"Ma'am, are you able to stand?" Virelle asked an injured woman.
Her gaze dropped to the woman's legs, and her expression immediately tightened.
"Oh no..."
She turned toward Leon.
"Leon, help this woman."
"What could have possibly done this?" Leon muttered, feeling the destruction of the area chill him to the bone. He had just managed to pull the woman to her feet when a roar came from the area, causing the rubble around them to tremble.
Virelle whipped her head around to where the sound came from, her eyes wide with confusion. "Where did that come from?"
The monster with black scales was chomping down on a body ahead that road.
The wet, heavy crunch of bone echoed through the smoky air, and Virelle felt everything inside her drop.
Freezing up, she pales, staring at those ominous black scales. Not a moment ago, her goal was to save the woman, but now, any hint of that resolve vanishes into the void of pure, hollow terror. Her breath hitches, and taking a fumbling step back, she reaches out for Leon blindly, too scared to move.
Leon stands stock-still, one end of the wounded woman's weight resting on him. Hearing that sickening ripping noise makes his neck hairs prickle. Glancing around Virelle, his eyes widen in recognition of both the threat making that noise and the thing behind it that caused all this destruction. His heart slams against his ribcage, and a wave of panic assaults him.
Gripping the woman tighter, it's not from courage—it's the icy jaws of fear that keep him rooted, unable to move a muscle.
The monster suddenly shifted its gaze.
Its bloodstained jaws parted, revealing rows of jagged teeth as it turned toward Leon and Virelle.
For a brief, horrifying moment, neither of them could move.
Then a silver blur shot through the smoke.
A deafening crash erupted between them and the monster.
The beast's claws stopped dead.
The impact blasted dust and loose stones across the street, forcing Leon to shield his eyes. When the cloud parted, a familiar figure stood before them with his sword raised against the monster.
"...Sir Knight?" Leon muttered as he helped the injured woman back up.
Virelle's eyes widened.
"Master...?"
The knight didn't look back. His silver armor was scarred, stained with dust, yet his stance remained unwavering. Standing between them and the beast, he seemed like an immovable fortress amidst the chaos.
The monster roared and pushed forward.
The knight's boots scraped against the stone, but he held his ground.
Then, slowly, he lowered his sword.
"Draen."
The word echoed across the ruined street.
A surge of golden light burst from his blade.
Glowing veins of energy raced across his armor and crawled along the length of his blade. The air around him distorted as power flooded outward, carrying a pressure so immense that even Leon felt his chest tighten.
The knight raised his sword.
Golden light gathered around the blade like a raging thunder.
Suddenly, he vanished.
The ground shattered beneath his feet as he launched forward, and a heartbeat later, a thunderous explosion echoed through the street as steel collided with black scales.
As he applied more pressure on his sword, he screamed. "Go north, the citizens should be evacuated to north!" Leon was still frozen, but Virelle moved quickly as they both helped the woman towards North of Givera. "North? Near the hall right?" Leon asked Virelle as she nodded. "Yes, put more strength."
-------------------------
"Just a little more ma'am, we are almost... huff... there."
Suddenly-
A lone figure stepped out from the smoke ahead.
"A citizen?" Thought Virelle.
The man remained silent. Something about him felt... wrong.
The ruined street was filled with screams, distant roars, and collapsing buildings. Yet around him, there was only silence.
Then he spoke.
"I heard the knight."
His voice was cold.
"He said to save the citizens."
Virelle's expression stiffened, a creepy smile took over the man's face as he muttuered-
"Draen."
Black energy erupted from his body. A violent force blasted outward.Before Virelle could react, something struck her.
Her body flew across the street, crashing into a pile of rubble.
"Virelle!" Leon shouted.
The stranger slowly raised a hand as dark chains emerged from the shadows around him.
Eyes.
Hundreds of eyes.
Embedded within the chains.
Blinking.
Watching.
The chains slithered toward Leon. His body froze as the eyes circled his head.
Slowly.
Patiently.
Like vultures around a dying animal.
Every eye was different. Some wide. Some half-open. Some unnaturally stretched.
All of them staring.
Leon felt his skin crawl. Felt something scratching against the inside of his mind.
"No..."
The eyes drew closer.
Closer.
Closer.
Then every single one opened at once. A sharp pain exploded through his skull.
Leon let out a strangled gasp.
