Asland, a world where even the air is filled with magic, gave birth to many special humans capable of absorbing magic.
Such people are called Mages, and the strange abilities they use are magic.
The Fiore Kingdom is a permanently neutral kingdom with a large number of Mages, boasting a population of 17 million and over a hundred Mage Guilds.
However, not all guilds that can train so many Mages are legitimate official organizations... For example, in addition to officially recognized guilds, there are also Dark Guilds that commit heinous acts and are not accepted by the world.
Dark Guilds are like rats in the street; although everyone wants to eliminate them, they are ubiquitous.
In the outskirts of Magnolia, an ancient magical commercial city, a dilapidated Dark Guild was established in the darkest corner.
On the entrance of this guild hung a crooked emblem, along with the guild's name: Destruction Demon.
On this dead silent night, the torrential rain intensified, falling onto the Destruction Demon's backyard, splashing dirty muddy water everywhere, the chaos of the downpour seemingly capable of concealing all sins.
In the backyard, several figures were vigorously swinging something.
Several strong, sturdy men repeatedly lifted and dropped their iron shovels, shoveling earth to fill the pit in front of them.
One man's movements were slightly hesitant, and his voice trembled as he said, "If we do this... won't we incur divine wrath...?"
Upon hearing his words, the man's companion rushed over and slapped him loudly on the spot, cursing:
"Stop talking nonsense! It's not the first time we've done this. Who cares if a Dark Guild kills a kid?!"
The man covered his red face, feeling somewhat wronged. Thunder rumbled in the sky, and in the fleeting flash of lightning, his companion's face appeared so insane... The few men stopped speaking and continued silently with their dirty work. Before long, the pit was completely filled.
Only then did they drop their tools and flee the scene.
And in the pouring rain, this soft earth seemed as if nothing had ever happened... until, a mound slowly rose from the ground.
In a blink of an eye, a tender hand burst out of the earth, like a resentful spirit, unwillingly breaking free from the soil on a rainy night, having suffered an unjust death.
Time moved forward relentlessly, and a grimy little boy finally struggled out of the pit.
The boy's features were already muddied by the dirty water, making his appearance unclear, but his eyes glowed with an eerie and sinister red light.
"I... can control my body now..."
A slightly hoarse voice came from the boy's mouth; it was hard to imagine this was the tone of a child.
The boy had already exhausted all his strength just climbing out of the pit. He lay on the ground, enduring the washing of the incessant rain, and constantly forced himself to calm his mind.
"Ankh, you are finally free!"
In his mind, a strange voice, neither distinctly male nor female, echoed gloomily in the boy's head.
The boy raised the back of his hand to shield his red eyes, murmuring in a low voice, "Free... really?"
"Seram."
Actually, this boy who crawled out of the live burial pit was not originally from this world.
He came from a beautiful planet. In the prime of his youth in his previous life, Ankh's body suffered an accident, he died and transmigrated to this world.
Ankh transmigrated to this world and was reborn as an orphan, but strangely, he couldn't control his own body.
For all these years, Ankh's thoughts and body had always been out of sync.
Moreover, a strange voice named "Seram" had appeared in his mind, accompanying him all these years.
So, even though Ankh's intelligence was fine, to outsiders, Ankh was just a fool who acted purely on instinct.
Later, the "demented" Ankh begged his way to the Destruction Demon, only to be targeted by these brutal people.
Ankh was abducted by the Destruction Demon into the guild, becoming their cheap labor for arduous tasks.
Powerless and unable to control his body with his thoughts, Ankh endured being bossed around by the Mages of the Destruction Demon, and from time to time, he would suffer a beating that would render him unconscious.
The intermittent, deadly pain meant he might not even know when he would be beaten to death... Ankh endured those hellish days with a clear mind for two agonizing years, two years where he lived a life worse than death!
Finally, today, Ankh messed up a chore again and was "killed" by an enraged, drunken Mage who smashed him with a weapon.
And then... he became like this.
"It seems only after dying once, you truly become your complete self."
Ankh's small face was washed by the rain, gradually revealing his original perfect features.
His eyes, as beautiful as blood agate, radiated a deep sense of deathly stillness. After a long while, Ankh finally spoke in a hoarse voice:
"Seram, you once said you would help me, didn't you?"
"You are me; there is no helping or not helping."
Ankh's lips suddenly curved into a smile, and his eyes revealed an extreme, insane brutality as he said:
"Teach me magic, magic strong enough to kill those people!"
After a moment of silence, the voice in his mind finally responded. This time, its tone seemed to carry excitement, and the sound was like a devil's whisper.
"With pleasure!"
...Late at night, every member of the Destruction Demon was peacefully lost in sweet dreams, completely unaware of the approaching crisis.
In a crude bedroom within the guild, the man who had buried the pit earlier lay on his bed, his body constantly trembling, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.
His companion, kept awake by the man, impatiently roared, "What are you doing! It's just burying someone, what are you so scared of!"
The man shivered in fright and said with a choked voice, "But I always feel like something isn't right..."
His companion scoffed disdainfully, saying, "You had the guts to hit him and bully him before, but no guts to bury him? Don't act like a pure white lotus!"
The man hesitated for a while, then reluctantly burrowed back into his covers... "Are you ready to face death?"
Just as his mind began to drift off, a ghostly voice suddenly came from the doorway. The man and his companion were startled, and quickly scrambled out of bed.
But when they saw the person standing at the doorway, they were frozen in terror.
The man, his face pale, pointed at him and shouted in disbelief, "Why aren't you dead!"
Ankh revealed a brilliant smile, then slowly pushed open the door behind him.
When the two saw the scene behind him, their pupils constricted sharply, and their legs turned to jelly, causing them to fall to the ground with a thud.
Behind Ankh, an unknown number of silent corpses were piled together, forming a small mountain.
"You two are the last." Ankh raised his dirty hand, and the tip of his index finger immediately emitted a deep, dark golden light!
The two watched the light in horror, seeing the dark golden light dissipate into the air, automatically outlining a glowing circular pattern at their feet.
A magic circle? Why, why was that beggar-like child... why was that child a Mage!
"Super Magic: Terror... Ankh, this is your unique — Judgment Magic!"
The dark golden light instantly enveloped the entire room, and a massive power silently encroached.
When the eerie light faded, the only living person left in the room was Ankh.
Ankh looked at the two people, whose orifices were bleeding and faces were bloodless, and said with an unwavering mind, "Goodbye, Dark Guild."
"