chapter 8
"My lord, I found some similarities between the victims," Alpha said, clearing his throat to draw their attention.
"Five days before her disappearance, Lisa posted online claiming she was fit to be a nun. At first, I thought nothing of it, until I stumbled upon a leaked post from Tommy's school. His friends were teasing him about being a twenty-one-year-old virgin. I researched the requirements for becoming a nun in this country; one must be 'untouched, innocent, and pure.' Essentially, Lisa admitted to being a virgin five days before she vanished, and Tommy was mocked for the same thing three days before he went missing."
He paused, glancing at the files. "Maria, on the other hand, had a terminal illness that prevented her from entering sunlight. She was homeschooled and closely watched by her parents, which leads me to believe she was a virgin as well. She snuck out the day she disappeared and was found dead three days later. In conclusion: all three were virgins."
"Really?" Damian replied almost instantly. "Then it's quite obvious. This isn't a serial killer case; it's a ritual."
"Now that it's confirmed, how do we proceed?" Beta asked, her eyes shifting toward shadow.
"We need to find them," Delta responded firmly.
Alpha sat down, looking frustrated. "I've checked every camera from the victims' residences to the locations where the bodies were found. All I could see was the moment they left their homes. The footage cuts out right before the bodies are dropped."
"So the files were deleted? Someone had access to the security systems?" Gamma suggested.
"I doubt that," Alpha countered. "I searched for traces of deleted records. Even if I couldn't access the files, I'd be able to tell if they were erased. In this case, it's as if the cameras simply stopped functioning at that exact moment."
"I believe it's witchcraft," Beta said with certainty. "They might have manipulated the feed to make it look like a freeze."
Damian went quiet, thinking to himself. If that's the case, finding them will be difficult. I've searched with clairvoyance and found nothing. He finally spoke aloud. "I think there's only one way to find them. We need a bait."
The room went dead silent. The gravity of the statement seemed to hang in the air, halting everyone's thoughts.
"But my lord," Alpha asked, "where do we find a virgin, and how do we make them come after them?"
"I'm not sure," Damian replied. Deep down, he felt a flicker of doubt. He wasn't certain if he himself counted as a virgin, having been defiled twice without his consent. Since it wasn't willing, would it still count? "I'll do it," Delta announced.
The room fell silent again, until Gamma broke it with a mockingly high-pitched voice. "You? You're a virgin?!"
"Hey, I haven't had the opportunity to be perverted! I had goals and ambitions. Don't blame me," Delta snapped.
"Don't be so uptight," Beta added calmly. "You're still a kid; it's normal for you to be a virgin."
"Moving on to more pressing issues," Damian interrupted, "how do we make them target you?"
After a short pause, Gamma spoke up. "If I may, my lord. I noticed a pattern in the geography. Lisa was killed in the North, Tommy in the East, and Maria in the West. Following this cycle, I believe their next target will be a virgin from the South."
"Well, that makes things easier for us," Damian said, turning to Beta. "Beta, prepare a place in the South for Delta to live in for now."
"There's no need for that," Delta responded. "I already live in the South."
"Perfect. We'll proceed as planned," Damian replied.
"My lord, one more thing," Gamma added, a sudden memory surfacing. "We found a red bird feather in each of the victims' rooms."
Damian stood, his voice commanding. "If that's the case, Alpha, search for any lore regarding red feathers in bedrooms. The rest of you, proceed with the bait operation."
"Yes, my lord!" they responded in unison.
The meeting was dismissed, and the group vanished into the shadows to begin their hunt.
Damian returned to his apartment and collapsed onto the couch, sinking deep into his thoughts.
Why are they targeting virgins? What is the significance of the cardinal directions—North, East, West, and now South? What do the red feathers signify? Who is leading them, and what are they trying to summon? The questions swirled in his mind, relentless and unanswered. I need answers.
Suddenly, the vibration of his phone shattered his concentration. It was Delta. He answered immediately.
"My lord," Delta's voice came through, unusually sharp. "I know who's next. I found the red feather."
"Who?" Damian asked, his grip tightening on the phone.
