Frederic's POV
He was in his house, strapped by the Judgment chains.
His house looked as if a storm had run through it, because Gladwin and his knights were busy looking for his necklace.
He didn't know where his mom was, because she had been escorted somewhere once she was finished being "questioned."
Frederic was being questioned around his dinner table, in the dead of the night.
"Give it to me..." Gladwin said sternly, holding up the pale yellow lamp to his face.
"No!" Frederic shouted.
"I tried being nice to you, kid," Gladwin said before waving his scepter.
Suddenly, the chains wrapped around Frederic started glowing brighter.
He then started to wiggle and groan, because he could feel a radiant force taking control of his body.
"By the power of Kashrun, you may answer to me truthfully," Gladwin said.
Frederic screamed, as the energy surged through his body, burning like flames.
Soon, he held his head down, and as the pain subsided, a golden aura started rising off his body.
"Where is the necklace?" Gladwin asked.
Frederic's lips contorted into different shapes as he fought to say something else.
"F-fuck y- I hid it in the floors," he said, immediately cutting himself off.
"Floors? Search the floors!" Gladwin shouted.
And immediately, the guards started taking up a few planks and stuff.
"You don't know how dangerous that thing is," Gladwin said.
"I can't give it to you, I-it's for my brother," Frederic stuttered.
"I thought you said you were gonna sell it," Gladwin said.
"I-I was gonna, but... there's something with it that feels familiar," he answered.
Frederic then shut his eyes, trying to fight back the force of telling the truth.
"I see... that thing is gonna be the death of you," Gladwin said.
The knights ransacked the other rooms, until one shouted,
"Found it, sir!"
Gladwin retracted his chains, then began walking towards the knight.
He took the necklace and admired the rune on it, running his finger against the smooth stone.
"We are done here, move out!" he shouted.
Before they could leave, Frederic took up the stool he sat on and threw it at Gladwin.
Gladwin turned and blocked it with his scepter.
But before he could react, Frederic had already rushed down on him, shouting.
Frederic grabbed the necklace, and the two started pulling at it.
"Let it go, you brat!" Gladwin shouted.
Suddenly, a knight grabbed Frederic and ripped his hands away from the necklace, causing the cord around it to snap.
The rune stone fell and bounced on the floor. Frederic tried to retrieve it, but the knights pinned him down.
Slowly, Gladwin walked over and picked up the rune. As he was about to say something, the rune started glowing in his hands.
A menacing energy could be felt, one that made you want to fall on your own sword.
The air felt heavy, and a smoke-like aura could be seen evaporating off the rune.
Neither Gladwin nor anyone in the room could speak.
Frederic could hear a knight trembling in his armor, and one of them literally started screaming and holding his head.
He rolled on the ground, twisting and turning, then suddenly drew his sword and pierced himself.
Frederic could not react, despite what he had just witnessed. This presence was more of something to fear or scream about.
....
Then it hit, a distant, sudden howl, very high-pitched, almost human but unnatural at the same time.
....
Soon it howled again, but this time very close... and then the last thing he saw was a long, black hand twisting unnaturally, slamming through the house in a blur.
The last thing he saw was the house collapsing, a few knights flying, and Gladwin's scepter making a chain wall.
LEO'S POV
He gritted his teeth as he saw blood running down the bars where the knight's head had smashed.
Autumn was screaming and wiping the blood off her face.
Thomas stood there, along with Leo, hyperventilating, his chest going up and down in quick motions.
Another shriek was heard again, as the buildings started collapsing, and the village started to smell of smoke and fire.
Leo was the first to snap out of their sudden shock. He ripped the bar and stepped through.
The three of them stepped through. Autumn took the sword of the knight who had crashed into the bars.
She held the blade firmly, but her hands were shaking—her whole body was.
"Autumn, snap out of it," Leo said as they were about to exit.
"AUTUMN!" Leo shouted.
Suddenly, Thomas grabbed both of Autumn's shoulders, staring her in the eyes.
"Autumn, we'll be fine... just like always," he said reassuringly.
After a while of holding Thomas's gaze, Autumn then nodded, taking a deep breath.
"You're right... just like always."
And that was the last thing Autumn said before everything collapsed and got blown away.
Four black, claw-like hands slammed through the jail, twisting and turning around corners from random angles.
One slammed Autumn with such force, she was sent through the walls of the jail, her blood splashing on Thomas immediately.
The other seemed to have grabbed Leo and exited through another part of the jail wall.
Everything happened in a blur, so fast that Thomas couldn't even react as he lost his friends.
He only looked up when he saw a huge chunk of the roof collapsing on him.
And a huge thud was heard.
....
FREDERIC'S POV
His eyes were shut when everyone got blown away.
When he opened them, he saw Gladwin's scepter glowing, and a chain barrier was around them.
There were two knights along with Gladwin in the chain walls.
