A pitch-black void stretched out before his eyes.
The steady, rustling crunch of a carriage rolling over thick grass echoed from both sides, shifting from left to right.
The thick blackness in front of his vision slowly began to glow as faint streaks of light flickered and died.
His eyes opened gradually, a heavy sensation weighing down his eyelids as he peeked out to survey his surroundings.
“Where is this…?” Tilting his head up to stare straight ahead, he spotted a knight driving the carriage horse.
All around the vehicle, numerous other knights traveled on horseback, navigating through a dense forest filled with massive trees and the soft chirping of birds.
Ersak’s face twisted in sheer discomfort.
Inside his head: “A carriage?
I’m riding in a carriage…?
Where on earth am I?” His frame jolted slightly with each movement of the vehicle.
Ersak lowered his head, glancing behind his own torso.
“What is this…?” His wrists were bound in heavy chains.
Grimacing, he struggled to break free from the metal links, but the restraints wouldn’t budge.
Out of nowhere, a sharp voice rang out right beside his ear, “It’s useless.
You aren’t breaking out of those.” Ersak snapped his head up, turning his focus toward the side.
Looking up gradually, his gaze landed on a suit of full armor.
Inside his mind: “A knight…?” He raised his eyes a fraction higher…
“Huh…?” His pupils trembled violently for a beat.
“Oh…” The figure came into clear view.
“A girl…?” Seated right across from Ersak was a young woman with sharp, striking blonde hair clad in steel plate armor.
She sat with her arms crossed tightly over her chest, a broadsword resting right by her side.
Ersak froze, completely at a loss for how to react.
The girl fixed her piercing, icy gaze onto him.
“Looks like this fellow woke up right on cue,” a sudden voice called out from directly above Ersak’s head.
Startled, Ersak shot a glance upward.
A young man with white-streaked green hair was peering down, wearing a single monocle over his eye.
Inside Ersak’s head: “Who exactly are these people?!” The blonde girl closed her eyes, noting, “At least that saves me the trouble of waking him up myself.” The young man shrugged his shoulders, tossing his hands out helplessly as he countered, “I still find it rather bizarre that she insisted on placing this guy in a separate carriage with us.” Opening her eyes to stare back toward the path ahead, the girl replied, “I have no clue what goes on inside that head of hers either.” Ersak’s voice suddenly cut through their conversation.
“Who are you people?” His gaze locked directly onto the young woman as he demanded, “Why did you capture me?” The girl’s face twisted in immediate fury.
She glared straight at Ersak, barking loudly, “If we didn’t capture you, who else would we lock up?!” Ersak went entirely blank for a fraction of a second.
THUD!
Before she could even finish her sentence, the young man perched on the carriage roof leaped down, grabbing Ersak by the head and slamming his face hard against the wooden floor!
CRACK!
“IF IT WEREN’T FOR HER, WE WOULDN’T HAVE EVEN ALLOWED YOU A SEAT IN HERE.” “Ugh!…” Ersak grimaced in pain as his face took the brunt of the impact.
The green-haired youth stood up, releasing his grip on Ersak’s head before stepping back toward his own seat.
Ersak lifted his head, a thin stream of blood trickling slowly from his nose.
He rasped out, “What did I…
even do…?” The young man strode over to the front seat, sitting down and crossing his legs neatly.
He pulled a thick ledger out from the inside of his coat.
He glanced at Ersak, looked back down at the pages, and flipped through one, two, three sheets.
Letting out a long breath, he began to read aloud, “Murder, property damage, robbery, and a laundry list of other offenses.” Slamming the book shut, the youth stared across at Ersak and stated, “Your accomplices already confessed to everything.
Don’t bother trying to deny it.” Ersak stared blankly at the speaker…
as a wave of disjointed memories, violent images, agonizing shrieks, and muffled voices flooded his mind.
Within his vision, everything began to glitch and distort.
Images flashed and faded rapidly—the red-haired girl pinned to death beneath the wreckage…
a vast sea of blood and slaughter…
Ersak dropped his head, his pupils dilating and shaking erratically.
“I didn’t…
n-no…
it wasn’t me…
that’s…
that’s not how it happened…” The world around him went dark…
as the blurry, distorted image of a collapsed building slowly materialized underneath him…
further down…
“HEY!” A sharp voice jolted his consciousness back to reality.