"It's me, my lord. I am their next target."
The Emergency Meeting
Damian called for an immediate emergency meeting. This discovery demanded swift countermeasures. The Four Knights of Shadow assembled at Delta's apartment, sitting in a tense circle around a small table. At its center lay the evidence: a single, vibrant red feather.
"Well, this seems to be moving in our favor," Alpha said, breaking the heavy silence.
"I don't find it favorable at all," Delta countered, his unease apparent. "They got into my apartment without breaking in. No forced entry, no tripped alarms."
"They likely possess some form of space-distortion magic," Beta suggested, leaning in to inspect the feather. "Or perhaps high-level teleportation."
Gamma leaned back, crossing his arms. "A more concerning issue is exactly what this feather signifies. Is it a tracking device? A curse?"
Is it placed there to track the victim? Damian wondered. Can they see us through it? Are they listening to us right now? If only there were a way to communicate without speaking...
[ NEW SKILL ACQUIRED: TELEPATHY ]
"I am very fortunate," Damian muttered under his breath. The others fell silent, looking at him in confusion.
"No more speaking," Damian's voice suddenly rang out—not in the room, but directly inside their minds. "From now on, we communicate only through telepathy."
The Knights froze, eyes wide. They could hear him clearly in their heads.
"My... my lord? How are we doing this?" Alpha asked, his "voice" echoing back through the mental link.
"It is one of my skills," Damian replied. "Let's focus. I've linked us because I suspect they are listening—and perhaps even watching. Now, here is the plan."
He laid out the strategy with cold precision:
Delta, You are the bait. Act as casual as any average human. Go about your day as if nothing happened. You are forbidden from entering the base until this threat is neutralized. Alpha, You are on watch duty. Monitor every security camera in Delta's vicinity. Do not let him out of your sight. Gamma, Continue gathering intel from the police department. Report any new developments immediately. Beta, You will act as my primary coordinator. All research and discoveries must be routed through you. Summarize everything and bring it to me.
"I have urgent matters to attend to," Damian concluded. "Do not disappoint me."
"We won't, my lord," they responded in mental unison, suppressing the many questions they still had.
"That is all. Do not use teleportation to leave this room; we must maintain the illusion of being ordinary. The meeting is over."
Following his command, the Knights exited through the front door one by one, walking like civilians until they were far enough away to vanish back to their own quarters. Delta was left alone in his apartment, the red feather still resting on the table like a ticking clock.
Damian teleported back to his apartment and collapsed onto the couch, falling face-first into the cushions. The adrenaline that had sustained him during the meeting evaporated, leaving his body trembling and his mind fractured.
The reality of his situation had finally caught up to him. He was a leader now—a figurehead for people who gave him their total, unwavering trust. The weight of that responsibility was suffocating. Despite his high intellect and supernatural abilities, he was still just seventeen. He was a teenager playing at being the master of grown adults, and to make matters worse, he now had influential allies who treated his every word as law.
A part of him was petrified. Everything had moved too fast. While his mind could process complex strategies, his heart lacked the emotional regulation to handle the pressure.
"This is not right... it's too much," he muttered into the fabric of the couch. He tried to move, to sit up and regain his composure, but his body refused to budge.
Suddenly, he felt a gentle touch. Someone reached down, lifting his head and resting it softly on their lap. He tilted his head upward, his vision blurring as he recognized the face looking down at him.
"Beta? Why are you here?" he asked, his voice weak and pale.
Beta took a soft breath, her expression filled with a quiet sorrow. "My lord, I apologize for taking this liberty without your consent. But I felt it. From the moment you claimed you had something urgent to do, I could see through the facade. I realized that though you are strong and mighty... you are still a child."
Damian turned himself over, staring directly into her eyes, unable to hide his exhaustion anymore.
"It is alright to be afraid," she continued gently. "It is alright to be uncertain, my lord. No one is a fountain of all knowledge. Your fears are valid."
"I'm not afraid of the unseen opponent," Damian replied, his voice thin and unsteady. "I'm afraid I might not be able to protect everyone. I have lost before... and I don't want to lose again."
