Through crowded streets, across market roads, over fences and rooftops, Shinazu ran until his legs felt like they would give out beneath him.
Yet the pursuit never stopped even though his speed outmatched the horses.
But everywhere he tried to hide, they found him using mana trace detection artifact with his blood.
The words followed him relentlessly: _”Devil Spawn!
Evil Brat!
Catch him!”_
His chest burned, his face was soaked with sweat, and cuts and scratches covered his thin body.
But still, he kept running because stopping only meant death.
…
As the sun slowly sank beneath the horizon, the town disappeared behind Shinazu.
Only the forest remained.
The trees swallowed the last traces of the town.
Branches whipped against his face and roots threatened to trip him at every step, yet he pushed forward as he had no choice.
Outside the woods Kaizel halted his horse and gripped the hilt of his sword tightly.
Cold fury burned in his eyes as he dismounted his horse.
“Tch!
He escaped into the woods.” The forest was too dense for them to continue on horseback.
“Lord Kaizel,” one of the men said nervously, “we’ve been chasing him since noon.
The brat is ridiculously fast.
Even some trained knights can’t keep up with him even on horses.”
“I CAN SEE THAT!” Kaizel snapped.
His eyes narrowed.
“Which is exactly why he must die.”
“Find him at any cost!” he barked.
“He couldn’t have gone far.
We cannot let that Devil Spawn live.”
He raised his voice so everyone could hear.
“Whoever brings me his head will be heavily rewarded.”
The surrounding men immediately got enticed.
“NOW STOP STARING AT ME AND GO FIND HIM!” The search party rushed into the forest, searching for the fleeing boy.
Hours passed.
The darkness deepened, and his body grew heavier with every breath.
Several cuts from the sword edges all over his body continued to bleed.
His feet felt numb, and his vision weakened.
But still, he ran.
Suddenly, voices echoed behind him through the trees.
“Over there!”
Shinazu’s heart nearly stopped.
They had found him again.
He immediately changed direction, the forest becoming a blur around him.
Leaves, branches, shadows, fear, everything merged into one endless nightmare.
_I’ve been running for hours…
Why won’t they stop?_ His fists clenched.
_What did I ever do?_ His face burned with resentment.
Suddenly behind him, a familiar voice echoed through the darkness.
“This time your head is mine, Devil Spawn!”
“Kaizel.” Shinazu looked back.
The town lord was rushing toward him with a sword, his eyes burning with murderous intent.
Shinazu forced his exhausted legs to move faster, but his body had reached its limit.
The wounds, the hunger, the exhaustion, everything was catching up to him and his pace slowed.
Kaizel noticed.
A cruel smile appeared on his face as he slowed down a little.
“Running out of strength?”
Shinazu ignored him.
One step, another and Another.
Then suddenly, he stopped.
Not by choice, but his feet simply refused to move.
His eyes widened as the forest had ended and ahead of him stretched empty air…
a cliff.
Below his feet roared a massive waterfall illuminated by the moonlight.
The drop was easily more than 300 meters, raging like a giant mouth waiting to swallow him whole.
His feet instinctively moved back and pebbles rolled off the cliff’s edge, disappearing into the darkness far below.
Shinazu’s stomach dropped.
_No.
No, no, no.
Not now.
Not here._
Slowly, Kaizel stopped running as a wide smile appeared on his face.
“There you are.” Shinazu instinctively turned towards him.
Kaizel laughed.
“Looks like your fate has already been decided.”
The boy remained silent as every instinct screamed of danger.
One more step backward and he would fall, one step forward and Kaizel would kill him.
He was trapped.
Kaizel continued walking toward him slowly and patiently, like a predator cornering a wounded prey.
“Finally at last!
Where will you run now?”
The distance between them shortened by a feet every second.
Shinazu’s breathing became uneven.
His entire body trembled, not from weakness, but from anger, fear, and helplessness.
Finally, he snapped.
“What did I ever do to you?!”
All the years of pain and frustration he lived as an orphan poured into that single question.
Kaizel paused, then shrugged.
“Nothing.”
The answer stunned him.
“Nothing?”
“You’re simply unfortunate.” Kaizel smiled.
“A child blessed with Dark Magic.” The man’s voice was calm and matter-of-fact, as if discussing the weather.
“You should blame the Goddess who gave it to you.”
Shinazu stared at him, his fists shaking.
“Even if I awakened Dark Magic, I never committed a crime.”
The sword lowered slightly.
“Every great disaster in history began with a Dark Mage.” Kaizel’s smile widened.