The blonde girl barked in immediate fury, “Haven’t you slept enough since last night?!
Why are you slumping over again?!” The young man slowly turned his gaze toward Ersak, stating coldly, “Given the sheer severity of your current charges, I could easily request the king to execute you…” Before he could even finish his sentence, Ersak slowly tilted his head up.
His gaze was entirely vacant.
The light blue in his irises now held dark, hollow pupils.
His mouth parted slightly as a heavy, fluid voice escaped his lips, “When can you execute me…?” For a brief fraction of a second, the young man and the girl froze completely, staring at Ersak before exchanging a swift look.
The girl closed her eyes and replied, “Sooner or later.” Ersak dropped his head, offering no further response as his heavy gaze drifted downward.
Streaks of sunlight filtered through the overhead canopy, illuminating his frame as the surrounding trees gradually thinned out.
The direct glare of the sun beat down onto Ersak’s head, forcing his weary eyes to squeeze shut from the brightness.
The young woman locked her eyes straight ahead.
“We’ve arrived.” Ersak blinked his eyes open as a succession of brief gusts brushed inside.
His hair drifted slightly, while his garments and the pile of straw behind him shifted in a rhythmic movement.
The wind surged harder and faster—Mooo!
Oink!
Cluck, cluck!
The sudden cacophony of livestock, cattle, and swine echoed from all around the area.
Ersak slowly raised his head, his eyes narrowing from the intense sunlight.
His gaze froze, his facial features locking into a deadpan expression of utter shock.
The entire world seemed to stand still, leaving only the landscape ahead.
A powerful gust of wind slammed into his face, forcing his eyelids shut once more.
Slowly parting them again…
“What on earth is this…?” The carriage rolled into a shadow, then burst back out into the open light.
The sight filling Ersak’s vision grew larger and larger by the second as a majestic kingdom materialized before him.
The vehicle cleared the shadows, drawing closer to the perimeter.
Vast, emerald-green pastures came into view, alongside weathered wooden houses, rushing streams, and expansive lakes.
The entire territory was flanked by sprawling farmlands and grazing livestock.
Directly ahead stood clusters of wooden structures, interspersed with bizarre houses floating entirely in mid-air, creating a truly magnificent realm.
Townspeople navigated through a bustling market, chatting and laughing merrily, while young children played happily on an open patch of dirt nearby.
A group of mounted knights stood together, sharing jokes and chuckling amongst themselves.
Right in the dead center of the kingdom stood a colossal tower, supporting a massive gemstone that rotated slowly above the primary palace complex.
The floating wooden houses contrasted sharply with the stone buildings constructed underneath and around them, all flanked by outer watchtowers and settlements carved directly into the mountain face behind the kingdom.
While Ersak remained rooted in place from absolute bewilderment, the young man stepped over.
He unfastened the heavy chains anchoring Ersak to the wooden frame, hauling the teenager to his feet.
The carriage pressed deeper into the perimeter, passing the smaller residential huts on the outskirts, flanked on both sides by agricultural fields, vacant land, and flowing brooks.
The blonde girl stood up, planting her hand firmly on the hilt of the sword at her hip.
She glanced back at Ersak.
“For now, just dump him in the staging camp.
We need to speak with her first.” The green-haired youth stood directly in front of Ersak, looking back at the girl.
“Understood.
You go on ahead.
I’ll escort this fellow to the staging camp myself.” The moment the vehicle hit a sharp turn, the young woman leaped down, sprinting directly into the kingdom.
The carriage transporting Ersak, along with the escorting knights and other transport wagons, veered off in a completely different direction.
They arrived at an external camp, dominated by large wooden barracks, high perimeter walls, and heavily armed sentries.
Ersak was marched slowly inside, his silhouette shrinking as he was absorbed into the facility.
The camp sat isolated in the middle of a vast plain right outside the kingdom.
“Line them up and keep them seated in one spot.” As the command rang out, Ersak was forced down onto the dirt, matching the posture of the crowd surrounding him, who were all dressed in the exact same garments.
The young man stood directly in front of Ersak, holding his ledger as his gaze scanned the area.
