Chapter 4: The Black Power Awakens

Adrian panted as he said, “Where are you taking me?”

The creatures didn’t answer. They continued dragging him through the trees until he was completely separated from the city.

Adrian looked at his empty hand, then at the creatures surrounding him. He could no longer hear the guards or the sound of gunfire, and the city lights had disappeared behind the trees. He was completely alone now, and no one knew where he had gone.

“It looks like I’m not getting out of here,” Adrian said weakly.

He tried to get up, but the pain in his body forced him back down. He looked at the wounds he had suffered during the battle, then turned his attention to the creatures as they began closing in on him.

Adrian gave a bitter laugh. “I thought I was going to protect people...”

He lowered his head for a moment before continuing, “I couldn’t even protect myself.”

The creatures moved closer, surrounding him from every direction. Adrian tried to crawl backward, but his back slammed against a tree trunk.

He looked up at them and raised his hands in front of his face as the first creature lunged at him.

“No!”

Just as the creature’s claws were about to reach him, a powerful sound echoed through the trees.

Something black shot forward at incredible speed and slammed into the creature midair, sending it flying into a tree.

Adrian quickly raised his head.

Another creature emerged from between the trees.

Its body was black like the others, but there was something different about the way it moved. It stood a short distance away from Adrian and turned its gaze toward the monsters surrounding him.

Adrian stared at it in disbelief.

“Another creature...?”

The monsters lunged at it at the same time.

The creature moved with incredible speed, attacking them one after another. It struck one with enough force to send it crashing to the ground, then pounced on another and tore it apart with its claws before it could get close. The remaining creatures tried to surround it, but it gave them no chance.

Within moments, every creature lay dead on the ground.

Adrian remained sitting beside the tree, staring at the scene before him without understanding what had just happened.

The creature lowered its arms, then turned toward him.

Its white eyes met Adrian’s.

It didn’t move.

It didn’t attack him.

It simply stood there and stared at him.

Adrian kept staring at the creature, his eyes shifting between the bodies scattered around him and the creature standing before him. He couldn’t believe it had saved him. To him, it was still one of those monsters.

Adrian tried to move away, but his back was pressed against the tree trunk. He raised his arms defensively and said fearfully, “Did you kill them... so I could be your only prey?”

The creature didn’t answer. It remained still for several seconds before slowly walking toward him.

Adrian’s eyes widened. “Don’t come any closer!”

The creature immediately stopped.

Adrian watched it carefully. It hadn’t attacked him. It simply stood there before slowly raising one hand toward him.

“What do you want?” Adrian asked, pressing himself harder against the tree.

The creature took another step.

“I said don’t come any closer!”

The creature stepped back again, lowered its hand, and looked at him.

After a few moments, it approached him once more, but this time extremely slowly. Every time it came closer, Adrian would raise his hand and try to push it away. The creature would stop and retreat slightly each time.

Adrian asked nervously, “Why do you keep coming closer?”

She stopped a short distance away, then raised her hand again and pointed at herself.

She took another step forward, but Adrian quickly backed away and shouted, “Wait!”

She stopped immediately.

Adrian watched her cautiously. “If you don’t want to hurt me... then who are you?”

The creature tried to speak, but no sound came out. She moved her mouth several times while Adrian stared at her in confusion.

She tried again. This time, a faint sound finally escaped her lips.

“My son...”

Adrian’s eyes widened. He stared at her in disbelief.

“What did you say?”

She moved a little closer and spoke with difficulty. “My son...”

Adrian kept staring at the creature. His voice was filled with confusion. “But how? That’s impossible.”

“I’m your mother,” she said.

Adrian shook his head. “I don’t understand any of this.”

“I know this is difficult for you to understand, but listen carefully,” his mother said. “These mirrors have a master. His name is Ildar. They’re called Mirrors of Souls. They take the souls of adults and imprison them inside their world. There, the souls are consumed by hatred and anger until they become the monsters you see around you. They lose all of their humanity and awareness.”

