"I've told you everything. I swear I don't know anything else."
Raynare's voice trembled. The shadows restraining her moved slowly, tightening like serpents. Her gaze flickered between despair and the red glow that filled the air.
Gasper tilted his head. His calm face showed no empathy—only analysis. A dark flame appeared in his palm, dense and silent.
Fwoooosh
Heat spread across the ground, bending the air around it. The orange light of dusk reflected off the black fire, creating an impossible contrast. Raynare's body shuddered.
"No… not that. Don't use that on me."
Her voice cracked. Her wings spread reflexively, but the shadows rose higher, pinning each feather like invisible hooks. Gasper watched without haste, eyes fixed on the flame spinning between his fingers.
"You should know. Lies always end in fire."
"I told you everything! Please, listen to me!"
The scream tore through the air. The plea echoed unanswered.
Gasper stepped forward. The light of the flame reflected across his pale face, emphasizing the contrast between serenity and coldness.
"I'm sorry, but I need to test my power on an opponent. And you're perfect for that."
Raynare gasped, her body trembling under the pressure of the shadows. Her wings twisted, and a holy light tried to emerge from her hands. It failed. The light dissolved before it was born, swallowed by the growing heat.
Fwoooosh
The fire spread across the ground in thin lines, drawing a circle around her. The flame did not burn matter, but essence. The air smelled of iron and ancient ash.
Raynare tried to speak, but her voice failed. Fear became tangible, a soundless cry escaping her throat.
"Please… I… I don't want to die."
The plea came through sobs, words broken between short breaths. Gasper simply watched. The shadows pulsed in response to her desperation, tightening their grip even more.
'Well, now I know Asia's alive. I can send some bats to watch the city.'
The thought came cold, strategic. His focus drifted for a moment, gaze lost in the distance. Raynare noticed. Despair gave way to rage, her face twisting between fear and hatred.
"Are you ignoring me?"
Her tone cracked, a mixture of pain and disbelief. Her wings flared, struggling to break free. The shadows reacted like predators, squeezing tighter, forcing her to the ground.
"Look at me, you bastard! I'm a fallen angel! You can't just—"
Gasper slowly raised his hand. The dark flame expanded, spiraling upward until it became a living sphere. The sound of the fire was heavy, like a heart beating within darkness.
Fwoooosh
The heat made the air vibrate. Raynare stopped speaking. Fear returned instantly, erasing the pride behind every word she had spoken.
"You should've stayed quiet."
His voice was low, almost a whisper. A dry snap echoed as he opened his fingers, releasing the gathered energy.
FWOOOOOM
The Twilight Flame surged forward in a straight line, covering Raynare in one smooth motion like a blanket of black fire. Her sacred light flared in instinctive defense but was consumed before it reached the air.
The scream cut through the silence.
"AAAAHHHH!"
The sound warped, turning hoarse before being swallowed by the fire itself. The shadows withdrew, letting the flame work alone. The ground around her cracked, and the light of the fire reflected in Gasper's red eyes—impassive, distant.
Raynare's body began to dissolve. First her wings, curving inward and breaking into shards of fractured light. Then her skin, fragmenting into luminous ash. The scream faded, replaced by a muffled sound—almost a breath being torn away.
Ssshhh
The Twilight Flame devoured everything in silence. No blood. No remains. Only energy disintegrating into the air, as if the world refused to remember her.
Gasper slowly lowered his hand. The flame in his palm shrank to a thin dark glow before vanishing entirely. The air around him seemed to breathe again, freed from the invisible pressure that had bound it.
The stillness that followed was dense, almost tangible. The ground still steamed, the smell of burnt iron mixing with the cold night wind.
Gasper stepped forward, watching the last ashes of Raynare rise into the breeze. They danced for a moment, reflecting faint light, before disappearing completely into the sky.
Ssshhh
Silence reclaimed the square. The flame had ceased, but the air still pulsed with the remnants of burned energy. Gasper raised his hand, and the shadow beneath his feet began to move, rippling like liquid black.
From within it, small shapes began to emerge. The sound of delicate wings filled the air.
Fflap flap
Bats made of pure darkness appeared—dozens of them—shaped from the shadowy energy vibrating around the dhampir. Gasper's gaze remained cold as the darkness scattered into living fragments.
'Time to spread the eyes.'
The bats spiraled upward, circling his body before scattering in different directions. Magic rippled in soft waves, linking each one to his consciousness.
Vrrrrm
The moment the bats crossed the square's edge, Gasper's demonic barrier began to unravel. The red and black lines surrounding the area broke one by one, dissolving into the air like glowing dust.
Crack… shhh
The city's normal sounds returned. The wind swept between buildings, and lights flickered back to life. No one noticed what had just occurred there—only the heavy air left behind where the fire had once roared.
Gasper lowered his head, red eyes following the flight of his creations until they vanished over the horizon.
'Asia is alive… and I want to know where.'
The bats spread across Kuoh's streets, gliding between shadows and illuminated facades. They passed through alleys, rooftops, and open windows, each pair of eyes reflecting fragments of the city into the dhampir's mind.
'Now I just need to return to the mansion and wait.'
The thought came cold, emotionless. Gasper watched the last group vanish beyond the skyline before turning around. The field of energy was gone, and the square now looked ordinary, almost mundane—as if nothing had happened there.
The twilight painted the sky in shades of red. Shadows stretched between the buildings, and the air carried the faint scent of distant rain. The dhampir adjusted his collar and began to walk.
His footsteps echoed against the empty asphalt. No one crossed his path. The city's silence was broken only by the sound of the wind sweeping dry leaves away.
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