Kentro stopped walking.
Not because he was afraid.
But because what stood before him was neither human… nor monster.
It was something trapped in between.
The man’s body still resembled that of a villager, yet his skin had become a pale, sickly gray.
His sunken eyes glowed with a dull yellow light, and beneath his torn clothes, black sinews twisted violently under the flesh as if something alive was growing inside him.
This was the village chief.
Or what remained of him.
The man slowly turned toward Kentro.
Then smiled.
An impossibly wide smile.
“A new visitor…”
His voice sounded rotten.
Broken from the inside.
“Have you come to eat with us?”
Kentro’s eyes swept across the village streets.
Corpses.
Burned homes.
Blood smeared across the walls of the small church nearby.
This was not a village attacked by monsters.
This was a village where the people themselves had become monsters.
Then—
A scream echoed from a nearby house.
“Please!
Stay away from me!”
A woman.
And behind her—
A crying infant.
Kentro moved instantly.
His body blurred through the street before crashing through the wooden door with terrifying force.
Inside—
A young woman trembled in the corner while desperately clutching a baby against her chest.
Standing before her was another villager.
Gray skin.
Yellow eyes.
Black veins writhing beneath his flesh.
But unlike the others…
Tears rolled from his eyes.
His lips trembled violently as he whispered:
“We were hungry…”
“We were starving…”
“There was nothing left…”
His voice cracked.
“Then the shadow came…”
His eyes widened unnaturally.
And suddenly he screamed:
“THE SHADOW PROMISED US POWER!”
He lunged toward Kentro wildly.
But Kentro was faster.
His kick shattered the man’s jaw before he could even touch him.
The body flew backward violently, crashing through the wall before collapsing motionless to the floor.
Yet…
He was still alive.
Kentro stared silently at the twitching body.
The villager’s fingers trembled weakly against the ground.
And from his broken mouth…
A whisper escaped.
“…help… me…”
Kentro froze for half a second.
Just half a second.
Then slowly lowered his eyes.
His fists tightened.
The woman was crying now.
“How many…?” Kentro asked quietly.
She trembled violently.
“Almost everyone…”
“Some ran into the forest…”
“Some killed themselves before losing control…”
Kentro slowly turned toward the broken window.
Outside—
Dozens of yellow eyes stared from the darkness.
Watching.
Waiting.
Not attacking.
Yet.
Kentro slowly drew the black sword from his waist.
The cold metallic sound echoed through the ruined house.
Then he spoke calmly:
“Stay here.”
“No matter what happens… do not come outside.”
He stepped back into the street.
And there they stood.
Men.
Women.
People who had once lived ordinary lives.
Now reduced to hollow creatures trembling between humanity and madness.
Yet none attacked immediately.
They only stared at him hungrily.
Then—
A voice echoed from behind the crowd.
“He has finally arrived…”
The villagers slowly parted.
And the chief stepped forward.
His sickly yellow eyes burned with twisted pride.
“We’ve been waiting for you.”
Kentro narrowed his eyes.
“Why?”
The chief smiled again.
“Because the shadow told us you would come…”
“And that your blood would break the curse.”
Suddenly—
They all charged at once.
But Kentro did not move.
Not immediately.
He watched them.
Really watched them.
Their bodies shook unnaturally.
Some were crying while attacking.
Some clawed at their own skin as if fighting something inside them.
One woman kept whispering repeatedly:
“I don’t want to die…”
Even as she ran toward him.
Kentro slowly closed his eyes for a moment.
Then whispered to himself:
“These people are victims…”
“…not monsters.”
A cold wind passed through the burning village.
Kentro reopened his crimson eyes.
“But if death is the only mercy left for them…”
He slowly raised the black sword.
“…then I’ll make it painless.”
He moved.
Not with cruelty.
Not with rage.
But with terrifying precision.
One slash.
One strike.
One movement.
Every attack was fatal.
Every death was instant.
No suffering.
No hesitation.
Less than a minute later—
Silence returned to the village.
Bodies covered the ground.
Only the village chief remained alive.
Kentro had shattered both his arms and legs, leaving him collapsed helplessly in the dirt.
Without another word, Kentro entered the house once more, gently carrying the infant back to its mother.
Only after making sure they were safe—
Did he return.
He stood before the broken chief silently.
Then asked:
“Now tell me.”
“What is this shadow?”
But the chief did not answer.
Instead—
He stared past Kentro.
Then began laughing weakly.
A horrible laugh.
“It’s too late…”
“…he’s already here.”
Kentro’s body stiffened instantly.
A sudden wave of heat swept across the village.
The air distorted.
Burning cracks spread across the ground.
Nearby corpses suddenly ignited into flames without warning.
Heavy footsteps echoed slowly behind him.
Metallic.
Burning.
Oppressive.
Kentro turned slowly.
And there—
A tall man stood in blazing armor glowing like molten fire.
Parts of his skin were burned black.
Kentro would never forget it.
No matter how many years passed.
His crimson eyes widened slightly.
“The Fire Emperor…”
His voice was cold.
Terrifyingly cold.
Completely different from the frightened child he once was.
The Fire Emperor frowned slightly.
“How long have you known me, stranger?”
Kentro said nothing.
Instead—
He drove the black sword into the ground beside him.
Then slowly raised his head.
His crimson eyes burned with violent fury.
“Have you forgotten me?”
The Fire Emperor’s expression shifted.
Just slightly.
His eyes moved toward the red eyes.
The black sword.
The scars time failed to erase.
Then—
Shock appeared on his face.
“…Kentro?”
Kentro stepped forward slowly.
“The child you threw into the Dark Forest to die.”
Another step.
“The child who begged you not to abandon him.”
Another.
“The child who cried while all of you watched.”
He slowly pulled the black sword from the ground.
“…Do you remember me now?”
Silence.
For a brief moment—
The Fire Emperor truly remembered.
The crying child.
The fear.
The weakness.
The boy they discarded like trash.
Then he laughed dryly.
“So you survived…”
“That’s impossible.”
“We sensed strange power in the Dark Forest…”
“But never imagined it was you.”
Kentro lowered his head slightly.
“You talk too much.”
He raised the black sword slowly.
“…I’ll answer with one strike.”
And suddenly—
The Fire Emperor remembered the reports.
The terrified whispers spreading through the palace.
“The Wind Emperor was crushed.”
“He was defeated by something inhuman.”
“He died to a monster.”
The Fire Emperor looked at Kentro once more.
At the crimson eyes.
At the black sword.
At the terrifying stillness surrounding him.
And for the first time—
He no longer saw a child before him.
He saw the monster that defeated one of the strongest emperors alive.
And he realized…
He might be next.
Rage exploded inside him.
True rage.
How could this pathetic child survive?
How could the boy they abandoned become stronger than an Emperor?
The ground shattered beneath his feet.
Flames erupted violently around him, igniting homes and trees alike.
“You dare stand before me…?”
Kentro stepped back once.
Not from fear.
From readiness.
The Fire Emperor slowly raised his burning hand.
“And tomorrow…”
His voice shook the ruined village.
“…I will teach you the true meaning of suffering.”
Flames exploded across the village.
And for the first time in years—
Kentro smiled.
Not with happiness.
Not with relief.
But with the smile of a monster…
Finally standing before the people who created him.
To Be Continued…