Chapter 5
A new beginning.
That was what he told himself.
The illusion didn't even last until sunrise.
"UP! EVERYONE UP RIGHT NOW!"
A harsh voice ripped through the cold dormitory. The older boys around Ryudien immediately scrambled out of their thin beds, faces pale with fear.
Still half-asleep, Ryudien sat up, rubbing his eyes. "What's going on—"
Crack!
A whip snapped against the metal bed frame just inches above his head. He flinched violently.
"Less talking, more moving!" the overseer barked, his thick cane pointed toward the door. "The coal trucks have arrived. Every single one of you will haul sacks today. No excuses."
Ryudien opened his mouth again, still confused. "But I thought—"
The overseer grabbed his jaw roughly, forcing the small boy to look up at him.
"Listen carefully, brat. In this house, you're not children. You're an adult who works to eat. You work, you eat. You slack off…" He leaned in closer, his breath foul. "You bleed. Now get to the yard before I decide to make an example out of you."
Ryudien's heart sank as the last trace of hope shattered.
This wasn't an escape.
It was just another kind of hell.
Two years dragged by inside the cold walls of the Willoreach Welfare House.
Two years of endless labor, gnawing hunger, and silent bruises.
By the age of nine, Ryudien no longer looked like a normal child. His eyes were dull and hollow, his small frame thin and scarred.
One quiet afternoon, the supervisor pointed at him without warning.
"You. Come here."
Ryudien obeyed without a word and followed him down the dim corridor.
Inside the main office, a tall man in dark clothing stood waiting. His sharp golden eyes scanned Ryudien from head to toe, cold and calculating.
The supervisor shifted nervously. "This is the boy you asked for, sir."
Ferwel Noxes gave a slight nod, then slowly walked closer. He crouched just enough to meet Ryudien's eye level.
"What's your name?" he asked, his voice low and indifferent.
"…Ryudien."
Ferwel studied him for a moment, expression unchanging.
"You've survived this long. Not bad."
He straightened up and placed a small pouch of coins on the table. The supervisor's eyes lit up as he quickly counted the money, clearly unfamiliar with this particular buyer.
"I'll take him," Ferwel said flatly.
Ryudien blinked, confused.
"You're… buying me?"
Ferwel turned to him, his faint smile cold and distant.
"I'm giving you a chance to be useful. A place where you might actually belong."
Those words hit something deep inside Ryudien. For the first time in years, a tiny spark of hope flickered in his chest.
As they left the welfare house, Ryudien glanced back at the grim building one last time.
Maybe… this time will be different.
Hours later, the carriage came to a stop deep within a misty forest. The air felt unnaturally heavy.
Ryudien stepped down cautiously.
"Where are we?" he asked quietly.
Ferwel didn't even look at him as he replied, voice calm but icy.
"A place where weak children become strong… or die trying."
The massive iron doors groaned open.
Ryudien's eyes widened in shock.
Dozens of children stood inside the enormous hall — some trembling with fear, some covered in wounds, others staring blankly like empty shells. The distant sound of chains and muffled cries echoed through the chamber.
Ryudien instinctively took a step back.
Ferwel placed a hand on his shoulder, his grip firm and cold.
"Welcome!"
His smile no longer held even a trace of warmth.
"It begins tonight."
Ferwel Noxes stood at the center of the hall like a king overseeing his arena. His golden eyes swept across the hundred terrified children with chilling indifference.
"There are no rules," he announced, his voice calm yet cutting through the silence like a blade. "No mercy. No second chances."
He paused, letting the weight of his words sink in.
"Kill each other until only one remains. Only the last survivor will earn the name Noxes."
A wave of panic rippled through the crowd.
"Huh…?"
"What?!"
"Why do we have to do this?!"
Some children started crying. Others backed away in horror.
Then the first scream shattered the air.
"Arghhhh!"
A boy collapsed to the ground, a crude knife buried deep in his chest. Standing over him was another child no older than ten, with messy green hair and sleepy yellow eyes, breathing heavily as he stared down at his fallen opponent.
"All we need to do is survive, right?" he muttered, eyes wild.
In an instant, the grand hall turned into a blood-soaked battlefield.
Screams. The sound of metal clashing. Bodies falling. Children who had never hurt anyone suddenly fought like cornered animals for their lives.
Ryudien did not kill a single person.
The moment the massacre began, he awakened his power — Clone Manifestation. He created duplicates of himself to confuse, distract, and escape. He ran. He hid. He swapped places with his clones again and again, narrowly avoiding death countless times.
By the time the sun set, the floor was painted red.
Out of one hundred children… only ten were still breathing.
Ferwel Noxes, who had been watching everything from above with crossed arms, slowly descended the stairs. His expression was unreadable.
He was supposed to have only one survivor.
But as he looked at the ten exhausted, bloodied children standing among the corpses, something shifted in his cold eyes.
A faint, almost pleased smile appeared on his lips.
"Excellent…" he murmured. Then louder, "Excellent!"
The surviving children flinched at his voice.
"I prepared this trial expecting only one of you to crawl out alive," Ferwel said, his tone carrying a rare hint of satisfaction. "But ten of you… ten of you refused to die so easily."
He walked slowly among them, stepping over lifeless bodies without a care.
"That raw, desperate will to survive… that is exactly what I wanted."
He stopped and spread his arms.
"I acknowledge all ten of you. From this day forward, you are no longer trash. You are seeds of Noxes."
But his smile turned sharp.
"Do not celebrate yet. This is only the beginning."
What followed were years of merciless training. Days without rest. Nights filled with pain. Ferwel broke them down and rebuilt them into weapons.
By the time Ryudien turned fourteen, he had officially become a full member of the Noxes Organization. Among the ten survivors, he was the last one Ferwel acknowledged — not because he was the weakest, but because he was the hardest to break.
The deep fear and trauma Ferwel instilled in him worked perfectly.
From then on, Ryudien obeyed every order.
Even the ones that required him to kill.
The next day, as Elyra was playing with Eldern, Damnern approached them.
"Eldern, it's time for training," Damnern said sternly.
"No! Eden can't twain today!" Elyra snapped immediately.
Don't worry, Eldern. I'll protect you from this bastard, Ryudien whispered to himself.
End of Chapter 5