When Aster saw the scene before him, he couldn't move.
His legs felt as if they had been nailed to the ground.
"Not this… not again!"
Forcing himself to move, he gathered all his strength and sprinted toward the village.
As he ran, it felt as though fate was mocking him—replaying the same tragedy he had experienced not long ago.
The closer he got, the clearer the sounds became.
People were screaming.
Running.
Some fled in panic.
Others tried to hide.
'What's happening?'
As he rushed past one of the burning houses, he heard it—
The cry of a child.
It was coming from inside the flames.
Outside, villagers desperately tried to put out the fire with buckets of water.
Without hesitation, Aster dashed into the burning house.
[Flame Mana]
Thick, suffocating smoke filled the interior. It was nearly impossible to see.
Even if someone forced their eyes open, the smoke would sting and make them tear up instantly.
But for Aster, that wasn't the greatest obstacle. The cloth over his eyes protected him from some of the irritation.
The smoke, however, attacked him from within.
His nose burned.
His throat felt raw.
His lungs ached as if scraped by blades.
He tried covering his mouth and nose—but it was useless.
Taking one deep breath despite the pain, he inhaled smoke mixed with air.
'I need to get out fast.'
Then he saw the child—
Curled up in a corner, crying weakly, struggling to breathe.
Without wasting a second, Aster lifted the child into his arms and burst back outside.
The villagers rushed toward him.
The moment he stepped out, Aster dropped to one knee, coughing violently.
His body struggled to clear his lungs.
The child coughed just as desperately.
When the child's family reached them, Aster handed the boy over and forced himself to stand.
'No time to stop. I need to find them.'
Each breath of fresh air slowly cleared his lungs. Regaining his rhythm, he began moving faster.
As he passed another house, a woman's scream pierced through the chaos.
He immediately turned toward the sound.
In the middle of the road, a man holding a sword was trying to rip a boy away from his mother.
The woman clung desperately to her child.
The man kicked her aside and seized the boy with one hand.
Aster moved instantly.
He drew his sword and drove it straight through the man's back.
The blade pierced cleanly through his chest.
The man died on the spot.
Freed from his grip, the boy ran back to his mother.
But instead of thanking Aster—
The woman grabbed her son and tried to hide him.
From Aster.
Seeing the fear in her eyes, Aster raised his hand slightly, as if to say something—
But he lowered it again.
'It's pointless right now.'
He laid the body down and pulled his sword free.
That's when he noticed something.
On the man's neck—
There was a symbol.
A black serpent forming a circle, biting its own tail.
An ouroboros.
'I've never seen this before… What is it?'
He reached out and touched the mark.
The serpent moved.
Its head lifted—
And it looked at him.
Startled, Aster stepped back.
But before he could react further—
His mind slipped back into that same recurring nightmare.
His vision vanished.
He felt nothing.
He stood in pure blackness.
And then—
A girl's voice echoed in his mind.
"Why is your hair white?"
"What are you planning to do today?"
"You have such beautiful eyes."
The voice repeated again and again.
'Whose voice is that? How does she know me?'
He had never heard it before—
Yet it felt deeply familiar.
'So familiar…'
Moments later, he snapped back to reality.
Everything around him remained the same.
The corpse.
The woman.
The child.
But one thing had changed—
The mark on the man's neck was gone.
'Where did it go?'
He examined the body carefully.
It wasn't there.
Then he felt it—
Something cold crawling across his skin.
He looked down.
The serpent symbol was moving along his hand.
His eyes widened.
He jumped back and fell onto the ground.
'What kind of thing is this?!'
He tried grabbing it with his other hand.
But it wasn't something he could grasp.
It was etched into his skin.
When he pressed down on it, the serpent simply shifted—
Moving onto his other hand.
The mother and child took the opportunity to flee.
It moved as if studying his body, circling around it.
The faint sensation of something alive beneath his skin made him shudder.
Aster looked around desperately for something—anything—to remove it with.
There was nothing.
Except his sword.
'I don't know what this is. But it will kill me.'
He understood the situation clearly.
A drawing on skin doesn't move.
This was black magic.
And black magic always demanded a price.
He had two choices.
Leave it there—
And wait for death.
Or—
The simplest—and most brutal—solution.
If he severed it in time, perhaps the curse would stop spreading.
But the question remained.
Which would he choose?
He knew how devastating it would be to lose an arm.
'There has to be another way.'
Then—
He remembered his master.
Valorant's green flame.
It affected the body from within.
'Maybe Master's flame can burn it away.'
But he didn't have the luxury of standing still.
Sword in hand, Aster forced himself to his feet and ran toward Kan's house.
Like the rest of the village, it was engulfed in flames.
The fire illuminated the night, pushing the darkness back.
As he approached—
He saw them.
Several men dressed just like the one he had killed.
And among them—
Kan.
And his family.