Beta raised her hand above his forehead. "May I?" she asked softly.
He gave a small, weary nod. She began to graze her fingers through his hair, a soothing, rhythmic motion. "My lord, you must have faith in your followers. You do not have to carry the world alone."
Damian's eyes began to flutter shut. "I want to believe in them," he whispered, his words slurring as sleep claimed him. "But trauma... isn't that easy to bury."
As the last word left his lips, he fell into a deep, heavy unconsciousness. Beta stayed there, staring up at the ceiling of the quiet apartment.
"The path you have taken is a difficult one, my lord," she whispered to the empty room. "I hope you find peace one day... and a love strong enough to pierce that cold heart of yours."
In the quiet stillness of midnight, Beta stirred. She looked down at Damian, who was sleeping peacefully with his head resting comfortably in her lap. As the only Knight of Shadow who had seen his true face, she felt a profound, silent bond with him. Gently, she lifted his head and transitioned him onto a pillow so as not to wake him. Before she stepped away, she lingered for a moment, leaning down to press a soft kiss to his forehead.
"Thank you for giving me a purpose," she whispered to the shadows, then vanished, teleporting back to her own apartment.
An hour later, Damian woke up. He walked to the window, pressing his hand against the cool glass as he watched the brilliant moon hang over the city. A strange feeling washed over him. "I know what to do," he murmured. "I will do... nothing. Nothing tomorrow." Deciding he needed a break from the relentless pace of the past few days, he resolved to take a day off.
The following day, the Knights carried out their routine as ordered. Alpha maintained a digital watch over Delta, Gamma returned to the police station for clues, and Beta managed both her corporate empire and the construction of the permanent base.
As evening fell, Delta headed to a local supermarket for food supplies. From his terminal, Alpha tracked every move through the city's surveillance network. But the moment Delta stepped into a dimly lit corner of the parking lot, the camera feeds suddenly froze—a complete digital blackout.
Alpha instantly alerted Damian and Beta. They arrived on the scene within seconds, but they were already too late. All that remained of their newest Knight were the groceries he had just purchased, scattered on the ground.
Damian's composure remained like stone, but inside, he was spiraling into a panic. He pushed his Clairvoyance to its limit, searching every shadow within a five-mile radius, but found nothing. He tried Telepathy, reaching into the void for a mental link, but there was only silence. The heavy intuition he'd felt the night before had been a warning—one he realized too late that he had failed to heed. He felt he had led Delta straight into a trap.
Beta stepped behind him, sensing his internal turmoil, and wrapped him in a steadying hug. "You did your best, my lord," she said softly. "Don't panic. We will find him."
Just as he was about to respond, a familiar chime resonated in his mind:
[NEW SKILL ACQUIRED: SOUL'S CORRIDOR]
Damian didn't know the extent of the power yet, but he knew his skills evolved in response to his needs. Activate Soul's Corridor, he commanded internally.
Instantly, his perception shifted. He could sense the "souls" of his Knights like glowing anchors. He felt Alpha, Beta, and Gamma nearby without needing to look at them. But Delta's soul felt distant, separated by a vibrating, unnatural barrier that defied physical logic.
Damian looked straight up at the sky, his eyes cold and focused. "Delta isn't on Earth," he announced. "He is in another dimension."
He realized he couldn't simply teleport across a dimensional rift, but he knew exactly where Delta was being held. If these witches believed their magic made them powerful, Damian was about to show them the true meaning of power.
Delta regained consciousness to a sight that defied logic. He was bound in the center of what looked like the heart of a massive volcano, the air thick with sulfur and oppressive heat.
"Where am I? Is this hell?" he muttered, his voice raspy and weak. He was lashed to a stone altar by glowing, ethereal chains. He tried to teleport, but the space around him felt like lead; he attempted to summon his pure flames, but they flickered and died instantly.
"Try as you may," a woman's voice drifted from the shadows. "This is the realm of the Flame God, Shin-Ron. Only his power functions here."
"What do you want from me?" Delta asked frantically, straining against the magical restraints.
