Arc 1: The Bloodbath-Chapter 1: The Chosen Ones

Rummage...

In an alley reeking of dampness and despair, the sound of rusty metal scraping against rotten wood echoed. A skeletal child, clothes in tatters, was rummaging through a trash can. A cold draft wafted from the end of the alley, carrying with it a silent, gliding shadow.

-There's nothing...

The child's voice was a weak whisper.

A shiver ran down his spine. The child looked up abruptly, eyes wide with horror. Too late.

A cold hand clamped down on his shoulder. He struggled, screaming hopelessly.

-Help! Somebody save me!

A few figures on the street glanced over; one quickened their pace, another stopped with a look of detached curiosity. But cruelly, no one came forward.

-You bastards!

The child roared, pulling a dull knife hidden in his pocket and stabbing backward at the arm gripping him tightly.

-HAHA!

A dry laugh rang out, then died. The figure didn't flinch. A venomous wind blew past, flipping back the hood to reveal a face, half-rotten, with maggots squirming in its empty eye sockets.

-Ah... AAAA! Why is this happening to me!

The child's terrified scream was cut short as he and the thing that was once human were swallowed by the alley's darkness.

This was a normal occurrence after a hundred years of change in Aquila, and in all the strongholds and villages of Braum. It had been lifeless for a century, ever since the day the tyrant Kranava Ashborn was overthrown.

No hope came to the nation of Braum after they toppled the tyrant who had ruled them. After the death of the last Ashborn king, heretical cults grew continuously, accompanied by an unstoppable madness that spread throughout the land.

...

In a pitch-black room in Aquila, two people were tied up inside.

-...ahh.

Kaega woke up in a space thick with the smell of sawdust and dried blood. Darkness enveloped him, with only a few thin slivers of light seeping through the cracks in the wooden planks, enough for him to realize he was bound. The rough rope bit into his wrists, but he didn't panic. Sixteen years of existence in this hell had taught him that panic was the quickest death.

He held his breath, listening. Outside, there were footsteps and whispered voices.

-That little girl is still hiding as well as a rat...

-Are you sure it's her?

-...That girl is for sure... the boy is weak, he can't escape...

-Wait for him to arrive... to deal with them.

Kaega shifted slightly, his muscles tensing calculatedly to test the tightness of the knots. He glanced to the side. A little girl, perhaps younger than him, was also tied up. She was awake, her eyes wide in the darkness, empty and soulless.

His last memory was of a figure wearing a shiny metal mask, relentlessly pursuing him like a hunting dog. He had woven through familiar alleys, but then a sharp pain in the back of his neck had plunged everything into darkness.

He didn't care why he was here. The only question was how to get out. His eyes scanned the room, searching for anything that could be used as a weapon, a tool. A shard of a broken bottle glinted in the corner.

Without a moment's hesitation, Kaega tensed his body, using the edge of his shoe to rub the rope against a sharp corner of a nearby table. His movements were nearly silent, a skill honed through a thousand nights of thievery. The ropes loosened. He pulled his hand free, red welts marking his skin.

He looked at the girl.

"Should I save her now... could there be any danger from her?"

Kaega wanted to see if the girl before him was a trap or just an innocent person captured like him. But then his eyes drifted up to the ceiling. An attic. The only way out. And it was too high.

He let out a long, almost inaudible breath. A risky investment.

"There's no other way."

Swish!

Kaega used the bottle shard he had just picked up to cut the girl's ropes. His own familiar rusty dagger had been taken.

-"Hurry up, give me a hand."

He ordered in a whisper.

The little girl said nothing, just nodded silently. Her movements were surprisingly quick and decisive. Kaega pointed towards the attic.

-"Help me get up there."

The girl immediately understood, lacing her hands together to form a step. Kaega stepped on it, grabbed the wooden ledge, and pulled himself up. As soon as his feet were on the attic floor, he immediately reached his hand down.

-"Up here."

The girl looked up at his hand, a flicker of hesitation in her soulless eyes.

-"You... why are you helping me?"

Her voice was fragile, devoid of any remaining purpose.

Kaega looked straight into her eyes, without a trace of emotion.

-"Because I can't survive and get out of here alone. Right now, you are useful."

That blunt truth was surprisingly effective. The girl didn't hesitate any longer, taking his hand and climbing up.

From the attic window, Kaega saw dozens of figures armed with weapons surrounding the building. A grotesque carriage, decorated with bones and distorted symbols, was approaching. A cold sense of unease ran down his spine.

-"Do you know how to climb?"

The girl nodded again.

-"Good."

Kaega slipped through the window, his feet finding purchase on the wall's ledge, moving across the roof as skillfully as a stray cat. He glanced back; the girl followed right behind, her steps surprisingly light and steady. Faster than he thought.

They glided over the broken-tiled roofs, crossed dark alleys, and blended into the slum known as the Rat Alley. The stench of garbage and disease filled the air, but to Kaega, it was the smell of home.

