Chapter 18: Drowning in the Dark

On a bleak and desolate night, beneath the gaze of a blood-red moon that deepened its ill omen…

The night told a tale of struggle .. a tale of survival.

Humans who refused to yield to the tyranny of darkness, fighting for their lives until their final breath.

The Heart warriors ran in desperation.

Moon led them, carrying a sword of fire .. the only beacon of light within that dark hell.

From every direction, monsters emerged.

Filthy, grotesque abominations, warped horrors born from the vilest depths of the abyss.

Fighting them was not an option.

All they could do… was run.

Among them, Ethan had collapsed unconscious, his eyes open yet filled with nothing but white.

Laid across Raiden’s back… the mark of his curse bled profusely, teaching him the hard way that every great power… demands a price.

Their struggle unfolded beneath the moon’s watch.

Atop a towering hill overlooking most of the cursed lands… a being appeared.

A creature of the deep night.

He rode a fearsome steed .. a beast that walked on four legs yet felt far from any natural horse.

Its features were hidden beneath a black cloak, making it all the more dreadful and mysterious.

Mounted upon it, the creature revealed his presence and dominion.

A black knight clad in full armor that covered his overwhelming frame.

His helmet was shaped like the twisted maw of a monster .. a living embodiment of terror.

From within that monstrous helm, a dark crimson glow shone… later revealed to be his eyes.

Those eyes fixed upon a single direction in the cursed land —

where the Heart warriors fled desperately for their lives.

Yet he ignored them all.

Instead, his gaze locked onto the unconscious youth… the man bleeding beneath the weight of a curse.

Silhouetted against the full crimson moon behind him, the Black Knight spoke for the first time.

“I see… so this is the bearer of the Curse of Balance.”

His voice emerged deep and obscure, lingering in the mind of any who heard it.

From the sound alone, one could tell .. this being was no ordinary existence.

Slowly, the Black Knight lifted his head toward the moon.

“Soon, the Wild Hunt will begin… and the night shall choose its prey.”

At his words, a strange phenomenon occurred.

The ground behind him darkened violently, his shadow expanding and stretching across a vast expanse.

From within that ominous darkness… hands emerged.

Not human hands .. something else entirely.

Creatures of bone.

Skeletal warriors clad in armor identical to the Black Knight’s.

“Rain of blood, winds of ash… terrors beyond mortal imagination.”

“Bearer of balance .. pray. Offer your supplications.”

He turned his gaze once more toward Ethan.

“Pray… that you are not the next target. For the Wild Hunt shows no mercy, and the marked have but two choices.”

The Black Knight’s eyes flared as the soldiers behind him screamed in unison:

“Death… or submission to the curse of the long night.”

He drew a massive dark blade and raised it toward the heavens.

Then his great steed leapt from the cliff ..

Yet it did not fall.

It ran.

It ran through the empty air, across the sky itself, as though it were a horse made of wind.

All his followers surged forward at once, riding steeds of bone and rotting black flesh.

They soared after him, galloping with the wind.

This legion of death covered the sky, gleaming beneath the crimson moon.

A legion led by one of the Night Lords ..

a true monster forged within battlefields.

Fortunately… the blade of the Lord of Night was not aimed at Ethan, sparing him from the Wild Hunt.

But his luck was already fading.

The fiercest monsters of this world had begun to notice his existence.

Amid all these horrors — and the Hearts’ desperate struggle —

Ethan knew none of it.

He sank into darkness, unconscious, unable to endure the terrors of the night.

—

…

…

…

“Ah… I’m sinking…”

Ethan whispered faintly as his body fell, slowly descending into a bottomless abyss of darkness.

His form resembled a dying ember, clinging to its last flicker of flame, refusing to be extinguished.

Numbness spread through his entire body .. he could not feel his limbs at all.

His crimson eyes rolled from side to side, staring at those… things.

Ghosts.

Wraiths.

Creatures that had fled death.

All of them reached toward him, screaming as they tried to grasp him.

Seeing them, a faint smile formed upon Ethan’s lips.

“You nearly drove me mad… and now you follow me to the deepest corners of my mind.”

He muttered bitterly.

Yet for some reason, the voices that once nearly shattered his sanity… now sounded ordinary here.

So much so that Ethan felt calm .. almost peaceful .. despite their endless screams and savage wails.

They seemed desperate to reach him, but an unseen force restrained them.

All they could do… was watch and scream from afar.

Ethan continued sinking for a while… until the voices finally faded.

But in their place, he heard something different this time.

A single sound.

Crying.

“…A baby’s cry?”

It was the voice of a newborn infant — as though it had only just entered existence.

Staring into the abyss… Ethan felt as if the abyss was staring back at him.

Then, with a forced, mocking smile, he muttered from the depths of his heart:

“I wonder… what kind of child could be born from a hell like this?”

Whatever the answer was, Ethan did not want to know .. nor did he want any connection to whatever lay below.

Fortunately, his flame never went out.

Soon his consciousness drifted away again… returning to the real world — to face the night once more.

…

…

…

Lying upon cold ground, warmth slowly returned to his body.

He opened his eyes.

The first thing his crimson gaze saw was the dark sky… and the moon.

Ethan awakened again, realizing it was still night.

Yet strangely…

He heard no sounds.

Saw no monsters.

“You finally woke up…”

A familiar voice pulled him from his thoughts.

It was Raiden, sitting beside him, exhausted.

His body and face were illuminated by a great light that filled them all with warmth.

Ethan turned his head… and finally saw it.

All the Hearts were gathered around him, basking in its heat.

It was a sword.

A blade embedded into the ground, burning with a gentle, steady flame that never flickered.

Simply standing near it brought a strange comfort .. as if he had returned home, embraced by his mother’s arms.

“Welcome to the bonfire, Ethan,” Raiden said with a tired smile.

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