Kairn laughed deep in his throat, his fingers digging into Lyra's neck as she desperately gasped for air.
"How touching," he said, as if it were all just a game.
"Stop! Please!" Noen's voice cracked. He remained on his knees, his hands stretched out. "I… I'll do anything you want! Please, let her go!"
Lyra choked. Her eyes searched for his — full of fear and love at the same time."Noen…" she whispered. "Run…"
Kairn tilted his head, the shattered bottle long left behind in the alley.
Without hesitation, he clenched his hand — and a dull, horrifying sound tore through the air.
Lyra's body went limp. She twitched once, as if an invisible weight collapsed inside her — then Kairn released her. She fell... eyes closed... no reaction.
He laughed — loud, raw, satisfied. Her body hit the pavement with a dull thud.
"You should have listened, boy," he called over his shoulder as he staggered away, still laughing. His voice echoed between the walls long after he was gone.
Noen did not move. His mind refused to understand what he was seeing.
"Lyra…" he finally breathed, his voice barely more than a whisper.
He pulled her to him, pressed her face against his chest. Her skin was still warm — but there was no life in it.
"Lyra, please… wake up…" he murmured. "You can't…"
His voice broke. A sound — half sob, half scream — tore itself from his throat. Tears ran down his face and fell onto her cheek.
The alley was silent. Even the wind had stopped.
All that remained was his breath — and the pounding of his heart, heavy, irregular.
Then came the emptiness.
And in that emptiness — something else.
A dull pump in his chest. Then another. His breathing hitched. His body began to tremble — no longer from grief, but from something different.
Rage.
It rose slowly, like an earthquake from the depths. First in his hands. Then in his chest. Then everywhere. His tears evaporated on burning skin.
Noen raised his head. His gaze was empty — but within that emptiness, a fire burned.
He clenched his fists.
"YOU BASTARD!"
He lunged forward.
No thought. No plan. Only the urge to destroy him.Every step slammed against the ground, his muscles stretched to the breaking point.
Kairn — only three alleys ahead — turned around in surprise.
Noen leaned forward, drew his fists back — and launched himself off the ground with all his strength.
The cobblestones beneath his feet split as he shot into the air, driven by pure fury.The wind tore at his clothes as he flew straight toward Kairn.
He pulled his arm back, muscles tight, veins bulging — the punch already in motion —his fist only inches from Kairn's face —
and right then it erupted.
A blinding light ignited in his chest, raced through his veins, made his skin glow as if liquid gold flowed beneath it. The air vibrated, time itself seemed to freeze —
and in the next instant, his fist connected.
A single, godlike blow.
An impact like thunder.
Kairn was hurled away as if struck by a god himself —crashing through three massive buildings, their walls tearing like paper before he vanished in a cloud of dust.
Noen hit the ground hard. Dust and debris rained down around him.
He knelt there, gasping for breath, his fists still raised.
Golden fissures glowed across his skin. Energy crackled between his fingers.
Then… something began to change.
The dirty, torn fabric of his shirt flickered, the material rippling as if alive.In seconds, it transformed into a simple yet noble garment, white as fresh snow, traced with fine golden lines that pulsed in time with his heartbeat.
Thin veins of light glowed beneath his skin, unstable, flickering —his body fighting to contain the power within itself.
His eyes, once blue, now shimmered with a pale, unsteady gold.
A wind swept through the alley, carrying dust and light around him.
And for a moment, Noen stood there —
no longer feeling truly human.
The light flickered… faded…
And he sank back down to his knees.
His breath trembled.
"What the fuck just... happened???"
Noen staggered back the way he had come.
His legs moved, but he did not feel them. The world around him existed only as blurred shapes and broken sound.
Then he saw her.
Lyra lay where Kairn had left her. Motionless. Still.
Noen dropped to his knees beside her.
His trembling hands found hers. She was already colder than she should have been.
He gently pulled her closer and pressed his ear to her chest.
Nothing.
No heartbeat. No breath.
For a moment his mind rejected it. His body didn't.
He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against him as if he could force warmth back into her, as if the embrace alone could undo what had been taken.
He said nothing.
Only a broken, silent breath escaping his chest again and again as his whole body began to shake.
Then the sound came.
A raw, unfiltered cry of loss ripped from him and tore through the narrow alley.
He threw his head back, his mouth open toward the sky, his entire being pouring into that single, wordless scream.
In the corner of his burning vision, something caught his eye.
A figure stood on a distant rooftop.
An old man.
He had seen everything.
Noen's scream faltered. His gaze locked onto him.
The man turned away — slowly, without hesitation — and disappeared behind the edge of the roof.
Noen did not move.
He only stared at the place where the old man had been… long after he was gone.