Paul struggled to calm his racing mind. ‘This thing offered its help. It must’ve come from the artifact,’ he thought, his mind flicking to the necklace. His mother’s words about it were true after all. There was a connection to his family here, he couldn’t deny that.

Even so, he had reasons to remain wary, mainly its grotesque appearance, the unsettling way it spoke, and the fact that it had him completely locked up. Still, it wasn’t like he had much of a choice. The moment he returned, he’d be greeted with a knife. But more than that, he feared more the idea of saying “no” to the thing in front of him.

“A… gift for now. I can’t have you… die,” it spoke in pauses as its body continued to distort and contract.

Not being able to talk, Paul carefully nodded his head.

The entity’s golden right eye flared, glowing like the sun, the mechanical sound getting louder, and faster, as its smile stretched even wider. One of its appendages darted forward, snatching the necklace from Paul’s neck with a snake-like motion. “Have a taste of my… authority.”

‘Authority?’ Paul barely had time to process the word before the entity expanded like a tidal wave, surging forward to engulf him completely.

Not a moment later, he opened his eyes. Taking a quick look, no time had passed at all, and it felt like he could move his body freely. But the tiredness that he felt while being drained by that horrible entity was still present. In fact, it was stronger now.

His right hand felt hot and swollen, he felt immense pressure building up inside it as if it could burst at any moment.

“You! What did you do?!” the mage’s voice bellowed, snapping Paul’s focus. He stood before him, teeth clenched and eyes burning with fury. “MY AUTHORITY! I’ve sacrificed so much! How did you stop it?!”

Paul couldn’t respond as his mind was consumed by the pressure building in his arm. It was unbearable, demanding release. Acting on instinct, he flicked his hand. It was as simple as moving a finger.

The air vanished—gone in an instant, as if snuffed out.

The air around him vanished—gone in an instant, as if snuffed out.

The mage collapsed to the ground, falling to all fours. He tried to gasp for air, but there was none.

His face, twisted in fury a moment ago, was now contorted in pure agony. Muscles pulled in unnatural directions, veins bulging at his temples. His jaw clenched so tightly it seemed the teeth might splinter, and his wide, watery eyes locked onto Paul with a mix of hatred, terror and confusion. Blood began to pour from his eyes, nose, and mouth like a faucet, pooling beneath him.

‘Serves you right, bastard,’ Paul tried to laugh, but he was also struggling to breathe. Unlike the mage, though, he wasn’t suffering the full effect of whatever Paul casting.

A sharp crack broke his focus.

Next to him, the twins had woken up from the mage’s authority. They were clutching each other tightly, each holding strange cards in trembling hands. The cards glowed with a purple-blue hue, forming a shimmering barrier around them. But the protection didn’t last. The barrier, along with the cards, cracking in a moment and shattering in the next.

The boy frantically retrieved more cards. The girl had been the one to cast them, but both were clearly affected. Purple blood dripped from their faces in uneven streams that stained their pale skin. They weren’t in the same state like the mage, but the barrier was clearly not fully protecting them. They looked weakened, ready to collapse at any moment, especially the girl.

It did not take long, and the girl crumpled first, her body going limp as her final barrier failed. Her brother held on for only a second longer before he too collapsed, unable to withstand the full force of whatever Paul had unleashed.

He needed to quickly shut this thing down, and it was just as easy as activating it, a simple though, like controlling an extra limb.

Paul tried to get up quickly, but his legs turned into noodles, and his vision started to darken. He grabbed the wall to support himself, his fingers scraping against the surface as he fought to stay on his feet. Inspecting himself, his skin looked white as chalk.

Severely weakened, he grabbed the bodies of the twins and began dragging them away. The mage lay lifeless in a pool of his own blood. Paul didn’t have the energy to check if he was dead or to finish the job. He felt too exhausted to care, he just wanted to leave.

But he had to call for help, and he needed to get somewhere easily identifiable. Trying to direct someone through these endless corridors would take so long they might as well find his bones first.

As the clock struck 0000, the world outside erupted with fireworks. Diverse shapes painted across the sky, bursts of mana and gunpowder filling the air with light and noise. Paul, dragging the two unconscious twins behind him, was a stark contrast to the celebration. His grip kept slipping, making him tumble to the ground. “Can you two wake up already?” he muttered through gritted teeth as he got up and resumed his slow, agonizing pace. “I should’ve gone to the cemetery instead.”

The girl’s phone had been ringing for some time, its sound barely cutting through the explosions. He hoped it was someone trustworthy, someone who could help. Still, he waited until he reached the entrance of his apartment building before finally stopping. Gently, he laid the twins on the ground and retrieved the phone. It must have rung at least twenty times by now.

The name on the phone appeared in front of Paul’s eye, crystal clear: ‘Big G… sounds good enough to me!’ he though as he immediately answered, giving the person on the other end a chance to speak, “Listen closely!” he exclaimed, Paul wanted to get this over with as fast as possible.

“The two are safe. I found them being attacked by a bloody cultist, injured and alone. I barely managed to defeat him and escape with them. We are all three in critical condition. Come collect them at…” He rattled off his address, then closed the call without waiting for a response, dropped the phone on the ground, and then fell on his side.

Feeling too tired to care anymore, he just wanted to close his eyes for now. If he was lucky, he might open them again.