The great hall was filled with silence. No music, no laughter, not even the faint hum of servants. Only the heavy voice of the king broke the stillness, carrying the weight of centuries.
"Damn him… that cursed forest,"
the king muttered, his hands trembling against the throne's armrest. King Ariston's eyes glistened with unshed tears, though he fought fiercely to keep his composure before his people.
"No one has ever dared set foot within its shadows. Even if I commanded all the soldiers of this kingdom… and all soldiers of other nations, even if every citizen joined them… not one would return alive. To step into that darkness is to step into death itself."
He lowered his head, his voice deep with sorrow.
"Our ancestors tried once. Brave, proud, unyielding… and yet, they were wiped out completely. Not a soul returned. Only by the mercy of a divine angel were humans spared from extinction. Without that intervention, this land would belong to monsters alone."
The courtiers shifted uneasily, whispers rising, but none dared interrupt their king. His words were truth, carved into the bones of history.
"Only God Himself can save those boys now," the king said bitterly.
"They entered as children… if fate wills it, they shall return as men. But men forged not by our training halls or our wisdom. No—by the trial of life and death."
He looked upward, his voice heavy, echoing with both a father's grief and a ruler's dread.
"If they walk the path of good… if they hold to virtue… they may return as heroes, strong enough to shake the heavens. But…"
his voice faltered, then hardened,
"if they fall into evil… then even our greatest strength, even the wisdom of our ancestors, will not last a single second before them. They will become monsters greater than any nightmare the forest has ever birthed."
The hall fell into a suffocating silence. The queen covered her face and wept softly. The noblemen bowed their heads, as if in mourning.
And in the shadows of the cursed forest, two fates began to take shape.
The air was damp, heavy with the scent of moss and iron. Deep in the cursed forest, a cage of black steel stood in the middle of a clearing, its bars glowing faintly with runes that pulsed like a heartbeat.
Inside, Kairo and Leonhart sat chained, their small frames dwarfed by the unnatural prison.
From the shadows, the mysterious figure stepped forward, his black aura coiling around him like smoke. His voice cut through the silence—smooth, mocking, and laced with malice.
"This,"
he gestured to the cage,
"is the greatest comfort I will ever grant you."
His eyes gleamed, cruel and unyielding.
"For now, you may think this is torment… but in the years to come, you will beg me to let you remain in this place. To cling to these walls as a shield against the true horrors I shall unleash upon you."
He leaned closer, his grin sharp as a blade.
"But I will not grant you such mercy. I will strip you of it. I will tear away every illusion of safety. You will bleed. You will starve. You will claw at the dirt like beasts. And only then… only through suffering beyond the imagination of men… will I carve you into what I desire."
The forest around them groaned, as though the very trees feared his words.
"You will become monsters,"
he whispered, his voice a venomous promise.
"Creatures who find joy only in slaughter. Weapons of despair. That is the destiny I shall forge for you."
Kairo's fists clenched, his young heart pounding with both fear and defiance. Leonhart's eyes burned, though his body trembled.
The figure stepped back into the shadows, his aura pressing against their chests like a storm.
"Pray, little ones,"
he said, fading into the darkness.
"Pray that you endure. For in this forest, mercy does not exist."
The cage shuddered as his presence vanished, leaving only silence — silence filled with the echo of his curse.
The shadows still lingered in the cage after the mysterious figure vanished, his cruel laughter echoing faintly in the distance. The silence that followed was suffocating, broken only by the rattling of chains as Kairo shifted closer to Leonhart.
Kairo's eyes, though weary, carried a sharpness that defied despair. His voice was low, steady, and filled with conviction.
"Well, Leonhart… it seems we're stuck here. Ten long years."
Leonhart turned his head, his jaw tight, anger burning in his eyes.
"Ten years in this hell… he means to break us."
Kairo smirked bitterly, though blood still clung to his lips.
"Break us? No… he'll try to twist us. And because of my talents, I'll suffer more than most. He'll want me broken the fastest. But listen…"
He leaned in, his chain clinking as his hand pressed weakly against Leonhart's shoulder.
"We must never let our morals fall. That's what he wants—to shape us into his mirror, so we can help him destroy peace and harmony. If we give him even a fraction of what he wants… then we truly become monsters."
Leonhart's fists clenched around his chains, his teeth grinding.
"Then what do we do, Kairo? How do we fight someone like him?"
Kairo's expression hardened, his young face carrying the weight of a man's resolve.
"We suffer, Leonhart. We endure. We bleed together, starve together, crawl together. And no matter what he throws at us, we stand as brothers. He wants us broken? We'll grow unbreakable. He wants us twisted? We'll forge ourselves sharper than steel."
