"You... you will kill me? Don't make me laugh!" Laur rested his arm on his waist. The unknown figure rested his hand on the handle of his sheath. "What makes you so confident?"
The figure released a cold breath as he raised his gaze.
"Confidence? No. Confidence is for gamblers. I simply know the result."
He took out his blade and stood a simple, yet a terrifying stance.
...
"So you defeated the other monster I presume? Mr. Knight, or should I say, Mr. Roderic."
Kael took a step back, clenching his fist.
"I... I was saved... AGAIN! Why am I so weak, so useless. If this continues, I'll never be able to reach him."
"May the darkness of the night consume you..." Laur raised both of his hands, with bloodlust on his face.
"Vrei druss. Draen!"
Roderic's expression changed. "Move back!!" Kael jumped back in confusion, he fell on his knee, with no more strength to stand. And then-
The air folded. A sphere of violet energy materialized around Laur and Roderic, separating them from the rest of the world. Space itself seemed to bend beneath its presence. For a moment, their forms blurred. Then the sphere shrank to the size of a marble, only for it to disappear, with Roderic and Laur.
"Wh-what!! Where did that... take them..."
...
"What is this place?" Roderic muttered as he cleared his eyes.
A lone circular platform drifted within an endless expanse of violet. Above, a vast purple sky stretched infinitely. There were no sun, stars, or clouds. Below lied the same boundless abyss, its depths fading into darkness with no end. The air was still, while faint currents of luminous energy flowed through the void like distant rivers of light. There was no horizon, no sense of direction, only the unsettling feeling of existing between two infinite oceans of purple. The platform stood as the sole piece of solid ground in this surreal realm, isolated from the world beyond and suspended in a space where reality itself felt thin and uncertain.
"This is my Domain, My Kingdom, My Flow!"
"His flow... is a spatial abyss?" Roderic tightened his grip, nervously.
"I am the only ruler of this place, the only controller! Everything here is under my control, my wish!"
"What!?"
"Draen."
...
"Draen!"
"Draen!!"
Laur burst out laughing. "Your flow won't work on this platform. Until I command so!"
Roderic eased his grip and took a deep breath. "Where are you talking from?"
Laur's laughter echoed across the endless violet void.
"Everywhere!"
His voice came from above. Then below. Then behind Roderic. Then from directly beside his ear.
"This realm is an extension of my will. Every inch of it bends to my command."
The purple abyss stirred. Ripples spread across the endless sky. The platform started trembled.
"Then I'll simply cut through your will."
Roderic walked calmly to the edge of the platform.
"Huh...? Where are you going?" Laur's voice carried a hint of confusion.
"Your death is inevitable." Said Roderic.
Without hesitation, he stepped forward and plunged into the endless abyss.
"What?" Laur laughed. "Do you intend to die that easi—"
Then—
A golden light ignited far beneath the platform.
"Draen."
The abyss trembled.
Waves of gold surged through the endless purple void, consuming it piece by piece. The violent spatial currents that had raged throughout the domain grew still beneath the radiance.
"Druex."
A sharp crack echoed through the realm. Fractures spread across the domain like shattered glass, crawling through the sky, the abyss, and the very fabric of space itself.
Laur's confidence vanished.
"What...?"
The cracks just increased.
"No..."
Entire sections of the domain began to collapse.
"This is impossible!"
The violet kingdom he ruled so absolutely was falling apart before his eyes
"You said that my flow won't work on the platform, so I just got rid of that problem." The space completely shattered, and they were back at the ruined street of Givera.
"No..."
"NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!!"
The immediate next second, Roderic stepped forward with his sword sheathed back. He held onto the grip of the sword an closed his eyes.
"The Goddess seeks Justice, The Goddess seeks Peace, The Goddess seeks Honor."
He took a dashing stance.
"But to sin..."
The sword started to shake.
"She seeks Blood!"
He disappeared into thin air. "Where did he go-"
A golden thunder crossed the street.
The sound of a sword being sheathed back. Roderic appeared behind Laur, and relaxed his stance, his eyes were still closed.
"Huh?" Laur seemed confused.
Cough Cough
"Wha-" He looked down. His chest started to bleed, as his upper body slowly fell of from the stomach in a slanted way, leaking blood everywhere. Tears came leaking, his expression started to dry out. "Wh- Why?..."
"This is the fate of those who sin, accept your fate and close your eyes." Said Roderic as he turned towards the upper body of Laur and stepped forward.
