The gate guards opened the doors, casting half-dead, cold stares at the car advancing inward; they were the looks of seasoned slaughterers. The car stopped, and each of Ghayhab, Zaroth, and Jin stepped out. Jin sighed and said:
— "Ugh… what a refreshing feeling; returning to work after a week of rest."
Then he turned to Jasser's marginalized gang members and added, asking as he looked at Ghayhab:
— "What's with these vagrants? Should I finish them off?"
Ghayhab glanced at him coldly and answered:
— "Don't tire yourself with them… let's go inside. This way, follow me."
A guard with a terrifying appearance opened the door of the base situated in the harbor for them; he had one eye, and the آثار of battle were clearly and plainly visible on his body. They entered with bloody prestige, their cold gazes covering their pale faces. The sound of their footsteps in the corridor was like an echo rebounding from the depths of the abyss, until they stopped before the intended hall.
One of the guards muttered:
— "Leader Jasser and the rest are here… please, go in."
Ghayhab pushed the door quietly and stepped inside. The moment his feet entered the hall, he saw Jasser, Ziron, and Jaber, and looked at them with absolute rigidity.
Jaber's body trembled from the pressure of the "forbidden energy" that was emanating from them, and he whispered with difficulty:
— "What is this… I… can't… breathe…"
The pressure was increasing in a terrifying way the closer those three approached.
In those moments, Jasser was smiling with excitement, while the veins stood out clearly on his hands.
Ghayhab and his companions sat, and he placed his hand on Jin's shoulder, saying coldly:
— "Restrain your forbidden energy… not now. And you too, Zaroth."
As soon as he finished speaking, the pressure lifted from Jaber's burden, and he felt oxygen seep back into his lungs.
Ghayhab exhaled and asked:
— "So… where is it?"
Ziron slapped a box with his hand and said with a cold smile:
— "Everything is ready."
Jasser whispered, asking:
— "And you… is everything ready from your side?"
Ghayhab looked at him and threw a bag full of money in front of him.
Jasser laughed and said:
— "I like a person who understands me immediately."
But Ghayhab whispered coldly:
— "Don't worry… I don't like you."
Jaber whispered, the smile drawn on his face:
— "The money has arrived… I wonder how much the amount is… it seems huge."
Suddenly, Ghayhab felt a majestic sensation; a shiver ran through his nerves that made bodies tremble, and everyone present was seized by the same feeling.
Ghayhab whispered in his mind:
(What is this terrifying feeling? It's the same feeling that seized me before the old king Azrad… but this feeling… is different… more terrifying… and more dangerous.)
At that moment, the door was suddenly pushed open, and Zarak entered.
He was remarkably tall, slender in body but his body was taut like a killing string, as if every muscle in him was created for killing alone. His long black hair strands fell until they touched his shoulders, and his eyes… his eyes were of a strange dark color, as if they were a bottomless abyss, reflecting neither light nor life, but swallowing everything that looked into them.
His face was terrifyingly calm, devoid of any human expression, as if emotions had no longer inhabited him for a long time.
His mere presence made the air heavy, as if death itself had entered the hall embodied in the form of a human.
The majestic pressure in the room increased, causing everyone's bodies to stiffen.
Zarak whispered in a terrifying tone:
— "Did you start without me?"
He stepped forward with slow steps, and his steps were unnaturally silent, as if the ground itself did not dare make a sound beneath his feet, while everyone watched his movements cautiously, and their hearts trembled unwillingly.
Ghayhab whispered in himself:
(Who is this? Is he part of their gang?)
Zarak looked at Ghayhab, then laughed mockingly while restraining his forbidden energy, which reduced the pressure in the place, and said:
— "Alright… continue your conversation, don't worry about me."
Jin whispered with excitement, as he clenched his fist:
— "And who would worry about you?"
Jasser interrupted them in a frightening tone:
— "So… before I take the money, I want to know… what is your plan? Since we will cooperate in the future."
Jaber whispered in himself:
(What? Before you take the money? That means if they don't tell you, you won't take it? What nonsense… let's just take the money, we don't want to know anything… we only want the money.)
Ghayhab whispered with a mocking laugh:
— "Cooperate? Are you joking? I don't want to cooperate with you… I just pay you like dogs, and you carry out the mission."
"You deserve this response… I told you we should just take the money and not interfere in things that do not concern us, so tell me how. You will respond. To them
Jasser looked at Ghayhab, his eyes trembling with savage anger.
— "Dogs…?"
His head lowered slightly.
Silence prevailed.
Then…
BOOOOM—!
His forbidden energy suddenly exploded.
Black waves surged from his body like a hellish hurricane, and the tiles shattered beneath his feet, while the table began to shake violently.
Jaber's eyes widened in terror:
— "Th-this energy…!"
Jasser's hair strands rose from the immense pressure, while the veins on his neck and arms bulged like snakes.
He stepped forward with one foot.
The ground cracked.
Then…
He disappeared.
— "!!"
No one could see him anymore.
In the next moment—
He appeared directly in front of Ghayhab.
His fist was covered with a dense layer of forbidden energy, swirling around it like a dark vortex crushing the air.
— "DIE!"
His punch launched.
The air exploded before it.
It was a punch capable of shattering a human skull.
But…
Ghayhab did not move.
He did not even blink.
Suddenly—
Everything stopped.
A hand.
Only one hand.
Grabbed Jasser's wrist.
— "…!"
His fist froze in the air.
Jasser's eyes rose in shock.
Zarak.
He was standing beside him.
His hand held his wrist with absolute firmness.
Without any effort.
But…
The pressure emanating from his hand was terrifying.
The two forbidden energies collided.
BOOOOM—!
The room shook.
The wall behind them cracked.
The air trembled.
Zarak looked at Jasser.
His eyes were empty.
Cold.
Dead.
Then he said calmly:
— "Not now."
…
Silence prevailed.
Jasser felt…
Danger.
Real danger.
For the first time in years.
He pressed his teeth.
And pulled his hand back violently.
He stepped back.
Then sat down slowly.
But his eyes…
Were filled with killing intent.
(I will kill you…)
(All of you…)
(But… not now.)
Ghayhab whispered, his gaze directed toward the box:
— "But it doesn't matter… it won't harm anything if I tell you. We are an organization founded by a man named Azrad… an old king from the Red Ash clan."
Everyone was immediately shocked, and the blood froze in their veins.
Jasser whispered in terror:
— "Red Ash… the most dangerous clan in the universe… it was completely annihilated… and no one survived!"
Ghayhab laughed a terrifying laugh and said:
— "I know… but only one person survived… named Azrad. And he had a son… but his son disappeared overnight."
Then he continued, his voice growing darker:
— "We are members of the Red Ash organization… the old king Azrad seeks to create monsters… or rather demons… or something more terrifying."
— "And to create these monsters, we need teenage organs… and DNA from a man of the Red Ash bloodline… and permanent forbidden energy… and black magic."
— "Azrad, because of his permanent forbidden energy, was able to use the strongest types of magic… black magic."
Everyone in the hall was terrified, and sweat poured from them.
Zarak whispered:
— "So… your leader uses black magic?"
Ghayhab looked at him mockingly and burst into insane laughter:
— "Not only that… Azrad wants his son… to make him an eternal source of energy for these monsters."
— "His son is the rightful heir to the power of the Red Ash clan."
— "He possesses all the traits of limitless energy… and pure DNA of the Red Ash clan."
— "He will be the perfect heart… for these perfect monsters."
Then he exhaled slowly, raised his gaze toward the ceiling with a terrifying look, and said:
— "The countdown will begin now."