The night was quiet. Too quiet.
Saliz could hear nothing but his own heartbeat pounding in his ears. The air was thick with tension, and the dim glow of the moon barely lit up the small garden where they stood.
Then, Urui moved.
He pulled a knife from his pocket.
The silver blade caught the faint light, making Saliz's stomach twist.
"Urui…?" Saliz's voice was barely a whisper.
Urui took a step forward. His grip on the knife was tight. Too tight.
"You're afraid, aren't you?" Urui said, his voice sharp. "You think I don't see it?"
Saliz took a step back, his hands trembling. "You're holding a knife at me! Of course, I'm afraid!"
Urui's lips curled into a bitter smile. "No. You're afraid because I figured you out. You want the brooch. That's why you're pretending to care."
Saliz shook his head. "That's not true! I never wanted it!"
Urui lunged.
Saliz barely had time to react. His hand shot up, grabbing Urui's wrist just as the knife came down.
The force of the attack pushed him back. His feet slid against the damp ground.
"Urui, stop! You're making a mistake!" Saliz gasped, struggling to hold off the blade.
But Urui wasn't listening. His eyes were dark, wild.
"Liar." Urui pushed harder, and Saliz's arms shook from the effort of holding him back.
With a sudden yank, Urui freed his wrist.
The knife swung toward Saliz's chest again. He jumped back just in time, his boot sinking into the wet soil.
His eyes darted around desperately. His fingers found a fallen branch.
He grabbed it and lifted it just as Urui attacked again.
The knife clashed against the wood, sending a shudder through Saliz's arms.
He was breathing hard now. His grip on the branch was shaky, but he held on.
"I don't want the damn brooch!" he yelled. "You have to believe me!"
Urui sneered. "Trust you? After everything? No chance."
Saliz's stomach twisted. "I'm your brother! Why would I betray you?"
Urui's face twisted with something unreadable—anger, pain, madness.
"Why?" he repeated, almost laughing. "Because people like you always do."
He lunged again, faster this time.
Saliz barely dodged.
He kicked out, his foot slamming into Urui's stomach.
Urui stumbled back, coughing, but instead of looking hurt, he looked… satisfied.
"See?" Urui wiped his mouth, his eyes gleaming with something dark. "That's why I can't trust you. You want to get rid of me so you can have it all."
Saliz's patience snapped. His body burned with frustration.
"That's what YOU'RE doing, Urui!" he shouted.
Urui only laughed. A hollow, bitter sound.
Then, he lunged again.
Saliz lifted his arm to block the knife.
Pain exploded through him.
The blade sliced deep into his forearm.
Hot blood poured down his skin, soaking his sleeve.
Saliz gasped, stumbling back, clutching his bleeding arm.
But Urui wasn't done.
He raised the knife again.
Something inside Saliz snapped.
His fingers curled into a fist.
And he swung.
His fist crashed into Urui's stomach.
Urui choked, staggering back. Blood spilled from his mouth.
He coughed, his body shaking, but his eyes were still full of rage.
Saliz stood over him, his breath ragged, his bleeding arm throbbing.
Urui wiped the blood from his lips, grinning through the pain.
"You're still holding back?" he rasped. "Why?"
Saliz's jaw clenched. His heart was hammering, his hands shaking.
"Stop this." His voice was low, filled with warning. "Or I'll have no choice but to kill you."
Urui, though wounded, still had that sick smirk on his face, his knife gripped tightly.
"Then do it."
Urui's words echoed in the cold night air, challenging, provoking.
Saliz's hands curled into fists. He didn't want to do this. He didn't want it to end like this. But Urui wasn't stopping.
With a sudden roar, Urui lunged again.
This time, Saliz didn't hold back.
His first punch smashed into Urui's jaw.
A sickening crack rang out. Urui's head snapped to the side, blood spraying from his mouth.
But Saliz wasn't done.
He punched again.
And again.
His knuckles slammed into Urui's face, his stomach, his ribs. A flurry of blows, each one landing harder than the last.
Urui gasped, his body twisting in pain, but Saliz's rage had taken over.
**His fist drove into Urui's nose.**CRACK! Blood gushed out, streaming down Urui's face like a river.
Urui stumbled, his legs buckling, but Saliz grabbed his collar, holding him up.
Then he drove his fist into Urui's belly.
Urui choked, his body curling in pain as he coughed out more blood.
Saliz's breaths were sharp, his heart pounding wildly. He didn't stop. His fist slammed into Urui's chest.
Urui groaned, his body shaking under the relentless attack. His knees finally gave out, and his knife slipped from his fingers, falling to the ground with a soft clang.
Saliz let go of him, letting Urui collapse onto the dirt.
For a moment, there was silence.