Ersak looked around, realizing he was seated right alongside the very bandits from last night.
Ersak turned his head away, dropping his chin as he pulled his legs tightly against his chest, curling inward without a word.
He closed his eyes.
“Grade 3 agent Hawen, sir, we…” Ersak forced his heavy, vacant black pupils open to stare straight ahead.
The young man stood in the exact same posture as before, looking at a soldier clad in polished iron plate armor and a crimson cape.
The guardsman continued his sentence, “We never expected to have the honor of fighting alongside you.
It was truly a privilege!” Hawen snapped his ledger shut, closing his eyes.
“Don’t mention it.
Field agents like us rarely get an opportunity to pitch in like this, so it was actually quite entertaining.” The soldier let out a loud burst of laughter, turning his torso around as he spoke, “Haha!
Please, go ahead and finish up your business.
We’ll get afternoon rations prepared for you.” Hawen glanced back down, and his gaze locked instantly with Ersak’s.
For a split second, time itself seemed to freeze as the two pairs of eyes locked onto one another.
Suddenly, Ersak closed his eyes.
Hawen turned his body completely toward the teenager.
He stepped forward gradually, opening his book and pulling out a quill.
Squatting down directly in front of Ersak, he waited as the teenager narrowed his eyelids, struggling to look up.
Hawen scrutinized Ersak, lifting the open ledger slightly to cover his mouth as he whispered, “Tell me your name.
I don’t see you listed anywhere in the records.
Where exactly do you come from?” Ersak opened his mouth, his voice sounding so incredibly deep and raspy that it felt suffocating, “Why should I give my name to someone like you?” The surrounding guards and the bound bandits sitting on the dirt alongside Ersak instantly broke out in beads of cold sweat from sheer terror.
A few of the criminals began whispering frantically among themselves, “This guy is completely insane!”, “Good god, he actually dares to speak to a field agent like that…” A soldier standing right behind Hawen chimed in with a sneer, “Someone clearly has a death wish.” The moment the guard’s words left his mouth, Ersak snapped his eyes wide open, shooting a sharp, icy glare straight up at the man behind Hawen, catching the soldier completely off guard.
Ersak’s voice rang out, his gaze completely frigid.
“I really don’t want to live anymore.
Just hurry up and kill me.” Provoked by the defiance, the soldier’s blood boiled.
Planting his hand firmly onto the hilt of his sword, he advanced toward Ersak in a towering rage, barking loudly, “YOU DARE CHALLENGE ME, YOU LITTLE BRAT?!” The blade barely flashed before Hawen’s hand clamped down on it, stopping the weapon instantly.
The guardsman blinked, looking down at Hawen in sheer disbelief.
Grade 3 agent Hawen, sir…?” Hawen snapped his ledger shut.
Facing Ersak completely, he tilted his head and demanded, “So, I will ask you one more time…
what is your name?” A chilling aura suddenly erupted from Hawen’s body, slamming directly into Ersak.
The teenager’s gaze froze instantly, his pupils trembling.
Everything around the two of them seemed to lock in place, leaving only the duo staring at one another.
Ersak broke out in a cold sweat, keeping his mouth tightly shut.
Inside Ersak’s head: “Th-this…
th-this is…
k-killing intent…?…” Gulp…
Ersak swallowed hard, averting his gaze from Hawen.
Hawen stood up, taking a few steps back.
He turned around to look at Ersak and the bandits resting on the dirt below, scanning the crowd.
“Does anyone here know his name?” A heavy silence followed, without a single sound.
Hawen let out a long sigh, “Haaah.” He pulled out a handkerchief, raised his hand to remove the monocle from his right eye, closed his eyes, and wiped the glass.
Placing it back on, he slowly opened his deep, dark green eyes, his thick voice echoing through the clearing, “I am asking one more time…
who knows his name?” The bandits immediately began to chatter frantically among themselves.
One thug violently kicked Ersak, screaming, “WHAT’S YOUR NAME, HUH?!
HURRY UP AND SPEAK?!” The barrage of shouting echoed continuously in his ears.
Hawen watched Ersak, whose face remained entirely dark—no movement, no resistance.
His frame was repeatedly shoved and kicked back and forth.
Ersak offered no defense as the voices bombarded him.
