High above the mountain pass, King Ariston stood frozen in the dark, the crisp wind whipping his heavy cloak against his armor. He exhaled a long, ragged plume of white mist, his eyes darkening as he reached deep into the core of his spirit.
Damn it... Ariston thought, his teeth grinding together until his jaw ached. I shouldn't use this magic. Suppression reserves like this don't replenish—it eats away at my fundamental authority. But for the sake of the kingdom...
He closed his eyes and forced his mana downward. The raw energy didn't merely flow; it was compressed, forced under staggering pressure into the dense muscle and bone of his legs. A high-pitched, agonizing hum vibrated through the rock beneath his boots, the air around him scorching with the sudden, bitter smell of burned ozone.
Then he moved.
He didn't leap—he detonated forward. The atmosphere ruptured behind him with a deafening, thunderous sonic boom that flattened the surrounding trees and shattered the mountain ledge to powder. Within fractions of a heartbeat, the acceleration scaled beyond sound, defying physical law as his frame dissolved into a streak of blinding, light-speed glare.
Activating a high-tier phased-permeability spell, his physical form slipped through solid matter like oil through water. He plunged straight through the thick crust of the earth, stone and bedrock passing through his chest in a cold, phantom blur.
As he tore through the subterranean strata, a sudden, sharp chill spiked in his mind.
Kairo... Kairo is under threat!
His senses expanded through the stone, locking onto the faint mana signatures deep within the subterranean archives. Lucian... he's right next to Lucian!
A guttural roar of pure, unbridled rage tore from Ariston's throat as he burst through the vaulted ceiling of the secret underground realm, landing with an earth-shattering impact in the central rotunda.
Dust and stone splinters settled into the cold, azure light. Ariston rose to his full height, his dark eyes sweeping over the carnage—and instantly fixing upon the motionless form of Caelum.
His firstborn. His eldest heir. Dead.
For a single, suffocating second, the air in the chamber turned dead silent. But there was no grief in the King's face. No tears. No fatherly sorrow.
Instead, a terrifying, sickening crimson mana erupted around Ariston's frame.
He raised his hand, unleashing a violent surge of high-tier restorative magic. Bright, unnatural light flooded Caelum's corpse, forcibly knitting together torn blood vessels and stitching the severed flesh, preserving the corpse in a state of unnatural, grotesque repair.
Before the light even faded, Ariston stepped forward and grabbed Caelum by the ankle.
With brute, terrifying physical force, Ariston hoisted his eldest son's massive body into the air like a ragdoll and slammed him face-first into the deep-blue marble floor.
BOOM.
The marble shattered into a deep crater, stone fragments spraying like shrapnel.
"YOU HAD ONE JOB!" Ariston screamed, his voice carrying a manic, ear-splitting fury that rattled the ironwood shelves to their foundations. He hauled the body back up and slammed it down again. BOOM. "ONE JOB!"
"Father...?" a raspy, trembling voice called out from the dark passage. "What... what are you doing?"
Kairo stepped out from the inner corridor, his face pale, his amber eyes wide with utter horror. Beside him stood Daichi, clutching the unconscious Liana against his chest, both frozen in absolute shock at the monstrous display.
Ariston didn't hesitate. He didn't even turn his head.
He simply flicked his gaze toward them.
In a fraction of a millisecond—faster than the nervous system could register—an invisible line of razor-thin spatial force sheared cleanly through the air.
Kairo's breath caught in his throat. His vision tilted violently as his head slid sideways off his neck, severed cleanly in half before his body could even hit the stone floor.
Beside him, Daichi's wide, terrified eyes went blank as the same invisible blade bisected his skull, dropping his lifeless body instantly into the pool of blood. Even Liana, helpless and unconscious in Daichi's arms, was clipped by the spatial shear, her small frame crumpling alongside them without a sound.
Ariston didn't stop.
Driven by a blind, monstrous frenzy, the King dropped Caelum's leg and lunged toward the pile of fallen children. His bare, gauntleted hands moved like iron hammers, grabbing Kairo, Caelum, and Daichi, snapping and crushing every bone in their limbs with sickening, wet crunches.
