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Chapter 14 – The Massacre

The sky was grey, like the moldy armor of an ancient warrior. As the last rays of the sun were choked by the horizon, smoke billowed from afar, a harbinger of the coming calamity. V’s eyes, bearing the unsettling stillness of years, gazed into the distance. He hadn’t aged; he had defied time. But his soul… it now carried the weight of an era.

That day had started no differently than the others. The silent passage of time seemed peaceful in the ancient human settlement V had conjured in the shadowed valley. Laughter from children drifted through the air between stone houses, announcing the new life rising from the ashes of a long-forgotten civilization.

But beneath this calm, there was a hum of unrest.

And finally…

The earth trembled.

A black flood poured from between the mountains. The Deviants. Dozens of them, with spiked backs, crooked claws, and eyes steeped in darkness, as if the very fury of the underworld had poured itself onto the earth’s surface. Each one seemed like a god of destruction, hungry for chaos.

Civilians fled. Children cried, and the elderly kneeled. The sky was torn apart by the creatures’ shrieks.

But then…

The darkness stirred.

V appeared like a ghost on the stone walls. His cloak billowed in the wind as his dark eyes gleamed with fury. When he slammed his staff onto the ground, the earth cracked for a brief moment.

“Enough.”

The echo of his voice sounded like the whisper of an ancient god from within the shadows.

The Deviants hesitated. An instinctive fear flickered within their primal minds. This… was something different. Before them stood not a mere foe.

V raised his staff to the sky.

The heavens darkened.

Suddenly, the “Lord’s Domain” activated. In a fifty-meter radius, the sky was completely swallowed by darkness, and even the stars withheld their light. Shadows, as though born from the very earth itself, surged upward, enveloping the area like a dark dome. The ground beneath the giants’ feet seemed to vanish—earth itself had turned into shadow.

Within this domain, if there was anyone more powerful than V… there was no escape.

And indeed… there was none.

Dark chains shot out of the ground. It was as if the hands of the underworld were pulling the Deviants into the sky. Each chain lived on its own; it ensnared multiple Deviants at once, coiling around their necks, wrapping around their legs, and lifting them into the air.

The chains didn’t merely bind—they drained life energy. Every contact siphoned the dim light from the Deviants’ bodies, merging it with the darkness. Their frantic screams filled the air.

But this was only the beginning.

V thrust his staff forward. It instantly morphed into a dark spear, impaling the first Deviant. The creature was thrown into the air, and the spear pinned it there. Then, with a motion of his hand, V transformed the shadows into a rain of blades. Each blade reached its target soundlessly. The Deviants fell apart, one by one.

Some tried to flee.

But as they reached the boundaries of the domain, the shadows ensnared their bodies, pulled them inside, and dragged them back toward the center.

The darkness… was insatiable.

V raised his hands. A colossal hand made of shadow rose in the center of the domain. It moved toward one Deviant, tore it from the ground, and crushed it. Not blood, but black mist oozed from the crack. This… was its soul. And the darkness devoured it.

Another Deviant, larger and angrier, with arms like axes, charged toward V. But V stopped its assault with a mere glance. His eyes glowed with the intensity of shadows. Chains of darkness lashed out, wrapping around the creature’s legs. V only moved his fingers. The chains tightened, and the Deviant was split in half.

The sky trembled once more.

But this time, with the arrival of a new being…

Makkari.

She descended like a lightning bolt. Cutting through the dust and blood, she landed in front of V in an instant. Her face was anxious, her hands quick and decisive. She could not speak—but her movements spoke louder than words.

“What have you done?” she asked, using her hands. “Why show this much power?”

V looked at her. In his eyes, there was not anger, but weariness.

“I protected them,” he replied. “I didn’t need permission from anyone.”

Makkari took a step forward. “These people will fear you. Such darkness… it’s dangerous.”

V narrowed his eyes, slightly bowing his head. He planted his staff into the ground. Slowly, he raised one hand. The shadows stirred, but did not attack—they were merely a warning.

“In my domain, my rules apply,” he said. “I don’t ask for trust. I don’t expect respect. But anyone who steps into my darkness must be ready to face it.”

Makkari hesitated for a moment. Then, with a slight tilt of her head, she stepped back. She said no more. The silence was not approval… but acceptance.

V turned his back. The shadows still writhed on the ground, dark chains wrapping around the fallen bodies, slowly pulling them into the depths of the earth.

Makkari vanished in an instant.

V stood there, silently, gazing up at the sky.

The sky was still dark. The shadowed domain had dissolved, and the stars returned. But below, there were dozens of corpses, hundreds of shattered memories, and a silence stamped with darkness.

V stood in the center of the field.

He looked up at the sky.

And without saying a word, closed his eyes.