As he entered the chamber, the strange, slender and tall individual drew back his hood revealing his pale face framed by his long, dark, and silky hair.
A manic grin spread across his face, his violet eyes burn with obsessive vigor as they locked onto Konan.
Konan, meanwhile, stood tense, silent, and vigilant. His brows furrowed, his expression hardening in confusion.
'Did I hear that just right?'
'Did he just call me his brother?'
He glanced briefly at the old man's lifeless body, then back to the stranger.
He cleared his throat.
"Aheemmmm!"
Then he speaks.
"Brother?" he asked, his tone flat.
He gestured toward the old man's lifeless body.
"That old man called me his brother too... and now you do the same."
His voice dropped a tone.
"Are you two related?"
The stranger stood in silence by Konan's words.
Then, without warning, laughter burst out from his throat.
"KA AKAK KAKA KAKA KYAAA KAKA!!"
The sound echoed through the air, twisted and unhinged.
"HIS BROTHER?!"
"That's funny!!"
"KAKAK KAKAK KAKA—"
However just as suddenly, the laughter died.
"He called you his brother?" he murmured, his expression darkened.
Silence weighed on the chamber. His eyes slowly examined the surroundings. The room was nothing special. Bullet holes riddled the walls, fragments of shattered metal littered the ground.
Overhead, the lights flickered weakly, casting uneven shadows across the corpses of the fallen armed men.
Yet amid the chaos, his sharp gaze caught something just behind Konan.
A Book.
Lying open on the ground, its pages torn and stained. He suddenly raised his right arm, and the air stirred with an unseen force.
BRRRRR!!
The Book trembled, then lifted from the floor.
It drifted toward him, gliding past Konan until it came to rest in his right hand.
He brushed the dust from its cover and began to scan its contents.
"Hmmmm...."
After a few seconds, a faint grin curved his lips.
"I See..." he murmured.
He snapped the book shut and turned his gaze to the old man's body, then back to Konan.
"It seems," he said quietly, "the brother I knew is gone."
Suddenly, his grip on the book tightened, his teeth gritting.
"I wonder why he'd sacrifice himself just to bring someone else back into existence." He added, his voice trembling with fury.
Flame suddenly burst from his hands, consuming the book in a violent flare. His violet eyes hardened, filled with loathing.
"What's the cause?" he hissed.
The book turned to ash between his fingers and scattered on the floor.
He continued, outburst flared into him.
"ARE YOU SOMETHING SPECIAL?"
Konan flinched, but it was not the force of the outburst coming from the slender and tall man that startled him. It was this unknown essence suddenly radiating out of him.
A dark mist shrouded the strangers body, almost like smoke mixed with shadow, thickish and suffocating. Konan didn't just saw it, but also felt it settling on his skin, heavy and cold.
Then—
The essence vanished. Gone without trace, as if it had never been there at all. Konan's confusion only deepened.
'What was that just now?'
He steadied his breathing and directly shifted his sharp and cautious gaze at the slender and tall man.
"I don't know who you are..." He said quietly.
"But that presence of yours—"
His eyes narrowed, his tone sharpened. "—it reeks of corruption."
The stranger let out a thin, broken chuckle.
"Pff—kee—"
Then laughter erupted again.
"KYAAAA— KAKAKA KAKA!"
Louder and more unhinged.
"KAKAKA KYAA KAKAKAKAKA!!!"
He lowered his hands from his face, violet eyes gleaming like a blade.
"So you can see it too?", he said softly.
A chilling smile crept across his lips.
"You're in a Revenis body after all."
Konan's breath froze. His face shock and even more confused. 'Revenis?'
The stranger took a slow, deliberate step forward, his tone sounding careless.
"Ahh... That look on your face. You're absolutely clueless, aren't you?"
A grin tugged at his lips. "Well, as if I care."
His form began to blur, his outline shimmered.
"Ya know, I just want to get straight to business."
Then, in the blink of an eye, he was right in front of Konan, his hand reaching for the crystalline core.
"I was just ordered to retrieve this special object."
However, as his hands nearing towards Konan's core, a sudden realization struck him, his pupils constricted.
Without warning, a violent surge of energy erupted from Konan's crystalline core—
BWAAAAZZZT
He was hurled backward by the force, crashing out of the chamber, skidding across the floor.
Silence filled the room once more.
Konan stood frozen, his chest rising and falling slowly, face pale with disbelief. His wide eyes fixed on the shattered doorway, now swallowed by smoke and drifting dust.
"What... what the hell just happened?" he muttered, voice barely audible.
His hand instinctively moved to his chest— to the crystalline core that throbbed faintly beneath his palm.
"T—That same energy again..." he whispered.
Suddenly, a sound broke his confused mind.
From outside the chamber, footsteps echoed. Slow at first. Then louder.
The tall, slender man returned, staggering slightly, dust trailing from his cloak. His grin had twisted into something sharper, unstable, trembling at the edges.