When he looked up again, the color had vanished from his pupils. "Come." The man shouted. Leon dropped the woman and slowly stepped towards the man, as if he was being controlled. "Take your sword out, and behead that woman for me." The injured woman couldn't stand up, her eyes were filled with fear. as she tried to crawl backwards. The man put his arms around Leon's shoulder and closed in towards his ears.
"Kill... Kill for me, Kill her."
Leon raised his sword as the blade reflected his eyes, completely white. As he swung it through the air, a voice was raised.
"Draen!"
Shadow roots grew from beneath Leon and wrapped around him, completely immobilizing him. "What did you do to him...?" Virelle, her face covered with blood, her left arm was completely ruined. But her expression was not that of pain, but calm. Leon struggled, as he applied more and more strength to kill that woman, but couldn't do anything.
"What did you do to him...?" Virelle asked.
Blood ran down the side of her face. Her left arm hung uselessly at her side, yet her gaze remained steady and sharp. The shadow roots tightened around Leon, holding him in place.
The sword in his hand shook violently as he fought against the command clawing through his mind. The injured woman continued to crawl backward, tears streaming down her face.
"Please..."
Virelle gritted her teeth.
"Draen."
More shadow roots burst from the ground, racing toward the stranger. For a brief moment, they wrapped around his legs.
Then—
They vanished as though they had never existed. Virelle's eyes widened.
The man simply smiled.
He stepped forward and placed a hand on Leon's shoulder. The roots binding Leon disappeared instantly.
Leon lurched forward as the sword fell. The woman had managed to crawl away slightly.
"Tsk."
The man's smile faded.
Once more, the chains appeared. Dozens of unblinking eyes emerged from the darkness.They started circling Virelle.
Watching.
Waiting.
Virelle immediately shut her eyes. Her breathing became uneven. She refused to let them inside her mind.
Seconds passed, the eyes suddenly vanished into thin air.
And in that brief distraction—
Leon's body moved. The blade descended. "No-!" The injured woman screamed as she tried to run away, but it was too late.
A cry roared through the street.
Virelle's eyes snapped open. The motionless woman was lying in the ground as her head was bladed through.
Leon stood frozen above her. The world seemed to stop.
The stranger raised his hand.
"Draen Druex."
The white glow faded from Leon's eyes. His pupils returned to normal.
For a moment, he simply stared.
Confused and lost.
Then his gaze fell upon the sword in his hand.
The blood.
The woman..
"No..."
The woman's face.
He knew that face.
She had been one of the refugees in the caravan. One of the frightened people he had seen when he first arrived in Givera. One of the people he tried to protect.
His fingers started to loosen as sword slipped from his grasp and clattered against the stone.
"No..."
His knees hit the ground.
"I..."
His voice broke.
"I did this...?"
The memory replayed inside his head. The woman begging for help. Supporting her weight. Promising safety.
Then—
The sword. His sword. Leon stared at his trembling hands as if they belonged to someone else.
"No..."
A hollow feeling spread through his chest.
"I killed her..."
His shoulders shook.
The battlefield noises faded into the background. For that moment, there was only him and the unbearable weight crushing his heart.
Virelle slowly lifted her head. Her eyes were locked to the stranger.
The stranger laughed.
Not loudly.
Not wildly.
Just a quiet chuckle.
As though he had witnessed something amusing.
Leon remained on his knees, staring at the blood on his hands.
The stranger glanced at the corpse.
Then at Leon.
A smile slowly spread across his face.
"How does it feel?"
Leon didn't answer.
The man crouched beside him.
"To take a life."
His voice was almost gentle.
"She trusted you."
Leon's body stiffened.
"She looked at you and saw salvation."
The man's smile widened.
"And you rewarded that trust with a sword swing."
"No..." Leon whispered.
The stranger ignored him.
"Tell me, Leon."
He leaned closer.
"Did it feel good?"
"No..." Leon muttered as he felt a sharp pain in his chest.
"Did it feel powerful?"
"I said no..."
"Or perhaps..." The stranger's eyes gleamed. "Perhaps a part of you wanted this."
"Shut up!!"
Leon's voice cracked as he slammed a trembling fist into the ground.
The stranger laughed again. A little louder this time.
"Interesting."
"My name is Quinn, and yours is..?" He asked mockingly, as if he was making a note of this.
Something inside Virelle snapped.
The pain in her body disappeared.
The fear disappeared.
All that remained was rage.
Pure rage. Pure Anger.