I expected it all to be a dream—or more like a nightmare than a dream. King Jin Li was lifting me by the neck on the edge of the Emperors' Mountain.
He was breathing with rage and intense hatred, and his violet eyes pierced into my skull with the sheer force of absolute authority.
He said in a sharp, terrifying voice:
"The Fifth Emperor, your mother, your brother, and you… all of you will be sent to the depths of hell. You will be forgotten—The Rosenfeld family."
Then he added with a mocking sneer:
"Your brother has something great and powerful inside him. And you? Probably just a worthless nobody."
His words cut through my ears like knives… until his eyes suddenly widened in shock and horror. He was staring straight at my heart.
Without hesitation, he drew his sword and slashed my neck in one swift motion, tossing me off the peak of the Emperors' Mountain like a pig. And in his eyes… there was a strange fear.
Faithless jolted awake from the terrifying nightmare. He gasped heavily, drenched in sweat, panting and clutching his neck.
He muttered while panting:
"What a terrifying nightmare… I thought I'd never have to live that horror again."
He placed his five fingers on his face, then softly touched his abdomen muscles. He pulled his fingers away and looked down at a soft, gentle hand touching him tenderly.
Next to him, he saw a girl with short, messy silver hair, and two cat ears on her head. She wore a shirt and a short black skirt.
She spoke in a sweet, calm tone:
"You have nice muscles, meow~."
Faithless was surprised and blushed deeply, speaking to himself:
"Who is this girl? And how did she enter the room without permission?"
He asked her aloud:
"Who are you? And is this how you walk into someone's room and start touching their body?"
She smiled sweetly and said in a soft voice:
"Why are you mad? The boss told me about you, and my curiosity got the best of me. So I came to see for myself, meow~."
Faithless smiled faintly and said quietly:
"I suppose you're from the Beast Tribe… I thought they were just stories. But reality is different."
She replied with a beautiful smile:
"That's right. I'm from the Beast Tribe, and I'm one of the Six. My name is Joline, meow~."
Faithless thought calmly:
"Damn… I never imagined the Beast Tribe would have women this beautiful."
There was a gentle knock at the door. They both looked toward it and saw Isaac standing there, watching them.
Isaac spoke in a deep, calm tone:
"Joline, as always, you're intrusive… You've disturbed my student on his first day."
Joline rose from the bed, twitching her ears, and said in a sweet voice:
"No, I didn't bother him. I just wanted to see him because you talked about him, and that excited me, meow~."
Isaac turned to Faithless and said firmly:
"Get dressed and meet me in the large yard behind the house… And you, Joline, out."
Both of them left the room. Faithless stood up and looked at himself in the mirror. He lowered his head, grinding his teeth in anger.
He muttered:
"That bastard… I'll kill him. No, that would be mercy… I'll tear him apart slowly until he begs for a quick death—Jin Li."
He looked at the mirror again and noticed that his face and everything it reflected were starting to vanish gradually, until the mirror became pure darkness.
He asked in a trembling voice:
"What's happening now?"
A white smile appeared within the mirror, and Faithless shuddered, his heart racing.
He spoke with difficulty:
"Sin? Saint of Mary's Cathedral?"
Saint Sin replied with a cryptic, distorted tone:
"How are you, my son? You seem scared, unsettled, and sad… I am here, but I am neither with you nor against you."
Faithless stepped back from the terrifying scene, mouth open, not knowing how to respond.
He whispered:
"The great Saint Sin is speaking to someone like me?"
Sin spoke with that same eerie tone:
"You don't seem to know how to express what's inside you… It's alright. All humans are like that."
He paused for a moment, then continued:
"I won't take long. Speaking too much is forbidden… Let me tell you this: the sky will rain blood, and your body will be exhausted and torn in the most horrific ways. A great betrayal is coming. Be careful."
His eerie smile vanished, and the mirror returned to normal. Faithless placed his hand over his chest, dripping with sweat.
