Absolute darkness enveloped everything, no sound could be heard, no smell entered the nostrils, there was nothing at all.
Inside the darkness that has existed for who knows how long, Alex's body drifted.
His black eyes were visible, but there was no life in them.
At one moment his eyes blinked once, then once again, and once again.
After several blinks, his eyes widened, his forehead frowned, his face looked in all directions.
He opened his mouth, but no sound came out, he could only groan inwardly.
'Darkness?....'
He closed his eyes and scratched his short black hair.
'....Krystal?'
For a moment there was no answer, but soon a smile formed on Alex's face.
A voice echoed in his head.
'Yooo dead person…'
Alex chuckled without sound.
'Did we manage to survive or did we go to hell together?...'
Krystal clicked her tongue.
'I don't want to go to hell with you, damn it…'
A point of light appeared.
Alex smiled, closing his mouth.
'What are the details? Is there anything I should pay attention to?'
Krystal was silent.
One of Alex's eyebrows lifted as the light grew brighter.
'Be careful with the saint…'
Alex's mouth opened.
'What's wrong? Why be careful? Am I going to be chained or something?'
Krystal chuckled.
'Yeah… just be careful or you really will be chained.'
Alex's face stiffened, the light almost covered the entire darkness.
'Damn it, Krystal….'
Slowly, color appeared in Alex's eyes and shapes began to form.
A brown sky was visible, a turned-off lamp hanging, faint darkness still surrounding.
Alex's eyes twitched, his ears rang softly, but the ringing quickly disappeared.
He tried to open his dry mouth, his throat felt like a desert.
His neck felt stiff but he tried to move it.
He looked to the left, there Ken was sleeping in a sitting position.
His hands were folded, his head kept nodding, and a bit of drool slipped from his lips.
Alex's hand tried to reach him.
His mouth let out a hoarse voice.
"Ke…n….Ken…"
Alex wet his dry lips with his tongue.
He wanted to speak again, but he saw Ken's eyebrow twitch, his ears slightly moving.
His eyes slowly opened, immediately seeing Alex on the bed.
Ken's eyes widened, his heart beat fast, seeing Alex's hand reaching toward him.
Alex tried with all his strength to speak.
"A…water… water…"
Ken quickly stood and approached Alex, taking out a bottle of cold water from his smart bracelet, opening it and helping Alex drink.
The cold water flowing into Alex's throat made him look more alive.
Ken's face grimaced, he pressed the bottle to Alex, some drops spilling from Alex's mouth and wetting the pillow.
Alex's eyes widened, the water could not be swallowed properly.
"Blurgh…"
Alex choked on the cold water.
His now-wet mouth and throat made his voice return to normal.
Alex wiped his lips and looked at Ken whose face was still strained.
"Damn! Are you trying to kill me again?!"
Ken's lips trembled, tears slowly coming out from his black eyes, his trembling legs losing strength.
He fell to the floor and cried loudly.
Alex pushed himself up slightly and looked at him from the bed as Ken cried uncontrollably.
Alex's mouth opened, his face stiffened.
"What's wrong with this kid?"
Alex tried to touch him with his hand, but Ken's crying became louder, making him stop.
After some time passed, Ken's crying finally stopped. He sat on the chair where he had been sleeping.
Alex also sat on his bed, looking at Ken who was now lowering his head, his eyes and nose red.
"What's wrong with you? You're crying like a baby."
Ken raised his head and looked at Alex, sniffing.
"You're really crazy…"
Alex smiled, letting out a small laugh.
"Why? Do you feel guilty for killing your friend?"
Ken pinched his forehead.
"Damn… you make me feel bad…"
Ken looked at Alex, speaking with a sad voice.
"How am I supposed to face Katarina and your parents if I really killed you?"
Alex shrugged and massaged his forehead.
"I didn't die… so no need to bother."
Ken clicked his tongue and shook his head.
"You're really crazy…"
Alex sighed and tried to lie down again.
"You know?..."
Ken stayed silent, listening.
"…I found Roka and Kesu's skeletons…"
One of Ken's eyebrows lifted.
