The acrid smell of smoke hung heavy in the air as I witnessed the carnage happen. The once-familiar bustling city of ours was now twisted, charred and devoid of any remnants of life. My heart pounded in my chest, each beat echoing the screams that still reverberated in my mind till this day.

I was a mere 10 years old hatchling that time when I witnessed that gruesome events that traumatized me throughout my life.

It was exactly 8 years ago when they intruded on our quiet tranquil night.

I had been jolted awake by the sound of something breaking and echoes screams of the victim that preyed victim in their hands.

And when I rushed to my parents' room, I found them cornered, eyes wide with terror. The intruders wore clothes not much different to ours and had bones piercing through their skin in the forehead. However, their Amethyst eyes were cold and unfeeling as if devoid of any emotions.

Out of fear and terror, I tried to leave the room. However, another one of them came holding my sleeping 7 year old sister, and blocked my path to escape.

Seeing us cornered causes the single thread of rationality in our parents mind to cut off.

My mother moved and tried to fight back.

Click!

—Boom!

However, a flick of a finger by one of them cause my mother's body to be ablaze in flame. My father also fought back, but he was also taken down by having his bone crushed by the same flick of a finger.

They didn't even hesitate, and my world shattered.

I watched, frozen, as they silenced him too. Their silence and emotionless face was a cruel symphony—mixed with my mother's crying in anguish.

I should have hidden. I should have cowered. But rage surged within me, a wildfire consuming reason. I lunged at one of them, my fists flailing, but they overpowered me effortlessly. A blow to the head sent me sprawling, and I tasted blood.

They dragged me outside into the pouring rain.

But even the relentless downpour couldn't extinguish the fires consuming the city or drown out the cries of anguish echoing through the streets.

The rain mixed with my tears, as the moon bore witness to the horror engulfing the city.

"Why?" I choked out, my voice raw. "Why did you do this?"

One of them—the tallest—leaned close, his Amethyst eyes devoid of humanity just looked down at me without saying anything.

Seeing them without saying anything makes me feel like a mentally-ill person talking to an air.

I don't even know why I tried talking to those monsters. No, not monsters, they are worse than a monster.

"Exactly!!!"

Suddenly, a man wearing a suit, holding an umbrella appeared as if he was reading my mind. He also has the same Amethyst eyes as others, just without the bone protruding like a horn.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

He had a smiling face that reminds you of a kind uncle.

However, that smile of his gave me a creepy and foreboding feeling that he was something much more dangerous.

"You want to know the reason behind the attack, right?"

I nod my head.

I can't shake the foreboding feeling I have, which makes me more wary.

"For fun," he said without hesitation, as if that explained everything. "Your family was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

For fun. Wrong place. Wrong time. The words echoed, mocking me. As if that makes any sense. My family, my friends, or any innocent victims in this city—all of them died for their fun when those monsters didn't even smile.

"You! Bastard"

Rage surged within me as it consumed the little bit of my sanity left.

I swung my fist despite knowing it will never reach him one bit.

But, i still hope that I could have at least smash his face.

Click!

However, reality was cruel. With a single flick of a finger, he made my whole body collapsed weakly to the ground.

"Hey, don't be hasty you're going to follow them soon."

"Wait, Maybe it's much better if you become a monster like those people who kill your family."

"Like them.....?"

I replied, trembling. The more he talks, the more fear consumed me.

"Yeah, a Fallen. Beings who feed on the people's negative emotion to become strong, and also their enjoyment."

"Considering the intensity of your negative emotions right now, it's enough to transform you to a full-fledge Fallen.

"But I feel like it's quite lacking."

"Right, what if I gouge your eyes out? Maybe the negative emotions it will produce will be enough to fill the lacking part.

What he just says froze me out of fear.

After that, he slowly touched my eye and slipped his fingers through the gaps in my eye sockets.

Alongside it, I saw how they end my little sister's life In the corner of my eyes.

The pain was indescribable, be it mentally or physically. Agonizing pain surged through my skull as he meticulously extracted my eye, leaving a space where sight and sanity used to stay.

I wanted to scream, but my body was paralyzed due to the mix of shock, fear and his supernatural. The world around me descended into darkness, only the sound of his voice was heard, guiding me through the abyss.

"Ah, now that's more like it," he said, almost cheerfully, as if he were discussing something fun rather than my suffering. "I can feel your hatred, your despair, especially your fear. It's intoxicating."

Hic.

They said I'm quite mature for my age, but I'm still a kid.

"I don't.....want to feel pain, please... no more..., I'm sorry, please......just no more." I gasped, the words barely coherent amidst the wretched crying.

Tears of blood stream down my cheek.

My breath came in ragged as I'm overwhelmed by pain and fear.

Was this it? Will I become the very same monster who ended my family?

"Now, let it consume you," he whispered, his voice was like a poisonous fruit in my ears. "Embrace it, and let the Darkness take over."

A strange sensation began to creep over me, a coldness that seems to seeped into my very soul. My despair, grief and rage— they all seemed to be on a life on their own, surging within me like a flood. I could feel my humanity slipping away, replaced by something darker.

"That's it," he murmured, his voice filled with satisfaction. "Give in to it. Become one of us."

At the moment, I remember what he just said earlier, Fallen's are being who feed on people's negative emotions.

'So what if, I calm down the negative emotions surging within my body.'

Just like that, I sat down in a lotus position, trying to meditate to calm my mind.

"It's no use." He sneered, mocking me of my attempt to stop my corruption.

"You would never know, if you don't try." I replied, barely audible as to not destroy my concentration.

The man— or whatever he was— laughed, a cold mirthless sound. "We'll see about that," he continued. "For now, just enjoy the pain. It'll be your constant companion even if you did neutralize your corruption."

I don't know if it's mercy or he's just confident that I will never beat my corruption but he left me there, blind and broken.

After he left, I just focused on mediating to calm the negative emotions running wild within me.

However, no matter how long I meditate, I don't see the slightest bit of improvement in my mind.

From 30 minutes, 5 hours, or even 12 hours, I haven't even seen signs of them calming down.

But, I don't have time. I don't know when will I stop becoming human, so I persevered.

I just continue meditating even without minding the time. And did just that until 3 days later when I collapsed because of the hunger.

After I collapsed, I dreamt of talking to someone.

[Will you take my hand and wield my power as a sword of Salvation, offering a new beginning to the oppressed?]

[Or will you harness my power as a sword of Redemption, delivering eternal suffering to those who deserve it?]

She said something like that, I don't even have time to answer when I suddenly wake up, energized.

Strangely enough, I can't feel my negative emotions rampaging anymore.

My eyes also don't hurt anymore, as if they healed. But, I still can't see.

However, my blindness will never be able to make me stop moving forward.

After the reinforcement from another city came, they found me wandering within the charred road of our city.

They rescue me and brought me to their city. However, since I'm blind and don't have any relative in this city, they throw me out pretty soon.

And instead of begging to stay, I just walk out and use my life outside to familiarize myself with blindness.

For one month,

For three months,

For six months,

For one year,

For two years,

And finally for three years.

I walked the world with blindness for three years and finally developed my senses to help me wander the world normally.

Then 3 months later, the light finally returned to my world. And, what appeared first was the back of the man from a distance.

A back that resembles a figure of the past.

"Father...."

I ran after that back, hoping to see my Father and maybe, my whole family again.

However, what greeted me was the gaze of the man.

The man who later became my Master.