[Draka Arena - The Moment of Explosion]
The body of the Asura Guard had barely hit the ground before the arena turned into a boiling cauldron. The silence of astonishment evaporated in a single second, replaced by royal panic. From the upper balcony, Cyril was trembling—not just from fear, but from humiliation; he had seen his lineage's blood crushed under the feet of a "slave."
"Seal the exits!" Cyril screamed, his voice tearing through the balcony's calm. "Do not let him leave alive! I want his head hanging on the arena gate before the sun sets!"
In that moment, horns blared from every corner of the capital. Hundreds of heavily armed soldiers began flooding toward the arena, and the audience stampeded in a frenzy to escape. Amidst this noise, I stood... "The Ghost."
[Activation: Red Eye - Penetration Mode]
My red eyes glowed, and I saw the world as a map of openings. I didn't wait for the siege; I launched myself like a black lightning bolt. I moved among soldiers and people at a speed no human eye could comprehend. When four Royal Guards tried to intercept me at the East Gate, I didn't even slow down.
"SHLICK! SHLICK!"
My blade moved in blinding circular motions. They didn't realize they were dead until their skin separated from their bones and they fell like torn rags. I wasn't fighting; I was carving a path with cold blood, leaving trails of crimson on the stone walls behind me. The soldiers' screams faded behind me as I leaped over rooftops, heading toward the Third District... toward the Ryomen den.
[Ryomen Gang Headquarters - Third District]
I entered the dark basement, breath still hot in my chest. Everyone was there, gathered around a magical crystal broadcasting news from the arena. As soon as they saw me, movement in the room froze. An eerie silence fell, before Nero exploded.
"You lunatic! You massive, crazy slave!" Nero screamed, running toward me with tears filling his eyes. "What have you done?! You executed an Asura Guard in front of the King! They'll kill us all! They'll burn this district just because you walked through it!"
Nero began pounding on my chest with his small fists, gasping between sobs of fear, but I remained unmoved, while he bounced off my body as if hitting a wall. "They'll make us lick their boots, then eat them, then kill us!" he continued his ridiculous screaming, falling to the floor to lament his fate.
The rest of the members looked at me with a mix of terror and respect. They didn't know whether to flee or salute me. But suddenly, Skyro emerged from his room, a smile on his face.
"Welcome... welcome to the hero who silenced kings!" Skyro said in a booming voice, clapping his hands. "Don't worry, you scum, this place is safe. Ray... you've held our heads high, even though you've put our necks on the line."
The members began to circle around me, touching my blood-stained armor, praising my speed and strength, and asking how it felt to choke the "Sacred." I remained silent, sitting in my usual corner, just waiting for the search patrols sweeping the streets outside to ease up.
[Midnight - The Silence of Killers]
The courtyard in the headquarters was quiet; everyone had fallen into a deep sleep except for me. Gina sat on the edge of the wall, gazing coldly at the moon. I approached her, and she turned to me, speaking in a calm voice: "I didn't know a slave could possess such dark power, Ray... You shocked me."
I smiled slightly beneath my hood.
"But don't get arrogant..." Gina continued, narrowing her eyes. "The one you killed today was just a single specimen of the Asura Guards. There are 12 guards representing the Throne's power. Guards number 1 and 2 are the King's own sons, Morel and Cyril. The rest are monsters like the one you faced. If you truly want to become the strongest, you still struggle against the 'weakest' version of them, Number 12."
I began to think about her words. If Number 12 had forced me to use "Raging Regeneration," what would Number 1 be like? I felt my eyes pulse with a new hunger... a hunger to face those sons.
[Several Days Later - The Extermination Mission]
Days passed, and I remained hidden. I stopped working at the shop and only went out for nightly assassinations. The city was living in a state of emergency, and the oppression increased. One morning, Skyro entered, a look of seriousness on his face.
"We have a special mission..." Skyro said, placing a bag of gold on the table. "A noble paid 800 gold pieces to liquidate the 'trash' in the entire Fourth District. He wants to cleanse the area to assert his control. No mercy, no survivors."
I froze in place. The Fourth District? The "Brain" tavern was there! "I will handle the Brain tavern and the surrounding areas," I said firmly.
Two gang members, massive armed men, laughed and said, "We'll come with you, Ray! We won't let you enjoy the drink and blood alone in that famous tavern."
[Fourth District - Brain Tavern - Just Before Dawn]
The smell of death preceded our steps as we stormed the alleys of the Fourth District. "Cleansing the neighborhood" was the flowery phrase Skyro used, but the reality was just a bloody massacre to satisfy a noble's whims. We reached the Brain tavern; the place that had witnessed my first struggles in this world.