The surrounding space seemed to pitch into absolute darkness.
Everything went vacant, leaving only the silhouette of Ersak dropping his head, completely motionless.
His body was still being pushed around, but the noise faded entirely.
The clearing grew so quiet that not a single word could be heard.
Ersak’s gaze surfaced—a deep, bottomless blue entirely devoid of emotion.
Desperate thoughts swirled inside his head: “Please, stop asking…” “Just stop asking…” “Why am I even sitting here…?” “What on earth is happening to me…?” “Everything…” A girl’s piercing shriek suddenly echoed inside Ersak’s head, causing his eyes to snap wide open, trembling in sheer panic…
“AAAAH!—” A heavily built bandit, unable to lose his patience any longer, suddenly bolted upright and rushed forward, kicking Ersak straight in the head and sending him crashing to the ground.
The attack unfolded in a flash, catching even Hawen off guard.
The agent immediately stepped in, grabbing the bandit by his collar and slamming him hard against the dirt.
He snapped, “If you make another reckless move, I will personally slaughter you first!” Hawen released his grip, and the criminal scrambled frantically back to his spot.
The remaining bandits who witnessed the display went dead silent, too terrified to move.
The surrounding soldiers broke out in beads of cold sweat at the sight.
A guard standing behind Hawen whispered to the man beside him, “He isn’t an ordinary human…
he’s a field agent…
we can’t compete with that kind of power.” The other soldier nodded.
“Yeah…” He then turned and walked away.
The cloaked guard leader suddenly approached, offering a friendly laugh.
“Haha, Grade 3 agent Hawen, sir, you must be exhausted after such a long journey.
Let’s go get some food.” Hawen adjusted the monocle over his eye, closing his eyes as he turned his back to leave.
He ordered, “Keep a strict watch on them.” The cloaked soldier smiled, following right behind Hawen.
“Haha, please rest assured, sir.” A thought crossed the guard’s mind: “I have to use this opportunity to get on the good side of these field agents…” As Hawen exited the perimeter of the camp, he pulled the ledger out from his coat, flipping through a few pages and letting out a heavy sigh.
Suddenly, Hawen released his grip on the book while spreading both arms out to his sides.
A vibrant green light radiated from his palms and the ledger.
The pages began to flip violently back and forth on their own.
Hawen, who had his eyes closed, slowly opened them, his green irises emitting a faint, mystical glow.
The cloaked soldier trailing behind witnessed the spectacle, entirely unable to comprehend what was happening.
Out of nowhere, Hawen spoke up, “Bizarre…
why isn’t that fellow’s name appearing anywhere in the ledger…?” He drew his hands back to catch the book, the glowing light fading instantly.
“I suppose ‘she’ must know something about this…” The cloaked soldier trailing behind went completely wide-eyed, utter confusion written all over his face.
“Huh…?” Time blurred past, and soon evening arrived, casting a brilliant orange-gold sunset over the camp from high above.
The sentries stationed along the perimeter suddenly drifted close together, chatting idly, “Man, this is boring.
Isn’t there anything to do around here?” Another guard grunted, “We’ve been standing here since morning.
There hasn’t been a single thing to break the monotony.” A heavily built soldier swaggered over, a twisted grin spreading across his face as he chuckled, “What do you mean?
Don’t we have a whole pile of prisoners right over there?” One of the other guards raised an eyebrow, a smirk tugging at his lips as he playfully elbowed the large man.
“Hey, hey, don’t be so cruel.
But seriously…
what do you have in mind?” The brute’s eyes narrowed, casting a sinister glare toward the bound bandits.
“Let’s make them fight each other for our entertainment.” Another soldier chimed in, “The field agents should be back any minute now.
Letting them beat each other up for a bit won’t kill them, right?” The group burst into laughter.
The muscular guard stepped up directly in front of the gathered bandits, raising his voice authoritatively.
“Listen up!
You lots are going to brawl right now.
Whichever one of you is still standing by the time the hour is up, I’ll personally put in a good word to have your death sentence commuted!” The bandits went entirely rigid for a fraction of a second, exchanging bewildered glances.
Total silence fell over the crowd; no one uttered a word.
