Maria...
Dad...
Mom...
Lisa...
Levi...
Azro...
Kyle...
Please don't leave me.
Inside a deep, dark void, a small boy with glossy black hair and a sorrowful gaze tried to run with all his might to catch up with the people he was calling out to. A look of sadness and despair was etched on the poor boy's face as he ran after them.
But these people paid him no heed. They never turned around to see the poor boy who was crying out in anguish.
Like a little penguin that had lost its flock and was trying to catch up with them.
The boy ran after them, but he fell to the ground.
"Tsk!! Damn it!!"
The little boy cursed as he stared into the void at the people who had been calling to him as they walked away.
"Please don't leave me!!! I admit I was wrong!!! Please don't!!!! Don't leave me!!!" The little boy was shedding tears because he had failed to prove himself to the crowd that was disappearing into the pitch black.
The boy couldn't bear it any longer and began to cry.
He wasn't crying because of his injured ankle, but because he would be living alone this time, without family or friends.
Sobbing!
Sobbing!
Sobbing!
And as the boy was crying, he heard the sound of applause.
Applause!
Applause!
Applause! The applause was so loud that the boy turned around and looked towards a terrifying figure.
Before him stood a mere shadow with dark, menacing eyes and a green stare that spoke of utter despair.
The applause was so deafening,
that it terrified the poor child.
The boy tried to run away, utterly terrified by the frightening shadow.
But in a flash, the shadow was right in front of him, smiling horribly.
Its sharp teeth were bared, poised to devour the poor boy.
The poor boy couldn't bear it any longer and cried out,
"Who are you? Please, let me go! I don't want to die!"
The boy was terrified by the shadow's deathly stare.
The shadow smiled and uttered words no one expected.
"Don't worry, my sweet little one, you won't feel any pain, because, my little one, remember, you are Allen Kalin."
"Allen Kalin!!!!"
After Allen whispered this, the Shadow looked at him and said,
"Yes, you are Allen. Nothing will change you. Don't seek their approval; seek your own."
After the Shadow said this, Allen looked at him with a puzzled expression and repeated,
"My approval?"
"Yes, because you, my little boy, are one of the Kalens. Be yourself, be yourself, be yourself..."
The Shadow kept repeating these words amidst Allen's confusion.
Then,
he sank!
Allen found himself drowning in the darkness.
Even though he was drowning, he only noticed one word: "Be yourself."
This word was a wake-up call for the little boy who was working with all his might to prove himself.
And while he was drowning under the weight of the words of the Demon King, or the Shadow as he saw him,
he heard a scream:
"Allen!!!!! Wake up, Allen!!!! Allen, please answer!"
After hearing these words in the blink of an eye,
"Oh, ouch!!!!!" The boy, who had been lying in bed, awoke to find a girl his own age looking at him with a mixture of confusion and concern.
That girl was, in fact, his childhood friend, or rather, his adopted sister, Alya.
"What happened to you, Allen? Where were you? Why did you disappear?"
"What happened to you, Allen? Where were you? Why did you disappear?" These were the questions that came to Alya's mind when she saw her adopted brother lying on the bed.
After Alya asked these questions, Allen looked at her with a guilty expression and told her he had been on a dungeon raid.
Yes, Allen lied to his adoptive sister because there's a difference between raiding a dungeon and raiding a very dangerous shrine.
Despite Allen's lie, Alya glared at him and said,
"Allen, you shouldn't have risked so much. I know your goal is to confront the Master, but don't you care about my feelings for you?" Alya said angrily.
Because she hadn't lied, Alya cared deeply for Allen; she considered him like a brother and her closest friend.
That's why she was sad for him.
So:
"I'm sorry, Alya. I won't do it again."
Allen apologized profusely to his adoptive sister because she was absolutely right, and the Shadow's words still affected him.
But In his slow comprehension, Allen forgot that just three days ago he'd been between life and death.
So he remembered.
"Wait, Alya, what happened to Kyle?" Allen asked, his voice a little doubtful.
But...
"Swallow!"
Alya shoved the peeled apple into Allen's mouth, who had just opened his eyes, and said,
"Kyle has some minor injuries, but he disappeared the next day. He told us you were hurt."
After Alya said this, Allen cursed under his breath:
"Damn that bastard! I knew he'd run away!" Allen cursed under his breath as his adoptive sister, Alya, fed him a few apples.
But to his surprise, Allen's body was completely unharmed, a fact he now noticed.
He saw that his body had become more muscular and stronger than before.
He felt more resilient than ever.
"Did anything happen while I was unconscious in the shrine?" Allen muttered to himself.
To his surprise, Alya replied:
"Allen, do you know the two masked men who saved you?"
After Alya's strange question, Allen turned to her with an even stranger look and asked:
"What happened?"
After Allen asked her, his sister Alya looked back at him, her gaze drifting to the past.
While Alya was sitting in a house, there was a knock!
Knock!
Knock!
Knock!
The knocking on the door was so loud that Alya, ahead of the maids and servants, rushed to open it.
To her shock, she found Allen unconscious, being carried by two figures wearing cloaks and masks that covered their faces.
One was tall and powerfully built, while the other was somewhat shorter, but still taller than Alya.
Looking at her, the shorter figure said,
"Here is your brother's unharmed body. We found him lying in a cell and brought him here."
Upon hearing this, Alya responded with surprise,
"Who are you? What do you want from us? Do you expect a reward?"
But in a flash, the two figures vanished from Alya's sight. Confused at first, she rushed to her childhood friend, picked him up, and placed him on the bed.
And so, those two disappeared.
After Alya finished speaking, Allen began to ponder what she had said, whether he was the target, and what the motives of those two had been. But then, in the end...
Knock!
Knock!
Alya and Allen heard the knocking sound coming from behind the door.
The person Allen feared most and who affected him the most...
His older brother, Levi