The knights were unarmed and shaking, while looking around their surroundings.
"Kashrun, give me strength..." and with that, Gladwin started whispering under his breath.
Frederic didn't know what to do, as destruction and screams were heard around them.
Soon, they could hear the monster above them.
They could hear it breathe on the barrier, and suddenly, the scepter started flickering.
Despite this, Gladwin was still praying.
Small droplets of sweat started falling off him.
While praying, a crack was seen slowly forming on the barrier.
Before anyone could react, the crack spread and shattered the chain.
Frederic ducked and covered his eyes as pieces of the chains fell on him.
Soon, the chains faded away—and when Frederic looked up, he was now face-to-face with a horrid monster.
Frederic froze.
The monster towered over him, its hollow white eyes staring straight into his soul.
Its breath rattled the air like metal scraping inside a furnace.
Gladwin gripped his scepter with both hands.
His voice cracked.
"K-Kashrun… preserve me…"
But the monster leaned closer, its neck bending sideways with a sickening crk-crk-crk.
Its skin rippled like black smoke wrapped around bones.
A faint whisper echoed inside Frederic's head.
"Child of the seal… I've come for you."
Frederic's heart stopped.
The monster reached a claw toward Frederic—but stopped midway.
He sensed a familiar energy. Gladwin gripped his scepter tightly while praying in another language.
The golden symbols on Gladwin's scepter flickered violently.
"No… no no no—NOT NOW!" The creature shouted, raising his long, claw-like arms and crushing Gladwin.
"SIR GLADWIN!!" shouted one knight.
"INSECT!" the creature said, voice dripping with malice.
He then raised his hand and realized Gladwin was not there.
Suddenly, we see Gladwin walking shakily from behind Frederic toward the creature—eyes glowing yellow.
He stumbled towards the creature, then stopped when he was now face-to-face with it.
He looked up into its hollow eyes.
"Kashrun, is this how you plan to face me? In the body of a mortal?" the creature mocked.
"It doesn't matter, mortal or not... your faith won't be changed,"
the possessed Gladwin said—his voice overlapping with another being.
"In a few minutes, you will be bounded for eternity," Gladwin added calmly.
Suddenly, the creature's face contorted into anger.
....
And just immediately, chains spawned from behind Gladwin and charged towards the creature, grabbing all four of its arms and spreading them wide.
And with that, and a symbolic hand sign, Gladwin started to chant.
"Su kor lafine tades..."
But mid-chant, the creature roared and detached his arms. And immediately, they grew back.
He dashed towards Gladwin, arms ready to tear through his heart.
But in a golden blur, Gladwin vanished and appeared behind the creature.
Chains materialized in his hands, and he whipped them across the creature's face, causing the chains to wrap around its head, blocking its view.
Then Gladwin followed up and punched the creature across the village.
The creature recovered quickly and ripped the chains off its face.
But to its shock, Gladwin was already there.
"You're weak," Gladwin's overlapping voice said. "Trapped for too long now."
And then Gladwin right-hooked it across the face, which would have sent it flying—but Gladwin caught its long arm before it went far.
He pulled it in for its face to meet a connection with Gladwin's elbow.
The creature's face sank in where the elbow connected, but this didn't stop Kashrun.
The possessed Gladwin then twisted to get behind the creature and kicked the back of its leg, making it fall on one knee.
Gladwin then materialized a chain and wrapped it around its neck.
He pulled the chain tighter, and sent the other end into the ground, strapping the creature's head to the floor.
Gladwin then quickly did the rest to its other limbs, and soon the creature was strapped to the ground, even sending some chains through its body so it couldn't break apart easily.
Soon, Gladwin started saying the spell again.
"Su kor lafine tades aldrith keros su..."
And with that, the chains all started to glow, and the creature started letting out a deafening screech.
While screaming, he saw Frederic at a distance, blood running down his forehead.
"Child of the seal," Frederic heard it say in his head.
"H-Help me..." he heard it say. "G-give me the n-necklace, please."
"No!" Frederic shouted.
"If you don't... you will never see your father and brother again."
"What?" Frederic asked.
"Your family is not really dead... K-Kashrun tried to kill them because he didn't want me to get my full power."
"You're lying!" Frederic shouted, closing his eyes.
"No... after all, you are my chosen people."
"I-I can restore your family and everyone lost."
"Just help me..." its voice low and raspy now, almost like a ghost.
"L-look to your right, I even spared your mom when I entered this village."
When Frederic looked, he saw a detached hand in the rubble—where he heard the muffled shouts of his mom.
"H-help me..." the creature begged.
And that was when Frederic started to shake, a few tears filling his eyes as he started to think about his brother and dad... and how his mom could be happy again.
"I-I don't know what to do," his voice
cracking while tears fell on the necklace rune.
"Give it to me..."
To be continued