The radiant light of the full moon cast its glow upon a luxurious mansion, its opulent facade illuminated in the night. The cold breeze rustled through the air, accompanied by the gentle melodies of singing birds, creating a serene atmosphere around the estate.

Within the serenity of the night, a particular black cat roams inside the massive estate. It walked from room to room, with its glowing red eyes and quiet movement, its presence was completely concealed from the knights standing guard.

As the creature carefreely roamed around, it was spotted by two of the knights who were passing by during their patrol, “Is that a cat?” One of the knights said, his eye squinted for clarification

The cat’s black and silky fur made it almost translucent in the dimly lit hallway, it turned its head giving the knights a glare before continuing forward, seemingly uncaring of the knights behind.

Its red crimson pupils gave the knights their clarification, “I think we should get him out of here?” The other knight questions his partner

The knight nodded to his partner's question, “We should grab him and ask if it’s the estate owner”

The two nodded before trying to get the creature's attention but to no avail, the cat turned the corner in the direction of the main office where the estate owner reside.

The two knights followed closely, but the cat disappeared when they turned the corner. Puzzled, they pondered as to where the cat could have gone. The duration of their turning the corner was only a few seconds apart, and ahead of them lay nothing but an empty hallway and the softly lit rooms of the estate owner.

“Where did the kitty go?” The knight scanned the surroundings, his gaze darting from side to side, searching for any trace of the elusive creature.

Meow*

A soft and soothing noise came from behind them, and the knights startlingly turned around to see an adult black cat sitting comfortably before them.

The knights were breathing heavily, but when they saw the cat, they sighed in relief before chuckling at themselves for being scared by a cat.

The normal black cat showed an unnatural smile that stretched from ear to ear, revealing razor-sharp teeth that could tear a man apart.

Its figures contorted violently as it grew bigger and bigger, along with its massive size its appearance turned into a being of pure nightmare.

The cat's body appeared shadowy and black, perfectly blending into the dark corridor around them. However, its eerie appearance was betrayed by the numerous crimson eyes, fangs, and mouths adorning its dark figure.

Its animalistic appearance was suddenly replaced with a humanoid form, as its long, scaly arm slammed onto the wall. Claws scratched the surface, leaving deep claw prints in their wake.

The knights stood there, stunned and unable to move. They dared not to look directly at the beast, yet at the same time, their gaze couldn’t leave its presence even for a split second, as if they were in a trance.

The creature leaned forward, its monstrous head looming, its six red-glowing eyes fixated intensely on the knight, seeming to pierce deep into his soul.

“Witness your reckoning” A demonic voice came from the shadowy beast that echoed deep inside their mind

Before the knight could react, one of their arms was bitten off in a heartbeat. The knight howled in agony as the creature proceeded to cannibalize one of them alive, a gruesome spectacle unfolding before the horrified eyes of the other knight.

The other knight's instincts finally kicked in, and he ran like a madman toward the direction of the estate owner. He reached for the doorknob, but before he could proceed any further, a giant hole burst open in his chest.

The knight was puking out blood as he looked down hesitantly with horrified eyes, he saw that there was a lizard-like tale protruding from his chest. As he stood petrified by the sight of his body.

He was yanked back violently and was devoured alive. The knight's earlier action attracted the attention of the person inside of the softly lit room. The duke inside his room was clueless as to what had transpired just outside his room.

He got up from his chair and walked toward the door. As he placed his hand on the doorknob, a chilling breeze passed over him, causing all the hair on his body to stand on end.

He didn’t know why, but as he was about to turn the doorknob, every fiber of his being screamed for him not to proceed.

He stood there for a few long seconds, unmoving, his hand hovering over the door handle, torn between curiosity and an unexplained sense of dread.

Soon he mustered up all his courage to open the door and peek into the hallway, he saw nothing but an emptied dark hallway.

He called out to anyone outside, “Hello? Is anyone there?”

Dead Silence*

He didn’t get a response, and after calling out a few more times, he came back inside and closed his door. He leans his back on the door as he closes his eyes, he can hear his heartbeat racing.

What he didn’t notice as he went outside the room was that it was quiet, too quiet. There was no sound, no wind, nothing.

As he leaned against it, a nervous laugh escaped his lips, though unknowingly, his body was shaking from fear and he was breathing heavily.