“Whether you’re innocent doesn’t matter.
We can’t let a possible devil live.”
The words felt colder than the night air, and for the first time, Shinazu truly understood that nothing he said or did would matter.
The moment he awakened Dark Magic, his fate had already been decided.
Kaizel took another step forward, his sword’s tip glinting green beneath the moon.
“Don’t worry.” His voice softened.
“I’ll make it quick and painless.”
Shinazu stepped backward until his bare heels touched the edge of the cliff.
There was nowhere left to run.
Shinazu glanced behind him then at the waterfall roaring behind him.
Then again he looked at the approaching sword.
He closed his eyes with regret.
Then a strange calm settled over him, and his fear slowly faded, replaced by determination.
Shinazu smiled bitterly.
For the first time all night, the fear vanished from his eyes.
“Even if death is inevitable, my name is immortal, and a scum like you is far beneath me to decide my end.” Shinazu cursed Kaizel and his heels touched empty air.
Kaizel’s expression changed as realization flashed across his face.
“Wait..”
The world disappeared beneath him.
Wind exploded around his body as the cliff rushed upward and he plunged down the waterfall…
For a brief second, Kaizel froze.
Then, fury twisted his face from shinazu’s mockery.
“DIE, YOU DEVIL SPAWN!”
His sword erupted with green light and without hesitation, he threw it.
The blade shot through the air like a meteor.
Shinazu saw it coming and tried to dodge, but he couldn’t move.
“AAAAAH!”
Blood scattered across the waterfall, but the impact had lost much of its power against the rushing water, and the sword was ripped away by the current.
Shinazu continued falling, faster and deeper.
The wound in his shoulder burned like fire as he was being battered by the violent current of waterfall.
His blood mixed with the water around him.
Then, he hit the river below.
The impact drove the air from his lungs and the current dragged him deeper and deeper into the depths.
Above him, the distant silver moonlight above grew fainter until only darkness remained.
His world had become a blur of water and pain.
He slowly sank deeper and deeper.
His body felt cold and heavy.
Every movement became harder than the last.
The pain slowly faded, not because his wounds were healing, but because he was losing consciousness.
His eyes drifted shut.
For the first time since the chase began, nobody was pursuing him, nobody was calling him a devil spawn and nobody was trying to kill him.
There was only silence, and his thoughts.
_I roamed the streets hungry.
I was chased by dogs.
Beaten up by strangers.
Insulted by people whom I never knew the names of._
His body slowly sank further into the darkness.
_I never stole from anyone.
I never killed anyone.
I never hurt anyone.
So why?_
His chest tightened.
The question had followed him for years, a question nobody ever answered.
*Just being unfortunate really enough?*
The pressure of the water increased around him, and his lungs strained with a desperate effort to get some air.
_I’ve never seen my parents.
Never had a family.
Never had anyone who cared for me._
A bitter smile formed on his face.
Even underwater, even at death’s door, the thought still hurt.
_I worked every day just to survive.
I endured everything.
Yet no matter how hard I tried…
it was never enough.
And when I thought my life would change after I awaken my magic, I suddenly became a devil and was chased to death by everyone._
The darkness slowly closed in and his body stopped resisting for breath as there was no point anymore.
The world had already decided his fate.
_Why..?
Why Goddess Eien…?
What was my crime?!_
For a few seconds he waited for an answer and silence made a single tear escape his eye which lost instantly in the water.
_In the end…
Everything comes down to fate and I absolutely hate it._
The moonlight above disappeared, and the cold no longer bothered him as his consciousness faded.
His body continued sinking.
As he disappeared into the waterfall, Kaizel continued staring down after him.
After a few minutes..
“What happened to the boy, Lord Kaizel?” The Priest came from behind as he watched the waterfall.
“He is dead.
He won’t survive the Moonfall, not to mention that I gave him a direct hit with my sword.
He’s deader than dead.” Kaizel turned away.
“Then how should we report it?” Priest asked.
Kaizel became a little nervous.
“Let’s not report him” Kaizel smiled and patted Priest’s shoulder.
“If the Chancellor found out that we couldn’t even kill a fourteen year old brat properly, we will be on streets begging.”
“But we made a huge scene in the town.
We can’t do that,” the Priest said nervously.
“Then what should I do?
We can’t fool the Chancellor with someone else’s body.” Kaizel snapped.
Kaizel let out a sigh.
“We will report the incident as a monster hunt.”
The Priest nodded in agreement but still reluctant.
They then turned and went away, after giving the waterfall a last glance.