I entered with two men from Ryomen. The tavern hadn't changed much, but the noise and laughter had been replaced by a silence before the storm. One of my companions, "Garmo," advanced toward the back room, brandishing his dagger with a filthy smile.
"Looks like we found some trash hiding here," Garmo said, laughing.
I rushed behind him, only to have my body freeze for a moment. Garmo was holding that woman by her hair, dragging her cruelly just as Marcus had done. And the little boy, Rio, was screaming, clinging to Garmo's leg, trying weakly to push him away: "Leave my mother! Leave her, you monster!"
In that moment, I didn't see Garmo. I saw Marcus. I saw all the injustice the strong inflict upon the weak in Draka. In the blink of an eye, I moved with a force Garmo never perceived. Before he could plunge his dagger, my hand had clamped around his throat.
"CRACK!"
Garmo's body fell like a carcass after I crushed his neck, making only a soft thud against the damp wood. I stood coldly before the woman, who had closed her eyes awaiting the slaughtering blade. But when she opened them, she didn't find a killer... she found me, with my massive body and black hood, standing like a mountain over the corpse of the one who tried to touch her.
From outside, the voice of the third colleague, "Volk," rose, filled with tension: "Hey! What are you two doing in there? You're taking too long! Dawn is breaking, and the Royal Guard could fill the place any moment. Finish them and get out quickly, we don't have time for games!"
I didn't answer. An eerie silence fell, making Volk suspicious. He pushed open the dilapidated wooden door and entered, sword drawn: "Garmo? Ray? Why aren't you—"
The words died in his throat. His eyes widened in terror as he saw Garmo's corpse lying there, and saw me standing beside the woman. He didn't even have time to scream or raise his sword. With a speed no human mind could comprehend, and a flash stimulation from the "Eyes of Sin," I was already upon him.
[Hyperspeed: 0.4 Seconds]
Before Volk could blink, my right hand clamped onto his jaw, and my left onto the top of his skull. With a savage motion devoid of any mercy, I ripped his head from its place with a single twist. Blood sprayed, painting the tavern walls, and his headless body fell to hit the floor.
The woman froze in place, covering her mouth with her hand as she watched the massacre. But when the moonlight fell on my face, and when she saw my dark red eyes, memory exploded in her mind.
Her memory took her back to that night when a massive stranger crushed Marcus and his men in this very tavern. She remembered how he saved her child from being kicked and humiliated, and how he looked at her before leaving. She had never forgotten his features, for he was the only hope she had seen amidst this darkness.
"You..." she whispered, her voice trembling with tears and astonishment. "The man who killed Marcus... You've returned?"
As for little Rio, he had stopped crying. He looked at me with that strong gleam I saw in his eyes the first time. He wasn't afraid of the corpse; he was looking at me as if I were a miracle incarnate from the rubble of his memories.
"Come with me... Now!" I said in a deep voice that brooked no argument.
[Escape from the Massacre]
I sneaked them out the back exit, avoiding the colleague still waiting at the front, thinking we were finishing the "cleansing." I took off like a ghost through the twisting alleys, carrying Rio under my arm and pulling his mother behind me at lightning speed. My body pumped with power, and I felt the world around me slow down as I pierced through the thick fog.
Dawn's threads were touching the tops of the buildings, and the screams of victims in neighboring districts began to rise. I crossed the city limits and entered the depths of the dense Eastern Forest, far from the eyes of killers and guards.
[Eastern Forest - Behind the Rust Waterfalls]
After continuous running, we reached my secret place; the spot where I used to unleash my anger on the trees. I placed Rio and his mother on the cold ground under the protection of massive rocks.
The mother was panting, her eyes full of endless questions. "Why? Why risk yourself and kill your comrades for us? They'll hunt you... they'll execute you!"
I partially removed my hood and looked at Rio. The child approached me and touched the hilt of my blade with strange boldness. I remembered what he said in the tavern: "I want to become strong... I want to protect my mom."
"The city is no longer a place for humans..." I said coldly and calmly. "From today, you are dead in the eyes of Draka. Garmo won't be the last, and Ryomen will search for you to erase the trace of their failure. You must settle here... I will build a shelter for you and bring food and water every night."
I looked into Rio's eyes, and I felt that fate had chosen me to forge something great from this wreckage.
"Listen to me well..." I continued, seriousness filling my tone. "You will be killed if they find you. From now on, you are under the Ghost's protection... and this place is your only fortress."
I left the forest under the first light of the sun, returning to headquarters with a heart heavy with betrayal, and a mind planning to raise a "calamity" that would overturn the kingdom's scales.