Adrian listened without interrupting as she continued.

“The night the creatures attacked us, one of them took your father’s soul and then burned his body so there would be no connection left between his soul and his body. That leaves the soul trapped forever. As long as the body remains intact, the soul is still connected to its world and memories.”

His mother looked at him. “As for me, one of the creatures pulled my soul out that night, but it couldn’t burn my body. The Night Guards reached the house before it could finish, so the creature fled.”

Adrian immediately remembered that night—the night he found his mother’s body completely intact, while all that remained of his father was a pile of ash.

“So... that’s why I found Mom’s body intact, while nothing remained of Dad except his ashes.”

His mother nodded. “Yes.”

Adrian remained silent for a few moments before asking, “Then why do they eat children?”

“Because children don’t carry hatred and resentment in their hearts. They haven’t learned the meaning of those emotions yet. That’s why the mirrors use children’s souls as food.”

Adrian continued staring at his mother, unable to process everything he was hearing.

“There’s something else I haven’t told you,” she said weakly.

Adrian looked at her in silence.

“Ever since they took my soul, I’ve managed to keep my memories and awareness. That allowed me to discover a way to steal a portion of the Mirror Master Ildar’s power.”

“You stole his power?”

His mother nodded. “Yes. I couldn’t steal much, but I held on to a small portion until I found a chance to reach you.”

Adrian looked at her in confusion.

“And now, I’m going to give that power to you.”

“Why?” Adrian asked. “Why do I need it?”

“Because if you want to free my soul, you must become part of the mirrors. With this power, you’ll be able to control the connection between my soul and my body.”

Adrian remained silent for a few moments before asking, “Then why can’t I just burn your body?”

His mother shook her head. “That alone won’t work. Without the power of the mirrors, you won’t be able to control my soul, and I could remain trapped there even after my body is burned.”

His mother stepped closer and held out her hand. “There’s no time. I’m going to give you the power now. When you return home, you must burn my body before the creatures reach it.”

Adrian hesitated as he looked at her hand, then slowly raised his own.

“Don’t be afraid, my son.”

Her hand touched his.

The next moment, a surge of black energy exploded from her body and rushed into Adrian.

Adrian’s eyes widened. His body suddenly bent forward as he clutched his chest.

The energy spread through his body at incredible speed. Black lines appeared across his arms and chest before extending up toward his neck.

Adrian dropped to his knees, screaming in pain, while his mother continued holding his hand.

“Hold on, Adrian! Don’t let the power take control of you!”

But his body began shaking violently, and his screams echoed throughout the forest as the energy continued pouring into him.

Adrian suddenly opened his eyes.

A massive black aura erupted from his body and swept through the forest, ripping trees from the ground as the wave of energy continued toward the city.

At the Night Guard headquarters, the guards felt the power at the exact same moment.

“What is this energy?!” one of them shouted.

Back in the forest, the creatures began moving toward Adrian after sensing his location.

His mother looked around in fear. She realized that staying with him would expose the truth, so she quickly backed away and disappeared into the trees.

Adrian didn’t give the creatures a chance to attack. They rushed toward him from every direction, but he raised one hand, releasing a massive wave of black energy that swept across the area.

The creatures were torn apart and fell one after another. Adrian moved through them without difficulty, effortlessly cutting through everything in his path. Large numbers tried to surround him, but every time they got close, his energy swept through them and brought them down at once.

It took only a few minutes for the forest to fall silent.

Adrian stood in the middle of dozens of dead creatures, the black aura still surrounding his body.

He stared at his hands in shock.

He had no idea what had just happened to him.

Then, without warning, the black energy around Adrian suddenly disappeared, and silence returned to the forest.

Adrian looked at his hands, then at the creatures lying around him. He still couldn’t process what had happened.

“Did... I do this?” he whispered.