Blood.
The first thing Jael registered was the smell—thick, metallic, suffocating. It clung to the air, coated his tongue, seeped into his lungs until every breath burned. His boots felt heavy, sticky, as if the ground itself was trying to hold him in place.
Blood covered everything.
Bodies lay strewn across the room—some crumpled against shattered furniture, others collapsed in unnatural positions, their faces frozen in expressions of terror. The walls were smeared red, and broken lantern light flickered weakly, casting long, trembling shadows that danced like specters across the massacre.
"J-Jade…"
The name slipped from Jael's lips in a broken whisper.
Then—
"JADEEEEE!"
The scream ripped itself from his throat, raw and desperate, tearing him fully back into awareness.
Jael stood in the center of it all.
Again.
His chest tightened as realization crashed into him like a wave of ice. His limbs trembled. His heart pounded so violently it felt like it might burst through his ribs.
"No… no, no, no…"
His voice cracked as his eyes darted around the room, searching frantically, hoping—praying—that this time would be different.
But fate did not listen.
A sudden clang echoed through the hall.
Jael's head snapped toward the sound just in time to see it.
The armored knight lunged.
He moved with inhuman speed, his heavy dark armor gliding across the blood-soaked floor as if weight meant nothing to him. His sword remained sheathed, yet killing intent poured from him in suffocating waves.
The old woman stood her ground.
Her calm grey eyes reflected the approaching knight clearly—too clearly. There was no fear in them. No hesitation.
Only resolve.
She raised her hands slowly and began to chant, her voice steady despite the terror around her.
"Ler cal… zec bel… Tum."
The words vibrated unnaturally, as though reality itself recoiled from their sound.
The temperature plummeted.
Frost bloomed instantly across the floor, crawling up walls and furniture in jagged crystalline patterns. Ice coated the knight's armor, spreading rapidly, encasing his limbs mid-stride. Thick fog poured into the room, swallowing the air, making every breath feel heavy and sharp.
The knight's movement slowed.
For a single, fragile moment, hope sparked in Jael's chest.
But then—
Crack.
The ice shattered.
The knight burst through the frost with brute force, shards exploding outward. The fog was torn apart by a sudden pressure in the air, and everything went unnaturally still.
A sword materialized from thin air.
It gleamed cold and sharp, appearing directly before the old woman.
She barely had time to widen her eyes.
Slash.
Her head separated from her body in a clean, merciless arc.
"Thud."
Her body collapsed lifelessly to the floor, and her severed head rolled across the ice, leaving a streak of blood behind it—until it stopped right at Jael's feet.
His eyes widened.
Blood splattered across his legs.
A mocking sneer echoed through the room.
"Never knew it was this easy," the knight said in a hoarse, distorted voice. "Her powers aren't as terrifying as they say. I can cl—"
He stopped mid-sentence.
Mana surged violently.
The air trembled as something awakened behind him.
The knight turned sharply.
A girl stood there.
Her hazel eyes burned bright purple, glowing unnaturally as her hair lifted into the air, floating as if caught in an unseen current. Circular runes spun around her body, pulsing with power. Tears streamed down her face, yet her expression twisted with raw fury and despair.
"DIEEEEE!"
Her scream shook the room.
Silence followed.
Then—
BOOOOOOM!
Blinding light engulfed everything.
The explosion ripped through the hall, shattering walls and sending debris flying. Jael was thrown backward, crashing into the floor. His ears rang violently, his vision blurred as dust and mana filled the air.
He weakly pushed himself up, his hands trembling.
"T-That's how she died…" he muttered, voice hollow. "That's how she died…"
His breathing became erratic.
"It's repeating. It's repeating again…"
A dry, eerie laugh sounded behind him.
Jael froze.
"So the witch taught you some tricks, huh?" the knight said lazily. "It'll be worth killing you too."
Before Jael could react, the knight moved.
In an instant, he seized the girl by her hair, dragging her up with brutal force. She cried out, her runes flickering violently.
"LEMIIIIII!"
Jael screamed as he ran toward them, panic overriding pain, thought, reason.
"I won't let you die this time!"
The knight turned.
His dead eyes met Jael's.
Cold. Empty.
He shoved the girl in front of himself like a shield.
Then his armored hand plunged forward.
Straight through her chest.
Jael felt warm liquid splash across his face.
Blood.
He froze.
The knight withdrew his hand slowly, a still-beating heart clenched within his grip. The girl hung limply, blood pouring from the gaping hole in her chest.
She looked down at Jael.
Her lips trembled into a faint smile.
"Live… Jael…"
Then her head fell forward.
The heart was crushed.
Her body was thrown aside like trash.
Everything went quiet.
Jael's mind shattered.
His body moved on instinct alone as he lunged at the knight with a broken scream. He didn't feel the impact when the knight backhanded him, slamming him into the floor with overwhelming force.
His vision swam.
The knight's sword appeared once more.
The blade was raised.
Then it plunged down—
Straight into Jael's stomach.
Pain exploded through him.
The knight leaned close, his dreadful smile visible beneath the helmet.
"WAKE UP."
—
Jael awoke screaming.
He jolted upright in his bed, gasping for air, his body drenched in sweat. His hands flew to his stomach—no wound. No blood.
Moonlight filtered quietly through the window.
But his chest still burned.