The One Who Sings of Destiny

"Ever since that dragon appeared, our clan had been cursed... The heroes who once galloped across the snowy plains were no longer brave, the divine light that shone in the sky had faded, and the stars had been buried beneath dark brown snowflakes. But more terrifying than death was decay..." The words spoken by the priests on their deathbeds echoed in Pervi's mind.

"Help—help—" Yalila cried out hoarsely. "My husband is Tiadam! He's a very powerful bandit! If you bully me, I... I... he... he'll kill you!"

"Hehe—" The lead thug knocked Yalila to the ground with a punch, grabbed her hair, and said, "Who are you trying to fool, elf...? Tiadam is your husband? I'd say that stinking kid who tried to save you is your man..."

After saying that, the thug pointed toward the gloomy depths of the alley. Something beaten beyond recognition lay sprawled on the ground, blood and grime streaming down its face along with the hoodlums' spit. His cries for help were as feeble as a mosquito's buzz, just like his very existence.

"A stinking little brat like you, some country bumpkin, thinks he deserves to play the hero and save a beauty—"

"Country bumpkin, this isn't your village. In Canfor's black market, you follow the black market's rules, got it?! Country bumpkin—"

As they spoke, the thugs outside the alley dragged Yalila inside. Shielded by darkness, their restless filthy hands began to grope across her body.

"I... my teacher is... Miss Oyana... She... she's good... good friends with Mr. Abelato from the church..." Yalila attempted one final resistance. "As long as... as long as... as long as you let me go, I... I promise Miss Oyana will give you a lot of money."

"Money?" The thugs burst into laughter. "How could money compare to you...?"

"Then... then..." Yalila's voice trembled more and more. "How about letting you leave Canfor and go to Alderbu?"

"Alderbu..." The thugs stopped laughing.

"Yes... yes!" Yalila pressed her advantage. "My teacher, Miss Oyana, knows the guards in Alderbu... With just one word from her, you can leave this place, leave this slum..."

"Slum?!" The thugs started laughing again.

Night shrouded all of Canfor. Night had begun in the outskirts—chaos, conflict, and slaughter had begun...

"My... my hand!" The thugs humiliating Yalila were suddenly blasted back by a flash of light.

Crimson dragon armor gleamed beneath the moonlight. A longsword flew like lightning, while a chain hammer whirled its links and sent the clowns flying one after another. A valiant youth appeared in this bottomless hell. Yalila seemed to see hope, struggling to crawl out from the darkness.

"Save... save... save me..." Yalila clung tightly to the youth's leg.

"Let go..." The youth's voice was firm and forceful.

"But..." Yalila's voice trembled. Then, after a flash of silver, Yalila let out a miserable scream. The fingers of her right hand had been severed at the roots by the youth.

"Ah—" Yalila wailed. "Wh... why...? Weren't you... here to... save me?"

Yalila clutched her wound with her left hand and shouted, "You were supposed to save me!"

The youth lowered his head in silence and merely picked up one of the severed fingers.

"Payment—" the youth said softly.

"Who the hell are you..." The thugs' voices were shrill as women's.

After everything was over, Eliyi brought Tiadam and the others to the scene. The entire alley was filled with an indescribable stench. Blood, internal organs, severed limbs—this was a terrifying hell.

"Urgh—" Although Tiadam's lackeys made their living through robbery and banditry, they had never seen such a horrifying sight. Only demons could have done something like this.

"Yalila... Yalila..." Tiadam gently draped his coat over the helpless girl. "It's all right. Everything's fine now..."

"Tiadam... Tiadam... why did you come so late?!" Yalila cried and screamed in Tiadam's arms, pounding on him. "You bastard, why didn't you come sooner?! Why?!"

"All right... all right... it's all my fault..." Tiadam carried Yalila in his arms and headed toward his fortress. As for her severed fingers, Tiadam's lackeys found them outside the alley. Thankfully, they had been preserved intact. Oyana should be able to reattach them with a few healing spells.

After everyone left with Yalila surrounding her, only the auction merchant Eliyi remained in that street alley enclosed by dirt and stone walls. The scent of blood stirred the desire in his heart. As a merchant, he keenly sensed profit—profit beyond measure was beckoning to him.

Like a vicious dog tracking a corpse, Eliyi stepped into the dark alley. Surrounded by blood and filth, he saw Denolan, beaten beyond recognition.

"Mmgh... mmgh..." Eliyi rubbed his stomach as if feeling unwell. After a while, the auction merchant burst into crazed laughter.

"Ahahaha—ahhaha—" Eliyi clutched his stomach as though he had heard some absurd joke. "Th... this is the Child of Destiny chosen by the ancient gods? The one meant to lead hope and despair, to control the coming of the apocalypse? Don't make me laugh my fucking teeth out!"

Eliyi viciously kicked Denolan in the face. "Destiny? A guy like this thinks he deserves to speak those two words?"

"Ah—no... no... forget it... forget it..."

