The most deafening noise in the world is not the echoing roar of a monster. It is the sudden disappearance of birdsong right before a slaughter.
The entire surroundings turned freezing cold. Intense dread enveloped Castiel's tiny chest. In his past life as an ordinary employee, his greatest fear was being summoned to his boss's office. But the presence he felt right now outside their thin door brought a kind of terror that pierced straight down to his bones.
There was absolutely no trace of fear in Arthur's eyes. He gripped the glowing blue blade tightly. He looked at Helene and gave a silent nod. His wife immediately understood the message. Helene carefully picked Castiel up and moved away from the door, retreating to a safe corner near a small gap in the window.
Castiel expected his father to open the door and meet the enemy head on. But instead of doing that, Arthur took a step back toward the darkest part of the hut. Castiel was shocked to see his father's body slowly being swallowed by the shadows. It was as if Arthur melted into the darkness, completely vanishing from their sight without making a single sound.
What was that? Magic? Is he a ninja? Castiel asked in his mind one after another while staring at the empty corner of the room.
From the gap in the wooden window, Helene peeked out quietly while hugging her son tightly. This gave Castiel a chance to see what was happening outside.
A colossal creature stood right in front of their house. It had the shape of a massive wolf, but its entire body was covered in thick, black scales that looked like solid rock. It had two long tails ending in sharp bones shaped like scythes. The monster's eyes blazed with crimson fire. Every breath it took released a black smoke that rapidly melted the grass it touched.
"An Obsidian Stalker," Helene whispered softly to herself. Worry was evident in her voice. "The monsters from the Deadlands have reached incredibly far."
Before the beast could even make a move to destroy the door, a cold voice echoed from behind it.
"You seem to have wandered into the wrong territory, dog."
The massive monster quickly turned around. Right from the shadow of the tree behind it, Arthur slowly emerged. The blue light from his blade cast an eerie glow on his serious face. His presence released a heavy energy that seemed to stop the wind from blowing.
The Obsidian Stalker let out a deafening roar. It spun around and charged at Arthur without any hesitation. It opened its massive jaw to bite the man.
Arthur did not move from his spot. He waited for the enemy to close the distance. When its razor sharp teeth were only inches away from his face, he swiftly pivoted his body. He swung the blue blade hard against the monster's jaw.
A loud screech of grinding metal echoed throughout the forest. Sparks of fire flew into the air as the monster's scales clashed against his father's weapon.
Back in the office, we raced for free coffee. Here, they race to slice each other's necks, Castiel thought in amazement while watching from inside. My dad is so strong.
The monster did not back down. It used its two long tails to attack from both sides. Arthur quickly ducked to dodge the first tail. He then used his left arm to block the second one.
Castiel was astonished when he noticed what happened to his father's left hand. Right before the monster's bone scythe could hit, a thick black smoke rapidly enveloped Arthur's arm. The dark smoke became as hard as steel. The beast's tail struck the black smoke and violently bounced off due to the sheer hardness of the defense.
Dark magic, Castiel whispered in his mind in pure awe. Dad has dark magic! I thought only the villains had black colored powers?
Arthur used the opening to launch an attack. He pointed his left hand at the ground. From his own shadow, five long and sharp chains made of pure darkness shot out. The chains slithered across the dirt like living snakes and swiftly wrapped around the Obsidian Stalker's legs.
The monster struggled to break free. It thrashed around and pulled on the chains, but Arthur's magic was far too durable. Fueled by rage, the beast gathered a massive amount of energy in its throat. It spat out a stream of scorching black acid directly at Arthur.
Arthur quickly leaped backward to dodge. The acid hit the ground and instantly melted the large rocks scattered there. Because of Arthur's evasive maneuver, his control over the shadow chains slightly loosened. The monster used this brief opportunity to shatter the shadowy restraints on its legs using its tremendous physical strength.
Upon breaking free, the Obsidian Stalker immediately leaped high into the air. It spun its two tails like propellers and plummeted straight down toward Arthur's position.
Arthur met the attack head on. He raised his blue blade to block the two scythes. The force of the monster's plunging strike was absolutely massive. The ground trembled beneath Arthur's feet, and his shoes sank deep into the dirt.
Even though he managed to block the main assault, he did not anticipate the speed of the monster's spinning attack. The sharp tip of one tail swiftly slid past his blade and violently slashed across his right shoulder.
A warm liquid quickly dripped down from Arthur's shoulder. His sturdy clothes were torn, revealing a deep, bleeding wound.
Castiel saw the blood splatter. He felt a strange pinch in his chest. Even though he had only been born a few hours ago, he immediately felt an intense sense of worry for the man protecting them. Helene tightened her grip on her son while praying silently.
