Kiaria let Halo of Heal bloom from his palms–soft, white, warm like the gentlest moonlight. It washed over Diala and Princess, mending strained nerves, easing bruised bones, settling their shaken hearts.
The moment the glow faded, Kiaria tightened the vision-share tether so both girls could see everything inside the Ghost Prison.
He didn't want to hide the reality any longer–not the cost of provoking beasts, not the true meaning of danger. But he also sharpened a thin layer over their view, censoring what their hearts shouldn't bear.
Inside the Ghost Prison Domain, the cave pulsed with emerald darkness. Strings of web crisscrossed the walls like nerves of a monstrous heart. Ru warriors struggled, shouting, grinding their mandibles, smashing their fists into ground and stone in a desperate attempt to resist what they sensed was coming.
Evil Spider crouched low, flames inside its hollow face twisting unpredictably. Its voice crawled out with cold delight.
"In my Ghost Prison… I will give you shameful, painful death."
Its laughter was wet and sly, echoing like something inside a coffin banging to get out.
"Prison Spike."
The ground responded to its command like a living creature. Black bone spikes spiraled outwards, thrusting violently upward, slicing the space between Evil Spider and the Ru warriors. The spikes didn't aim to kill, only to divide–creating lanes, forcing the Ru tribe to remain in scattered pockets. Panic erupted among them as their formations shattered instantly.
"En-Slave En-silk."
The moment the words left its hollow cavity, thin threads shot from all angles, ripping through the air so fast they were almost invisible. Half the Ru warriors were wrapped in dense cocoon-like threads within seconds. Screams and snarls erupted.
"NO–NO!! CUT IT!! REMOVE IT!! HELP!!!"
But when they clawed at the threads, the silks only melted and sank deeper into their chitin.
White webs wriggled like living worms.
The parasitic silk fused into their blood vessels, spread like fungal roots through muscle and bone. Their screams shifted into chokes. Their bodies stiffened. Their pupils shrank.
Alive. Conscious. But their minds were being pushed aside.
They felt every movement.They felt every impulse.They felt every twitch.But they could not stop their limbs.
Evil Spider tapped the cavern floor lightly.
"Fight."
The command snapped through the puppets like a blade.
The enslaved Ru warriors lunged toward their own companions, their movements wild, frantic, twisted. The free warriors gasped in horror.
"No! Brother–Brother, stop! STOP!! PLEASE–STOP!"
"Siyun! It's me! WAKE UP! WAKE UP!"
"Father–Father, don't raise your hands against me! Don't do this–Father–!"
"Juro! Juro, move aside! He's not controlling his body–!"
"Run! RUN! They are puppets–they can't control–!"
The words fell apart under screams.
Controlled bodies slammed fists into comrades. Mandibles cut into familiar armor. Legs sharpened by rage pierced through brothers' chests. Even as they fought, the controlled warriors' eyes spilled tears of humiliation and despair–not willing, yet killing.
Some tried to bite their own tongues to break consciousness, but the silk numbed their nerves.
Every conscious act faded away as thoughts with no energy to respond. Neither end life own nor close eyes.
Some twisted their own wrists to break the puppet control, but the silk mended the wounds instantly.
Some shouted inside their own heads–Stop… stop… I don't want to… I don't want to kill them… please stop me… someone stop me…kill me… don't hesitate… End my life… dying in your hands better than being controlled… I beg you…
But their blades found their friends all the same.
Ru Chief Winglu, suspended from above in web, watched in suffocating horror.
His eyes reddened.His chest trembled with every death.Memories of training together, hunting together, eating together, sleeping under the same giant leaves–all shattered one by one.
"No… NO… no… don't–!"
His voice broke when a young Ru boy, barely past adolescent shedding, stabbed his uncle through the chest while crying, "S-stop… my arms won't listen… please… someone… help me–please stop me…"
Winglu's tears hit the ground beneath him.
"STOP!!! SOMEBODY STOP HIM! PLEASE–PLEASE–!!"
No one could.
Within minutes–hundreds collapsed.Bodies torn.Bone crunching under controlled rage.Screams choked off into silence.
Black smoke seeped from the Ghost Prison fire and poured into the fresh corpses. Blood reversed its flow, stilled, froze. The domain claimed every last drop.
Evil Spider didn't stop.It crushed their skulls.Devoured them.Bones cracked.Heads vanished into the prison cavity.
Only two remained–Ru Jin and Ru Winglu–dangling helplessly, tears streaking their faces, hearts bleeding with rage and grief and fear.
Kiaria stood.
He stepped off the throne of web and walked toward the blocked cave entrance with cold silence. His fingers pressed into the thick silk seal. Energy crackled. The web tore open with a screeching snap.
