A strange silence followed this order given with an astonishing authority worthy of an absolute monarch, and an unknown magic that immolated everything around, a magic that had sprung from Miron's body and spread with immeasurable power. Nothing seemed to have the strength to move or breathe. Then the young mage's power finally burst forth. He enveloped himself in a golden aura of fantastic intensity and beauty while spreading powerful waves of magic that devastated everything in their path, shattering all the windows and cracking the walls, and pushing back the surprised and terrified witch with satisfying violence. The shapeless beings screamed with frightful cries of distress, twisting with despair under the pressure of a pain more excruciating and merciless than what they inflicted on the young mage. The terrified witch struggled to get up and walk away as far as she could while looking at Miron as if she had never seen him before. Then, when she had finally found her voice again, she asked in a jerky, uncertain voice.

"What the hell is going on? What are you?

Miron stood up and straightened, haughty and angry. He regarded Kriniela with a cold, ominous calmness of his glass eyes.

Then this picture of unquestioned sovereignty took the white witch back decades, to the Ice Kingdom of Korodos, to the royal palace where Prince Aiiley stood in the throne room, majestic and unapproachable, sure of his power and the greatness of his existence, while she, a mere damsel of companionship and an insignificant noble... was of no importance in his life. In anyone's life.

This Miron, she thought, distorted by terror and treacherous jealousy, could only be among them, she was sure, or else she was no longer called Kriniela - the black white one. She had been around the great ones of this world for far too long and envied them to gnaw her flesh not to guess. But she hoped with all her being that he would never find out the truth. She couldn't bear it. It would be too unfair.

"You should never have done that, Kriniela. You really shouldn't have done that."

In his foggy "what an irony, considering where he was" mind, Miron knew he was completely unable to control his powers. But his rage and resentment were such that his magic naturally flowed out of him without him even trying for a moment to stop it, in order to achieve whatever he desired at that moment.

He saw his hateful witch try to stand on her trembling feet and continue to look at him, stunned and extremely terrified. Miron, extraordinarily majestic, consumed by unparalleled anger, and now endowed with phenomenal and incomprehensible power, would have awakened in anyone a nameless and unknown fear.

"I've never known any other woman but Athok's. And I have no idea what they are really like. But I know they should never be like you. For you Kriniela, you are an abominable being who, I think, should only remain in the depths of this world that is foreign to me. And today, I will personally make sure that it is done."

Miron smiled sadistically and walked serenely toward Kriniela, who, trembling like an orphan, backed away in terror.

"No, stay away from me, you monster!"

"Oh now I'm a monster, because I reduced you to this state? Because you can't do anything against me anymore?"

The alleged monster nodded vaguely.

"And yet I like it so much, you hideous witch. If having the power to destroy you makes me a monster. Then yes, Kriniela, I don't mind being one at all, on the contrary, I'm glad I am. I will now put you in your rightful place among those disgusting and strange beings that you dared to invoke to hurt me and that you have so often used to hurt others.

Miron then unleashed a power even greater than the previous one, the shapeless beings were enveloped in his magic and used it as their new master wished. They switched sides and seized Kriniela, abusing and torturing her with unthinkable cruelty, breaking her body and mind before the transparent eyes of her former "martyr" who nonetheless stopped his monstrous riders.

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"Now that I think about it, you had given me a minute rather the chance to live if I did exactly what you wanted didn't you?"

The witch, with a miserable look on her face and a bloodstained body already torn to shreds, regarded him with sobs and an almost morbid hopefulness, nodding weakly.

"Then I'll offer you the same chance. You're going to tell me all about the execrable individual who dropped me off here."

Kriniela, with a horrified look on her face, opened her mouth wide, and could only jerk back.

"I don't... know anything. No one... knows. Not even ... Sirkol. I swear to you. We found you at the big front door, alone with nothing..."

Miron half-closed his eyes, imperious and crueler than ever.

