The fire within the pool of blood released scorching heat, causing anyone who stayed too close for too long to suffer burns and feel an intense wave of heat.
Even the thick police uniforms could barely withstand it. Fortunately, none of them made direct contact with the flames. The four officers immediately stepped back three paces to keep their distance.
Federico, one of the officers, had already left the area to search for something. Meanwhile, the captain called over two other officers who were currently putting out the remaining fire. The four officers did not immediately inform the others about the blood. They felt uneasy and confused, as there were no casualties from such a devastating house fire.
Not long after, a sound like raindrops echoed. From the pool of blood, the strange being emerged, taking on a humanoid form, with two sharp horns on its head and two black wings that spread wide, covering part of the crowd and shielding them from direct sunlight.
The townspeople fell silent, including the six police officers, four firefighters beneath them, Albert, and Liam. The atmosphere grew grim and unnervingly quiet. Some people were frozen in fear, their mouths tightly shut as if something invisible restrained them. All eyes were fixed on the strange figure hovering above.
The creature flapped its wings once, shedding several feathers. People nearby recoiled in terror, believing it was about to kill them. Two seconds later, a scream rang out, and one woman in the crowd immediately ran away in panic.
From that single scream, the crowd scattered to the left and right, abandoning the area in an attempt to return to their homes.
However, escaping was not as easy as they imagined. Some selfish individuals shoved others aside without care. A few were pushed into the river and were instantly swept away by the strong current.
There were two exits, one straight path leading to Main Road No. 10, and another toward the bridge on the right.
Four police officers approached, trying to calm the situation, but their efforts failed. They were blocked by a bearded man who ordered the police not to interfere and demanded that they get rid of the strange creature.
One officer refused, his emotions flaring. The officer, who bore a single-star badge on his chest, raised his weapon and pointed it directly at the man's temple.
Click. His index finger was about to pull the trigger when the police captain covered the barrel with his hand and shook his head.
"All right," the officer said after seeing the captain's command.
The bearded man panicked. He snarled angrily and left, shoving people out of his way.
Meanwhile, the four firefighters approached the police officers and asked about the strange creature that had suddenly appeared. The six officers shook their heads in unison, unsure how to answer.
At the same time, Albert handed one of the revolvers to Liam. He told him to be ready to shoot the creature, especially its wings and wrists.
"Do you know what that thing is?" Liam asked in panic, seeing such a creature for the first time in his life.
Albert exhaled before answering. "Yes, I do. That winged creature is none other than your friend, Forn."
"I knew this would happen. Forgive me." Albert thought, his heart feeling as if it were being sliced again and again.
"What?" Liam whispered in shock, realizing that the winged creature was Forn. He had no idea how Albert knew.
He fell silent, wondering who Albert truly was.
A flash from the silver revolver briefly blinded him. Liam immediately focused, raised the gun, and without hesitation aimed exactly as Albert had instructed earlier.
Nervous.
Liam took a steady breath before giving the signal to attack at the same time.
Bang! Bang!
The bullets tore through the air, striking both the right and left wings. The winged creature, Forn, screamed in pain. At that moment, the consciousness controlling Forn's body began to waver, and the creature instinctively covered its wrists with its wings.
At that time, Forn was trapped in a beautiful dream, controlled by a second-rank evil spirit named Immeridya, whose intent was to destroy everything it saw.
The creature's condition had reached ninety percent. It needed only a little more before it could move freely and potentially incinerate an entire district with a single breath.
The police officers and firefighters were stunned when they saw the sudden gunfire. The police captain's eyes widened as he noticed Albert blinking twice, as if signaling something.
With his experience and understanding of body language, the captain understood immediately and ordered all his subordinates to fire at the flying creature.
"Are you sure about this, Captain?" one of them asked, uncertain whether his gun could harm such a monster.
"Trust me," the captain replied calmly, though his nerves betrayed him. Even he was unsure whether bullets could defeat such a terrifying being.
Although Albert still had bullets left, he did not have enough to destroy the black wings protecting the creature's wrists. He was also uncertain whether ordinary bullets could pierce their thickness.
