The night had grown heavy, the silence of the festival's joy buried under the weight of darkness. At exactly 2:30 a.m., the air itself shifted.
The full moon glared down from the sky, pale and merciless.
In the depths of the void, the Demon God stirred. His voice, raw and guttural, echoed like thunder through unseen realms.
"So many scents… so many humans. Fresh flesh… fresh blood! Hahaha! I am starving… STARVING!"
His laughter ripped through the night. The ground trembled faintly as he commanded his cult followers:
"Bring me their meat. Bring me their blood. Bring me every last soul! Only then shall I grow stronger!"
---
While Zemura village and the nearby towns lay drowned in peaceful slumber, the forest came alive. Out of the thick trees and tangled shadows, smoke-like figures poured out—beasts of darkness, moving fast as the wind.
In the forest clearing, cult members had already gathered. Under the merciless glow of the full moon, they sat in a circle. Their hands traced sinister symbols into the dirt, a demonic pattern that pulsed faintly as though alive. Torches burned on every side, and at the center, they spilled animal blood. Human bones, strands of hair, fingernails, and even teeth were placed within the drawing.
The chanting began. Low, sharp, inhuman.
With every word, the air grew colder. Bats—dozens, maybe hundreds—burst from the treetops and hovered like sentries, eyes glowing red.
Then the attack began.
Kin's fans who had traveled from the city, along with wandering villagers, suddenly felt their bodies go cold. Shadows spread across the ground and crawled up their legs, wrapping around them like chains. Their eyes glazed over as they fell under a hypnotic spell. Even the villagers who had been safe earlier began to falter, their wills collapsing beneath the suffocating black magic.
---
Inside his home, Kenny jolted awake. His breath came fast.
He stumbled out of bed, eyes wide—no, not wide. Black. Completely black, as if swallowed by night.
At the same time, in another room, Kin stirred. His eyes, too, had turned into pits of pure darkness. Without a word, he opened the bedroom door and stepped into the hallway.
The faint creak woke Vixen. Half-asleep, he blinked at the sound, then turned over, dismissing it as nothing. He drifted back into slumber.
Meanwhile, Kenny and Kin walked together toward the main door, their footsteps unnaturally steady, their faces blank but smiling faintly… like puppets possessed.
Just as their hands touched the door, Zavrion appeared, blocking their way.
"Where are you going? At this hour?" his voice was sharp with suspicion.
Both Kin and Kenny turned their heads slowly. Their faces stretched into eerie smiles, and when their eyes met Zavrion's, they were pitch-black—soulless, monstrous. Their laughter, low and hollow, was not their own.
The door swung open. Cold night air swept inside. And before Zavrion could stop them, they stepped out.
Zavrion's chest tightened with fear. His instincts screamed at him that this was not his Kin, not his Kenny. But his body moved anyway. He dashed after them, releasing the full force of his Enigma pheromone. The air shimmered with his sacred power, blasting outward in waves.
In an instant, the spell broke.
Kin and Kenny collapsed to the ground, their eyes flickering back to normal. They gasped, disoriented, staring around as though waking from a nightmare.
Kenny clutched Zavrion's sleeve, voice trembling. "W-what… what was I doing outside?"
Kin looked down at his own trembling hands, horror dawning on his face. "Why… why were we out there? At this hour?"
The night answered them with silence. But far away, deep in the forest, the cult's chanting only grew louder…
To be Continued....