Chapter 21: Zaryter Daternmum — The Beast Bleeds
A damp stench filled the narrow alley, the smell of rot and decay lingering like a curse. Ragged silhouettes of the homeless lay huddled against the biting cold, their breathing shallow—fragile remnants of life clinging to shadow.
Leornars strode through the alley, each step like a verdict. His gaze swept across the human wreckage with a sneer carved into his face.
"The great human race," he muttered, voice laced with venom. "So proud. So arrogant. Yet here they are—sleeping in filth, while the very species they enslave live in proper homes. Pathetic."
His foot halted.
A frail hand brushed against his polished boot.
Crimson light surged in his eyes.
"You dare touch me?" he whispered.
He gripped the man by the throat, lifting him like a feather. The man gasped, kicking weakly.
"The air you breathe is by my mercy."
With a flick, Leornars hurled the man against the wall—thud.
"You're not a race. You're a disease."
He turned to leave—
—and froze.
The air twisted.
A presence.
A smirk from the shadows.
"If you're human," Leornars growled, "I won't hold back."
The figure stepped forward. "Try me."
And then it began.
A blur.
A crash.
A scream.
The alley shattered as their bodies clashed like meteorites. A blade scraped past Leornars's neck, drawing blood. He retaliated with a blast of force, sending the assassin tumbling through a wall.
But the figure was fast—inhumanly fast.
"Chainbreaker: The Eternal Chains of Solitude!"
Black chains erupted from beneath Leornars's feet, binding his limbs mid-charge.
He struggled.
The chains tightened.
"Burn—!" he roared, lightning surging. The air lit up with white arcs, but the chains held. Another chain-fist slammed into him, launching him backward.
He crashed through stone and iron, blood pouring down his arm. His breathing slowed. His vision blurred.
"Why... am I slowing down…?"
The assassin advanced. "They say you're strong. I see only a rabid dog that needs a leash."
Leornars roared and lunged again.
Another trap.
Chains coiled like vipers, pulling him to the ground—again, and again. His ribs cracked. His shoulder dislocated. Electricity sparked feebly from his broken fingers.
And for the first time...
He hesitated.
His feet faltered.
"AM NOT LOSING TO SOME WEAK PERSON LIKE YOU!!!!!!!!!" Leornars shouted
His aura flickered. Life-ki began leaking from his pores—not mana, but his very soul.
A cruel smile played across the assassin's face.
"That's it. Break."
Leornars lunged forth grabbed him by the neck , smashing him to the ground,he leapt up only for his foot to be tangled up by the chain and thrown ahead.
He got up one eye bleeding but he still grabbed a piece of branch
"You are dead" Leornars added coldly
He took a step forward
'system , critical... operation failed, shutting down ' the female voice spoke in his ear
"I'm not done yet"Leornars hissed as he collapsed on the floor
The assassin walked to him smirking
"It was challenging but I don't know what happened but oh well,a win is a win " the assassin said calmly as he bandaged his arm
Suddenly—
A flash of white.
The assassin stiffened.
A hand wrapped around his face.
CRACK.
He was gone, hurled through four stone buildings before he even registered the strike.
Silence.
Only the sound of light heels tapping the ruined ground.
She walked in—Stacian.
White-haired. Calm. Not a drop of blood on her. Her presence turned the air cold.
She looked down at Leornars—bloodied, trembling, barely clinging to consciousness.
"Huh? You had no mana yet you still fought" she whispered. "Burning life-ki this early? What are you trying to prove?"
She knelt, brushed dust from his cheek, and slung him onto her back like a feather.
Chains snapped forward.
Stacian's fingers twitched.
The chains stopped mid-air—then reversed, whipping backward like scolded beasts.
One remained.
It lunged.
She caught it between two fingers.
The assassin landed, panting, blood dripping from his chin.
"Got you," he said darkly.
"...Got who?"
She yanked.
He flew toward her—
—into her knee.
His spine bent.
CRASH.
He lay motionless.
"How—how did she control my chains?" he gasped.
"These were divine gifts—"
"You're asking the wrong question," she said, calm as death. "You should ask: How did I let you live this long?"
His chains shot out again—ten, twenty, thirty. They surrounded her, divine glyphs glowing.
She exhaled.
A wave of null exploded around her.
The glyphs disintegrated.
The chains rusted in the air.
And Zaryter… began to panic.
He stumbled back, coughing. Blood from his lungs.
"Who are you?"
She didn't answer.
She turned away, Leornars slung across her shoulders.
"I'm tired of this."
"You're just going to walk away?" Zaryter screamed. "I'M NOT DONE!"
She stopped.
Looked over her shoulder.
"No," she said softly. "You are."
And then—
Every bone in his body snapped.
The ground beneath him cratered, forming the shape of a black lotus.
He stopped moving.
---
Zaryter Daternmum – The Past
Fire. Smoke. Screams.
His family… burning.
His sister—barely alive.
They wandered for years, hungry, hated.
The humans didn't help.
The nobles spat on them.
And when the Black Acers offered salvation, he accepted.
Food. Power.
A cure.
And a name—the one who destroyed his home.
---
Back in the Shadows
A dark room.
Cloaked men.
"Zaryter, our little dragon," one smirked. "Where's the white-haired kid?"
"...He escaped."
"You got soft," another mocked.
"If I got serious, this city would be dust."
One figure leaned forward, voice like poison.
"Don't forget—your sister still needs her medicine."
Zaryter's fists clenched.
"I know. One job left. Then I'm done."
He turned to leave.
Behind him, whispers stirred.
"Are we really curing his sister?"
The boss chuckled.
"We don't have a holy demon. Never did. Once he finishes the job... we dispose of him."
---