He asked in a fearful tone:
"Was that really Saint Sin? Or just an illusion… Am I losing my mind?"
He placed all ten fingers on his face, speaking in confusion.
Then he heard Isaac's deep voice:
"Still not ready… What's taking you so long?"
Faithless looked at Isaac, fear in his eyes. But he closed them, then opened them again.
He said in a broken tone:
"I'm coming… I just had some things on my mind."
He put on his long red coat, open at the front, along with black pants. He stepped out of the room—Isaac was waiting.
Isaac said:
"Looks like you're ready… Let's go."
—
Faithless followed Isaac out of the room, walking through a long corridor filled with the scent of age and dust. The walls were covered in faded murals of men and women whose names were all that remained.
Isaac stopped at a rusty door and looked at it calmly:
"Apologies for the simplicity of the place… I know it's unfit for someone like you, Prince."
Faithless answered with a sarcastic smile:
"The place doesn't matter… as long as there's someone you can laugh with."
Isaac closed his eyes and smiled sincerely:
"Such wise words."
Before pushing the door open, he said in a low, mysterious voice:
"But your name, Faithless… it has an unforgettable taste. Like someone who's lost hope in mankind."
Faithless felt a stab of suspicion… How did he know? But before he could ask, the door creaked open to reveal a vast yard, bathed in warm sunlight, surrounded on all sides by dark trees—as if it were a courtyard hidden inside a sleeping forest.
In the middle of the yard, they were there: The Six.
Each one stood differently, but they all shared something in common… a presence that dominated the air, even without speaking.
Isaac pointed to a tall young man standing firmly. His eyes glowed golden like a blood-red sunset, his long brown hair tied with a leather string, and his black coat flowing in the wind.
"This is the strongest among them. Tawakizra Moonlight."
Tawakizra stepped forward with steady steps and extended his hand without hesitation:
"Nice to meet you, Faithless."
Faithless shook his hand, but felt the chill of someone who had spent a lifetime in the shadows. He replied with a faint smile:
"Likewise."
Barely two seconds passed before a sharp feminine voice rang from behind:
"Don't believe him… He's only the strongest because we let him be."
Faithless turned to see a tall girl with dark orange messy hair, floating around her face like tongues of smoke. Her sharp blue eyes looked as if they could read through bones.
She wore a cropped shirt that revealed her toned abs and stood with her hands on her hips, radiating raw confidence.
"My name is Marceline Beyond… And you? Tall, weird… and unfortunately handsome."
Faithless raised a sarcastic eyebrow:
"Thanks… I guess?"
She chuckled low:
"Don't thank me. We haven't started yet."
Before he could respond, a light shadow dropped from a tree branch and landed softly—a silver-haired girl with short hair and twitching cat ears. She smiled as if she'd known him forever and walked up casually:
"I saw him first! I have the right to introduce myself before anyone else. Joline of the Beast Tribe… meow~."
She stepped closer and gently touched his shoulder:
"You're strong… physically, at least. What I like most are your muscles. Meow~."
Faithless blushed slightly… but didn't say a word.
Isaac pointed toward a young man sitting on a rock, wearing a semi-transparent mask that covered part of his face. He stared at the sky motionlessly, as if listening to something no one else could hear.
"That's Eric Vinter… He doesn't talk much, but he has an ability that lets him turn invisible for a few seconds."
Eric responded in a quiet voice:
"Faithless… I don't know where I've heard that name before!"
Faithless eyed him cautiously, without saying a word.
Then, a girl stepped forward from the shadow of one of the pillars. Her footsteps were silent, like a ghost who didn't want to be noticed. Her long white hair was pulled tightly back, swaying like the tail of a slaughtered beast. Her eyes… pure white, sharp, as if she saw you — and saw you again — in a way no one else could. Her skin was so pale it looked like there wasn't a single drop of blood in her body… yet her beautiful lips were stained with crimson.