"...Sin?"
"Us?!"
Laur's thoughts were going grey, and suddenly, something played through his mind-
...
"Hold this brat down."
Two men in knight clothing held down a kid as he struggled to free himself. "Now... where is that b*tch."
"Check that room."
The kid struggled. He bit the hand covering his mouth. "Aah!"
"Stop! I will... not let you do anything to mother."
"Hey brat! Shut it before I kill you!" One of the knight pulled out a dagger and pointed it towards the kid's neck. The kid didn't even flinch and continued to struggle, as if this was not his first time being threatened.
"Found her. This b*tch was hiding in the closet over there. She even left her kid alone out here, haha." Said the knight as he dragged a pregnant woman out with her hair.
"Aahhh!"
"Hey! Don't touch her, don't touch my mother! I... I will kill all of you!!!"
The knight opened the door and dragged the woman out. "No! Please leave me... Take him instead, he is also of Vaeron blood, take that brat!"
The men laughed out loud. "This woman is really giving up her own kid!" "Don't worry b*tch, we'll make good use of him."
The kid didn't care that his mother was ready to sacrifice him. he saw the opportunity and scratched the hand of the man holding him down. "Aah!"
He ran off towards the man holding his mother, it looked like he was throwing a punch.
The man kicked the child away. But he held onto his leg, took out a small knife from his back pocket and stabbed the leg of the man.
"Aahh!!"
"I will kill this brat first." Said the man as he let go of the woman's hair.
"Mother! Run!"
Without a second thought, the woman started to run away towards the snowy outside.
"Hey you... go catch her, I want her alive."
The kid ran back but was too slow. He was held up by the back of his t-shirt.
"Today, you will witness the fate of Vaerons. Svalor shall rule over you!"
The other man came back with the woman fainted, her cheek was bruised, it looked like it was punched and she was knocked out.
The kid widened his eyes in disbelief. "Nooo!"
"Leave her alone!"
The man threw the woman onto the floor.
Her body hit the wooden boards with a dull thud.
She didn't move.
Her eyes remained closed, and one side of her face was badly bruised. Even unconscious, one arm rested over her swollen stomach.
"Mother!"
The boy struggled harder.
"No! Leave her alone!"
A hand grabbed his head and forced it down against the table.
His chin dug into the wood.
No matter how hard he fought, he couldn't break free.
"Let her go, you bastards!" he shouted.
The knight ignored him.
With a cold expression, he pulled out his sword.
The steel gleamed in the firelight.
"Tonight," the man said, "another Vaeron shall be sacrificed for Svalor."
The boy's eyes widened.
"No..."
The sword rose.
"No!"
He kicked and struggled with everything he had.
"Stop!"
Nobody listened.
The blade came down.
"Nooo!"
The boy's scream echoed through the house.
Blood spread across the floor beneath her.
Her body jerked once before becoming completely still.
The room fell silent.
The boy stared.
His breathing became uneven.
"No..."
His voice trembled.
For a moment, he expected her to get up.
To curse at him.
To tell him to stop crying.
To say anything.
But she didn't move.
She never moved again.
"No... no... no..."
Tears ran down his face.
He knew she hated him.
She had been willing to give him up moments ago.
Yet none of that mattered.
She was still his mother.
And now she was gone.
The boy stopped struggling.
The strength left his body.
His vision slowly blurred.
The last thing he saw was her lifeless form lying on the bloodstained floor.
Then darkness swallowed him.
...
"I won't let it end like this..."
His voice trembled with rage.
The image of his mother's lifeless body burned itself into his mind once more.
The blood.
The screams.
The helplessness.
Everything came flooding back.
He clenched his fists until his nails dug into his palms.
"Those hypocritical bastards..."
"They will learn."
"I will sacrifice my body. My soul. My very existence if I have to."
He raised his head toward the dark sky.
"Please..."
"*******."
"Help me once more."
His voice cracked.
"Tonight, they will suffer."
"Tonight, they will cry."
"Tonight, they will mourn..."
His eyes darkened.
"Just as I did."
A cold smile appeared on his face.
"An eye for an eye."
The air around his separated torso began to tremble.
He slowly opened his arms, even while severed.
"Threx ul'korr..."
The ground cracked beneath him.
"...vael."
The ground started to shake. Roderic couldn't believe his eyes. His eyes indicated... fear.