Conrad had now driven Henry's Katana straight through Serloth.
He wondered...
He had the perfect chance to kill him.
So...
What stopped him?
He was confused.
Intrigued.
Then...
He saw Serloth smiling through tears.
Crying...
Not from pain.
But from happiness.
He looked at Conrad and whispered,
"It feels good..."
"...to be back with you..."
"...after so many years."
Forty years earlier.
Long before Henry was born.
Long before Bulltown.
We see a little boy named Serloth.
Only eight years old.
Playing outside in the warm sunlight with his father.
Surprisingly...
It was the exact same place that would one day become Bulltown.
But back then...
It wasn't called Bulltown.
It was known as Leaftown.
A peaceful place.
Filled with joy.
Filled with laughter.
Where days were truly days...
And nights were truly nights.
At that time...
Redware wasn't even complete.
It only had three towns.
Bulltown didn't exist.
Not yet.
Little Serloth walked toward school on his very first day of elementary school after kindergarten.
His father dropped him off.
He was nervous.
Shy.
Almost all of his childhood friends had already moved away.
Their families had been warned that something terrible was coming.
Only Serloth's family had stayed behind.
As he entered the classroom...
He noticed a little girl sitting alone.
Every other child was bullying her.
She wasn't an ordinary child.
She stood out from everyone else.
Not because she wanted to...
But because she had been born with two rare genetic disorders.
She suffered from Xeroderma Pigmentosum, an extremely rare condition that causes severe damage to the skin and eyes from even the smallest amount of ultraviolet light.
Even a few minutes under direct sunlight could become life-threatening.
She also had Albinism, a rare inherited condition that leaves the body with little to no melanin, giving her pale skin, white hair, and light-colored eyes.
None of it was her fault.
She was simply born that way.
Yet...
She was mocked every single day for it.
Serloth couldn't watch anymore.
He pushed the children away.
"What are you all doing?"
"Is this really how you treat someone?"
"She's just like us."
"So what if she can't go out in the sun?"
"So what if she's super white?"
"Think about it."
"She'll never get tanned."
"She gets to stay awake all night."
"That actually sounds pretty cool."
The classroom became silent.
Then...
Serloth looked at the little girl.
He smiled.
"What's your name, princess?"
The girl blushed.
"Umm..."
"Aby..."
Serloth laughed.
"Wow."
"Your name is even cooler."
"I'm Serloth."
"Can we be friends?"
Aby looked at him with watery eyes.
"You won't make fun of me..."
"...right?"
"You'll stay with me..."
"...no matter what?"
"Even if people bully me?"
Serloth smiled without hesitation.
"I promise."
From that day onward...
They did everything together.
They studied together.
They ate together.
They explored the city together.
They played together...
Mostly at night.
As the years passed...
Their friendship slowly turned into love.
Not because of beauty.
Not because of appearance.
But because they had fallen in love with each other's souls.
Five years later...
Both of them were thirteen.
That was the day everything changed.
The greatest tragedy in Leaftown's history.
The town was invaded.
Captured.
Occupied by the forces of Redware.
From that day onward...
Leaftown officially became part of Redware.
Its new name...
Bloodleaf Town.
Not Bulltown.
Not yet.
The invaders ruled through fear.
They humiliated innocent people.
Beat them.
Sometimes...
Killed them.
They especially targeted anyone who looked different.
Anyone born with a disability.
Anyone they could call a monster.
It didn't take long before they learned about Aby.
They decided to drag her into the streets.
To publicly shame her.
To call her a monster in front of the entire town.
As one of them reached out to grab her...
Someone stepped in front of her.
A thirteen-year-old boy.
Serloth.
Standing like a wall between Aby and the soldiers.
He looked them straight in the eyes.
"If you want her..."
"You'll have to kill me first."