She wore a long, open gothic coat that revealed a Victorian white blouse stained with blood, and black trousers that emphasized her severe figure.
She stood in front of Faithless and spoke in a soft voice that pierced the ear like a wire:
"I'm Lady Marianne Crimson… the blood manipulator."
She tilted her head slightly, then smiled a smile that couldn't be understood easily.
"I like to hear you speak… because the lie in your voice is more beautiful than the silence in your eyes."
With that, she turned around slowly, as if exiting a stage play that ended in a death that had not yet happened.
Faithless felt something strange and terrifying lingering around this girl — especially in her tone and the cryptic nature of her final words.
And finally, a young man sat in the corner, calmly smoking his pipe. His hair was white like burnt bone, and he wore an elegant suit that made no sense for the rest of the setting.
"His name is Kaidos… we don't know much about him, but he appears when we need him," Isaac said with no further explanation.
Kaidos replied without turning:
"And don't try to know more… you faithless thing."
Faithless stood among these faces — some unsettling, some amusing, some curious.
But all of them… were unlike anyone he had ever met before.
Isaac clapped his hands with his eyes closed and a mysterious smile on his face. He spoke in a deep tone:
"Alright… alright. I didn't introduce Faithless properly. He is one of the sons of the Fifth Emperor, Syron Rosenfeld."
A deadly silence fell over the place, as if the world itself had stopped spinning. The silence was sharp, cold, and terrifying. Their eyes widened with shock. Then, in a sudden motion, a dagger made of blood flew toward Faithless's face with brutal speed.
Just before it struck him, Isaac stopped it — without touching it — and shattered it into fine glass-like fragments. Faithless couldn't even perceive what had happened.
Isaac opened one eye and spoke in a dark, sharp tone:
"Lady Marianne, what are you doing?"
Her expression was fierce and frightening. She stood in front of Isaac and spoke in a firm tone:
"We want to kill the ancestors of those fools — from the emperor to his servants… and now you bring us his son?"
Faithless didn't understand what was happening around him. His eyes simply watched everything with a strange calm…
'Seems like everyone hates my father… and the kingdom too, but I don't blame them,' he muttered to himself quietly.
Isaac lowered his head slightly toward Lady Marianne face and spoke in a calm voice, smiling:
"But how do you explain the emperor and empress being killed by the Nine Kings… and his brother, whose fate is still unknown?"
Her expression shifted to shock — not just hers, but everyone's in the room. Then Isaac continued:
"Faithless has only one simple goal — to avenge his mother's murder by the kings… he doesn't care about the emperor at all. He also seeks his brother. Faithless's goal is the same as ours — to overthrow the kingdom and kill the kings."
"Wait… wait. Are you saying the kings staged a secret coup and killed the emperor?" Marceline placed all five fingers on her face, speaking with a tone of pure disbelief.
"Yes," Isaac answered her with one deep, short word, still smiling.
"I agree with Saint Isaac's words," Tawakizra spoke in a heavy, cryptic tone. Everyone turned to look at him as he walked toward Faithless with firm steps, his hands in his pockets. His footsteps emitted a white aura of sheer presence.
He stood face to face with Faithless, and gave him a cold smile.
"His goal and ours is to kill the kings… but if we see anything suspicious from him, like betrayal, we'll sever his head like a pig."
Faithless returned the cold smile with a deep one of his own, and responded in a steady tone:
"Faithless… means someone who has lost faith in people, in family, even in friends… Do you think someone broken like that would betray anyone, Lord Tawakizra?"
Tawakizra smiled back but said nothing.
Isaac clapped three times loudly, and spoke in a deep voice:
"That's enough arguing. Let's begin the training… and as Tawakizra and I explained — our goal is one: to bring down the kingdom and the kings…"
Lady Mariami gave Faithless a sharp look, then lowered her hat over her head and turned quickly away.