He raises his hand in front of his face before chuckling. “That's right, what am I scared of? There is nothing that I should be scared of out there”

“I agree, there's nothing out there that you should be scared of. After all, it has already came inside” A gentle voice combined with a light chuckle came from his working table.

The duke turned to see a man sitting on his chair staring at him with a gentle smile.

Except the man’s figure the duke couldn’t make out any other details due to the dim lighting in the room.

“Please have a seat Your Grace, Duke Darius” The man smiled warmly and gestured for the duke to sit across from him

Duke Darius hesitated for a moment but took a seat anyway although scared he sat with the authority of a nobleman, “Who are you?”

The duke asked with a shaky lip, his sweat dripping down as he looked at the mysterious man.

“Before that, I believe the atmosphere in this room is rather depressing so let me fix it up a little” The man snapped his finger, and like magic the room lit up, though there was no visible light source in sight.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

He can now see the mystery man, his long dark hair with shades of blue-green at the tips coinciding with his red-crimson pupils, and he is wearing a black 3-piece suit with a design the duke had never seen before.

“It’s my utmost pleasure to be meeting you today, Your Grace, a pleasure indeed. As for your earlier question, my name is K. Well, that's what my companion called me” K replied with a joyous expression

The duke continued his act of control and questioned the intruder further, though he was scared.

Despite his fear, he showed a steely gaze of rebelliousness, seeing this K was reminiscent of his past experiences with situations like this and smile.

“There's no need to be so on edge my friend, I’m only here to take your life! But don’t worry I’ll make sure your death is a painful one” K demonic stared and his unnerving smile sent a shiver down Duke Darius’s spine

“You’re going to kill me? Then you should know what the consequences of messing with a nobility” Duke Darius's earlier expression was gone in an instant

K giggles at him, “Oh? Are you referring to your wife? One of the well-known magicians in the royal family?” he giggles before gesturing for Duke Darius to look behind, “Why don’t we meet her right now?”

Duke Darius turned to see his wife crucified on the wall her blood dripping down from the wall and slowly reaching his feet. Duke Darius jumped out of his chair and fell on top of the pool of blood on the ground

He scurried backward facing away from both K and his dead wife, his back leaning against the door as he saw K getting up and walking toward him.

K stopped right in front of him and with a sadistic smirk he asked. “Now then, would you like to do it the hard way like your wife? Or would you like to do it the easy way out?” K smiled at him his eye glowed brighter

Duke Darius gathered all his courage to get up from the ground, he clutched his fist angrily with eyes full of spite, K laughed at his action before murmuring, “The hard way it is!”

K was curious to see what he’d do next, but even he wasn’t ready for Duke Darius's move.

The duke took a step forward and punched with all his strength, not toward K, but toward the door. Then, without hesitation, he ran out of the room with everything he had, leaving K bewildered in his wake.

With a laugh that echoed throughout the mansion, K spoke in a delighted mood, “A true strategist indeed, even I didn’t see that one coming”

he leisurely followed in the direction that Duke Darius ran as if he had all the time in the world.

Duke Darius ran and ran, his heart pounding in his chest. Throughout his entire marathon, he didn’t encounter any staff.

When he finally reached the main door, hope flashed across his face. He opened the door and ran through, only to arrive back at his workroom, where it all started.

K leaned comfortably next to the door, he was holding a pocket watch, with a chuckle he said, “1 minute and 2 seconds! Not a bad time to be honest but come on, you can do better than that no?” His hand gestured for Duke Darius to do a retry.

Without any option, Duke Darius ran past K and was on his path once again, and once again he arrived back at the starting point.

“Tired? Would you like a hot tea to calm your nerves?” K sipped on a cup of tea as he sat comfortably on Duke Darius's chair.

“I’m in quite a happy mood today so I’ll make you a proposition, in the next two hours if you’re able to find a way out of this place, then I’ll spare your life” K's laughter was infectious as he pulls out a timer and places it on the table.

Duke Darius had two hours before the clock struck midnight, so he set off in a frenzy. For the next two hours, he tried everything he could think of. Every exit led him back to where he started. He tried screaming, destroying things, using a communication crystal — he even tried to confront K with everything he had — but nothing worked.

Duke Darius's mental state deteriorated with each loop, his hope fading with every futile action he took. And every time he returned to the workroom K was always there to mock him.