Inside, the air shifted.Evil Spider lowered its head, giving space.
Kiaria stepped in.
Ru Winglu's voice trembled."P-Patron… you are a Patron… forgive us… please… have mercy…"
Kiaria rose from the cave floor, body lifting effortlessly. A white mist curled around his crown.
He slashed downward with two fingers. The web holding the two Ru chiefs split open. Both fell heavily to the stone ground.
Kiaria's eyes were burning–not with maliciousness, but cold rage.
Ru Jin, desperate, drew a spear from his beast ring.
"What Patron?! He's just a boy! Look at him! Height of a child, wearing a mask–he's pretending! We can kill him!"
Winglu glanced at Kiaria–then at Ru Jin–and understood a fraction too late that this was not someone you challenge.
But pride was poison.
Ru Jin charged first."Hurrine Halberd!"
Wind spiraled violently. A heavy curved blade made of compressed force slashed toward Kiaria. Not spiritual energy–raw strength. Enough weight to crush boulders.
But it didn't touch him.
Kiaria didn't move.The attack passed through the afterimage he left behind before Ru Jin's stance was even complete.
Ru Jin prepared another strike–
But Kiaria pinched the spearhead between two fingers.
The spear stopped as if caught by iron.
Winglu picked up two broken swords. Threw them toward Kiaria's blind spot in a desperate attempt to support Ru Jin.
Kiaria flicked his wrist.
He grabbed Ru Jin's arms before the warrior realized the attack failed. He forcibly spread Ru Jin's arms wide–
The broken swords sliced down Ru Jin's own forearms.
Ru Jin screamed–until Kiaria's fingers dug into the wound.
Kiaria plucked the entire arm free from the socket with one decisive pull.
"This is for grabbing my companions' heads."
His voice was cold.Heartless.Final.
The scene blurred for Diala and Princess–the vision-share protected them from this brutality.
Winglu, seeing Ru Jin's blood spill like waterfall, faltered. His legs collapsed under him. He slid, gliding across the dirt until momentum forced him into a kneel.
He tried to stand but his fear paralyzed him.
Kiaria's gaze settled on him like a blade.
Ru Winglu broke."I–I beg you! Please! We have children… families… we are the only strong ones left… Without us, the tribe will die! Perish! Please! Patron, I swear–we will never cross paths with humans! Never with anyone! Forgive us!"
Kiaria looked at him with monochrome gaze, pierced into his thoughts.
Not a tremor of malice.Only guilt.Regret.Fear.A broken father who had watched his people die.
"Pure," Kiaria muttered softly. "Then I pardon you."
His gaze shifted to Ru Jin–half-dead, half-alive, shaking violently.
"Isn't this how you grabbed my companions' heads?" Kiaria asked, pressing a single palm against his face.
Ru Jin urinated in fear.
"Yes–mercy–please–mercy–!" he sobbed incoherently.
Kiaria strengthened his grip.
"My father taught me: mercy is for the deserving."
Kiaria's monochrome vision shown Ru Jin's outline revealed thick blackness–evil intent woven deep into his spiritual veins.
Kiaria sighed.
"If you survive this grip, then–"
He closed his hand.
Pressure exploded.Chitin cracked.Mandibles shattered.Bone pierced flesh.The skull collapsed inward with a wet crack.
Ru Jin's body fell limp.
Winglu's heart stopped for a moment. "Jin… dead…"
Kiaria walked toward him.
Winglu trembled uncontrollably.
Kiaria softened.
He dispelled the mask, letting his human face show."Elder Ru Chief… stand. You are not like him. Not everyone deserves death. Think before you speak–your tribe's fate depends on your wisdom."
He touched Winglu's forehead. A misty-white orb entered his brow, expanding his spiritual sea, healing fractures in consciousness, stabilizing bloodline conflict.
Winglu gasped as strength returned.
Ru Winglu knelt."Patron… thank you… thank you… Our tribe will always welcome you…"
Kiaria lifted him gently."No kneeling. No submission. Be a wise ruler. I erased the spiritual conflict in both the illusory and real world. One day I will visit your tribe and awaken your young generation's dormant seas. For now–go apologize to my companions."
"Yes… Patron."
When they stepped outside, Evil Spider had already shrunk into a white spiderling, guiding Diala and Princess gently to the ground.
Winglu bowed deeply."I apologize… for everything."
Kiaria nodded, reminding him silently to hide his identity.
Then the three left the cave, shadows trailing behind them.
The peace of the herb field felt distant now.
The hot blood of vengeance still clung to Kiaria's steps.