Taking a deep breath and filling his lungs with air, eyes closed and fingertips pressed together in harmony, Carlos needed nothing more than a tranquil and completely silent environment.
Rising, the air slowly escaped from his lips. He opened his eyes, filling his lungs once more, but nothing changed. In the deepest, most unused room of the kingdom, darkness surrounded him. Yet, even without the use of vision, he could "see" every corner of that empty room, where a single door guarded the exit.
Without any external disturbances, no sounds or objects touching him apart from his clothes—which, after so much time, he finally managed to keep on his body without the constant urge to rip them off—the young man moved one of his hands, creating a small breeze by manipulating the surrounding mana.
"Argh!"
His veins pulsed with the slightest contact of wind against his ears and skin. Despite his brain throbbing and his limbs trembling, he didn't stop. He moved again.
As his breath ceased, the air spread along with the mana, moving away from his body, leaving him truly at peace. Without the contact with mana, his senses no longer heightened, allowing the place to fulfill its purpose. A smile emerged in the darkness.
The noises completely stopped, and the voices no longer reached him. For those few minutes while he held his breath, he experienced, for the first time, the true peace of those who could simply choose to lock themselves away from the outside world and avoid dealing with its myriad sounds.
But his legs trembled, and with the continuous difficulty of holding his breath, the barrier dissolved as his knees hit the ground.
"Arf! Arf! Arf!"
Another failure, yes, though not entirely... Despite knowing this, for some reason, Carlos couldn't suppress his laughter, overtaken by a strange sense of satisfaction.
"I... I did it...! The voices... they stopped, which means it worked... I can already imagine Grandpa's face when I tell him."
Without any barriers, the pounding sounds returned even more intensely. The voices that had reached him clearly before now seemed like mere whispers, causing only strangeness due to their unusual persistence.
Accompanied by incessant pounding, heavy breathing seemed nearby. However, his heart pounded fiercely, and he couldn't keep his mouth closed for more than two seconds, so the cause of those sounds couldn't be anyone but himself. Yet, with the painful creak of the heavy door before his eyes, making him cover his ears immediately and shut his eyes due to the sudden light, Carlos realized this wasn't the case.
"Sir, I..."
Forcing his eyes open, Carlos looked at the hesitant man before him. Clenching his fists, the guard seemed too afraid to utter another word.
"What is it? Is my grandfather back? Is he looking for me?"
"..."
His mouth opened, but no words came out—they couldn't. Biting his lip and averting his gaze, the man lowered his head and made way for the young man to pass.
"...? Hey, say something..."
Not just one guard, but seeing further, Carlos could see several maids looking at him with familiar eyes... eyes filled with... pity...
Rising, the pain from the wind's resistance against his body during his sprint was ignored, as were the voices and pounding. Everything around him was nothing but those irritating and disgusting, yet so familiar, things... The eyes followed him all the way out of the castle.
The chaos in the place was more than evident, with maids running from one side to the other, but never failing to stop and look at him, even for a second. Yet, without a doubt, besides the corridors, the place where the most people seemed to be gathering was near the throne room, where normally only royalty could go. Passing through those who made way while keeping the same repulsive look on their faces and peering through the gap in the door where everyone gathered, Carlos froze the instant his eyes fell on the bloodied, voluminous body and stopped on its white hair.
His feet pushed off the corridors' floors, making even the directed eyes disappear. No longer feeling pain from the winds, pounding, or voices, leaping from a balcony and seeing the black ashes falling before his eyes, Carlos flew toward the wall as, in the distance, the flames consuming the black forest reflected in his tear-filled eyes.
After the flames extinguished, nothing was found amidst the destruction. Kneeling in the ashes, smiling, Carlos cried for a long time, after all, he had finally done it. He finally...
"Grandpa, I did it... I... I don't... I don't feel anything anymore...."
***************
"Dad!..."
While the others approached the castle without any sign of haste, Scarlet instinctively ran through the corridors, her feet moving naturally. With the appearance of giant eyes at the window beside her, she froze, almost allowing her legs to give way. A lightning bolt coursed through the creature's body and, looking a bit higher, she experienced something she had never felt before—a look of absolute disdain was cast upon her. Before her eyes, Bors showed just how insignificant she was, to the point that, changing the direction of his gaze, he didn't even see the need to stop her from continuing.
"..."
With the creature lowering its head toward the gates, her knees hit the ground immediately.
"Arf! Arf! Arf! Arf!"
Placing a hand on her chest, her heartbeats became uncontrollably erratic from that simple look. But hearing the approaching footsteps, scraping up the wall, she stood.
"Dad..."
Trying to control her body's reactions after that look, she continued walking, though not with the same fervor as before.
"Dad...!"
Opening the doors to his room, she found nothing. She quickly moved to the next place, the throne room, which, to Scarlet's surprise, was also completely empty, causing her to collapse.
"What are you doing?" Seren asked, approaching the door with the others.
"My father, he..."
"Huh?"
Clenching her fists, Scarlet couldn't bring herself to look into the eyes of those watching her, let alone Seren, who stood beside her, waiting for her response.
"...he fled..."
"How dare he! To attempt something like this in the Kingdom's lands and in the lord's presence... outrageous!"
Clicking his tongue, Landric bowed to Seren along with the others.
"Allow us to go after him, Your Majesty. He must pay for what he has done and explain what exactly happened here."
With a nod from Seren, they entered the throne room and walked toward the balcony.
"Spread out and..."
"Find the traitor and bring him back."
"Huh?"
The first to leave was the largest blue serpent, ridden by Bors, who gave the order to the others. Alain followed, riding his eagle.
"You're getting slower, Landric. Soon he'll surpass you, see?"
"Tsk! Shut up and go already!"
The creatures dispersed, and in the skies, the angelic beings separated in all directions.
"I think it's better if you stay here. It's not necessary for you to see what will happen."
"No, I..."
Grabbing onto Seren's pants, Scarlet, even trying, still couldn't look him in the eyes. But with her trembling hands, she couldn't let him go either.
"Please... take me with you, please..."
Widening his eyes, she momentarily froze as Seren removed her hand from his pants and walked silently to the balcony. Looking at the trees of the Great Forest, he observed the tallest trunks and uttered a single word... a single name.
"Vorz."
Darkness filled the skies, and as everyone in the demon kingdom trembled, a terrifying sound shook even the waters, pushing the ocean itself away from the place where it was generated.
With his feet outside the kingdom's walls, its beak easily reached the balcony where Seren stood. Smiling, he raised his arms, reaching out to what didn't even seem to have a palpable form, being a being made of the purest and deepest darkness.
"You've grown, Vorz."
"I'm the one who should be saying that. I'm the oldest, remember? Or have you forgotten that too?"
"...No... I remember... of course, I remember... brother."
Another cawing was heard, even louder and more powerful, pushing the ocean waters to create a gigantic wall behind the castle.
"Are you happy now? I did what you asked, so, can you help me?"
Lowering its head, the ancestral crow allowed them to climb onto its back.
"And so, shall we?"