“So!”

“Please don’t leave me!”

Shin roared with a hoarse voice while being on all four.

Shin could finally see that Peutoa turning around.

Peutoa stared at Shin, seeing his weak and desperate actions. A smile appeared on Shin when she turned around, it was a smile of relief, like he finally found his saviour.

Shin crawled on all fours towards Peutoa, grabbing her ankle tightly, not wanting to let go.

Peutoa crouched down and stared deeply into Shin’s eyes.

“What do you wish for?”

She asked Shin, with no context at all. But, even so, Peutoa stared deeply into Shin’s eyes.

Let it out. Let your deepest feelings out in the open.

“I?”

Shin didn’t know what to say. He just weakly stared at Peutoa, showing no expression.

Shin was still afraid that Peutoa would leave him if he didn’t answer or take a lot of time.

What do I wish for? What do I wish for?

Shin tried to think carefully, his eyes displayed different type of emotions in turn; hope, yearning, happiness, sadness, grief, depression and in the end showing no expression at all.

Peutoa saw all the changes. She was hopeful at the start, until Shin’s facial expression and eyes showed dark emotions and in the end, showing nothing at all.

Peutoa felt terrified, her instincts roared out in pain, telling her to leave unless she wanted to die!

Shin’s grip on Peutoa’s ankle loosened up.

Peutoa jumped backwards, landing several meters away from Shin.

Shin didn’t glance back up at Peutoa.

An ominous dark aura enveloped Shin, his head dropped down as his eyes were hazily looking at the ground.

Shin rose on his feet; his head was still looking down.

The wounds on his body closed and healed, leaving no scars.

Peutoa dumbly watched what happened, she didn’t leave, but carefully watched the changes that were happening.

She could finally see that Shin raised his head up. Peutoa felt like being crushed by a mountain, she could see Shin’s blank expression, like he was merely looking at an insect.

W-What is happening?!

“I… Wish…”

A voice that couldn’t be recognized as humanly, sounded out from Shin’s mouth. It was filled with dark, hate and vibrating.

“Shin!”

Aria was the first one to land near Peutoa, she felt something bad would happen the moment Shin got up on his feet.

She stared at Shin, his white skin was slowly turning grey and unhealthy, his eyes which were black and now turning white; losing its colour.

Aria stepped forward, raising her left arm to hold Shin.

Shin couldn’t see anything with his eyes any longer, but he could feel four presences near him. And one of them wasn’t that far either.

His mind was turning black as he lost his conscious.

Shin’s aura became stronger as Aria felt being pushed away. A wicked smile appeared on Shin’s face as he turned his face towards Aria.

“Y-Y-You!”

The voice was repeating itself like a broken radio.

Aria narrowed her eyes as she stared at Shin, she could sense that Shin already has lost his conscious. Then, who was the one currently speaking?

Is it his soul?

Shin raised his right hand, pointing his index finger towards Aria.

“Y-You. Are. His. Mother…”

The smile on Shin’s face didn’t vanish as he was mocking Aria.

“Who are you?!”

Aria bellowed as she released her aura and focusing it on Shin’s body. Aria frowned as her eyes became ice-cold, she reached her hand towards her scabbard, drawing out her sword.

Aria held her sword in her right hand, the metal was silver and an oppressive strength could be felt from it.

Kali and Laura swiftly stood behind Aria, the atmosphere around Shin was different and wild.

“He.he… Friends?…”

Shin laughed as he glanced at Kali and Laura.

“Aria, what happened to him?”

Kali furrowed her eyebrows as she asked Aria while her aura strengthen to protect herself from Shin’s wild aura.

Aria shook her head while glaring at Shin, her sword pointed towards Shin with a weak force.

“Why. Are. You. Pointing. That. Towards. Him?… I. Do. Not. Like. That…”

Shin glanced at the sword in Aria’s hand with a mocking smile on his face.

“I will not ask again! Who are you and why are you in Shin’s body!?”

Aria’s used force in her voice, commanding the one who’s controlling Shin’s body.

Shin stiffly pointed at himself and tilted his head, still with a mocking smile hanging on his face.

