Season 2 – Part 2
Inside the Black Forest
The atmosphere was unsettlingly dark.
Even though the forest was overflowing with magic, its scent felt cursed, sinister, and demonic.
Back to Kaith
Deep within the darkness, surrounded by towering trees, Kaith searched desperately for anything.
Kaith (angrily):
"What the hell is this? I've spent three days searching for any kind of animal—just one—and found nothing. I know this is a forest nobody enters, but not to the point where even the simplest things like food don't exist. At this rate, even my magical reserves will run out."
Eventually, Kaith began using magic itself to suppress his hunger.
Then...
He felt something strange.
A disgusting, ominous energy.
A demonic presence far worse than anything he had sensed before.
Even greater than the demonic aura emitted by Aron, the Third Shard, who had been a demon himself.
Kaith immediately prepared for whatever was coming.
Then he saw something he could never have imagined.
A man with black horns.
Dark-tan skin.
White hair.
Deep violet eyes.
Two black wings stretched behind him.
He wore noble clothing, yet madness radiated from every part of his being.
He looked like someone who had lived for an impossibly long time.
Kaith froze.
His appearance resembled both a dragon and a demon.
A Demonic Dragon.
A being that should not exist.
?????? (frantically):
"Where is my family?! Where are they?! Are you from Arlin?! Was it you who took my brother?! Where is he?! Tell me where my brother is! That pure-hearted boy—Arleox! Where is he?! WHERE IS HE?! If you don't tell me right now, I swear I'll kill you! I... I am Cain! And I swear I'll kill you!"
Kaith (sarcastically, annoyed):
"Are you an idiot or something?! How would I know where your brother is?!"
Kaith (thinking):
They look alike... and the name he mentioned... Could he really be Arleox's brother? The brother of the External Ruler himself?
Cain (madly):
"I told you I'd kill you, you bastard!"
Cain attacked.
His speed was monstrous.
Demonic power mixed with Dark Magic exploded from his body.
The strike landed.
Kaith suffered severe injuries.
A few seconds later, he managed to heal some of them using regeneration, but many wounds remained due to their severity.
Kaith (furious):
"Go to hell along with your idiot brother!"
The moment Cain heard those words, his madness intensified.
Cain (enraged):
"HOW DARE YOU INSULT MY BROTHER, YOU DAMNED WRETCH!"
He launched another strike.
This time Kaith blocked it.
Yet the impact was so overwhelming that it felt as though his arm had shattered.
Now Kaith finally became serious.
He summoned his sword.
Asterion's Dragon Blade.
Darkness-covered mana surged around the blade.
Flame Domain.
The surrounding area transformed into Kaith's battlefield.
But Cain shattered the spell effortlessly with his demonic power.
Then he attacked again—
Even stronger than before.
Kaith couldn't evade.
The impact launched him all the way into the base of the cliff Reinhardt had thrown him from before.
Blood spilled from his mouth.
Kaith (mockingly):
"Damn you, External Ruler... and damn your filthy family too."
Cain's fury exploded.
He continued attacking relentlessly.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Until Kaith was standing at death's doorstep.
Just before losing consciousness...
Just before surrendering to death...
He saw only one thing.
White hair.
And four golden horns.
Before darkness consumed him, he smiled faintly.
Kaith (reassured):
"Maybe... I can finally take a break now, old man."
Then he lost consciousness from blood loss.
Reinhardt's Perspective
Standing beside the fallen Kaith, Reinhardt's face darkened.
For the first time in a long while...
He was truly angry.
Reinhardt (furious):
"I expected something powerful to be hiding in this forest."
A terrifying aura spread throughout the area.
Dark.
Oppressive.
Monstrous.
Reinhardt:
"But I never expected a rat like you."
The pressure intensified.
Reinhardt:
"No matter how much grief you've suffered from losing your family... no matter how desperately you've searched for your brother Arleox..."
The ground trembled.
Reinhardt (coldly):
"You dared to lay a hand on my student."
His voice became lethal.
Reinhardt:
"You crossed a line you never should have crossed."
Reinhardt (with absolute killing intent):
"You've exceeded your place as a training dummy, you damned bastard, Cain."
For the first time in over three thousand years...
For the first time since losing his sanity...
Cain felt fear.
Pure fear.
As though Death itself stood before him.
Every instinct in his body screamed the same thing.
Run.
He fled.
Ran.
Ran.
And kept running.
Finally—
He looked behind him.
No one was chasing him.
Relief appeared on his face.
Then he turned forward again.
And froze.
Reinhardt was standing directly in front of him.
Waiting.
Cain collapsed.
He tried to stand.
Tried to flee again.
Then he heard a single sentence.
Reinhardt:
"Star Severance."
Something disappeared from Cain's body.
When he looked down—
His leg was gone.
Not only that.
A gigantic slash stretched across the earth itself.
Cain crawled desperately.
At last he understood.
He was going to die.
Cain (trembling):
"I'm sorry... please spare me... I'll do anything you want... just spare my life..."
Silence.
Then Reinhardt answered.
Expressionless.
Emotionless.
Reinhardt:
"Unfortunately..."
"...you're too late."
One strike.
Cain's head fell.
Without warning—
The darkness vanished from the Black Forest.
Its corruption disappeared.
The entire forest returned to vibrant green.
Reinhardt (staring):
"So this damned fool really was the reason this forest became demonic..."
He laughed softly.
Reinhardt:
"How ridiculous."
"This world truly is absurd."
"Someone this weak managed to turn an entire forest into a demonic land."
Then he walked toward Kaith.
Back to Kaith
Kaith slowly opened his eyes.
A hospital room.
And beside him...
Reinhardt.
Kaith (confused):
"Where am I?! Wasn't I in the Black Forest just seconds ago?"
Reinhardt (mocking):
"Seconds?"
He laughed.
Reinhardt:
"You're hilarious, Kaith."
"That was a week ago."
"You got crushed and failed the training."
Kaith (nervously):
"Since I'm injured... does that mean I won't be punished for failing?"
Reinhardt (coldly):
"In your dreams."
"You'll climb the Royal Family Mountain ten times while carrying three Gravity Stones."
Kaith (defeated):
"Damn it... you're such a bastard, old man Reinhardt."
Reinhardt (annoyed):
"Call me old one more time and I'll make it twenty times."
Kaith (shivering):
"I'm sorry! You're not old!"
"You're a young man still in his twenties!"
"Who would believe you're actually millions of years old?"
Reinhardt (glaring):
"Are you mocking me?"
Kaith (nervously):
"That's impossible."
End of Chapter