Chapter 113: The Butcher's Vow and the Goliaths
The heavy iron door slammed shut, the echo vibrating through the damp stone walls of the cell. Miss Hima, Adam Lee, and the guards vanished into the dimly lit corridor, their footsteps fading into a haunting silence.
Ren Vority remained on his knees, his body trembling from the sheer force of Hima's strike. Blood continued to leak from the corner of his mouth, and a deep cut across his cheekbone dripped crimson onto the dusty floor. He looked at his shattered tooth, lying in a small pool of his own life-force.
"Hell..." Ren whispered, his voice sounding like dry leaves grinding together. "If I don't send every single one of you to the deepest pits of hell for this... then my name isn't Ren Vority."
Suddenly, the lock on his cell door clicked again. Ren didn't look up, expecting more guards to come and finish the job. But the person who stepped inside didn't have the heavy tread of a soldier. It was Mina Kimo.
She rushed toward him, her face filled with an agonizing mix of guilt and concern. She knelt beside him, reaching into her pocket to pull out a clean white cloth.
"Ren, you're... oh god, you're bleeding so much," she whispered, her voice trembling. She reached out to wipe the blood from his face. "Please, take this. You need to stop the bleeding."
Ren's response was instantaneous. He didn't take the cloth. Instead, he channeled the last ounce of his physical strength into a violent, desperate punch aimed directly at Mina's throat.
But the strike never landed.
Mina didn't flinch. In a fluid, effortless motion, she caught Ren's fist in the palm of her hand. The impact made a dull thud, but she didn't move an inch. The Vane energy Ren had transferred to her earlier was now fully integrated into her system; she was faster and stronger than he was in his current, weakened state.
"Trust me, Ren," Mina pleaded, her eyes searching his. "I never wanted this to happen. I had to do it. Your life depended on it—"
"Shut up, you traitor!" Ren roared, pulling his hand back and lunging at her again.
Mina slipped to the side, letting him stumble past her. She didn't fight back; she only defended. "Ren, listen to me! I'm on your side! Please, look at your condition! You can't keep fighting like this!"
Ren hit the wall and slid down, his breathing ragged. He realized then that he couldn't beat her physically right now. He needed the truth. He needed to know if the girl he had sacrificed everything for was truly gone.
Ren closed his eyes for a split second. When he opened them, the sapphire blue iris was gone, replaced by the terrifying deep red of the Eye of Deception. At its center, the black 'X' began to pulse with a low, vibrational hum.
"Tell me the truth, Mina Kimo," Ren commanded, his voice vibrating with a supernatural weight. "Whose side are you on?"
Mina's pupils dilated instantly, the red glow reflecting in her eyes. Her resistance vanished. "I am on your side," she said, her voice monotone and hollow under the influence of the eye. "I betrayed you on the plains only to save you. If I hadn't, the Royal Guard had orders to fire. You and Hana would have been killed instantly. Everything I've done is to keep you alive."
Ren's jaw tightened. "Where is Hana?"
"She is safe," Mina replied. "She is in the custody of Prince Enoki. He has placed her in a high-security villa within the inner circle. She is being treated for her injuries."
Ren exhaled, the tension in his shoulders finally breaking. He deactivated his vision. The red light faded, and the black 'X' vanished.
Mina blinked, shaking her head as if waking up from a dream. She looked at Ren, confused. She had no memory of the last thirty seconds—no memory of the questions he had asked or the secrets she had revealed. The Eye of Deception left no traces in the minds of the victims.
"Ren? Did you hear me?" Mina asked, picking up the conversation from where she thought it had left off. "I betrayed you because there was no other choice. If I hadn't pointed that gun at you, someone else would have pulled the trigger. I did it for you."
Ren looked at her, his expression unreadable. He realized now that her "betrayal" was a calculated move to satisfy Enoki and the King.
"And this Lite Leader idea?" Ren asked, his voice still cold but no longer filled with the same murderous intent.
"That was my idea too," Mina admitted, her voice gaining strength. "I suggested it to Miss Hima. I told her that my team needed a military mind—someone who understood the shadow tactics of the Sectors. I knew it was the only way to get you out of this cell. If you're a Lite Leader, you have freedom of movement. You won't be a prisoner anymore."
Ren leaned his head back against the stone wall, a dark, cynical laugh escaping his lips. "So, you want me to be the King's guard? You want me to protect the man who turned my home into a graveyard?"
"It's a way out, Ren," Mina urged. "Once we are in the inner circle, we can find Hana. We can escape together."
"No," Ren said, his eyes flashing with a cold, sapphire intensity. "I'll do it. I'll join your team. I'll play the role of the Lite Leader. But you have to understand one thing, Mina."
Mina leaned in, her heart hammering. "What?"
"I am not going into that palace to be the King's guard," Ren whispered, his voice dripping with venom. "I am going in there to be his executioner. I'm going to kill King Zero."
Mina gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. "Ren! You can't... the security, the Vaners, the Core... you'll never survive!"
"I don't plan on surviving," Ren replied, looking at the pool of blood on the floor. "I only plan on finishing this."
The Jungle: The Arrival of the Goliaths
While the conspiracy hatched in the dark cells of the capital, a nightmare was unfolding in the outer territories.
In a secluded village nestled deep within the Whispering Jungle, the peace of the afternoon was shattered by a sound that didn't belong to nature. It was a rhythmic thud—a vibration that made the water in the wells ripple and the birds flee from the trees.
A young boy, no older than ten, stood in the center of the village square. He looked toward the treeline and froze.
Emerging from the dense foliage were creatures that defied logic. They were humanoid in shape, but their size was monstrous—each one stood at least thirty feet tall, as high as a two-story house. Their skin was a sickly, greyish-white, like the belly of a dead fish, and their eyes were wide, unblinking, and filled with a mindless, primal hunger.
These were the Giants from Hell.
One of the giants reached out with a hand the size of a carriage and snatched a cow from a nearby barn. With a sickening crunch, it bit the animal in half, blood spraying across the wooden walls.
The villagers began to scream, scattering in every direction. But there was no escape. The giants moved with a terrifying, lumbering speed. Another monster reached down and grabbed a man who was trying to hide behind a stack of hay.
The giant didn't hesitate. It tossed the man into its mouth like a piece of fruit, the sound of breaking bones echoing through the square.
In minutes, the village was a slaughterhouse. Houses were stepped on, crushed into splinters. The giants weren't just killing; they were harvesting. They moved through the village with a systematic cruelty, catching every human and animal they could find.
At the edge of the jungle, a lone survivor—an old hunter—watched from a hollowed-out log. He saw the giants finish their "meal" and turn their heads toward the horizon. They weren't moving randomly. They were walking in a straight line.
They were heading toward the capital. They were heading toward Athelgard.
The hunter trembled as he realized that the war between the kings and the rebellion of the Vaners was nothing compared to the hunger of the Goliaths. The earth was no longer ruled by men. It was being reclaimed by the monsters.