Cahpter 24

Kael lay sprawled inside the building where the tentacle had thrown him, his body utterly destroyed. Unlike Navnlos's trance, which granted him enhanced resistance and strength, Kael possessed no such protection. The impact had left him shattered and broken.

"What in the damned world was that?" he muttered from the floor, each word a struggle. "It won't stop changing, won't stop evolving. A monster like that is just unfair."

His eyes drifted upward, and for a moment, his thoughts carried him far from this nightmare.

Life in the countryside was so much simpler.

He remembered it all so clearly. His small village, isolated from the rest of the world. His family—the only family of mages in that remote place—had kept their nature hidden, living inconspicuously among their neighbors. Though they couldn't openly use magic, they had been happy. The villagers treated them well, and they lived a simple life working their lands, wanting for nothing.

Kael and his brother would play baseball for hours on end. His father would join them when time allowed, bat in hand, while his mother watched from a distance. Sometimes Kael wondered if their parents could have lived better lives in the city, in a place where magic users were accepted. After all, both his mother and father were talented mages. But those days—those simple, perfect days—had been enough.

Every so often, strangers would arrive in the village. Because it was so remote, visitors were rare. But these particular people came frequently, and something about them felt wrong. The villagers tried to greet them with hospitality, but the visitors never reciprocated. You could see the contempt written clearly across their faces. When these strangers were present, terrible things began to happen. Animal corpses would suddenly appear scattered across the fields, and people would vanish without a trace. Instinctively, the villagers stopped venturing out at night when these visitors were around.

The number of dead animals multiplied, becoming a serious threat to the farmers. Eventually, the mayor decided to confront the strangers. In response, the mayor simply disappeared. Frightened, the remaining villagers called the authorities. But when police arrived to investigate, something strange would happen—they would act as though they'd forgotten everything, leaving without a word or explanation.

Kael's parents had resolved to stay out of it. But then one of the strangers was spotted near their home. They had no choice but to get involved. As the only ones in the village who understood the magical world, they knew this was far from normal.

They captured the stranger watching their house easily enough. The man had underestimated them. But before they could interrogate him, something killed the stranger as if a curse had sealed his lips forever.

Kael's parents decided to confront these invaders at the place where they gathered—a large mansion standing alone in the middle of the countryside. The children of the village had always called it the haunted manor. Adults feared even to approach it.

Kael and his younger brother hid in a secret room of their house, protected by a magical barrier. Their parents, alone, chose to face the strangers.

Remarkably, they overpowered them all with surprising ease. Some of the strangers fled the moment they were challenged. Others threw themselves at Kael's parents with ferocity, but not like normal people—they moved like zombies, like creatures with no will of their own.

This troubled Kael's parents. These weren't simple villagers. Some carried themselves with noble bearing, while others seemed entirely devoid of consciousness. It made no sense to find such things in a remote village. It was clear they were hiding something. But when confronted, they had simply run, never looking back.

Kael's parents entered the mansion, finding it completely empty. They searched room after room with nothing to show for it—until they discovered a basement near the entrance. Before they could descend, a terrible sound erupted from below: the noise of countless creatures thrashing, as if something was trying to break free all at once.

The basement door exploded outward.

What emerged were abominations—creatures that resembled wolves, yet they were twisted things. Human arms hung limply from their bodies. Remnants of other animals jutted from their twisted forms. Some even bore the recognizable faces of people, screaming in agony and despair.

Kael's parents recoiled in horror at the sight of these chimeras. They unleashed area spells, trying desperately to contain the horde. At first, it worked. But then the creatures began to change, their bodies becoming increasingly amorphous, adapting to every attack. There were simply too many. They couldn't hold them back. The swarm overwhelmed them, and they were devoured.

Meanwhile, in the secret room, Kael and his younger brother remained hidden. They didn't know if minutes or hours had passed since their parents left. His brother trembled with fear. Kael was terrified too, but he forced himself to stay strong. He was the older brother, after all. He had to be brave.