"A Defensive Spell..." he muttered, voice low and jagged.
His eyes narrowed.
"Keee!!.. How annoying."
Without warning, he moved.
The man surged forward, his body blurring in each quick step.
The air cracked around him.
A flash, a shimmer, and in the blink of an eye, he was right before Konan.
His hand shot out, fingers curled like blades, slicing through the air, aimed straight for Konan's chest.
However—
A burst of luminous light suddenly shrouded Konan.
In a split second, he vanished from where he stood, leaving only a streak of trailing smoke fading in thin air.
The slender man's strike met nothing.
SLASHHH!!
His hand cut through an empty space.
He froze, eyes widening as his arm hung suspended mid-swing.
"A teleportation...?" he muttered, disbelief creeping into his voice.
The chamber fell silent. Not a sound, not a breath.
Then, his jaw tightened. His teeth ground together.
"Tssss!!" he hissed, the sound sharp and venomous in the still air.
Suddenly.
A faint twitch echoed around the room.
The slender man's eyes snapped toward the floor.
'Huh?'
The old man's body, once still and lifeless, began to convulse. His limbs jerked in unnatural angles.
TCHIIKK- TCHIIKK- TCHIIKK!!
It was stiff and erratic like a puppet pulled by invisible strings.
A sickly glow began to seep across the old man's corpse, crawling outward like veins of necromantic light.
FLAAAAASH!
Then, with a final violent jolt, the corpse stood upright, twitching and swaying, head lolling sideways.
The slender man stepped forward, cautious yet intrigued.
"So... you're the conjurer," he said flatly.
The old man respond with a low, broken growl vibrating from deep within his throat.
The slender man watched in silence for a moment, eyes narrowing.
"Are you the one who..." He stopped himself.
A faint exhale of annoyance slipped from him.
"Keee!.. Why am I even talking to an undead?" he muttered.
Suddenly, the corpse twitched again, its fingers curling slowly towards his wrist watch.
A soft sound clicked.
BEEP.
Then a sudden burst of static.
BZZZT—
A faint field rippled through the chamber. The slender man's expression sharpened instantly.
He recognized the sensation the moment it brushed his skin.
His pupils constricted. 'Arcane jammer?'
"You..." he growled, voice low and seething.
Then—
FLASH!!
The floor ignited with light.
White arcane arrays flickered to life across the chamber walls, on the ceiling, between the corpses of the armed men, glowing brighter and multiplying rapidly.
The slender man's eyes narrowed with fury. He instantly moved. His body blurred into motion, rushing for the exit with all the speed he could muster.
Behind him, the corpse mouth twitched into a faint, broken smile.
And then—
SHIMMMEEEEER!!
KAAAAAAAA— BOOM!!!
The explosion tore through the chamber and erupted down the tunnel. Fire roared after the fleeing silhouette of the slender man, consuming him and everything in its path.
The explosion shook the entire structure.
And silence followed.
--
A very different landscape.
The air rippled with intense heat.
A vast sea of sand.
A desert.
Across the shimmering dunes, a lone camel trudged onward, each slow step left a deliberate print upon the endless sea of golden grains.
Behind the animal, an old wooden cart creaked and swayed, heavily loaded with goods wrapped in faded cloth and bound by frayed rope.
Inside, three travelers sat beneath a tattered canopy, their silhouettes still and weary, faces hidden from the sun's relentless glare.
Then, one of the passengers leaned forward and called out to the merchant driver.
"Hey, Mister merchant! Are we still far yet? This heat's really killing me!" he groaned.
But before the merchant could respond, another passenger cut in.
"Oii, Abroaz! stop bothering mister merchant. We're lucky he even picked us up in the middle of this desert."
Abroaz blinked, then scratched his head sheepishly. "My bad, Mister Merchant."
The merchant chuckled softly.
"Ahh, don't worry about it," he said, his tone easy and kind.
He turned slightly to glance at Abroaz— a young teen with white hair, gray eyes, and a tattered coat ill-fitted for the desert's madness.
"We're actually not far now," the merchant said.
"We'll be nearing Fasid soon."
Abroaz's eyes lit up. "Really?!!"
He leaned back, already daydreaming aloud.
"I wonder what kind of food they've got there! I heard Fasid's dishes are way spicier and more delicious than ours back home!"
Just then, his stomach betrayed him.
GURRR!
'Eh?'
The sound echoed through the creaking cart, silencing everyone for a beat.
The man beside him sighed deeply. He was tall and imposing, with bronze-gold hair and amber eyes. A dark cloak draped his shoulders, and a brown cattleman hat shaded his face.
His name was Oax Briton.
"You damn kid," Oax said.
"You're hungry again. I told you to leave some snacks when we left Auri!" he continued, voice tight. "But you devoured them all before—"
His stomach growled too.
GURRR.
Oax scowled. "And you even ate my food!"
