The room is plunged into dense darkness, a single almost fading flame hangs from its ceiling, casting an intermittent flash dancing the cold walls. The air is saturated with the smell of blood and burning oils, while carefully carved Runic circles are scattered on the ground, the lines of which are twisted like snakes surrounding their prey. In the center of the circle sat Adam, his naked body covered with streaks of dry blood, and his eyes glittered with a gloomy, non-human shimmer.
On the wooden table next to him stacked the materials that had been collected only by a repeated death adventure: the tusk of a shadow dragon, the blood of a giant sandy heart, the petrified tear of Medusa, the oil of the Burning Tree Of Souls, a black phoenix feather, a dark Mana stone... and each of them is enough to kill any adventurer on its own.
Adam raised the runic Pen made of rare metal, the tip of which was stained with his blood. He dug the last line in the circle, and then muttered in a low voice, as if he was addressing himself more than the world:
"All humans are born with a mana crystal... an empty inner cup, filled only by the incessant pressure of Mana. Some of them break the lock and wake up, some live and die without even realizing their existence. But... even awake people have only one glass."
He smiled a crooked smile, a mixture of cynicism and despair:
"As for me... I won't be satisfied with one glass. I'll take five."Not to give me extra strength... but to allow my weakened body to withstand waking up. Just shackles shackling the beast inside so as not to crash."
Place the heart of the dawn bird in the center of the circle. The pulsing light seemed like a small sun flash, warm, alive. Then a dark Mana stone fell on top of him, and the light suddenly faded, flooding the place with a dark purple glow. The petrified tear of the Medusa fell on the burning oil, a thick smoke rose up around it like a snake looking for prey.
He raised the Black Phoenix feather, and as soon as he lit it, it exploded into a black flame, devoured the air himself and threw on his face the reflection of death.
The earth trembled. The runic symbols lit up, and then moved as if they were arteries transporting blood directly towards Adam's heart.
The pain exploded in his chest. It was as if thousands of knives had ripped his guts out at once. His blood is boiling in his veins, his bones are shaking under his skin. But he didn't scream. He just clenched his teeth, and laughed with a crazy chuckle.
"This pain... is the beginning of the road."
After some time
A black beam fell, piercing his chest. The heart of the dawn bird merged with the dark Mana Stone, turning into a pulsating Dark Crystal. Adam felt a terrible heaviness pressing on his chest, as if an inner glass was filled for the first time with a fatal drop of blood.
He fell to his knees, breathing with difficulty, blood was pouring from his nose and ear, but he raised his head, his eyes burning madly:
"One... four remain."
---
The second time he swallowed the heart blood of the sand giant along with the fragment of the Royal ogre bone. The Matrix reddened as hot as embers, and his blood rushed out and then came back burning as it flowed in his veins.
The third came with the oil of the Burning Tree of spirits, which ignited the icons so that it seemed as if they would melt his bones.
The fourth with the blood of a black Phoenix, where his chest exploded as if his lungs were torn to ashes, but he continued to breathe with force, every breath a battle, every breath a challenge to death.
With each one, his heart was pierced and his flesh was restored anew. His soul screams, but she is forcibly dragged to stay.
He laughed while bleeding:
"If I don't grow all five... I won't be able to carry this pregnancy. One glass will not be enough. I have to create chains وإلا otherwise I'll collapse before I start waking up
---
He reached the last. The whole material trembled, the icons began to crack, even the ground shattered under his feet. When the fifth was implanted, his body flipped backwards, a muffled scream split his throat, his eyes were flooded with blood, and every cell in his body was torn and then re-fused by a mysterious force.
Then... silence.
He fell to the ground, breathing as if swallowing knives. Inside his chest, five dark crystals were completed, connected by thin Runic threads as chains. The Mana series.
He raised his head, a faint smile dripping with madness on his face:
"I'm done... from the first step
But with the completion of the series, what he did not expect happened. The lock that locked his inner madness opened for a moment. Just a split second, but that part was enough.
From its depths, the madness of bloodshed flowed. He was neither a new strength nor a gift of chains, but an echo of countless souls crushed by his own hands. Every dead man, every cry, every drop of blood that he shed throughout his lifeك accumulated inside him until it became a black ocean that demanded an explosion.
Adam knew this madness well, he was born with it from the first moment, but the more he killed, the more thirsty he became. And now, immersed in concentration on the Mana chains, he inadvertently left the door open, and the beast let go of his shackles.
The aura exploded. She did not see by eye, did not break the walls or break the table. But she rushed with terrible speed, faster than the wind, through the void and dimension. It did not affect inanimate objects, but any living being on its way would have felt a sea of murder engulfing it, a sea created by Adam with his own hands.
---
Elsewhere
On the top floor of a stately mansion, Leon sat behind his heavy desk, surrounded by papers and plans. On his right is Smith, and on his left are Talia and Elise. The conversation was quiet, about unfinished reports and tasks.
But suddenly, Leon froze.
He felt something. No, with a person. No... but something worse than all that. A cruel sensation penetrated directly into his soul, as if someone had poured a bucket of slaughtered blood into his veins.
His eyes widened. His heart stopped for seconds. He couldn't breathe. The air is heavier than iron.
A vision that no one else had seen: an interior scene, but it was more realistic than any nightmare. An endless sea of blood. Thousands of bodies are stretched out, some are screaming, some are melting, all are bleeding non-stop. And above all... a feeling of a monster, indescribable, a monster that swallows the world only to fill an insatiable inner void.
"Bloodshed..." muttered Leon in a voice that no one heard. "
Talia approached fearfully:
- "Sir Leon?" Your face is... very pale."
Elise knitted her eyebrows, she had never seen her husband tremble like that before. Even Smith, who was used to seeing Lyon under the most intense pressure, took a stunned step back.
But Leon did not hear them. He was overwhelmed with sensation. Killing intent... purer and more intense than any SSS Rank Monster he has ever encountered in his life. Something that made his whole body scream for survival.
And then... as she appeared, she disappeared.
The air is back to normal. The room is as it was. Talia, Elise, and Smith felt nothing.
Except Leon.
Exhale vigorously, wipe the cold sweat from his forehead, and force himself to smile:
- –Don't worry. Just a headache."
But inside he was boiling. His trembling hand hid it under the table.
"Where did this murderous intent come from? if this person was being targeted now, we would be dead."
Talia was not convinced, her eyes followed his worried face, while Elise and Smith exchanged puzzled glances. They did not know what happened, but they will never forget that scene: the face of their leader, awe-struck, saturated with horror for the first time.
---
In his room, Adam was lying on the floor, his breath was breaking, his body was covered with blood. Five dark mana crystals spin inside his chest like iron chains binding a monster in the depths.
The aura disappeared, the madness returned to shrink in its depths, but it did not go away. He was waiting for the right moment to swallow this world.
He smiled a faint smile, and then whispered to himself:
"It's just a moment... and yet she almost exposed me. If anyone had felt her... if Leon had picked her up, even for a split second... the result would have been death at her hands
He closed his eyes, letting a short, faint laugh seep out of his lips:
"This must not be repeated…
And the narrator's voice serves the tale
"The madness that escaped Adam was not just wasted energy, but a reflection of all the blood that he shed in his previous life. He knew that someone with senses like Leon could pick it up, and he could see it for what it really is... and the truth of the monster that killed more than 2 billion people and this is not something that is revealed too early."