"I see, then you are useless. But you don't have to be sad or afraid, for you will rest forever in this place you love so much."

And he ordered the unspeakable torture to resume.

"No... ! Please, I b...beg...you! Miron, no!"

But the latter did not flinch, he continued, impassive and sovereign to watch the witch suffer, moan, her body breaking inalienably before slowly and irresistibly dragging her, without leaving anything of her, towards a dark and bottomless realm that no one but its creator could ever imagine.

When the young victor finally regained full control of his senses and body, the hallway was deserted and in total ruin. For a few seconds, he remained motionless, completely stunned, unable to move a single muscle in his body, not coming back from what he had just accomplished. Then, little by little, the panic came and the thoughts jostled in his head. He was shaking, not knowing how to react, and was preparing to flee the scene of the crime as quickly as possible when he felt Johes' dark magic and his angry beasts sniffing around to discover what had just happened.

The massive shadows were rapidly approaching and soon the entire hallway would be plunged into indescribable darkness. Proud and arrogant, Miron stood confidently, thinking he no longer needed to hide or pretend to be weak to protect him and Kei, since he had finally unleashed his spectacular and seemingly infinite power, capable of doing anything, destroying anything. But he soon had to realize that he had to submit to a form of abandonment and discouragement again, for when the shadows appeared and he reached out to destroy them, nothing happened. His magic seemed to have completely vanished.

As he looked up to the sky in exasperation and despair, he dropped heavily to the ground, making his condition even worse to be convincing, his clothes in tatters and his body covered with wounds.

Then he pretended to be in agony and to ask for help, reflecting the real abused and dying orphan, victim a few seconds earlier of a merciless aggression. Unsurprisingly, he heard a burst of sadistic and very satisfying laughter rise up beside him. Miron looked up with pain, the very image of pity. One of the huge black beasts sniffed him intensely before opening its mouth slightly, showing its desire to devour him whole. Next to him stood Johès, with a very expressive and smug face.

"Ah little rat, what a wonderful picture of misery you are showing here, I can assure you. All this in one day, what happiness. I came to see what was going on. A power was unleashed right here a few minutes ago, a power so great that it shook the whole city, which greatly stunned and panicked some susceptible people I think. I too was a bit interested, I admit, and so I decided to find out for myself who was the author of such carnage. But what I see at once is that you are present at the scene of the tragedy and that you are without doubt or surprise the victim, and that makes me so... happy."

He sniffed in turn at the air heavy with chaos that filled the hallway.

"Oh, I feel the magic of the perpetrator, or rather the torturer. Kriniela, right?"

Miron did not answer right away. He waited for Johes to threaten him first, to remove any suspicion from him. While Miron was well aware of the terrible instability of this crazy young guard, he was also aware of his intelligence and insight. As he expected, the mage servant threatened him fiercely that if he did not respond, he would be bitten by one of his great monsters. Biting was indeed a common practice among them. Only then did Miron weakly admit that it was the cruel black white witch.

"What a relief!" exclaimed Johes, reassured and strangely relieved. He looked down at the monstrous destruction around him.

"For I thought I felt with overwhelming certainty a colossal and unknown power." He admitted as if in spite of himself. "But maybe it was that damned witch again with her new experiments".

Looking again at his detestable prisoner, he asked aggressively.

"And where did Kriniela go after she settled your account, little rat?"

But before Miron could answer, Johes shrugged and laughed.

"Of course you don't know, you stupid child. Besides, you look too damaged to tell me anything. But come to think of it, I'm the stupid one for asking you that question after all."

After this last rude and totally unnecessary remark, Johes left as he had come. Miron watched him disappear, an eager, smirking smile on his face.

But as Miron got up with difficulty, and walked as best he could to join his friend, he wondered for what reason, everyone did not care to hurt him when he still had to participate in this blood-drenched game later, and Sirkol undoubtedly required the best of his form.