In the dense forest at nightfall, Isaac collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath. His body was covered with battle wounds, blood seeping through his torn sleeves. Pain radiated throughout his body, but he struggled to maintain consciousness, fighting not to pass out.
The Supreme Commander of the special unit stood tall before him, facing a mysterious man in a black cloak on the opposite side. Beneath the stranger's hood, only an enigmatic smile was visible. At the Commander's side, Madame Esther stood calmly, her cold gaze fixed on the man before them.
The forest wind gusted strongly, leaves trembling throughout the area. The atmosphere was tense, each side standing motionless, as if waiting for someone to break the silence.
Suddenly, the Commander sensed something happening in the capital.
"Won't you go back? If you don't act now, everything you've built will be wasted."
The mysterious man's voice was unhurried, without compulsion, merely prompting the Commander to reconsider, which caused a moment of hesitation.
"Hmm..." The cloaked man scoffed when he saw the hesitation. "You seem uncertain. If that's the case, I'll have to make your decision easier."
The mysterious man grinned before continuing, "If you insist on fighting us... I can delay you long enough for everything you've built to crumble before your eyes."
Hearing this, the Commander's expression changed. Hesitation vanished, replaced by firm resolve. He decided to hurry back to the capital with Esther.
Seeing this, the mysterious man smiled faintly before walking over to Isaac, who remained collapsed on the ground. He bent down, grabbed Isaac's arm roughly and pulled him to his feet. Isaac's face contorted with pain.
The man then took out a lead disc and whispered something into it.
In an instant, both figures faded away, like a painting erased from a canvas.
...
An atmosphere of overwhelming dread spread without source, reason, or boundary. The space that had been cut off from the outside world now shattered. Sounds from outside filtered in once more.
The assassin froze, his body trembling, feeling a fear deeper than any instinct, a fear that penetrated to the core of his soul.
Charles flicked his finger just once.
The assassin's arm instantly twisted, as if invisible ropes had yanked and broken the bones into unnatural shapes. Screams of agony echoed throughout the room.
In panic, the assassin quickly unlocked the key, destroying the spell that had sealed the room from the outside world. With trembling hands, he reached into his shirt, pulled out a necklace with a thumb-shaped pendant, put it in his mouth, and lunged through the wall, disappearing like smoke.
Shortly afterward, the sound of footsteps running down the corridor echoed. Several guards rushed into the room, finding Joseph lying severely wounded and Charles sitting motionless, his eyes vacant.
"It's not dead yet..." came the faint whisper of one guard, words that seemed to fade but left a chill in the air.
Two guards drew their knives and rushed toward Joseph's injured form, their eyes filled with malicious intent.
Though Charles's eyes appeared vacant, he saw everything clearly, sensing the evil intentions emanating from both guards. His fingers twitched slightly.
"What—?" one guard exclaimed.
Suddenly, both guards' bodies levitated, as if yanked up by invisible ropes.
Their bodies twisted until the sound of breaking bones rang out. Blood flowed from their noses. Their lives ended in agony.
Joseph watched the scene with a mixture of fear and sorrow. He wanted to help wake Charles from his trance, but his body was too weak to move. He could only watch as his friend remained under some influence.
The sound of running footsteps came from the corridor. Edward and Miranda rushed into the room, freezing at the sight before them: the twisted corpses of the guards, Joseph lying in a pool of blood, and Charles sitting motionless with pitch-black eyes.
"Help... Charles..." Joseph's faint voice rose. Though it was a plea, his own condition was equally concerning.
Edward and Miranda exchanged glances, deciding to split their tasks. Edward handed a healing potion to Miranda, his hand trembling slightly as he offered the bottle, worry evident on his face.
Miranda quickly knelt beside her brother, her hand shaking slightly as she uncorked the potion. She poured the golden-red liquid onto his wounds.
Meanwhile, Edward rushed toward Charles, who sat motionless in the cell. The young man's pitch-black eyes stared vacantly into emptiness, his lips moving in whispers no one could hear. The atmosphere around him radiated an inexplicable dread.
"Charles!" Edward shouted, projecting his power to stimulate the young man. "Wake up! Don't let it control you!"
But his voice was swallowed by the silence. The malevolent entity possessing Charles resisted interference. Invisible threads stretched throughout the room like a giant spider's web.
Miranda stood up, using her probability power to manipulate the luck surrounding them, causing those invisible tendons to miss their targets, avoiding her and her brother lying on the ground.
The air in the room grew increasingly heavy, the pressure so oppressive it was difficult to breathe. Threads began to bind Edward's wrists and ankles. Every movement became labored, as if moving through thick liquid. Even lifting arms and legs became difficult.
Though Miranda fared better, she couldn't move extensively without risking entanglement in those binding threads.