Alex scratched his forehead.
"I feel like if it wasn't like that… we would be like them."
Ken swallowed and lowered his head, not replying, instead asking something else.
"How did you come back to life?"
Alex shrugged, unwilling to reveal his secret, not for now.
"That's a secret, friend…."
Ken leaned his back on the sofa and exhaled, not pressing further.
"Next time don't do that again, bastard…"
"…or at least tell your plan first!"
Alex shook his head.
"If we plan it, it will feel painful…"
Alex looked at Ken, Ken looked back at him.
Alex raised his index finger.
"You owe me… okay?"
Ken closed one eye.
"Damn…."
Alex laughed freely, his laughter echoing outside.
"Your right eye is pretty good, huh?"
Ken scratched his cheek.
"But you can counter it easily…"
Alex slowly sat up again, looking at Ken seriously.
"Do you want me to teach you so it won't be easy to counter?..."
One of Ken's eyebrows lifted.
Alex raised his index and middle finger.
"But your debt becomes double…"
Veins bulged on Ken's forehead.
But the sound of the door opening stopped him, light from outside entered the unlit room.
There, Katarina entered wearing a brown dress, her dark red hair tied in a ponytail, followed by Reva wearing jeans and a white shirt.
Alex pointed at them.
"Hey! Knock first, bastard!"
Reva, who usually replied immediately, stayed silent.
Katarina spoke first.
"So you're alive again? I thought you were dead…"
Alex nodded proudly, smiling like an idiot.
"That's right… you, you owe the most, fortune teller…"
Katarina's face turned confused, she looked at Ken.
Ken sighed.
"I owe him because I killed him…"
Alex kept nodding proudly.
Katarina stroked her chin, silent for a moment.
"But if it wasn't for me, you would be dead, right?..."
One of Alex's eyebrows lifted, he wanted to speak, but Katarina cut him off.
She raised her finger and started counting.
"Calling a magic helicopter, asking my father for help, I begged the saint to save you…."
Katarina glanced at Alex.
She continued listing everything she had done.
Alex burst into laughter, holding his head, his legs thrashing on the bed.
Reva leaned closer to Katarina and whispered.
"Looks like he's back… can I insult him again, princess?"
Katarina chuckled and nodded.
They talked for a while, even the knocking on the door didn't stop them.
The door opened slightly again, but no one was seen entering.
From the bed, Alex pointed at Reva.
"You would wet yourself if you were in that desert…"
Reva almost lunged at him but was held back by Katarina.
Alex, satisfied teasing her, wanted to speak again—
But an unfamiliar voice sounded from his right.
"Do you want to wash yourself, sir?"
Alex's ears twitched, he looked to the right but no one was there, then he looked down—
His eyes widened.
His expression froze.
There, a hedgehog beastman stood on two legs with two arms, her spines sticking out from her servant clothes.
She tilted her head, confused because Alex only stared.
"Sir?...."
Alex's eyes widened further, his body trembled—
"AAAA—!"
His scream echoed, stopping everyone's conversation.
He jumped off the bed and hid behind it, while the hedgehog beastman pressed herself against the wall, her spines flaring out.
Everyone looked at them.
Alex swallowed and peeked.
'What… is that? A talking hedgehog?'
Reva raised one eyebrow seeing Alex like that, she whispered to Katarina.
"Has he never seen the natural kind before?"
Katarina didn't answer, she only stared at the two of them.
Meanwhile Ken kicked Alex's butt and whispered.
"Hey, that's rude."
Alex ignored him, he climbed back onto the bed and looked at the hedgehog beastman again.
Her body trembled, tears almost falling from her small eyes, and her spines expanded even more when Alex looked at her.
Alex swallowed, still staring at her.
"Hey… sorry. I was just surprised, I didn't mean to scare you."
The hedgehog beastman tried to look at Alex, but she was still hesitant.
Alex bit his finger, worried about scaring a beastman in beastman territory, especially after Krystal warned him to be careful with the saint here.
Alex got down from the bed and crouched in front of the frightened hedgehog beastman.