"You are the final catalyst," another voice answered from the heat haze. "The last piece we need to awaken the Great God Shin-Ron and bring calamity upon mankind."
"You... you're not alone?" Delta stammered, his eyes darting around.
"No, we are five," a third voice intervened. A figure stepped forward. "I am Dris. Beside me are Emris and Vermis. Over there is Iris, and lastly, Loris."
Delta paused, his mind racing through the names. "Why is there a 'ris' in all your names? Wait... D, E, V, I, L. Doesn't that spell DEVIL?"
"Precisely," Iris responded with a chilling smile.
"Soon, our Lord shall be free," Vermis added, her voice thick with religious fervor.
Delta's body shook, but his gaze remained fierce. "You won't win. I assure you."
"And who could possibly stop us?" Dris asked with a prideful sneer. "No one can find this realm. Even if they did, no one can win here. In the domain of Lord Shin-Ron, we are omnipotent."
"I know someone greater," Delta declared, his voice rising in defiance. "His power is like no other. My lord will find me, and he will be the consequence of your actions."
The chamber erupted in mocking laughter. "So, you practiced a bit of magic?" Dris asked between bouts of hysterics. "We are witches who have lived for over a thousand years. Do you truly believe a mere human—or your so-called master—can harm us?"
"We are not mere witches," Loris added, her eyes glowing with fire. "We are the Heralds of the Flame God, the greatest of the fallen. His power is beyond your comprehension."
"Do you want to bet?" Delta challenged. "My lord is coming."
The witches stared at one another before bursting into another round of laughter. But their amusement was short-lived.
Back on Earth, Damian focused entirely on the Soul's Corridor. He used Delta's flickering soul-tether as a biological GPS, locking onto the dimensional coordinates. He turned to Alpha, Beta, and Gamma. "Hold onto me. I know how to get there."
As they gripped his shoulders, Damian forced his teleportation to bridge the rift.
In the heart of the volcano, the laughter of the "DEVIL" witches died in their throats. Space itself tore open, and four figures materialized in a swirl of dark energy.
Delta grinned through his pain, looking his captors in the eyes. "I told you my lord would find me."
Damian stepped forward, his presence dampening the very heat of the volcano. His voice was calm, cold, and absolute.
"I found you."
The battle for Delta's blood erupted in the heart of the volcano. Sensing the overwhelming power radiating from Damian, Dris and Loris immediately cast a reinforced protective shield around the altar, ensuring the sacrifice would not be interrupted.
Damian signaled the assault. The Knights of Shadow charged:
Alpha locked onto Vermis,Beta engaged Iris,Gamma targeted Loris.Dris and Emris lunged toward Damian, hoping to cut down the leader.
The Knights quickly realized their purple Flames were being suppressed by the realm's laws, quenching the moment they were summoned. Pivoting instantly, they swapped to pure combat mode. Using their heightened speed, superhuman strength, and teleportation, they became ghosts in the heat. Their agility allowed them to weave through magical strikes, countering with surgical precision and forcing the witches into a desperate stalemate.
While his Knights held the line, Damian engaged the two strongest sisters. Unlike his subordinates, Damian's connection to his power was deep enough that he could still manifest his Purple Flames. Though their potency was dampened by the realm, they were still sharp enough to crack the witches' defenses.
His movements were a blur of perfected skill and heightened senses. He moved with a grace that the ancient witches couldn't track, slowly overwhelming them until they were forced onto the total defensive. From inside the barrier, Delta—his voice muffled but his spirit soaring—cheered for his master. I told you, you witches! My lord is beyond awesome!
Damian stopped suddenly, stretching his right hand toward the two sisters. They poured every ounce of their ancient magic into a final, desperate shield. A thin, vibrating purple line surged from Damian's fingertips, encircling the two girls completely.
What kind of power is this? Dris thought, her heart hammering against her ribs.
Who is this monstrosity? Emris muttered, her hands trembling.
As the purple ring glowed with a lethal intensity, Damian's eyes flared a brilliant, haunting purple. His voice was a calm, cold whisper that echoed through the volcanic chamber:
"I AM KARMA."
