«”Sometimes the monsters we fear the most are the ones we become.”» The night over Fruikler was unnaturally quiet.
No birds.
No distant voices.
Not even the usual sound of wind moving through the trees.
Manglet Fruing stood beneath the pale moonlight.
Her eyes were cold.
Not angry.
Not frightened.
Simply cold.
The expression of someone who had already accepted a truth she wished had never existed.
Foshi stood several steps away from her.
He had known Manglet for years.
He knew her personality.
She was an INTJ—calculating, disciplined, brutally rational.
She rarely allowed emotions to control her decisions.
But tonight…
something was different.
Manglet looked toward the distant lights of the Fruing estate.
“This…” Her voice was quiet.
“All of this is because of my clan.” Foshi remained silent.
Manglet continued in the same deadpan tone, as though she were explaining a historical fact rather than something that had haunted generations.
“Two hundred years ago, the Fangs came to our planet.” She looked toward the sky.
“Wolf-faced aliens.” Her eyes narrowed.
“We were chosen.” “The Fruings were tasked with collecting resources and delivering them every year.” “In exchange…” She paused.
“They made us strong.” Foshi swallowed.
Manglet continued.
“But strength came with something else.” Her expression didn’t change.
“Power Lust.” “The need to dominate everything.” She counted the consequences almost mechanically.
“Some developed a God Complex.” “Others developed superiority complexes.” “Some became narcissistic.” “Others became obsessed with control.” She lowered her gaze.
“All of it became inevitable.” Foshi finally spoke.
“Not every Fruing…” Manglet interrupted him.
“Almost every Fruing.” Her voice remained calm.
“I fell for it.” “Mangorak fell for it.” “Noctis fell for it.” “Nightshade, the founder of the Fruing Clan, fell for it.” “Nova, the co-founder, too.” She looked toward the horizon.
“Maybe Maris will.” “Maybe Guris will.” Foshi’s expression became uneasy.
Manglet looked directly at him.
“You’re lucky.” Foshi blinked.
“Lucky?” “You’re only adopted by the Fruing Clan.” Her eyes softened by the smallest fraction.
“That’s why you understand Fruiklarity.” Foshi remained silent.
Manglet continued.
“Fruiklarity is the goodness within the people of Fruikler.” “The thing that makes us protect one another.” “The thing that makes us more than our strength.” Her expression became colder again.
“But the Fruings…” She looked down.
“We forgot.” “We became selfish.” “Cold.” “Masterminds.” “Obsessed with superiority.” Her voice remained completely matter-of-fact.
“The moment a Fruing turns sixteen or seventeen…” She paused.
“They begin forgetting what Fruiklarity truly means.” Foshi whispered, “Oh…” Manglet said nothing.
The silence returned.
— Later that night, Manglet lay in her room.
Her eyes were half-closed.
But she wasn’t sleeping.
She stared at the ceiling.
Her mind continued calculating.
The Fang invasion.
The Fruing Clan.
Her children’s future.
Her husband’s mission.
The consequences of their power.
Then— darkness.
Manglet found herself standing somewhere impossible.
There was no ground.
No sky.
Only endless blackness.
A figure appeared.
A wolf-faced alien.
A Fang.
Its eyes glowed in the darkness.
Manglet stared at it.
The creature spoke.
“Kill them.” Manglet didn’t move.
“Kill all the Fruings.” Her eyes narrowed.
“Why?” “They will destroy your world.” The Fang stepped closer.
“Because you have become too powerful.” Manglet’s expression remained emotionless.
“You cannot control me.” The Fang smiled.
“I don’t need to.” Its voice echoed through the darkness.
“I am this world.” Manglet’s eyes sharpened.
“I see the future.” “I know your fate.” “Your husband’s fate.” “The reason behind his father’s death.” “The future of your bloodline.” Manglet remained still.
The Fang’s voice became quieter.
“Your bloodline will destroy your planet.” “Go.” “Kill them.” Manglet’s eyes widened.
For the first time— fear appeared.
Then everything shattered.
Manglet awoke.
She sat upright.
Her breathing was heavy.
The sword beside her bed fell to the floor.
Clang.
Manglet stared at it.
A dark aura slowly gathered around her.
Her pupils seemed to swallow the moonlight.
She stood.
No words.
No hesitation.
She picked up the sword.
— The Fruing estate became a battlefield.
Manglet moved through it like a force of nature.
Fruings tried to stop her.
One summoned a massive knight engulfed in fire.
Another unleashed an enormous ice crocodile.
Others activated their Level 3 abilities.
Fire.
