The night was quieter than it should have been. The streets, scarred by yesterday's chaos, seemed almost still. But Adrian felt it immediately—a pulsing, suffocating weight in his chest, a low hum vibrating in the marrow of his bones. The red moon still hung in the sky, its devilish grin faint now but burning in memory.
He stumbled along the cracked pavement, chest glowing faintly, the mark of the crimson moon imprinted upon his forehead. Every step he took seemed to echo unnaturally, as if the city itself were whispering his name. Shadows stretched from every corner, twisting and undulating, but this time they were quieter, subtler. Not outright monsters—but whispers, hints of danger curling at the edge of perception.
Kael appeared beside him as if conjured from the darkness itself. White hair tied in a flowing ponytail, eyes glowing like twin flames of winter-white light, and a long, slender sword at his side that seemed to hum in resonance with the crimson mark on Adrian's forehead.
"You feel it, don't you?" Kael's voice was low, almost a whisper, yet every word seemed to ripple through the night. "The corruption… it's not just in the city. It's in you, Adrian. You were never just a man walking these streets. You're… a vessel."
Adrian's breath caught. "A vessel… for what?"
"The crimson moon," Kael said, his gaze flicking upward, then back at Adrian. "For the corruption that spreads through desire, fear, greed… everything humans cling to. And it's drawn to you."
Adrian glanced at his chest, where the faint crimson glow pulsed in time with his heartbeat. It was a strange, unnerving warmth, almost alive. He could feel it tugging at him, making him restless, amplifying something he didn't understand. "I… I feel… strange," he admitted. "Like… everything around me wants to hurt me."
Kael's expression didn't soften. Instead, it became sharper, unnervingly precise. "Because it does. And if you don't act… it will consume everything. This city. These people. You."
The air shifted suddenly, and Adrian sensed movement. From the alleys and shadowed windows, humans began acting strangely. First subtle—a twitch of the hand, a glance too sharp. Then worse—their eyes darkened, faces contorting into grotesque parodies of humanity. They didn't speak, didn't announce themselves. They just moved… toward Adrian.
Kael drew his sword in a fluid motion, the blade shimmering faintly against the moonlight. "Stay behind me," he said, voice calm but edged with steel.
The first wave emerged: a towering figure with blank, featureless skin, limbs twisted unnaturally—the Faceless Horror from the night before. Its claws scraped against the cracked pavement as it advanced. Behind it, shadows flickered and twisted, forming multiple figures: Creepers crawling on all fours, Mirror Fiends reflecting Adrian's fear back at him with jagged, mocking smiles, and a hulking Giant Smiler, its grin stretching impossibly wide.
Kael moved like liquid, every step precise, sword arcs flashing, cutting down each corrupted human with graceful lethality. The creatures hissed, shrieked, and fell, one by one, their forms disintegrating into shadows that dissipated into the night.
Adrian tried to keep up, but the chest pain worsened. The crimson glow was growing stronger, pulsing, almost as if it were alive. A sharp, unnatural pressure pressed against his ribs, making him double over. He reached for his chest and felt… movement beneath his skin. A heartbeat—or something else—throbbing violently, syncing with the pulsing red mark on his forehead.
Kael's white eyes narrowed. He looked at Adrian not with anger, but something far more unsettling. Something alien and strange. "It's getting stronger. Faster than I expected."
"What… what can we do?" Adrian gasped.
Kael hesitated, his hand hovering over Adrian's chest. The weirdness of his expression made Adrian uneasy—there was something both tender and terrifying in his gaze. "I can… remove it. Your heart."
Adrian froze. "What?!"
Kael's movements were impossibly fast. In one fluid motion, he pressed his hands to Adrian's chest. There was no hesitation, no struggle. Adrian's vision blurred, the world tilting as a strange, cold sensation filled him. His heart lifted from his chest, suspended in Kael's hands, glowing crimson like a miniature red moon. Adrian should have screamed—but the strange, otherworldly presence of Kael, the weird, alien calm, kept him rooted in a mixture of awe and horror.
"You… you're taking it out?" Adrian whispered, disbelief and fear in his voice.
"Yes," Kael replied, voice even, almost hypnotic. "For now. The corruption is drawn to it. Without it, you can survive… and this city can breathe for a few days. But it will return."
The chest glow faded slowly, leaving Adrian with only the lingering pulse of the crimson mark on his forehead. He felt hollow, vulnerable, but strangely light. Around them, the creeping corruption began to falter. Humans who had started twisting back into shadow forms now paused, some collapsing to the ground in exhaustion. For a moment, the city felt… safe.
Kael held the glowing heart between his hands, eyes glowing even brighter than before. His presence was strange, alien, unnerving in the way it radiated control, power, and something almost inhuman. Adrian's chest tightened—not from fear alone, but from the overwhelming strangeness of Kael's aura.
Then Adrian noticed it: a figure watching from the rooftops. Violet eyes glinted in the shadow, unnervingly sharp. The man's lips curved into a faint, idol-like smile, his posture relaxed but intent, every movement measured. Lucien. Adrian's mark, the removal of his heart, and Kael's strange, mesmerizing aura had drawn him. And already, he was jealous.
Kael noticed the presence as well, glancing upward with subtle acknowledgment but did not alert Adrian. "He sees you," Kael whispered, almost to himself. "And he wants what you have. Keep your focus, Adrian. We don't have much time."
Adrian's head spun. "Why… why does he care?"
Kael's expression was unreadable—calm, detached, yet beneath it a current of emotion that was almost incomprehensible. "Because he knows power when he sees it. And jealousy… well… it can be as dangerous as any monster."
The night remained tense, quiet, and strange. Even as the crimson moon hung above, devilishly smiling, the city seemed to breathe again. But Adrian understood something profound: the protection was temporary. The corruption would return quietly, insidiously, like a shadow stretching across every corner.
Kael's hands held the glowing heart steadily. His white eyes flicked toward Adrian, softening ever so slightly. "Remember this," he said. "For a few days, you can move, act, think without being devoured. But the world… and you… are still vessels. And every choice matters now."
Adrian's voice shook. "I… I don't know if I can do this."
Kael smiled faintly, though the weird, alien calm lingered. "You don't have a choice. But you have me. And for now… that's enough."
Above them, the red moon watched silently, devilish smile still etched in the sky. Shadows stirred, whispering, waiting, knowing that soon, even this fragile reprieve would end. Somewhere, in the distance, Lucien observed, violet eyes alight with envy and anticipation.
The city was safe for the moment—but the true battle was just beginning.
And Adrian… his chest hollow but heartless for now, understood the price of being a vessel.