Snow exploded outward, and the trees trembled slightly from the gust. Xavier stumbled backward so hard he nearly fell.
The wings were monstrous. Long. Dark. Each feather carried a metallic sheen beneath the pale daylight, like sharpened iron soaked in shadow. They stretched wide enough to eclipse the falling snow around him completely. For a second, Raiden no longer looked human. He looked like some ancient creature standing beneath the dead winter sky.
Xavier's mouth opened slightly.
"Wow, you look legendary..."
Raiden glanced over his shoulder.
"Oh. Right."
His wings folded slightly behind him.
"This is my Spell. Raven."
He calmly reached upward, grabbed one of the feathers, and tore it free. Blood scattered lightly across the snow. The black feather twitched once in his hand before he tossed it toward Xavier.
"Catch."
Xavier caught it instinctively and nearly dropped it immediately. The feather hardened within seconds. Its softness vanished. Black steel spread across its surface with sharp metallic cracks until what remained resembled a narrow blade forged from dark iron.
Xavier stared at it.
"...A weapon?"
Raiden nodded.
"Use it to protect yourself."
The older man's expression grew serious. "Listen carefully, Xavier. In the Spell World, there are only two ways to grow stronger."
His voice lowered.
"Killing monsters. Or killing people."
The wind stirred through the trees. Xavier's grip tightened around the black feather-blade.
"I know you don't trust others," Raiden continued. "Honestly, that may save your life more often than kindness ever will. But I also know something else."
Xavier looked up.
"You're sad and angry... but mostly at yourself. Broken, perhaps. But not cruel."
For some reason, those words irritated Xavier far more than they should have.
Raiden pointed northward.
"Head toward the Black Tower. Observe anyone you meet carefully. If they seem dangerous, avoid them. Some people awaken terrible Spells. Others lose themselves completely inside this place. You do not yet understand how dangerous awakened humans can become, so pick your fights carefully."
Xavier lowered his gaze to the black weapon in his hand.
"What about you?"
Raiden smiled faintly.
"I'm going to save those people."
Xavier stared at him as though the man had finally lost his mind.
"Are you stupid?"
"Possibly."
"You're going to die."
"Also possible."
Xavier clicked his tongue.
"You saw what those things did to that old man."
"I did."
"And you still want to go back?"
Raiden calmly adjusted the shackles hanging from his wrists.
"It is the duty of a knight to stand between danger and those who cannot protect themselves."
For a moment, Xavier looked speechless. Then he scoffed.
"Knights are insane."
"Perhaps." Raiden laughed softly. "But I think you might make a great knight yourself."
"Not happening."
Raiden's laughter grew louder.
"Come find me in the real world after this."
Then his expression hardened.
"Now go. Don't stay here any longer."
As though answering his words, distant shrieks echoed through the forest. Closer than before.
The monsters were coming.
Raiden turned toward the sound and moved. The black wings spread violently behind him as he sprinted across the snow. Snow exploded beneath every step. Fast. Far too fast for a normal human.
Xavier stared after him in disbelief before suddenly shouting,
"WAIT!"
Raiden glanced back while running.
"If you have wings, then why the hell are you running?! You could just fly over them!"
Raiden barked out a laugh.
"That is the problem!"
His voice echoed between the trees.
"In the Spell World, every Spell given comes with a flaw. A drawback. And mine..."
The black wings stretched wider behind him.
"...is that I can't fly!"
Xavier froze.
"...What?"
Raiden's laughter echoed one final time before he vanished between the trees.
Out in the frozen clearing, the creatures continued their feast.
The corpse on the ground no longer resembled a man.
Limbs twisted unnaturally across the snow. Steam rose from torn flesh as the demon centaurs crowded around it like starving wolves around fresh prey. Their clawed hands dug greedily into the ruined body, ripping away chunks of meat while low guttural growls echoed from their throats.
Blood soaked into the white earth beneath them.
Dark.
Thick.
Almost black against the snow.
Not far away, two women remained pinned against the ground beneath the weight of another creature's elongated arm. Terror had hollowed their faces completely. One of them trembled so violently she could barely breathe.
Then—
One of the monsters stopped feeding.
Its horned head slowly lifted.
Though the creatures possessed no eyes, the women somehow felt their gaze fall directly upon them.
The largest among them stepped forward.
Its horns were longer than the others, curving backward like jagged black crowns. Pale bluish mist leaked constantly from the cracks in its scaled flesh, drifting around its massive frame like ghostly smoke.
Then it shrieked.
The sound split through the forest as rusted metal dragged across bone.
Immediately, two of the creatures obeyed.
They moved toward the women.
Fast.
Too fast.
The younger woman broke instantly.
"Please—! Please don't—!"
Her voice cracked into sobs.
"I don't want to die here! Please! I beg you!"
The monsters ignored her completely.
There was no hatred in their movements.
No anger.
Only hunger.
One seized her by the wrists.
The other grabbed both her legs.
Then slowly—
They began pulling in opposite directions.
The woman understood immediately what they intended to do.
Her screams died in her throat.
For a brief moment, she simply stared upward at the grey sky above the forest.
Then she turned weakly toward the younger girl beside her.
"If you get the chance…" she whispered shakily, tears freezing against her cheeks, "run…"
The girl stared at her in horror.
"Please…"
The monsters tightened their grip.
