Mye's scream sliced through Shun's ears like a blade, stabbing directly into his heart. He whipped around, blood rushing to his head, pulse thundering in his chest. When he rushed outside, the sight that greeted him froze every muscle in his body.
The sky had turned crimson, thick with the stench of death. Dozens of enraged hippos, foaming at the mouth, eyes rolling with madness, had broken free from their pens. Their massive bodies thundered across the ground, shaking the very air with their fury.
Before Shun could even react, one of them rammed straight into him.
The sickening crack of his ribs shattering rang out in the air. Agonizing pain tore through his chest, suffocating him like a burning spear driven into his lungs. His body was thrown like a ragdoll, crashing onto the dirt, vomiting blood.
He tried to stand, but more beasts stormed through, trampling his broken frame. Bones splintered like twigs beneath their crushing weight, every impact sending shockwaves of searing pain deep into his soul.
Coughing blood, vision blurring, Shun forced himself to move—only to see her.
Mye, trembling, cornered, her teary eyes wide with terror, was screaming his name.
But there were too many. The monstrous beasts and the depraved farmhands circled her like starving predators. They were no longer human—only demons wearing flesh.
-"No… NO!!!!!!!!." Shun's voice cracked, but his broken throat could only let out a hoarse rasp.
His arms were useless, his legs crushed. All he could do was watch, helpless, paralyzed by his shattered body.
And then it happened.
Her cries pierced the sky, pure agony, pure horror. Shun's heart crumbled as they dragged her, tore her, ripped every ounce of innocence from her frail body. Blood painted the earth beneath her. Screams turned into gurgles, flesh into minced remains.
Shun could only writhe in useless agony, unable to reach her, unable to stop it, unable to save her.
His breathing faltered, his chest filled with broken bones grinding against each other. Tears didn't come—only white-hot hatred, fury that drowned his soul in helpless rage.
Then… they came for him.
A hippo lunged, clamping its maw on his arm, ripping it clean from the socket. White flashes of pain danced behind his eyes, his body spasming in raw, primal suffering.
He screamed, but no one listened.
No help came.
No savior appeared.
Just his flesh being torn, bones being crushed, muscles flayed and organs ruptured. His vision dimmed, his body reduced to torn pieces of worthless flesh… his last thought the broken body of Mye, abandoned, violated, discarded.
Darkness swallowed him whole.
And Shun died… drowned in hatred, swallowed by sorrow, suffocated by powerlessness.
In that moment, death felt like a mercy—but the nightmare had only just begun.
..
....
....!!!
Shun jolted awake, his breathing ragged, chest rising and falling violently. Cold sweat drenched his body as if he had just escaped a nightmare straight from hell. Instinctively, his hands shot to his ribs—everything was intact. His arms were whole. No broken bones. No blood. His body… was completely fine.
No… this wasn't an illusion.
Around him was the familiar misty chill of the snowy mountain cave. The howl of the northern winds echoed outside. Beside him, little Mye stared up at him with wide, worried eyes, completely unharmed—no trace of the horrors he had just witnessed.
Shun swallowed hard, emotions crashing through him like a storm. Without thinking, he pulled Mye into his arms, clutching her tightly against his chest, his entire body trembling uncontrollably.
-"I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…" Shun whispered like a sinner confessing to unforgivable sins. His head spun with questions, confusion twisting in his mind.
He had died. Torn apart. Powerless to stop Mye from being violated and butchered.
So why… why was everything back to this moment? Why was he alive? Why… had time rewound?
His jaw clenched, fury rising beneath the terror still gnawing at his heart.
-"What the hell… is happening to me…?"
He held Mye closer, feeling her small, fragile warmth against him, and made a silent vow:
This time… no one would ever lay a finger on her again.
As they resumed their journey, Mye's gentle voice broke the silence
-"Shun… are you alright?"
Shun forced a faint smile and replied quietly, -"It was just… a nightmare."