The circle erupted. A pillar of concentrated purple Flame consumed the area, shattering their defenses and leaving both witches broken and defenseless on the scorched ground. Seeing their leaders fall, the other witches were quickly neutralized by Alpha, Beta, and Gamma.
Dris looked up from the ground, her voice shaking with terror. "How... how is this possible? What sort of sorcery is this?"
Damian stepped forward to answer, but as his boot hit the stone, the entire realm began to shudder violently. Deep, tectonic groans echoed from beneath the lava.
He realized too late, his Black Flames were far more than mere magic. They acted as a catalyst more potent than any virgin's blood. Instead of stopping the ritual, the sheer density of his power had acted as the final key, shattering the last seal.
The ground split open. The Flame God, Shin-Ron, was no longer a myth,he was awoken.
Out of the churning lava, a colossus emerged. He took the form of a titanic human, his skin a deep crimson etched with glowing veins of molten rock. His hair was as black as coal, framed by a single, jagged horn protruding from his brow, and his obsidian nails were as long as his fingers. This was no mere monster; this was a god.
A throne of stone and lava coalesced behind him as he sat, his presence heavy enough to warp the air. "Who are these uninvited guests in my domain?" he asked, his voice a deep, tectonic rumble that echoed through the very foundations of the realm.
The sheer pressure of his aura sent a chill down the spines of the Knights, forcing Alpha, Beta and Gamma to their knees, trembling under the weight of his divinity. Only Shadow remained standing, though his mind was racing. This energy... it's at least ten times mine, he thought, maintaining a mask of cold composure. He is too much, even for me.
The fallen god, Shin-Ron, stretched a hand toward the broken witches. A wave of heat washed over them, instantly healing their wounds and replenishing their stolen magic. They rose with predatory smiles.
"Do you see now?" Dris commanded, her voice filled with fanatical pride. "This is the true power of a god. Bow and worship Lord Shin-Ron!"
"I shall not serve a fallen god," Shadow replied. He stretched his right hand toward the titan, his resolve hardening. "I will give you everything I have."
He ignited his Purple Flames. They roared to life, swelling until they were three times his size, releasing enough raw energy to make the entire volcanic realm shudder. "Let's see how you handle this!" Shadow shouted, launching the massive sphere of purple fire at the god.
Shin-Ron did not flinch. He took the impact head-on. The resulting shockwave was so violent the witches had to cast shields just to remain standing. When the smoke finally cleared, the god remained seated—with nothing but a single, faint scratch on his cheek.
That... is impressive, Shadow thought, a bead of sweat tracing his mask.
"Can you see the greatness of our Lord?" Emris mocked. "You are mere flies in his presence!"
Shadow ignored her, his mind searching for a path to victory. That was my best. I can't teleport now that he's fully free, and I have nothing left in my arsenal that can hurt him. He paused, a dangerous thought forming in the back of his mind. "...Unless."
"So, you haven't given up yet," Shin-Ron noted, his voice echoing like rolling thunder.
"My lord, escape while you can!" Beta cried out, struggling against the god's pressure. "The organization's survival depends on you!"
"Silence, Beta," Shadow responded firmly. "I am not leaving anyone behind, and I am certainly not losing today." He reached out both hands, his voice dropping into a rhythmic, haunting chant. "Let me show you something even a god cannot defeat."
The deity burst into a mocking laugh. "Then go ahead. Entertain me!"
The Knights watched in stunned confusion, believing the end had come. But Shadow began to scream his call into the void:
"Praise the Queen Creator, the Architect, the Designer! The presence that transcends the stars, the maker of realities, the Queen of Possibilities! Hear my call and answer my request! Show yourself... LADY DESIRE!"
"Is he... is he casting a summoning spell?" Dris asked, her voice trembling.
Suddenly, the volcanic realm didn't just shake—it began to shatter. The walls of the volcano cracked like glass, peeling away to reveal a void. Both the witches and the fallen god watched in absolute awe as the world they knew dissolved. Within seconds, they were no longer in a volcano; they stood in a vast, open expanse of the cosmos, surrounded by the swirling lights of nebulae and the cold brilliance of infinite stars.