Urui coughed, blood dripping from his mouth onto the ground. His face was swollen, his body weak.
Saliz wiped the blood off his lips and looked down at him. His voice was low, steady.
"I never wanted the Syroche." His words were sharp, filled with pain. "I wanted to live with you forever. As brothers. But you couldn't see that. Instead, you tried to kill me."
Urui weakly lifted his head, eyes full of hatred, yet there was something else. Something that looked like regret.
Saliz took a deep breath, his hands shaking.
"That makes you an incapable wielder."
And with that, he reached down and grabbed Urui's knife.
One last breath.
And then—
BASH!
The knife plunged deep into Urui's chest.
"AAAAAHHHH!!"
Urui screamed, his body arching in agony. Blood poured from the wound, soaking his clothes.
Their Mother were awaken by these noises, she looks around scanning for Saliz and Urui, but couldn't find them, so she herself approaches the noises to see what's happening.
His hands weakly grasped at Saliz's arm, trembling, as if trying to hold on.
His breaths became short, ragged.
His vision blurred.
And then, his lips curved into the faintest smile.
His voice was barely a whisper.
"Thank you, Saliz."
His grip loosened. His body fell limp.
His eyes stared up at the sky.
And then—
Silence.
Saliz sat there, his breath ragged, his body trembling. His hands were covered in warm, sticky blood—Urui's blood. The metallic scent filled his lungs, making his stomach churn. His brother's lifeless body lay beneath him, eyes wide open, staring at nothing.
A chill ran down his spine.
What had he done?
Before he could process the weight of his actions, a loud gasp pierced the silence.
"AHHHHH!"
His mother.
Anne stood at the entrance of the yard, her hands trembling, her face frozen in sheer horror. The dim moonlight illuminated the gruesome scene—her sons, soaked in blood.
Her voice shook. "S-Saliz…?"
Saliz slowly turned to her, his teary eyes pleading. "Anne… I—"
But she had already taken a step back, her face pale.
"You… You murdered your sibling!?"
Her voice cracked, filled with disbelief and fear.
Saliz flinched. "No! You don't understand!" His voice was desperate, breaking apart. "He—he attacked me! I didn't—"
But Anne wasn't listening.
Her legs moved on their own, stepping backward, away from the horrifying sight.
Saliz reached out a bloodied hand. "Anne, please! Just listen to me!"
She gasped and turned on her heels, running.
Away from him.
Away from the monster her son had become.
Saliz clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms. This isn't fair! Why wouldn't she listen? Why did everyone just see him as a murderer?
It wasn't supposed to be like this!
And then—
A deep, otherworldly voice echoed in the air.
"Saliz…"
A strange dark red glow enveloped the yard, casting an eerie shadow over everything. Saliz felt the temperature drop as a cold wind brushed against his skin.
The voice whispered again, low and powerful, sending shivers through his bones.
"I am Nyxath."
Saliz's breath hitched. The name alone carried weight—ancient, powerful.
The voice continued, smooth as silk yet laced with something sinister.
"I have seen your pain, your betrayal. The world is against you, Saliz. They will never understand. But I do."
Saliz's heart pounded in his chest. Was he hallucinating? Was this a dream?
But then—
A swirling darkness took form above him.
Red lightning cracked through the sky, illuminating the blood-soaked yard.
And then, it spoke again.
"You have suffered. You have fought. And yet, they fear you. They abandon you."
Saliz clenched his teeth, his eyes burning with unshed tears.
Yes. They did.
No one listened.
No one understood.
The voice hummed in approval, as if reading his very soul.
"I will grant you power, Saliz. Power beyond imagination. Power to destroy… Power to rise."
Saliz's breath quickened. His mind was clouded, lost in grief, in anger, in betrayal.
Power.
A chance to never feel weak again.
A chance to never be abandoned.
The voice purred. "If you desire these supreme powers, say it. Say—Accepted."
Saliz hesitated.
His hands trembled. His vision blurred.
But then—
Anne's terrified face flashed in his mind.
Urui's accusations.
The betrayal.
The pain.
His body moved on its own.
His lips parted.
And he whispered—
"Accepted."
A sharp, electric pain shot through his veins.
The ground beneath him shook.
The red glow consumed his body, burning through every inch of his skin, filling him with an overwhelming force—dark, immense, unstoppable.
"GRANTED."
And then, everything turned black.
Anne ran as fast as her trembling legs could carry her, her breath ragged, her heart pounding like a war drum. The villagers would help her. They would kill the monster inside her home.
But just as she reached the edge of the village—
Shlunk!
A sharp, cold pain spread through her body.
Her steps faltered. Her mouth opened to scream, but only a gurgling sound came out. A blade had pierced through her back… and now jutted out from her stomach.
