Zhang Zhao stood before them, a solitarily engulfed in a shroud of swirling black fog that curled and danced like malevolent serpents around him.
His features were sharp, with a cold curve on his lips that failed to disguise the lurking malevolence in his expression.
Upon his forehead lay a crimson slash mark, glaring like a beacon against the pale pallor of his skin.
But it was his red eyes that were the most deadly—piercing, captivating, and chillingly devoid of sympathy.
The crown prince, stood frozen and dared not step forward, afterall, he was that 'coward detective Marcus' as they called him back at the station in his world...
His heart pounding so hard as if it will explode anytime soon.
"Zha–Zhang Zhao?!" he uttered, voice
barely above a whisper, the weight of fear heavy on his tongue that his legs went numb. "Wha–what are you doing?"
Hahahahah...
Zhang Zhao's devilish laughter rang out again, a sound that twisted in the air, distorting reality itself.
"Oh, sweet prince," he drawled, his voice smooth yet thick with malice, "what are my doing?" He scoffed. "Can't you see? Am reclaiming what was mine to begin with, the kingdom, and the people, all belongs to me! Me alone!"
After twenty years, Zhang Zhao spoke again. All had even forgotten that he can speak.
Bided by restrictions, Zhang stoped speaking at the age of five and all he could do was listen and obey.
They were cruel to him. But anyways,
With a flick of his wrist, the black fog around him surged forward, inside the fog appeared, small tinny sharp crystal like objects, twisting into grotesque shapes with the black fog as they dispersed, swirling around those present at the crown prince's Palace.
*****
The air thickened, making it hard for them to breath.
"I think we should call for help!" whispered Lee Murong.
His wide eyes darted around, searching for an escape. But how could they call for help? when the very air felt charged with foreboding, swallowing their voices before they could utter a plea.
They could neither move nor shout, and besides, who would come to their rescue, the soldiers? Hmph! Those ones were busy preparing for war.
"I can't move..." Lee Murong gasped, his voice barely a whisper against the chilling black fog that swirled around them.
It felt as though the very essence of life had been siphoned away, leaving him vulnerable.
"Urgh...." drew out Zhang, the corners of his lips curling into a dark smile.
"You know, I watched my parents die right infront of me. My young brother? He disappeared, just like your hopes of reclaiming this world today."
As Zhang spoke, flashes of the day of devastation hit him hard—the flames licking at their palace, the screams, shadows stalking through the corridors, his family… his home, reduced to echoes of pain... Flooded his thoughts
He felt like to cry, but his eyes had not tears to let out.
And there was one thing he could clearly remember, the laughter of emperor Jietang Wu Pong and the day he was declared a human pet by crown prince Yuze Wu Pong.
Zhang let out a laughter that had no warmth since his eyes denied him tears.
For twenty years, he had never dropped tears, neither now.
For all those years he kept telling himself. 'if I cry, even my eyes will soon have no more tears to let out.' thous he never did all them to feel watery.
Raising his cold and indifferent glare his hissed.
"What am yet to do is nothing compared to what this world has done to me. From being a prince to nothing more than your human pet!!."
His words sliced through the air like a blade, leaving Marcus feeling as if his very soul had been stripped bare.
"You said you're my master in this lifetime," Zhang continued, his voice low and sinister. "But you are mistaken. For I am the master of this world—Death itself! Thanatos!!!"
With a swift and deliberate gesture, Zhang's arm swung in a sweeping arc.
Marcus felt an invisible force grip him, pulling him upward toward the starlit sky, he floated, suspended between earth and the heavens.
The ground turned away beneath him, his heart racing as evil black fog swirled around, enveloping and gripping him hard.
"Wh-what are you doing?!" he shouted, panic igniting within him.
With his indifferent glare, Zhang smirked
"Are you afraid, Prince Yuze?" He mocked from below. " I won't kill you, atleast not yet. Not so easily, I will make you beg for you own death!"
As Marcus floated higher, his surroundings transformed. The palace morphed into a nexus of shadows.
"Please, Pu–put me down… let's talk man to man, huh?" He pleaded. " And, I'm not Crown Prince Yuze. I'm—I'm not your enemy, please," Marcus said, fear laced in his trembling voice.