“I. Protect. Him… I. Am. Protector… When. He. Despairs. I. Will. Take. Over. And. Help. Him…”

“Shin. Wishes. For. Help… He. Begged… He. Despaired… He. Trusted. All. Of. You…”

Protector’s face suddenly twitched and its arm trembled. Protector’s eyes reattained some colour before it turned white again. It groaned as it glared at the four with empty eyes.

“He. Do. Not. Want. Me. To. Slaughter. All. Of. You… Therefore. I. Will. Spare. You… But. A. Price. Need. To. Be. Paid…”

The four felt dread and turmoil when Protector said that it would want to slaughter them all. Then the four thought of the same thing together.

What price does it want?

Aria stepped forward as she looked at Shin – or to say, Protector.

“I will give you anything, release him!”

Aria’s voice turned cold as she glared at him.

“He.he… You. Can. Not. Afford. It…”

Protector laughed mischievously as it glared at them. It then pointed at its own eyes.

“Eyes… I. Will. Take. His. Eyes…”

“No! Don’t you dare take my son’s eyes!”

Aria roared as her aura enveloped several kilometres.

Kali felt her breathing become rougher, Laura felt her body weakened and Peutoa went down on one knee.

But, even so, Shin’s body stood there casually, without any hint of any discomfort.

Shin’s empty eyes glanced at them and playfully saying with a smile on his face.

“Either. All. Of. You. Die… Or. His. Eyes… Shin. Do. Not. Wish. For. Me. To. Kill. Any. Of. You…”

Shin’s body fell over the moment Protector finished speaking.

“NOOO!!!!”

Aria bellowed as she madly rushed and grabbed Shin’s falling body.

“Aria! Stop using your power, you’re hurting Shin!”

Kali stepped right behind Aria, her voice was distressed and rushed forward as she clashed against Aria’s aura with her own weakened one.

Blood started forming everywhere on Kali, her pores turned red, her eyes shed blood, a stream of blood kept gushing out of her mouth. Even so, Kali struggled against Aria’s power, if she didn’t, Shin’s body would have been ripped apart in thousands of pieces.

Aria glanced at Kali’s grim appearance in horror before understanding what she was doing.

All her strength which was making the ground tremble vanished into thin air. She faced Shin once again, his body wasn’t moving, but Aria could sense that his heart was still beating and his breath was calm and steady.

After wiping all her blood with a touch of her finger, Kali calmly stared at Shin, smiling faintly when she could see that his body was fine.

Kali sighed in relief as she could feel an ache throughout her whole body, it would have been bad if Aria kept on going.

“W-What happened?”

Aria just asked as she had no idea what happened, she had never seen something like this before.

Laura shook her head in confusion, she was shocked beyond relief. Her eyes were widened, so with her mouth. She could not speak a single word.

Peutoa managed to catch her breath and finally stood up on her feet.

The blank expression on her face changed drastically, she kept frowning, her eyes widened and narrowed several times, anger could be shown on her face.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Kali had a thinking posture as she was going through all the things Shin – Protector said and did.

“It’s. It’s something that has been with Shin for a long time, perhaps even when he was born.”

Kali calmed down her breathing as a pill appeared on her palm, she shoved the pill in her mouth as she swallowed it before continuing.

“It said that it has been protecting him from a lot of things, it’s an external power that is helping him and not his own soul or divine power. But it requires sacrifices, or it wouldn’t easily appear and say that a price needs to be paid for it to step forward.”

Kali stopped once again and her eyes narrowed slightly.

“But, there’s something else worrying me.”

“What is that?”

Laura hastily asked with an anxious tone as she glanced at Kali, Aria and Shin.

Aria and Peutoa also stared at Kali, waiting for her to speak.

Kali closed her eyes while speaking, her tone has a hint of sorrow.

“It said that he would have killed all of us. But, it was stopped by Shin.”

“That means, that either Shin was a little conscious during its takeover. Or Shin could at least communicate with it. Shin had to choose between it hurting us or himself.”

Kali’s fist clenched, her nails dug into her palms, leaving a trace of blood.

Laura and Peutoa gasped when they heard Kali finish. They widened their eyes and thought back again on what it said.

“We could have constrained it! We could have dealt with it! Why did he decide to harm himself for us!?”