Water.
Grass.
Ground.
Steel.
The estate shook under the power of the clan.
But Manglet kept moving.
The fire knight attacked.
She froze its path.
The ice crocodile lunged.
She shattered its attack.
A Level 3 Grass user surrounded her with enormous roots.
Manglet cut through them.
A Ground user raised the earth beneath her.
She froze the entire structure.
One after another, the clan’s strongest fighters fell.
Manglet never shouted.
Never celebrated.
Never hesitated.
Her face remained emotionless.
That was what made it terrifying.
The strongest members of her own clan were standing against her.
And she treated every battle like a problem that needed to be solved.
By dawn, the estate was silent.
The survivors were gone.
The battlefield was covered in snow, broken structures, and the remnants of countless abilities.
Manglet stood alone.
Her sword was stained.
Her breathing was slow.
Then— she remembered her children.
Maris.
Guris.
Her expression finally changed.
She turned toward their room.
— Inside, two young teenagers slept peacefully.
Maris and Guris.
They were around twelve or thirteen.
Completely unaware of what had happened outside.
Manglet stood in the doorway.
Her dark aura returned.
For a moment, she stared at them.
Her hand tightened around the sword.
The aura moved forward.
Then stopped.
Manglet’s eyes trembled.
“No.” Her voice was barely audible.
The sword slipped from her hand.
Clang.
She stared at her children.
Her mind finally broke through the darkness.
She whispered, “Why?” She looked at her blood-stained hands.
“Why did I do this?” Her voice remained controlled.
But beneath it was something she almost never allowed herself to show.
Regret.
“Was it the Fangs?” She looked toward the window.
“Was I controlled?” No answer came.
Only silence.
— Foshi arrived at the estate.
He stopped.
His eyes widened.
“Manglet!” He rushed forward.
“What happened?” He looked around.
“Who did this?” Manglet stood motionless.
She didn’t answer.
Foshi approached cautiously.
“Manglet…” Her voice finally came.
“This happened because of me.” Foshi stared at her.
Manglet lowered her head.
“I failed.” Foshi stepped closer.
“No.” “I killed my own clan.” “No.” “I became exactly what I was supposed to prevent.” Foshi shook his head.
“Listen to me.” Manglet looked at him.
Foshi’s voice became firm.
“Think about your children.” Her eyes moved toward the room.
“You cannot abandon them.” Manglet remained silent.
“Their father will return,” she said eventually.
“He’s on a mission.” Foshi shook his head.
“And until then?” Manglet looked at him.
Foshi’s expression hardened.
“Who will protect them?” Manglet said nothing.
Foshi raised his hands.
Energy formed around Manglet.
A protective cocoon surrounded her.
“You’re not going anywhere.” Manglet looked at the barrier.
Then calmly raised her hand.
Ice spread across it.
Foshi’s eyes widened.
“What—?” CRACK.
The barrier froze.
Cracks spread across the surface.
Foshi stared.
“Manglet…” The entire cocoon shattered.
Manglet stepped forward.
Foshi attempted to stop her.
But her power overwhelmed his defense.
A massive pillar of ice rose from the ground.
Foshi was trapped inside it.
“Manglet!” She looked back at him.
For a second, their eyes met.
Then she walked away.
— Manglet returned home.
She sat at a desk.
Her hands trembled slightly.
She took a piece of paper.
And began writing.
The pen moved slowly.
Every word carried the weight of what had happened.
When she finished, she folded the paper.
She sealed it.
Then she placed it where Foshi would find it.
She looked toward an old family photograph.
Noctis.
Mangorak.
Maris.
Guris.
Her family.
The people she had tried to protect.
Her eyes remained fixed on the photograph.
She whispered, “I failed you.” A cold breath escaped her lips.
The sword lay beside her.
Still stained from the night’s events.
Manglet reached for it.
But this time, there was no rage in her eyes.
Only exhaustion.
She looked once more at the photograph.
Then lowered her gaze.
The moonlight disappeared behind clouds.
The room became dark.
Outside, Foshi finally broke free from the ice.
He rushed toward the house.
“Manglet!” No answer.
He entered.
The letter was waiting in her hands as she wrote the last words.
For the first time in years, the strongest woman he knew looked completely human.
Not an Elite.
Not a Fruing.
Not a warrior.
Just Manglet.
A mother who had lost herself for one terrible night.
Fosh said “Manglet…please dont” His voice broke.
The moon disappeared completely behind the clouds.
Foshi didnt wasted time, He hsed his power and made a cocoon around her while she was putting the letter securely.
Give me more motivation!