Outside, the sounds grew louder—screams, crashes, things being torn apart. They couldn't hear clearly, but then... a voice. Their mother's voice, telling them everything was alright, that they could come out.

Then their father's voice joined hers, saying they had defeated the bad people.

But something was wrong. Kael knew it. Every instinct screamed at him that those weren't really his parents.

His brother, innocent and hopeful, didn't understand. Without hesitation, he opened the door, just enough to peer out.

It was enough.

Something yanked him through the opening with brutal force. Kael reflexively slammed the door shut, his heart pounding. He didn't know what had taken his brother, but he knew it was dangerous. From beyond the door, he could hear his brother's screams of agony. Tears streamed down his face. He had abandoned his brother. This was his fault. If only he had stopped him, his brother would still be alive.

Then the voices returned—his parents and his brother's voice, all calling to him, telling him to open the door, to come be with them.

Kael wanted to open it. He wanted to be with them. But he knew the truth. Whatever was out there wasn't his family. They were already dead.

He waited through the night. At some point, the voices stopped. There was only silence.

When Kael finally opened the door and stepped outside, the world had become a charnel house. Everything was destroyed. A massive pool of blood stained the floor, but in his state of shock, he barely registered it. He stumbled toward the village.

Nothing remained. All that was left were masses of black flesh scattered across every street. When he reached the town square, he found a mountain of this dark, writhing flesh. A putrid stench permeated the air, but Kael didn't notice. He saw a figure—a silhouette draped in black. The moment his eyes fell upon it, panic seized his entire body. He hid instinctively, unable to move.

The figure wore the garb of a medieval plague doctor, its entire body concealed beneath the heavy fabric. Beside it stood an older man, refined in appearance, clearly educated.

"Sir," the older man said, "now that you are a member of the Judges of Walpurgis, you cannot allow your experiments to spiral so catastrophically out of control."

"Don't worry yourself," the plague doctor replied. "I will eliminate all evidence. The foolish nobles who paid me, believing I could make them immortal, died along with the chimeras. No one will ever know what happened here."

Kael remained hidden, listening to every word. Fear had paralyzed him completely. His hands covered his mouth to prevent even the smallest sound from escaping.

"And if anyone did survive," the plague doctor continued, "and tried to tell what occurred here, no one would believe them. After all, no one cares about this village."

Those words seemed directed at Kael, as if the man somehow knew he was there. But he had no intention of killing the boy. For some reason, he simply didn't care.

Hours passed. Kael didn't move, uncertain whether the two figures had truly left. He remained hidden, afraid to breathe.

When he finally dared to move, he looked around. To his surprise, all the dark flesh had vanished, leaving behind only silence and the empty shells of destroyed homes.

Kael, with everything he cared about reduced to ash, couldn't think. His eyes had become hollow, devoid of life. He didn't think about anything. He didn't want anything. He didn't feel anything. He simply walked and walked. Before he realized it, he had left the village behind. He didn't know how far he'd come. Night had fallen. It was cold, but he didn't react. He just kept walking and walking.

"What is a child as small as you doing alone at this hour of the night?"

Kael turned to look at the voice with eyes that seemed dead. It was an old man—a shepherd who lived alone in the countryside, someone who occasionally passed through the village.

Kael said nothing. He simply stared at the old man with those hollow eyes.

"Well then," the shepherd said slowly, "a child so young has somehow managed to survive."

The old man was a mage. He didn't know what had happened to the village, but he had felt it—the sudden disappearance of so many souls all at once. He had come to investigate and found nothing but desolation.

Kael remained silent, still staring.

"If you wish," the old man offered gently, "you can come with me until you feel better."

Kael didn't respond. The old man approached him, extended a weathered hand, and led him to his small cabin. Kael didn't resist. He simply allowed himself to be guided.

The old man cared for him through the years that followed. His heart took a long time to heal. At first, Kael couldn't even feed himself. But slowly, gradually, he began to recover. No matter how long it took, the old man remained by his side. He taught Kael magic, so he could defend himself. He shared knowledge of magical society, so Kael could survive in that world. The old man gave him everything he needed to not be defenseless. Most importantly, he gave Kael back his heart.