In the cold, flickering blue light of the subterranean vault, the sovereign of Harmony stood amidst the gore, ruthlessly beating the lifeless bodies of his sons into the blood-soaked marble.
King Ariston stood frozen amidst the carnage, his gauntlets trembling as the crimson haze cleared from his eyes. He looked down at his blood-soaked hands, then at the lifeless, severed form of Kairo resting on the blue marble floor.
A suffocating, hollow weight collapsed onto his chest. He grabbed his own head, his fingers tearing at his hair as a ragged, broken sob tore from his throat.
"No way... What have I done?" Ariston choked out, his voice cracking into a hollow, pitiful whisper. "In my rage... did I really kill my own son?"
His grief instantly twisted back into a bitter, desperate fury. He threw his head back, his roar rattling the ancient ironwood shelves.
"LUCIAN! COME OUTSIDE, YOU COWARD!" Ariston screamed, black mana boiling around his boots. "I KNOW YOU ARE HERE! COME FORWARD OR I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN AND KILL YOU, EVEN IF I HAVE TO ABANDON MY POST AS KING!"
From the deep shadow of an archway, Lucian stepped into the light. For the first time, his usual mocking composure was completely shattered. His pale face was drawn, his dark eyes wide with genuine, visceral terror as he looked at the slaughtered remains of Kairo, Daichi, and Liana.
"Father... what have you done?" Lucian breathed, taking a staggered step backward. "Why... why did you kill your own son?"
Lucian's gaze flicked to Caelum's corpse, where the king's restorative magic still flickered uselessly over shattered bone. "Father, why did you heal Caelum's body?! He was already dead! He was killed by his own siblings! Why are you healing a corpse?!"
Lucian fell to his knees on the blood-slick marble, clutching his chest as he stared up at the tyrant. "Father... will you do the same to me? Oh... what kind of father are you?! Now you threaten to kill the only son you have left?! Fine then—do it! KILL ME! You know it's useless!" A dark, desperate smirk flickered across Lucian's lips. "Because I'm not truly here!"
Ariston gritted his teeth until his gums bled, taking a heavy, earth-shaking step forward. "You can't fool me! I have lived for three centuries! I am three hundred years old—a mere child like you cannot trick my senses!"
Lucian lowered his head, his voice dropping into a sharp, poisonous needle that pierced straight into Ariston's soul. "I was not the one who killed your own son, Kairo. Tell me, Father... what did he ever do wrong? What did he do to deserve death from his own father's hands?"
Ariston gasped, a cold, nauseating horror flooding his veins. He dropped to his knees and lunged forward, grabbing Kairo's pale, lifeless torso, frantically probing the severed neck with his mana.
No... no, no, no... Ariston's mind reeled in absolute agony. This isn't an illusory decoy. This is his real body...
Lucian leaned close to Ariston's ear, his voice a ghost's whisper. "Yes... Congratulations, Father. You have just slaughtered the Child of Prophecy."
Before Ariston could process the realization, Lucian raised his gloved hands, weaving a complex, glowing array of emerald spatial runes over the three fallen teenagers.
Slowly, smoothly, Kairo's severed head slid back onto his neck, the flesh stitching itself together seamlessly. Beside him, Daichi's and Liana's mortal wounds began to reverse, spatial threads reattaching their severed vessels.
"I can revive him," Lucian declared, his voice cold, sharp, and commanding. "He isn't dead yet—nor are his friends. I redirected the fatal core of your attack, saving them from your blind insanity, you DAMN MONSTER!"
Lucian stood up, glaring down at the weeping King with absolute, unyielding leverage.
"NOW FREE ME FROM THE CURSE!" Lucian demanded, his dark eyes flaring with ancient power. "Lift the mark, and I will restore them fully! Or else... the Child of Prophecy dies right here in your lap!"
Tears spilled down King Ariston's scarred face. The absolute ruler of Harmony, the unbroken tyrant of three centuries, bowed his head into the dust.
"Understood..." Ariston wept, his voice completely broken. "You are free... The curse is lifted."
A sharp, audible CLACK echoed in the air as the invisible blood-bound seal on Lucian's soul shattered into dust.
Instantly, the emerald light flared to a blinding peak. Kairo, Daichi, and Liana took sudden, violent gasp-inputs of air, their chests heaving as life flooded back into their fully restored bodies.