Edward refused to give up. He continued trying to reach Charles through words infused with his power, but all he received in return was mocking laughter. Edward recognized that laugh—it came from the Grand Vitalis Entity in that house.
"Charles!" Edward shouted. "Remember the condition of that woman! You must resist it, or you'll become like her!"
Soft laughter echoed through the room, mocking their efforts. More invisible tendons shot out from nothingness as their lifespans shortened.
'Miranda, use your probability to give me a chance,' Edward sent the thought. 'I need to get close to Charles. When I whisper to him, use your fate domain to help him resist the Grand Vitalis Entity's influence.'
Miranda's pupils dilated, her brows furrowing. 'It's too late if it's truly a Grand Vitalis Entity. We need to kill him now before he becomes an incarnation.'
'Please! Give him one last chance,' Edward's gaze remained fixed on Charles. 'But if it doesn't work... I'll kill him myself.'
Miranda looked at Edward, then back at Charles. Sweat trickled down her forehead. She gritted her teeth. 'Fine.'
As soon as she mentally agreed, Edward shook free from the threads, aided by his niece's probability power. He rushed toward Charles, evading the invisible forces gripping the room with heightened instinct.
When he reached the young man, he whispered through the iron bars.
"Awaken..." his voice came as a soft whisper, like a demon's sweet invitation.
Through Edward's whispered power and Miranda's fate domain, human pupils appeared in Charles's previously all-black eyes.
Edward was then thrown back by the malevolent entity controlling Charles. Blood-red tendons emerged from nothingness, lifting Edward's body. Miranda didn't escape either; her feet rose from the ground as if she were being hanged.
The already dire situation worsened. Both their necks began twisting backward. They struggled against it, but to no avail.
Charles, now conscious, watched the scene unfold. He tried to help them, but his body was no longer his own. He couldn't control it, though his mind remained his own.
He used his power to draw the entity's attention toward himself, but it didn't work. The Grand Vitalis Entity continued laughing mockingly, its repulsive voice mingled with the emanating fear.
In this hopeless situation, the young man decided to try something he had never attempted before.
"Kah... Tam... Nah..." One phrase, but not in any normal language—in the language of the Great Sin Kingdom.
"Release them," he continued speaking in a language he had never learned.
The laughter stopped. It began turning its gaze toward him.
Charles increased his own focus by consuming the consciousness of this Grand Vitalis Entity. But instead of the satisfaction and fulfillment that usually responded to his power, what mingled with it was madness, despair, and paranoia.
These emotional torrents flooded the young man's mind. His eyes filled with blood, streaming down as bloody tears, followed by similar effects from his nose, mouth, and ears.
Suffering consumed him until Charles nearly wanted to dash his head against the wall to end it immediately.
The malevolent entity shifted its attention from Edward and Miranda to fully face him with its blood-red eyes.
"Interesting," it said. "Language from the Great Age... interesting."
Charles couldn't hear these words, consumed by the madness from devouring the Grand Vitalis Entity's consciousness. Though Edward and Miranda were fighting for their lives, they heard these words but couldn't understand them.
"Who are you?" it opened its mouth, extending a tongue that resembled fleshy vines, reaching to touch the forehead of the body it was trying to possess.
The moment its tongue touched Charles's forehead, it jerked back immediately, releasing a piercing scream. Charles, regaining consciousness, fought back and expelled it.
Charles's scream reverberated throughout the room. The blood flowing from his eyes and nose evaporated mid-air, forming a deep red mist that surrounded his body.
Within Charles's mind, he was sinking into grotesquely distorted emotions. Torment and thousands of screams assaulted his mind, tearing at his spirit.
"Surrender, you foreign entity," its voice echoed in his head. "A being like you shouldn't exist in this world."
But Charles refused to surrender, knowing defeat meant death. He gathered his resolve and began fighting back, gradually pushing out the malevolent consciousness.
"Get out of my head..." he spoke in the language of the Great Sin Kingdom. "You hideous face."
The Grand Vitalis Entity roared furiously, attempting to possess his body, but Charles resisted with all his might.
Edward and Miranda, having just escaped from their bindings, quickly stood up, staring at the scene before them in shock. Charles's body floated in mid-air, radiating spiritual dread.
Suddenly, the entity's possession ceased. Charles didn't hesitate, seizing the opportunity to regain control of his body immediately.
"You foreign entity," the Grand Vitalis Entity's voice weakened. "Do you know what you bring with you?"
"No," Charles replied, his voice blending with the ancient language. "Get out!"
Everything in the room levitated, as if in a zero-gravity environment. The Grand Vitalis Entity's screams echoed throughout, before gradually fading away. Charles's body and all the floating objects then fell to the ground.
A desolate silence settled over the room. Gone were the mocking laughter and atmosphere of fear. Everything that had been like a nightmare vanished as if it had never happened.