A few began whispering frantically to each other until one bandit abruptly bolted upright, demanding loudly, “Are you absolutely certain that whoever is left standing gets pardoned?!” The brute turned his torso away, casually brushing dust off his uniform.
“The match has already begun.
You made your choice, and I’m not changing the rules.” The bandit stomped his foot, screaming, “YOU!—” Before he could finish, another criminal lunged at him so fast the man couldn’t even react.
CRACK!
A brutal kick slammed straight into his skull, sending him crashing to the dirt.
In an instant, absolute chaos erupted.
Agonizing shrieks, heavy thuds, and the relentless sound of flying fists and kicks echoed without pause.
Some trampled over one another, some lunged blindly, and others resorted to biting.
The entire yard turned into a chaotic blur of blood and violence.
The watching guards and knights laughed uncontrollably, though one kept his eyes trained on Ersak’s prone form.
Ersak remained collapsed on the ground, completely motionless in the exact same posture, having never once sat up since he was kicked down earlier.
The bandits continued to tear into each other relentlessly until only a handful were left standing.
Right at that moment, Ersak slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position—catching every remaining bandit completely off guard.
The surrounding soldiers went dead silent, staring in disbelief.
One of the surviving bandits barked in fury, “YOU DELIBERATELY FEIGNED DEATH JUST TO SNAG A SPOT AT THE END…!” The muscular guard burst into a booming laugh, shouting, “Haha!
Brilliant!
Way smarter than I gave you credit for.
I didn’t expect you to play dead like that!” Ersak’s eyes opened, revealing a deep, bottomless blue.
He didn’t move.
A heavy, suffocating stillness radiated from his frame, matching his completely vacant gaze.
Enraged, a bandit advanced toward him, spitting out through gritted teeth, “How dare you pull a stunt like that!
You don’t deserve to live, you pathetic coward!!” He charged forward, delivering a heavy kick that sent Ersak crashing back down to the dirt.
The remaining survivors swarmed in, unleashing a brutal barrage of blows upon him.
After a brief pocket of silence, everything descended into madness once more.
Seeing Ersak violently cough up a spray of blood, the sentries broke out in a cold sweat, screaming, “HEY!!
STOP IT!!” A bald, towering criminal pushed his way to the front, standing right over Ersak’s head.
He raised his massive leg high into the air, roaring, “DROP DEAD!” His foot stomped downward with immense force— Everything seemed to slow down into a frozen, pitch-black void.
Ersak’s internal voice echoed through the silent dark: “In the end, death comes anyway…” “It really is a sin…
I should have died back then instead of surviving up to this point…
If only the person who perished that day had been me, and not…” The silhouettes of his loved ones materialized simultaneously in his mind—the red-haired girl, Uncle Jie, Tenzin…
everyone.
And alongside them…
a fleeting glimpse of a silhouette with shimmering, golden hair…
Every single figure appeared before him, entirely devoid of eyes.
Ersak closed his exhausted eyelids as a final thought drifted through his consciousness: “It’s time to see everyone again…” Suddenly, a succession of incredibly rapid, heavy footsteps tore through the clearing—SLASH!
SLASH!
Two razor-sharp claw marks flashed through the air in the blink of an eye.
The bald bandit’s leg was severed cleanly from his torso, his entire body instantly split in half.
The guards scrambled backward in sheer panic, yelling, “WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT…?!” The remaining bandits tumbled to the ground, paralyzed with terror.
Right in front of them lay the split corpse of the muscular brute, his severed leg resting several feet away.
Blood splattered violently across the dirt, pooling continuously into the earth.
High atop the roof of the barracks behind them, a silhouette materialized.
Long, flowing strands of crimson hair drifted in the evening breeze as the figure stood tall, supporting Ersak’s unconscious form over her shoulder.
Night had officially fallen, leaving only the pale, silver glow of the moon to illuminate the yard.
Ersak remained completely unresponsive, his eyelids tightly shut and his head slumped heavily against the girl’s shoulder.
The moment the guards caught sight of her, a wave of sheer terror washed over them.
Breaking into a frantic cold sweat, every single soldier instantly dropped to their knees.
The metallic clatter and clank of their plate armor echoed sharply against the frozen silence of the camp.
Bowing their heads all the way to the dirt, they stammered out in trembling unison: “A-Agent…
E-…”