They were heading towards their hideout when a figure suddenly appeared, blocking their path. He was lanky, with long, dangling arms, wearing a gaudy purple suit. His red head was like a poisonous mushroom, his face had no pupils, only two black, empty sockets. A string of numbers was tattooed across his face. On his back was a sack containing something that was leaking a thick, red liquid.

Instantly, the girl behind Kaega froze. Her breathing became ragged. Her fingers dug into Kaega's arm, a grip that felt like it could crush bone.

-Agh!...

"What kind of monstrous strength is this..."

Kaega winced in pain but didn't push her hand away. He heard her whisper, her voice lost in fear.

-"The... Head Measurer."

The man smiled, a grin that stretched to his ears.

-So you still chose to run, my... loyal... subordinate?

His broken speech made the girl grip his arm even tighter. Deep within her soulless eyes, a flame was slowly kindling.

He wasn't looking at Kaega, but he knew he was a target too.

-Who are you?

Kaega asked, his voice frighteningly calm, his right hand slowly moving inside his coat.

-It seems she hasn't told you anything... Ah, two little rats who just escaped the first test...

The Head Measurer glanced at Kaega, then placed the sack on the ground. Fresh blood seeped out, staining the filthy street.

-You're lucky. I just visited the place where you were held.

Kaega looked at the spreading pool of blood.

-So that would have been our fate if we stayed.

-HAHAHA!

The Head Measurer suddenly burst into a fit of insane, gruesome laughter.

-VERY SMART! I REALLY WANT TO BREAK EVERY BONE OF THOSE LIKE YOU, BUT...

The laughter died. His voice became deep and cold as ice.

-Because you escaped on your own, I will give you a chance. Live until the Blood Feast. But be careful... my hunting dogs like to play at night.

Instead of being silent and afraid in the face of the threat, Kaega tilted his head slightly, his voice as calm as if he were commenting on a faulty product.

-A chance? Or rather, you're just following the rules? Acting like you're the master of the game, but unable to act on your own will. In the end, you're just a loud-mouthed observer.

Kaega let out a dry and deeply insulting remark.

Silence fell. The two black sockets of the Head Measurer narrowed.

-You... what did you say?

-I even suspect you have some psychological issues. If you only came here to threaten, you can leave. This threat of yours is truly childish.

Although Kaega didn't know what kind of bizarre event he was caught in, he knew for sure that the person in front of him couldn't kill him at this moment.

"This guy has a purpose for coming here!"

The man stared at Kaega, then suddenly threw his head back and let out a long howl like a furious beast. The curious onlookers around quickly fled.

Kaega noticed that even though her whole body was trembling, the girl's eyes were still fixed on the madman, a look mixed with fear and extreme hatred.

The howl ended. The Head Measurer bent down, face to face with Kaega. His breath carried the stench of death.

-I hope you live well. A clever head like that... will be a work of art in my collection.

-I'm afraid you won't have that chance.

-We'll see... ha..ha...

He stepped back, leaving behind a calculating laugh, and vanished into the gray mist. Kaega looked at that smile, his eyes turning colder.

"As expected... he has some purpose in coming here to threaten me."

Kaega exhaled sharply. He was feeling annoyed now... not because of the threat from the one who had just left, but because of the hand that was gripping him as if to crush his bones.

-If you squeeze any harder, I think it'll break.

The girl came to her senses and let go, her face still etched with fear.

-You hate him that much?

The girl didn't answer, but her eyes, fixed on the alley where the Head Measurer had disappeared, burned with a silent flame.

-I can help you take his head, but you have to follow me!

Those words were like a slap. The girl snapped her head around. Her eyes returned to their initial soullessness.

-What do you have... power... strength... or money?

-Do you think those things can kill him?

Kaega exhaled. He looked straight at the girl with eyes that had lost most of their will to live.

"She's almost given up... but as long as she still has the intention to seek revenge, there's still a chance to persuade her."

With a determined look, Kaega spoke up.

-If you think those things can't kill him, then why not come with me?

The girl froze. Her soulless eyes shifted to him.

-So what's your method?

Kaega smirked, a cold smile.

-I have a mind... and there's nothing a person with a mind can't do...

He stepped forward, the space between them thick with tension. His voice dropped, like a snake slithering on sand.

-I see your amazing potential... and with that hatred, you've probably tried everything but failed to take his head. But if you come with me, I guarantee you'll kill him, with only one condition.

Kaega paused for a beat, not pressing, so as not to provoke resistance. A faint light flickered in the girl's eyes.

-I don't need loyalty. I need obedience. In return, I'll keep you alive long enough to take his head with your own hands. After that, we're strangers.

He took a step back, creating distance. The cards were on the table.

-Choose.

His voice was gentle, as if not forcing her.

-Follow me and bet on the chance to take his head, or leave and one day die with the fire in your heart still burning?

He turned his back, an act of absolute confidence, even though a cough was threatening to erupt from his chest.

Cold sweat soaked the back of his neck, but he absolutely could not show his weakness. He was betting everything. If she refused, this rotting body wouldn't last until the next morning.

Silence. Only the sound of the wind whistling through the broken rooftops. The girl's eyes were no longer just soulless despair. A fragile will was rising.

-I... will...