red Ash Clan. This man is the sole survivor, and he is searching for his missing son, who might already be dead, to make him a mere tool in the organization's project. This is madness in itself. With his rare lineage and overwhelming power, he seeks to merge the organs of teenagers with his DNA, using black magic and excessive forbidden energy to create deadly monsters. He wants his son to be the eternal source of these monsters, because his power consumes his lifespan… The only clan capable of this ability… is the Red Ash Clan.)
And his son carries the clan's blood.
And while Gheib was drenched in sweat, a pale hand suddenly emerged from nowhere and settled on his shoulder, and a voice whispered beside his ear:
— "Hello… what are you thinking, I wonder?"
Gheib jolted as if stung, jumping back into a defensive stance, his eyes flooding with fear from the sudden presence. A mocking laugh erupted from Regin as he said:
— "Hey… hey… no need for all that fear."
Gheib spoke to himself in shock:
(Where did this come from? He is terrifyingly fast… I didn't feel his presence or his aura of forbidden energy until he touched me! How did he conceal it so perfectly?)
From behind the throne, a cold female voice emerged, standing next to King Azrad:
— "Stop your nonsense, Regin… the first step was in the darkness, but the second was directly in front of him."
Gheib was stunned, blood freezing in his veins:
(What?! Where did this second one come from? Are these humans… or savage monsters?)
The pressure emanating from the place crushed Gheib's internal organs, as if the forbidden energy itself pressed down on him under the overwhelming presence surrounding them.
Regin laughed mockingly:
— "Hey… hey… I was just joking with him… no need to intervene, Maya."
Maya responded with a sharp look:
— "Do not disturb Azrad with your childish behavior… is my point understood?"
She looked at him with a gaze void of mercy.
Regin sighed, surrendering:
— "Alright… alright."
Azrad's voice returned to dominate the hall, his pale eyes carrying death in their depths:
— "You know what you must do, Gheib… if you return to me empty-handed again, you know your fate, don't you?"
Gheib replied, fear shattering his bones:
— "Yes… I know."
Azrad spoke in a dismissive tone:
— "Then… leave, you fool."
Gheib departed, dragging behind him the tails of failure and terror, his steps unsteady as one who has barely escaped the claws of hell.
Gheib sighed, saying:
—I felt the presence of forbidden energies that did not approach me, lurking in the darkness.
As soon as his feet touched the street, he pulled out his phone with a trembling hand and called Zaroth and Jin, speaking in a firm tone, attempting to gather his scattered composure:
— "We will go immediately…"
— "Understood."