"Look…"
Alex took out several papers from his smart bracelet.
The hedgehog beastman started to pay attention.
Alex smiled faintly seeing her interest, he threw one of the papers into the air, his hand pointing at the floating paper.
The hedgehog beastman and the others also looked at it.
From the slowly falling paper, red flower petals appeared.
The hedgehog beastman's eyes widened, her spines slowly curling back.
She held the fallen red petal, it was almost as big as her hand.
Meanwhile Alex brought out two more items from the papers in his hands—ice cream and a lollipop.
Alex chuckled inwardly.
'Aisy would be so excited seeing this…'
Alex handed the ice cream and lollipop to her.
"Here… sorry for scaring you."
The hedgehog beastman was still hesitant, but slowly reached out.
Just as her hand was about to touch the gifts, a loud sound from the door opening startled her.
Katarina looked at the person entering and clicked her tongue.
There, a cat beastman walked in, ears on top of her head, her tail passing through her servant clothes, her face looked angry.
She growled at the hedgehog beastman.
Her voice was low, but everyone could hear it.
"I told you not to come here! They'll be scared of you!..."
Alex, still crouching with ice cream and lollipop in hand, looked at her.
'I thought beastmen were only like Sahir, Samir, and this cat servant…'
The cat beastman spoke again.
"Just leave, everyone is afraid of you…"
The hedgehog beastman lowered her head.
Reva gritted her teeth.
"Hey, you can't—"
Before she finished, Katarina stopped her.
"You're the one who should leave. We'll be served by her."
The cat beastman growled, glancing at the still-frightened hedgehog beastman.
But her growl stopped.
A tongue click echoed.
The air in the room became heavy, pressing down on them.
Footsteps were heard.
Everyone turned.
A woman nearly two meters tall entered the room. Her thick golden hair moved with every step, tiger ears visible above her hair, golden tiger eyes glanced at the cat beastman, making her tremble, her tail swaying behind her.
"Ck… there are still ones like this. Leave."
Tears welled in the cat beastman's eyes as she quickly ran out.
Alex swallowed, frozen in place, still crouching with melting ice cream and a lollipop in his hands.
Everyone slightly lowered their heads to greet Saint Azara—except Alex.
Saint Azara looked down at him, a faint smile forming.
"So you're Alex, huh? Do you have time after coming back from death?"
Alex's hair stood on end.
The room fell silent, the ice cream in his hand slowly melting onto the floor.
---
The same silence happened in a mansion.
The sun was now at its peak.
An old man in a butler suit walked, his steps heading toward a secluded part of the mansion.
He turned left into a dead end, where only a storage room stood at the end.
His shadow slowly detached from his body and moved along the ceiling, passing the corner he had just taken.
At that corner, a masked man in a black robe appeared, peeking.
The masked man swallowed, slightly nervous.
'That's suspicious…'
His eyes stared closely.
Meanwhile, the old man he was watching began to twitch.
The skin on his hands peeled off, revealing larger, brown-scaled hands. His shoes slipped off, showing feet that were growing bigger. A long whip-like tail emerged, his body expanding, and his head split open—turning into a komodo head.
The transformed butler slightly turned his head, his forked tongue flicking in and out.
The masked man's eyes widened, he stood frozen for a moment after witnessing the sudden transformation.
He tried to calm himself, slowly turning to leave and report what he saw—
But he bumped into something hard.
Thud
He staggered slightly, then quickly looked ahead.
In front of him stood something with the same features as the transformed butler—
—but its entire body was black, with glowing red eyes.
The masked man's body trembled, trying to find a way to escape.
But a gust of wind hit his back, something wrapped around his neck—
In an instant, he was choked from behind.
He struggled, his mask slowly falling off, revealing a flushed face, green eyes trembling, breath ragged.
The komodo opened its mouth, saw-like teeth visible, and bit into the man's cheek.
Black veins spread from the bite, his green eyes shook, his skin and flesh slowly shriveled.
No scream was heard.
His eyes slowly lost their light.
The last thing he saw—
was a large black lizard with glowing red eyes in front of him.