Abroaz pouted, cheeks puffed. "But they were too good to resist! Can't blame me for enjoying them. Besides, it's your fault you didn't buy more!"
Their faces drew close, tension sparking.
"So it's still my fault?" Oax growled.
Before it could spiral further, the merchant intervened, holding up a small, strange-looking treat.
"Here. Take this both of you," he said, smiling faintly.
Abroaz swiftly ignored Oax, ducking past his protests.
"Oii! Get back here! Have some shame!" Oax shouted, waving a hand.
But Abroaz paid no mind. His head tilted toward the biscuit-like morsel the merchant was holding out. He had never seen anything like it before.
"What's this... weird food, Mister Merchant?" he asked, eyes wide with curiosity.
The merchant blinked. "You've never seen it before?"
Abroaz shook his head. "Nope. Not once."
"It's a Creska," the merchant explained. "I bought it when I was in Shenzai."
Abroaz's eyes sparkled with amusement. "Oooohhh, a Creska? That's a cool name!"
He took a bite. The moment his tongue touched the morsel, his eyes widened in pure delight.
"Waaahhh!!"
"This is so GOOD!" he exclaimed, voice full of wonder.
The merchant chuckled, then offered a Creska to Oax. "You also get some."
Oax hesitated. "Are you sure...? I mean, it's kind of embarrassing since you've already helped us earlier," he muttered.
The merchant waved him off. "Don't worry. I bought plenty of these Creska."
Oax finally took one, nodding. "Alright... thanks."
The merchant then extended the Creska toward the third passenger, a silent figure swathed entirely in cloth, face hidden, presence as quiet and unsettling as a shadow under moonlight.
"How about you, young lady?" he asked.
The silent figure, a young woman, studied the merchant for a few long moments, then returned to her silence, leaving him awkwardly hanging.
"Eheheh... Well, I guess you're not hungry," the merchant muttered with a small shrug.
As Abroaz munched on his Creska, his curiosity sparked. "By the way, Mister Merchant, you said you brought this from Shenzai. Where is that? I have never heard of it before."
The merchant blinked. "Shenzai?"
Oax's voice cut in smoothly. "It is the Jade Empire, Abroaz," he said.
Abroaz's eyes widened in surprise. "T—The Jade Empire?"
He quickly glanced at the third passenger, blinking in astonishment. "I—Isn't that where Mei came from?"
"Ahh..." Oax murmured, confirming, his eyes narrowing as if reading something unseen.
Abroaz leaned forward, curiosity piqued. "Huh... I did not know the Jade Empire went by other names."
Oax's tone was calm, almost cold. "That is what they call it in the west."
"Really? Hmmm...." Abroaz murmured, turning the new information over in his mind, eyes glimmering with fascination.
Time passed, and they were all done eating the Creska. The air in the cart grew still again, save for the steady creak of its wooden wheels and the soft clinking of goods shifting with each bump.
Abroaz sat slouched in his seat, crumbs still clinging to his fingers. Despite eating almost everything, he looked far from satisfied.
His brows were furrowed, lips pursed, and his gaze lingered longingly on the now-empty basket.
You could clearly see it in his face— the quiet misery of a boy whose stomach still begged for more.
The merchant glanced at him, amused, while Oax simply sighed and shook his head, already knowing what was going through Abroaz's mind.
In that same moment, a strange shift in the air caught Abroaz's attention. His eyes snapped upward, leaving everyone else puzzled and alert.
"I—Is there something wrong?" Oax muttered, squinting toward the sky.
Then—
FLAAASH!
A blinding light tore across the sky— so bright it painted the desert gold. The camel reared in a panic, neighing and thrashing wildly as the cart rocked from side to side.
"What the—?!" the merchant shouted, gripping the reins, struggling to steady the frightened animal.
When the light finally faded, the desert fell eerily silent.
Something had fallen from the sky, crashing into the sand directly in front of the camel with a heavy, echoing thud.
The Merchant and Oax rushed forward, dust kicking up around their boots.
"What in the world?..." Oax muttered, eyes narrowing.
The Merchant froze, jaw dropping. "I-is that a person?!"
The figure stirred slightly, letting out a faint groan. They could now see him clearly. A man, completely naked, sprawled awkwardly on the sand.
The merchant's eyes widened. "A man... fell from the sky?"
Oax took a cautious step closer. "I—Is he... alive?"
The stranger stirred again, then slowly turned his head, revealing his face.
It was Konan.
Nobody knew who he was, or where he had come from.
He groaned, clearly dazed and disoriented, blinking up at the strangers before him. He coughed weakly and muttered, "W-Where... am... I?"
As the words left his lips, his body went limp, and he slipped back into unconsciousness.
Abroaz stared in shock. "He... just fell from the sky and now he's out cold?"
The merchant and Oax exchanged uneasy glances, the desert wind whispering around them, carrying only silence.