Aria yelled at Kali while tears gushed out from her eyes, she couldn’t believe that they were the reason that Shin would be harmed once again.

She who had wanted to protect him from everything was the one who harmed him!

“Calm down!”

Kali shook her head while glaring at Aria’s who’s losing her sanity.

“It’s after all Shin’s body, we can’t harm it. Besides, were you confident in defeating it? It could handle your oppression like it was nothing.”

“I’m sure that if we fought, we would not have a single advantage against it.”

“Hehehehehe.”

Aria glared at the sky as she was laughing out loudly with tears dripping from her face.

“Awaaaaarrrr!”

She roared as her eyes became bloodshot. Aria stood up quickly and pushed off the ground and appearing several meters away from her original position while holding Shin’s body in her left hand.

She slashed out with her right hand which was wielding her sword towards the trees and beyond, the trees that met the simple slash, cleanly fell. The slash force didn’t weaken before it reached over a kilometre away, cutting everything in its path.

Aria slashed out several times before her sword dropped. Her body went limp and fell on her knees, she stared at Shin with regret as the tears dripped on his face.

“It was me, it was I who hurt you. It was all my fault!”

Aria resented herself, her face was pale white, seemingly like she had lost all the strength in her body. Aria kept on wailing as she stared at Shin.

An arm stretched out and held Aria’s shoulder.

“Aria, even if you’re going crazy because of despair, Shin needs some rest. We need to take him back to the castle.”

Kali was also sad, but she knew that they can’t stay out in the forest like this for a longer period of time. They all needed rest.

Aria weakly nodded, she stood up, stepped forward and vanished.

“Go to the castle fastest possible.”

Kali spoke to Peutoa and Laura before vanishing.

Peutoa was absent-minded during most of what happened, her expression went blank once again, but showing a hint of sadness in her drooping eyes and lips.

Laura and Peutoa both ran side by side at a normal pace.

“Laura.”

Peutoa broke the silence first, her voice had a hint of anxiousness in it.

“What is it, Peutoa?”

Laura spoke as she was in a daze, she was thinking about other things.

“Was, was it my fault?”

Peutoa asked while glancing at Laura’s expression.

Laura shook her head when she heard Peutoa’s question.

“I don’t know. Ask Young master yourself when he wakes up.”

Peutoa bit her lip as she continued running.

Darkness.

That was all Shin could sense around himself.

Shin glanced around but found no light or figures.

Even when Shin was in this place, he was rather calm.

“Why am I back here, old man?”

Shin asked with a normal tone while looking around.

A voice that didn’t sound old at all called out in misery.

“I am not old!”

“Sigh…”

The voice sounded out from everywhere, but not a figure was seen.

Shin tilted his head as he asked once more.

“Old man, what happened, why am I here again?”

“Huuu…”

The voice let all the air in his lungs out before breathing normally again.

“You are in a critical state, you were despairing once again and your sanity was going dark. So, I took over.”

Shin thought of what happened, he could only remember few fuzzy parts; dinner, running away, Peutoa, forest, then despair.

“Wait, old man!”

Shin called out hastily.

“If you are in my body, what are you going to do with Peutoa?!”

“No. Three others have already joined the party.”

The voice sounded happy as it was going to enjoy the next seconds of slaughter.

“It seems like they are four in total, one is your mother, two are maids and the last one, should be your girlfriend?”

The voice had a hint of confusion when it came to the last one.

“You don’t have to worry, I will take care of them for you. I will slaughter all of them.”

“NOO! No!”

Shin roared out as he heard that Aria, Kali and Laura were also there. Shin briefly blushed when he heard the old man saying that Kali was his girlfriend, before roaring out once again.

“Don’t you touch them! Old man, please don’t kill them!”

The voice didn’t answer for a couple of seconds, feeling restrained by Shin’s will.

“You know that I need a sacrifice. What do you want me to do?”

The voice calmly spoke with Shin, it would protect and listen to Shin’s will at any given time.

Shin nervously thought before his eyes shone with a light.

“My body! You can take any part you need!”

Shin spoke out sincerely as he talked with the old man.

“Sigh…”

The voice sighed once again, finding Shin’s proposal unacceptable.

“You know, I am your guardian. I will follow your order if you wish for it, but I would rather slaughter cities before harming you.”