The night swallowed her cries.
Her hands weakly clutched at the blade, her body convulsing. She turned her head slightly—
Saliz stood there, eyes glowing an unnatural, fiery red. His face was blank, void of remorse.
Her lips trembled. "S-Saliz... my son... please..."
But Saliz only tilted his head.
"Ifrit doesn't forgive begs."
His voice was hollow, distant, like it didn't belong to him anymore.
His hand reached for her chest. With a single, ruthless motion, he tore the Syroche from her clothes and placed it onto his own chest.
Anne gasped one last time—then fell still.
Blood trickled from her lips, mixing with the dark soil beneath her.
Saliz didn't flinch.
He grabbed her lifeless body by the leg and dragged her back to his Hermitage.
A dark trail of blood painted the ground behind him.
Once he reached the yard, he carelessly dumped her body on top of Urui's corpse.
And then—
His eyes returned to normal.
A rush of terror and realization hit him all at once. His knees buckled, and he collapsed onto the bloodstained ground.
"What... What have I done?"
Tears streamed down his cheeks. He clutched his head, shaking violently.
"Urui… Anne… I… I didn't mean to… I swear—"
His hands, his arms—everything was drenched in their blood. The same hands that once held them, loved them—had now killed them.
"It wasn't me!" he sobbed. "It wasn't me! It was—"
His chest heaved.
No. It was him.
He had taken their lives with his own hands.
His fingers dug into the dirt. "Why... WHY DID YOU MAKE ME DO THIS, NYXATH?!"
The sky gave no answer.
Time passed, but Saliz remained kneeling in that pool of blood, crying, shaking, screaming.
But grief couldn't bring them back.
His tears couldn't cleanse the stains of his sin.
So—he made a choice.
Slowly, he rose to his feet. His trembling hands reached for a container of alcoholic fuel.
One by one, he poured it over the bodies of his mother and brother.
The sickly scent of fuel filled the air.
Then—Feesh!
A single match fell from his fingers.
WHOOSH!
The flames engulfed the corpses in a monstrous blaze. Orange and red danced in the night, consuming everything—except the bloodstains that had already seeped into the ground.
Saliz stood there, watching them burn. The screams in his head grew louder.
But his heart felt… empty.
The night was not silent for long.
Heavy footsteps approached from the distance.
A group of villagers, led by an Indian Sage, dressed in saffron robes, arrived at the scene. The sage's rudraksha mala hung from his neck, gently swaying with each step.
They followed the gruesome trail of blood, their eyes widening in horror as they came upon the sight—
Saliz, moaning, kneeling before two burning bodies.
The villagers exchanged nervous glances. No one dared speak.
The Sage, however, remained calm. His wise eyes scanned the scene—until they fell upon the Syroche on Saliz's chest.
His expression darkened.
"Nyxath," he muttered.
Saliz's head snapped up at the mention of the name.
His eyes fell on Maharshi's Golden Syroche with a swastika on it, his eys—which had turned normal—suddenly flared red again.
A low growl rumbled in his throat. Something inside him awakened.
The rage. The hunger. The darkness.
One of the sage's disciples panicked. "Maharshi Jivyuj, he's approaching you!"
Saliz, consumed by fury, lunged forward.
But the Sage did not flinch.
With a calm yet commanding voice, he chanted—
"Chakra Shuddhishodhana, Chhatha Adhyaya : Sukh-Dukh Abhipaapam Karotah!"
The swastika symbol on the sage's own Syroche began spinning. It glowed, rotating six times in perfect rhythm.
At the same time—
A golden swastika appeared on Saliz's forehead.
His body froze mid-step.
The red glow in his eyes flickered.
His muscles tensed—then relaxed. His breathing slowed. His gaze emptied.
The Sage exhaled deeply. "It is done."
The villagers watched in awe and fear. Saliz was no longer raging… But he was no longer himself, either.
Maharshi Jivyuj studied him for a long moment before finally speaking.
"He will forget his past sins and live like a forester from now on."
The villagers murmured among themselves.
One of them hesitantly asked, "Then… the curse is broken?"
The Sage's expression darkened.
"No… This is not a successful purification."****"
He turned back to Saliz, his wise eyes filled with concern.
"Nyxath has already influenced him. If its energy surpasses the bond of this seal, he will break free—and return to his monstrous ways."
The villagers gasped.
A disciple whispered, "Then we must be careful…"
The Sage nodded.
"Yes. And above all else…" He turned to the villagers.
"He must never be reminded of his past. If he recalls what he has done—he will awaken again."
A heavy silence filled the air.
The villagers looked at Saliz one last time. He stood there like an empty shell, unaware of what had just happened.
They knew one thing for certain—
This was not the end.