Muscles tensed.
Snow shifted beneath their hooves.
And then—
SHRIIIKK.
One of the creatures suddenly screamed.
The others froze.
Something long and black had pierced cleanly through the side of its skull.
For a second, the monster merely stood there trembling.
Then the steel feather buried in its head erupted outward in a spray of dark blood.
The creature collapsed heavily into the snow.
Dead.
Silence swallowed the clearing.
The remaining demon centaurs slowly turned.
And there—
standing between the trees beneath the falling snow—
was Raiden.
One black wing spread behind him.
His chest rose heavily from exertion.
And in his hand—
another sharpened feather of black steel gleamed coldly beneath the winter light.
The demon centaurs turned as one. Their horned heads snapped toward the source of the attack. At their feet lay the corpse of their fallen kin, a steel feather buried deep through its skull. Black blood seeped into the snow, staining the white earth like spilled ink. For a brief moment, silence reigned.
Then Raiden smiled.
"Good," he said, rolling his shoulders. "Now I have your attention."
Behind him, enormous black wings unfurled. The feathers rustled like a murder of ravens taking flight. Without hesitation, Raiden reached back and tore two feathers free. The moment they left his wings, they hardened. Black became silver. Feathers became steel. Now he held a blade in each hand.
The tallest demon centaur released a shrill cry that pierced the forest like rusted metal scraping against stone. At once, the remaining two creatures charged. Snow exploded beneath their hooves as the distance vanished almost instantly.
Raiden's smile disappeared.
Fast.
Far too fast.
One creature appeared before him in the blink of an eye, its elongated claw descending toward his throat. Instinct took over. His black wings snapped shut around his body, the hardened feathers overlapping like layers of armor. A heartbeat later, the impact crashed against his guard with terrifying force.
Boom.
The shock traveled through every bone in his body. Several feathers cracked. Pain shot through his ribs. His feet left the ground and he was hurled backward, carving a trench through the snow before crashing into a mound of frozen earth.
He barely had time to rise before the second monster arrived. Its claws swept through the air. Raiden crossed both steel feathers before him. Sparks erupted at the point of contact. The impact numbed his arms and forced him back another step. Then another.
The creatures attacked relentlessly, never allowing him a moment to breathe.
Gritting his teeth, Raiden retaliated. One steel feather shot forward, then another. The projectiles screamed through the air, but the monsters had already learned. One twisted aside while the other ducked low. The steel feathers buried themselves deep within distant trees.
"Damn it..."
They had figured out his attack pattern.
The demon centaurs began circling him now, patient and watchful, like predators surrounding wounded prey. Then both moved at once.
Raiden reacted immediately. More feathers tore free. Dozens of steel projectiles erupted outward, filling the forest with metallic shrieks. One monster leapt over the barrage. The other crashed straight through it. Several feathers pierced its flesh and black blood splashed across the snow, yet the creature barely slowed.
A clawed hand shot forward.
Before Raiden could evade, the monster seized one of his wings near its base.
His expression changed.
Not good.
The creature twisted violently.
The ground vanished beneath his feet.
His back slammed into the frozen earth hard enough to crack it. Before he could recover, the monster swung him the opposite direction. Snow exploded. Stone shattered. The world became a blur. Left. Right. Again. Again. Again.
Each collision felt like a giant hammer crushing his bones. Blood burst from his mouth. His vision blurred. His ears rang.
To the creature, he was nothing more than prey.
Finally, it threw Raiden.
Our Knight shot through the air and crashed into a pine tree. The trunk split down the middle. A sickening crack echoed through the forest.
His arm.
Broken.
He collapsed to one knee, his left arm hanging uselessly at his side while the monster advanced slowly, confidently, as though the battle had already ended.
Then one of them paused.
Its gaze shifted toward the corpse of its fallen companion.
To Raiden's confusion, the creature lowered itself beside the body and plunged a claw into the dead centaur's chest. It scooped up a handful of black blood and flesh, smearing it on its body as it seeped through its skin.
Another handful.
Again.
And again.
Raiden watched in horror as the ribs protruding from the creature's torso slowly disappeared beneath swelling muscle. Its frame thickened. Its limbs grew larger. The bluish mist surrounding its body intensified.
The monster was becoming stronger.
Feeding on its own kind.
A chill colder than the winter wind crawled down Raiden's spine.
The enlarged creature lifted its head. Its eyeless face turned toward him. Then it charged.
The forest trembled.
Raiden forced himself upright despite the agony screaming through his broken arm. This was it. One final exchange. One mistake and he was dead.
The monster closed the distance.
Twenty meters.
Ten.
Five.
Then a figure suddenly dropped from above.
A blur descended from a nearby hill. Momentum, gravity, and desperation combined into a single strike as a sharpened wooden spear and steel blade punched through the side of the creature's skull.
The monster staggered.
Confused.
Disoriented.
Before it could recover, the attacker landed atop it.
"Die! Die! Die!"
Xavier's voice cracked with panic as he drove the spear downward again and again. There was no elegance in his attacks. No technique. Only raw terror. Blood splattered across his face, his hands, and the snow beneath him, yet he refused to stop.
Because somewhere deep inside him, a single thought screamed louder than everything else.
If it gets back up, I'm dead.
So the blade kept rising.
And falling.
Again.
And again.
Until the creature finally stopped moving.