The Wind Emperor stood in the sky, the air around him violently disturbed.
Below him…
The Dark Forest was entering a state of absolute chaos.
The giant trees were bending as if a heavenly storm was striking them from above, the beasts were fleeing madly without a clear direction, and the sky itself began to cloak itself in a strange darkness because of that terrifying energy exploding from Kentro’s body.
Even the clouds…
Were rotating around him.
As if the entire world was revolving around a single point.
Around that exiled young man.
The Wind Emperor’s eyes slowly widened.
“This… is impossible.”
Kentro’s crimson eyes were glowing terrifyingly, while black threads resembling smoke rose from his body, but they were not real smoke.
They were closer to living shadows.
Moving.
Breathing.
And wrapping around him as if protecting him.
The Wind Emperor felt a strange coldness run down his back.
He whispered unconsciously:
“Is this truly… that child who was exiled?”
Kentro slowly raised his head.
And when his eyes fell upon the Wind Emperor’s face…
His breath stopped for a moment.
The memories exploded violently inside his head.
The throne hall.
The contemptuous looks.
The whispers of mockery.
The fear.
The tears he tried to hide.
The king’s voice, cold as ice:
“Useless.”
“A disgrace to the bloodline.”
Kentro gripped his sword so tightly that his palm bled.
Then…
He smiled.
But it was not a normal smile.
It was the smile of someone whose insides had shattered long ago… and could no longer be repaired.
He said in a low voice, but one that made the air tremble:
“Finally…”
He raised his head higher.
“One of them has come back to me.”
The Wind Emperor descended slowly to the ground, maintaining his composed appearance, but his eyes remained cautious.
He felt the danger.
Real danger.
A sensation he had not felt for hundreds of years.
But he hid it behind a sarcastic smile.
“I didn’t believe you were still alive.”
He stepped closer.
“But it seems the forest has turned you into an animal indeed.”
Silence fell.
Then he laughed mockingly:
“I still remember how you cried and begged us not to throw you out of the kingdom.”
At that moment…
The air froze.
Then…
BOOOOOOOOM!!!
The dark energy exploded from Kentro’s body with tremendous violence.
The ground cracked beneath him instantly.
Nearby trees were uprooted.
Even the fleeing beasts grew more terrified and changed direction.
As for the Wind Emperor…
His eyes widened slightly.
“This energy…!”
Kentro suddenly vanished.
The emperor’s pupils contracted.
“Fast?!”
Kentro appeared directly before him.
Just one punch.
CRAAAAASH!!!
The Wind Emperor crashed into the ground with tremendous force, the rocks shattering beneath his body as if a meteor had struck them.
A massive crater formed, and dust rose in every direction.
But the emperor did not stay in place.
He immediately leaped toward the sky, the wind exploding around his body like a massive green hurricane.
He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth…
Then he smiled.
“So you finally have some power!”
He raised his hand toward the sky.
And suddenly, dozens of massive air blades formed around him.
Each blade was capable of splitting a small mountain.
Then…
They all shot toward Kentro at once.
SHHHHHHHH!!
They tore through the air like a storm of swords.
But…
Kentro did not move backward.
He charged straight toward them.
“What?!”
The blades began to tear his body.
A wound above his shoulder.
A long gash across his chest.
Blood splattered in the air.
But Kentro kept advancing.
With maddened eyes.
And a terrifying smile on his face.
The Wind Emperor said in genuine shock:
“He won’t stop?!”
Kentro reached him in an instant.
He grabbed the emperor’s face with his hand.
Then…
BOOOOOOOOM!!!
He slammed him into the ground with such force that the entire mountain shook.
The rocks cracked.
And a massive air wave exploded in every direction.
The Wind Emperor coughed blood, but he twisted with astonishing speed and kicked Kentro in the stomach.
CRAAASH!!
Kentro flew dozens of meters, piercing through trees one after another until he crashed into a massive rock, shattering half of it.
Silence fell for a moment.
Then…
He stood.
Slowly.
Blood dripped from his mouth.
His right arm trembled.
But…
The wounds began to heal before the emperor’s eyes.
Slowly.
But with terrifying clarity.
The Wind Emperor froze in place.
“Healing… automatic?”
His eyes widened more.
“No… this is not magic.”
He felt a chill.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
Kentro stood again.
And the dark energy around him became fiercer.
Denser.
Darker.
Even the little light in the forest began to gradually disappear around him.
He said in a thundering voice:
“You know…?”
A step.
The ground cracked beneath his feet.
“I screamed every night.”
Another step.
“Every night I wished someone would come back.”
The trees trembled.
And the air became heavier.
“But you…”
He raised his crimson eyes toward him.
And the anger within them was enough to terrify an entire army.
“Never came back.”
The black wind exploded around him.
And he vanished.
He appeared directly behind the emperor.
A stab.
A kick.
An elbow strike.
A punch to the face.
A knee strike.
The attacks were so fast that the air itself began to explode around them.
CRAAASH!!
BOOOM!!
CRAAAAASH!!
The Wind Emperor actually retreated this time.
And for the first time in centuries…
He felt himself being crushed.
He quickly looked toward the black sword.
The sword was not normal.
Every time Kentro touched it…
The dark energy increased.
As if the sword was feeding on him.
The emperor unleashed a massive hurricane in an attempt to push him away.
But Kentro pierced through the hurricane with his body directly.
Blood covered him completely.
His skin was torn.
But his eyes…
Were still burning with terrifying madness.
He reached him.
He said in a voice that even made the wind stop:
“Now… tell me.”
He tightened his grip more.
“Who is useless?”
“GAAAAAH!!”
He struck him against the ground once.
Twice.
Three times.
Four times.
Until the area was completely destroyed and the earth turned into a massive crater.
Then he grabbed his head…
And drove it into the ground with terrifying force.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
Silence fell.
The wind disappeared.
The hurricane faded.
And smoke began to rise slowly from the battlefield.
The Wind Emperor lay motionless.
Defeated.
A crushing defeat.
Kentro stood over him, panting violently.
His entire body was bleeding.
His muscles trembled.
But the dark energy…
Did not disappear.
It became unstable.
It began to rise with even greater violence.
As if it was slipping out of his control.
Suddenly…
He felt a terrifying pain inside his chest.
“GAAAAAAAH!!”
He fell to his knees.
He clutched his chest tightly.
His breathing became heavy.
His vision began to blur.
The trees spun around him.
The sky split.
And the whispers…
Returned again.
Distant whispers.
Ancient.
Speaking a language he did not understand.
Then…
He fell to the ground.
And the darkness swallowed him completely.
An unknown place.
No ground.
No sky.
No sound.
Only endless darkness.
Kentro slowly opened his eyes.
He felt as if he was floating inside an eternal void.
He whispered in a tired voice:
“Where am I…?”
But no one answered.
Then…
A voice appeared.
Quiet.
Ancient.
And terrifying in an indescribable way.
“The time is near.”
Kentro’s eyes immediately widened.
He stood quickly, looking around wildly.
“Who’s there?!”
But only the darkness answered.
Then…
A single thing appeared before him.
Something floating in the void.
A book.
The Black Book.
It hung in the air, while the golden letters on its cover began to glow slowly.
A pulse…
Then another.
As if the book was alive.
Then the voice returned again.
But this time…
It was closer.
Clearer.
And more terrifying.
“The Book… has chosen you.”
Kentro froze in place.
While the pages of the book began to open on their own slowly within the eternal darkness…
To be continued…