Lucian stepped back into the shadows of the portal, adjusting his coat with a cold, elegant gesture.
"Now... farewell, Father," Lucian said, his eyes narrowing into a lethal, promise-filled glare. "The next time we meet... let us kill each other. If you ever become the same senseless monster you were moments ago... don't expect me to spare the things you love."
Lucian offered a dark, final smile as his spatial rift began to close. "Right now, I will not kill you. I am forgiving you for the death of my brothers. But do not stand in my way... I will become a far better King than you ever were. Just wait and watch."
The spatial portal snapped shut, leaving King Ariston kneeling alone in the silent, blood-soaked vault alongside his reviving son.
The cold, copper stench of fresh blood still hung heavy in the subterranean vault, but the violent rift had dissolved into absolute silence.
Kairo's eyelids fluttered open. His vision was unfocused, swimming in pools of pale, blue-veined light. The first thing he saw was the towering silhouette of King Ariston kneeling above him, his dark armor slick with gore, his hands still trembling against Kairo's chest.
A weak, involuntary breath rattled in Kairo's throat. "Father..." he rasped, his voice barely a breath. "Thank goodness you have finally arrived... I feel safe now. Lucian will be scared of you... isn't that right, Father?"
King Ariston did not speak. His face remained an unreadable, stoic mask carved from granite, but two heavy tears welled in his dark eyes, cutting clean channels through the soot and dried blood on his cheeks.
Kairo's brow furrowed, his chest aching with a cold, hollow guilt. "I am so sorry, Father... I couldn't save your real sons..."
Ariston looked down at the boy, his expression softening into a complex, lingering grief. "No, Kairo," the King murmured, his voice low and gravelly, carrying the exhaustion of three centuries. "Even though we are not bound by blood... you are my daughter's future husband. I care for you for a reason."
The sovereign looked toward the empty archway where Lucian had vanished into thin air, his jaw clenching tightly. "My son Lucian... he is far too smart. I shouldn't have relied on magic to contain him." Ariston turned his heavy gaze back down, resting a rough, gauntleted hand gently against Kairo's head. "Kairo... I ask you to promise me something. Do not use this magic. It is far too dangerous."
Kairo tried to answer, but his eyelids grew heavy as lead. His strength failed him completely, the residual shock of his reconstructed body pulling him back down into cold darkness.
Heavy, rhythmic footsteps echoed down the stone corridor. A detachment of royal guards burst into the chamber, their broadswords drawn—only to freeze in utter horror at the sight of the slaughtered siblings and the kneeling King.
In unison, the guards dropped to their knees, their armor clattering against the blood-stained marble as they bowed their heads into the dust. "We are deeply sorry, King Ariston!" they cried out as one. "Please... forgive us!"
King Ariston ignored them. Without a word, he lifted Kairo's limp form onto his broad back, securing the boy's arms over his shoulders in a quiet, protective hoist. Turning his back on the carnage of his past, the sovereign began the long, silent march up the stone stairs toward the royal medical pavilion.
Days passed in a blur of gray shadows and muffled whispers.
When Kairo finally opened his eyes again, the suffocating atmosphere of the underground complex was gone. He lay in a tall, sunlit chamber of white stone, draped in clean linen sheets.
He sat up slowly, pressing his fingers against his temples. A strange, hollow sensation lingered behind his forehead—a vast, silent void where his recent memories should have been. The massacre, the four gates, the ancient siblings, and the terrifying confrontation with his father had been completely wiped clean from his mind, erased as if they had never occurred.
Confused, Kairo turned his head toward the arched window.
Beyond the balcony, the horizon was breaking into a breathtaking, radiant sunrise. Golden light spilled across the sky, bathing the spires of the city in warm amber and brushing away the lingering chill of his dark thoughts.
A small, genuine smile touched Kairo's lips as he watched the light expand across the land.
"Well..." Kairo murmured softly to himself, leaning his head back against the pillows as a strange, distant dream flickered at the edge of his consciousness. "That was a very bad dream... A pirate named Max, Lucian... Ahh, maybe I can write this dream down and turn it into a webnovel... or a manga artist."