The sacrificial altar beneath Delta withered and crumbled like a dried leaf, setting him free as the group found themselves suspended in the infinite cosmic void.
"Where... where are we?" Alpha whispered, his voice lost in the vastness.
A hideous, melodic laugh echoed through the vacuum as the surrounding stars began to shift and coalesce. From the nebulae emerged a figure so colossal it made the fallen god, Shin-Ron, look like a mere insect. It was a woman formed of starlight and dark matter: Lady Desire.
"Young one," she spoke, her voice like the rhythmic clapping of thunder. "You have summoned me. Tell me... what is it you want?"
"Could you destroy that god for me?" Shadow asked, pointing toward the trembling deity.
"You summon me for something so insignificant?" she responded, her tone dripping with mockery.
"Insignificant?!" Shin-Ron roared, his pride wounded. His body began to spill torrential amounts of lava into the void. "I will not be toyed with! I will show you power beyond this world—something your feeble minds cannot comprehend!"
He ignited a small, flickering flame in his palm. The raw energy emitting from that tiny spark was so volatile it completely erased the witches standing in the distance. Yet, the Knights remained untouched, as if the void itself was acting as a shield for them.
"Do you see this? This is Hell's Flame," Shin-Ron mocked. "It destroys things to their very essence, erasing the concept of their existence. Now, witness true power!"
He hurled the Hell's Flame at Lady Desire. With a bored expression, she leaned forward and blew it out with a single, casual breath.
"What?! How is that possible?" Shin-Ron's voice trembled for the first time. "No one survives the Hell's Flame, let alone blows it out like a candle!"
"My darling, you should know that Hell's Flame is far from the most powerful force in existence," she said coldly. "The cosmos is far too vast for your little mind. Shall I show you the strongest fire in the cosmos? Behold... the ETERNAL FLAMES."
A whitish-yellow flame flared in her palm, illuminating the void with a brilliance that rivaled a thousand suns.
"I don't care what it is! I won't go down easily!" Shin-Ron screamed. He charged hundreds of star-level explosions, launching a desperate barrage at the celestial giant. "This will be your end!"
"Go forth," she whispered.
The Eternal Flame shot toward Shin-Ron at a speed that defied the laws of physics, erasing everything in its path. There was no explosion. As the flame touched him, Shin-Ron felt his very essence fading into oblivion. In his final micro-second of existence, he whispered, "I see now... this is truly the end." Then, he vanished completely.
Damian, having witnessed the absolute erasure of a god, found his voice. "What is the difference? Between the Hell's Flame and the Eternal Flame?"
"Hell's Flame erases your physical and spiritual form, damaging the soul," she explained, her voice echoing through the stars. "But the Eternal Flame destroys everything—soul, body, essence, fate, and purpose. It erases the target across every timeline, every dimension, and every plane of existence. It is an absolute end. But know this, little Shadow... there are beings far more powerful than even the Eternal Flame."
"If that is all," she continued, "I shall bid you farewell."
The cosmic void began to crack and shatter like glass, the stars peeling away to reveal the volcanic realm they had left behind.
"Well, it is time to leave," Shadow announced, his voice echoing in the now silent, cooling volcanic chamber.
"My lord... who was that being?" Alpha asked, his voice still trembling from the sheer scale of what he had witnessed.
"I will explain everything once we return to the base," Shadow responded, turning his back to the site of the god's erasure. He began to gather his energy to teleport the group out of the collapsing dimension, but a sudden, violent tremor halted him.
The ground groaned and split open, a jagged crack forming right at their feet. From the molten depths below, a heavy, ornate stone box—resembling a coffin—rose slowly into the air, hovering just above the ledge.
"Huh... what is that?" Beta whispered, stepping forward with cautious curiosity. The rest of the team followed her lead, their senses on high alert.
Damian reached out and gripped the heavy lid. With a low, grinding sound, he heaved the box open to reveal its contents. The air around them seemed to go cold instantly. One by one, the Knights peered inside, their faces turning pale.
"It's a... it's a..." Beta stammered, her eyes wide in total disbelief.