Shin eagerly waited for the old man to continue talking, the old man did already say that he would follow his orders.

“Alright…”

The voice surrendered in the end.

“Your eyes. Is that fine by you?”

The voice asked Shin, wanting him to reconsider it.

But, sadly the voice didn’t get what he wanted.

Shin nodded his head several times.

“That’s acceptable! That’s our deal now. Now tell me, have you harmed them?”

Shin asked anxiously.

“No, but your mother here is pointing a sword against you. You know that I don’t like people who're trying to harm you…”

The voice sounded out again, feeling sad that it would have to take Shin’s eyes.

“You promised that you won’t harm them, take my eyes and please don’t hurt them.”

Shin wanted to confirm with the old man once again, Shin didn’t want the old man to hurt any of them.

“Yes, yes. You are my master, I am just one of your guardians, we guardians will not act against your will.”

The voice said so calmly.

“But, will you allow me to briefly explain to them that they won’t die and I will be taking your eyes?”

Shin nodded.

Even if it was dark, Shin knew that the old man could see or sense his movements.

“Old man, where are the others?”

Shin asked curiously while glancing around once again.

“I’m not ‘Old man’, sigh…”

The voice wanted to refute before explaining.

“Master, you are back in your original world, you know that, right?”

The voice asked Shin, wanting to see if Shin understood or not.

Shin nodded as he said “Yes.”

“In the previous world, there were no divine power or just any kind of power that could be harvested for cultivation’s sake.”

The voice calmly explained easily that Shin could understand.

“In this world, there’s different kind of divine power, elemental power, spiritual power, heavenly power and even more different ones.”

“The other guardians are currently fixing your body and harvesting the power into your body, trying to strengthen it.”

“I, as your first guardian, will be protecting you when they are busy.”

“You’re saying that I can become stronger?”

Shin asked curiously with a hint of excitement.

“Yes. The other guardians are currently mending your body right now, the stronger you become, the more us guardians can help you in desperate moments.”

The voice said casually.

“Master, I have now taken your eyesight and those around you are not harmed, I have now given you control over your body again. Sadly, you can’t leave this space yet, you will have to stay here until the guardians are done with mending your body.”

“That’s alright, thanks for listening to me, old man.”

Shin said gratefully to the old man, with a smile on his face.

“Master, are you not sad because of your eyesight?”

The voice curiously asked Shin.

Shin raised his hand to his face, hovering it close to his eyes. Shin shook his head and answered the old man.

“No, I’m not sad, I’m happy.”

Shin sounded excited as he said the last part.

“They came, mother, Laura and Kali. They all were worried and came for me, that means that they care for me, right, old man?”

“I do not know. I don’t have the same feelings as you do, master. But, if I must answer, you are right. They should have felt something that made them look for you.”

The voice really didn’t understand human emotions, but still wanted to let Shin feel more comfortable.

“Old man, do you know for how long I have to stay here with you?”

Shin asked as he wanted to meet with Aria, Kali, Laura and Peutoa soon again, he was feeling happier when he knew that they wouldn’t abandon him that easily.

“’Old man’ this and ‘old man’ that, sigh…”

The voice sighed once again, it always felt helpless when talking with Shin.

“The answer to your question is; two days. Master, why are you refusing to call my name?”

The voice asked as Shin had declined it the first time they met and every single time they met till now too.

“Old man, that name is weird. ‘Old man’ suits you better, doesn’t it? Haha.”

Shin laughed as the old man always asked the same question whenever they met.

“How is my name weird?”

The voice sounded tired as it felt powerless.

“It’s just; Ker’Vrak. How is that name weird, master? I might not have the same feelings as humans do. But, we guardians are also living and have some set of emotions to understand you, our master. This name was bestowed upon me, do enlighten me how it’s weird, master.”

Ker’Vrak calmly asked again, Ker’Vrak has asked this question perhaps a dozen times already in the past.

“Yeah, it’s just that, old man! I have no idea how to say Keer’Verk or is it, Kiear’Vik? You see, old man? ‘Old man’ fits you the best.”

“Alright, master. Sigh… I’m ‘old man’ until you know how to pronounce my name.”

Ker’Vrak sighed once again.