The night was silent. Too silent for a house that should have been filled with the warmth of family. In a dim corner of the room, a man knelt. His body trembled—not from cold, but from something far more cruel: helplessness.
His hands were shackled by chains of dark light radiating supernatural power. Cheat power. The unfair strength possessed by someone hailed as the "Savior Hero."
"Hen...ry..." His voice was hoarse, barely audible. Eyes that once held hope now showed only tears streaming endlessly down his face.
Before him, his wife—the woman he had sworn to protect for the rest of his life—now lay surrendered on their own bed. Her clothes torn. Her face wet with tears, yet her expression empty. Her body moved to a rhythm not of her own will.
And atop her, a blonde man with a gaze full of lust moved without a shred of guilt. His face was handsome, his aura dazzling.
He was Aldric Reinhardt—a reincarnator, someone blessed with cheat powers from another world. A hero worshipped by the people. A savior glorified by the kingdom.
But behind his heroic mask, he was a monster.
"Watch closely, Henry," Aldric said mockingly, glancing toward the kneeling man.
"Your wife... she's enjoying this more than being with you. You're too weak. A man like you doesn't deserve a woman this beautiful."
Henry bit his lip until it bled. He wanted to scream, to fight back, to tear that bastard's body apart. But his body couldn't move.
Aldric's cheat power was too strong. His binding spell was perfect. Henry could only watch. Listen. Feel his soul shatter into pieces.
"Please... stop..." Henry's voice was barely a whisper in the wind.
"Kill me... but don't hurt her anymore..."
Aldric laughed. "Kill you? No, no. That would be too easy. I want you to live with this memory. I want you to know just how meaningless you are in this world."
The night grew later. The sound of his sobs drowned in the endless darkness.
But then...
Something changed.
The full moon's light, previously hidden behind clouds, suddenly pierced through the window. Its glow wasn't merely bright—it carried a bone-chilling cold. The air in the room shifted instantly. Heavy. Suffocating.
Aldric stopped his movements. He sensed something wrong. His instinct as a cheat power holder whispered: danger.
Then, from the shadows at the far end of the room, that figure emerged. Slowly. Like mist crystallizing into tangible form.
A man wrapped in a long black cloak that billowed without wind. His mask was pale white, with crack patterns like a shattered crescent moon. His hair was red with silver gleams at the tips. Both hands were covered in dark gloves, and at his waist hung a long sword with a blade that gleamed cold as ice beneath the moonlight.
The eyes behind that mask shone—pale silver, without mercy.
"Who—" Aldric didn't finish his sentence.
The figure had already moved. Quick as lightning, he was right in front of Aldric. No sound of footsteps. No warning signs. Only movement too fast for ordinary human eyes.
Aldric reflexively activated his cheat power—a light shield appeared before him. An SSS-level defensive skill said to be capable of deflecting attacks from even dragons. But that sword slashed through his shield as if it were nothing but paper.
CRASH!
The golden light shattered into pieces. "W-what?!" Aldric stumbled back, his face pale. "Impossible! My power is—"
"A cheat?" The voice from behind the mask was cold, calm, yet filled with freezing fury.
"Unfair power you stole from hypocritical gods. You think that will save you from my retribution?"
Aldric tried to flee, but his body couldn't move. The shadow beneath his feet crept upward, binding his legs like living chains.
"Shadow Manipulation skill... but this isn't an ordinary skill... who are you?!" Aldric screamed, his voice full of fear.
The masked figure stepped closer. His sword rose slowly, its tip pointing directly at Aldric's throat.
"I am the moon that shines in the depths of night..."
"I am midnight itself..."
"I am one called the purger of sins."
"I am Midnight Kai."
"And I am your punishment."
Aldric still tried to resist. He activated all his cheat skills—one by one. Explosions of fire, lightning, storm winds—all attacking Midnight Kai simultaneously.
But the figure didn't flinch. A circle of silvery light appeared around his body—moon magic that neutralized all elements.
"You still don't understand?" Midnight Kai raised his sword.
"Your cheats are useless against the moon's curse."
In one motion, the sword swept through. First, it severed Aldric's right hand.
SPLASH!
Blood spurted, soaking the floor. Aldric screamed in agony. Then his left hand.
SPLASH!
The screams grew louder. Then his legs—one by one. Aldric fell. His body writhed like a fish on land. His face was drenched in sweat and tears.
"P-please... forgive me..." he begged with a broken voice.
Midnight Kai crouched down, staring directly into his eyes. "Did you ever forgive those you hurt? Did you ever show mercy?"
Aldric couldn't answer.
"Then you don't deserve it."
The sword pierced straight through his heart. Slowly. Painfully. Aldric felt every remaining second of his life before his eyes finally dimmed forever.
But it wasn't over yet. Midnight Kai turned, looking at the woman lying on the bed—Henry's wife who had lost consciousness. His gaze was sharp. He knew. He could sense it. The woman's soul was already destroyed. Her heart was already dead.
Even if her body was saved, she would never return. With a swift and unhesitating motion, Midnight Kai swung his sword.
SLASH!
The woman felt no pain. Her death was quick, peaceful. A final mercy. Henry, witnessing this, fell silent. His eyes widened. But strangely, he didn't cry. Didn't rage.
He had no more tears left. Midnight Kai walked toward him. The golden light shackles on Henry's body shattered with a touch of that sword.
Henry collapsed to the floor, his body limp. Midnight Kai knelt before him, at his level.
"You're still alive," he said softly.
"That means... you still have a choice."
Henry looked up, staring at that white mask with an empty gaze. "A choice...? I've already lost everything..."
"True. But you've also gained something—a reason to rise."
Midnight Kai extended his hand.
"This world is full of people like Aldric. Those blessed with cheat powers, then using them to oppress, hurt, and take."
"They hide behind the title of 'hero,' when in reality they're devils cloaked in light."
Henry stared at that hand.
"If you want revenge, if you want to uphold true justice... then stand up."
"Fight them. Don't let others experience what you've experienced."
Silence. Then, slowly, Henry grasped that hand. When he stood, the look in his eyes had already changed.
No longer the eyes of a broken man. But the eyes of someone reborn from the embers of vengeance—and the determination to change the world.
Midnight Kai released his grip, then turned toward the window. The moonlight still illuminated his figure.
"Remember my name, Henry. I am Midnight Kai—a hunter who walks beneath the moonlight, and I only kill those who are guilty."
He leaped out the window, vanishing into the night. Henry stood alone in the center of the blood-filled room.
But for the first time in so long...
He felt alive again.
... ...
Somewhere, far in the heavens...
Lunaris, the Moon Goddess, smiled faintly from her throne made of silver light.
"Well done, Kaito... continue your mission. Let this night become a nightmare for those losers who call themselves heroes."
And the full moon shone brighter. The night of slaughter had just begun.