Echo of distance screaming, laughing, begging, pleading his name was heard nonstop. “Did you hear that? That the voice of judgement” K pointed out as the voice grew louder and louder.

At some point, he wished for death to release him from the torment. He tried to end his own life, but even death would only bring him back to the starting point. Crushed by despair, he watched in agony as he realized there was still one hour left

“They’ll go insane eventually,” K laughed to himself as his gaze turned to the shattered Duke. His hand held many different files from Duke Darius's drawer, and K smiled happily as he continues to read through them.

“There’s 5 minutes left, you’re about to die so I might as well give you a reason for my visit today, Your Grace” K came to the bloodied Darius, in his insanity, he tried to claw at the wall peeling off his fingernails

“You see I came to you today not due to spite, vengeance, or anything. But I’m here because a friend of mine had commissioned me to do so, I believe you’ve met him before. His name is Rithy” The moment K mentioned Rithy's name Duke Darius snapped in realization, he laughed maniacally as he spoke to K with broken hope

“Just do what you’re here for, I’m done please” Duke Darius pleaded with hopeless eyes

“You know what I’ll give you one last try in this game of ours, your record for reaching the door is 1 minute and 2 seconds, so… If you’re able to reach it in less than a minute I’ll let you live” K smile as brought out his pocket watch

“You better start running,” K said before he started the timer

Contrary to what Duke Darius said earlier the moment he heard K's proposition he got up in a flash and ran with everything he had, outside the once dark and emptied corridor was covered with blood and mutilated corpses of the dead staffs.

Scream of torture and tormented souls screech and scream at him as he ran through his mansion, the souls of those who died because of his actions.

Duke Darius finally realized why the place was so deserted. “I don’t think you have the luxury of time to be lost in your thoughts, Your Grace,” K's words reminded Duke Darius of the game he was forcibly trapped in.

Despite the horror before him, he had to keep moving, so he ran across the bloodbath before him nonstop

“10, 9, 8, 7” K's voice echoed as Duke Darius ran down the stairs, the once short stairs now felt like an eternity.

Souls of the innocents appear as a wraith, following the duke closely. They wish to tear him to shreds but refrain from doing so by K.

“6, 5, 4, 3” Duke Darius could see the exit he rushed at the door like a charging bull, “2, 1” Duke Darius open the door only to met K back at the workroom.

He fell to the ground, “that was fun, now time to die” K's voice was sinister, unlike his friendly demeanor every step he took, Duke Darius felt like a bit of his life was taken away

“Please Sir, if you let me live, I’ll do anything you ask, anything” He crawled backward while trying to plead for his life, K didn’t flinch at his offer one bit

“No? err, er… money yes I’ll give you everything, my money, my power, my life, everything please” K stopped in his tracks as he raises his eyebrow

“OH? That is a tempting offer” K smiled at Darius, his eyes showing a slight contemplation

Seeing the opportunity to live Darius kept going, “Yes, I promise that I’ll be of great pawn for you to use”

K got close and leaned down, “Do you know how many ways a person could be tortured before death?” Davis's eyes held a wisdom beyond his years, reflecting a lifetime of experiences and lessons learned

Not daring to answer Darius stayed silent, “DO YOU?” K shouted joyfully, scarring Darius out of his wits he quickly replied, “No” tears streaming down his cheek

“I’m glad you’re don’t. As far as I know, there are countless ways to achieve such an outcome, and the one I like to use is this: to take away a person's hope by showing them that their actions will change nothing. Then, give them a glimmer of hope, only to let them watch as that hope fades away in front of them,” K explained, his voice carrying a chilling tone.

“You made a tempting offer… But I always kept my end of the bargain.” And with that K's arm plunged into Darius's heart, shocked and scared Darius asked one last question, “WHY?” before taking his last breath

K laughed at his last moment as he replied, “Because your heart is blacker than the demon that resides in the depth of the abyss”

Using his heart, K turned Duke Darius into a soul. The wraith are no longer restrained and they pounce on the duke tearing him to oblivion.

K disappeared from the room, leaving no trace of his involvement in the massacre behind. Except for his pocket watch, which he left on top of a case file he had read earlier with delight.

The files are all about Duke Darius and his Wife's actions such as slavery, human trafficking, weapon smuggling, and many more. K took this chance to leave Rithy’s family's unjustified court trail among many others.

With a note on top reading, “You reap what you sow, and you’ll die before you’re old”