He forced himself to remain calm, thinking positively, believing that he and everyone present could defeat the monster. At the same time, he wanted to save Forn from the control of the evil spirit and repay his debt.
He took a deep breath. Then—
"Fire!" Albert shouted loudly, followed by a barrage of gunshots.
Just as he expected, the bullets could not even scratch the monster's wings. Before the creature could fully transform into a horrific being, Albert wanted to defeat it as quickly as possible.
But he could not. He was only an ordinary man relying on a revolver. Unlike others, he did not possess special abilities tied to specific roles.
He felt despair, yet he saw the police and Liam continuing to fire without hesitation. Albert smiled faintly at their struggle, then slipped his right hand into his coat pocket.
He took out a bottle and an amulet inscribed with symbols of a star and a crescent moon. Liam glimpsed them reflexively, stopped shooting, and moved closer to Albert to understand what he was about to do.
"Is that an amulet? And what are you planning to do with those?" Liam asked curiously, wanting to know how such an object worked in this world.
Yes. Liam knew what an amulet was. Even back on Earth, in his hometown, people believed amulets could repel evil spirits, ghosts, and even bring good fortune.
That was all. Nothing more.
Back then, he did not believe in such things. He lived like an ordinary person, dismissing them as foolish and irrational.
Albert ignored Liam's question. His eyes focused on the engraving on the amulet, while his left hand firmly gripped the pointed bottle sealed with a wooden cap.
"O Fortune, I beg you. Drive away exhaustion and evil from his body," Albert's voice rose. "Let him sleep peacefully, and protect this broken body from the one within."
Suddenly, a blackish-purple aura emerged from the paper talisman. The sky above reacted, turning gray, and a soothing presence descended. The talisman flew from Albert's grasp, struck the creature at incredible speed, and vanished before touching its physical body.
"Ah….."
Gone.
The sky returned to normal. Sunlight broke through the clouds, illuminating the body of a woman falling downward.
Everyone who witnessed it could not believe that Albert had defeated the creature with what they thought was nothing more than an ordinary piece of paper, when in truth it was a talisman.
Albert gripped the bottle tightly and threw it toward Forn's limp body, lying amid the charred remains of the building.
The atmosphere became calmer, different from before. Four police officers approached, followed by the firefighters, intending to thank him for helping resolve the tense situation.
Meanwhile, Albert immediately approached the spot where Forn's body lay, with Liam following close behind.
Their worry made their steps heavier, yet more resolute. Albert slowly lifted his head and tried to wake Forn.
But he failed; Forn was unconscious. Six police officers approached, and the captain asked who the woman was who had previously transformed into the winged creature.
Liam turned his head, his face filled with pity. "She is the owner of this house, and also my friend," Liam said in a hoarse voice.
The police captain nodded and ordered his subordinates to carry Forn's body to a medical facility for further treatment. Once she regained consciousness, the captain intended to interrogate her.
Before that, the captain asked for Liam's permission, as her friend. Liam agreed, as did Albert. They both hoped Forn would be all right and wake up soon.
Based on Albert's experience and similar cases he had heard of, there was a fifty-fifty chance that Forn would fall into a coma, with no one knowing when she might awaken. And in the other half, death would come swiftly.
For now, he chose not to tell Liam this important information and decided it was better to wait for further news.
The sound of horses' hooves scraping against stone and carriage wheels rolling echoed from afar, accompanied by a short neigh. A police carriage arrived, covered with a roof and bearing a crescent moon emblem clearly displayed on the back.
Two officers hurriedly moved Forn's body into the carriage.
Both of them gave a thumbs-up in confirmation.
The driver, pale-faced and wearing a pointed hat, nodded. The whip cracked through the air. The horse neighed loudly, and the carriage sped off along the stone road, the clatter of wheels chasing one another. The tension slowly faded, leaving only one destination ahead: the nearest hospital.
Meanwhile, the police captain and three of his men were still questioning Albert. From behind them, Liam could hear fragments of the conversation and chose not to interfere.
After the disappearance of the winged creature, the firefighters took the initiative to extinguish the remaining flames. They were also ordered by the police not to approach the pool of blood.