The boy's eyes glowed faintly under the moonlight that filtered through the forest canopy.
"So let's suffer, Leonhart," Kairo whispered, his voice like a vow. "Let's suffer together—and when we rise, we'll end him."
Leonhart's lips curved into the faintest of grins, his chains rattling as he leaned back against the bars.
"Together then… till the end."
And in that cursed cage, with the forest watching in silence, two boys—destined for either ruin or greatness—sealed their first oath.
Kairo sat back, chains rattling as his eyes drifted to the ground. For a moment, Leonhart thought he was just tired—until a faint shimmer appeared in Kairo's palm.
A small book materialized, glowing faintly blue, the same way it had before when Kairo had summoned knowledge into the kingdom. Its pages fluttered as though stirred by a breeze, though the forest air was perfectly still.
Leonhart's eyes widened.
"That book again…? Even here?"
Kairo nodded, his tone steady, almost solemn.
"Yes. This book doesn't just carry knowledge from my old world. It shows me truths about enemies. Their strengths, their weaknesses… their flaws."
He flipped through a few glowing pages. Strange diagrams and words none of this world had ever seen flickered across the parchment.
"That's why I'm so sure, Leonhart,"
Kairo continued, eyes sharp.
"No matter what he does to us, no matter what torture he tries, his weakness is the same as every monster's: he feeds on despair. If we break our morals, if we become like him, then we've already lost. But if we hold fast, we become the one thing he can't control."
Leonhart leaned closer, the faint light reflecting in his eyes.
"So this… this book will guide us? Even against him?"
Kairo smirked.
"It won't hand us victory on a silver plate. But it will give us the truth. And truth, Leonhart, is the sharpest weapon in a world full of monsters."
For the first time since their capture, Leonhart's chest loosened, and he allowed himself a breath that wasn't drowned in fear.
"Then we'll use it,"
he said firmly.
"We'll carve our way out of this forest—together."
The two boys touched the cold iron bars of their cage, almost like sealing another oath, the book glowing faintly between them.
Somewhere in the darkness, the mysterious figure smirked, unseen.
"Well, well… little prince. You dare to bring your book into my world? Good. It will only make breaking you more… entertaining."
Inside the cage, Kairo opened the glowing book again. This time, instead of drawings of beasts or maps of forests, the pages filled with words of wisdom. Not battle tactics, not monster weaknesses — but traps of the soul.
Kairo's eyes widened as he read aloud to Leonhart:
"Lies breed more lies… arrogance blinds the heart… jealousy poisons blood… anger burns the soul… laziness steals time… despair is the strongest chain the Demon uses… The enemy you are fighting looks like a human but he is just a demon present in human form."
Leonhart frowned.
"These… these aren't enemies. These are… us. The battles inside us."
Kairo nodded slowly, a small smile forming despite the darkness around them.
"Yes. These are the real trials we're going to suffer. Not just monsters, not just torture. He—"
Kairo glanced in the direction the mysterious figure had vanished,
"—he wants us to fall into these traps. To lie, to become arrogant, to despair, to hate. That's how he'll break us. But is he a human or a devil? These messages have two meanings and it doesn't make any sense to me right now. How can he be human? He doesn't have any human features, just a void. That's all he is."
Leonhart's fists clenched around his chains.
"So if we resist… if we stay true to this wisdom… we win, even if we're chained? And about his appearance — whether he is a human or a demon — we're screwed anyway. Oh god, I was having a wonderful life until that guy just kidnapped me. Thank goodness the training was harsh, but I can handle it. My father used to keep me fasting and make me run for days. I can barely handle it…"
Kairo closed the book, its glow fading into his chest.
"That's right. Woah, your father already punished you? I think we can survive it. Don't worry. We may suffer, bleed, or even starve. But as long as we don't let him change who we are… we'll never be his monsters."
For the first time since their capture, Leonhart's lips curved into a faint smile.
"Then let's suffer together, Kairo. But we won't give him what he wants. Well, it's good to have a partner. Unlike being alone, at least I have company."
Above the trees, unseen, the mysterious figure laughed in the shadows.
"Ohhh… so you've found the list of trials, little prince? Good. Let's see if you can live by it when I tear your soul apart, one temptation at a time. That power of yours — having knowledge — is a waste of time. Knowledge won't help you defeat someone who has brute force. How will you attack him with your pathetic books?"
The cursed cage felt a little less suffocating with the book's faint glow and the quiet resolve shared between the two boys.
They had found a weapon even the shadow could not easily take away.
And so, in the heart of darkness, the first spark of resistance was kindled.
Kairo and Leonhart would endure.
Together.