The excessive laughter nearly drove Eliyi mad. After composing himself, the auction merchant put away his contemptuous smile. "Business first..."

A staff gradually appeared in the merchant's hand, inlaid with gold trim and bloodstones. Energy symbolizing wealth and conflict surged from within it. Eliyi gently kissed the staff and murmured its name...

"In the name of Modraki, God of Wealth, I hereby summon fire and hurricane!" Eliyi aimed the energy generated at the center of the staff toward Denolan. "The enemy of the gods shall fall here, Ragnarok shall never come again, and we shall enjoy eternal glory for all ages—"

The northern wind howled, and the divine power of the old gods pierced straight through the unconscious man.

"Everything... isn't over yet..."

Pervi smashed the ring in his hand. The energy contained within the gem drifted out and was absorbed by him, and the black spots on his shoulder and arm began to fade. "Not enough... not enough... The magic in this gem isn't enough to lift Rosa Kevin's curse..."

Pervi put his clothes back on. The youth had long grown accustomed to the pain brought by the curse. To free himself and his people from their suffering, Pervi had crossed mountains and ridges and hacked his way through thorny paths, but...

"Holy water, holy communion, holy blood, the divine light of the northern old gods, the prayers of new god priests..." Pervi lowered his head and sobbed like a rat. "God knows how many methods I've tried! But why... why has none of them worked? Does my clan truly deserve to bear such a terrible curse? Answer me... answer me... Dragon God, Lord of Ten Thousand Dragons—"

Night in the outskirts was a shroud wrapped around the dead, while wailing was the hymn of the deceased. Canfor was filled with fear of death. Every day, every moment, someone died in agony because of Rosa Kevin's curse.

"Even if the curse fades today, it will return with even greater force tomorrow! What sin did I... did we commit to suffer such pain—"

Distortion and terror assaulted everyone afflicted by Rosa Kevin's curse. Pitifully, they could only vent their unease and fear of the future inside cramped rooms.

"Ah—has the wheel of destiny begun to turn..." Rosa Kevin muttered to herself as she watched the black snow in the sky. "The Child of Destiny has awakened... My sisters... will probably awaken soon as well..."

"Granny, what are you muttering about?" Leichina, lying sprawled in the mud, asked in confusion. "What nonsense are you talking about...? I can't understand any of it."

"If you understood it, that'd be a ghostly miracle—" Rosa Kevin shot her servant a glance. "Hey... brat... I want to discuss something with you."

"What is it, old hag?"

"Tch—do you get bored if you don't argue with me for a while?"

"Spit it out. If there's nothing important, I'm going back to sleep!"

"You're a zombie! What are you sleeping for? Get up—"

"What the hell are you trying to say, old hag?!" Leichina shouted impatiently.

"A deal—" Dark green divine power spilled from Rosa Kevin's body. The old woman discarded her former clownish manner. Her voice was filled with power, power accumulated over hundreds of eras since ancient times. Its strength was such that even the old gods at the pinnacle of all things dared not touch it.

"Destiny has begun, and you are part of it. Do you want to live as a human? Do you want to see your family again? Do you want everything from your dreams to come true? Then submit to me—"

Mighty divine power radiated from the elderly woman. Leichina, already one of the undead, could clearly see that this energy of decay filled all of Elrina Forest.

"Sure enough... sure enough... she has awakened..." Dragon Father Li Laar said as he held Dragon Mother Mimilar in his arms. "That witch from before was the evil god Rosa Kevin..."

"What should we do... should we move away..." Mimilar asked softly.

"We can't... we can't..." Dragon Father Li Laar shook his head. "When I previously flew beyond these mountains, all I saw was unending war and death. Heroes' heads hung above the Demon King's city gates. The poor plundered the wealthy, and the wealthy exploited the poor. Slaughter spread from the eastern islands to the western deserts. Curses spread from the southern forests to the northern snowfields... Nowhere... nowhere... is safe..."

"Then... then what should we do? Are we supposed to wait here until Rosa Kevin grows powerful again?" Mimilar turned to look at her children. "We can die, but they are innocent... Seizing that treasure wasn't their fault! It was ours! We shouldn't have provoked another demon just to escape one!"

"Ah~" Dragon Father sighed softly. "My dear... perhaps this is life... Behind one choice often lies another hell..."

Mimilar quietly sobbed against Li Laar's chest.

"It has begun... it has begun... the wheel of destiny has begun to turn—everything, all things, shall meet destruction!" Shadows spread and grew from Denolan's body one after another, and that mindless voice coiled around Eliyi's soul.

"Y... you, what exactly are you..." Eliyi asked weakly from the ground. "You are definitely not a... living being... of this world... What are you...?"

"Me? Are you asking me?" the crazed voice replied.

The darkness spreading from Denolan's body twisted and gathered, gradually taking physical form. "Let me think... think... Don't be in such a hurry... Right! Then for now... you may call me... Destiny, ahahaha!!!"

"Destiny... what a... terrifying name..." Eliyi's life had reached its end.