Arthur smirked despite the deep gash. He looked straight into the monster's blazing eyes.
"Is that all you can do?" Arthur mocked coldly.
The monster grew even more furious, as if it perfectly understood Arthur's words. But before it could make another move, Arthur raised his blue blade. The black smoke from his left hand crawled toward the sword. Pure darkness completely swallowed the blue light. The entire area suddenly grew pitch black, as if Arthur had stolen all the light around the forest.
"Let's end this," Arthur commanded the air with a serious tone. "Shadow Sever."
Arthur took a single step forward. In Castiel's eyes, his father seemingly vanished and simply reappeared behind the monster a second later.
The surroundings remained completely silent. The monster was still standing upright. But after three heavy beats of Castiel's heart, a thin black line appeared right down the middle of the Obsidian Stalker's body.
The colossal monster's body slowly split into two. The severed halves collapsed to the ground and gradually turned into black ash that was blown away by the cold forest breeze, completely devoured by the strange smoke emitting from Arthur's sword.
Arthur leaned against a tree while panting heavily. He wiped the sweat off his forehead before returning his blade to its sheath. He held his bleeding shoulder and slowly walked back inside their home.
When the door opened, Helene immediately rushed to meet her husband. She placed Castiel down on the soft bed. Castiel pretended to have his eyes closed, but he left them half open to watch what would happen next.
"Arthur, you are bleeding so much," Helene said with a worried voice while helping the man sit on a wooden chair.
"I am fine, my love. It is just a tiny scratch," Arthur replied with a smile, even though his lips had already turned pale. "That one was just a bit too lively."
Helene did not reply. She placed her two beautiful hands right above Arthur's bleeding shoulder. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
"Heal!"
In that very moment, Castiel witnessed yet another miracle. From his mother's palms, a gentle and warm golden light slowly poured out. The light took the form of tiny fireflies that crawled toward Arthur's deep wound.
As Arthur's skin absorbed the golden light, the torn flesh slowly knitted itself back together. The bleeding stopped, and in just a matter of seconds, the deep wound completely vanished as if it had never happened at all. The only things left behind were the torn fabric and the dried blood.
"Thank you, my love," Arthur whispered sweetly, planting a soft kiss on his wife's forehead.
The couple turned their attention back to their sleeping child. Helene gently stroked Castiel's hair to make sure he had not woken up from the commotion.
While keeping his eyes shut, a massive explosion of emotions took place inside Castiel's mind. His tiny heart raced. His brain was working much faster than it ever did when he was computing financial reports at the office.
Magic, he repeatedly told himself in his mind. Magic is real in this world! My dad has dark magic that can slay monsters, and my mom has healing magic that can close deep wounds!
This thought sent a rush of intense nervousness and excitement throughout his entire system. If his parents possessed such strange and powerful abilities, what kind of power did he have?
Right in the middle of his deep thoughts, the events that transpired before he was born suddenly rushed back into his memory. The dark tunnel. The maddening race alongside millions of rivals. And most importantly, the mechanical voice that repeatedly granted him strange abilities.
He squeezed his eyes shut to clearly remember the exact words he heard from Coach Big Mouth inside the womb.
[Super Sperm Speed Activated.]
[Emergency Maneuver: Tail Whip Unlocked.]
[Heat Wave Attack Unlocked.]
[Tactical Tailspin Unlocked.]
Castiel's eyes widened under the darkness of his closed eyelids. Those abilities were not things that normally happened during the simple formation of a baby. He had used them to defeat the bouncer monster and the bully sperm with the mustache.
At first, he thought they were all just nonsense. A crazy game played by his dying soul. But now that he had seen firsthand how shadows wrapped around his father's sword and how golden light poured out of his mother's hands, everything finally made perfect sense.
He was inside a world where the impossible was absolutely possible.
A crazy idea quickly crawled into the baby's mind. If he managed to use those powers when he was nothing but a tiny, weak sperm cell with no body parts other than a long tail, what more now? Now that he was a complete human being with his very own arms and legs?
Wait, Castiel asked himself doubtfully while trying to feel his tiny arms and legs. I don't have a tail anymore. How am I supposed to use Tail Whip? And more importantly... can I actually still use any of them?
He slowly clenched his tiny fists underneath the warm blanket. An intense burning desire suddenly ignited in his chest. He needed to know. He needed to try. Because if his theory proved to be true, his life in this world would become so much more than just an ordinary second chance.
But where exactly was the talkative Coach Big Mouth? Why was it completely silent now that Castiel was finally born?