Liam turned his head toward the ruins of the house and saw the remains of a wooden staircase. Suddenly, he remembered the pool of blood he had seen earlier.
He immediately ran toward the bloodstain, which turned out to be the path leading to the stairs. When he arrived, he was shocked to see that the blood had not diminished at all.
"What is this? This… this can't be ordinary blood," Liam said in panic. He thought that normal blood exposed to extreme heat would change color and emit a strange odor.
Strangely, his shirt began to melt slowly, as if burned by something. Yet Liam felt no heat on his body.
Four firefighters who had finished their task were about to inform the police. But one of them, a woman, noticed Liam crouching near the pool of blood.
She pulled off her cloth mask and shouted, "Run… don't stay there!"
The shout echoed around them, and anyone nearby immediately understood the danger. Liam stood up at once, trying to locate the source of the voice.
From outside the house, or at least it should have been.
"What's going on?" Albert murmured in confusion, still being interrogated by the police captain.
As Liam stood there, he realized, after hearing the dripping sound and smelling burned fabric, that his white shirt had holes in it and was leaking a liquid that continued to drip down, soaking the tips of his shoes.
But he had no idea why his shirt was melting. Liam froze in shock as the pool of blood formed floating words before his eyes.
Destroyed, destroyed... This world is destroyed. Know that I will change this world, even if it means becoming a criminal. Remember that my existence is very real.
The words echoed in his mind, making him think twice about the strange warning.
"What does this mean?" Liam muttered softly. "Is this a warning for me?" He pointed at himself, and at the same moment, the writing vanished.
Four firefighters approached him, one of them the woman who no longer wanted to see innocent people lost.
"Hey, are you crazy?" the woman asked anxiously, thinking Liam no longer cared about his own life.
Liam shook his head and replied with a faint smile, "No, I don't know anything."
"How could I know if no one told me anything beforehand?" he added.
Hearing that, the woman clenched her fists tightly, her face turning red as if she could barely restrain herself from hitting Liam. However, one of her coworkers stopped her, gently loosening her clenched hand.
"That's enough. He wasn't informed by the police about that bloodstain either," the man said softly as he removed his face mask.
The woman tried to calm herself, relaxing the tension in her face and hands. She stepped forward two paces and spoke with a somber expression.
"I'm sorry if I was too emotional toward you. This isn't the first or second time I've gone through something like this. My heart is tired, and I keep feeling frustrated seeing lives lost because of incidents like these," she said, lowering her gaze to the black ash on her shoes.
What does she mean? So it's not only Forn who experienced this? I know it. Even Zavi once went mad. Liam muttered to himself.
Liam covered his face with both hands for a moment, then left without saying anything to the woman. From afar, the female firefighter watched his back, feeling that her words had dampened his mood.
She hurried after Liam, and when she reached him, she grabbed his hand tightly.
"I'm sorry if my words made you uncomfortable," the woman said, holding back tears, before breaking down and crying as memories of the traumatic incident resurfaced.
Her grip tightened, making Liam's eyes widen at the sudden action. His expression softened, and he spoke with a small smile.
"It's all right, don't worry. I'm sorry if I did something reckless that could have endangered my life," Liam said as he tried to gently free his hand from her grasp.
Meanwhile, the police, the other firefighters, and Albert watched the scene unfold. They could only stand there, observing, and chose not to interfere.
At last, Liam walked toward Albert, slipped his right hand into his trouser pocket, and returned the silver revolver to him.
He patted Albert's shoulder once before continuing on his way, heading back to his home in the Chapena district. For some reason, thoughts of his family back on Earth suddenly crossed his mind.
Liam kept walking, enduring the pain and sorrow, holding back his tears so they would not fall, his eyes half-closed a
s he moved forward.
Not long after, a shout called out to him. Liam immediately turned around and saw Albert running while holding onto his hat.
When he reached him, Albert handed him the silver revolver, instructing him to keep it and use it if necessary.
Liam smiled, turned away, and continued walking while raising his hand beside his ear, expressing his thanks through the gesture.