But time eventually caught up with the old man. When his time came to an end, Kael buried him in the field where they had lived together. That day, Kael did not cry. He would not cry until he made the one responsible pay—until he avenged his family.

He made his way to the inverted city, where everything was new and strange. The old man had left him some money, but Kael didn't want to depend on it. He tried to find honest work, but no one would hire him. After all, he was a stranger from an unknown place. If he didn't find a way to survive on his own, he would simply waste the inheritance his grandfather had left him without accomplishing anything.

One day, someone approached him with a job. It wasn't honest work. It was work from the dark underbelly of the city—assassination, theft, debt collection. Jobs that nobles preferred to have others do. Surprisingly, Kael proved to be good at these things. He earned a reputation, a name whispered in shadows. But with each job, his guilt only grew. The very concept he used—baseball, the sport he had played so joyfully with his brother—he was now wielding as a weapon for darkness. These remorseful thoughts prevented him from ever using his full potential.

So he continued working, taking jobs that slowly brought him closer to the great houses, closer to those he believed were responsible for his family's death. But it had all been a trap. And now he lay broken on the floor of this building.

He dragged himself toward the exit and managed to see the great beast—the Gorvak, its form grotesque and amorphous, the monster that had reduced him to this state. He could also see Navnlos, that young man who reminded him so much of his brother. But once again, he couldn't do anything.

Navnlos stood before the beast. Cristal was trapped in a corner, helpless. Hina could barely remain standing, her strength nearly gone. Kael had been hurled into the air.

Only one person could still fight. Navnlos had to give everything—everything—so that at least they could escape. It was all he could do against a monster like this.

"Damn you, monster!" he roared with all the strength he could muster.

In that moment, lightning erupted from Navnlos in quantities far greater than before. It was like watching someone push themselves to their absolute limit. The young man had to give everything. He had to draw out more power, even if his body broke apart in the process. His entire form burned with pain, but he had to push beyond it. He had to give absolutely everything.

The beast began to roar, preparing to attack. Around Navnlos, massive bolts of celestial lightning began to crackle and dance. His hair had turned nearly white. Dark marks spread across his skin like a network of scars. The irises of his eyes zigzagged as if lightning itself were pouring from his gaze.

"Navnlos, stop! If you continue like this—" Hina cried out, trying to warn him.

"I don't care what happens to my body," he replied with unwavering determination.

But then something unexpected occurred. The lightning vanished. The trance deactivated. Navnlos looked shocked, and he tried to activate it again, but he couldn't. Instead, an overwhelming fatigue crashed down on him. He was so exhausted that he collapsed to his knees, barely able to breathe.

This is what Hina was trying to warn me about, Navnlos thought.

The monster roared, ready to strike. But in that moment, a projectile struck it directly in the face, claiming its attention.

It was Kael. His body was practically destroyed—it was a miracle he could even stand. His bat was made of earth, freshly formed.

The beast turned toward him, its maw beginning to emit an orange glow as it prepared to unleash fire. Navnlos watched helplessly from the ground.

"This time," Kael said to himself, "I won't just stand by."

From the ground, a portion of earth rose, forming a sphere.

Even if it's just one person, I will save them. I won't let this happen again. I won't let history repeat itself.

The image of his brother opening the door that day flashed through his mind. But this time, this time would be different.

He swung the bat with every ounce of strength remaining in his body. The earth sphere filled with crystalline formations—pink crystals that emitted a brilliant light.

"HOME RUN!" he screamed with the last of his energy.

The sphere flew toward the monster's open mouth, seconds before it could unleash its inferno. The ball entered its maw, and in that instant, the creature's entire body erupted with spines. Thousands upon thousands of crystalline rocks pierced through it, transforming the beast into a grotesque pincushion. It was impaled so completely that it couldn't move even a single muscle.

Navnlos, Cristal, and Hina stared in stunned silence at the image of the beast, completely immobilized, skewered by thousands of crystalline spikes.

In that moment, Kael released his final breath of relief.

And fell to the ground.