But deep inside, he knew it was far more than that. Those memories… the pain… the screams… it had been far too real to be called just a dream.
When the clock struck 9 a.m., the dense morning fog began to fade, letting the sunlight spill onto the icy trail. Shun and Mye continued their trek toward the western kingdom of Effingham.
Along the way, Shun's thoughts churned in confusion.
"Did something happen to me? Could it be… I have some strange ability? Premonitions of the future? Or… is this something like Return by Death?"
His gut told him—no, he was certain—what he had seen was reality. Death had happened… yet here he was, alive.
The signs were all there. The frozen corpses of animals and humans at the same spots on the mountain path… it perfectly matched what he had remembered seeing before. This couldn't be a coincidence.
Finally, they reached Effingham. Without wasting time, Shun took Mye along to meet the farm owner again.
But this time… Shun wasn't going to follow the same steps blindly.
Standing firmly before the large, muscular man, Shun made a straightforward request:
-"Before we start the job… I want a sword from your armory. Something I can use to defend myself while repairing the farmhouse."
The owner raised an eyebrow, clearly confused.
-"A sword? Why would you need a weapon for such a simple job?"
-"Because I always have to be cautious," Shun answered flatly, narrowing his eyes. "You're raising hippos. What if they suddenly break out while we're working? Who's going to be responsible for that?"
His words struck a nerve. The farm owner flinched slightly, his expression tightening before he let out a forced laugh. Begrudgingly, he agreed to Shun's request and handed over a simple sword from the storage shed.
This time, things were going to be different.
Instead of rushing into repairs, Shun chose to inspect the hippo enclosure first. The sight was… strange. The water level was far too high for comfort, and the steel barbed wire surrounding the pen was thick and sturdy—there was no way those beasts could have broken free naturally.
By late afternoon, Shun acted like he was working—moving broken wooden planks and fixing minor walls—but his sharp eyes stayed glued on the farm owner. As expected, the man's actions were suspicious.
Right before dusk, Shun caught them.
The owner, accompanied by four burly men, all carrying sickles, approached the hippo enclosure. One of them used a strange talisman, chanting under his breath. The steel wires were cut apart deliberately, and the talisman radiated a sinister glow before the hippos began to snarl and thrash violently, their calm demeanor replaced by wild bloodlust.
So that's how it was… Shun clenched his fist.
Without wasting a second, Shun whispered to Mye,
-"Go, hide in the storage shed. Stay hidden and wait for my signal."
Mye nodded and quickly slipped away into the shadows.
Shun took a deep breath, summoning Myria through their pact to prepare for the ambush—except… it wasn't Myria who appeared.
A familiar mischievous laugh echoed beside him, and Shun's eye twitched in annoyance.
It was Noct.
Noct tilted his head, a dangerous glint flickering in his golden eyes as his lips curled into a mischievous grin.
- "Myria's got urgent business, so I'll be taking her place this time… heh… I must admit, I've been a little too arrogant lately."
Shun raised an eyebrow, momentarily surprised, before a knowing smirk spread across his face. Noct clapped a firm hand on Shun's shoulder, leaning in close to whisper something only the two of them could hear. Whatever it was, it made both of them chuckle darkly, their quiet laughter echoing in the cold, rotting air of the forsaken farm.
There was no need for further words. The plan was set, the trap perfectly laid.
Shun tightened his grip around the sword hilt, his gaze sharp and cold as steel, a storm of anticipation and fury swirling within his chest.
They thought they could slaughter him like before, but now… death was coming for them, from a direction they could never foresee.
As the sky faded into deep twilight, the last glimmers of sunlight disappearing, the farm fell into its usual deceiving silence.
Far off in the distance, the farm owner and his brutal men were making their preparations, unaware of the fate awaiting them.
This time… when the first light of dawn broke… it wouldn't be Shun or Mye who suffered.
Tonight, darkness would be just the prologue.
By sunrise… the real nightmare would begin.